Lesson Info
26. Camera Operation
Lessons
Class Introduction
08:45 2Photo Basics
03:55 3Basic Camera Controls
05:11 4Mode Dial
19:08 5Top Of Camera
10:15 6Back Of Camera
06:11 7Viewfinder Display
05:07 8Back of Camera Buttons
22:08Live View Menu
16:05 10Movie Mode Menu
10:23 11Left & Right Sides Of Camera
15:57 12Bottom Of Camera
02:46 13Front Of Camera
03:18 14Lens Options
10:49 15Playback Menu
07:23 16Photo Shooting Menu
08:34 17ISO Shooting Menu
09:03 18Image Quality Shooting Menus
09:16 19Multiple Exposure & HDR Menus
05:48 20Movie Shooting Menu
07:25 21Custom Setting Menu
09:13 22Timer & Bracketing Menus
08:27 23Custom Control Menu
05:44 24Set Up Menu
28:47 25My Menu
03:03 26Camera Operation
09:50Lesson Info
Camera Operation
Alright, this final section on the camera is camera operation. We've talked about all the individual functions, let's talk about things kinda from the big scope. First off, if you're goin' out on a big shoot, whether it's a particular event or a big vacation or something, make sure you start with fully charged batteries. Probably wanna format those memory cards, get off all those old photographs, make sure they're stored properly on hard drives. Make sure that the image quality is set the way that you want, whether that's raw or high-quality JPEG or however else you're setting the camera. From there, you wanna make sure that you have proper settings in the rest of the menu. Think about what the last things you were doing with the camera and any settings that you might have changed. And if it's a big event or a big shoot that you're going on, you wanna make sure that the sensor is clean. You don't want dust on all your photographs because it can be very tough to deal with when you reali...
ze it out in the field. It's better to deal with that at home base, to clean off that sensor stuff. So that's the things that I check for first on any type of shoot. Alright, what are we gonna be changing on our camera? Our key settings are gonna be dealing with exposure, focusing, a few other options as well. And so there's a lot of external controls on the camera that we're gonna be accessing on a regular basis to make changes. Alright, so what are the options when we get in to change those specific settings? Well, we have a a lot of different options and let's look at how I might set this camera up for different types of photography. First up, let's talk about Super Simple photography. So you want to keep the camera set up in a very simple manner that is very easy for almost anyone to use. I'm gonna start with the program mode, and I know it's got an auto mode on it but I like the program mode because you can jump in and make other changes very very quickly and easily. This means the camera is going to set shutter speeds and apertures for you. You can have the ISO set to Auto so it will automatically adjust according to your needs with the shutter speed. Exposure Compensation will normally be at zero. You can adjust it as necessary from there if you wanna make it lighter or darker. Auto White Balance should be fine in most situations. For normal situations, the single focusing mode should work just fine. And once you get into action, you would change it over to AF-C but for most standard situations, AF-S will work fine. Auto-area is gonna be looking at the entire 51 point focusing area for information on where to focus. And that'll be fine for super simple type set-ups. And release mode at single means you're gonna get one shot each time you press down on the shutter release, which is gonna be fine for basic photography. If we wanted to do some landscape photography, we're gonna want more depth of field, we might be working off of a tripod, hopefully. Here's the changes that I would make in these settings. I would prefer to be in manual exposure. That way I could shoot a test exposure, see if it's right or not, shoot another one, and then once it's set right, I'm gonna get very consistent results. In this case, I'm gonna wanna have the ISO as low as possible so I get the cleanest information off the sensor. That would be ISO 100. It depends a little bit on the scene that I'm shooting but there's a good chance that I'm gonna want a fair bit of depth of field which means F 11, 16, 22. It varies with a number of other factors. When I choose a low ISO and a rather small aperture, I'm probably gonna need a lower shutter speed. The shutter speed will be determined by how much brightness I'm in at that time but it's often around a thirtieth of a second. But it will depend on the situation. We don't use Exposure Compensation here because we're in a manual mode. Auto White Balance is fine if you're in raw. If you're in JPEG, you may want to use the direct sunlight or cloudy or shade, whatever is most appropriate for the situation you're in. For Focusing Mode, your subject is not moving around so AF-S for single focusing should work fine. And you wanna be very precise about where you focus and this is a good reason for using that single point focusing. You can move that focusing point around to where you think the best center point of focus should be. For taking the picture, single is gonna work fine. But Mirror Up would also be good to reduce the vibrations. In either case, it might be a good idea to have a cable release so that you're not even touching the camera when you're firing. Next up is the Portrait mode. And so in this case, we're probably not gonna be on a tripod, we need to be a little bit more concerned about our shutter speed so that they are fast enough for us hand-holding the camera as well as our subject potentially in their movement. I still like manual exposure here so that I can get a series of consistent results from the photos. A lot of times, I'm wanting shallow depth of field and so I'm gonna choose a wide opening setting and in some lenses, that's a four, five, six. But if you have