Park closed ! Recording video indoors and close up with Canon 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 lens. vlog 20

We all set off for a lovely day in Kodomonokuni Park with Grandma. We learned that it is best to check opening times before setting off to places, so after a nice walk from the station to the park and back we returned home for some painting. At time of recording I owned the Canon 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM lens (http://bit.ly/2he1hWd) for about a week, so I really wanted to see how I could improve my videos by using it. I want to use it at my school to record my students writing or drawing, so getting right up close to the student’s pen or brush is a shot I want to get. Video - Canon 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM lens http://bit.ly/2he1hWd The park sequence was shot on a cloudy day in January in Japan. My Canon Kiss X4 camera (known elsewhere in the world as a D550 or T2i) does not have auto focus during video mode, and it took a little while to work out how best to manually focus. It doesn’t help that I wear glasses. The corn can for example looked in focus at the time, but is slightly off. I’m tempted to pick up a 70D or 80D just so that I get the benefit of auto focus on video, particularly as they gave face tracking. BUT, I am still very happy with my Kiss X4 results and I am sure I am not getting all I can out of it. The painting sequence was recorded in doors, with just the room light on. The light and colour balance settings are on auto in all these clips. It’s amazing just how close to the subject the Canon 10-18mm lens allows me to go. It very easy in fact to bump the front of the lens into the subject, so leave the lens hood on most of the time. The Italian restaurant was very low lit and it was difficult to see the full colours of the food with my eyes, let alone record them. It gets a bit grainy in parts and the reds are particularly noisy, but given the available light I have no complaints. The lens only opens up to f4.5 which make extremly low light a challenge, but when we watch the light parades at Disney it works fine. I'm currently looking at the Sigma Art 18-35mm lens (http://amzn.to/2bFu69o) which would give me an amazing f1.8 across the range! It is also fixed aperture, so great for video work. I talked myself out of getting the canon 80d (http://amzn.to/2brLxGW) because I still don't feel I have gotten the most out if my current camera. I may have been tempest if it had 4K as that would have been nice long term investment, but not right now, although a second hand 70D for the autofocus during video mode is tempting. With the money I had put by for the 80D, and knowing I'm going to be going to restaurants with Grandma and the kids again, I think I will at least rent the Sigma to see if it works for me. Sound - internal mic No external microphone. Most places I recorded in were quiet so that I could hear the voices or the rustle of paper. In other places the background noise helps set the scene. I’m tempted to pick up a rode mic as many other people seem to use them and the price is not prohibitive. In Japan the air conditioner is usually running, and that rumble is a pain to remove. Hopefully a directional mic will improve my audio. Food - Japanese Italian restaurant Nice, with a great variety of dishes from the set menu we chose. My gear used to make this video, with reviews Sony A6300 camera http://bit.ly/2eYfndt Wide lens Sony 10-18 f4 (main lens) http://bit.ly/2eZ8cSu Close up lens 50mm f1.8 (b-roll) http://bit.ly/2gkJz3o Small rig cage http://bit.ly/2hGIv6Q Stabilizing handle http://bit.ly/2zb0Cc5 My full Sony A6300 Vlogging and travel kit http://bit.ly/2tOu7OE Studio gear http://bit.ly/2hdUlrR Video of studio http://bit.ly/2ypfA0M All my gear ! https://kit.com/MrTim Blog and Website http://bit.ly/2yp8dGr Teachers Pay Teachers Store http://bit.ly/2wjTnOe Merchandise http://bit.ly/2gbC1N2