Lessons

Lesson Info

Bottom & Front of Camera

Working our way down to the bottom of the camera, we have our standard tripod socket, and there's a variety of accessories that you can plug in here, most notably your standard tripod. There will be serial numbers down here that you can record for insurance purposes, and then of course we have our battery compartment. The LP-E6N, this is the standard battery and it's very common battery with Canon that they use in a lot of different cameras and it's been the standard for several years and so it's a good battery that has a lot of siblings, you might say. You can go in to choose setup number three and you can check the exact life of your battery. You can see how many pictures you've taken, with that charge, you can see how the lifespan of that battery is. Is it kind of a new battery or an older battery. And exactly percentage wise, 53 percent, how much is left in that particular battery. For those who like to shoot vertically a lot, you might want to take a look at the vertical grip. It ...

makes holding the camera much more comfortable and steadier when shooting vertical shots. So if you do a lot of portrait photography or sports photography, highly recommend this. In the grip itself, the BG-E14, you can put two batteries in there. So this is also good for people who do time lapse work who need a power source that's gonna keep the camera going for a long period of time. And so it just simply uses one battery, and when that one runs out, it switches over to the other one. So the camera comes with a standard travel charger which is nice. If you want, you can purchase a car charger for it, and if you need it for scientific reasons or some sort of time lapse work to give a constant power to the camera all the time, there is an AC adapter kit which requires DC coupler which has kind of this fake battery that goes in the camera and a cord runs out this little rubber door that open up on the side. And that allows constant power to the camera. So if you're working in a studio, as I'd say for scientific type reasons, where you need it to have power to it for a long period of time, and not worry about replacing batteries, you'd need to purchase those two items. Over to the front of the camera, we do have stereo microphones to get you slightly improved sound. But once again, if you are gonna be shooting video and you really want to get good sound, you're going to need an external microphone of some sort. We have two different lens alignment marks, and this is depending on whether you have EF lenses or EF-S lenses. The red circle or the white square will help you line up the lenses with the lens mount. And then we have our lens release over on the side. So let me just show you on my camera right here real quickly. We can see on our lens here, it's an EF-S lens, because we have a white square here, so we're gonna match that up with the white square right there and give it a turn. There's a little clip that you'll here when you've done it properly, so very simple, don't be afraid, I know there are some people who first get into SLRs and the first time they change the lens they're always like what do I do? Do I press this button? Is this okay? You don't want to leave the lens off for a long period of time because there's dust that can get in through the opening of the camera and can work its way back to the sensors. So it's best to leave a lens, or a lens cap, body cap on the camera at all times. Don't be worried about changing lens unless there's a good reason to be worried, which would be in a dusty environment or any type of situation where there's a lot of contaminants in the air. I know that if I was in my dad's workshop, and he was cutting wood with a table-saw, there's a lot of sawdust in the air, I would not want to change lenses in there. I would go into the next room or go outside, change the lenses, and then come back, because you don't wanna be changing in that type of environment. Alright, you'll be able to see the mirror when you take the lens off, that's part of that reflex, the single-lens reflex of course. And behind that, it's going to be our shutter unit, and then our sensor. This is a 24.2 megapixel sensor on there. It is an APS-C or a 1.6 crop CMOS sensor. We have our CPU contacts, which is communicating with the CPU contacts on the lens for focus, aperture, exposure information. There is a depth-of-field preview button. It's unlabeled and it's kind of hidden down here, so you kinda really gotta find where that is and this is helpful for previewing the depth-of-field, so when you press that button, it'll stop the aperture down to the working aperture to show you the depth-of-field. And so in some cases, you're not gonna notice any difference because your camera is set to the widest opening aperture and so it's not gonna have any impact. You're only going to notice it when you have your aperture set to something smaller like F-11, 16, and 22. And then again, when you press that one, it's probably just gonna seem dark when you press it, but look at the depth-of-field and you will see a difference between before and after pressing the button, but that will give you a preview of what the final picture is gonna look like, as far as its depth-of field goes. Next up, we have our remote control sensor. If you remember that little RC- that we talked about earlier, you gonna need to point that at this little sensor on the camera. So if you don't have a direct line of sight to this, it may not work. It works like a TV remote and so you can't be too far away, it can't be under too bright of conditions, it's limited range in that regard. The camera does have a red eye reduction lamp and a self timer illuminator up on the front of the camera. Some people find this distracting in some ways and so if you don't like