Lessons
Class Introduction
09:14 2Photo Basics
04:00 3Basic Camera Controls
04:36 4Mode Dial
24:19 5Top Of Camera
21:42 6Viewfinder Display
09:18 7Live View Menu
08:16 8Movie Mode Menu
03:03Back of Camera Buttons
04:37 10Quick Menu
22:00 11Playback Menu
08:58 12Left & Right Sides Of Camera
04:39 13Bottom & Front Of Camera
06:28 14Lens Options
08:28 15Menu Functions Overview
22:13 16Picture Style Menu
05:23 17Multiple Exposure & HDR Menu
04:53 18Image Quality Menus
06:47 19Live View Shooting Menu
02:23 20Movie Shooting Menu
15:30 21Playback Menu
06:53 22Set Up Menu
15:07 23Viewfinder Display Menu
02:35 24GPS Settings Menu
04:36 25Touch Control Menu
03:38 26Custom Shooting Mode
05:33 27Custom Menu
26:28 28My Menu
04:41 29Camera Operation
09:31Lesson Info
Class Introduction
All right, folks, let's go ahead and get started in this class. The Canon 6D is Canon's full frame camera, it's kinda their entry level camera. And it's a camera that I've been kinda interested in because the reviewers, and the people who write blogs about cameras, have not been overly excited about. And that's because the camera is not, let's say, class leading, or it doesn't offer anything that's new, that's never been done in photography. But it offers a really solid set of features that I think most photographers are gonna be totally happy with. And so, while it may not be the most exciting camera to write a review about, it's a great camera for going out and shooting and it's got a lot of great features. And we're gonna dig in right now, and find out what all those features are. So let me tell you a little bit the way this class is gonna work here. We're gonna have a few different sections on this class. We're gonna start off with a little overview about what this camera is. Then ...
we're gonna get into some basics. And I know a lot of you already have the experience, and you're going to know these basics about sensor size, and how the sensor works and so forth. But we're going to cover that for everyone else who would like a little bit of that information. A big section of the class is the camera controls. This is where we go through the outside of the camera. We look at all the buttons, dials, levers, and we talk about what they do, and how you would use them, and when you would use them. The second half of the class is the menu functions. We're going to go through the menu in detail. I'm gonna tell you about what the features do, where I would set them for different types of photography, and then we will end the class with camera operation. Once we know how to work all the little bits and pieces, how do we put that all together into different types of photography? So I'll give you some recommended settings for different types of photography like portrait photography, or landscape photography. How do you set up the focus and exposure for each of those in there. So, got a good, complete class ready for you here. To start with, the camera has a relatively large instruction manual, and it's impossible for me to cover every bit of detail that is in the instruction manual. I'm going to be concentrating on the features that are most important for manual operation and for getting the highest quality photos from the camera. So from time to time I may reference the manual as that's a good source of additional information or specific compatibility with other devices. But we're gonna cover most everything a general photographer will need to know about the camera right here in this class. Now this is a camera class, which means we're talking about this particular camera. And there's lots of other information if you want to be a good photographer. I have a couple of classes here at Creative Live. Creative Live has, of course, lots and lots of different classes on photography. So if you want to know more about photography, there are many other classes. I have a nice little short starter class for anybody who wants to quickly get up to speed on the basics of photography. I also have a more in depth class, the fundamentals, for anyone who really wants to dig into the photography aspect, beyond just the operation of this particular camera. So, check those out at your leisure. So if you are new to Canon, Canon's been around for a long time, that's for sure. They started making little range finder cameras way back in 1934. Their original name was Kwanon, by the way. That's their official logo there they used many, many years ago. Canon got started with SLR cameras in the entry level. They just made basic, entry level cameras for average consumers, and then they started getting more professional. So in 1971, they came out with the F-1, which was a competitor for all the sports photographers out there, very good camera with that. Important date is 1987, 'cause that's the date that Canon introduced their EOS lens mount, which is what the 6D Mark II uses. So you can use lenses back to that are in the EOS lens mount. So they made a big change because they saw where the future was going with electric products, and they wanted to get a system that was most adopt to the future needs of cameras. And then finally in 2000, they brought out their first main line digital camera that had interchangeable lenses, the D30, and this is a descendant of that of some sort. And so they've been making many, many advances since then, but if you look at the camera design, camera design really hasn't changed that much. Something that Canon's been working on for many, many years and so for people, once again those reviewers who look at the camera, they kinda, oh, it looks the same as the previous versions of cameras. And that's because this is a design that they have found people are very happy