Lesson Info
11. Camera Operations
Lessons
Lesson Info
Camera Operations
So in camera operation we're going to be talking about the most important controls on the camera. So, first off before you head out the door on a big trip or a long vacation make sure that you got your battery charged and installed in the camera. You got a memory card in there, format that memory card as we just talked about. Make sure your image quality is set to RAW or JPEG or whatever you've decided is best for you. Maybe take a quick perusal through the menu sections of the camera to make sure that you haven't changed anything from your last shoot, which where you were doing something, perhaps, something unusual. And if you are taking a big trip, or you're going to do something really important like photograph somebody's wedding, make sure your sensor doesn't have dust on it. You don't want these black specs on all of your photographs, and clean it if necessary. So, the camera may have 100 or 200 different functions, but there's really 10 controls that you're going to be using on a...
regular basis. You can see them here, most of them are going to deal with exposure like your shutter speeds and your apertures. You also have that automated complete program quick flip switch on the top of the camera if you really wanna just go automatic very easily and quickly. That big old exposure compensation dial on the end is a great tactile feel, I love that. And then for a lot of our other controls, we're going to be going into the Q Menu on the back of the camera. And so this will give us access to our white balance and our focusing options, our focusing area, and our focusing mode as well. And, the metering is also fairly important and that's something you actually have to dive into the menu unless you assign a shortcut to it. So let's look at how we would set these 10 keys settings for some different types of photography. So let's lay out all of our settings here, and figure out how we're going to set up on camera for a bunch of different scenarios. First up is the super simple, and so if you just wanted to have your camera as easy to work with as possible but you weren't going to throw your camera in the auto mode you still wanted to have some control over the camera, I would put the camera in the program mode which means putting your aperture in the automated aperture and your shutter speed dial in the A setting. You can then do program shift on the camera. Put an ISO at auto. Normally I like to have a little bit more control, but auto is for the very super simple settings. Make sure that exposure compensation dial on the top of the camera is at zero, unless you want it to be some place else. The multi metering is a good general purpose metering system for just about everything. Auto white balance will get you the correct color most of the time, change it if necessary. The single focus, that's the dial on the front of the camera, the S is going to focus on a subject and then it will stop which will allow you to recompose for subjects that are stationary. For the auto focus area mode, the auto mode will just simply look at the entire area and figure out what is closest to you and highlight that in a green box, and for the super simplest setting it seems to work pretty well. And then the drive mode is where is where it shoots one shot with each shot of the shutter release. So let's do something a little more particular here. Let's do some landscape photography. This is often where we want lots of depth of field and our subjects are not moving. So shutter speed is not too important, but depth of field is very important. If you have a little bit of time to work with the subject, as you do in these landscape scenarios, I recommend manual so you can be very specific about the shutter speeds and apertures you choose. What is generally very most important here is having really high quality image which means setting a low ISO, like 200. And here's also where going to want depth of field: F8, 11, 16, 22, depends on the lens and the scenario and setup that you have. You'll often end up with a slower shutter speed which might require the use of a tripod or at least be very careful about hand holding your lens, good time to make sure the image stabilization is turned on. Metering, I'm going to leave it at the multi metering and the auto white balance change it if necessary. Since my subjects are not moving, focus will be on a single subject and I will want to be in single area mode which allows me to choose a particular area to focus on; it might be left, right, top, bottom, somewhere else besides the middle of the frame. And for the drive mode I would leave it in single so I'm just taking one shot as an unlisted bonus you might want to use the two self second timer here so that you're not actually touching the camera when it's actually firing, or you could be using the cable release. Let's try a little portrait photography. So here we have be a little bit more aware of our handheld movement, cause were probably bot going to be on a tripod, and we have to be aware of our subject potentially moving, and we're probably going to want to be shooting with a more shallow depth of field and so aperture setting will be a little bit more important for this setting. So in here I prefer to work with manual if I have a little bit of time to set my camera up ahead of time. In this case, I probably want to get that shallower depth of field: one four, F2, 2.8, something like that. I'm going to want to have a shutter speed fast enough to stop my action and any action that they might have which usually means 125th of a second or faster, and I want to have as low of ISO as I can get away with given the lighting that I'm working with. Multi metering and auto white balance as I have mentioned before we're pretty good. As long as my subjects aren't moving, I'm going to choose the single focusing mode so I can focus, lock, and recompose. And for focusing area I'm going to want to choose a single box and choose their face, and if particular their eye, their closest eye in which to focus. And I'll probably just shoot a single shot at a time, and each time I want a new shot I'll just press down on the button again. Alright, let's do some action photography. So subject movement here is critical, faster shutter speeds are going to be very important. If it's under consistent lighting, I'll want to use manual exposure so I can be particular about my settings. In this case, I'll probably want something at 500th of a second or faster, depending on how fast the action is moving. This is where those faster lenses that go down to 2. really pay off when you need those faster shutter speeds. And while I would prefer to be at the lowest ISO, I will often end up at 400 or something higher. Multi metering is good, auto white balance is probably going to be fine I'll change it if necessary, and the focus mode, this is the important change here, is changing to continuous so that it can track the subjects moving towards you and away from you and at different distances from you. And, it's a little hard to keep that small focusing bracket on your subject and this is where that larger zone focusing three by three, or three by five, or five by five boxes is probably the best choice to keep your subject within that zone of an area. And this probably where you're going to want to have a continuous low or continuous high setting so that you can get lot's of photos over a very short period of time with one button press. And I'll leave you with one last setting, this is a good way to end the class. Leave your camera setup like this in the camera bag for your next shot. Basic photography is how would I leave my camera when I don't know what my next shot is going to be. I just want to be ready for pretty much anything that comes along my way, and here's where I'll take a little bit of help from the camera in it's aperture priority mode. And so I'll change the shutter speed dial to A, and I will be changing apertures on the camera on the lens itself. And I'll probably leave it fairly wide open, F4 maybe five six or so, and that'll give me a reasonably fast shutter speed. If I need more depth of field, I'll adjust the aperture accordingly. I'll leave the ISO at 200 and I'll only adjust that higher if I know that I need a faster shutter speed or I'm working under lower light conditions. Then to keep an eye on that exposure dial, I may want use it but normally I'm gonna want to leave it set at zero. The multi metering is good for most things as is auto white balance. Most of the time I'm not shooting actions, things that are moving forward and backwards, so I'm going to leave it in single. Focusing mode, and a single focusing bracket so I can be very particular about what I'm choosing to focus on, and the drive mode will be left in single so that I just get one shot with each button press of the camera. And so folks if you have made it to this point of the class, I can now say congratulations! You are a Fuji X-T10 expert, so thanks a lot for tuning in and enjoy your camera, this is a great little camera.
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Ratings and Reviews
honolulube
I'm thinking about purchasing an XT-20, this course was very helpful to understand the camera beforehand. note: the opening slide in John's (excellent) presentation, shows an XT-1 not an XT-10... but I'm buying an XT-20, I think I got that right. - perhaps just an Easter Egg hahaha
user-98aab8
John Greengo's approach to teaching is the best. Each visual, each explanation and each example he demonstrated touched every sensory way of learning. The PDF print outs are a great bonus. Thank you for doing this video.
Dan Meylor
I purchased my Fujifilm X-T10 over a year ago and recently realized that I wasn't using it to its fullest extent. John's Greengo's video on its use opened me to a wider use. The information is clear, well organized, sequential, and helpful. I don't have the time to read a small print booklet and found the visual presentation useful because I could go through the steps on my Fuji. I'm still a little unclear on the seven custom setting and think Fuji should explain what each does. Thanks, John, for your work and encouragement.
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