this, you can turn this off in the custom functions, which is one of the things that I'll probably be recommending 'cause it's a little annoying in many situations. Since we're talking about the front of the camera, let's talk about some of the different lens options that are available. Canon makes a wide variety of lenses and they can be generally grouped into two categories. The EF lenses and the EFS lenses. And so, they are clearly labeled as EF or EFS lenses and they'll either have the red dot or the white square. So, let's talk about what's different about these two lenses. So, the EF lens is kind of their traditional lens. It was designed for the full frame sensor for the 35 millimeter cameras. As light goes through and EFS, EF lens, excuse me, it creates and image circle large enough to cover the full size sensor of the full frame. As light goes through an EFS lens, it produces a smaller size circle appropriate for the smaller size sensor in these cameras, the APS-C sensor. And so they're essentially perfectly matched for their own sensors. Now, if you were to take your EFS lens and you were to upgrade to a full frame camera like the 6D or the 5D series of cameras, well then it's not gonna cover the full image area. And for this very reason, Canon will not allow these lenses to be mounted on. Oh, you can try, but they physically will not fit on the camera. They put a little stopper on them and you can not mount them on the camera. Now, the other side of the coin is that you get an EF lens designed for the large sensor and you're putting it on your smaller sensor. Well here we don't have the same problem. We are covering more than enough area and in some ways, these lenses are a little overkill because you are not using the full image area, but there is no real downside to using these lenses and so if you need one of those lenses in the focal range that they are at, then use them, by all means, they're perfectly fine. And you'll find that there are very few EFS telephoto lenses and that's because the EF lenses work perfectly well for telephoto lenses. You'll find EFS lenses more in the wide angle range and the normal zoom range. So, there is a lot of different letters on these lenses and it goes into the different special features that these lenses have. And so here are some of the more common letters that you're gonna see and what they actually mean and we're not gonna spend the time going through what all these mean in here, it's kind of a whole thing for another class, but they do like their red letters and they're L colory. And so, we do have EFS lens mount, it's going to be the square. So for the 18-135, which is a very popular lens with this particular camera, does have a stabilizer that you can turn on and off, as well as the manual focusing system. We have our zoom ring for adjusting our angle of view and our focusing ring if we want to manually focus. Each lens is a little bit different in the filter thread size, there are very common sizes. 67 is pretty common with Canon lenses, but different lenses will have different lenses here. You'll notice a little notch there and this is for the lens hood. This is a good shade for blocking light, hitting the front of the lens that might cause a loss of contrast. I try to use a lens hood as often as possible. It also works as a nice lens protector from just the lens getting bumped and it's also helpful if you're shooting in misty or rainy conditions keeping that water from landing on the lens. So, it's a good safe thing to use. It rarely is ever a bad thing to use on the front of a lens. And so one word of warning is that if you are using the built-in flash, that hood may get in the way, so that may be one of those times where it's appropriate to take the lens hood off the lens. So the 18-135 is a new lens from Canon, it's a Nano USM, which is using some new technology, which works very quickly for focusing for standard situations, but also very quickly for movie and live view focusing. One of the things that's most unusual about this lens is on the bottom you'll see a special little ridge section and some contacts and this is for using the power zoom adapter. And I still haven't had a chance to play with one of these live. It's still, I don't know if they've started shipping yet on these, but this is something that you would mount to the bottom of the camera. And for those of you who shoot video, it allows you to zoom very very smoothly. Normally, you would just have to turn the ring on the lens yourself and there's only so smooth that you can get doing that. And so, this allows you a power zoom the same way a camcorder or a true video camera would work. And so, it does give you additional capabilities with a still lens and so, something quite interesting for anyone who wants to shoot video with this device. So, a few of the lenses that you're likely to encounter when you go around looking for lenses, the 18-135 is available in an older version, which is known as an STM motor, which is a very quiet, quick focusing for video, but not quite as quick in still photography. The 18-55 is their least expensive basic lens, get lens you'll find that on a lot of the rebels. If you want a step up lens, some people just don't like to change lenses, so the 18-200 gives them a little bit of wide angle and quite a bit of telephoto. I think the, a lot of people are gonna want even more telephoto and so, a lot of times, I recommend the 15- because that gives you a little bit more wide angle and probably enough wide angle that you won't ever need another wider angle lens. At 18, which is the equivalent of 28 in full frame, it's moderately wide, but I can see why a lot of people are gonna want a wider angle lens beyond that at some point. So the 15-85, I think makes a good general purpose lens. Looking at some of the