with, and works really, really well. And so that's the reason it looks the way it does. So EOS stands for Electrical Optical System. One of the great things about having a Canon camera is there's lots of different choices for cameras. If you need a second body of if somebody else needs a recommendation, they're a big family of cameras, they have a lot of different lenses, and they have a very complete flash system. And so, it is the largest camera system available today, and so for versatility reasons, Canon is a very, very good place to be in the photographic world. Now, the 6D Mark II is a full frame camera which we will talk more about, and it is the least expensive Canon camera currently, that offers that full frame sensor. The original 6D came out about five years prior to the 6D Mark II, and has been a good, solid performer since then. And so now we have updated features and a lot of technology in this camera, and it is a step above a lot of the crop frame cameras as far as the image quality that you're likely to get for a lot of different types of photography. So, good, solid performer overall. All right. In the instruction manual, there's all sorts of warnings about what not to do with the camera. In short, you could probably just say don't be stupid with it. It is an electronic device that can break somewhat easily if dropped or not handled properly. Couple of things that people do have questions on is the weather resistance of the camera. Now, it is classified as dust and drip resistant which means they have a lot of o-ring seals on the different openings of the camera. However, they also say the camera is not waterproof. It cannot be used underwater. I think that last part is pretty obvious. But you want to be careful if it's raining outside, how long you stay out in the rain and how hard it's raining. And so the first part is, how hard is it raining? If it's a light mist, yeah, you could probably be out there for an hour or so before you might encounter a problem. But under heavy rain, if you need to go out shooting in this, I would recommend finding a covered place to shoot, or using a rain cover over the camera to protect it from any sort of heavy rain or water situation. Canon is not liable for damage if used with non-Canon accessories. So Canon doesn't want to be held accountable if you are hooking up all sorts of crazy contraptions to the camera. For the most part, the devices that you can hook, it's going to be fine with pretty much all the SD memory cards. With batteries, of course Canon prefers the Canon batteries, it has electronic chips that reads how much power is left, which is very convenient for you. There are some after market batteries that will work, and I have not heard of any problems that they cause with the camera, but they may not have communication so you may not see whether it's a half used or fully used or partially used battery, so you won't have quite as much communication. With flash units, you could of course hook this up to any sort of studio system that you want, that's perfectly fine. If it's a TTL flash system, I tend to want to stay with the name brand manufacturer, so Canon in this case. The communication and the operation of the flash is just a lot easier. If you're just doing simple manual flash, there's a lot of inexpensive flash units that will do just as good a job at firing a flash. But if you want to to keep that TTL communication, and you want to a lot of, maybe the more sophisticated things that are options between the camera and the flash, I would stick with the Canon flashes. And as we go through the class, I'll show you the Canon available flashes and which ones I would recommend for different kinds of photography. Let's make sure your camera and my camera is ready for today's class. You wanna have a charged battery that'll take about two and a half hours, get you around 1,200 shots under normal photography systems. You wanna have a lens on there. And the auto focus on Canon cameras is controlled on the lens section, so you go over to the lens, make sure it's on the auto focus setting. Got a memory card in your camera, turn your camera on, I'll do the same on mine. Set the camera to the A+ mode. I'll be honest with you, folks, this is not my favorite mode, but it's good for simple, basic photography. And then I'm just gonna go ahead and point my camera and take a photo and make sure I'm getting a picture in the back of the camera. Everything seems to be good. Hopefully it is on your camera as well, because we're gonna get rolling right here until the rest of the class.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Warren Gedye
John, this is my second class of yours I'm taking on Creative Live. You are a very unique and articulate instructor. Your knowledge, understanding and experience in all matters photography is astounding! You have certainly fine tuned the knack in imparting your deep knowledge in such a palatable way! Your slides are magnificent, simple and concise and caters directly to your audience. I can only imagine the hours upon hours of time spent making these valuable slides. I look forward to many more of your courses!
a Creativelive Student
Always enjoy all of John's classes, but especially this one since I've decided to upgrade from my previous 6D. Awesome camera and this one is so much quieter than the older one. Thank you for explaining things in terms and ways that are easy to understand!
Tim Rogers
Thanks for a very useful course John. Not to get out and enjoy the new toy. Wish I had done the similar course for my previous camera (60D); will be recommending it to the person I am giving the camera to.
Student Work
Related Classes
Camera Guides