Ooh, Here I Go...

[oweban]

Hi guys,

As some of you may know (Matt, mainly), I'm looking at getting a DSLR. After umm-ing and ahh-ing, I think i've finally come down on the Canon 550D twin-lens kit (18-55 + 55-200mm lenses). Now, the thing is this:

As I'm new to all of this, I don't really know what all the settings, numbers, words etc mean. I've been reading a lot on dpreview.com to get a feel for things, but I think I'm still missing a lot. Are there any sites you guys would recommend for having a good read of to get an idea for things as to taking good photos? I obviously don't need them to be PERFECT, as it's all just mainly for myself, but any suggestions you guys could make would be awesome

Planning to get 16gb SanDisk Extreme III card I think it is, the 30mb/s? Also a Lowepro Flipside 200, extra battery, and some form of UV/CPL filter (although I'm not sure as of yet what CPL actually is...)

So yeah.... Hi

[siddr20]

Sure have a read of this: http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/index.p...howtopic=392835

[MaTBoY]

Hey hey sounds like your almost getting serious. Visit kenrockwell.com some love him, some hate hut he certainly tries to disarm the big words and puts it all on the table in nice simple terms.

Keep us posted.(pun)¡

[oweban]

Hey hey sounds like your almost getting serious. Visit kenrockwell.com some love him, some hate hut he certainly tries to disarm the big words and puts it all on the table in nice simple terms.

Keep us posted.(pun)¡

Yep, pretty serious now. Thinking I'll try and get it all through a mate who's a manager at a Harvey Norman; get the lenses I want, bag, etc. Get it all in one bunch.

I saw that Canon have a bunch of tutorials on what things mean too, so I'm downloading them like crazy.

[MaTBoY]

look online, even mates rates at HR can't compete with some of the prices you can get on here.

I usually get my gear from here.

http://www.d-d-photographics.com.au/

[oweban]

oh i've been looking round...

http://www.becextech.com.au/catalog/produc...products_id=333

these guys are in victoria and it doesn't seem like they're imported stock... i might have to ring them and make sure it's not the Kiss or T2i or whatever.

...um, on d-d, all the prices for the 550 have crosses through them? oh wait hurr, NoScript, allow remoteprice.com.. $1339 is pretty nice

[Chase Photography]

oh i've been looking round...

http://www.becextech.com.au/catalog/produc...products_id=333

these guys are in victoria and it doesn't seem like they're imported stock... i might have to ring them and make sure it's not the Kiss or T2i or whatever.

...um, on d-d, all the prices for the 550 have crosses through them? oh wait hurr, NoScript, allow remoteprice.com.. $1339 is pretty nice

ive got a 550d, youl love it.

id recommend getting a canon 50mm f1.8 lens. cheap as shit but takes awesome portraits on a crop body (550d)

also a circular polarising filter for the 50mm lens or UV filter.

another 150 bucks will get you a nissin d1622 flash for the top.

budget way to take great photos

[oweban]

ive got a 550d, youl love it.

id recommend getting a canon 50mm f1.8 lens. cheap as shit but takes awesome portraits on a crop body (550d)

also a circular polarising filter for the 50mm lens or UV filter.

another 150 bucks will get you a nissin d1622 flash for the top.

budget way to take great photos

thanks man, i'm still learning what all these filters are and what f1.8 and all that means

any links to that lens?

[oweban]

oops, found it. hurr.

a low "f" value means shallow depth of field though right? so 1.8 is good for closeup stuff, f5 is further away...?

[siddr20]

Did you read the link i gave you??

Read this also: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/aperture-101

[MaTBoY]

No. the lower the number more more OUT OF FOCUS what ever you're not focusing on will be, and the shorter distace that is in focus (from from to back)

it also means it lets mroe light in, so you can use a much shorter shutter time to get the same light you'd need when shooting with a higher ap.

just start reading man, and when u get a camera try to shoot with all the different settings. it's a fun way to learn. sooner or later it all fits together and makes sense.

