Lesson Info
29. Camera Operation
Lessons
Class Overview
10:57 2Photography Basics
05:41 3Top Deck: Mode Dial (Auto Modes)
18:11 4Top Deck: Mode Dial (Manual Modes)
18:36 5Top Deck: Auto Focus
06:12 6Top Deck: ISO and Flash
06:40 7Back Side: Movie Mode
10:26 8Back Side: Viewfinder Display
12:34Back Side: Live View
03:56 10AF-On Button
06:49 11Quick Menu
18:15 12Wi-Fi & Playback
09:51 13Left & Right Side of Camera
05:24 14Bottom & Front of Camera
04:36 15Lenses
08:38 16Menu Overview
04:50 17Shooting Menu Page 1
06:25 18Shooting Menu Page 2
08:16 19Shooting Menu Page 3
06:44 20Shooting Menu Page 4
04:02 21Shooting Menu Pages 5-6
09:24 22Movie Shooting Menu Pages 1-3
08:02 23Movie Shooting Menu Pages 4-5
06:53 24Playback Menu Page 1-3
08:48 25Set Up Menu Page 1 (Wi-Fi)
13:39 26Set Up Menu Page 2-3
04:11 27Set Up Menu Page 4-5
16:33 28Display Menu & My Menu
06:43 29Camera Operation
09:57Lesson Info
Camera Operation
Alright, our final section in the class is camera operation. So in this one, we just kinda wanna talk about, now that we've talked about all the individual items, let's talk about everything together. And so, if I was a 77D owner, and I was gonna go out and shoot, here are some things I would think about. One, I gotta have a charged and installed battery and I probably wanna have a spare battery. I'm gonna want to install a formatted memory card. I'll probably want to have a spare memory card. I might want to take a quick perusal through some of my common settings, to make sure that I don't have my camera set in some funny way, like on small JPEG or black and white. And then go through whatever menu settings I normally change to see if they've been changed to something different. If I'm gonna take a big and important trip, I'm gonna take some test photos of blank white walls, not because that I think they look nice in photographs, but because I'm looking for dust specks, and I want to ...
see if I need to clean my sensor before I go shoot an important event or take a big trip. So the settings that we talk about on our camera that we're gonna change on a regular basis, there's about nine of 'em or so, and the camera has hundreds, but these are the ones that you're gonna really use on a regular basis. They are features that control the exposure, or the focusing system for the most part. We also have the white balance and the drive in there. But you'll notice on this camera, like I think all really good cameras have, is that you have direct control for all of these features with a single button press on the camera. You don't need to dive into any sort of secondary menu and look for the item. You have a single button on the outside of the camera. So here is what those features look like, when we lay 'em all out, 'cause we wanna see, how are we gonna set these up for different types of scenarios? First scenario is super simple photography. So, if you're gonna hand the camera to a friend, you could put it in the A+ mode, but if you wanna give 'em just a little bit of wiggle room for playing around, you might wanna have it in the program mode. The camera will figure out shutter speeds and apertures. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of auto ISO, but if you wanna keep things really simple, it will take care of the job for you. Make sure your exposure compensation is at zero, unless you want it to be somewhere else. White balance, auto is a good place to start with, adjust it if necessary, from there on out. As long as your subjects aren't moving around too much, you can go into the one shot focusing mode, which is for stationary subjects. The focusing area, the auto AF, chooses all 45 points, looks over the entire screen, and focuses on whatever is closest to you the photographer or the camera. And the drive mode on single will be fine in most situations. Now let's talk about some more specific situations. First up is landscape photography, where we are needing more depth of field, our subjects are not moving around, and maybe, hopefully, we're on a tripod. So, you have a little bit more time, so this is a good time to be working in manual, so that you can shoot specific shutter speeds and apertures for consistent results. You want to be in the lowest ISO possible, so that you can get the best quality image off the sensor. You probably want a lot of depth of field, which means f/11, 16, or something in that range. You're gonna end up with a slow shutter speed. The shutter speed will depend on the amount of light that you happen to have. It's quite possible it might be a little bit on the slower side, like around 1/30 of a second, so that's where it will help to have a tripod, or at the very least, a lens with image stabilization. Auto white balance is a fine place to start, unless you see a problem. Your subject is stationary, so you can use the one shot mode, but you may want to be pretty specific about where you shoot, not just the nearest subject to you, and so that would be the one shot mode, where you move that focusing point around, to choose where you want to focus on. Or excuse me, one shot mode for stationary subjects, and then single point for where you want to focus in the frame. And this is where you could use the single shot, or you could use one of the self timer modes as well, so that you're not bumping the camera when it's shooting. Alright, next up is portrait photography. So here, you're not gonna be on a tripod, most likely. You need a little bit faster shutter speed to stop the handheld action of the camera, as well as that