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
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,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.