Lessons
Class introduction
16:18 2Photo Basics
04:59 3Camera Controls: Basic Controls
04:22 4Exposure Controls: ISO & Shutter Speeds
10:32 5Exposure Controls: Aperture & Exposure Compensation
13:16 6Camera Controls: Top Deck
05:38 7Camera Controls: Drive Mode
19:00 8Back Side Controls: EVF & Screen
10:33Back Side Controls: Playback & Delete
07:51 10Back Side Controls: AE-L, AF-ON & Rear Command Dial
05:42 11Quick Menu: Top Row
11:59 12Quick Menu: 2nd Row
09:48 13Quick Menu: 3rd & 4th Rows
08:08 14Back Side Controls: Menu & Function Buttons
06:31 15Camera Controls: Left Side, Right Side & Bottom
09:38 16Camera Controls: Front & Lenses
12:58 17Menu Functions: Image Quality
15:19 18Menu Functions: Focus Settings
14:09 19Menu Functions: Shooting Setting Page 1
21:04 20Menu Functions: Shooting Setting Page 2
05:56 21Menu Functions: Flash Settings
05:55 22Menu Functions: Movie Settings
15:11 23Set Up: User & Sound Settings
04:23 24Set Up: Screen Settings
08:38 25Set Up: Button/Dial Settings
13:20 26Setup: Power Management & Save Data
04:38 27Setup: Connection Settings & My Menu
07:39 28Play Back Menu
08:21 29Camera Operation
12:56Lesson Info
Quick Menu: 2nd Row
Next row, we're gonna be dealing with a few things as we go through this that deal just with JPEGs and this is one of those, Noise Reduction. When you shoot at higher ISOs you are gonna get noise. For the JPEGs the camera can go in and automatically change the images a little bit, adjust them to reduce the amount of noise. So let's go ahead and take a look at an example of an image shot at high ISO. And we're gonna go ahead and reduce the noise in here. It does have some downsides to this. So this is shot at ISO 6, and zero is kind of the standard setting. You can either reduce or add more noise reduction in there if you want. Now the problem with adding too much, like the plus four in this example, is you start loosing a little bit of edge detail on this. And so you may not wanna go too hog wild with this noise reduction. Of course, if you shoot RAW you can use noise reduction in post-production software and probably achieve a better result than the camera can do. It's just that it wo...
uld take you longer. So it depends on what's more important, speed or quality, as to whether you wanna use this or not. If we bump this up to 25,600, a very high ISO, you'll see how much noise reduction it can add into that. And so it can help reduce the amount of noise, but I don't like adding too much in. It just starts ruining some of those edge details, as I say. And that is for JPEG images only, it has no effect on RAW images. Next up is the Image Size for JPEG users. You can choose small, medium, and large, as well as different aspect ratios. And this is gonna change the size of your file that you are recording. So we have large, medium, and small. The megapixel count will vary according to the frame that you have chosen on this, as well as the file size. The natural aspect ratio of the sensor is three by two, so that's how most people are gonna shoot most of the time. But if you do wanna widescreen look there is a 16 by nine. And some of you like kind of a classic or a square look to your images and that is handy when you do know that you're final product is going to be a one by one or square image, you can set that up in your camera and you can see the image in your viewfinder in a square. You don't have to guess where you're gonna have to crop it. You can actually line things up exactly as you want them. Normally large, three by two, is where most people is gonna wanna be where they have that set. Next up is Image Quality. This is where you get to choose basically between RAW and JPEG. So JPEG images are the Fine and Normal options. These are the types of images that we're gonna use for emailing and posting to websites. They're very common file formats. But they do throw away a little bit of information, which is why serious photographers do like to shoot with RAW. So RAW is the original information off the sensor, it is gonna be a little bit bigger file size, but it is gonna have much more use if you are trying to edit those images, if you wanna work with them in post-production, if you wanna print them. Now there is an option that we will talk about a little bit later in the class called compressed RAW or the uncompressed RAW and the lossless compressed RAW. And these are gonna change the total file size, but not the image quality as much as you might think. And I have some examples to show you later on when we get to that section in the class. And so RAW is what I recommend shooting in most cases, but we do have the option of RAW Fine and RAW Normal, which is shooting a RAW and a JPEG image out of this camera. You do get two files out of it. Now it does use up a little bit more space and in most situations I do not recommend shooting RAW plus JPEG, because if you have a RAW and a computer you can make a JPEG anytime you want. But the Fuji camera is a little bit different and it has to do with the way the camera makes previews in the camera. And so when I shoot with the Fuji I prefer to shoot in RAW plus JPEG. And I like to show you why that is right now. And the thing is is that you can zoom in closer on a JPEG than you can a RAW. It just has to do with the preview system in the camera. And so let's make sure that I am shooting in JPEG for this image right here. So I'm gonna shoot in JPEG for the first image and let's just put things in automatic, so they're nice and simple. And I'm gonna focus in on the timer down here, put that right in the