of your subject. You want to get consistent results, so manual exposure is a good option. In this case, the aperture, you may want to have it wide open. Now maybe you don't have a lens that goes down to 1.4, well maybe just open it as wide as it can go. Maybe it's a 2.8, or four, or 4.5, something in there. In order to get shallow depth of field, so that you're getting that background a little bit more out of focus. You're gonna need a little bit faster shutter speed. I recommend 1/125 of a second. That'll stop most basic casual human action just fine. And if you can, get the ISO to 100. I would have it there; you may need to bump it up. Depends on your light levels. Auto white balance will probably be fine. As long as your subjects aren't moving around too much, one shot will be fine. I like single point AF, so I can focus on their eye, and make sure that their eyes are in focus, 'cause that's usually the most important element in a portrait. And as long as it's not fast action stuff, I will shoot single and I can carefully time off each of my shots. In action photography, there's a lot of major changes that we need to make to the focusing system and to the shutter speeds that we choose. I still like using manual exposure, as long as the lighting is fairly consistent. And in this case, I wanna get a shutter speed, probably 1/500 of a second, or faster. It all depends on how fast of the action you are actually shooting. This is where it really pays off to have one of those faster lenses that's like a 2.8 or faster. And you're probably gonna need a higher ISO. When you choose faster shutter speeds, you often need higher ISOs to compensate for the less light that the shutter speeds are allowing in, and so 400 or higher is quite common in action photography, depending on the light of course. Auto white balance should be fine to start with. One of the most important settings is the focus setting to AI servo, and this is where the camera will track the subject's movement back and forth. Because moving subjects are a little hard to predict at times, it's hard to stay in a single point, and this is where the zone, or potentially, the large zone would be a very good choice for where to focus in the frame. And as far as the drive, you could use the low, or the high speed continuous, so that you can get a series of shots, the camera would automatically refocus on each shot, so that each of your pictures would be in focus. Alright, last one I'm gonna give you is what I call basic photography. This is often what I'm using in travel photography. This is when you don't know what your next shot is going to be. You just want to be ready for it. Aperture priority is gonna be a good mode, 'cause it'll leave, gives you some manual control, but some automation for quick shooting. And so, a moderate aperture, four, 5.6, eight, somewhere in there would be a good option that should give you a reasonably fast shutter speed. I like to leave my ISO at 100, until I start getting into low light conditions, or conditions where I'm needing faster shutter speeds. I will then bump it up as necessary from there. Exposure compensation, I'll have that set at zero, unless I'm specifically trying to change it. White balance, once again at auto, unless it needs to be changed. As long as my subjects aren't moving a lot, I'm going to leave it in the one shot mode, so I can pick out where the camera focuses, and it locks in on that one point. And I like to be specific about where I'm focusing, and so the single point allows you to be very precise about what it is that you are focusing on. And once again, if it's not fast action, I'm fine with single shots that I can press down on the shutter release, very carefully without moving the camera, and it only takes one photograph at a time. So there you go folks, if you've made it through the end of the entire class, I now deem you an expert on your Canon 77D. And so, if you are interested in classes other than the 77D, I do have a lot of Fast Starts, in fact. So if there's a popular camera out there with interchangeable lenses, I'm likely to make a class on it. And in case you're wondering, my requirements are, is it needs to have interchangeable lenses, and it is highly preferable that it has a viewfinder to it. There's only one exception that's made it, and maybe two exceptions right now. And so those are the classes that I am typically doing my Fast Starts on. And if you are interested in my other classes, I do have a number of other classes. I have a short, basic photography class, but then I also have my fundamentals class, which is a very in-depth course, with a long series of lectures on different aspects of photography. If you're interested in nature and landscape or travel photography, there is a whole set of different topics that we get to talk about in there. And for those of you with Canon, I do have a Canon lens class, and I have a similar one, a mirrored one with Nikon lenses as well. And I may have one for other lenses, as their lineups grow along with the future. So there you go folks. Get that 77D out there and start shooting photos, 'cause it's a great camera, and you should be getting some great results, now that you know how to use it.
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Ratings and Reviews
Nikita Sokolsky
Must have for all 77D owners. Thanks, John!
Dara Pkyprek
Hello, is it hand-on practice or just show how to use the menu in the camera, plz B.R Dara
John Greengo
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