Discover the best methods to shoot videos with blurred backgrounds for YouTube in 2025. Improve your channel's look without expensive equipment and create a more professional appearance.
Introduction:
"Blur" is nowadays the most commonly used word in photo and video shooting, especially on YouTube. In fact, every viewer of your videos immediately recognizes from the background blur whether it is a professional or a simple beginner shot.
This blur, also called bokeh, immediately conveys to your audience that the photographer has invested time, knowledge, and equipment into their production. It also reduces distractions caused by blurry backgrounds. That is why it is essential nowadays to shoot videos with a blurred background and professional quality. Let's do that as soon as possible.
How to achieve bokeh
1. Invest in a powerful bokeh-producing camera lens.
This is the best and most common method to shoot videos with a blurred background that create bokeh and are super soft. A small rule of thumb: For a standard bokeh effect, you need a lens with a large aperture (e.g., f/1.4, f/1.8, etc.) and shallow depth of field. This creates an image that naturally blurs the background behind the subject while keeping the subject sharply focused.
One such camera lens is the SIRUI AURORA Series 85mm F1.4 Full-Frame Autofocus Lens, an extremely affordable and YouTube-suitable lens. It features a focal length of 85 mm, which is legendary for creating solo content. The focal length offers a favorable perspective, and the f/1.4 aperture produces an extremely shallow depth of field.
This combination gives your YouTube videos a razor-sharp subject isolation with a soft, creamy, and beautiful bokeh effect in the background. Additionally, you get an excellent and precise autofocus system that keeps you in the frame even when you move within it (provided your camera body is also fast). In this price range, you cannot expect comparable optical performance and such fast autofocus from other brands.
2. Affordable camera bodies with large apertures
A camera lens alone cannot produce professional blur. It requires a powerful camera body with a larger camera sensor (e.g., a full-frame sensor) that can handle the amount of light captured by the lens.
This ensures that your camera sensor captures the shallower depth of field much better during video recording with a blurred background than smaller sensors like APS-C or Micro Four Thirds. For beginners, camera bodies like the Sony ZV-E10-II, Canon R10, and Sony A6700 are excellent options to start shooting with professional blur this year.
3. Software optimization
Some users opt for software optimization techniques with advanced AI-powered tools that enable post-production background blur. The most well-known names in this area today are CapCut and Clipchamp. These programs use software algorithms to isolate the subject and blur the background.
These software programs are excellent for anyone with a limited budget for YouTube, but they also have some significant drawbacks: First, the editing effort for YouTube increases considerably, and second, the blur achieved with software programs in terms of softness and subject isolation is not comparable to that of a conventional lens.
Recording videos with blur: step by step
1. Attach a camera lens with a large aperture of f/1.4 to f/2.0 and set it to the widest aperture.
2. Mount your chosen camera body on a tripod and place it at least 90 to 180 cm away from the subject.
3. Aim the correct lighting at the subject. This is a broad topic, and we assume you are already well acquainted with it.
4. Although new cameras have quite good autofocus, we recommend manually focusing on the subject if it is not moving.
5. Always make a test recording before shooting your entire video to check the sharpness. If you are satisfied, record the desired video.
Summary:
To record videos with a blurred background for YouTube, you need a powerful camera body with a lens that has the largest possible aperture and a focal length of 50 mm or 85 mm. The 85 mm lens from the SIRUI AURORA series offers professional blur and subject isolation at an affordable price without compromising performance.
