newbie has a ? about settings for canon T2i

[socmoe]

Hi everyone and thanks in advance! I just got a T2i and am planning on taking a 6 minute video with snapshots this Saturday at my daughter's Color Guard performance. There will be lots of action. It is in the evening at a school gym. I am looking for suggestions of settings. I am kind of of hoping that using the auto focus settings will be good enough for now until I have more time to learn how to use the camera. Any thoughts/advice?

Thanks,
Maureen

 

[reznap]

You can autofocus in movie mode but it's like focusing in live view... using contrast detection or something. It's slow and usually bad. I'd keep to manually focusing. I'd also bring at least a monopod (or a tripod) since you don't want camera shake.

What lenses do you have? How close will you be?

You can use autoexposure or set it manually. That's going to be up to you. If the camera is set to auto ISO, it's going to pick your ISO for you, as well as your shutter speed (down to 1/30) and aperture. This could result in some grainy video but it might not be too bad. I'd practice a bit with it before the big day. Test it out under different lighting conditions, so you know what to expect.

 

[socmoe]

Thanks Reznap- i have the standard 18-55 that came with the kit and the EFS55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS. Which lens would be better you think? I will be sitting approximately 50? feet away (picture a school gym and I am sitting in the 3rd bleacher up and the girls are facing me if that makes sense).

Maybe I should just use the T2i for photos and my hubby can use my p & s Canon SD950 IS (I used it for video last year and it took not too bad video).....

As you can see I am initimidated by my new DSLR a bit!

Maureen

 

[blazerj]

The autofocusing on the T2i works OK, but is noisy. Without an external mic, I'm not sure how to get the noise to be reduced, except for manual focusing.

Also, when I take video on my T2i, it seems to have a narrow DOF. Is there a way to increase it?