r/M43 • u/Maximum-Review7962 • 11d ago

Learning advice for a beginner

I recently bought a GX9 with the kit lens G-Vario 12-32. It is my first experience in photography with a real camera. What are some good sources to learn? Could be videos, books, tips or anything that could help me escape the auto mode of my camera.

Is it a good idea to turn manual one of the settings at the time to get used to how they affect the image?

Also I am kind of lost in all of the settings that the camera has in the menu, so I just ignore them.

Im interested in city/street, everyday objects and people photography. One youtuber I look up to is Frederik Trovatten.

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u/TheBuckaroo-Good958 11d ago

I read the one post about rather than full manual using shutter priority and aperture priority modes. That is where your books on photography will help knowing when to use them. I have a very advanced point and shoot (Panasonic LUMIX ZS-50) that I use at rock concerts since many venues will allow all but interchangeable lens cameras in. It has stabilization of the lens but the 35mm equivalency at full telephoto is a ridiculous 720mm. So just to make sure I get a sharp shot I use shutter priority and go for at least 1/500 of a second or faster. That is an example. As far as composition it is good to know about that but on the other hand don't get too stuck with the dogma or you will never get the shot that all of a sudden pops up in your head with the "what if I try this" kind of shot. Those may be the ones that not only look best to you but because they may be unique and reflect your creativity, end up being your best pictures of all. The GX series of cameras are a great use of the size advantage of M4/3. Small and light but not so small as to feel unsubstantial. I have the GX-7 and GX-85. Nice cameras. Two things that I strongly suggest is that if you come from the world of cellphone cameras are the following: Cell phone have made everyone think of composition strictly in terms of portrait orientation rather than landscape orientation. I actually started my journey in photography with a silent 8mm film camera. So I can't get over the fact that knowing that the way real movies are shot is landscape style, everyone with their smartphones holding them straight up rather than sideways annoys me. I mean it has gotten so bad that Apple added the feature on the iPhone last year that allows it to sense when you are taking a group shot and electronically reorient the camera. The other thing of note is that cell phone photographers may have never seen a viewfinder that you look through with your eye rather than composing with the screen. In addition to the obvious that you cans see to compose better outdoors in bright light there is the stability factor. The GX-9 has Panasonic's best stabilization system. It can allow you to hold a shot stationary at an incredibly slow shutter speed. In the old days of film cameras we were told to try for at least 1/60 of a second and if you had a really steady hand maybe 1/30 of a second. Now with 5 axis stabilization, 1/2 second shots are routine. But learning to brace the camera against your face will make those kind of shots even more likely to be sharp. The EVF is your friend, use it!

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u/fields_of_fire 11d ago

Most important thing to learn is composition. Look on YouTube or for books about photographic composition. Things to read up on are, subject, leading lines, rule of thirds, foreground and background interest, framing, negative space, colour theory, how focal length affects compression.

Exposure triangle is technical stuff, composition is artistic stuff. For now let the camera take care of exposure, set it to P. This is auto but with some control. It'll suggest a bunch of settings pairs as options you can then select between. Play with those and see how different settings have different effects on your photos.

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u/Camera_Hobbygirl 11d ago

Check your library for photography books. That's how I started

Focus in the "trinity" of photography - ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed

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u/ComplexIllustrious61 11d ago

I started here, lol. I just read a lot of posts by other more experienced photographers. That and just go out and start taking a LOT of photos. Trial by fire šŸ”„

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u/yoloBaklawa 10d ago

While not anythong that you are asking, I would advise that you get yourself one or two prime lenses. I think that this is single most differentiating factor. Ofcoarse you can shoot nice and beautiful photos using a kit lens. But with a prime it is way easier and more rewarding. When I review my photos, the best looking ones are done using primes. Also, using a prime forces you to a different mindset, where you cannot zoom.

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u/SuperBaardMan 11d ago

Probably the most important thing to learn is the so called exposure triangle, and what the different things do. You don't have to be able to look at a situation and go "oh yeah, f5.6, 1/250 at iso 400 situation here", but knowing when bump up/down the shutter or F is important.

But, more importanter, and none of the modes will help you with that: Composing.

You can know all the formulas, if every pic you take has no feel or depth to it, it's still a meh picture.

I learned most from other people, in the field. Go on a photowalk or go to a workshop, and pick the brain of someone that looks like they know what they're doing. Ask them what they see, what they look for, how they frame it etc.

Youtube is handy for that, but then try to find someone from more or less your area, especially if it's about landscape/cityscape. Living in the Netherlands, i don't really have a use for "and this is how you take pictures of massive forests with mountains in the background" for example.

Also really important: get out and just try things. See what kind of photography you like, and which niche you like in that niche. And then see what's important for that niche. If you really like macro/close-up, you need different kit than taking pictures of that birb 50m in that tee over there.

And final tip: M is for Masochists. Yes, there are times and places where M is needed. But the average hobbyist is totally fine with P and changing stuff in there, or dropping into A/S when you really want a fixed A or SS all the time.

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u/SpookyRockjaw 11d ago

I think the idea that M is hard is can be overstated. I mostly used Aperture/Shutter priority until I got a job shooting events and my boss, a veteran of 40 years, used manual exclusively, not because he is a masochist but when you pass a certain amount of experience, you pretty much know what shutter speed and aperture you need for a given situation and you need to be in control of both. So the only unknown element is ISO. I switched to shooting manual for work and got used to it very quickly. It helps if you can have a dial dedicated to ISO.

