My new camera...

[duhast]

Repeating just a little from my introduction post, 40 years ago I was a photo major in college, so I know the basics and more. Used my Minolta SRT101 with 35, 58, and 135mm lenses, also worked for 30 years at the same job, darkroom/artwork guy for printed circuit mfg., so I haven't forgotten everything.

Just got delivery of my new T3i today. There's gonna be a learning curve. But here's my first question(s)...

I loved the Minolta. Compose the shot in the viewfinder, and since I usually didn't shoot motion, pick an aperture for DOF and find the shutter that made the meter needles match.

So here's what i'm wondering. Is there a way to set up the camera so it's sort of analogous to the old Minolta? Obviously no needles to match, but I'm guessing aperture priority, auto shutter speed, maybe even an auto ISO (within a hi/lo range). I don't have a grasp at all yet of the camera's full capabilities, hell, I just got it a few hours ago and I don't even know all it's 'language' yet....

 

[Fuganater]

Gratz on the new camera!

I am newer to photography but I have taken a few classes online and done tons of research and pretty much everyone says to get out of auto and start using Aperture Priority Mode first. I'll set my Aperture and keep the ISO on 100 if lighting is good or Auto if I'm moving around a lot as I'm not good enough to keep changing my settings for every shot yet. (Like I said, still new)

 

[Juga]

Gratz on the new camera!

I am newer to photography but I have taken a few classes online and done tons of research and pretty much everyone says to get out of auto and start using Aperture Priority Mode first. I'll set my Aperture and keep the ISO on 100 if lighting is good or Auto if I'm moving around a lot as I'm not good enough to keep changing my settings for every shot yet. (Like I said, still new)

I am also new to photography but I just jumped right in and went full manual from the get-go. Take time with shots and learn the button layout. Congrats on the camera!

 

[goodguy]

The T3i is a good camera but since you used to use a Minolta I just wonder did you consider getting a Sony DSLR ?

Sony is basicaly Minolta since they bought the company and all Sony DSLR can use old Minolta AF lenses.

 

[TCampbell]

When you look through the viewfinder you'll see a scale along the bottom (you have to activate metering or it wont appear).

The scale looks roughly like this:


-3..-2..-1..0..1..2..3
^

And then there's that little arrow. The arrow indicates if the camera believes your current settings will provide a "correct" exposure vs. an under or over-exposed shot... and by the number of stops (each tick mark is a 1/3rd stop increment.)

NOTE: That little arrow shows up far-left in the post because the website strips leading blank space. I can't find the BBcode that tells it not to do that (anyone know what it is? On some other sites there's a BBcode for 'pre' (preformatted -- tells the site not to touch your formatting) or 'code' (often used for costing code samples where you want the indents and formatting left alone.) I can't find a code that works here on TPF. ANYWAY... that arrow below the scale can point anywhere and will move left-right as you adjust the exposure.

In "manual" mode, turning the wheel on the front of the camera (right behind the shutter button) will adjust the shutter speed. Press the Av button on the back WHILE turning the wheel and it'll adjust the aperture. When the arrow points the "0" position on the scale, then the camera thinks you will have a "correct" exposure based on whatever it metered (of course it's easy to fool a light meter which can only used "reflected" light. So if you're looking at something very "white" it's likely going to underexpose and if you're looking at something very "black" it's likely going to over-expose.

You can also use Av (aperture value - aka "aperture priority") mode where the wheel on the front dials in the f-stop and the computer picks the complimentary shutter speed for you. You can press and hold the Av button on the back to dial in an exposure compensation (e.g. if you know you are shooting a "low key" shot and the computer is likely to over-expose it, you can force the computer to shoot at, say ... 1 stops lower than it would otherwise pick by holding the Av button while turning the wheel until it indicates it points to the -1 in the viewfinder. (just don't forget to set it back to 0 when you're done or you'll wonder why all your exposures are coming out wrong.)

Likewise you can use Tv (time value - aka "shutter priority") mode where you set the shutter speed and the camera picks the f-stop (assuming the f-stop is within the range of what the lens can offer you.)

 

[07Vios]

^ nicely said.

I stay on AP unless I don't like the way the camera exposed the picture, which I would then switch to full manual and retake the shot using the shutter speed I think would suit the pic more.

 

[2fastlx]

The T3i is a good camera but since you used to use a Minolta I just wonder did you consider getting a Sony DSLR ?

Sony is basicaly Minolta since they bought the company and all Sony DSLR can use old Minolta AF lenses.

Umm. The minolta he refers to is from the 60's. The lenses are completely different from the minolta af ones.

 

[KenC]

You should set ISO manually - after all that's what we all did with film cameras. If you don't you run into some of the problems typical of any auto setting, i.e., you may not like what the camera picks. The T3i will be pretty good regarding high-ISO noise. You can shoot at 400 without seeing any noise, unless you enlarge tremendously on your screen, but in prints and full images displayed on a screen you will not see it. Even at 800 and 1600 there is not much and you can use noise reduction in post processing to make it much less obvious.

 

[duhast]

The T3i is a good camera but since you used to use a Minolta I just wonder did you consider getting a Sony DSLR ?

Sony is basicaly Minolta since they bought the company and all Sony DSLR can use old Minolta AF lenses.

No, I didn't look there, I just seemed to get steered to the Canon by several friends I asked. Also, I don't have any other lenses except the 3 MC's.

 

[duhast]

Tim, you sound like you're getting into one of the areas I want to explore and get good at with the dslr, the adaptation of the Zone System to digital photography. I used it those 40 years ago in school, and want to get the modified concepts and physical operations down pat. I've got an 18% gray card ordered too, so now I've just got to figure out how it all works on the camera.

 

[goodguy]

The T3i is a good camera but since you used to use a Minolta I just wonder did you consider getting a Sony DSLR ?

Sony is basicaly Minolta since they bought the company and all Sony DSLR can use old Minolta AF lenses.

Umm. The minolta he refers to is from the 60's. The lenses are completely different from the minolta af ones.

The T3i is a good camera but since you used to use a Minolta I just wonder did you consider getting a Sony DSLR ?

Sony is basicaly Minolta since they bought the company and all Sony DSLR can use old Minolta AF lenses.

No, I didn't look there, I just seemed to get steered to the Canon by several friends I asked. Also, I don't have any other lenses except the 3 MC's.

The MC Minolta lenses as far as I know indeed will not work on Sony Alpha bodies.
Well your friends didnt advice you wrong I am sure you will have a lot of fun with your new wonderful camera!

Enjoy it.