Camera Lesson 1

Last Friday our lesson was held in the Film and Television studio where we had a introductory class on using cameras. During the lesson we used three different cameras: the Sony NX5, the Sony SF100 which both had zoom lenses and the smaller but still very impressive Cannon 5D.  During this lesson we where taught how to use all of the equipment properly and safely. 

The class was first split into three groups of four or five people and we were all given a tripod to set up together, which was a fairly simple first task as after unfolding it we would un-clip the three retraining clips holding the tripod together and alter the height. We then re-clipped them together to prevent it all falling back down, securing it into place whilst also standing with one foot on the centre for more stability.

One essential task I learnt during the lesson was to always 'Bubble' your tripod. This means making sure everything is on the same level when filming as you would have to do in outside locations as you might be in an uneven environment. The 'Bubble' is known as a spirit level used in construction and building.  Both have been made with the same intention of making everything level and straight. In order to alter the bubble on a tripod you firstly must loosen the nut underneath to be able to manoeuvre the bubble around until it is directly in the centre of the fluorescent circled green window before you then re screw the nut to keep everything in place.
After this short task each group was then given a different Camera to work with. My group was given the Sony NX5 pictured below to use for the majority of the session:

When handling the cameras we were all taught how to safely pass the camera to one another by using the words "Yours" and "Mine", this was to make sure that there was no risk dropping it when passing it to someone else.

I also learned about the quick release method from the tripod in this lesson without having to unscrew everything from the tripod which always takes some time and effort. By pressing down a button underneath the camera on the tripod and then sliding the camera on or off the tripod before tightening it up with a clip so it doesn't fall off saves a lot of time when you only have a limited time on set.

With the Camera I was working on the Sony NX5 there are two ways you can focus, firstly with the auto focus or manually with the aperture wheel positioned on the lenses of the Camera.  With this method you firstly have to zoom all the way in into your shot and then focus using the other aperture wheel before pulling back out into your full shot to start filming.

White Balancing is designed to keep all your shots the same colour from outside and inside as both have a slight natural colour added to them which the Camera picks up when filming. Whereas some Cameras have automatic White Balancing, it isn't always as effective as when doing it manually yourself and wastes less time in editing where you would have to edit each shot. When using White Balance you must begin with pointing the camera towards a blank white piece of paper or surface and press the button which says either WB or WHT BAL.  After this you can alter the exposure on how much light your are allowing into the shot using the other smaller aperture wheel on the lenses of the Camera.

As this was the the first time I had ever handheld and used a professional camera it was both a extremely daunting but exciting experience but I also felt I also learnt a great deal into how a filming camera works and so after trying out all three cameras, especially the Sony NX5, I was able to determine my personal favourite as the Sony SF100 as even though the aperture wheel was very small I did love the high quality picture it gave.