Lessons
Class Introduction
15:31 2Photo Basics
06:08 3Camera Controls - Top Deck: Mode Dial Part 1
15:46 4Camera Controls- Top Deck: Mode Dial Part 2
13:00 5Top Deck: Custom Settings and Focus Mode
13:17 6Backside: Electronic Viewfinder
07:52 7Backside: AF/MF
05:24 8Backside: Function Button: Top Row
20:58Backside: Function Button: Bottom Row
08:08 10Backside: Control Wheel
10:12 11Left, Right, Bottom & Front Sides
09:58 12Sony Lenses
10:11 13Menu Overview
03:47 14Camera Settings 1: Pages 1-3
14:00 15Camera Settings 1: Pages 4-6
17:29 16Camera Settings 1: Pages 7-9
07:22 17Camera Settings 1: Pages 10-14
21:50 18Camera Settings 2: Pages 1-4
16:02 19Camera Settings 2: Pages 5-9
14:50 20Wireless Settings
06:24 21Application Menu
18:46 22Playback Menu
03:35 23Setup Menu
22:27 24Camera Operation
10:53Lesson Info
Backside: AF/MF
We're in the midst of doing the tour around the outside of the camera, and we're kind of working on the back side, so it's time to get back to work. Alright, next item in here on the back side is this little switch lever button combo of features here. So number one, it's a button, but it's also a switch, which changes what the button does, and so when the switch is in the upward position, for auto focus and manual focus, it can either hold the focus or focus, as we'll see in a moment. When it's in the lower position, it locks the exposure, so I want to do a little demo here on this. So I'm gonna put the camera in the program mode. So the camera is in a program mode right now. And let's go ahead and press halfway down. I'm gonna do the auto exposure lock option on this first here, so the camera is powering up here. And so you'll notice that ... Actually, I'm gonna flip it over to aperture priority so that we can take a look at shutter speed. So our shutter speed is 1/160th of a second, ...
but as we pan over a little bit, it gets darker, and our shutter speeds change, and so it's constantly adjusting brightness according to what it sees in the frame right there, and so if I press in on this button, it's gonna lock that exposure, you'll see the little asterisk down here. This means it's locked in the exposure, and so I've locked in that exposure and I could shoot, you know, up here and I can shoot it ... Let's see if it's still locked in. Still locked in down here, but if I don't press it in, it's gonna change the exposure to one shutter speed here and then it's gonna change another shutter speed down here, and so if you do know you want to lock that exposure in, that's one way of doing it. So if we flip this up here, I'm gonna need ... What am I gonna need here? I think I'm gonna need a little bit of a prop, so I'm gonna grab a prop from over here. I want something close to focus on right in front of the camera. I'm gonna need to move a few things around on the table here, so I have something close to focus on. So I want to be able to focus on something close to the camera, and far away. And so if I want to focus on the camera ... It stays locked in, because it's in the single focusing mode, and actually, we already talked about that. It's the button on top. If I was in the continuous focusing mode, the camera would focus, and then it would try to find another focus wherever the camera's pointed at, and so as I get it down here, it will refocus eventually. I filled the frame with it. There it is. And so it's being a little funky. I'm gonna jump ahead and talk about something we're gonna get to in a moment. I'm just gonna change it to a center-focusing right now, so I can get it to focus where I want it to focus. So it's choosing the center box to focus on, and if I wanted to have it in this continuous mode but I wanted to lock it in temporarily, I can lock it in by pressing in this button, so I focus, I lock, and then I can move the camera around and even though something else is where that center box is, it's locking that focus in, and so it's just a way of locking focus, and what you'll find is that there's about six different ways that you can set the camera up to focus. Which one's best? It all depends on how you like to work. Now, I want to show a feature that I think is kind of new to the Sonys. I haven't seen it. It's something that I've seen on the Fuji cameras, which is kind of cool, and that is, you'll notice this says auto focus/manual focus, and so this also has a different effect when you have your camera in manual focus, so I'm gonna change this to manual focus, and what happens now is that this back button becomes a back button focus, and so the camera is in manual focus, so I can come up here and turn my focusing ring and eventually focus, if I want, or I can let the camera press halfway down on this button, well, it's not a halfway, it's a full press, and it will focus on the button. But the camera is normally in manual focus, and so if I want to focus on the name right here, but I want to move it off the frame here, I can shoot photos and the camera's not gonna refocus, because the camera is in manual focus and it only focuses when I press halfway down or press all the way down on this button on the back of the camera, so that's the easiest way to put the camera into a back button focus. You're in manual focus and you simply have that as an option. If you want to do the auto exposure lock, you would have to flip it down. If you're trying to do auto exposure lock and focus, then you're gonna have to reassign the buttons on the camera 'cause you're using the same control for doing that. So that's a little bit on how that particular feature works. Now, if you want to go in and customize the way this button works, you can do that in the Custom Operations. You can go in there and have this button do many, many other different things. I think the way it's designed out of the box is pretty good, but if there are other more important things that you find for it to do, feel free to go in and reprogram it as necessary.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Nichola Johnson
GREAT CLASS. I HAVE JUST ENTERED THE 'MANUAL' CAMERA MODE AND ACQUIRED THE SONY A6500...THIS CLASS TOTALLY HELPED WITH THE CAMERA BASICS. I WILL DEFINITELY TAKE MORE. JOHN GREENGO IS FABULOUS. CLEAR AND EASY TO FOLLOW.
a Creativelive Student
I've owned the A6000 since it came out and still learned a TON from John's A6500 class. I will definitely be getting his original A6000 class. I'm SO glad he's doing Sony cameras now. Thanks John G. - You are a truly great teacher!
Lee Kneisz
I bought the a6000 course a while back and when I upgraded to the a6500 this was a no-brainer. I love how comprehensive the coverage is and it was a great refresher on previous features. If you're a newbie to the Sony a6500 this is a must!
Student Work
Related Classes
Camera Guides