My first camera Lesson

In my media class today we learnt the basics of how to set up and use a camera. The whole class was given three different types of cameras. There was a Sony NX5, a Cannon DS and also a Sony FS 100. The Cannon DS was the only camera out of the three which didn't have a zoom effect. We were first put into groups of three or four and we had to stabilise the tripod which the camera was to be held onto and to make sure the tripod was straight we had to make sure the bubble was exactly in the middle of the black circle. Each person in the group did this so we could get the hang of it so when it came setting it up by ourselves we could do it without struggle. Our class was then shown how to get the camera onto the tripod, this is done by holding down the button which was on the left of the tripod then sliding the camera through until it reaches the end then you secure the camera using a lever on the right side of the tripod. I was using the Sony FS 100 and we learnt how to zoom in using the wheels on the end of the lens, I thought this was an easy process because the zoom wheels were simple to move and easy to notice on the camera. I learnt that to really focus on an object you have to zoom in as far as the camera lets you and then focus the camera, then only after do you zoom out and have a fully focused image. We then went onto talk about how you can control lighting in the room when taking a camera shot, the button we used for this was called white balance. This particular button helped all the colours in the shot to be the true colours. We had to zoom in fully on any white object and then press the white balance button, this process gave you a number and you then zoomed out again and the colours in the room should be perfect and true when on the camera. We learnt that you can also do this when you are outside.

These are some of the pictures I took during the lesson: