1) SETTING UP YOUR CAMERA, HOW TO RESET YOUR CAMERA SETTINGS
2) HOW TO DOWNLOAD IMAGES TO THE COMPUTER AND ERASE THE MEMORY CARD
3) CAMERA SIMULATORS FOR PRACTICE
4) STUDENT CONDUCT - DOs AND DON'Ts OF SHOOTING IN AND AROUND THE SCHOOL
1) SETTING UP YOUR CAMERA & HOW TO RESET YOUR CAMERA SETTINGS
1.1 Insert Battery and SD card
1.2 Turn the camera on
1.3 Reset the shooting settings
You don't know what the person before you had the camera set to, so make sure it goes back to default.
Press the MENU button (see below) and then use either the touch screen or right-thumb selector controls to navigate to the SETUP MENU. Scroll down a long way (several pages) until you're nearly at the bottom. Select: "Reset all settings." After accepting the command, you will need to turn the camera on and off.
1.4 Set your camera to "P" mode (or whichever mode is called for by your teacher)
Rotate the mode dial (circled below) so that "P" is next to the line in the centre of the dial.
1.5 Turn off "Auto ISO"
Press the MENU button and then use either the touch screen or right-thumb selector controls to navigate to "ISO sensitivity settings." Then select "Auto ISO control" and turn the setting off.
SHORTCUT: The faster way to do this is to hold the ISO button with your index finger and then use the front dial (sub-command dial) with your middle finger to toggle Auto ISO on or off.
1.6 Set your ISO
You will learn about ISO in detail at a later date. For now, understand that different light levels require different ISO values in order to keep your images from being shot with a slow shutter (and ending up blurry).
Push and hold the ISO button and rotate the main command dial (see adjacent image).
For now, set your ISO as follows, depending on where you will be shooting:
ISO 200 = Bright sunshine
ISO 400 = Light shade or cloud
ISO 800 = Overcast, very bright indoor lights
ISO 1600 = Thick cloud cover or shade, bright indoor lights
ISO 3200 = Average indoor light
ISO 6400+ = Below average indoor light OR any situation where the shutter speed drops below 1/50s.
1.7 Clear the SD card
Do this at the start of class and again at the end of class AFTER YOU'VE SUCCESSFULLY COPIED your images onto the computer.
The fastest way is to press the MENU button, find the Setup menu, then select "Format Memory Card:"
2) HOW TO DOWNLOAD IMAGES TO THE COMPUTER AND ERASE THE MEMORY CARD
To connect your camera to your computer, take out the camera's SD card and put it in the internal SD card reader slot on your computer. When you look at the Computer window, you should see "Nikon Z50" appear in your list of drives. You may be prompted for what to do next. The recommendation is to just open the folder so you can do your own photo downloading.
Follow your teacher's instructions to create a new folder for today's lesson within your Pictures > Photo 10 folder. Copy today's images from the camera to there.
Once images are successfully copied to the correct folder on your computer, you can then clear the memory card (see above) and put it back in the camera before putting everything away.
3) CAMERA SIMULATORS FOR PRACTICE
Below are links to two camera simulators. Click on the images to open. With guidance from your teacher, experiment with the settings and notice the results when you change the various settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO).
We will be learning about all of these settings in detail as the course progresses, but you can already start to figure things out by playing around with these simulators!
Note that the Canon simulator features a "Learn" mode (which explains everything), a "Play" mode (freestyle approach to let you see what everything does), and a "Challenge" mode (to train you which settings to adjust to achieve specific results).
4) STUDENT CONDUCT - DOs AND DON'Ts OF SHOOTING IN AND AROUND THE SCHOOL
Before being permitted to leave the classroom with a camera, you must understand (and adhere to) the rules as outlined below:
Conditions for Shooting Outside the Classroom
Wear your Press Pass at all times when you are outside of the classroom.
Work alone or in pairs. On very rare occasions, when explicitly requested by your teacher, there may be a group of 3.
Return to the classroom by (or before) the time appointed by your teacher.
Do not disturb classes (this means entering classrooms, taking photos in the hallway unless specifically asked to, making noise near classrooms)
Follow instructions from any staff member. If someone asks you to move somewhere else, please do so.
Do not engage or interact with phys ed. classes outside
Do not engage or interact with friends with spares (no entourages!)
Do not take detours to the caf, etc.
Do not use the flash. It wastes battery, is probably annoying, and is not required for any of the projects in this course.
Do not leave the school property (i.e. crossing the street, being on the train tracks)
Do not climb trees or otherwise endanger yourself. If you have to ask "am I allowed to....?" the answer is probably no.
Continue to follow the school code of conduct. Act as you would in the classroom.
Camera privileges will be revoked for students who are unable to follow these rules. Spending a whole course shooting only inside the classroom would be pretty lousy, wouldn't it? So make good choices!!!