Lessons

Lesson Info

Camera Operation

So at the very beginning of the day, we talked about setting your camera but let's just be a little bit more in depth, obviously charging the batteries lens battery memory card that stuff. So before I was to go shoot a wedding, go on vacation and do an important job, I'm going to reformat the memory card. I want to have a clean, fresh memory card or group of memory cards in my camera before I head out, I'm gonna make sure the date and time is set properly. That's gonna help me organize pictures later on in post I'm going to make sure my diop ter knob is adjusted properly so that I am focusing in the right way. I'm gonna make sure my raw and or j peg images are set as I see fit for this job situation go click or go ah, we're gonna make sure that all my features in my camera are basically set up. Our cameras are potentially set up right now is we want him to be so we don't need to make any changes. And if it's really important, I would shoot test photos to make sure that there is no real...

ly bad dust on your sensor that is something that is easier to clean out ahead of time rather than being on safari in africa and having dust in no place to clean out your camera and so get that cleaned out well ahead of time, and although we've gone through, I don't know how many different features on this camera well over a hundred I really have narrowed the camera down to ten important features that you I absolutely must know on how to make lots of changes on, and so we're just gonna go through these operational changes. So think about where you make these changes on your camera, your exposure mode that was pretty easy shutter speeds and apertures we've been working with those, and then a lot of these other ones are going to be a button and dial combination. So our s o our exposure compensation these air all right on top, over on the right hand side, we'll have army torreon system and our white balance up there are focusing system as well. They're so just remember, we're all these buttons and dials are because you're gonna be using these on a regular basis are focusing points and finally, the derive system on the camera. So let's, go ahead and set our camera up in what I would consider a very super simple mode. First step let's set our cameras to the programme mode, and I'm going to follow right along with you. So programme mode we don't need to worry about shutter speeds and apertures in this case and it kills me to say this but let's set our cameras at auto eso so we dial down below one hundred and it goes to the a setting for auto let's turn the back dial and make sure exposure compensation is set at zero you don't want to have this wacked out at one side or the other to start with, you may need to tweak it but not whacked out metering mode evaluative metering is thie dot with the semicircle to half circles around it, so you're going to use thie first button on the left and then the main dial up on top of the camera white balance is that same button but the dial in the back let's make sure we're in a w b, which stands for auto white balance for the focusing mode you want to be in the one shot mode and you've got to make sure that your camera is in the auto focus mode to start with so the lenses in auto focus as well for focusing points let's take our cameras to sixty one points and in order to do this you'll either need to put it up to your eye or you'll need to have the information screen on the back your camera turned on and so I'm gonna change it to sixty one points and then finally let's put our cameras in the drive mode single for doing one shot and everyone in class go ahead and take a picture check it out. Looks pretty good nice, simple setting on the camera's okay, so frankly I think it's kind of a crime to have your camera set like this on this camera but if you needed to give your camera to somebody else to shoot pictures with or you were just gonna shoot really quick pictures and you didn't want to get in that hole photography thing this is how you might set it up so let's set this camera up in a little different manual alright, you're an old school shooter you've been shooting film for years and you finally switched over to digital how much you said is this camera well? Let's change our cameras over to the manual now full manual let's set shutter speeds and apertures well, of course that's gonna depend on the light but let's just for fun set one hundred twenty fifth of a second boom boom hundred twenty fifth of a second let's set an aperture of f ate because there was an old national geographic slogan f ate and be there if you want to take great shots all right let's set our s o at four hundred because we really like shooting with tri x film right not going to worry about exposure compensation that is only used in program tv and a v metering the old days we used a center awaited me eatery so let's change to center waited metering and that one if you have for gotten there's a dot there's a circle there's a dot with a circle and then there's nothing this is the nothing in that little meter in mt then we have our white balance let's go ahead just leave that auto and for focusing only go full manual on this one all right on the lens exactly gonna feel the force on this disengaging from the computer don't need to worry about focusing points and let's go to the continuous mode so that we can take pictures in a rapid sequence but not too rapid so we're just gonna go continue it's not continuous high and we'll shoot a serious of pictures did you remember to manually focus just checking all right next next this is just what I call a test here just to see how fast you can set things this is not how I would ever set my camera but just for practice purposes follow along time value shutter priority let's set a shutter speed of one half of a second which frankly looks a little awkward on canon cameras if you can't find a half second find one second and it's three klicks away and it's the three clicks that isn't two seconds I've heard most of the dial stops, so we'll move on all right let's set an esso of sixty four hundred do we're reaching up? They're gonna have some noise let's change our exposure compensation to minus two were taking pictures of goths dancers in a nightclub okay? They're all wearing black so we need to have this very, very dark next up let's have our meeting at spot metering because we're going to take a reading off of there black shirt so spot metering is the dot in there white balance let's set this yet cloudy because they have a fog machine going and there's clouds in the nightclub I didn't really think this one through did I? So we're going to set the cloudy setting on white balance I need to have a better story when I go into this staff all right? So let's see how quickly you consent you're focusing too aye aye servo and I'm looking for one person has it? I see are you in a servo? Maybe some people? I noticed