D3000 Project The Basics

You just picked up your new camera what in the world do you do first. If you have been shooting for a while this video may not be for you but if you are brand new, there are some really solid tips here.

Fridays will now be D3000 aka the “project” day on FroKnowsPhoto.com.  Click more to get more info about this post as well as see what is coming over the next few weeks.

Here is what I am working on for future posts.  Breaking down ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture and RAW VS JPEG.

The first thing you want to do with your camera is take it out of its packaging aka un-box it and make sure everything that should be in the box is in the box.  99.9% of the time everything will be there but on very rare occasions something may be missing.

I suggest that you keep all boxes and materials that came with your camera including the receipt.  I keep all my old boxes in the closest for when I trade and or sell my gear.  I just started getting into the practice of scanning my receipts just in case I ever have an insurance claim.

Now that you have un-boxed it what next?  Lets start with the battery.  The battery will have an initial charge but its not a bad idea to give it a full charge.  A full charge should take no more than 2 hours from empty.  It is good practice to get into not letting the battery stay on the charger after it is fully charged.  Like all Lithium Ion batteries there is a number of times you can charge it.  By leaving it on the charger and never letting the battery run down you are shorting its life.

I know many beginners get nervous when thinking about changing lenses.  It is not hard and if you use common sense you wont have any issues.  The camera will have the “body cap” on it when you get it.  Keep this body cap handy for the times when you wont have a lens on the camera.

This is how you put the lens on, take the back cap off the lens and remove the body cap from the camera. (it is good practice to turn the camera off when changing lenses so not to let dust in)  Look for the dot on the body as well as on the lens.  Line up the dots and depending on your camera you will gently turn the lens until you hear a click.  That click means that the lens is mounted correctly.  If you do not have the lens lines up correctly it will be harder to turn, stop at the point and start over.

To take a lens off the camera first make sure the camera is off.  Press the release button near the lens on the body and turn the lens the opposite direction from how you put it on.  After removing the lens before to replace the back cap and body cap to.

If you are in a consumer DSLR you most likely will be using a Secure Digital or SD card.  The sd card is very easy to put into the camera.  Locate the memory card door which usually is on side of the camera and gently open it.  Inside you will see a little picture that will have a notch on it showing you how to put the card in.  You can only insert it one way, if you are having trouble putting it in it means you may have it backwards.  When you press it in correctly you will feel the spring loader accept the card.

In the the cameras that accept Compact Flash cards or CF you have to be a little more careful.  With CF cards there are holes that line up with pins inside the camera.  These pins are very fragile so you want to make sure you put the card in correctly.  Your camera will have a picture inside the door that tells you which way the CF card label should face.  Line the card up and press it into the camera, you will feel it be accepted and you are ready to shoot.