[oweban]

Yeah, I read the links above but I don't think it's sunk in properly yet Still very confusing at the moment, I guess it will be until I play around with it and learn for myself... Hoping to pick it up on Saturday.

[oweban]

Did you read the link i gave you??

Read this also: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/aperture-101

I read this about 4 times before I got this:

Narrow Aperture = wide DOF = high f number

Wide Aperture = narrow DOF = low f number

.... CONFUSING (at first)

[FST513]

You'll like the Canon 550D. Soon enough you'll be ditching the kit lenses and picking up expensive L lenses. You'll say you won't, but you will

You don't really need to know all the mumbo jumbo as you are a true n00b. Just pick up the camera, start shooting in auto mode and figure out why it chose those settings. Then get the hell out of green box mode (auto)!!!

ISO - Sensors sensitivty to light. Increasing it can bring on more noise depending on camera model.

Landscapes - Always shoot at ISO 100 or lower

And get a GOOD tripod ($150-$200) if you plan on using it for landscapes/long exposures.

Exposure - Basically just means what settings you used.

Under-exposed: Too dark

Over-exposed: Too bright

Exposure Needle/Meter: There will be a part on the LCD and in the viewfinder that looks like this 2..1..0..1..2 <-- There will be a needle underneath it.

If it is at the left hand side of 2 it means it is 2 stops under-exposed.

If it is at the right hand side of 2 it means it is 2 stop over-exposed.

If it is at 0 it means the CAMERA thinks it is properly exposed.

Generally, expose to the right. You can always pull detail from being too bright, but you can't always pull detail from being too dark without inducing noise in PP (Post production).

One thing: DO NOT ALWAYS TRUST THE METER!!!!

Aperture: F numbers. They can go up by 1/3rd, 1/2 or full stops. Read up on this, CBF explaining.

Shutter speed: For e.g. 1/200th.

Modes:

Green Box: Auto. Camera chooses everything for you.

P: camera chooses everything for you except ISO (I think, i cant remember)

TV: Shutter speed priority. You change the shutter speed and ISO to what you want, camera chooses the aperture.

AV: Aperture priority. You change the aperture and ISO to what you want and the camera choose the shutter speed for you.

M: Manual Mode. You choose everything.

C1/C2/C3: Custom modes that you can pre-program. Although unsure if it is available on 550D.

The rest of the modes given with pictures of sports/faces etc... don't bother using them.

That's about as simple and as much as i cbf typing now

Good luck!

[p0kerface]

TIP:

Having a consistent thing to shoot will allow you to see the differences or similarities everytime you learn something new or experiment with a setting. For instance, if you get a 50mm 1.8, you can take the same picture with the new lens and compare the pictures you already took with the other lenses.

since we're all car guys, try taking some pics of a part of your car?

[oweban]

TIP:

Having a consistent thing to shoot will allow you to see the differences or similarities everytime you learn something new or experiment with a setting. For instance, if you get a 50mm 1.8, you can take the same picture with the new lens and compare the pictures you already took with the other lenses.

since we're all car guys, try taking some pics of a part of your car?

Good point; I might work out a distance and focus point for my car, and work on shots for it. Kind of a control, huh?

Spose; set up a tripod somewhere, aim at one particular part of the car, take shots with different settings/lenses and write down the settings for each shot so i can refer back to it.

[MaTBoY]

thats basically how i learnt everything i know. practice practice practice. and think about what you're doing before/during/after you do.

[p0kerface]

no need to write down your settings, check the exif data.

also check out this link for the best iso/aperture/shutter metaphore

[GoldZilla]

Spose; set up a tripod somewhere, aim at one particular part of the car, take shots with different settings/lenses and write down the settings for each shot so i can refer back to it.

Owen, that's exactly what I did when Ian Xmetal lent me his 50mmII f/1.8 lens to play with for a while.

f/1.8, 1/500 sec., ISO 200:

f/7.1, 1/50 sec., ISO 320:

f/22, 1/13 sec., ISO 800: