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38 VIDEOMAKER >>> JUNE 2019



2) Aperture / Iris

Aperture is the opening of the lens

that allows light to pass through your

lens to your sensor. The iris is the

series of blades that open and close to

make your aperture larger or smaller.

You can control the iris by using a ring

on your lens, a dial on the side of your

camera or by accessing a menu.

The aperture is measured by

f-stop. The lower f-stop numbers

represent more light reaching the

camera sensor, while larger f-stops

represent less light.

For a detailed explanation check

out “Camera Controls & Settings:

You’ve purchased a new camera. Now,

with a few deep in-breaths and inspir-

ing ideas, you’re ready to venture into

the world of video. You take the ma-

chine in your hands, and you notice

plenty of buttons and have no idea

what they do or why are they even

there. Don’t panic!

The most essential “button”

on your camera

Let’s start with the button for your

camera that is not even present on the

camera itself, but is the most impor-

tant of all–the user manual.

Before you start to use your camera,

open the user manual and carefully

read it to familiarize yourself with

your camera options, where are

they located and how to use them.

Although most camera options es-

sentially do the same thing on every

camera, the way to activate each op-

tion varies across camera models. The

user manual will help you learn how

to use these features and get the most

out of them.

1) Image size and quality

The fi rst thing to do with your camera

is to select the recording format you

wish to use. If you have a higher-end

camera, you will be able to choose

from a variety of bit-rates, image qual-

ity, image size, frame rate and scan-

ning system. Look for these settings

on the camera’s main shooting menu.

For more information check out the

following training videos:


SHOOTING


Let’s explore and learn about the


most common controls found on


almost every camera. We’ll go


over the fundamentals of how to


use each feature so you can get


the shot you envision.


by Luis Oscar Maymi

Aperture” at http://www.videomaker.com/r/

cameracontrols-5

3) Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is the suffi cient length

of time a camera shutter is open. The

total exposure is proportional to this

exposure time, or duration of light

reaching the fi lm or image sensor.

The shutter speed can be controlled

by either a dial on the side of the

camera or by accessing the menu.

Depending on the model of your cam-

era, you may have a variety of shutter

speeds to choose from. They will look

like fractions– for example: 1/30, 1/60,

1/1000 and higher.

For a more detailed explanation of

what you can accomplish with Shutter

Speed check out my previous article:

“4 Steps to Understanding Shutter

Speed” at http://www.videomaker.com/r/cam-

eracontrols-6

4) Gain or ISO

For all practical purposes, Gain

and ISO adjust the same thing: the

brightness of your image. When

there is insuffi cient light and you

need to boost the image brightness

digitally, both Gain and ISO can

Every camera control explained


prove useful. However, if you set the

values too high, this will give your

video more noise.

You will fi nd most of the Gain or

ISO options in your camera menu.

Traditional camcorders typically have

three positional gain switches (labeled

L, M, and H). These are measured in

dB (e.g., 3 dB, 9 dB, 18 dB). The higher

the value, the higher the noise. In

DSLR you will fi nd a dedicated ISO

button and can change values using a

dial-in camera.

For a more detailed explanation

check out “Camera Controls & Set-

tings: Gain & ISO” at http://www.videomaker.

com/r/cameracontrols-7

5) White Balance

When you white balance, your cam-

era will register light and give your

image/video a color temperature.

Most cameras have a decent auto-

matic white balance setting or preset

(indoors, outdoors, among others)

that can work pretty well. Addition-

ally, you can check most white bal-

385 C02 Shooting.indd 38 4/23/19 2:06 PM

VIDEOMAKER >>> JUNE 2019 39


SHOOTING


by Luis Oscar Maymi

Aperture” at http://www.videomaker.com/r/

cameracontrols-5

3) Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is the suffi cient length

of time a camera shutter is open. The

total exposure is proportional to this

exposure time, or duration of light

reaching the fi lm or image sensor.

The shutter speed can be controlled

by either a dial on the side of the

camera or by accessing the menu.

