Lens suggestion for speakers at conferences

Peter Kwok wrote:

Focal length is usually dictated by how close you are from the speaker. That means the size of the venue. You should not be front center and block the views of the audience. So, it is either from the sides near the front or in the center rear.

Will most of the speech take place in your company conference rooms or convention centers else where? Do you know how bright the light will be? Will the speech be accompanied by power point projection? Do you want to see the speaker in front of his/her slides? These will determine how much light you have and what ISO, f-stop you can use.

Thanks for your advice!

It will be used more at conventions centers. And no way to influence light.

So longer focal length I guess. And the powerpoint, I did not thought about this one. Hmm, I suppose mostly with powerpoint, but I want to focuse more on the speaker than on the slides in the background.

Talking heads are pretty boring, especially when you have only one camera. Will you edit them and insert power point slides? If so, you can plan ahead and change framing/position after inserting a slide. Use zoom only when it does not draw attention. Go with the flow of the speech. Zoom in when the subject becomes intimate, or the speaker is about to demonstrate something small. The best time to zoom is when the speaker is moving, because you can change framing and zoom at the same time while the viewer is focused on the speaker's move.

As you can see, I would recommend a zoom lens like the 18-135 if the light is sufficient. Using a prime wide open can get you some artsy shots if you move around. But this may not be appropriate for serious corporate video.

Thanks for these tipps. I dont't have much experience with video yet, this is definitely helpful!