Need help taking better pics.

xfloggingkylex · Feb 27, 2007

Rob2006 said:
Thanks for the replies. I do have that book and read 1/2 of it. I understand the depth of field OK and the ISO's as well.

The pictures I take are not colorful compared to the real thing either.

What is the main difference between Aperature mode and P mode when I can set the Aperature.

Its winter here and outdoor picture taking is boring and dull with brown trees/landscape.

Is th 18-55 OK? or is it a limitation of the lens?

the 18-55 is actually a pretty good lens as far as kit lenses go, with the 18mm wide angle being very useful for large scale subjects. It does have limitations though, like if you want to go take pictures of animals such as squirrels outside. You either need to have very calm squirrels that dont mind you getting close, or you need a more telephoto lense.

the real downside of the lens in my opinion is the speed, because at 55mm your largest aperture is 5.6, which is very slow, especially for that focal length. Thats why I picked up a 50mm 1.4. Check out the Nikon 50mm 1.8, it's a steal.

Rob2006 · Feb 27, 2007

I have the 50mm 1.8f - Got to learn how to use it. Without zoom its a whole new ballgame.

xfloggingkylex · Feb 28, 2007

Rob2006 said:
I have the 50mm 1.8f - Got to learn how to use it. Without zoom its a whole new ballgame.

you still have zoom, its below your waist:lmao: (your legs for those who are slower)

EOS_JD · Feb 28, 2007

fmw said:
Sounds like a good book, Jim, and just what the OP needs.

Yes, there is some confusion about focal length and shutter speed. A 150mm lens is a 150mm lens whether it is on a 120 roll film camera, a 35mm camera or an APS sized digital. Blur caused by shake will be the same on any of them. The "rule of thumb" really is a rule of thumb and not a rule but it does relate to focal length and not angle of view or film format.

I think the rule of thumb varies by individual as well. Personally, I'm not very good at hand holding. If I hand hold a 300mm lens at 1/250 or 1/500 I won't get a truly sharp image. Perhaps someone else will but not me. I don't hand hold 300mm lenses as a result unless I can go to 1/1000.

I don't know how the P mode would differ from the AV mode, sorry. On the Nikons it is like having A and S combined in a single mode. As you turn the wheel in the P mode you step through the various shutter/aperture combinations so you can settle on any one you want without changing the exposure. 1/125 at f8 would be followed by 1/60 at f11 and so on. It's really all you need, along with exposure comp, for regular daylight photography. I use M in the studio with flash heads and P for everything else. I'd be surprised if the Canon cameras didn't have a similar mode or function.

So long since I used P, I had a look and you are bang on Fred (didn't doubt you by the way)!!

The main difference is when using flash. P mode seems stuck at 1/60thsec and you can very the aperture. With Av you can control how much ambient light to bring in.

Garbz · Feb 28, 2007

It doesn't seem to be stuck at 1/60th. It is set to it. That is the flash sync speed in the camera. It can be changed in the menu somewhere, but the camera will always take a picture at 1/60th and the flash will light up until the image has the correct exposure.

THe other setting is called slow-sync. It is where the flash fires, but the camera takes the picture at the original metered rate. This is very great if you have a tripod and want to light up a forground subject with a flash. An example would be an image I took with our basic photo club a few years ago. 1 hours after sunset. The first just basic picture showed a blue sky with blurry and dark silhouetts of photoclub members. The second I flashed, the sky was dark black but the members were properly lit. The final one was slow-synced, the members were lit by the flash just like it looks normally but the background was bright blue thanks to the 30 second shutter.

Also all that magnification stuff really doesn't matter if you only use digital or only use analog. Afterall SLRs are a WYSIWYG system. Look through it and if you don't have enough magnification buy a different lens

Rob2006 · Feb 28, 2007

Did some histogramming of some of my pics. Since I primaryily used "P" mode I thought it was working. Well the shutter speeds were really bad. Like 1/10. I guess learning M mode is the way. Allot to figure out for a quick shot.