that some people in class are having some problems and it's a bit of a trick question because your lenses in manual focus if you can't figure things out so it's that switch over on the lands it has to be an auto focus before you could go to a I survived so that was my trick did you get it or not okay focus points let's go to nine point expansion because thes got people are dancing pretty fast and so let's change it to the nine points in the middle all right and then for the drive mode let's go to the ten second timer mode because we want to get in the shot as well with them, right? So we're going to change it to the ten second self timer and I know I need the ten second self timer where is it there it is and so run around, get in the picture and we're gonna wait for the whole ten seconds for the camera to take a picture so light on yep it's blinking and so it turns red and there's our picture all right, so let's do some real photography landscape photographs and so here's a couple of just fantastic landscape photographs that I've taken and typically what's going on here is I have the camera on a tripod and I want lots of depth of field I want things in the foreground and focus I want things in the background and focus and so depth of field is important and I'm also thinking about depth not only got the field but how my cameras focusing and so the first thing I'm going to do is I am going to be in manual exposure and so let's set our cameras to manual the shutter speed well, if you're on a tripod, it frankly doesn't matter. So just for fun, let's set a shutter speed of one second nice slow shutter speed you're going to probably need that when we set our depth of field are aperture to f sixteen, so it's said, an aperture of f sixteen that gives us lots of depth of field we might need f twenty two we meet night might need f thirty two it depends on the situation I'm gonna want my s o as low as possible because I want to have nice clean images that don't have noise and grain to him let's set our meat green two evaluative meter and I think that's a good general purpose media ring system that's the dot with the circle on it for white balance I think auto is going to be fine for many situations you may need to adjust as need be for focusing I am going to be in the one shot mode. I want to be pretty particular about focusing on a tree or a rock or some particular place in the landscape and for focusing points I want to be precise once again and I'm going to choose just a single point, so I'm gonna press my focusing buttons and change it to single point you could go with spot, but single point will be fine and then for the drive mode you could go with a couple of options you could do the single shot you could do the two second timer now I would only use single if you have the cable release that way you're not touching the camera when the camera actually fires and so you could use the two second self timer I'm going to set my camera in the two second self timer right now and as a bonus you could use mere lockup or you could put your camera in live you since live you is a simple button press away I'm gonna put my camera in live you and now I'm gonna press the shutter release get my hands off the camera and why is it not taking l uh there we go and so that way you're not getting any vibrations in the shop. All right portrait photography people pictures you're going to be thinking about you're not working from a tripod now your handheld you need to be concerned about your movement, their movement and focusing as well as depth of field. I like to be in manual mode here I like to be ableto work with a subject for a little bit I'm going to set my shutter speeds and apertures up ahead of time for most people photography you're going to need to be at least one hundred twenty fifth of a second so let's set one twenty five when I shoot portrait's, as do a lot of people you like to shoot with shallow depth of field and so let's say we're shooting with natural light and we have a very fast one point four lens I don't have a one point for lens, but I'm going to set it as wide open as I have right now, my eyes, so I am going to try to keep it as low as possible let's try to keep it at one hundred if we care metering, we're just gonna go ahead and leave that at evaluative metering, and we're going to leave the white balance at auto. We're going to keep that simplified in here. Focusing is very important, I think one shot allows us to focus on our subjects I, and by using the single or single spot, we can be very critical about focusing on the I and not the nose or the cheek or the eyelashes or the ear or something else. So now we could be very precise about where we're focusing, and when I'm shooting people pictures, I'll often leave my camera in a continuous hi mod so that I can take pictures very rapidly as their facial expressions change or their gestures change in their posture changes so that I can shoot camera still, in my view, a nice burst of pictures, somebody has theirs silent I think all right so let's do some action photography so when we talk about action pictures were thinking about fast shutter speeds we're thinking about focusing tracking their subjects, tracking those subjects as they move towards you and away from you once again I like being in manual here get things set up ahead of time have him set right this is where you're going to need a faster shutter speed like five hundredth of a second so go ahead and set a faster shutter speed sports photographers love lenses that go down to two point eight and you'll probably need them if you shoot a lot of sports so if you have two point eight set it if not get as close as you can see the reason they don't go down to two in one point four sometimes the depth of field is so shallow it's really hard to work with I s so there's a good chance that you're going to have to bump this up from one hundred it be nice if you could shoot it at one hundred if you can by all means do it but oftentimes you'll have to bump it up to four hundred and we saw the iso tests on this camera it's really clean it four hundred metering we're gonna leave that at evaluative no change necessary white balance at auto no change necessary they're focusing this is where we make a big change we need to change this to the continuous servo mode. It's called a servo. This is where the camera tracks movement. Now it depends on the sports or shooting, but let's go to the nine point expansion area. So you press that button on the back, the multi function to you see the nine boxes you can use the multi controller to move that left and right as necessary in the scene for where your subject's going to start out. And then, of course, I am going to be in the continuous high mode as faras the motor drive so I can shoot a series of pictures as that subject is getting closer or further away. So maximum sharpness look at these wonderful photographs when you don't need a