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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
5,073 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

R

Dec 22, 2017

This course was very informative and provided just the right amount of challenge for me to stretch my creativity and newly obtained knowledge. I enjoyed it and I am looking forward to the next course.

RP

May 31, 2020

It's a very good course for beginners and I got to learn a lot and improve my photography in every way possible! I recommend it to everyone who's interested in Photography and want to do more with it.

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26 - 50 of 1,556 Reviews for Cameras, Exposure, and Photography

By Иванюта Е А

Nov 27, 2018

Курс очень понравился, спасибо огромное за интересную и новую информацию, креативные задания и поддержку. Курс очень хорош для начинающих фотографов.

By Shamily K

Jan 4, 2019

your explanation is really wow

By Praveen D

Jun 13, 2019

i really loved this course!

By J K

May 9, 2019

The lectures are excellent. The assignments are interesting.

However, the forums (one of the best aspects of many Coursera courses) are nothing more than a ghost town of desperate pleas for review of assignments. Every single post on every single subforum is an unanswered plea for review. Unanswered. Ugh. A separate sub-forum should be created for these. Or better yet, the peer review process should be fixed so that the begging for reviewers is not necessary.

Also, about 1/3 of the people who tried to review my submissions could not open the photos. I complied with upload requirements. Likewise, I could not see several photos submitted by others. Instructors / mods should find the cause, and fix this Coursera glitch. If there are file size limitations or other factors on the student side, submission instructions should be updated.

By Pakasit W

Jun 22, 2019

the course structure is well organized

By Denise C

May 4, 2020

The instructors are clearly passionate about photography

This course includes a tremendous amount of "background info" and less direct "how to" instruction than I expected.

For example, there is a lengthy lecture on what the professor carries in his camera bag. And there is another lengthy lecture where the professors talk about their own photographs.

I would have appreciated more instruction on how to apply the principles taught in the course. For example, while it is helpful to know that increased in the ISO also increases shutter speed, I would have preferred to know some basic "rules of thumb" for what ISO setting is appropriate for different kinds of environments.

By Edgar C

Jun 15, 2019

Gives a good overview of the basics of photography. Later courses provide more detail

By Jessica N

Aug 23, 2020

Absolutely wonderful and worthwhile course. I learned so much about photography, my camera, and exposure in ways that made sense to my brain and that actually stick! For example, I knew there was an "exposure triangle" with the relationship between the shutter speed, ISO, and aperture, but didn't fully grasp how to properly expose my photos and use my camera in manual mode before. ALSO - just the knowledge about the history of photography, different types of cameras, and how to change the settings in your camera (who knew you could put your name/ copyright information directly in your camera... before this course, not me!). Thank you so much to Peter and Mark. I can honestly say I am already a better photographer from taking this course and I look forward to using the skills and knowledge they shared from here on out.

By Manishraj K

Aug 2, 2020

It's a great course for beginners! People who are enthusiastic about photography but have minimal or no prior experience can benefit from this cource and develop photographic skills and get themselves tready for the next courses. Ones who have schooled experience in handling DSLRs or have played enough with the pro mode in their smartphone cameras can easily answer more than 70% of the quiz questions, but I'll still advise them to go through the materials as they are really helpful. Overall, this is a good course and Michigan State University has my thanks for it!

By Przemyslaw D

Jul 14, 2020

I really enjoyed this course. It gives you all the basics in the nutshell and in a very nice format. I think certain parts should be selective, like smart phone camera info. I dont and will never use apple devices so felt like it was not necessary for me. It would be nice to update those as well as now smartphones have telephoto and wide angle cameras built in as well. I liked the practice assignments and reviewing work of other people. I think that makes big difference between this and other online courses.

By Akif H

Jul 16, 2020

For sure i must review this course, when i enrolled to this course, i didn't know anything about camera what is professional photography and different terms in photography....

But everything gone changed, this is a superb course and the presentation is not at all boring..you will learn every aspect of camera , photography and exposure controls etc.

I am really thankful to you to make such a good MOOC for us , i really appreciate for your time and effort.

