Lessons
Class Introduction
04:29 2Photo Basics
04:53 3Basic Controls: Auto Modes
10:42 4Basic Controls: Manual Modes
14:11 5Basic Controls: Back of Camera
25:33 6Back of Camera: Quick Menu
09:38 7Back of Camera: Play Back
05:07 8Left, Right & Bottom of Camera
03:35Lesson Info
Movie Menu
Now we want to get to the video functions and in order to do this you need to have your camera in the video mode. And then press the menu button, and so I'll give you a moment. Flip your dial all the way over to the movie mode at the end of the dial, the bottom of the dial, and then hit the menu button again. And these first three tabs in the shooting menu are changing to the movie modes. Let's go through and see what they have in here. First one is movie exposure. Do you want to figure out shutter speeds and apertures automatically or manually? So if you just want to capture some basic home movies, let the camera figure it out for you and leave it in the auto mode. If you really want to play around with the cinematic experience, you're gonna want to control shutter speeds and apertures. Flip it over to the manual mode, and you're now in control of shutter speeds, apertures and ISO. The AF method we've talked about before in the live view. We talked about it before because we saw it in...
the quick menu when we were in the movie mode. So I'm going to stick with the same recommendations in the FlexiZone AF. It's simple, and it's easy to work with. Autofocus with the shutter button during video recording. And so this is left on disable because when you're shooting video it's not good technique to refocus while you're shooting video, especially with this type of camera that might make a little bit of noise and also be a little bit not smooth and a little bit jumpy in its focusing mechanism. So on a camera like this, it's generally recommended you figure out your focusing. Shoot your video clip. Stop. Refocus on your new subject, new scene. Then shoot your video. So that's why we have this set on disable. Okay movie shutter/auto exposure lock button. When we talk about before the slash there, it's what's going on with the shutter button while you're recording movies, and what's going on with the button in the back of the camera, the auto exposure lock button. And so you can control different aspects of what's happening with the camera. So it's basically button customization. And there's a variety of reasons why you might want to use any one of these functions, and it really depends on how much manual operation of your camera you're gonna have. Most people don't need to play around with this, but if you do want to play around with where the auto focus is controlled or how the camera locks the exposure down, you can customize it here. Highlight tone priority. Now this is a little bit more important than a previous version of this highlight tone priority that we've talked about or will talk about, I should say. In this case, when you're shooting video we don't have as much control over the range of brightness that we're shooting. So it's quite possible that you could protect the highlights by enabling this. It just kind of depends on what type of video you're shooting. In general, I'm just trying to be on the safe side and just disable this. I don't like the camera going in and adjusting these sorts of things. But it's one option that you may want to look at to see if it's right for your needs. Second tab in the movie menu, and this is probably the most important setting in the movie menu collection of features is the movie recording size. And so how big a file are we recording and resolution, and so the 1920 by is know as full HD, or high definition. We have two versions of that. One is at 24 frames a second, which is the way Hollywood films their movies. Or 30 frames a second which is the way most videos on TV are seen. And so that's the standard setting that most people are gonna want; the highest quality setting out of this camera. We also have a standard HD mode, which is the 1280 by 720, which would be at 60 frames a second, and so it's lower in resolution but faster frame rate, so a bit of a trade-off there. And there is a slower 640 by 480 at 30 frames a second. That's more akin to what you might see on YouTube under a standard definition quality. So if you wanted to really save a lot of file space, you could use that 640 by 480. So it really depends on your purposes and what you're doing with that video and how a high a resolution you need. But I think most people are gonna want that highest 1920 by 1080 definition. The sound recording can be turned on and off. You can let the camera figure out how much audio sound you need by just leaving it in the auto mode, and it's gonna adjust the sensitivity levels according to the sound that it hears. There's also a wind filter in there that you can enable there if you need to as well. When you're in the video mode how long does the metering timer stay active? You could save battery power and set this a little bit shorter if you want to or longer if it's necessary for what you're doing. We also have a grid display. Same thing that we saw earlier, but this is just in the video mode. It allows for sometimes better composition, making sure our horizon lines are correct. The video snapshot mode is something I don't totally understand. I mean I understand how it works. I just don't understand why. What this does is it shoots for two, four or eight-second clips, and it limits you to exactly that amount of time. If you want more or less, forget about it. It could be good for a Vine-type video, which not too many people are doing these days. But if you wanted to shoot with that sort of restriction, you can turn it on right here. The video system comes into play as to where you live and what sort of video system you use in your country. And so in North America we're gonna in the NTSC system. If you're over in Europe, for instance, you're gonna be in the Pal system as you are most places around the world, and that's just so that you can plug it in and you can see videos and images on your TV. Third tab, because in video, in most settings it's all automatic, as far as exposure. You can jump in here and do an exposure compensation to make your image a little bit brighter or a little bit darker than the camera would normally expose it for. The auto lighting optimizer in the video mode will lighten up the shadows, and this is something that can be very good to leave on. So in this case leaving it on standard would make sense, so it recovers a little bit of those shadows and gets you a little bit more dynamic range to work with in the video signal because you don't have that raw option to go with in video where you can get all the information from the sensor. This is a compressed file, and this allows you to try to keep as much of that information as possible. The custom white balance we talked about before. The same thing goes in video, so you can customize your White balance so that it meets the needs of the lights that you are working under. Same thing goes with picture styles, and so you can go into detail set, and you can customize these if you want. And if you're really into video, you can go in and kind of set up a flat picture style. That way you can do your color grading of your images in your video program. Most people are going to be fine just leaving it on auto or standard.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
May Brown
Thank you so much John Gringo!!! This class was fantastic!! I have learnt so much about my camera an setting it up properly to use!! I am so grateful for taking your course. I will be looking into the starter kit soon!! Thank you also for the pdf manual!!! I'm so excited!! Its like you turned on a light out of darkness with my Canon Rebel T6 Camera!! God Bless you!
Myrta Rivera
I learned so much about my canon camera in this course. John is an excellent teacher because he shows you and demonstrates the functions of the camera so you can really understand it. I feel so much more knowledgeable about my camera now and feel more confident to take better photos. Thank you John!!!
Kylie
This class was great! I've had my Canon Rebelt6 for a year and a half and now I finally feel like I know how to use it! He does a great job reviewing all of the functions of this camera.
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