Just bought my first dslr camera which is a canon 600D with the EF-S 18-55 mm IS II Lens, should arrive Thursday bought from pixmania. Current camera is a Panasonic lumix Z10. Just wondering if anyone else has a similar dslr camera who has any advise or tips or general chat about it all. I like taking a few pics when I’m out and about so looking forward for my 600D to arrive 😉

Put it into A mode, and experiment with changing the aperture – I’m not sure how you do that on your model, but there’s probably a scrollwheel to turn. Using different apertures is probably the single most important thing you can do to change how your pictures look…

Put it in M and get out there and play. There are no rules, so just get out there and play.

Thanks for the replies so far, I have been reading up online and watching some YouTube vids for some tips… Just wanna get out these and shoot! What cameras do ppl own on here then?

I’m quite happy with my EOS20d and do 99%+ on full manual and mostly boring cycling. I haven’t got an artistic imagination.
Feel free to have a browse through some of my pics.
http://simoncarter.zenfolio.com/

Learn what f stop does, and how it relates to shutter speed and depth of field. Always use the lowest iso you can get away with.
Learn to pan.
Learn about light and colour balance which is very important indoors.
Wear sunscreen…
Shoot, lots, read, shoot some more, read.
Experiment with lighting. Get a subject and a desk lamp, light subject, change camera settings to see how they effect the photo, how aperture effects the light and DOF, move lamp around, add pieces of paper to reflect the light etc.

HAVE FUN

Just bought my first dslr camera which is a canon 600D with the EF-S 18-55 mm IS II Lens, should arrive Thursday bought from pixmania.

Get ready for a disappointing Xmas 🙁

Seems they rank right up there with CRC for shit customer service and especially claiming to hold stock which is actually not in stock.

Don’t mean to piss on yer chips, but as soon as I saw the sentence quoted above, my heart sank on your behalf – I’ve read an awful lot of bad things about Pixmania. If you’re one of the lucky majority, you’ll be fine but the unlucky few suffer badly.

Now I’ve spread my doom and gloom, if when it does eventually arrive, enjoy it. The single biggest improvement you’ll make to your photos is not to buy a fast lens, a motorgrip or a tripod (all helpful though). A flash and a remote flash trigger and a light stand/Gorilla-pod will lift your images from the everyday to the extraordinary.

I got a 600d last month, love it, colour is lovely and low light performance seems amazing, like being able to turn the screen to protect it when not in use, enjoy!
PJ

Ps, got mine from bignorman, 2days to arrive

Hey there,
I’m in a similar position, did a photography course recently, then bought a 450d second hand. I am just getting to grips with it now and either keep it in M or Av mode. I have so far tried a bit of wildlife and also food photography.
Being a nerdy engineer I’ve found the physics part really interesting, which I’ve never really thought about before. Ie how aperture affects death of field, how image stabilization works, how AF works …
Depending what you are interested in, I would definitely recommend a 50mm f1.8 lens. They’re really cheap and produce great shots. prime lenses seem to be the singlespeed of the photography world!
Also I bought some close up lenses which attach to the kit lens, amazing results given that they cost around a tenner.
I keep an eye on eBay but strangely lenses don’t often sell for bargain prices, compared to new prices off amazon. I have had better luck picking up cheap stuff from the local classifieds
For general Canon camera and lens advice I would recommend this site
http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/

Have a look a talkphotography.c.o.uk loads of forums and friendly advice for all levels of photography

I’m a Nikon fan-boy and got a D90. As above, playing and practicing is the best and most fun way of learning. You can’t break it by playing so go for it!

I’m a fan of the “put it in Aperture priority mode” school of thought, for a simpleton like me I found straight into manual too much like hard work until I was a bit more comfortable with the various functions.

Either way have fun and get some photos on here for some constructive criticism!

this is an excellent starting point

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/3215247995/mountain-bike-photography-technique

I don’t really get the “Fully Manual” thing either.

Aside from extreme cases, you seem to get just as much control using Aperture Priority (Av mode) with far less mechanical thinking required.

(though having seen some of don’s excellent photos I am loathe to argue with him)

Being a nerdy engineer I’ve found the physics part really interesting, which I’ve never really thought about before. Ie how aperture affects death of field, how image stabilization works, how AF works …
Depending what you are interested in, I would definitely recommend a 50mm f1.8 lens. They’re really cheap and produce great shots. prime lenses seem to be the singlespeed of the photography world!
Also I bought some close up lenses which attach to the kit lens, amazing results given that they cost around a tenner.

Blimey! I think you might be me in a different body. 😀

Just bought my first dslr camera
…
Put it in M and get out there and play

Er, no. Not unless you want to be monumentally frustrated, this is the equivalent of learning to swim by being thrown into the 10′ end.

When I got mine, I spent a couple of weeks in full Auto getting the feel for it first. When I came to get my head round the ‘proper’ modes (what canon call the “Creative Zone”), I didn’t have to stand there hunting for buttons and menu options all the time.

