Lessons
Class Introduction
06:20 2Photo Basics
05:31 3Basic Controls: Top Of Camera
04:45 4Basic Controls: Auto Modes-
09:24 5Basic Controls: Manual Modes
23:47 6Basic Controls: Back Of Camera
20:29 7Basic Controls: Flash Modes
14:05 8Basic Controls: Live View
13:10Basic Controls: Left And Right Of Camera
06:21 10Basic Controls: Bottom & Front of Camera
03:03 11Nikon D3400 Lens Options
07:25 12Menu Functions Overview
02:51 13Playback Menu
05:02 14Shooting Menu
21:46 15Setup Menu
23:52 16Setup Menu: Connect to Smart Device
17:01 17Camera Operation Overview
09:19Lesson Info
Photo Basics
Next little section is photo basics and this is not particularly with this camera that I'm giving instructions but just in general for a camera of this nature as I know a lot of people who are getting this camera are new into photography and there is a lot to learn depending on how far you wanna get into it. And so let me just kind of give you the tip of the iceberg you might say of information. So this is a Single Lens Reflex camera which means that it has a single lens and that lens has a wide angle or a telephoto pointed angle of view. They have many different lenses. They have zoom lenses that can change between them. And this is the lens that you get to look through. Now in each of the lenses is an Aperture which controls the amount of light being let in and so it's basically an opening and there are several different increments that we could open or close the aperture to and it's the first of three different ways of controlling light coming in to the camera. The numbers that you ...
see are known as your f stops or your Aperture numbers and we'll be working with those shortly here in this class. So by changing those, we're obviously changing the amount of light coming through that opening but we're also changing the depth of field. A lens that has an aperture of 1. can shoot with a very shallow depth of field. And then as we stop that aperture down to 2 and 2. and smaller and smaller openings which is actually bigger numbers, it's fractions, we're not gonna get into it right now, we're getting more and more depth of field until we stop our lens down to an aperture of f/22 in this case where we have great depth of field and most everything in the viewfinder is going to be in focus. So that's what's going on in the lens. Now as light comes into the camera, we get to the mirror which is the reflex portion of Single Lens Reflex. It's reflecting the light upward so that we can see what's going on. It bounces the light up to a focusing screen and from there, we can see what's on the focusing screen through a prism system at the top of the camera and through the viewfinder so that's what were looking at when we look through the viewfinder. Now when it comes time to take a photo, we need to get that mirror up and outta the way so that light can get back to the image sensor. Before it gets there, it needs to get past the Shutter unit which is the second device for controlling the amount of light being recorded by the camera. And there's actually two curtains. There's a first curtain blocking the sensor and then there's a second one waiting in the wings. So when it comes time to shoot, the first shutter will open and that's our exposure, and then the second one will close and our exposure time is over. The mirror returns and then the shutter unit returns back to its starting position. And there are many different shutter speeds that you can choose from. The fastest is 1/4000 of a second. The slowest is 30 seconds. And then we have various increments in between and we can choose these to control the amount of light coming in. We can also use it to control how fast action is stopped. And so we'll use faster shutter speeds to stop faster action. Now there's a lot of different cameras out on the market and one of the most important differences in all these cameras is the size of the sensor in the camera. And so let's talk for a quick moment about different size sensors in the different cameras. And so this camera uses a, what I would consider a medium sized sensor by today's standards and the largest of the common sensors is based directly off of 35mm film. And so the high end professional Nikons will use this full frame sensor which is 24 by 36 millimeters in size. And so, it's known as full frame, it has a crop factor of 1.0 which basically means it's the same as 35mm. The D3400 uses an APS-C sensor. This is something that Nikon calls a DX format. Nikon's the only company that calls it that name but that's their kind of internal name for that size sensor and there are other cameras out there that have similar size sensors but this one has a 1.5 crop factor. When you're connecting the strap up, the way that you wanna make sure that you do it is having the loose ends on the bottom. So the tail goes underneath so the pressure is being pushed down on that strap, it's less likely to work its way loose. For holding the camera, there's couple different ways that I see people holding cameras and in general, you're gonna stick the camera in your right hand, there's a nice good grip on it. And then what do you do with your left hand? Is it grabbing the kind of the top of the lens or the bottom of the lens? Is your thumb on the upper side or on the lower side? And thumb on the top is the correct way of holding your camera. It gets your elbow a little bit closer into your body and you're able to hold the camera a little bit more steady 'cause your arms are in a more stable position and so that's a good technique to get used to going into the future. So that's a little on you know, the basics of photography. If you are interested in this and wanna know a lot more, we do have a couple of classes. My classes are the Photography Starter Kit and the Fundamentals of Photography. Take a look into those if you wanna learn more about shutter speeds, apertures, composition, lighting and the rest of the world of photography beyond just the operation of your camera. So take a look, they're all here at CreativeLive.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Jan
I just purchased my first DSLR which is a Nikon D3500. There are few changes from the 3400 and this class has helped me tremendously with the transition from point and shoot and phone cameras. I am planning two once in a lifetime trips coming up and along with John's other courses on here I hope to be ready to capture some great memories. Would highly recommend his classes as he is a great teacher. I have tried other courses online and this and his Beginning 3 hour course so far have been the most helpful. Look forward to diving into his Fundamentals class.
Tuan Hoang
John Greengo is a great instructor. He is indeed an expert. 1) Great voice ( clear tone) 2) Extremely friendly look ( must be a humble person) 3) Is indeed an expert ( know what he's talking about) 4) Have a passion teaching the secrets ( some instructors tend to hold back the information but not John) 5) And many more...
Andrea
Great course to help an amateur get familiar with this camera. As a first time DSLR owner, and new to photography in general, there are settings and abilities of this camera that I find to be intimidating at times because they are over my head as a newbie. John explained settings and buttons in a way that cleared up some confusion left from reading the camera manual. I highly recommend this class to every owner of a D3400! John is a great instructor and I look forward to watching more videos of his.
Student Work
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