Mirrorless & DSLR Videography Essentials
About This Course
A professional camera system is not a more expensive smartphone. It is a fundamentally different tool, with different physics, different technical constraints, and different creative capabilities. The techniques that work on a phone do not automatically transfer. The disciplines that make professional camera footage look professional must be learned specifically for the system.
This course makes the transition from smartphone to mirrorless and DSLR videography, not just in which buttons to press, but in the technical disciplines that professional video on these systems demands. The most important of these is the 180-degree shutter rule: the foundational video exposure principle that does not exist on smartphones because they manage it computationally. Understanding it and understanding why ND filters are the tool that makes it work in bright conditions is the entry point to professional camera video that no amount of smartphone experience provides. You will learn to operate mirrorless and DSLR cameras for video across all manual settings, select and deploy interchangeable lenses for their specific visual character and technical function, work with LOG and flat picture profiles that create editing latitude unavailable on smartphones, manage audio inputs including XLR connections and on-camera mics, use fluid-head tripods and motorised gimbals for professional stabilisation, and integrate your camera system into a complete production workflow from brief to footage handoff.
By the end of this course, you will confidently operate a professional mirrorless or DSLR system to deliver technically accurate and aesthetically aligned footage for a range of production contexts.
What You'll Learn
- Operate mirrorless and DSLR cameras across manual settings, record modes, and output configuration
- Apply the 180-degree shutter rule and select ND filters to hold exposure in bright light
- Expose LOG and flat picture profiles and select codecs, bit-rates, and lenses for the production requirement
- Assemble and operate professional rigs, gimbals, shoulder rigs, sliders, monitors, follow-focus, and audio
- Inspect and verify camera systems and accessories against a video-specific checklist before a shoot
- Apply camera positions, composition, focus pulling, and camera movement to shape the shot
- Set up single-subject interview lighting with controlled key and fill
- Interpret shot plans and produce camera reports and footage records
- Run the on-set production workflow from pre-production check through rolling to footage management
- Coordinate with the production team to capture a complete sequence to specification
Entry Requirements
● Minimum age: 18
● 1 year of practical experience in any role, with demonstrated personal interest or applied use of video production
● Foundational smartphone videography awareness (basic framing, recording controls, movement principles), evidenced through prior use, online learning, or self-taught practice
● Working understanding of basic manual exposure concepts (aperture, shutter speed, ISO). Prior completion of a foundational photography course is helpful but not required
● Owns or has access to a mirrorless or DSLR camera with video recording capability, at least one interchangeable lens, and a basic tripod
● Computer literate (file directory management, file transfer, desktop software navigation)
● Proficient in written and spoken English at a working level
● Secondary education or equivalent
● Targeted at PMEs (videographers upgrading from smartphone to mirrorless or DSLR, marketing professionals, production assistants transitioning into camera operator roles, content