Just got my XSi and already overwhelmed:)

I just got my camera yesterday and remember, I am a newbie with DSLRs. I only had a couple hours to play with it last night. I also bought the Dummies book. But, I'm still so overwhelmed. I played with the settings and got my indoor pics lighter with larger aperture and slower shutter speed (I think I said that right), but then I ended up with some blur. Outdoors, a lot of the pics just didn't seem crisp and clear with great color. I know I need to do a lot of reading and experimenting. But, even when I got a really good pic, I couldn't remember what settings/mode were used.

I tried Sports mode thinking it would capture movement, but it still blurred. Maybe that's because I was indoors?

The autofocus points confuse me, too. Through the viewfinder, I see several points. When I press the shutter halfway, only certain ones turn red. I'm not sure what to do with that. Again, I'll have to read up on it some more.

Whew! How do I remember all of this?

DSLR cameras are offshoots from SLR film cameras and many of use came from that school. Sorry but perhaps that doesn't help you.

I'd try to read up some on basic photography, exposure and, above all, depth of field (often referred to as DOF in this forum). Then work with your camera.

To see what settings your camera used for a pic you can change the display to show you this information. Look through your camera's manual for how to do this. You'll also see a graph called a histogram than helps determine if your exposure was good.

To avoid blur from slight motion in the camera shoot with your camera mounted on a tripod. If you don't have one yet just place the camera on a solid surface to shoot some test pics.

When focusing the camera chooses certain focus spots (the little rectangles in the view finder) based on what it perceives and what you want in focus. This may be good or not depending on what you are photographing. Many of us simplify this by telling the camera to only use one of those rectangles. I keep only the center one activated most of the time. But you can choose one that will be over the most important thing to be in focus when you shoot.

Maybe instead of choosing an automatic mode where you have little control select either AV or TV mode.
AV lets you select one aperture and the camera will select the shutter speed.
TV lets you select one shutter speed and the camera will select the aperture.

Set you ISO to a specific number instead of Auto ISO to minimize what changes between shots.

Hope this helps some. Keep asking questions and keep trying to learn more about how the camera works and photography in general. Good luck and great shooting.

I think you're letting yourself get overwhelmed.

First set the ISO to Auto. That way you won't have to worry about one of the variables.

Then select center focusing - single point only. While it won't focus away from the center, since most subjects at this point of your career will be in the center so force the focus there.

Don't use an auto exposure mode.
Select Tv or Av.

Which is a matter of preference.

Tv will always give you a sharp image but it could be under exposed. That's because you select the shutter speed and the camera selects the aperture. If you select a shutter speed that is fast enough to freeze the subject, there may not be enough light for a proper exposure. Compromise if the lighting is dim.

Av will give you a properly exposed image. However, since you selected the aperture the camera selects the shutter speed and if there isn't enough light the shutter speed will be too slow.

While most people seem to use Av mode I use Tv mode. I would rather get an under exposed sharp image that can be improved during PP than a blurred image. A blurred image is a blurred image.

You need nothing else.

Your primary problem seems to be that you purchased an DSLR camera and are expecting to be able to use it like a point and shoot camera. Before taking any more pictures, read a basic photography book. Pay special attention to chapters covering aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Once you learn how these three basic properties of an SLR camera work, then you will know what settings to use in which situations. Without understanding these concepts you will never get all you can out of your nice SLR camera.

It IS overwhelming at first. The best thing to do, is to have time, take time, and play.

I've had 20 years experience using an SLR, and I'm 31. I still make mistakes sometimes.

My advice, get a tripod, and go and take some pictures of some non-moving things, like flowers. Try different settings, try seeing what the different appetures can do, try seeing what happens with a fast shutter, a slower one, and just make LOTS of mistakes. You'll figure out quickly what happens when....

But, take your time, don't get distracted by other people, or rushing. You can't "mess up" and waste money with a DSLR.

Basically, just focus on one thing at a time, take the same picture over and over again with different settings. You'll start to figure out what works when and why.

HUGS

Erika

Hi,

My advice would be to start in Av mode. (Turn mode dial to Av) This will automatically set the exposure for you, but let you control the amount of 'stuff' that is in focus. Below are a few hints, it is a long read, but play with one thing at a time and it should all make sense.

1. Focus

The camera has automatic focus, but has 9 focus points. To avoid any confusion I would start by setting the camera to use the centre one only.