particular shutter speed or a particular aperture. Uh, where do you set your camera to get the best darkness? Once again, I'm going to be set up in manual exposure. So let's set our cameras in manual shutter speeds totally going to depend on the light. But just for kicks, let's set a shutter speed of one half of a second it's that kind of awkward one it's a zero quotation five and then an aperture of f eleven, the sharpest aperture on any lens is towards the middle of the rage. So rather than most adept the field like f sixteen or twenty two, we want to be kind of in the middle of the range and for a lot of cameras that's around f eleven eleven is a very sharp aperture for a lot of lenses let's set our s o to one hundred so that we're getting the best quality information on our sensor. We're going to have our meeting set at evaluative, and our white balance is going to stay at auto for focusing we're going to go backto one shot here so we can focus on one thing and have the camera lock in on it, and this is where I'm gonna also stay in the single shot mode. So going back to that single point of focusing that aiken direct very precisely at something and then for the dr, modi could set it in single and used the cable release, or I could use the two second timer remote, and as a bonus, you could use mere lockup and live view and or live you, I should say, you don't want to use me or lock up and live you at the same time one or the other either one will work, so that will get you maximum sharpness in a photograph, okay? We've totally messed up your cameras in this class and especially in this last section potentially so what I want to end with is just how to set your camera for basic photography where you don't know what your next picture is going to be all right? So I'm actually going to use a tad bit of automation here so let's go to aperture value this is a good mode because you have direct control and things were not going to change on you. Uh the shutter speed will change but you get to choose an aperture and I would generally choose an app richard that is a little bit wider open so I think f four is a nice place to be if you if you need to take a shot right now chances are you want faster shutter speed and this will give you a slightly faster shutter speed in general I like to leave my camera said it s a one hundred but be prepared to bump up as necessary and this is really important because I was had you last set this to minus two remember those gothic shooters gothic dancers we had minus two so make sure your exposure compensation is set at zero to start with make sure your meeting is at evaluative meeting a good general all purpose metering system and the white balance is at auto same button for those two features focus is going to be on one shot. Good general place single point focus. Check your focusing points. Just one point is probably fine. Do you have to be a little bit careful about this? You got to know where that point iss. And for the drive mode, I think the single is going to be fine on that one. Just one shot at a time. You might be in silent. Maybe if you want to be a little bit more stealthy about taking pictures and so if you have been able to follow along, stay awake and operate your camera through this. Congratulations. You are now a five mark three expert. Yeah, thanks a lot. And so before I turn it over for some questions I'll just mentioned once again. Uh, if you like this class and you want more of this, but general photography, you might want to take a look at my fundamentals of digital photography class it's I think a very good value, it's five times as long, but only three times the price. Uh, so I think it's a good deal, uh, for learning general photography. And, you know, there's a lot of people who feel like they know everything, but deep down inside, they know that they've got a lot of holes and gaps that they've been tryingto cover up and avoid and it's like. Well, I'm not going to do that style of photography because I don't like it because I don't know how to do it. And so this is the type of class that will go through it. Clear up and set a very good base level for you, for taking photography, wherever you wanted to take you. And that class is available through creative life and it's on discount now as well, I think. And so, if you want to find out about more about me or my other classes that I hold here in the seattle area you go to my website john gringo dot com you can go to facebook and you can friend me and I will confirm you before midnight tonight on facebook and thanks a lot everybody for being a part of the class here and we'll go ahead and take some questions in this off all right great. So um a question from kayak fishing in moldova um there is an option to register a registered focus point which will blink in the viewfinder and it's different than the regular selected focus point how to do this okay so I'm trying remember this there's so many focusing options and I read through this one and I believe what you could do is you can register something other than the centre or you could do the centre as well and I believe you can program the set button in the back of the camera to always go to that point if it's at someplace else cool thank you uh see least uh um I'm sorry where was I oh yeah that's real sorry at least uh said for um well for a film maker on a budget and would you recommend the mark three over the mark two per say no because the video that you get from this is gonna be very very similar to omar to it's not any higher resolution. They're both shooting hd video you do have that well, it's, still a compressed but it's, a slightly higher quality, all format. But what I would do is I would get a five team or two and a good lens. So to follow up on that kind of last question. What type of photographer is this camera? Four versace. Who might it be too much for, uh, I think this might be the absolute perfect camera for a wedding photographer, where they need a good resolution, good, low light, but occasionally there shooting action, and they need that speed from shot to shot in that six frames a second when they're coming down the aisle on. The bride is looking towards her mother, and it lasts for like a quarter of a second. This gives you two opportunities for that rather than one opportunity. And some of the some of the other cameras, I think, for landscape photographers, it's. Not really that much better than a mark to camera there's. Not a lot of people using this for sports, because six frames is still not fast enough for sports, but it's definitely much better than the mark, too. Wass for shooting sports photography for shooting, say, general travel, photography. It's in every way, shape and form better than the mark to it's just that in every way. It's a little bit better, a little bit better, a little bit better, and it kind of depends about how you use the camera. If those little bits mean a lot to you.