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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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1276 - 1300 of 1,556 Reviews for Cameras, Exposure, and Photography

By Rajesh R

May 19, 2020

good

By K.V.KIRAN K

Apr 10, 2020

Good

By 杨志强

Apr 4, 2020

nice

By Francesca

Oct 7, 2022

:)

By yazn k

Oct 12, 2023

ty

By Dayana P V

Apr 16, 2023

ok

By Joshuas M R

Apr 8, 2023

nn

By Vanukuri M M R

Oct 14, 2020

Gd

By Camilla K

Nov 17, 2022

.

By RATNAJI B

Oct 14, 2020

c

By BHANU C A

Apr 15, 2020

.

By Kittiya M

Jun 7, 2019

-

By Maria Z

Jun 20, 2017

I liked this course because it pushed me to try new things in photography. From a basic 'shoot with a smartphone' person, I grew into a novice photographer who tries to capture world thru a m34 camera. Instructions are helpful and informative but could be expanded. At times I felt short which led me to dig for additional information. For the class developers, I would suggest to have a pdf handout with metrics that can be distributed digitally to all the students. Personally, I took notes throughout the course and used it as a reference while shooting or in doubt. I also used Youtube to expand the knowledge beyond the very basics covered in the course.

This class will suit someone who wants to learn very beginning of photography and quick, however if you desire to become good at it - use additional resources available online and stack all that you can learn on top of the foundation provided by this course. Overall, it's a great class to take. Easy and quick. I recommend for those who are curious about photography in general.

By EDWARD P

Jul 24, 2022

This was my first Coursera course, so I didn't know what to expect regarding the quality or scope of instruction. Having finished the course, I am gratified by the high quality & scope of instruction. Being a beginning photographer, I especially appreciated the instructors' use of visuals to explain concepts & their sharing of their own work. I also appreciate the recommended online sources & the Facebook group page for class participants. The group page is useful in making up for what I consider the weakest component of the course, peer reviews. Though I enjoyed the opportunity to practice putting into words the concepts we were covering in case, I received so few & such brief peer reviews as to not be helpful. :( Given the pace of technology, would it be possible to provide some updated material on smartphones? Thank you for a more than satisfying first course & I look forward to the next course in the sequence!

By M. D G

Oct 6, 2016

I have taken courses in photography before. I periodically attempt to brush up on my knowledge. A lot has changed with digital photography as a new medium. Everything is clearly explained and the professor is articulate. This course would be excellent for someone who is just beginning photography and/or it may be beneficial for someone who would like to review photography concepts. The peer review process could be improved, but also it is beneficial to review other peoples work. I still think its helpful to have a professional look at your work when possible. An extra credit assignment might be to join a camera club or talk to a professional in your community and possibly even show them your pictures as your progress through the course. The main thing is don't be too hard on yourself, or others too. We are all beginners here.

By Muhammad S K

Jul 9, 2017

I loved this course. As a beginner in photography, I know almost nothing about things like ISO, Aperture and Focal length etc but this course delivers just the right amount of content to get you started. Apart from discussing cameras and lens, the professors also discuss picture composition and taking more control of your camera. I have gotten a very good idea of a number of visual elements from this course. I will try to complete all courses in the specialization.

I loved getting feedback about my photograph from other users. I also felt great to review the work of other people. The peer assignments are a great feature of this course.

The only thing that seems to be not designed well are the quizzes. Many questions are just repetition on what the professor has said in the lecture and they don't make you think a lot. They seem useless many a times.

By Sarah E O

Oct 21, 2018

I thoroughly enjoyed the classes with Professor Glendinning. They were full of valuable information and easy to follow. I was glad there were limited classes with Professor Sullivan. His videos were hard to follow the way they were edited. It felt like one long, run-on sentence. There were no pauses between thoughts and it felt as if he jumped quickly from one topic to another. Often I found myself shaking my head and thinking, "wait, what just happened?" and having to rewind the videos. I frequently had to pause the videos because his graphics flashed on and off the screen too quickly. It would also be helpful if the video on cellular cameras were updated. I have a newer phone and this video was too outdated for the options on my phone.

