Lessons
Class Overview
13:49 2Photo Basics
03:58 3Top Deck: Basic Controls
03:35 4Top Deck: Mode Dial and Exposure Compensation
24:50 5Custom Key Settings
08:43 6Focus Area
08:22 7Multi Interface Shoe, Audio, Focal Plane
02:15 8Back Side Controls: Focus Mode
06:14Back Side Controls: Viewfinder
08:27 10Additional Back Side Controls
07:55 11Back Side Controls: Function Button
19:31 12Back Side Controls: Control Wheel, Display, ISO, Drive Mode
03:22 13Back Side Controls: Playback Mode
04:54 14Left Side Controls
03:02 15Right Side Controls
05:15 16Bottom Controls
03:20 17Front Controls
03:12 18Sony Lenses
11:43 19Menu Functions: Camera Settings 1
31:10 20Menu Functions: Camera Settings 1 Continued
33:15 21Menu Functions: Camera Settings 2 - Video
27:43 22Menu Functions: Network
13:10 23Menu Functions: Playback
06:42 24Menu Functions: Set Up
26:04 25My Menu
11:55 26Camera Operation
10:16Lesson Info
Photo Basics
This next section is just a few photo basics for anyone who's, been a long time since I've taken a photography class, or they're just getting back into it, or they're just getting into it for the very first time. This is a mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses. We have lots of different, great lenses we'll talk a little bit about in this class. And in each of the lenses is an aperture, which is one of our ways of controlling how much light comes in the camera. And so with the settings on the camera, we can change the F-stops to be very wide open, like 1.4, or closed down to F22. So we'll be opening and closing down these apertures to let in more or less light. Besides just controlling the amount of light coming in the camera, it also controls the amount of focus, depth of field, that we have. And so, when we focus with 1.4 on those few lenses that do have 1.4, we're gonna get very shallow depth of field. And then as we stop that aperture down, that depth of field is gonna grow ...
a little bit. And so, as we work our way down this aperture scale, you'll see our depth of field is growing. Those red hash marks on the right indicate the front edge of focus and the back edge of focus. And then when we stop our lens all the way down to F22 we're gonna get the maximum amount of depth field in most lenses. Some lenses will actually go a little bit beyond 22, and so there we are with great depth of field. And so light will then come into the image sensor on the camera and be fed back to the LCD on the back of the camera, which is convenient and nice for using, but even better is the EVF. This is so that you can hold the camera up to your eye and see what's going on under bright light conditions more easily and also with greater detail. And so if we look at what's going on at the sensor level, it's kind of interesting because it has a shutter unit like a traditional SLR, but they work in a little bit different sequencing system. Because it needs to stay open so that you can see what's going on before the picture's taken, when it's time to take the picture what would happen in a traditional sense is that the first curtain needs to close. The sensor needs to be then prepped to record the image. It then opens. That's your exposure, and then the second one comes in and closes it off and that way each pixel is exposed for exactly the same amount of time. And then of course the second curtain needs to open again so you can see for your next shot. Now these shutter speeds come in a lot of different flavors, you might say, from super fast to super slow. The camera will go from 30 seconds up to a thousandth of a second, and actually can go longer than 30 seconds in the bulb mode that we'll talk about a little bit later on. And so that's our second way of controlling the amount of light that we are recording. So the sensor is important in another way as well, and that is the size of the sensor is very important. And this is using what is commonly known as a full-frame sensor. And there's a lot of different cameras out on the market. Some made by Sony that use smaller size sensors, and that means the cameras can be smaller. But the image quality tends to be better with larger size sensors. This one is based off of the film size of 35 millimeter film, which has been a very popular size for the last 60 years or so. Sony does make another group of cameras that fit in the APS-C sensor size, and there are many other cameras that fit in smaller sizes. This is gonna be one of the most capable, highest quality cameras on the market today, if you are interested in that. Now if you are interested in more about these general photography concepts and ideas, I do have a couple of other classes: The Photography starter Kit for anyone who wants a kind of a quick, short class. The brief and get-to-the-point type scenario. And then for somebody who really wants to dig in and get in-depth I have my Fundamentals of Photography, which are both available here at Creative Live.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Angela Sanchez
Super great clearly explained guide for the Sony a7r III. John is always a fantastic knowledgeable instructor who knows how to teach all about cameras in a super clear organized way. I love John Geengo classes!
Craig Markham
As always, John shines as a teacher extraordinaire! His visuals, pacing of presentation, clarity, and and adherence to the class objectives are all spot-on. As a devoted A7r II user for the past 2 years, this was a great review of the shared features, and gave me the best information for evaluating the cost/benefit of an upgrade to the A7r III now.
ufmystic
John Greengo is the man. I've been watching CreativeLive classes for years and there is no better instructor than him. I recently upgraded from the A7r II to the III and had been waiting for this course to be offered. John is incredibly knowledgeable and, with great dedication, provides all pertinent information related to operating and knowing your new camera. If it weren't for John, I wouldn't know the ins and outs of my new camera and would struggle with optimal settings which would decrease the best output possible. You rock, John. Thanks again!
Student Work
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