Thank you

By Rahul T

Jun 11, 2020

Got to see amazing side of photography. Well, photography was just a hobby but after attending the module ! it became my passion. i think making a career in photography and I thank both the professors for such an amazing lectures. I learnt many things from them. I would also thank my fellow mates as they reviewed my photography and they gave good tips to brush up my skills. Thank to University of Michigan family and my fellow mates

By Ashley L

Sep 8, 2016

Information was excellent, and the assignments were incredibly helpful by integrating the peer-reviewing process to help get a better idea of how to improve your work! Both professors made information easy for newcomers to process by laying out all of the vocabulary upfront so everyone stayed on the same page. Highly recommended for people who photograph as a hobby and people looking to get more serious about their photography.

By George G

Mar 30, 2016

This class was perfect for me. Although I have owned many cameras and have taken thousands of photos over decades, thru this class I have finally learned how to use the camera without always using the 'full AUTO' setting. By doing this, my passion for photography has been reignited and my creativity is soaring. Thank you MSU for offering such an awesome class. I am strongly recommending these classes to my photographer friends.

By Fatima R N

Dec 2, 2016

Dear professors Peter and Mark, I am very happy with the improved knowledge and results during the courses. Really, the excitement of you is mine too! I confess that I have a degree in digital photography and his classes always amaze me! It's a great joy to be able to access such a well-prepared content and watch your incredible classes! A hug with affection and admiration, until the end of the 4th. course!

Fátima Nunes

By Csilla F

Jun 5, 2017

This is a great course for people, who do not know too much about photography and ready to learn. I wanted to understand what all those numbers mean on my camera, and how I can purposefully make those choices of light and depth of field myself. I really like that there are assignments, which forces you to learn step by step - one at a time. Easy to understand, and great presentations and visualizations.

By Jim W

Aug 1, 2016

For newcomers to the art and science of photography this course requires learners to have no knowledge of the subject and leads them to an understanding of the functions of a camera. Through the tutorials learners got to grips with the hardware of their cameras and started to move out of their comfort zone. Well it certainly did for me, as someone who has been using a DSLR for over ten years!

By Fredrick M

Sep 16, 2017

This course was great! It was hands-on which is a great thing for this hobby/ profession. I do not remember learning so much about a topic in four weeks and actually remembering it all without a problem during my day to day life!The instructors are great and the other learners all have the same goal in mind.

Thank you MSU, and thank you Coursera! I cannot wait to start my next course!

By Rümeysa A

Jun 19, 2020

This course shaped and renewed many of my thoughts on photography. I got very useful information about cameras, technical information, point of view and many more. Thank you very much to both of our teachers for the informations they have given us. I think this course should be taken by anyone who is new to photography but who is completely confused with these informations. :)

By El M R

Mar 9, 2020

I would love to thank Coursera in general for giving me the opportunity to take this course online, and i would love to thank my two professors in particular. They have made a lot of things clear throughout the course. I really loved the way they explained everything and i felt i made a lot of progress. I will definitely continue taking courses here.

Thank you so much

By Hasitha M D

Aug 15, 2020

I am quite new to photography although I was originally inspired to pursue photography as a hobby 6 years back when I was doing my undergraduate study. This course was very helpful for beginners like myself who has the passion for it but lacks in the techniques and it also is good for developing our perspectives as a photographer to see the world with a third eye.

By Chika M

May 20, 2020

This really gave me such a good historical, technical, and artistic introduction to photography. I left with plenty of questions which reflects how much I learned. The videos were packed with information that takes some times to digest and the teachers give plenty of visual examples to go back to. I really liked this course and look forward to the next one!

By María T C M

Jun 21, 2020

Awesome course. The instructors do a very great job at explaining the content in a way that can be perfectly uderstood. I learned a lot of things from this course and look forward on learning more. I highly reccomend it for those who are interested in starting photography or for those who wish to review what they already know and learn some new things.

By Holly

Feb 21, 2019

I truly enjoyed the course outline, the feedback from peers and from the course professionals. I feel my skills improved from pushing myself, seeing my potential through the eyes of another as well as learning from the mistakes I was making. The course was clearly laid out and concise instruction. I would recommend highly for beginners in the field.

By Fernando R

Nov 14, 2016

Excelente curso, los profesores son conocedores del tema, expertos en la materia y con una buena disposición para enseñar. Recomiendo tomar este curso. Aunque no esta en español, con un conocimiento básico de ingles y usando los subtitulos en ese idioma se entiende claramente las explicaciones. El avance es paso a paso y agradable de seguir.