Use the camera manual. I know, I know, nobody reads instructions anymore, but the manual that comes with your camera is a really great tool—and you don’t have to read through the whole thing. Start by just skimming through the table of contents—you may be surprised to find features listed you didn’t even know were there. Keep the manual handy for specific questions you may have later.
Get familiar with the menu. Hit the menu button on the camera and start looking through the options a few times. Even if you don’t know what it means yet, becoming familiar with the menu will help you pick up new things later on. Most camera menus are divided into submenus: a shooting menu for options like changing the exposure and white balance; a movie menu for video-related settings; a tools section for basics like changing the date and language; and some more advanced cameras have a custom menu for tweaking the settings to your personal preferences. Generally, after hitting the playback button to access the photos that have already been taken, hitting the menu again will bring up a different submenu, with options for the photos you already have, like in-camera editing.
Have fun exploring. Learning something new can be frustrating, but figuring out your new camera shouldn’t be that way. Head out to someplace fun or somewhere different just to take pictures. Then, start snapping when it doesn’t matter if the first shot turns out or not. Use your screen to preview the shots and if they aren’t up to par, take more. Use settings you’ve never used before, explore what the different menu options do just by trying them out and investigate the buttons you’ve never used before. The DCHQ reviewers like to head out to parks, events museums and other interesting places to test out a new camera—why not do the same with your own?
Grab your camera, say hello, and get to snapping.