550D Settings

[Boar it up Ya]

Hi all.

Whilst I'm over the moon with the images obtained from my new purchase, I'm tending to just use the auto function rather than any of the other settings offered.
I'm also a bit confused as to why you would use the other functions available (AV, P etc).

I've read the instructions and still favour the good ol' auto function.

I'm interested to hear from other Canon users what you use the other functions for?

Dave

[William]

Hi Dave, Auto is Auto, A lot of times you might like to get more creative in your Photography by controling the Depth of Field of a shot , You might need a faster shutter speed for action, And a lot of the time Auto uses very high ISO Settings which is not good for image quality , If you went to shoot a Sunrise in Auto you would'nt get the effect you were after at all I'm betting , AV or TV setting is a good place to start learning a little more , Sort of Semi Auto , Best thing to do is get out there and take a heap of shots and try different settings , Have fun , Most of all :)

[Roosta]

Say for example you want to get a late afternoon shot, mode shot, in auto, if the camera senses not enough light, wella, flash, ruins the shot. So you need to work with the M and have a go, Trial and error, Try to find a subject, in or around the house, get said camera and a note book, stick to ONE lens (Fixed Ap ie F4 or F2.8 if you have one) (if non fixed AP say F4 - F5.6 set it to one focal lenght) ,and shot away. You can set you screen to show shutter speed, Ap and EXP settings (EXIF DATA), also HISTOGRAM (Very Important) for exp levels, you'll find over time, you'll get better results with M than A, due to experience's you remember for each type of situation. The brick wall test is good for this, if you have a tripod, set camera up and shoot away at a brick wall, look at the difference in pictures when you alter settings and record what works. (dont move focal lenght of lens, adjust camera settings)

Some sports. or fast action shooting you can use the shutter priority and the camera does the leg work for Ap, ISO and so on.

Same again, if you're unsure on AP, set Ap mode and the camera will do the work on shutter and so forth.

Some other things to try to get your head around, would be focal point, single or multi. Also the Ap settings for getting DOF (Depth of Field) the blurriness behind or not behind the subject.

Go to zoo, try to shot a lizard in a dark area, you'll need NO FLASH, Fast glass, F2.8 if you've got it, slower shutter speed, and play with ISO, wind it up, steady hands.

All makes for good fun.

I have got and put quite a few people onto a book ( In the AP Sponsors link, find Fishpond and enter Magic lantern 550D into the search field, you can get either the Manual/book or the better option the Book and DVD, allows you to sit camera in hand and watch DVD, very comprehensive) and for about $32 delivered.

Have fun, remember it's all trial and error.

[etherial]

Hi Dave, Auto can be fine depending on what you shoot. There are however plenty of occasions where auto won't give the desired result.

The main example for me is taking dog movement shots where I need the shutter speed fast (1/500 or faster). Set the camera on auto and it might select an aperture of f8 and shutter of 1/200 which is too slow and has a large depth of field. This is where I need to take control and set the camera at say f4 (to get nice shallow depth of field and therefore a nice blurred backround) and a shutter speed of 1/800 which will freeze the motion.

1/200 at f8 will result exactly the same exposure as 1/800 at f4, but you can see why I need to take control of the camera to get the desired result.

The other way could also apply, say you are shooting a fountain and want the water to give that milky effect, or shooting at night and want light trails on car headlights, you need to take control to set that shutter slower.

Read up in the new to photography section on the exposure triangle, it will open up a new world of creativity options for you. But on the other hand, there is nothing wrong with Auto if it is giving you the results you are after.

Happy shooting!

[Boar it up Ya]

Thanks all.

I'm definately enjoying using the 550D, fun isnt a 4 letter word with it I'm learning :)

It's amazing how many pics you can rack up just mucking around with settings (took 130 this morning)...lotsa fun!

[tanz]

Hi Dave, I bought the 550d back in May and started reading through the New To Photography section on here and think you will find it invaluable. There is a learning plan which will take you through the Av and Tv settings. I thought that I would never use Manual but have started to use it in the last few weeks. The camera also has an A-Dep program which I had a bit of a play with but it is really just another auto setting and the focus was a bit hit and miss so I don't use that one at all but it is good to have a go and see what works for you.

[Mr Felix]

Depending too on which "AUTO" settings you chose.

Some you can control the depth of field, etc, but the WAY it is presented is different.

You have two lines. One is depth of field - or clarity - and the other .... is...... Something else. Colour correction or something.

You could use these "methods" to control the camera's functions too, but you would not really understand what is going on. Using the A, V, or M settings allows you to control the settings and you can then learn what the numbers mean and how the relate to one another.

There is also the colour correction button (the lower of the 4 ring buttons as I shall identify them as) and that name is what I call it. It looks like the top of a flower.

It changes how pictures are coloured. Portrate is for pictures of people and landscape is for ..... Nature shots.

These two settings highlite the pinks or gree/blues of the pictures.

Have fun.

I too am getting to grips with the camera too.

[pollen]

I recommend never using the Auto function.

If you start using M or AV on day 1, then it will make everything a lot easier in the long run.

This is because Auto on a SLR is very poorly designed. I'm a professional photographer but I use auto on compact cameras because it works great. On a SLR it does not.

The Auto equivalent on a SLR that is usable is "AV".

As a starting point:
In AV mode, just change the AV setting depending on how much of the image you want in focus, and then let the camera do the rest. Don't generally go narrower than f/11 though as you get diffraction.

If your shutter speed is too low (causing blurring), either increase ISO and/or widen your aperture

[pollen]

Oh and make sure you switch the focus point to single AF focus. On compact cameras, auto multi point selection works great (I use it all the time), but on a SLR it works horribly. You WILL get out of focus shots