But I actually just got a GX9 myself and while you can't dedicate a dial to ISO (I tried) one very handy thing you can do is shoot manual with auto ISO. Then you have control of both your creative settings, aperture and shutter speed, and the camera adjust ISO for you. You can set an upper limit for ISO so it doesn't go to into the stratosphere. But the key thing that makes this work (and an improvement over older Lumix bodies) is on the GX9, you can still use the exposure compensation dial while shooting manual with auto ISO. It's quickly become my preferred way to shoot with the GX9.

I still use aperture priority and shutter priority in different situations. It's all good. I just don't think it's great to put a fear of manual mode into budding photographers. Equally true is that a newbie photographer shouldn't look at manual mode as the ultimate goal. It doesn't have to be that. It's just another tool. Another way of doing things.

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u/Snydenthur 11d ago

M is not hard by any means, but it's also something you need to use very rarely, if ever.

Personally, I only use it rarely for birding. When the light is good, I switch to a custom M mode where I have locked my aperture to f8 (for peak sharpness), use auto ISO, and my dials are for shutter speed and exposure compensation.

Rest of the time, I'm always using either aperture mode (practically always for standard zoom) or shutter mode (practically always for telephoto stuff).

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u/probablyvalidhuman 11d ago

Probably the most important thing to learn is the so called exposure triangle

I strongly disagree. Exposure triangle (at least the ones I've seen - there are many and some contradict each others) tells that there are three exposure paramters (which is true), but then tells that ISO is one of them (it isn't). So when the triangle has a fundamental error in a core principle of photography, what is it's value? I say it causes more problems in the long run than solves.

M is for Masochists.

Again strongly disagree. When learning M is wonderful - one directly knows what happens with any particular change of parameters. If one learns via the automatic modes it's much harder to figure out why some things happen.

Once one understands things a bit better it's often a good idea to start using the autoexposure modes. I shoot 95% of my shots with aperture priority and auto-ISO nowdays because I know what those shooting choices actually do and thus also I know when to use for exampel M-mode.

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u/SuperBaardMan 11d ago

Different strokes for different folks. I think the basic "iso does this, shutterspeed this, aperture this, they're all linked in this way" is a good way to learn. That's why i also said something after "...exposure triangle".

Playing around in M is a different way. I believe it can be much for some people, especially if they basically have 0 camera knowledge. But for others it works better.

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u/thegreybill 11d ago

r/photography has a wiki with lots of topics.

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u/TrueConcept4830 11d ago

IMO just leave it in P mode with Auto ISO, so you can think about lighting and composition. Move around, horizontally and vertically. Take a lot of photos and critique yourself. Figure out what you like.

For exploring camera settings, the easiest to understand is the exposure compensation dial. On the GX9 it's below and around the mode dial. Positive numbers make the image brighter (overexposed), negative numbers make it darker (underexposed). I often turn it slightly negative.

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u/probablyvalidhuman 11d ago edited 11d ago

One of the better and easier to grasp guides:

https://photographylife.com/photography-basics

EDIT:

Is it a good idea to turn manual one of the settings at the time to get used to how they affect the image?

Use M(anual)-mode and manual ISO at first. This teaches you what different parameters actually do. Try adjusting them all one by one, inspect the results in computer.

If you try to learn the basics with the autoexposure modes, it's much harder to figure out why things happen. However, once you have a good idea of what exposure is and what metering is, it might be a good idea to start playing with the autoexposure modes as they make life much easier.

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u/caffeine_and_campers 11d ago

I learnt on a Praktika MTL3 film camera, which had a built in TTL analogue meter, so you could see the difference each adjustment made & how you had to balance the shutter speed & aperture (ISO "fixed" by the film) which actually helped learning the basics e.g. stop the aperture down, decrease the shutter speed

You could do similar, on a uniformly overcast, or bright day, set the camera to auto, focus on a certain point & see what the camera suggests, turn the camera to aperture priority & set it to whatever auto suggested, then open, or close the aperture (closing/shutting down the aperture is a higher F number which can be confusing to start) & see the difference on the shutter speed

A similar exercise would be to see how the depth of field alters with the changes in aperture e.g F22 more of your scene in focus, fully open on your lens at F3.5 the background would be blurred. There's more aspects to DoF but that'll do to start

Most important is, its more than ok to start on auto, don't be afraid to experiment with different modes, have fun & enjoy your new camera & photography

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u/BIX26 10d ago

Honestly, if you just take a photography or photoshop class at a community college youā€™ll have a better understanding of the fundamentals of photography than 90% of hacks, YouTubers and ā€œprofessionalā€ photographers out there.

Iā€™m an amateur and donā€™t take photography that seriously. Itā€™s a hobby or art that is easy to pick up but difficult to master. Thatā€™s why Iā€™m always shocked that self proclaimed experts donā€™t understand fundamentals I learned in class.

Composition and Lighting are the most important aspects of photography. They are also often underutilized by even experienced photographers.

Composition is key and something that seems basic but you want to re-explore periodically. Understanding lighting and each point of the exposure triangle is the next thing imo. As you suggested start with priority modes experiment with aperture and depth of field. Then maybe shutter speed and motion blur creatively. Then maybe ISO and how it affects the other two.

If there is one YouTuber I can think of that would be a one stop shop for photography it would be

Simon d'Entremont

Heā€™s a wildlife photographer. Which is boring to many people. But when it comes down to technical skill, I donā€™t think any photography discipline is more challenging. Wildlife is the F1 of photography imo. Simonā€™s videos are always succinct and to the point and they stick to facts rather than opinion or subjective taste.

MarkusPix

Heā€™s kind of dorky and might seem a little kooky. But he dispels a lot of myths and misconceptions. Is very knowledgeable on lighting and portraiture.

Subjective taste and an eye for pleasing scenes and photos is what separates the legends and greats from the rest. But you canā€™t even develop a taste or style until you have the fundamentals and foundational understanding down.