shooting RAW

[Fotochik_CA]

I just got my D rebel and i know that it has raw capabilities but when I go to choose what File type/ size I want to shoot at the option is not there and I cant seem to find anything in the manual about why it wouldnt be. Question: Id my camera malufunctioning do I need to return it or am I missing something?
Heather

[defordphoto]

Get your camera out of the basic modes - the ones with all the little pictures on them. Get over to P, TV, AV, M, etc and then you can select RAW.

[ilya]

I just got my D rebel and i know that it has raw capabilities but when I go to choose what File type/ size I want to shoot at the option is not there and I cant seem to find anything in the manual about why it wouldnt be. Question: Id my camera malufunctioning do I need to return it or am I missing something?
Heather

You must be in basic modes, which do not allow Raw. Try any of the creative modes, M, Tv, Av, P.

regards

[msnow]

I just got my D rebel and i know that it has raw capabilities but when I go to choose what File type/ size I want to shoot at the option is not there and I cant seem to find anything in the manual about why it wouldnt be. Question: Id my camera malufunctioning do I need to return it or am I missing something?
Heather

Switch out of the auto modes and into "M" for Manual, AV, TV or P and then go to your options and it will be there.

[msnow]

That's funny, we all posted the same answer within 60 seconds of each other.

[ratz2plt]

Must be the passion about NOT using basic modes.

[defordphoto]

Basic modes are fine. You just can't shoot RAW in them. Well, that's what I've read anyway. Can't remember who said that though...

[ilya]

Basic modes are part of the toolkit, just like any other feature. Just know when and how to use them, and you can do as good or better as the most intricate manual setting.

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Basic modes are part of the toolkit, just like any other feature. Just know when and how to use them, and you can do as good or better as the most intricate manual setting.

I can't agree with this statement. The "Easy Shooting" modes make too many decisions for you. If you are clever enough to understand when using these modes will make no difference to the final picture, then why would you bother to change from the Creative modes"? It would be quicker and easier to change the manual settings, than change the program mode.

Furthermore, as several posters have pointed out you cannot use raw format with any of the Easy Shooting modes.

My advice is forget the basic modes, use M, Tv or Av and start to think more about what you are doing with your exposure settings. This will pay off with better photographs in the long run.

Regards,

[ilya]

Roger,

In the below post you will see why I think this way. I also foo-fooed the basic modes since i started. But the sports mode in particular is pretty smart. It takes care of everything - at the snap of the ring. I am a firm believer - when there is no time to mess around turning several dials because you're going to miss that shot, I'll turn the dial to the little running guy any day. YMMV as always.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=22438

As far as learning photography is concerned, I agree 100% that you should do your own thinking.

Regards,

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Ilya,

They are nice shots - though I was taken a bit by surprise when I opened the second image: "nice moustache, his wife's got", I thought. Then I read the message more carefully. :)

I wan't disputing the fact that you can get could good images, just your claim that they could be better - not if you know what you're doing. If you'd got your camera set up in manual mode: shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action, aperture selected to compensate for the snow or with an incident light or gray card reading, then you could have fired away in the same way. Unless the light conditions changed drastically, you wouldn't have a problem, but the sports zone might get confused by someone zipping down the piste in a bright yellow outfit.

And in manual mode, you could have been shooting raw, so you'd have some latitude for changing light as well.

It is a stonking good lens, though.

Regards,

[ilya]

Ilya,

They are nice shots - though I was taken a bit by surprise when I opened the second image: "nice moustache, his wife's got", I thought. Then I read the message more carefully. :)

I wan't disputing the fact that you can get could good images, just your claim that they could be better - not if you know what you're doing. If you'd got your camera set up in manual mode: shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action, aperture selected to compensate for the snow or with an incident light or gray card reading, then you could have fired away in the same way. Unless the light conditions changed drastically, you wouldn't have a problem, but the sports zone might get confused by someone zipping down the piste in a bright yellow outfit.

And in manual mode, you could have been shooting raw, so you'd have some latitude for changing light as well.

It is a stonking good lens, though.

Regards,

Roger,

Thank you kindly. We agree, its better in most circumstances to dial things in correctly. In a pinch, I've learned that the basic modes are pretty smart. I just hate to lose a shot because I forgot to set the ISO back from 1600 :). I'll add one other instance where I'll dare to turn the dial below the equator, its where I need to hand over the camera to my wife (or anyone that isn't me) as there are too many things that can go wrong. And I mean anyone ~ for example, we wanted to get a shot of the two of us by the gondolas, and happened upon a guy who said "hey, I got a D60, is that a D10..." I sensed something amiss, but figured he's got a D60, so I'll just hand it over. I still don't know what he did, but besides losing the feet, the pics came out grossly underexposed, and I didn't feel like going back to him to get a redo!!

Regards
Ilya

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Roger,

Thank you kindly. We agree, its better in most circumstances to dial things in correctly. In a pinch, I've learned that the basic modes are pretty smart. I just hate to lose a shot because I forgot to set the ISO back from 1600 :).

