Canon 30D, hoping to learn to use it in any other way than Auto, please help!!!!

teenytinyb

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I have recently bought myself a Canon 30D, loving it already but i would love to know how to use it other than in Auto, for some reason i cant get my head around the manual or put it all into practice. At the moment i'm really into beach photography landscape, and eve/dark lighting eg band nights i'm trying to do for mates bands. any ideas on how to get the right settings on this particular camera and in a way a simpleton could understand would be much appreciated.
Also How you you upload photos on here? i would love to get some feedback/help.
Many thanks
teenytinyb
Also a new joiner on flickr
 
You should get a copy of Understanding Exposure by Brian Peterson. It will help start you off. You'll love the camera. I still use mine as my second body since I bought my 7D.
 
Eeeek stay away from the auto mode... search exposure triangle and go from there. Also another way is to shoot in P mode, at least to start up with as it gives a little bit more freedom then Automatic, although I'm not 100% sure how it works on a Cannon as I'm a Nikon user but pretty sure its similar.
 
turn it on, put it in M and set your sutter speed for what you are shooting (moving subject, non- moving what ever) then push the button half way looking at your metter in the view finder, this will tell you if it will be over or under exposed. adjust your ap to get in range. and shoot. you can go up or down on speed and adjust the ap to match.
Don't use P its the same as auto (just about)
 
You should get a copy of Understanding Exposure by Brian Peterson. It will help start you off. You'll love the camera. I still use mine as my second body since I bought my 7D.

Thanks. I'll give it a go.
 
turn it on, put it in M and set your sutter speed for what you are shooting (moving subject, non- moving what ever) then push the button half way looking at your metter in the view finder, this will tell you if it will be over or under exposed. adjust your ap to get in range. and shoot. you can go up or down on speed and adjust the ap to match.
Don't use P its the same as auto (just about)

Thanks, i think i'm having trouble with how to adjust the ap, i dont really know :( i'll give it ago.
 
turn it on, put it in M and set your sutter speed for what you are shooting (moving subject, non- moving what ever) then push the button half way looking at your metter in the view finder, this will tell you if it will be over or under exposed. adjust your ap to get in range. and shoot. you can go up or down on speed and adjust the ap to match.
Don't use P its the same as auto (just about)


I think using the P mode as beginner is quite adequate as most pictures will turn out quite decent, then as the time goes on moving on to A then to M mode will be easier. I've met quite a few new users who got discouraged really fast as they did not understand the exposure vs aperture vs ISO triangle and had no idea what they were doing in Manual mode.

The worst thing is to put someone directly in the driver seat of a car and say drive standard when they haven't learned what pedal is for what...
 
turn it on, put it in M and set your sutter speed for what you are shooting (moving subject, non- moving what ever) then push the button half way looking at your metter in the view finder, this will tell you if it will be over or under exposed. adjust your ap to get in range. and shoot. you can go up or down on speed and adjust the ap to match.
Don't use P its the same as auto (just about)

Thanks, i think i'm having trouble with how to adjust the ap, i dont really know :( i'll give it ago.


This is funny, as I was typing my response to thingsIsee, you posted exactly what I was expecting. Take it one step at the time... try P mode as it will give you really good pictures and the camera is for the most part in automatic mode and as the time goes on and you grasp aperture and exposure you can experiment more.

Tiny, the best thing is not to get discouraged and keep trying, eventually it will all make sense and the result will always make you smile :)
 
turn it on, put it in M and set your sutter speed for what you are shooting (moving subject, non- moving what ever) then push the button half way looking at your metter in the view finder, this will tell you if it will be over or under exposed. adjust your ap to get in range. and shoot. you can go up or down on speed and adjust the ap to match.
Don't use P its the same as auto (just about)


I think using the P mode as beginner is quite adequate as most pictures will turn out quite decent, then as the time goes on moving on to A then to M mode will be easier. I've met quite a few new users who got discouraged really fast as they did not understand the exposure vs aperture vs ISO triangle and had no idea what they were doing in Manual mode.

The worst thing is to put someone directly in the driver seat of a car and say drive standard when they haven't learned what pedal is for what...

I agree with you, after being told about the triangle and the book, which I have now bought off int, i think i'll try P until i have time to look into the book, when it arrives in the post.
Really appreciate all the replies though, it's nice to know theres somewhere to go for help and info :)
Thank you
 
I second the suggestion of getting the book Understanding Exposure. It really helped me, and I still re-read certain sections.

Did your Canon 30D come with a manual? I'm sure it did but if you look through there it should give you a rundown of exactly what buttons does what. Such as changing aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc.

What do you take photographs of? What are you trying to capture? 99% of what I've been taking photos of are inanimate subjects and so I stay in aperture priority mode (on the dial it will say Av) as I don't need blazing fast shutter speeds and it allows me to control the depth of field I want.

Don't give up. Just a year ago I felt completely overwhelmed, and now I just feel slightly overwhelmed. ;) You'll get the hang of it, but in order to do that you have to get out of full auto. Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress. :)
 
turn it on, put it in M and set your sutter speed for what you are shooting (moving subject, non- moving what ever) then push the button half way looking at your metter in the view finder, this will tell you if it will be over or under exposed. adjust your ap to get in range. and shoot. you can go up or down on speed and adjust the ap to match.
Don't use P its the same as auto (just about)


I think using the P mode as beginner is quite adequate as most pictures will turn out quite decent, then as the time goes on moving on to A then to M mode will be easier. I've met quite a few new users who got discouraged really fast as they did not understand the exposure vs aperture vs ISO triangle and had no idea what they were doing in Manual mode.

The worst thing is to put someone directly in the driver seat of a car and say drive standard when they haven't learned what pedal is for what...

I agree with you, after being told about the triangle and the book, which I have now bought off int, i think i'll try P until i have time to look into the book, when it arrives in the post.
Really appreciate all the replies though, it's nice to know theres somewhere to go for help and info :)
Thank you


This forum is great for answering any questions, keep that in mind. Also as you get more comfortable with your pictures, post some up for some criticism. You will be amazed how many people will give you suggestions and pointers.

Also in the P mode try playing with ISO settings just to see how the camera acts and always remember to pop up the flash if you shoot in darker areas unless you're using really fast lens.
 

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