Sony Alpha 3000 User manual

SONYAlpha3000Manual

FILMP/MEDP150/160•M.Lucas

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TheSonyAlpha3000lookslikeaDSLR,butitactuallyisclosertoavideocamerainanSLR

body,AKAa“mirrorless”camera.Itrecordsa20MBstillimage(5456x3632pixels!)and

canbesetforJPEGorRAW+JPEG.

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Thecameracomeswithabattery,acharger,alenscap,alenshoodandashoulderstrap.

ThelenshasaUVfilter,whichcanbecleanedwithoutdamagingthelens.Therearetwo

kindsofchargers,onewhereyoupluginthecamera,andtheotherwhereyoujustputthe

batteryinthecharger,abetteridea.Thebatteriesshouldlastthroughmorethanoneday

ofshooting.Buttheyshouldbechargedatleastonceaweek.

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ThecamerastoresimagesonanSDcard,whichisinaslotasshown.Becarefulwiththe

doorcoveringthecard.Thecardremovesbypushingitin,andspringingitout.

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SidedoorforSDcardandcharger.

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UsingtheCamera

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Theviewfinderiselectronic,givingyouthesameimageyouseeonthebackviewscreen.

Thereisabuttononthetoprighttoswitchbetweenthetwowaysofviewingnexttothe

ModeWheel.(seebelow)Theviewfinderisgoodforsituationsthataretoobrightforthe

rearscreen,butnotgreatforcriticalviewing.

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Thelensisinterchangeable.ItisanE‐mountlens,whichisanewSonymount.Soadaptors

areneededforotherlenseslikeCanonorNikon. 

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Thelensfeelslikeitshouldbeamanualfocuslens,butitisnot.(The‘focus’ringseemsto

beadummy.)Theonlymanualadjustmentisforfocallength,from18‐55mm.Itisalso

notafastlens,maxingoutat f 3.5onthewide,and f 5.6onthetelephotoend.

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Whilethereisnomanualfocus,thereareeasyadjustmentswiththecontrolwheelforboth

f ‐stop,andforshutterspeed. 

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ThesensorisastandardAPS‐C23mmsensor,similartothatonaCanon7D.Thismeans

thecameracangivea'filmlook'depthoffieldundertherightcircumstances.

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ShootingandControllingExposure

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Settingfocus.Thereisnorealmanualfocuscontrolwiththestandardlens.Tofocus,you

needtoholdtheshutterbuttonpart‐waydown,andthecamerawillfocusbasedonagrid

(you'llseelittlegreenmarkers).Ifyouletgoofthebutton,thecamerawillkeepthat

focus.

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SettingthecameratoManual(Monthedialonthetopright)allowsyoutocontrolboth

aperture (fstop)and shutterspeed .Botharecontrolledbyfirstclickingthecontrol

wheelonthebottomedgeandthenspinningit.Pushingthewheeltogglesthetwo

controls,showingyoutheoneyouhavecontroloverinyellow.

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YoualsohavecontrolovertheISO,themeasureofthecamera'ssensitivitytolight,clicking

thecontroldialontherightside,andthenspinningthedial. 

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AgoodplacetostartistosettheASAfairlylow.ThiscouldbeISO100outdoors,andISO

400or800indoors.Thensettheshutterspeedto1/60

,whichisstandard.Afterthat,

youcanplaywiththefstop,goingfromf5.6tof8,tof11,andf16.

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Inpractice,itmaybenecessarytovarytheshutterspeedalot,goingashighas1/250ofa

secondwhenworkingoutdoors.

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Thecamerahasa“steadyshot”compensationforcamerashake,whichshouldprobablybe

leftinplaceforvideorecording.

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MOVIERECORD

Themoviebuttonactsprettyindependentlyoftheothercontrols.Youcanusetheshutter

buttonforfocus,andthenhitthemoviebutton.ItrecordsAVCHD.movfilesinfullHD

1920x1080format.TheseneedtobetranscodedtoworkwithFinalCutExpress.The

audioisforreferenceonly,andisrecordedat48kHz.Thereisnomicinput.For

consistencyIrecommendthatweusethe 60i(17M)setting“FH” .See“ImageSize”inthe

menu.

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