Yes, it is all about using your head.

I'll add one other instance where I'll dare to turn the dial below the equator, its where I need to hand over the camera to my wife (or anyone that isn't me) as there are too many things that can go wrong.

I could possibly support such a sexist remark. I say that secure in the knowledge that my wife has no interest in photography and will never, ever want to use my 10D. :)

And I mean anyone ~ for example, we wanted to get a shot of the two of us by the gondolas, and happened upon a guy who said "hey, I got a D60, is that a D10..." I sensed something amiss, but figured he's got a D60, so I'll just hand it over. I still don't know what he did, but besides losing the feet, the pics came out grossly underexposed, and I didn't feel like going back to him to get a redo!!

Regards
Ilya

Well, you should have know he was a plonker when he didn't get the name right! :D

Regards,

[CyberDyneSystems]

I would still llove the convienience of the basic mode presets IF I could establish or re-program the options in the basic modes.

It would be great to be able to go from my "Bright afternoon through a 500mm f/4.5" set up to my "interior no flash with an f/2.8 zoom" set up at the turn of a dial,. rahter than having to reset ISO, prioties, exposure compensation, metering, AF,.. etc... al independantly.

[Fotochik_CA]

thank you for your comments I actullay shoot manual but when I was setting up the file types I probably did have it in one of the other modes since I was pretty much just checking it out. Now to learn the advantages of shooting raw!!! So many possibiliteis. I am very thank ful for your help on this .
Heather

[Jim Larson]

I have a different spin:

When I got my 10D, it took me longer to learn what the basic modes did than how to get results out of the creative modes!

And the more I learned about the basic modes, the less I liked them.

Most of my effort lately has been devoted to flash handling. "P" and the basic modes are a formula for photographic disaster! Once I learned that, I was set.

as for handing the camera off to someone: I always ensure the camera is fully set for the shot prior to handing the camera off. It is hard enough for most people to find the shutter button.

[Morden]

as for handing the camera off to someone: I always ensure the camera is fully set for the shot prior to handing the camera off.
Crucial advice indeed!

[PacAce]

Basic modes are part of the toolkit, just like any other feature. Just know when and how to use them, and you can do as good or better as the most intricate manual setting.

I can't agree with this statement. The "Easy Shooting" modes make too many decisions for you. If you are clever enough to understand when using these modes will make no difference to the final picture, then why would you bother to change from the Creative modes"? It would be quicker and easier to change the manual settings, than change the program mode.

Furthermore, as several posters have pointed out you cannot use raw format with any of the Easy Shooting modes.

My advice is forget the basic modes, use M, Tv or Av and start to think more about what you are doing with your exposure settings. This will pay off with better photographs in the long run.

Regards,
Roger,

I'm not sure if the P mode was left out of your recommendation above intentionally or not, but if it was intentional, then I would like to make the following comment regarding shooting in P mode:

I can achieve the same results shooting in P mode as I can using the M, Tv or the Av modes. As a matter of fact, I think that it is faster for me to adjust aperture, shutter and exposure settings leaving the camera in P mode and using the exposure compensation feature and the two wheel controls than switching from Tv to Av or vice versa (which, by the way, still will require one to turn one or the other wheel controls and use the exposure compensation feature), as the need arose. And I can do it without having to take my eyes off the eye viewfinder. Making these adjustments takes just as much thinking as when shooting in M, Tv or Av mode.

And, if you really think about it, unless you are shooting in M mode and totally ignoring the exposure recommendation of the camera, you really are shooting in sort of a programmed auto mode even in M, Tv or Av modes.

Just my 2 cents.

[Roger_Cavanagh]

I'm not sure if the P mode was left out of your recommendation above intentionally or not...

I guess it was unintentional, inasmuch as I rarely use P except for the occasional flash shot. I understand what you are doing, and my original point was really about not letting the camera do all the thinking.

It does sound to me like more effort to worry about changes in two dimensions (Tv and Av). If I'm wandering around with the camera, I'll usually set Tv fast enough to avoid shake and then use exposure compensation as you do, if I think the subject is confusing the camera.

What I need is more practice in manual to make decisions about changing aperture and/or shutter speed as "instinctive" as -/+ EC.

Regards,

[CyberDyneSystems]

It's funny,. as I fingd "P" and "M" mode to feel allmost identical in use,.

"M" mode still tells me what the camera thinks of my choices for exposure :) :roll:

The only difference I really notice is that when I first point the camera and push the shutter halfway,. the camera starts me from a "working exposure" zero point ,. as opposed to in "M" it starts where ever I left off...

Other than that,. I function in the same way in how i use the two modes. :wink:

The bulk of my shooting I do walking around outdoors,. where lighting and environment change continuously. I then use P or M... when I shoot indoors in the theatre,. I use either Av or Tv depending on whether i am trying to make the most really poor lighting or trying to stop action with dancers etc....