Depending on the model of your cam-

era, you may have a variety of shutter

speeds to choose from. They will look

like fractions– for example: 1/30, 1/60,

1/1000 and higher.

For a more detailed explanation of

what you can accomplish with Shutter

Speed check out my previous article:

“4 Steps to Understanding Shutter

Speed” at http://www.videomaker.com/r/cam-

eracontrols-6

4) Gain or ISO

For all practical purposes, Gain

and ISO adjust the same thing: the

brightness of your image. When

there is insuffi cient light and you

need to boost the image brightness

digitally, both Gain and ISO can

Every camera control explained


SHOOTING JUNE 2019


Luis Maymí is a video producer, web developer

and social media specialist at Porfolio. He greatly

enjoys hiking, kayaking and watching anime.

prove useful. However, if you set the

values too high, this will give your

video more noise.

You will fi nd most of the Gain or

ISO options in your camera menu.

Traditional camcorders typically have

three positional gain switches (labeled

L, M, and H). These are measured in

dB (e.g., 3 dB, 9 dB, 18 dB). The higher

the value, the higher the noise. In

DSLR you will fi nd a dedicated ISO

button and can change values using a

dial-in camera.

For a more detailed explanation

check out “Camera Controls & Set-

tings: Gain & ISO” at http://www.videomaker.

com/r/cameracontrols-7

5) White Balance

When you white balance, your cam-

era will register light and give your

image/video a color temperature.

Most cameras have a decent auto-

matic white balance setting or preset

(indoors, outdoors, among others)

that can work pretty well. Addition-

ally, you can check most white bal-

ance settings in your camera menu.

Depending on your lighting condi-

tions you will be able to accomplish

a different look by playing around

with white balance. However, for this

article, we will focus on the basics of

manual white balancing.

First, fi nd something that is white,

like a piece of paper. Then, place it

in front of your camera. Finally, push

the button or access the options in the

menu on your camera to manually

adjust white balance.

For a more detailed explanation of

what you can accomplish with white

balance, check out:


6) Focus

Focus is an essential camera control

to understand in order to help you get

clearer, sharper images. Focus falls

into two groups–manual and auto.

Autofocus: When the autofocus is

on, the camera will automatically fo-

cus the lens for you. Although autofo-

cus can be benefi cial, use it sparingly.

Not all autofocus settings will get the

image as sharp as possible.

You can comment on this article by going online:

http://www.videomaker.com/?p=72006641

Advanced but useful camera controls


- Zebra Pattern
Zebra Pattern is a camera feature that overlays some stripes onto the image
that indicate exposure levels. It is a function that aids exposure by showing a
striped pattern over the areas that are close to overexposure.
- Focus Peaking
Focus peaking is a focusing aid that uses colored digital highlights (most
commonly in white, red or yellow) to identify all the elements of a scene that
are in focus. Is intended to determine if images are sharp, crisp and in-focus
when you are using manual focus.
NOTE: Not all cameras have the Zebra Pattern or Focus Peaking functions. Refer
to the user manual to see if your camera has them.


Manual Focus: When focusing

manually you are in charge of focus-

ing the image. Higher-end cameras

will have a focus ring that you will

be able to rotate to adjust according

to your needs.

For a more detailed explanation

check out “Autofocus vs. Manual

Focus” at http://www.videomaker.com/r/cam-

eracontrols-11

Audio

If you have a camcorder, you will have

XLR inputs and will be able to adjust

the audio gain levels for external

microphones you connect via XLR.

The camera menu audio settings will

provide you with more audio options.

As for DSLR, the camera menu will

have some audio controls. That said,

you will still need an external device

to get high-quality mic inputs.

For more information on audio

check out “Sound Advice” at http://www.

videomaker.com/r/cameracontrols-12

Now go practice!

Now that you know a bit more about

your camera, you’re ready to start

experimenting with different settings.

It’s time to take you c amera into the

fi eld to see what you can do.

385 C02 Shooting.indd 39 4/23/19 2:06 PM
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