By Inese U

Feb 4, 2022

Course was good and full of useful information. However lecture about smart phones could be updated, as since iphone 6 was issued 6 years are over and there are iphone 12 available with incredibly featured photo camera. Might be I haven' t seen option for reports about copyrights violations, but since I have meet already 2 cases of possible copy rights violation (within 2 programs), in this course it was 1 time between participants, when student was submitted pictures downloaded form google with copyrights sign, I didn't know where to report. I informed about my suspicions during the evaluation, however I am not sure was it noticed by somebody else without participant.

By Kalpa

Mar 21, 2016

The instructors have structured this course rather well, focusing on fundamental principles to enable you to take good photographs (even without a sophisticated camera). What is 'good'? Well, this course is geared to make one dwell on that, steering you to give some thought about how you can photograph even everyday subjects interestingly; and the peer review process serves well in learning how to view your own work, and that of others, objectively. By the end of this course, you may be eager to invest in a better camera, or to sign up for the next module in the series. :) Thank you, Prof. Peter Glendinning and Prof. Mark Sullivan.

By Cecilia G

Oct 15, 2021

While I understand the limitations of online learning, I found the inability to ask for additional information a little frustrating. To give an example, there where quizzes where there was more than one correct answer. Unless you went to the forums and by chance found out that others were having similar issues with the quizzes, you could not solve the issue and flunk the test. The questions on the peer review assignments were also lacking in clarity. Again, there was no way to get more specific information on what was required. I don't think I will enroll in the rest of the related courses.

By Edward A G I

Feb 21, 2021

The quizzes where applicable, focuses on submitting a score in each of the categories. While a great deal of the categories allowed for the reviewing person to submit a score of zero, other categories do not. We are drawn or more like forces to give a rating when it is not deserving or gained. If the photos have not meant the rubric standards then add the zero score mark in each category. I was not able to submit my rating because the scoring platform forces me to mark each category which gives a scoring of 15. No other selection. Consider adding the rating scale with zero.

By Patrizia L H - C

Aug 26, 2017

The course was very useful to me. I'm completely new to photography. The Professors were obviously world class individuals. Having said that, i must say that i'm not very fond of the peer review assignments.

I made it a point to give everybody the maximum grade because as far as i'm concerned at the level of this course (beginner) we are all giving our best. I am not a professional in this field and i am not qualified to make a judgement about someone's work. I find it quite sad seeing that some people cannot quite get the grasp of the meaning of Peer Review.

By Peter K

Nov 25, 2017

Overall a good course. The lecturer is passionate & does a good job of progressing through basic topics without feeling too fast or too slow. A couple of lectures feel like watching QVC and a few others feel like vacation photo slideshows. My biggest issue was with the peer review assignments. I understand there value, but the grading rubrics were often interpreted between different people which resulted in people losing points. Mandatory comments in peer review (both received and given) could be asinine opinions occasionally in lieu of constructive help.

By Jennifer A

Oct 27, 2020

This is a good basic course on Learning Photography. Refreshed my knowledge a great deal. I do have to mention that the lessons on smartphones are extremely outdated. They are still on iPhone 6, when what we already have now is iPhone 12. I hope Michigan State University will consider updating the course. Otherwise, this is a great course for those who are looking into learning the ropes about photography. I have to mention that Prof. Peter Glendinning is a good teacher. His gesticulation, and the way he gets his message across, are effective. Props!

By Erivaldo S N

Aug 23, 2020

I would like to congratulate the teachers who organized this course. The theoretical basis on the basic functions of the cameras, principles of the exposure of the appropriate and composition of the photograph, especially the framings, was very satisfactory. However, I missed classes with more examples of using the machine. As for peer review, the proposal is good. But since, I believe, everyone is a beginner, it would be important to have feedback from at least one tutor teacher. Congratulations!