new 7d for my Bday - just a few questions

<p>hello all,<br>

My wife surprised me on my birthday with a 7D. once the shock and excitement wore off I got down to reading the instructions (even though i already knew a lot of it...it is a trait my dad taught me "always read the directions"</p>

<p>so i have a few questions, most of which I know there is no one corret answer, just looking for ideals and thoughts.</p>

<p>first - how do i turn it on and put the lens on? --- just kidding</p>

<p>to give you my frame of referrence I have been using a 20D that has (and will continue to) served me quite well. I take a wide variety of pictures.... family casual portraits, sports (my nephews) scenic views (my wife and I travel)</p>

<p>So i am inquiing to anyone who owns one or has owned one any recomendations on the Cn functions.</p>

<ul>

<li>what do they have theirs at and why/ I am in the process of experimenting and coming up with my own thoughts but I am a history teacher. I research everything including how other people do things.</li>

<li>I have never used Video on a DSLR before and I was wondering ifthere was any advice on setting a CN function</li>

<li>and finally any advise on utilizing the many functions. I personally think it is a waste buying something with so many options and not utilzing as many as possible.</li>

<li>I am doing other research on line so if there are any favorite websites that might help that would be great</li>

</ul>

<p>I am asking these open ended questions because I personally think it is a waste buying something with so many options and not utilzing as many as possible</p>

<p>thank you for taking the time to read this and any help is appreciative</p>

<p>david</p>

<p>My advice would be to get to know the camera first, without too much playing with the custom functions and menus. I heartily recommend <a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Buschs-Canon-Digital-Photography/dp/1435456912/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332438747&sr=1-1">David Busch's EOS 7D Guide</a> for further reading. For many of the functions, what you intend to shoot has a bearing on how you set the functions and menu items.</p>

<p>Use the <a href="http://learn.usa.canon.com/home/home.shtml">Canon Digital Learning Center</a> for online and in-camera tutorials. See if there is a "Canon EOS Discovery Day" near to you. I took one of these (the Intermediate - there is also a Basic) on the 11th in Fairfield NJ at Unique Photo, and the 3-hour course was $45, and they give you a $20 store gift card.</p>

<p>I'm about 18 months into owning my 7D, and I've still got a LOT to learn about it!</p>

 

<p>What Larry said +1. I've been shooting the 7D heavily for a little over a year and still don't know everything about it, it's that complex. My approach has been to learn what I feel I need to know (or have the camera do) for what I shoot and apply it as I go. Congrats, it's a VERY capable piece of equipment.</p>

<p>While I agree in principle with Larry, you paid quite a bit for the 7D's features and should use them all to advantage as soon as possible. Make a rough syllabus for your explorations and start as soon as you have the basics in hand. There are no shortcuts for the Cn functions. Expect to spend a lot of time flipping through the manual. Almost all of it is new, no matter how much you think you already know. They all pertain to the new features.</p>

 

<p>The feature I like the most on the 7D (having the 10D, 40D) is the 3 custom functions on the mode dial, which you can assign - any mode or function to. I have 1 set up for bracketed exposures and the other 2 for sports (which only the ISO is different). <br>

As for the custom functions, I would just read through them, then when you are using the camera and some operation bugs you, think, is there a custom function that would make this easier? some times there is. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Which 7D functions you're going to use depends largely on the type of photography you do. I shoot a lot of high school football and so have made several of the autofocus tweaks suggested in the Canon tutorial on sports shooting. But you don't need any of those if you're shooting landscapes or indoor shots.</p>

<p>If you shoot any flash, I'd call your attention to the ability of the 7D to control certain Canon flash units through the camera menu. This is an amazing and welcome improvement over the cryptic controls on the back of the flash units themselves. See <a href="http://pixsylated.com/blog/best-flash-control-interface/">http://pixsylated.com/blog/best-flash-control-interface/</a> for details.</p>

<p>One function I like a lot is the ability to set the depth-of-field button to activate Servo AF, so that I can have the camera set for One-Shot but by pressing that button, it switches to Servo AF. I've used almost all of the xxD bodies, starting with the 10D through the 40D, and find the 7D to be in a significantly higher league than all of those. That being said, familiarize yourself with the camera and read David Busch's book as Larry recommended. There is a lot to learn on this camera. I've had mine since October '09 and feel that I'm still learning it. Spend a lot of time reading and experimenting with the AF modes; there are several modes and it will definitely benefit you to understand them all in order to get the most out of the AF's potential. That's one of the main features of the camera so learn to maximize its potential. Once you do, you'll be amazed! As far as custom functions, you'll know which to enable as you go along. This is a very highly customizable camera and you'll want to configure it to suit your specific needs. It's a fantastic camera, one of my favorite cameras of all that I've owned, and I've owned a lot! Congrats, and have fun!</p>

<p>+1 to Andy's comment about "re-purposing" the DOF preview button for focus mode. When you've done this, and the camera is in One Shot, pressing the DOF preview button toggles it into AI Servo, for the length of time you press the button. If the camera is in AI Servo, pressing the button toggles back to One Shot similarly. If you are in AI Focus, the button does nothing.</p>

<p>Of course, you can also save that with the Custom mode on the Mode dial (e.g. C1/C2/C3), so if you use DOF preview, you can always have it available.</p>

<p>The other usual recommendation is to set "back button focusing". With this, you take the focus start off of the shutter button(s), and place it onto the AF-START button on the back of the camera. You get much better control of focusing. Plenty of discussions on it here, or a good article is at Canon: <a href="http://learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2011/backbutton_af_article.shtml?categoryId=121">Back-Button Auto Focus Explained</a>.</p>

<p>By the way, changing these functions is covered in the manual, page 217, "C.Fn IV-1: Custom Controls". And, go to <a href="http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/categorySiteMap.action?pageKeyCode=categorySiteMap&nodeCid=0901e02480069f71&expanded=true">Canon</a> for PDF versions of the camera, lens & accessory manuals. Handy if you have an iPhone, Android, or iPad that you keep with you. Find the camera, click it, and then go to "Brochures and Manuals".</p>

<p>Oh - a word of caution about using the C1/C2/C3 positions on the mode dial: they don't work the same as the Tv/Av/M/etc. positions. Once you've selected C1/C2/C3, if the camera goes to sleep, or is turned off, the next time you wake it, or turn it on, you are returned to the saved settings of the C1/C2/C3 mode. This isn't always a problem, but, if you're out and about and start off in, say, C1, then you need to adjust your ISO or focus mode, those changes persist only so long as the camera is still "on", and not sleeping or off. Unlike in Tv/Av/M, where the changes persist even if the camera sleeps or is turned off. Just something to be aware of...</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>