middle, and we're gonna take a photo. Now I'm gonna change it to a RAW only image. So I'll just turn the dial 'til I see RAW only right there. Okay, that's fine. And I'm gonna shoot another picture. Now I'm gonna play back this image and I wanna zoom in on this image. I wanna see if it's really sharp. And with the RAW image this is as close as I can get. Okay. So that is my RAW image, that's as close as I can get. Now I'm gonna go to the previous image and you can see this image down here is RAW and this one is the JPEG. And so now I'm gonna zoom in on this image and see if you notice a difference in how close I can zoom in. Definitely getting in much closer. So if you wanna be able to check how close you are you need to be shooting the JPEG. You can either be shooting a straight JPEG or I can shoot a RAW Fine or Normal, if I wanna keep the size down I can just shoot Normal. So if I shoot a RAW plus Normal and I wanna play this back and check to see if it's sharp I can zoom in and it's a RAW image, but I'm checking to see if it's sharp on the JPEG here. And so I shoot RAW plus JPEGs, so that I can check my results in the field and make sure that they're exactly focused as I want. All right, next up, the Film Simulation. We talked about this briefly before when we talked about the bracketing, but here's where you get to shoot individually in these different film styles and film stocks you might say. So I ran a test using some color here and I don't know how well this is gonna show up on your screen, but the Provia Standard is a neutral color that's kind of just very basic in the way that it looks. Velvia is a very Vivid look. Astia is Soft, can be very good for portrait photography. Classic Chrome is very low in contrast and is a favorite of people doing street photography and a lot of city life type stuff. There's a couple of film curves that have become very popular with people working in studios. They wanna have a little bit lower contrast that they can work with later on and so there's this PRO Neg. Hi and a PRO Neg. Lo. And there's a new Enterna Cinema one, which is very low in contrast. Now Fuji puts out a very interesting graphic on where all these tones and colors kind of fall. And it's based on this chart, which has Low Saturation on one side and High Saturation on the other, High Contrast and Low Contrast. And I say this is a very funny example, because I am showing you exactly the way Fuji shows it to you, and that is that Provia is right in the middle, it's middle of the contrasty level, middle of the saturation level. Astia is a little bit lower in contrast and is good for portrait photography, Velvia good for landscape photography, very punchy, as they say, high in saturation, high in contrast. Classic Chrome is that low saturation. And the PRO Neg. Hi and PRO Neg. Standard are a little bit lower. And for some reason this new Eterna is outside the box. Now the box has no numbers, so I don't know why it needs to be outside the box, it seems like it should be inside the box and everything else should be just a little bit closer to the middle, but Enterna is outside the realm of saturation and contrast apparently. So take it for what it's worth. We also have a bunch of different black and white modes. And so you can have a Standard Monochrome black and white mode, but you can also add in a Yellow, Red, or Green filter and that'll change the way the colors look. If you can see there on the cube you can see that the colors definitely have different brightness levels according to which type of color filter we are adding onto this. Now there is another black and white mode, Acros, and this is what they say is smooth tones, deep blacks, and rich textures. I'm gonna show you a detailed close-up of the difference between the black and white and the Acros settings on here. And so a number of different options for black and white and so shooting black and white with a Fuji is one of my favorite ways of shooting black and white, 'cause we do have so many different options. So the Monochrome versus Acros. What is the difference? And it does come down to some very subtle little things that you start noticing when you make enlargements. It is the contrast level and a little bit of a grain look to it. And so when we look at the Monochrome it's very neutral in the way that it looks, but the Acros will add a little bit more chunkiness and a little bit more contrast to it. And so there's a lot of people who like shooting with the Acros mode directly, because it's just got a little bit more punchy look, a little bit more vibrant or, not really vibrant, but contrasty as I should say here. And so you might wanna experiment with those, see which ones that you like.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Erik
I have been thinking about buying this camera. After watching this class I know that I have made the right decision. John is fantastic! Previously I have watched a random assortment of youtube videos by self-proclaimed experts. It turns out that many of the things that these so-called experts have said about this camera are simply wrong. John is the real deal. He goes in depth for every function and explains everything very clearly. His graphics are wonderful, he obviously spent a huge amount of time on preparation. If you have this camera and want to understand it better, or are thinking of buying it, I highly recommend this class which is taught by a true expert.
Mark Ballard
Well done! Worth every penny. Shined shoes too.
Mario Gravina
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