Press the button that looks like a plus sign in a square box [+]. (located top right) Look through the viewfinder and rotate the wheel (next to the shutter button) until just the middle red LED lights up. Then press the [+] button again.

When you take a picture, you need to focus the camera first. Point the middle square box in the viewfinder at what you want to focus on and half press the shutter. Note it's important to point it at something that has good contrast (eg detailed - Not a plain white wall or sky!!) The camera should beep, and a green light in the lower right will remain lit. This tells you the camera has focussed the shot.

Without releasing the half pressed shutter. Re-position the camera to compose the shot and then fully depress the shutter to take the photo.

2. Shutter speed

This needs to be set about 2x your lens focal length (or higher) , to prevent hand shake from blurring the image. For example at 50mm you need 1/100 of a second or higher - at 18mm it needs to be about 1/30 or higher.

If you use image stabilisation (IS) you can shoot with slower speeds (about 4x slower). Eg 1/100 could be 1/25.

HOWEVER - depending on the subject, slow shutter speeds also lead to 'subject' movement. For example shooting a person standing still use 1/60 or greater. For kids jumping about I would use 1/250 or greater. For a jet shooting across the frame I would use 1/1000 or maybe even 1/4000!

In Av mode, look through the viewfinder half press the shutter and spin the wheel, you will see numbers like 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500 etc. This is the shutter speed.

3. Aperture

This controls the 'Depth of Field' or the amount of the image that is in focus. When you focus the camera (by half pressing the shutter button), the camera will focus on one point (or a better description is at a particular distance). Objects at increasing or decreasing distances from that point become progressively more out of focus. (or blurred)

Objects located at a similar distance to the focal point are said to be within the depth of field or 'in focus'. Exactly how much the image needs to be in focus, depends on the size you print the image and how closely the print is examined.

You control the depth of field by adjusting the aperture of the lens. In Av mode spinning the wheel adjusts this. Look through the viewfinder, half press the shutter and spin the wheel - you will see numbers like 3.5, 4, 5.6, 8, 11 etc... This is the Aperture ratio. (people typically refer to it as f3.5, f4 etc...)

Big numbers like 8, 11, 16 mean lots of depth of field. (more in focus)
Small numbers like 2.8, 3.5, 4 means little depth of field (less in focus)

Be careful with f16, f22 and bigger values as the whole image will start to blur due to a problem known as diffraction.

Experimentation is the key here, take a picture at as many apertures that you can and look at the results, you will soon learn what typical values you need.

Also Note that :-

1. The focal length of the lens also affects the results. (Long focal lengths = little in focus)

2. The greater the distance to the subject, the easier it is to also get the background in focus.

Again experimentation is the key. Change ONE parameter at a time, take a shot and note the results. Keep an eye on the shutter speed when you do this. If it gets too slow, it will mess up the shot.

4. ISO

This sets how sensitive the camera is to light. (by pressing the ISO button and spinning the wheel, then re-press ISO button to set it)

When the shutter speed is too slow, it's necessary the raise the ISO. The penalty is that the higher the ISO, the more noise there is in the image. So sometimes using Flash or a tripod is a better option.

This is just a brief introduction - Have a really good read of the manual - and play with the camera while doing this.

However most importantly - have fun with the camera and don't get too stressed when things go wrong. A DSLR is a learning experience that takes time, but the beauty of digital is that (unlike film), the failed shots don't cost anything!

Hope this helps

Regards

Andy

tbd123 said:

I just got my camera yesterday and remember, I am a newbie with DSLRs. I only had a couple hours to play with it last night. I also bought the Dummies book. But, I'm still so overwhelmed. I played with the settings and got my indoor pics lighter with larger aperture and slower shutter speed (I think I said that right), but then I ended up with some blur. Outdoors, a lot of the pics just didn't seem crisp and clear with great color. I know I need to do a lot of reading and experimenting. But, even when I got a really good pic, I couldn't remember what settings/mode were used.

I tried Sports mode thinking it would capture movement, but it still blurred. Maybe that's because I was indoors?

The autofocus points confuse me, too. Through the viewfinder, I see several points. When I press the shutter halfway, only certain ones turn red. I'm not sure what to do with that. Again, I'll have to read up on it some more.

Whew! How do I remember all of this?

Click to expand...

