Now look what you made me do!!

[draggin]

Been getting more and more interested in digital photography and reading this forum and today I purchased my first proper digital SLR, now the pround owner of a Canon EOS 400D (its a Canon promotion with two lenses and battery grip (hold two battries) and a cash back) :clap

Now having got a new toy to play with is there anything I need to do (apart from take pictures), any setting I should use or avoid??

Thanks in advance

Tim

[Art Scott]

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE THE program mode and shoot in RAW....raw is an uncompressed and totally unprocessed file....it is the nearesrt thing there is to shooting like film with processing left to the photographer....where as any jpg file has been proccessd by the camera and the camnera chooses what info to toss to do the compression..........get a copy of real world camera raw and I would also recommed a copy of adobe lightroom for processing for now.........

read the manual cover to cover and get acquainted with all the settings.....decide what you want to shoot and study the forums pertaining to that subject....ahhh yes inverst in a decent flash, either vivatar, sigma, sunpak or canon flash you will need it.......use your local library to educate yourself on your interests in photography....post and ask questions here.....
MOST IMPORTANTLY HAVE FUN!!!!

[claudermilk]

I almost completely agree with Art. Definitely stick with Av, Tv, and M modes--that's where you really need to be so you are in control.

I'd only say leave RAW until you are ready to tackle it. That's a whole learning curve of it's own. IMHO, you're best getting comfortable with using the camera itself before adding the complexity of RAW conversion. Once you're ready, definitely get a copy of Real World Camera Raw--it's the best book out there covering the subject I've run across. I'd try the various converters before sinking money into one (I personally very much dislike LR).

[sit]

Tim,

Congrats on the new camera!

Taking pictures is all you have to do; your desire for improvement will drive the rest. Don't forget that subject and composition is at least as important as exposure. So, definitely review your shots to figure out what you like and what you don't. Find different sources of photography to see what you like in others. By the time you've figured out the difference between what you can achieve with your equipment/software/brain, and what you want to achieve, you'll know what to learn/buy next. (And of course, people here will help you out with every step :-)

Good luck!

-Emil

[BBiggs]

May I say that you made an excellent choice purchasing the 400D :thumb I like what the others have said, and agree that you should stick to the manual modes, and shoot in the M ( manual ) mode and try to learn how to expose images. RAW is great, and you should try to learn it early on, because more than likely you will be using this file format, if not now, in the future, as it has some serious benefits in the terms of flexibilty and control of image exposure. Get ready for some serious fun with your new "toy" and enjoy it :D

[draggin]

Thanks for all the suggestion, I have a lot to learn not least of all what all the buttons do :rolleyes

Most of the pictures I take are kite action\sports type pictures, my smugmug site show the type of thing

http://windfreaks.smugmug.com

All the pictures on there were taken either with a Fuji S5500 or a S9600 and were more of a this is what was going on today as opposed to displaying my abilites as a photographer (which I guess it does to some extend). I also do land based kiting pictures as well but they are on a different site.

Well I will be out to play tomorrow (although wind is marginal around here tomorrow) I guess I will find something to photo

Watch this space

Thanks

Tim

[ziggy53]

I should like to add that a nice electronic flash should also be in your plans for a future purchase.

Invaluable as a fill light source in the outdoors, and likewise a primary light source for indoor photography. The proper use of a flash (or multiple flashes) can make all the difference between a "snapshot" made with any camera, and the results that distinguish a knowledgeable photographer with desirable images.

Recommended units include the Canon EX series flashes and the Sigma 500 DG Super flashes. Add a couple of light modifiers, even homemade bounce cards and diffusers, and you are in much better shape than without, assuming they are used properly.

[Riverlander]

Congratulations - a very good initial purchase. I hope it all goes well for you.
Asking questions on here will get you very, very, many differing views on what to do first etc. Read the manual - a few times!
My advice then is to continue to read forums such as this, and, when you take pics, learn to have a good critical look at each image and see how it was taken (what the camera did) and what the EXIF and Histograms tell you about it.
For this reason - learning - I suggest you do take jpegs and you do use the P setting. You can then take hundreds of pics to look at with one compact flash card. The more you understand what the camera has done with each situation the easier it will become to work out what settings YOU can put into the camera to get the result YOU want.
If a situation arises where you REALLY need the image, then I do suggest changing to RAW. The software that comes with the camera and handles RAW (Digital Photo Professional) is quite easy to learn and will do all the basic stuff for you. Get to know it and its limitations before chasing something else -- after all you already have it as a freebie,
Oh! and read the manual -- a few times.

[george-1]

Been getting more and more interested in digital photography and reading this forum and today I purchased my first proper digital SLR, now the pround owner of a Canon EOS 400D (its a Canon promotion with two lenses and battery grip (hold two battries) and a cash back) :clap

Now having got a new toy to play with is there anything I need to do (apart from take pictures), any setting I should use or avoid??

Thanks in advance

Tim

Congrats on the camera.

One of the most important pieces of advice when I got my camera (Rebel XT) was to change the setting for taking photos without the CF card installed. Set it to where the camera won't work without the CF card in it. The danger of allowing photos without a card is that you can miss out on pictures you think you are getting.

Enjoy your camera.

--
George

[draggin]

Ok my first question, the camera comes with 18 - 55mm lense (it also came with a 55 - 200mm).

Now I noticed that when I turn the zoom ring from 55 to 24 (well just before 24) the lenght of the lense shortens which is what I expect. But from 24 to 18 in lenghtens again. Now I think this is to give a wider view (sort of wide angle) am I correct??

Tim

[z_28]

Don't worry :D
It's just optic physics design.

For example - 24-70/2.8L at 24mm reached it's longest size !!!
Looks as you shoot wide angle using telephoto :scratch

[ziggy53]

Ok my first question, the camera comes with 18 - 55mm lense (it also came with a 55 - 200mm).

Now I noticed that when I turn the zoom ring from 55 to 24 (well just before 24) the lenght of the lense shortens which is what I expect. But from 24 to 18 in lenghtens again. Now I think this is to give a wider view (sort of wide angle) am I correct??

Tim

Modern zoom lenses are very complicated internally. You really cannot make any generalizations about what a lens is doing internally by the extensions or contractions of the external length. Suffice it to say that the lens geometry is accommodating the lens design.

You would have to study the internal lens groups and their functions to understand more about "why" a particular lens moves like it does.

Just be happy that the effect is a (mostly) desirable one.