The manual iris on your camera is the aperture that lets light through the lens and determines the exposure of your film. You may feel most comfortable with the auto-iris, but there will be many instances where using the manual iris will give you more control over how your subject appears. To use the manual iris correctly, you first must know what a good exposure looks like. Find an evenly lit area and look at it through the viewfinder using auto-iris. Once you know what that looks like, play around with the manual iris and try to make it appear the same through the viewfinder. The more you practice with the iris, the more comfortable you’ll be and the better the film will look when lighting conditions aren’t ideal.

A focus pull, also known as a “rack focus,” is a technique for changing focus midway through a shot, often from an object in the background to one in the foreground (or vice versa). The point of racking focus is to shift attention from one object to another. For instance, if your character is in focus in the foreground as he opens the door to his apartment and there is a man standing inside unexpectedly, you might rack focus from your character to the man in the background to slowly reveal who it is.

Everyone loves the zoom, but many people sadly don't know how and when to use it. If you decide that a particular shot requires you to zoom in on a subject, the first thing you should know is that the further you zoom in, the harder it is to keep your frame steady. That’s why very long zooms require a tripod – a rock-hard grip just won't do. If you don’t have a tripod or stability is still an issue, you can always move closer to your subject and zoom out.

The steadicam is a relatively modern contraption, having only been invented in the 70s and becoming popular in the early 80s. The professional Steadicam is an expensive harness worn by trained Steadicam operators that counterbalances the camera and allows for smooth shots – even moving quickly over rough terrain. The resulting footage has led to some of the most famous scenes in film history, including Martin Scorsese’s filming of the entrance to the Copacabana Club in Goodfellas. While real steadicams are quite costly, similar effects can be achieved for very little money.

As a general rule, the less light you have, the more difficult it is for you to focus your camera. If you can’t bring in additional light sources, there are a few things you can try to improve the focus. Make sure you are zoomed out as much as possible and your shutter speed is low so more light comes in. If your camera has a digital gain feature, you can also add a little gain (too much gain hurts image quality). If you have a filter wheel, be certain to use the correct filter and remove any attachable filters.