Canon printed user guides / manuals - helpful hints for 70D

nutshellml · Mar 18, 2014

So my 70D should arrive within the next day or two, and i'm looking to pick up a user guide. I'm somewhat knowledgeable with basic camera function, but this is my first DSLR so I would like to pick up a guide/manual. I know canon has one, but it's online. There were really good reviews on the 1) Canon EOS 70D Digital Field Guide - Charlotte Lowrie and 2) David Busch's Canon EOS 70D Guide to Digital SLR Photography. Anyone have any reviews/suggestions on which one to get? I was at Barnes and noble today and looked at Busch's guide and it seems to be a re-write of the manual. There are not many suggestions for settings in certain situations - now i guess if you read the manual you should know, but it's always nice to have something. I was Nicole Young's book and that was more of a suggestive situational shooting setting...

Anyways just wanted to get you all's opinion.

bratkinson · Mar 19, 2014

If you're looking for printed information on the operation of the camera and you'd like it before the camera arrives with it's manual, then simply download the PDF from Canon and print whatever pages you're interested in.

As for a 'how to' cookbook of "use these settings for this situation, but those settings if..." would be akin to saying that on June 16, 2014, at 8:57PM, while standing at Golden Gate Park poised for a sunset shot of the Golden Gate Bridge, these are the settings you should use. But then, if it's cloudy, use different settings. If it's raining, then something else... There isn't enough paper in the world to print all the possibilities of what settings to use...even at the Golden Gate at 8:57PM on 6/16/2014.

As has been told to every photographer that ever picked up a camera...learn the exposure triangle and the advantages and disadvantages of making each setting. Someone here called it 'making an acceptable compromise' to decide on what settings to use. Knowing -when- to use a larger or smaller aperture, or shutter speed, or ISO speed is critical. When I'm out shooting, I let the 'subject matter' make the priority choices for me, like a shutter speed in the neighborhood of 1/500 sec for race cars on the track. Once that's decided, setting aperture based on DOF considerations is next, then ISO speed to get a good exposure. Downtown cityscapes on a sunny day? I start at f16 for a large DOF, then shutter speed and lastly ISO to get the proper exposure. But if I want a thin DOF for that downtown shot, a long lens, at or near wide open is where I start. Everything else is dependent what the aperture is set at in this case. Most likely, I'll be down to ISO 100 or so and/or using a very high shutter speed to get the in-camera meter near zero. Learning the exposure triangle isn't simply learning A+B+C = exposure. It's knowing that whenever any of the settings are changed, for better or for worse, they will affect the photograph in a certain way. Then you get into back-lit situations, low-light situations, midday sun situations, etc. All will have to be handled by various exposure settings and even the addition (or subtraction) of additional gear such as an external flash or reflector.

You also have a new camera to learn. Learn about what the various settings available in the menu screens do. As I've moved up the digital photography 'ladder' going from point and shoot to DSLR and 2 upgrades since then, there are menu settings I STILL don't have a clue what they do, or, in some cases, don't care about...like making movies. Then there's settings like automatic exposure bracketing that I know are there, and how and why and when to use it, but I have no need for it. I have no doubt that the 70D has at least 10 or more 'new' settings that my former 60D didn't have. Are they all going to be useful to you? You won't know until you've at least read through the user manual and have some understanding of what they do.

"Learning your camera" also includes becoming familiar enough with it that you don't have to remove the camera from eyelevel to make any of the exposure triangle adjustments. That comes with taking lots of pictures with it. Other than the usual don't drop it, aim it into a laser beam or directly at the sun, there aren't many ways the camera can be damaged. And as I and many others have done, resorting to the 'reset all factory settings' and starting over is probably the worst possible outcome of getting some really weird (or even non-functioning) results.

Bottom line...go out and shoot! Try your camera in sunlight, moonlight, car headlights, whatever. Find out what it can and can't do. And most of all, don't be afraid to try various settings! It won't bite you!

nutshellml · Mar 19, 2014

bratkinson said:
If you're looking for printed information on the operation of the camera and you'd like it before the camera arrives with it's manual, then simply download the PDF from Canon and print whatever pages you're interested in.

As for a 'how to' cookbook of "use these settings for this situation, but those settings if..." would be akin to saying that on June 16, 2014, at 8:57PM, while standing at Golden Gate Park poised for a sunset shot of the Golden Gate Bridge, these are the settings you should use. But then, if it's cloudy, use different settings. If it's raining, then something else... There isn't enough paper in the world to print all the possibilities of what settings to use...even at the Golden Gate at 8:57PM on 6/16/2014.

As has been told to every photographer that ever picked up a camera...learn the exposure triangle and the advantages and disadvantages of making each setting. Someone here called it 'making an acceptable compromise' to decide on what settings to use. Knowing -when- to use a larger or smaller aperture, or shutter speed, or ISO speed is critical. When I'm out shooting, I let the 'subject matter' make the priority choices for me, like a shutter speed in the neighborhood of 1/500 sec for race cars on the track. Once that's decided, setting aperture based on DOF considerations is next, then ISO speed to get a good exposure. Downtown cityscapes on a sunny day? I start at f16 for a large DOF, then shutter speed and lastly ISO to get the proper exposure. But if I want a thin DOF for that downtown shot, a long lens, at or near wide open is where I start. Everything else is dependent what the aperture is set at in this case. Most likely, I'll be down to ISO 100 or so and/or using a very high shutter speed to get the in-camera meter near zero. Learning the exposure triangle isn't simply learning A+B+C = exposure. It's knowing that whenever any of the settings are changed, for better or for worse, they will affect the photograph in a certain way. Then you get into back-lit situations, low-light situations, midday sun situations, etc. All will have to be handled by various exposure settings and even the addition (or subtraction) of additional gear such as an external flash or reflector.

You also have a new camera to learn. Learn about what the various settings available in the menu screens do. As I've moved up the digital photography 'ladder' going from point and shoot to DSLR and 2 upgrades since then, there are menu settings I STILL don't have a clue what they do, or, in some cases, don't care about...like making movies. Then there's settings like automatic exposure bracketing that I know are there, and how and why and when to use it, but I have no need for it. I have no doubt that the 70D has at least 10 or more 'new' settings that my former 60D didn't have. Are they all going to be useful to you? You won't know until you've at least read through the user manual and have some understanding of what they do.

"Learning your camera" also includes becoming familiar enough with it that you don't have to remove the camera from eyelevel to make any of the exposure triangle adjustments. That comes with taking lots of pictures with it. Other than the usual don't drop it, aim it into a laser beam or directly at the sun, there aren't many ways the camera can be damaged. And as I and many others have done, resorting to the 'reset all factory settings' and starting over is probably the worst possible outcome of getting some really weird (or even non-functioning) results.

Bottom line...go out and shoot! Try your camera in sunlight, moonlight, car headlights, whatever. Find out what it can and can't do. And most of all, don't be afraid to try various settings! It won't bite you!