Click School

Day 1 · 12 min

Meet your camera

Learn the names of the five things you will actually touch.

You cannot break this camera by pressing buttons. If you get lost, turn it off and on. That is always allowed.

A Canon DSLR looks serious. It is just a box that draws with light. Five parts matter this week.

Black DSLR camera from the front123
  1. 1Lens — the glass eye
  2. 2Grip — hold here
  3. 3Flash — stays down for now
The front. The glass circle is the lens. The fat side is the grip.

The picture button

Photographers call this the shutter. You can keep calling it the picture button. It lives on top, under your right index finger.

Close-up of the shutter button and power switch12
  1. 1Picture button
  2. 2On / Off ring
The silver button takes the picture. The ring around it is On / Off.

The green square

On top left is a wheel called the mode dial. Turn it so the little green square lines up with the white mark. That is Full Auto. The camera does the thinking.

Mode dial with the green Auto square selected1
  1. 1Green square = Auto
Leave it on the green square until Day 5. You will still take lovely photos.

The back — your control panel

Back of the camera with LCD and buttons12
  1. 1Screen
  2. 2Wheel + SET
The dark rectangle is the screen. Around it are the only back buttons you need.
Playback, menu, and multi-selector close-up123
  1. 1Playback
  2. 2MENU
  3. 3SET in the middle
Blue play arrow = look at pictures. MENU = settings. Trash = throw one away.

Battery and memory card

The door is on the bottom. Battery slides in until it clicks. The thin card is the memory card — that is where pictures live, not in the camera forever.

Open battery door with battery and SD card
Charge the battery the night before. Slide the card in until it kisses the spring.

Practice on the real-feeling camera

Practice: turn the 3D camera on