a one point four, you may want to be using it here. I'm gonna want a shutter speed fast enough to stop my action holding the camera and their action potentially moving around a little bit. That's generally gonna be a 125th of a second or faster. I would prefer to keep the lowest ISO possible. I will bump it up if necessary. Auto White Balance will be fine in most situations. As long as they're not moving around too much, AF-S for single focus. And I wanna be very precise about where I'm focusing which is why I'm choosing the single point AF-Area Mode. I can focus on the face, I can focus on the nearest eye, which is what I want in focus. And the release mode, in most cases, I'm just gonna be in the single shot. Each time I want a photo, I'll press down on the shutter release again. A continuous mode would not be a bad option here, but single is probably preferred for most people. Next up is action photography. Obviously we're gonna have some major changes in our choice of shutter speed and the focusing system. I still like manual exposure in this case, so that I can get consistent results as long as there is a consistent light on the subject. A fast shutter speed will be critical here. You'll want 500th of a second or faster. It depends on the action that you're photographing, the lens and your point of view on it. This is where F two point eight lenses really come in handy. This is the faster lenses and with those faster shutter speeds, you're gonna need to let in more light with the aperture. Ideally I would like to be at ISO but the reality is with those really fast shutter speeds, you often need to bump the ISO up a few stops to ISO or higher to accommodate those faster shutter speeds. Auto White Balance should work fine in most cases. And one of the most important settings is changing the focus to the continuous autofocus option. This way the camera will be able to track the subjects moving back and forth. Which Area depends a little bit on a number of factors. I like the nine point focus. It usually works pretty good. Sometimes I'll go to 21 if it's more erratic movement. And for the release mode, obviously wanna probably wanna have it at the Continuous High release so that you can shoot a series of photos 'cause you may not know when the best moment is going to be. And so this is a good set-up for shooting action photography. Final one is just basic photography. And this is where you might be shooting something static, something moving, you don't know what the next shot's gonna be but you want to be ready for it. This is where I think a little bit of automation can come in to help you quite a bit. And so I do like aperture priority here. Choose a basic Aperture like five point six, not all the way wide open, not all the way closed. Should give you a reasonably fast shutter speed. You can adjust it as necessary, according to the situation that you are next going to shoot. I start off with ISO 100 and I bump it up as I get to lower light levels where I need faster shutter speeds. Watch out for that Exposure Compensation. Leave it at zero to start with, adjust it as necessary. Auto White Balance will be fine in most situations. And focusing, unless you're focusing on action that's really moving towards you and away from you, the AF-S option should work fine. For the AF-Area Mode, the single mode, the single point should work fine if you're careful about where you point your camera and which focusing point you're selecting. And for the release mode, a single shot at a time should be fine in most cases. And that's how I leave my camera set up for a lot of different types of photography. Alright, you've made it to the end of the class. That means that you are now a D7500 expert. So thanks a lot for watching through this class, remember I do have plenty of other classes on other cameras so as you get new cameras, as you have friends who wonder aloud, "You know so much about your camera", well you can tell 'em you saw Fast Start class here at CreativeLive and I've got a bunch more on the books, more to come in the future, so we're gonna continue to add to the collection as we go forward. If you're interested in other classes on photography, I do have some basic photography classes that are basics and much, much more than basics in the fundamentals class. Check those out, I do have a Nature and Landscape as well as a Travel class, if you wanna get specific on certain topics. And then for this class, I do have the Nikon lens class if you really wanna dive into lenses. Great opportunity there to really find out what's the next best lens for you to buy. If you wanna connect with me, well you can go to my website, you can check me out on Facebook, or connect with me on Instagram. I am active on all three of those!
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Thomas Sielaff
Great, great course. Could not be any clearer on what to know, what to do, and in all, making understanding my camera a fun thing! Well, well, worth that cost. A steal really!!
Keshav
Helps you master the camera controls very quickly. I'm glad I took the course. Without it, I'm sure it would have taken me years to know and use the full power of this camera. Great Course. Highly recommend.
Roy Shenfield
This is a great course! I recently bought a D7500 and was somewhat stymied by the large number of different possible settings and the several hundred page user manual and menu guide. This course covers the vast majority of what I need to know and in a reasonable amount of detail. I especially liked the material on menus as he went through most of them in detail. Additionally all the slides shown in the course are available in pdf as well as several pages detailing the authors recommended settings. I highly recommend, especially given the $24.00 special offering for this.
Student Work
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