Just relax and enjoy the ride! You'll soon get it all down and start taking control of your camera and take it out of automatic mode. See the cheatsheet in my signature and start familiarize yourself with all the jargon and you'll be able to follow most that's talked about here. Good luck and remember to have fun along the way
--
Kind regards
Imqqmi



http://www.pbase.com/imqqmi

The DSLR jargon cheatsheet:
http://www.jmbfoto.nl/dslrcheatsheet.pdf

Good advice.

I would also suggest a good book like Brian Petersons "Understanding Exposure". In this book, he takes you through different modes and settings and shows you pictures that are the result. It's easy to follow and play along with your camera, and it doesn't have that "textbook" feel that some of the books do. For my first 3 years with my DSLR I found myself re-reading it every 6 months or so, and I picked up more each time.

It's a lot of fun learning photography, but be aware that it takes time. You only learn by practicing something until it makes sense. So pick something to learn, like controlling depth of field, and go take pictures of different things and see where that takes you. The problem I have is that now I'm pretty good at knowing how to set the camera, but I see accomplished photographers with the "eye" for pictures that can blow me away with a simple point and shoot.

Dave

Gee, this thread looks pretty overwhelming already I hope I don't make it worse.

No need to remember your settings. You can see your settings when reviewing your shots in the camera. The top left hand corner tells you the shutter speed and aperture (and Exposure compensation if you adjusted it.) Press DISP twice and you'll see even more of your shot settings. Keep pressing DISP and it will cycle back to the original screen.

Increase the sharpness setting to 7 for sharper photos.

What really helped me get exposure right with the XSi was to change from Evaluative metering to Center Weighted Average (CWA) metering. Evaluative tends to overexpose outdoors, leaving you with bland and unnatural photos. I use P mode for most of my shots. I'll occasionally use the +/- Exposure Compensation for fine tuning the brightness.
Evaluative:





CWA:

This might help, there are quite a few of these guides. Get your camera, sit in front of the computer and go through them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1-ka_3Nt04
--
Very Often In Awe

congratulations on your purchase.

Henri Cartier-Bresson was once asked, "which of your shots were your worst".
He replied, "my first 10,000"

there is no magic exilir but broadly you need to learn three things in order of importance:

1. composition (i.e. the subject needs to be interesting/good/relevant/well framed, add your own ....)
2. Focus (pin sharp, unless out-of-focus is part of the shot design)
3. Exposure (includes lighting).

My recommendation is to set centre focus point, keep on evaluative metering and have lots of practise and do lots of reading.

some places to start:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/howto.htm

http://www.easyphotography.info/tips-on-how-to-take-good-pictures-using-your-digital-camera.htm

enjoy!

tbd123 said:

I just got my camera yesterday and remember, I am a newbie with DSLRs. I only had a couple hours to play with it last night. I also bought the Dummies book. But, I'm still so overwhelmed. I played with the settings and got my indoor pics lighter with larger aperture and slower shutter speed (I think I said that right), but then I ended up with some blur. Outdoors, a lot of the pics just didn't seem crisp and clear with great color. I know I need to do a lot of reading and experimenting. But, even when I got a really good pic, I couldn't remember what settings/mode were used.

I tried Sports mode thinking it would capture movement, but it still blurred. Maybe that's because I was indoors?

The autofocus points confuse me, too. Through the viewfinder, I see several points. When I press the shutter halfway, only certain ones turn red. I'm not sure what to do with that. Again, I'll have to read up on it some more.

Whew! How do I remember all of this?

Click to expand...

There is a "learn" link at the top of this page.

This is an excellent Canon website that is particularly good for new DSLR users; easy-to-understand and well-illustrated information and tutorials:

http://www.canon.co.jp/imaging/enjoydslr/index.html

It's divided into four parts. Don't miss the sub-menus near the top of each section, under the logo area.

Take your time and enjoy your new camera.

As an aside, I primarily shoot in P-Mode. It's fully automatic but lets you adjust things such as Exposure Compensation and White Balance. Depending on the speed and/or proximity of a subject, I may switch to AV or TV mode. But generally, P mode serves me well.

--
gail ~ http://www.pbase.com/gailb

My Canon s90 BLOG: http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-logs/canon-s90/canon-s90-first-impressions/

A big Thank You to everyone! I am starting to understand things a little better. I appreciate everyone's help.