fast lenses, the problem with the previous sets of lenses is none of them let in a lot of light and if you wanna let in more light, it's gonna be a heavier lens, it's gonna be more expensive, and it's not gonna have as much zoom range, but if you are shooting under low light conditions, Canon makes their own 17-55. Probably the least expensive of the group is gonna be the Tamron 17- and I'm a pretty big fan of that. I think that's a pretty good lens. Tokina makes one that's even faster at f/2, which is very cool, and Sigma makes both kind of a wide angle to normal and a telephoto incredibly fast f/1.8 lens. And so if you wanted to shoot with a shallow step to field or just letting in the most amount of light with the zoom lens, those Sigma lenses are very unique in that regard. Now, they are quite a bit larger, they're quite a bit heavier, and they are a bit more money, but they are also probably a little bit sharper than everything else as well. If you do wanna get into wide angle, something wider than that 18 or 15, Canon makes their own 10- and beyond that, you're gonna start having to look at the other manufacturers. Once again, probably one of the least expensive ones is gonna be the Tamaron 10-24, which I recommend and do not have any problems with at all. The widest of them is the Sigma 8- and that's for somebody who really wants to get down the widest that you can go on this camera ad probably my favorite of the group is the Tokina and that's because it's a little bit faster at its f/2.8 aperture. It seems to have a really good build on it and they've been improving and updating this lens several times over the last several years and so, I think that's probably one of my favorite choices if it comes down to, I do real estate photography, architecture, landscape photography, and I do want something very very wide, I think that one's a good choice in that field. Alright, when it comes to the telephoto zooms, the Canon 70-300 is probably the no-brainer choice for most people, it's kinda the easy one that's gonna be on here. With the crop factor on this, that gives you the equivalent of 450 millimeter lens, which should be enough for pretty much any of the air shows or wildlife parks or zoos that you're gonna go to, but if you do want to up the quality of the glass, the image sharpness, the 70-300 L version is gonna get you something that has the same range and it's the same aperture, but it is gonna be sharper and it's gonna be designed into a more weather sealed lens. For somebody who didn't quite need to reach out to and not to 200, the 70-200 f/4 is really a mighty little lens that is incredibly sharp, it's not that heavy and is, it's just one of those little quiet lenses that sits in the background that doesn't take in all the awards, but there are many many photographers that absolutely love that lens 'cause it's kinda the Goldilocks lens for a lot of people. It's not too big, it's not too small, it's just right for a telephoto lens, sot that's definitely one of my favorite. Also because it is a f/4 constant aperture, it doesn't change. And, we're not really gonna dive into these, but just be aware that the L lenses, which are the ones with the red stripes and the really high price tag are their most luxury line of lenses, it's their professional line of lenses and any of those lenses are gonna be fantastic on this camera. Some of them might be overkill, I would look more at the medium telephotos and their zoom telephotos. I wouldn't get any of the L wide angle lenses for this camera just because of the crop frame sensor you need special lenses, different than their L lenses for this one. So, all of their L lenses are EF lenses, they don't have any EFS lenses, so be aware of that all of these are designed for the full frame, but they can work equally well on this camera as well. And if you are fascinated by lenses as I am, there's a great class that I'll tell you about in just a moment, but one final slide, if you're looking for a really good deal on a lens, you know, these are the hidden gems in the Canon lens system. All of these pale in comparison in price to some of the other models out there and they are all very good lenses for the price. I've used all of these lenses and very much personally recommend any of these lenses and so, compare these prices with anything else, they're not bringing home a lot of attention, but if you look at the user forums on these, people are very happy with these lenses even though they're not gonna be top of the line lenses. And so as I said, If you like lenses like I do and you wanna learn more about them and their implications and taking photos and how to use them, I do have an entire class on lenses, it's actually a very long class and it's amazing how much we put in here, but there is a Canon lens class and it covers every single Canon lens that they have available in the market today, and so that class is available here, through creative live, of course. Alright folks, we have covered all the buttons, all the dials on the camera. Let's take a look and see if we have any questions. Yes. We do have some people asking about what about this camera versus that camera, so getting your opinion on a couple of those, if you don't mind. Maybe you can just give us your opinion on maybe one standout feature of those each cameras. So, one of them is from web2540, a regular here, who says, I'm interested in learning John's impressions about the features added to the 80D since the 70D and if you feel it's a worthy upgrade or sort of what are the main differences there? Right. And so, between the two, and I always have to go back and think several models back, they've improved the focusing system and they increased the megapixels would probably be the two biggest things that they changed on that. And so, for most people