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Camera Operations

Lesson 19 from: Canon EOS R Fast Start

John Greengo

Camera Operations

Lesson 19 from: Canon EOS R Fast Start

John Greengo

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Lesson Info

19. Camera Operations

In this invaluable lesson, John shares this recommended base settings for different types of photography: how should you program your shutter speed, aperture, ISO and more depending on what you’re shooting? Learn which settings you should activate for landscape and portrait photography, for example.

Lesson Info

Camera Operations

All right, folks, Time for the grand finale of the class. And so here in the camera setting sections, I'm gonna talk about the basics that you want to go through now that we've talked through all of the different individual settings and operations on this camera. So when you're going out with this camera, first thing obviously want to get that battery charge probably want to go out with the reformatted memory cards. You got a lot of space on their good line of communication. Make sure that your image quality is set the way that you want it to. Hopefully that raw, that compressed raw, I think is really good. Make sure that the general settings in the menu aren't in some sort of corky place. Maybe you go to my menu and check out just to make sure what those critical items are that you think are most important or set properly. If you're gonna be shooting a big event or you're gonna be going on a big trip, you probably want to check your sensor by photographing a white sheet of paper or a ...

white wall at F 22 and looking at the exposure and see if there's any black spots and get that sensor clean before you take off on that big shoot. The main controls that we're gonna be using on this camera are going to be available right on the outside of the camera. Easy to reach things, controlling our exposure. We have that multi function, which is where we have a lot of options available. And then that focus area on the back corner with your right thumb is easy to access. So those are the controls that most people change on a regular basis. So let's look at how he would set thes for different types of photography. And so these are settings that we're gonna be doing for basic photography we're going to start with. So this is super simple photography. And so this is almost handing the camera to somebody who doesn't know about how the camera works. How would we said it? So the program mode is a nice, simple mode where the camera is controlling shutter speeds and apertures for you with the I s. So if you want it to be a simple it's possible, you can set it to auto, and it will take care of the entire exposure formula. Keep an eye on exposure compensation adjusted as necessary for lighter or darker subjects. White balance at auto will take care of most scenarios quite well adjusted. Necessary F operation One shot is for static subjects that are not moving around too much. That'll work in most situations for the focus area. The Zone A F is choosing a large area to focus. It's pretty simple. Don't have to be too particular about where it's pointed at it, saying they have a lot of areas and opportunities to pick up on different levels of contrast. And then the drive mode in single so that you can shoot one shot at a time. So this is a really good, very, very simple set up. All right, let's get a bit more specific with landscape photography. So in these cases it's helpful to have a tripod because we're gonna be shooting with more depth of field, which usually ends up being slow. Shutter speeds are subjects are static, so we're not too worried about things moving around when it comes to focusing either. So in this case, I would probably start with manual exposure because you can shoot photos, do a test shot, see if it's the right exposure and shoot another one to get it right. One of the most important settings is getting the I S O set toe so that you get the most in cleanest amount of information on the sensor. You'll probably want a fair bit of depth of field F eight F 22. Something in that range would make sense. When you do that much, step the field. You're probably going to end up at a slower shutter speed. And so the shutter speed it's more. It's not an exact number, but a general range that you might be. In a lot of times. You do end up around 1/30 of a second, which is why it's handy to have a tripod next up with white balance. Auto is fine. Adjust as necessary for focusing, since your subject is not moving around, One shot allows you to focus in one area recomposed if necessary for focus area. The one point autofocus allows you to be very precise. In fact, you might want even choose the small one point so that you could be extremely accurate in your choice of where you're focusing. And for the drive mode, either the single or the two second self timer would make sense. If you're with the single, you probably want to be using one of the remote releases for the cameras so that you're not actually touching the camera and vibrating it while it's at that relatively slow shutter speed. And that will get you a very sharp picture that has great depth of field. Alright, let's try a little portrait photography. So now we're probably not gonna be on a tripod. Were photographing humans, pets, animals. I consider all that portrait photography, and you're going to need to be a little bit more careful about your shutter speed selection and possibly you're focusing selection. So in these cases, I to also like to work with manual in this matter, shooting some test shots, making sure it's dialed in right so I can shoot a hole. Siri's with even exposures. In this case, you probably want to make sure that you have a shutter speed fast enough to stop normal human motion. 