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Back to Cameras, Exposure, and Photography

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Cameras, Exposure, and Photography by Michigan State University

4.8
stars
5,125 ratings

About the Course

Welcome to Course One of Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR! In these first 4 Modules you will gain the knowledge and the confidence that will help you make good choices as you consider qualities of the camera you own, and the qualities of the other types of digital cameras you might be considering. You will learn about the basic functions that most digital cameras have in common. You will also go beyond the "technical" matters and learn about how you can make exciting pictures by emphasizing the aspects of Frame and Vantage Point to interpret old subjects in new ways. Discovering accessories that photographers find useful, and the types of camera bags from mini to carry-on sized, is also in store for you. You will also make your first photographs and, if you are a subscriber to the specialization, upload pictures to the web gallery and start interacting with your fellow learners in our "Gallery." Let's get started with Module One!...

Top reviews

LB

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it definitely increases our enthusiasm and passion for photography, this course gives us the basics of photography and camera settings. thank you professors for your encouragement and efforts.

DA

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One of the nice things about this course, is that it challenges one to DO something - take photos. My trusty old point-and-shoot doesn't know what has hit it - it has never worked so hard before.

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1526 - 1550 of 1,577 Reviews for Cameras, Exposure, and Photography

By Ida A

•

Apr 20, 2016

The content of the course is good and I feel it would be beneficial for beginners or those who want to top up their technical / academic knowledge on the subject.

I found the terrible editing of the lectures distracting though, and it felt like no one bothered to over-see the final version that was published. I also don't think the fact that one has to pay so much to access the assessments, which many other courses don't do at all, is conducive to creating a strong engagement in the course. I wouldn't for example be encouraged to take another course from this series (not sure if one is offered).

By Ziping Z

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Sep 4, 2017

The first week and the final week are interesting.But in fact the week 2 & week 3 are kind of boring and those information could be easily acquired online, which I did not see the reason why I take this course for 2 weeks just study those knowledge.In contrast, the first and final week are focusing on how we gonna achieve a "good" image in a more dynamic way where we need more helps from tutors. If i could I would not recommend this course to a person who actually already had a habit of taking photos.

By Lindsey R

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May 4, 2020

I thought the professors were very sweet and clearly make photography accessible to all - at any skill level. However, I think some of the talks were quite dry and we spent too much time on certain elements and not enough on others. IE Not enough time talking about the ISO - Aperture - Shutter Speed triangle and when you want want to lean into each.... Too much time talking about Vantage Points. A 16 minute video on how to find the right vantage point seemed a bit exhausting.

By April

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Jun 28, 2024

The iPhone camera learning is severely out of date. They're teaching iPhone 6 camera as I write this and I have an iPhone 15 Max Pro which is immensely better. They really should keep that section updated. Also the AI kept telling me that my work looked a lot like another's work and would question if it's mine and NOT let me submit it. Totally frustrating. Other than those two things, good basic photography information here.

By Jane W

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Sep 28, 2020

This was a good course in that I learnt a little more about technical features of a camera. Picture taking, framing, subject, light, etc... was not as strong as I had hoped. It was bothersome that a lot of the discussions are years (three or more) old. The fact that the professors don't even look at the assignments is bothersome as well. It is all left to the students and frankly that is not enough.

By Michael D

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Aug 24, 2020

Good course for someone looking to understand the basics, while developing a understanding on how deep the hole of Photography is. The one issue I have with the course is not the teaching, but the testing and peer grading. The wording of Projects is somewhat confusing and hard to understand. Plus some of the peers either don’t know what they are doing or they are just looking to score you low.

By PRAGATI M

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May 3, 2020

I feel like a lot of important things like the exposure triangle and the relationship between different settings could've been mentioned. Otherwise, I enjoyed the course, some things seemed a little unnecessary but they might actually come in handy sometime. I liked how this course gave me confidence, about myself as a photographer.

By shorya s

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May 29, 2020

The course was nice but it was too much theory on it. What they gave a briefing in the intro video was not implemented properly as they told it would be for all the people whatever the device they use but they only focused on DSLR, not on phone. I didn't learn anything which I can implement in the field as such.

By Mateus D

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May 2, 2020

The Course is good and teachers have passion, which is nice. But Prof. Peter Glenn's videos are too long and slow, and the concepts presented could have been delivered in a more concise manner. The audio is also very low for his videos.

But good course anyway, thanks

By Kathy P

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Mar 8, 2016

There were some technical challenges that made this course not as fun. The content was good. If you make the assignments easier to submit (for example: provide a box to write a statement as opposed to uploading one) it will remove frustration and increase enjoyment.

By Roman H

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Jun 5, 2024

Expected more in depth explanations of the inner workings of cameras, light metering, white balance, and how to deal with different (light) situations and less about the instructors' favorite shots of theirs and musings on vantage points and framing.

By Deleted A

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Nov 15, 2020

The lectures are very good. The hands-on tasks are great to learn by doing. The peer-review of this tasks is very poor quality, because there is no professional feedback and if someone is misusing it, it's not possible to report it.

By Lyneth R

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Nov 30, 2020

This course really discussed an overview on photography, however, I think the outline and discussions can still be improved, specifically in terms of compressing the contents to highlight the basics and the most important points.

By Ilona J

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Jun 8, 2016

Very basic content, not that helpful - states what to pay attention to, but scarcely "how to". Also is very static, uses very little illustrations / animations / visuals, which is a shame for a photography course...

By roberta l

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Aug 7, 2016

The content is helpful in learning to use the camera and understand terminology, but it is somewhat, if not totally, a false representation of interaction with the experts. There is absolutely none.

By Liliya G

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Mar 28, 2016

The course would be great if only everybody could fully participate. As I cannot pass quizzes and submit assignments not having purchased it, I have less motivation to carry on :(

By Andrea M

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Feb 15, 2016

The content, although very basic, is interesting, and some of the teacher's insights do stimulate discussion, but the video quality is low, with non matching slides, etc.

By Howard M

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Dec 16, 2016

Good course to start with the basics of photography. Group assessments can be hit or miss given varied experiences of other students, but overall a good place to start

By Frederik F H

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Mar 2, 2016

It was quite confusing with unlocking next weeks work, and the filming of the videos were poor. Eventhough everything was understandable

By Nikos B

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Jan 23, 2022

The sound of the videos was most of the time so bad, that i couldn't understand what the professors were saying.

By Rebeca B B

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Mar 12, 2016

Pros:Good concepts. Peter Glanding is a very good teacher.

Cons: Too short and concepts explained too quickly.

By Zachary M

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Jun 21, 2022

Was unable to get a peer review for a few of my assignments, which made the assignment past due.

By Clare A M

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May 27, 2019

The course is very well articulated, but I find that it has a very slow pace.

By Marianne C

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Apr 10, 2016

not really possible to give a higher rating.at the moment too many problems.

By Pablo O

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Aug 8, 2018

A little bit basic. expected more depthness into technical areas.