= ) So you all know.. I am REALLY trying..

[burstintoflame81]

:hail: Gary---

I think I got it..
THE LIGHT JUST WENT ON!!!

Even if I get it in focus it will look, it will SHARPER if I use the correct shutter speed...

Yes, this helps greatly especially at longer focal distances. Like on my 70-300mm I do not have "IS" so for the longest time I would just snap away and maybe 1 out of 5 pictures were actually pretty crisp. Once I realized the shutter speed calculation it was much improved. If you can't get a faster speed due to low lighting, either open the Apeture wider ( a lower F number ) and if you can't do that, increase the ISO up to 200 or 400 if you are at 100. ( the higher you go in ISO the more possibility of noise, so this should kinda be your last step if all else fails and you still can't get the shutter speed you need. This is why I mention the Av and Tv modes. If you know a certain shutter speed you need to maintain, you can set "Tv" mode and the camera will lock that speed in place and adjust the F/stop to get the proper exposure ( if possible ). Av does the opposite, if you know that you want a nicely blurred background for a portrait you are shooting with your f/1.8 lens, you set the F stop number low to get that short depth of field blurred background, and then the camera will pick the shutter speed you need to get proper exposure. if you are shooting with a lens that has a low F/stop ( a faster lens ) it would usually be a fairly short focal length so shutter speed wouldn't matter ( The camera would most likely be well beyond what you needed when it chose the speed ) unless you were in a really dark situation. If you have a tripod, a lot of this goes out the window

 

[Vinny]

:hail: Gary---

I think I got it..
THE LIGHT JUST WENT ON!!!

Even if I get it in focus it will look, it will SHARPER if I use the correct shutter speed...

This is not necessarily true! As was said you can use a tripod for something that is not moving and get sharp pictures.

Also as was said you need a shutter speed of 1/focal length to start with unless you are extremely good at not moving. So if you are shooting with the lens at 55mm then the minimum should be 1/60th at 300mm, 1/300th and so on. With photography you can achieve similar results by doing different things (kind of): changing an f stop to a higher one puts less light in and can be compensated by decreasing the shutter speed BUT the area that's in focus will be greater and vice versa. You can take longer exposures for different effects by allowing less light to go into the camera - higher f stop (more area in focus) or using a light filter for the same f stop but longer shutter speed.

Hope this help!

 

[fokker]

Also you are all forgetting about IS, from memory the OP uses the 28-135 IS lens, so 1/40 at 95mm is perfectly reasonable with IS turned on. If it was me however I would have pushed the ISO up from 100 - only critters can see the difference ISO 100 and ISO 800 on a camera like the 7d, the extra shutter speed outweighs the extra noise in terms of image quality.

 

[dancingsphinx22]

Hahahaha! This thread is hysterical!! Talk about hijacking. Sheesh!

Sunny, I got the point. I'm still reading through my manual too, and searching through this forum on a constant basis, so, you're not alone in this crazy learning process.

 

[LahPhotographer]

Hahahaha! This thread is hysterical!! Talk about hijacking. Sheesh!

Sunny, I got the point. I'm still reading through my manual too, and searching through this forum on a constant basis, so, you're not alone in this crazy learning process.

I caught on right away too....
doing the research about your camera is half the battle. (sounds so GI Joe cartoonish but it works)

 

[dancingsphinx22]

I just wanted to add that I hope I didn't sound rude, and I wasn't picking on anybody. Actually, the info everyone added has been extremely helpful. :thumbsup:

 

[syphlix]

shrug... photo looks fine to me lol