125th of a second would be a safe shutter speed to be happy. I would prefer to be probably at a shallow depth of field so that you were separating your subject from the background and I would prefer to be working with lowest I s o possible. But I'm willing to budge on that and use a higher eso if necessary. We're not using exposure compensation, cause we're working in full manual in this mode here, auto white balance adjust is necessary as long as your subjects not moving around the one shot focus will allow you to focus, lock and recompose into a different composition. And so, for focus area, you could either use thief face and tracking system, which will automatically pick up on faces. And that could be very easy to work with. If you prefer to work with a single point, you probably want to choose the smallest one point area that you can and focus on the nearest I and then for the drive mode, single mode is probably gonna be fine so that you can shoot one photo at a time. Next up, let's do a little action photography. So obviously we're gonna need faster shutter speeds and we're going to need a focusing system that tracks this action back and forth. So once again, I do like to be in manual. That way I contest my exposures, make sure they're right and get lots of photos that have consistent results. In this case, you want a faster shutter speed, um, 1 25 or faster, depending on what you're doing. Five hundred's good for fast human action. This is when the faster aperture lens is like a 2. lens will really come in handy. And so that's where they really pay their dividends. I would prefer to be at the lowest I e isso, but with faster shutter speeds, you end up being at higher ISO, so it's not uncommon to be it. I s 0 400 When you're outside on a decently, let day auto white balance change if necessary. One of the most important settings is the A F operation. Changing this to the servo mode. This way, the camera will track movement back and forth and constantly be focusing. When you press halfway down on the shutter release or on the A F button on the back of the camera for focusing area, you're probably going to need a little bit larger area so that you can keep your subject within the focusing brackets. I like the zone or the expand area around, which gives you think it's like nine plus one. It's like 10 points of focus depends on how erratic the movement is and then finally having the motor drive on the continuous motor drive so that you can get a series of shots and camera will shoot at, I believe, five frames a second. If you have it in continuous focus and continuous shooting, you should be able to capture a good Siri's good collection of action shots with that set up. All right, our final one is basic photography. This is where you may not know what the next shot you're gonna take is and you just want your camera set up for a general purpose mode. Alright, so I've always recommended aperture priority here. But you know what? That new flexible priority gives you a lot of options so that you can almost set anything in manual and anything automatic. So this would be a good place to experiment with that type of set up in this case, all set a bit of ah, middle aperture. I'll adjust as necessary. According to the scenario, I'll keep my eye eso lo unless I'm needing faster shutter speeds on and then I'll bump it up as light and shutter speeds dictate. I'll keep an eye on the exposure compensation. I'll set it if necessary, but generally I'll keep it at zero. Auto White Balance works most of the time, and for stationary shots, one shot servo is going to serve a lot of purposes. For focus area. Choosing the one point allows you to be pretty specific about where you are. Putting that point allows you to be very precise about what you're getting in focus and how you're composing it. And then finally putting the drive on single. This allows you get one shot at a time, and I think this is a good, basic set up kind of a reset position for your camera for its standard position. If you are interested in connecting up with me on my website, pretty easy to figure out. John gringo dot com. You can also connect up with me on Facebook and Instagram Love to see your work on there as well. If you are interested in my other classes. I have a large number of him here. A creative live just recorded a new travel photography class. And so if you are interested in some travel work, I've completely revamped that class and put a brand new one together. And so that's one of my favorite latest classes that I have done. So if you've followed from the very beginning, I congratulate you. I now crown you an expert in the canon EOS are hopefully you will learn, like I have to appreciate this camera more than others out there because I think this has a lot of innovative features, and it just requires a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of practice. And once you get the camera out there, it's just an extension of your own eyes and your hands when you're operating. And so I really like the system. I think you'll enjoy it, and I wish you the best luck in your photography

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Canon R Recommended Settings

Ratings and Reviews

Ranjit Vazhapilly
 

John Greengo is a very good teacher. I think it's the best investment you can make to get to know your camera well - especially something new like the EOS R. I love his feedback on what new features are worth trying and others that are simply not there yet. Awesome course!

David Torres Aguilar
 

This is the best course I have ever seen on how to use a camera, it guides you through the functions, settings, hidden configurations in a crystal clear way using very well designed visuals aids. I'm glad I was able to find this class, it's really a great quality course, thanks a lot John Greengo and CreativeLive Team!

user-83bb26
 

John Greengo is wonderful at making His classes easy to follow and understand. We have purchased the Canon R and found that the only books with directions are in German and Japanese with the US version out in August. We are very grateful that John has produced this class. Love the CanonR but with Johns' class; the camera is easier to understand. Thanks! Hope to see more on the CanonR!

Student Work

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