I would definitely recommend a 50mm f1.8 lens.

I suspect I’m getting this for Christmas. With a sub-£100 price tag (I think it’s about 70 now), it’s an utter bargain. Every Canon owner should have one.

For general Canon camera and lens advice I would recommend this site
http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/

+1. It’s very good.

A book called “Understanding Exposure” is a great starter.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390

But I got it from my nearest town library.

I too use Av mode more than any other. The only common exception is when I’m using remote flash or when I’m doing something specifically creative with shutter speed.

I second the vote for a 50mm f1.8 lens. Perfect for when you really really want to separate the subject from the background, when you really really want to avoid flash in low light and for studio-type shots.

It’ll be a fabulous camera BTW – enjoy!

Some other things I’ve thought of are:
Shoot in RAW – it gives you more headroom while processing
Buy Adobe Lightroom (saves me hours and hours and hours compared to photoshop)
Start right from the very beginning with a good workflow for copying, processing, saving and backing up of your photos.
Take good notice of the histogram.

Re: Lightroom. Get Picasa first. It’s free, and it’ll get you going.

Lightroom is very good, but it kicks the hell out of my laptop. I got the trial; I’m glad I didn’t buy it.

It´s easy enough to use a camera in M mode, there´s an exposure meter in the viewfinder all the A and S modes do is set the exposure compensation to zero (or whatever you set it to) . Using it in A or S modes just mean you have to set the exposure compensation manualy rather than the shutter speed or appeture.

Lightroom is very good, but it kicks the hell out of my laptop

get a better laptop? it’s not the software’s fault.

tinas: agreed, but the difference comes when you move around and take several different images of the scene.

If you use A or S then you can just set the Exposure Compensation once and shoot away knowing that it will automatically adjust to your compensated exposure for each shot.

Whereas on Fully Manual all your shots would be taken with the same exposure, unless you adjusted it for every shot.

That can be an advantage sometimes (e.g. when taking photos to be stitched together or when you want a very consistent look), but most of the time I want the former behaviour so I can concentrate on framing.

I haven’t tried Picasa (I guess it’s appeared since I got LR2).
Does it do the same kind of thing? (i.e. adjustment presets, non-destructive processing, etc?).

get a better laptop? it’s not the software’s fault.

I didn’t say it was. However, I’m not about to buy a NEW LAPTOP to run a single piece of software. Are you mad?

I’d start in P mode – auto but you can adjust stuff.

Then move to A and S modes (one of them is called something different on Canon, but I can’t remember which – I think that S (shutter priority) is called T on Canons??)

I only really use manual when I have lots of time to fiddle around getting things just so, perhaps taking pics of some flowers using a tripod. Or if I want a constant exposure for things like panorama’s or if I am doing a long exposure night shot……

That understanding exposure book linked to above looks good.

I think that S (shutter priority) is called T on Canons??)

It’s “T” for “Time”, yes. (From memory, I think it’s actually Tv and Av).

i bought a d3100 a few months back and i think it’s great. Then last week i bought a 35mm f1.8 lens and it’s even better. A mates brother in law who is a pro photographer for Rolex said stick to shutter prority at first.

I suspect the 600d is a great camera, and has HD video which is quality!

I’m still using a 5 year old 400d, and to be honest I love it!

When I first got it I didn’t really understand all the settings etc… So I read the manual. I have to say it’s a must really. very helpful and provides lots of tips.

Like Stumpy said, start in P mode, then once you are confident, move to AV.

Look forward to seeing some shots 🙂

In terms of software, I use Photoscape. It’s free, very user friendly, and very clever!

Oh and for some inspiration (and to be awestruck at how talented some folk on here are) take a look at this thread:

Photos you have taken in the last month of which you are proud?

I’ve found my lens of choice for a 450d is the 17-85 cannon do – not horrifically expensive and produces great results through enough of the range to make it an ‘all-day’ lens of choice.

I also have the 50mm f1.8 and the Sigma 10-22mm which are both decent lenses too, have spent some time using an old 80-200 and the f4 70-200mm too.

There is a lot to learn and you will have a lot of fun capturing images with it. Enjoy 🙂

Don’t buy anything else until you’ve worked out what kinds of photography you like – sure, you could spend shed loads on wireless flash stuff, but that useless for landscapes, for example…

OMG how many replies!!! This is all great… Just an update… I rang and cancelled my order with pixmania as I found that I could get it from jessops for the same price (£50 cash back from canon and about £15 from quidco) so bought it today and it looks great, really good build quality from what I can see. Just spent the last hr looking through the menus and working my way around things, took a lot of shots in the living room ( mainly Xmas decorations lol). Loaded them up and they look great… Well better than my old camera anyway. I stuck to auto, so you guys recommend starting on aperture priority?? Why is this may I ask. Also thanks for the website links I’ll take a look this evening!