the megapixel jump is just insignificant 'cause they were at, what were they? At 18 or 20 and then they went up to and if you need it, it's nice. They have improved the sensor a little bit so that's gotten a little bit better and then they've gone from a 18 point focusing system to a 45, so they've made quite a bit of, a pretty big jump there. It's not just the number of points, but it's the way that you select them. And, you know, I see a lot of reviewers and people asking, is it worth the upgrade? And far too often, people say, it is of course worth the upgrade. This is a better camera and you'll love it more than the old one. And that totally depends on how much money you want to spend on a camera. Because if you have an unlimited supply of money, of course it's a great upgrade. It's not gonna have any significance. You're not going to notice the impact. But for somebody who's thinking, wait a minute, I gotta sell this one, I'm gonna get 500 bucks for this one and the new one's gonna cost me x amount and it's gonna cost me, you know, 500 to a thousand dollars, you know, for most people, I don't think the upgraded sensor and the upgraded focusing system is worth 500 bucks. I think 500 dollars can be better spent on a lens or a weekend trip to go out and shoot photos. I think 500 dollars can be spent many different ways. And so, a lot of times, I'm gonna say, I don't think it's worth the upgrade. But if you have the money, I'm like the first person on the bandwagon to upgrade 'cause I want to get these latest features. So in many cases, no, it's not worth the upgrade. If you do use those features a lot, it's gonna be a little bit better. What's kinda nice for anyone who is upgrading is that a lot of the controls are very much in the same spot. And so, upgrading is very very simple and there is a learning curve to getting a new camera. And, you know what could be really exciting, going from this to a completely different brand in something. But all of a sudden, there is gonna be this learning curve where you don't have things where you remember them being. And so it is very easy to upgrade in this regard and this is probably why Canon designed these lenses or the cameras, they're very similar so that you can upgrade very easily. Alright, well web2540 says thank you very much for your opinion and a reminder, I think what's so amazing about your lens class that you were just mentioning, is how in-depth you go into the value of lenses, as well, and how it's a lot more about what those can do for you, and often the importance of those lenses and how long they last and all of that, so, thank you for that. One more, this is from Sir Bubbles, who says, I'm an aspiring photographer and videographer and who's currently debating whether to buy the 80D or the Sony A72. What are your thoughts on the two? What are, you know, what are sort of some of the standout features? Alright. So the A72, is a little bit of an unfair comparison. It has a full frame sensor and it sells for, how much or which model they're looking at of the A72, but it's going to be a fair bit more money than this one. If you are looking to take action photographs, still photographs, this is gonna be better, the focusing system is gonna be able to track and work with those subjects better. If you're going to be shooting video more, like that's kinda the main reason you're getting the camera, then the Sony system is gonna be better for that system because you're gonna have an EVF and every time you shoot video with this camera, you're gonna have to hold it out here on a tripod, you can't look through the view finder. With the Sony, you can hold it up in a very steady position to use that because it has an electronic view finder. And so, that is a bit of an unfair comparison. Now, just kinda talking about this camera, one of my general thoughts on this camera, is that this is a camera, if you say you own, if you walk into a room of photographers and you say hey everybody, I own an 80D, you're gonna see a lot of people's eyes roll. Alright, because there's a lot of people who get this camera and this is like the best, really good camera that they've ever had and they're very excited about it. But for the serious photography group, it's not the first at anything, it's not the best at any one thing in particular, but in my mind, this camera is kinda like the decathlete on the track team. Not the best long jumper, not the best 1500 meter runner, but he can do everything really well. So, if you're looking for a camera that is good at stills and good at video, this is probably the best in that category. And so, it's really kind of bridging two different worlds and they say that this is the perfect blogger camera. You know, you wanna shoot stills and videos and upload them and work with them in that way, this is the perfect camera for that. Well thank you again John. It is so hard when you're purchasing a camera to know what the differences are and which one's for me and I think, I appreciate how it always comes down to what your intentions are and what your use is. And in fact, you have a free class about that, don't you? Don't tell people about free classes. Do we do free classes? Of course we do. So yeah, there is an entire class that we did on how to choose the right camera. And I think that's the name of the class. How to choose your first DSLR, but we actually talk about mirrorless and everything else. Now, this particular camera came out after that class was recorded, but I think we talked about the previous camera, the 70D there and it's not the specific cameras that are important, it's the concept and ideas that you are using to make your decisions on. And so we go through the whole process of how to choose different sensor sizes and two different types of cameras and the benefits and drawbacks.