Lessons
Class Introduction
06:20 2Photo Basics
05:31 3Basic Controls: Top Of Camera
04:45 4Basic Controls: Auto Modes-
09:24 5Basic Controls: Manual Modes
23:47 6Basic Controls: Back Of Camera
20:29 7Basic Controls: Flash Modes
14:05 8Basic Controls: Live View
13:10Basic Controls: Left And Right Of Camera
06:21 10Basic Controls: Bottom & Front of Camera
03:03 11Nikon D3400 Lens Options
07:25 12Menu Functions Overview
02:51 13Playback Menu
05:02 14Shooting Menu
21:46 15Setup Menu
23:52 16Setup Menu: Connect to Smart Device
17:01 17Camera Operation Overview
09:19Lesson Info
Class Introduction
Hello everybody. Welcome to the Nikon D3400 class. My name is John Greengo, and this is a class for anyone who has or plan to use a Nikon D3400, and you want to learn how to use it. We're gonna go through all the buttons, all the dials, all the functions of the camera. We're gonna go through the menu system, help you get the camera fully set up, and so this class is kind of a replacement for the instruction manual. I know how those things can be a little hard to work through. And so this class is designed to visually get you through and up and started with the camera so that you can get out and shoot pictures either in an automatic way or in a more manual way. I know there's a lot of videos online that go through reviews of cameras, but we're gonna be really concentrating on how to use the camera. So if you want to learn how to use the camera, that's what we're gonna get doing in here. So let's get started on this class. Alright, so I've broken the class down into a number of different...
sections. We're gonna start off with just a little overview about what you've gotten yourself into here. I know a lot of people who are getting this camera are maybe stepping up from a phone, or a point and shoot camera, so I want to talk about the Nikon system for just a little bit. We're gonna talk about some photo basics cause I know a lot of people who get this camera are wanting to get into serious photography. You know, manually controlling their shutter speeds and apertures. We're not gonna spend a lot of time there, this isn't a photography class, but it is a camera class. But we will talk about a few of those basics, and then we're gonna get into the controls of the camera itself. Alright, first off, as I mentioned, you do get an instruction manual with this camera. It's fairly lengthy and you can spend a lot of time in there. And this class I expect to be about 3 hours in length, and there's no way that we can cover everything that is in the instruction manual, but I've been working with this camera for quite a while, and I'm gonna go over everything that I think most people are gonna want to know about and if there is any additional information, you may need to dive into that instruction manual, pick out that extra little tidbits. But I should get you covered on about 99% of what most people need to know. Now, this is a camera class and not a photography class, which means we're not gonna dwell on composition and lighting and shutter speeds and apertures and all of those are very important in a lot of different types of photography, but we're gonna be concentrating on the operation of this camera. If you do want a photography class, there are many to choose from here at Creative Live. I have a couple of classes I'll alert you to, one is a nice, short, quick one. It's only about three hours in length, called The Photography Starter Kit. And if you want the fastest way to get out the door with knowing the basics, it would be that class. For those of you who want to really dig in, and really absorb as much as you can about photography, I do have a series of lectures that's about 27 hours in length that will take you deep, deep into the world of photography, still in a general sense, we're not even getting into specific photography, it's just general photography, things that are good to know for all different aspects of the photographic world. And so, plenty of other classes with many, many other great instructors here at Creative Live. If you are buying this camera, it's your first Nikon camera, it's probably your entry into the serious world of SLR photography, and one of the great things about getting into the Nikon system is that they have a huge collection. First, a huge collection of cameras, so that as you advance and have different needs in photography, there's gonna be different models to choose from. They have a huge number of lenses to fit pretty much any need that you might have. They also have a very good flash system. The camera does have a built-in flash, we'll talk about that, but if you need more power, more versatility, there is some very good choices, and I'll give you some recommendations of those as we get into this class. So it's a really good system to be a part of cause you can get a lot of different choices of accessories. Alright, so the D3400 is at the entry level of the Nikon system, and so it is a very capable camera, it is kinda the least expensive camera that you can get that uses all the Nikon lenses. And so it is actually one of their most popular cameras simply because it's the lowest price camera and it doesn't have as many features and bells and whistles as some of the other models above it, but it's a very, very doable camera. It's gonna work very well for anyone who's wanting to get into photography and get better quality pictures than any of the phones or smaller devices out there. Now this is a model that gets updated on a pretty regular basis, maybe every two years or so that you'll see an update to this particular model. And here's the timeline for this entry-level model from Nikon, and so if you are watching and you have one of the older cameras, I do have a class that is designed more exclusively for the D3100, 32- and 3300, and so there's just been enough changes that it's time to put out a new class on this one. And if you do have one of the older cameras, a lot of this class is going to apply to it, obviously they usually institute a lot of new features as you come along, and so the buttons change a little bit, and there'll be some newer features as you get into the newer cameras. So let's make sure that your camera is ready for today's class and ready for going out and shooting. You wanna make sure that you have a battery charged and installed in the camera, it's gonna take a couple hours to charge it. It does have a very good battery life, should get you around 1200 typical shots on the battery, and that'll be about an hour of video shooting if you're into the shooting videos. Wanna make sure that your lens is attached and you have the memory card in your camera, turn the camera on, little dial right around the shutter release on the top right-hand side, and for now, we're just gonna turn that mode dial to that green AUTO setting, which is the full auto setting on the camera. And I just should myself make sure my camera's ready. One thing I don't mention in the keynote is that the lens has a little button that it has that you need to extend the camera, or extend the lens, so that it says something between 18 and on that zoom range. And I'm just gonna go ahead and take a picture and make sure that my camera's firing alright, which it is, and hopefully yours is as well, so it should be ready for the rest of the class.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Tuan Hoang
John Greengo is a great instructor. He is indeed an expert. 1) Great voice ( clear tone) 2) Extremely friendly look ( must be a humble person) 3) Is indeed an expert ( know what he's talking about) 4) Have a passion teaching the secrets ( some instructors tend to hold back the information but not John) 5) And many more...
Andrea
Great course to help an amateur get familiar with this camera. As a first time DSLR owner, and new to photography in general, there are settings and abilities of this camera that I find to be intimidating at times because they are over my head as a newbie. John explained settings and buttons in a way that cleared up some confusion left from reading the camera manual. I highly recommend this class to every owner of a D3400! John is a great instructor and I look forward to watching more videos of his.
Jan
I just purchased my first DSLR which is a Nikon D3500. There are few changes from the 3400 and this class has helped me tremendously with the transition from point and shoot and phone cameras. I am planning two once in a lifetime trips coming up and along with John's other courses on here I hope to be ready to capture some great memories. Would highly recommend his classes as he is a great teacher. I have tried other courses online and this and his Beginning 3 hour course so far have been the most helpful. Look forward to diving into his Fundamentals class.
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