Basic Camera Controls

Lesson Info

Basic Camera Controls

Alright folks, it is time for camera controls, which is one of the big main sections of this class. This is where we're going to go through the entire operations on the outside of the camera. So first off, you want to turn your camera on and off. Turn it on. Now when you turn it on there is a little filter right in front of the sensor that shakes off any sort of dust. So if dust accumulates on the sensor, it'll try to shake it off. Now it's possible that it's got a little stick'em on it and it still sticks to it, and we'll talk about cleaning the sensor much later on in the class. But it has that built-in, and that's something that you can turn on and off whenever you want. But by default, it's usually there right when you turn the camera on. The shutter release for taking photos is also how we wake our camera up and activate it, and so you'll want to press down halfway to kind of wake the camera up and get all the readings set. Now some buttons and dials that we're going to be using o...

n a regular basis, the main command dial is on the back and there are two of them. One for holding the camera horizontally, one for holding the camera vertically. We're going to be using this to make lots of changes on the camera. The one in front is called the sub command dial, and I may sometimes forget to call these by their official name, and I'll just say the back dial or the front dial. And it should be fairly clear which one I am talking about. There is the multi selector in the back, which I also forget the name on from time to time, and I will call it the mouse or the up/down button on the back of the camera. It's how we navigate through the menu system. It's how we select different focusing points. Now in the middle of that is a center button, and a lot of times when we're in the menu, and we're kind of working our way through different options and we want to select something, we will often be able to press that center button to select that particular item as what we want the camera to do. On other times, we're going to have to press the OK button over on the side. Now there is also a lock and be very aware of where that lock position is. Is it in the L position or just where the dot is? If it's in the L position, it's going to lock the multi selector, and so that you're not going to be able to make changes. Now you can still push down on the multi-selector it's just going to prevent it from doing anything. And there is a sub-selector. We can use this the same way that we use the multi selector. The sub selector is mainly used for changing the focusing points. But we can also navigate through the menu system using it in many different cases. And then finally, in some cases we can use the center button but in other cases we have to use the OK button to confirm that we want to do something. And so, for instance, I think on formatting the memory card you select that you want to reformat the memory card you actually have to press the OK button rather then the center button on the multi selector. Alright so, okay some real basic stuff for anyone's who's new to Nikon. Maybe you're switching from Canon or Sony or something like that. Many of the buttons on the camera you have to hold down on while you are turning the dial. This is kind of a safety precaution that you go through, so that if you are changing the ISO you're holding down on the ISO and turning the button. You can't accidentally make these sorts of changes, and so that's the default system. And if you do want to change that, there will be an option I'll talk about when it comes down to the custom functions of the camera, you can change the way the buttons operate on the camera.

Class Description

Lessons

1. Class Introduction
2. Nikon D5 Overview
3. Photo Basics
4. Basic Camera Controls
5. Exposure Modes
6. Top Deck Additional Features
7. Release Mode
8. Lesson
9. Play Back
10. Backside Controls
11. Live View
12. Movie Settings
13. Focus
14. Left and Right Camera Features
15. Bottom and Front Camera Features
16. Lenses
17. Menu Functions
18. Photo Shooting Menu
19. Image Area
20. NEF Recording
21. ISO Sensitivity Settings
22. White Balance
23. Active D Lighting and Noise Reduction
24. Flicker Reduction
25. Multiple Exposure And High Dynamic Range
26. Interval Timer Shooting And Silent Live View Photography
27. Movie Shooting Menu
28. Autofocus
29. Metering Exposure
30. Timers AE Loc kAnd Shooting Display
31. Bracketing Flash And Controls
32. Setup Menu
33. Retouch Menu
34. Camera Operation