I was wondering if any of my Rebel Brothers had any tips or tricks or hints or whatever, that you think I may find useful in the intial setup and first couple of weeks as I get used to it?
I am up to 2000 pictures since May! Just take alot of picture! Try to learn just one thing a day and master it! Don't eat the elephant in one day! Ask alot of questions on the forum! I am still learning!
I was wondering if any of my Rebel Brothers had any tips or tricks or hints or whatever, that you think I may find useful in the intial setup and first couple of weeks as I get used to it?
Thanks.
Watch out for center weighted metering ,you will get too dark or too light photos until you get used to it !
don't drop it off a 6 foot shelf onto the hot shoe connection ... while the camera will take the impact, the metal connectors will have to be bent straight with needle nose plyers ... it sucks, trust me
:)
Also, if this is your first dslr, I'll remind you not to panic if your shots don't "pop" right out of the camera. They require tweaking in photoshop (usually).
I don't use the preset settings either, just remember you can change them (color, saturation, sharpening).
I was wondering if any of my Rebel Brothers had any tips or tricks or hints or whatever, that you think I may find useful in the intial setup and first couple of weeks as I get used to it?
Thanks.
What about Rebel Sisters? LOL
Ask Rooster, she's been practicing her little heart out!
Take it out and shoot with it on the 'Automagic' settings to get a feel for how fast it focuses and such. Do this for a good week.
Once you have that figured out. Start reading though the manual about the creative modes and what they are capable of doing. I wouldn't rush through all of the 'Creative' Modes. Pick one and learn it, then move to the next one.
I would start with Apeture or Shutter Priority First. Experiment with those, using as many different settings as you can come up with. Don't forget to play with the White Balance and the ISO Settings.
In time, you will find things coming more natural with the camera. Take a look at my portfolio. The first day I had the camera, I took the "North & South Lines" challenge entry. The Honeymoon images were taken the next week all were done with Automatic settings.
The rest were taken after I had learned how to mess about with some of the Creative Settings. I still have a ton of features to figure out as well as a mess of equipment that I need to pick up to increae my possiblities.
It's a great camera and if you spend some time with it, you will get some great images.
Make sure you set the date correctly before you start submitting shots to DPC.
that was the first thing I done!!!!
can anyone give me any information on the "quality" setting?
there's 2 large, 2 medium, and 2 small.
On my G2 I always had the setting on "M2", I was happy with the digital quality and the print quality.
Is there an equivalent to that?
I suspect most people shoot with the JPEG/L/Fine setting. A few people shoot RAW, but I wouldn't worry about raw images for now. If you have a small memory card, or if your computer is older and chokes on big images, you'll want to shoot smaller images. Other than the number of pixels in the image, there's no difference in image quality between Small/Medium/Large. Medium/Fine will produce great 4x6 prints.
If you're using the EF-S 18-55mm kit lens, keep in mind that the lens is at it's best in the middle of the zoom range, between f/8 and f/11. That's not to say that the lens is horrible at other settings, it's just not optimal.
I'll expand on pitsaman's tip about watching out for center-weighted metering and suggest that once you get comfortable with the camera to learn to use the AE-L function, and how to set exposure compensation. I find I use those much more with DSLRs than with prosumer point-and-shoots.
Go to the second menu, second item from the bottom, "Review", and set it to "On (Info)". This makes the camera display the photo and a histogram after each picture you take. Get in the habit of checking the histogram each time, and look at the photo for flashing areas, indicating they are burned out. Small specular highlights (reflections off of metallic or wet surfaces) are OK, but if there are large areas you will probably want to adjust your exposure and shoot again.
Another habit worth cultivating is to verify the settings whenever you turn the camera on. I'm always leaving it at high ISO after shooting in dark locations or forgetting to put the exposure compensation back to normal after taking a shot that needs it.
I was wondering if any of my Rebel Brothers had any tips or tricks or hints or whatever, that you think I may find useful in the intial setup and first couple of weeks as I get used to it?
I agree, the hacked firmware is great. I'd even call it a "must have" for anyone who also owns a 420EX Speedlite. I wouldn't recommend it to someone with a new Rebel though. Once you're sure that the camera has no problems, and if you decide you need flash exposure compensation or mirror lockup, then apply the firmware hack. Also be sure you understand the implications of installing the firmware. I'm loving the hacked firmware, but I'd hate to be responsible for someone else having problems because of it.
dont ask me...ive had my rebel since christmas and still havent figured out anything other than the auto mode :( between being too busy to mess around with it and downright not understanding it im kinda stupid when it comes to my camera...haha
I agree, the hacked firmware is great. I'd even call it a "must have" for anyone who also owns a 420EX Speedlite. I wouldn't recommend it to someone with a new Rebel though. Once you're sure that the camera has no problems, and if you decide you need flash exposure compensation or mirror lockup, then apply the firmware hack. Also be sure you understand the implications of installing the firmware. I'm loving the hacked firmware, but I'd hate to be responsible for someone else having problems because of it.
Ditto that! Get a good feel for your Rebel before you 'hack it'. Doing it now will only confuse matters and it might freak you out if you had to flash back because of problem (not with the hack but with the camera) that required a return or Canon service. And be sure to read, read, read everything you can prior to installing the hack so that you know exactly what you're getting.
I was wondering if any of my Rebel Brothers had any tips or tricks or hints or whatever, that you think I may find useful in the intial setup and first couple of weeks as I get used to it?
Thanks.
What about Rebel Sisters? LOL
Ask Rooster, she's been practicing her little heart out!
Word up! I was gonna say whats up with the sistas as well & yes I have been shooting my brains out!
I would dive into to it & try a little of every setting out. The sports mode is particuarly cool for moving objects!
Teh bulb setting is really cool too for SUPER long exposure shots as well as night shots. Since its been raining so much, its also ideal for lightning shots!
Give it a whirl & be sure to post some for all to see!
Peace!
I am up to 2000 pictures since May! Just take alot of picture! Try to learn just one thing a day and master it! Don't eat the elephant in one day! Ask alot of questions on the forum! I am still learning!
Wow! I want a mirror lockup hack for my D70? Is there such a thing for the Nikon D70 firmware? That is my number one complaint/missing feature on my camera. oh please please please let there be a hack
One of the tips that I picked up that relieved some considerable frustrations was using the 'cheat' of pressing the DOF preview button to stop the damn camera from automatically tracking and refocusing a scene. This works perfectly and will save you frustration when taking shots of non-static objects (especially things like fields of corn!)
Most importantly have fun... take 100's of shots and play around with the features... it's a great piece of kit...
Buy a 50mm F1.8 This lens is great value for money and produces images so sharp that you won't believe it... amaze all you friends and family etc...
Regards
Chris
Selection of my own 300d Shots at //www.pixelstate.com
dont ask me...ive had my rebel since christmas and still havent figured out anything other than the auto mode :( between being too busy to mess around with it and downright not understanding it im kinda stupid when it comes to my camera...haha
My husband bought me my Rebel for Christmas but uses it more than me! Not my choice either lol. He loves it and uses all the settings and has just introduced me to RAW which is fabulous (not that I really understand that either lol). I am just used to my old Canon SLR that I had for 10 years.
