new to Canon 20D

Last week I finally made the jump and bought a Canon EOS 20D and

Tamron 28-300mm lense. I based my decisions on several reviews

(including the ones here). I've only been able to get out once this

week to do some shooting.

 

Are there any tips/tricks to using the 20D? I'm a little overwhelmed

with all the options at the moment. All info and advice is

appreciated. Thanks.

 

Justin

J.L - I can't think of any universal 'tips/tricks' that would apply to the 20D (or any other camera). Not knowing your experience level, I'll assume that you're fairly new to SLRs. My suggestion is to just start taking pictures. You can start in the automatic mode (P) to get used to the camera and learn how to transfer the files to your computer, etc. Then I would move on to aperture priority mode to learn how to control the depth of field. The main thing is not to try to learn everything at once. Select a topic and work on it for a little while, then select another and move on. You'll likely have to repeat your topics once in a while so that everything makes sense.

 

If you give us a little bit of your photography background and your photography goals, I'm sure others will pipe in with some recommendations.

My first suggestion would be to not buy that lens. Great camera. Why put a mediocre lens on it? Optically it's slow - f/6.3 on the long end - and not particularly sharp. One of the best things about an interchangeable lens camera is the fact that you can change the lens to fit the scene. By putting a one-does-it-all lens on it, you've defeated that advantage. The super zoom lens does have it's place, but personally I wouldn't want to spend money for one unless I had several other lenses first.

 

My second suggestion would be to buy a 50mm f/1.8 lens and practice with that for a while. I really am not trying to pick on you, or deride your decision, but to gain the *most* from your new camera would require a change of plans.

 

Next I would recommend getting good software for image editing. At the very least upgrade the included Elements software to version 3. And then get to know how to use USM (unsharp mask). The images coming directly out of the 20D usually appear somewhat soft and will need a touch of USM.

 

Also I would recommend reading a good book on general photography if you are new to it, and a book on digital imaging after that.

 

Finally, I would recommend using the camera in manual mode for a while if you are new to photography in general, and by all means go out and shoot everything.

J.L. <br>

My suggestion is put your camera on "M" manual mode<br>

set your metering to center/spot<br>

Now when you go to take a photo answer these questions in your head:<br>

1. How much Depth of Field do you want (the more you want the smaller the f/stop)<br>

2. How fast is the subject moving (faster shutter for moving objects)<br>

3. Which area in photo in close to neutral gray (mid tone)<br>

<br>

Now you can take your camera (with center/spot metering on) and aim at the neutral area to take a light reading. Then adjust your shutter and f/stop to your liking, focus and shoot.<br>

<br>

 

By doing this you force yourself to learn the camera and light.<br>

There are no excuses because you have a digital and can see the results immediatly. (even faster then polaroids) <br>

<br>

If you don't understand this or not sure how to set camera then you better read the instruction book and some photo books.<br>

<br>

Hope that helps :+) go take some more shots.

<I>Are there any tips/tricks to using the 20D?</i><P>Sure...don't use it with that worthless 'wonderzoom'.

Oops, I should have put a little background in there. Sorry.

 

Background: I've been using two Olympus OM-10's for about five years now and a Canon Rebel 2000 for about two years. I've had a Kodak Digital 6230 for about two years also. Most of my photography is outdoor. I prefer to use the manual settings over the auto. My goal is to finally get some projects out of the way (some examples: state history and past/present agriculture).

 

Lense-wise: I think I fell for the 28-300mm lense because of the range. After using it this little bit, I can tell that it is not what I was hoping it would be. When you mentioned a 50mm f/1.8 lense, are you referring to a Canon brand lense or another brand.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm looking forward to putting a lot of time into photography this year.

 

Justin L.

The suggested 50mm f/1.8 is a Canon brand lens. I suggested it because it is a very good lens for about $80.

 

Since you are familiar to photography in general and have some digital experience too, the only thing I have to recommend is to get used to using USM in your software. Digital SLRs are quite a bit different than point & shoot digitals, in that the 20D does not do as much in camera adjustments to the image. You can turn up sharpening, contrast and saturation in the menu, and make it look like a digital P&S, but best quality is gotten by using less of the above and applying it later in the computer.

 

the control layout is different than your Rebel 2000, but otherwise it does things about the same except without the film. Which brings up another advantage of digital; you get to adjust ISO for every shot. It was hard to get used to taking advantage of that change for me.

Hey,

 

learn to use the histogram to help adjust exposure. and expose your pictures as much to the right as possible without overexposing/blowing out the highlights. (using this method should create histograms that look weighted towards the right) the using manual mode and spot meter like prev. suggested is good. however also check that the hightlights in your picture are not more than several stops over or so, depending on what you want for your results. another thing to do is if it is a scene with a large dynamic range do an exposure bracketing and then blend the images in Photoshop (if you have this). other wise the rest is like what you might get from film except instant gratification... yea

Thanks for the advice on the USM. Makes a big difference. I've got a lot to learn with the photo editing software. Photoshop Elements 2.0 came with the camera. The more I shoot with the 20D the more I like it.

 

Thanks for all the help.

 

Justin