I think I will be into macro pics as I find them amazing… What’s a good macro lense or what are these inserts I can buy? Will they work with the stock lense that came with the camera?

Thanks again.

Chris

I stuck to auto, so you guys recommend starting on aperture priority?? Why is this may I ask.

It’s the first real step towards taking control of what the camera does and actively deciding how you want your picture to look, instead of just passively accepting what Auto thinks you want.

Have a look at talk photography loads of forums and friendly advice for all levels of photography

ftfy

Er, no. Not unless you want to be monumentally frustrated, this is the equivalent of learning to swim by being thrown into the 10′ end.

I would disagree as the risks are far less, I don’t think photography is complicated.
I think it is important to learn that one action has an affect elsewhere and that doesn’t happen if you fix one of the points.
each to their own.

Get your head round exposure and how aperture, shutter speed and iso work in relation to one another, really is the key to getting the photos that you want

Don’t agree about the Understanding Exposure book, hardly mentions the histogram which is another vital aid to getting well exposed photos. I always recommend this book Exposure it might say landscapes in the title, but have never read anything which explains exposure better

I think I have a lot of learning ahead of me 😉

, so you guys recommend starting on aperture priority?? Why is this may I ask.

Basically, aperture, shutter speed and ISO all affect the exposure of your photos.

ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the sensor; so the less light you need, but the more “noise” / interference you get on the final shot.

Aperture is how wide open the lens is. For complicated reasons, the lower the aperture number, the wider open (sometimes referred to as “faster”) the lens. Shutter is the length of time you expose the shot for. Assuming a fixed ISO for simplicity, the wider the aperture the faster the shutter for a given shot.

Imagine filling a bucket from a hose; to fill the bucket, if you have a narrower hose (aperture) you have to run the tap for longer (shutter speed) to fill the bucket, and vice versa. And, if you have a smaller bucket (higher ISO), you need less water (light) to fill it.

So why wouldn’t you just shoot wide open all the time? Because aperture directly affects ‘depth of field’ – how much of the shot is in focus. The lovely portrait shots you see with the face pin sharp and the background all blurry, that’s with a wide open aperture. Too wide however, and you’ll have someone’s eyes in focus and their ears blurred(*). As an aside, a longer zoom lens will also give you a shallower DoF.

In Av and Tv mode, you directly control the Aperture or Shutter respectively, and the camera automatically adjusts everything else around it to try and get a decent exposure (this was the bit I didn’t get and was the ‘eureka’ moment for me when I got my 450D). Which you use depends which you need control of.

For sport shots say, you may need a short exposure to freeze action, or a longer exposure to add motion blur (shooting streaky waterfalls perhaps). In this case you’d shoot in Tv mode to get the effect you’re looking for. For day to day walking around in good light conditions though, you’ll generally want to control depth of field and speed will be less important. For this reason, Av is the default position for many people, but it does depend wholly what you’re shooting.

Read the Canon FAQ link above – it covers all this in better detail and accuracy than I could hope to explain.

(* – bad example, humour me)

Basically, aperture, shutter speed and ISO all affect the exposure of your photos.

ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the sensor; so the less light you need, but the more “noise” / interference you get on the final shot.

Aperture is how wide open the lens is. For complicated reasons, the lower the aperture number, the wider open (sometimes referred to as “faster”) the lens. Shutter is the length of time you expose the shot for. Assuming a fixed ISO for simplicity, the wider the aperture the faster the shutter for a shot.

Imagine filling a bucket from a hose; to fill the bucket, if you have a narrower hose (aperture) you have to run the tap for longer (shutter speed) to fill the bucket. If you have a bigger or smaller bucket (lower or higher ISO), you need less water (light) to fill it.

So why wouldn’t you just shoot wide open all the time? Because aperture directly affects ‘depth of field’ – how much of the shot is in focus. The lovely portrait shots you see with the face pin sharp and the background all blurry, that’s with a wide open aperture. Too wide however, and you’ll have someone’s eyes in focus and their ears blurred(*). As an aside, a longer zoom lens will also give you a shallower DoF.

In Av and Tv mode, you directly control the Aperture or Shutter respectively, and the camera automatically adjusts everything else around it to try and get a decent exposure (this was the bit I didn’t get and was the ‘eureka’ moment for me when I got my 450D). Which you use depends which you need control of.

For sport shots say, you may need a short exposure to freeze action, or a longer exposure to add motion blur (shooting streaky waterfalls perhaps). In this case you’d shoot in Tv mode to get the effect you’re looking for. For day to day walking around in good light conditions though, you’ll generally want to control depth of field and speed will be less important. For this reason, Av is the default position for many people, but it does depend wholly what you’re shooting.

Read the Canon FAQ link above – it covers all this in better detail and accuracy than I could hope to explain.
Well that’s confused the shit out of me.

I wasn’t talking to you, manual boy.

(-:

(EDIT – edited slightly for clarity)