New (to me) dReb

[htbyron]

I couldn't hold myself back any longer. I took the plunge & bought a digital Rebel. :D
I held my breath and picked up a used one on (no flames please) ... ebay. :shock:

It came today (with the vaunted 50mm 1.4 prime) & all seems to be well. :D I'm going to run it through its paces over the next few days. Any ideas on how/what to test? (I have in mind to go through all the modes & change various aspects, such as shutter speed, aperture, flash, etc. Anything I should be particularly watchful of?)

One (OK, one more :) ) question: There seems to be a bit of dust or something in the viewfinder or on the sensor (it shows up with both lenses, so it doesn't seem to be a lens issue). I'll know better when I shoot some pics & look at them on the computer, but I can't see it when I zoom in on the little playback screen, so I'm hoping it's somewhere in the viewfinder. Any tips on isolating & fixing this?

I have yet to take any real pictures with it (just pointed it around my office) -- if it stays reasonably dry, I'll head out over lunch & play around. I don't expect to post any pics for a few days, as I'm in way over my head here & need to get used to this (I've been shooting with a G3 for almost a year & haven't used an SLR since my dad's then-10-year-old manual Pentax Spotmatic over 20 years ago).

I sure appreciate all the advice & tips I've found on these forums as I've lurked recently. And I hope to pick up more good ideas as I start my way up the learning curve in earnest!

Tom

[DaveG]

One (OK, one more :) ) question: There seems to be a bit of dust or something in the viewfinder or on the sensor (it shows up with both lenses, so it doesn't seem to be a lens issue). I'll know better when I shoot some pics & look at them on the computer, but I can't see it when I zoom in on the little playback screen, so I'm hoping it's somewhere in the viewfinder. Any tips on isolating & fixing this?

I sure appreciate all the advice & tips I've found on these forums as I've lurked recently. And I hope to pick up more good ideas as I start my way up the learning curve in earnest!

Tom

If you are seeing this crud when you look through the viewfinder, then it's almost certainly on the focusing screen. Take the lens off, hold the camera body upside down and look at the focusing screen and you probably will be able to see it, if it's of any size at all. Use a blower, or a brush to clean it off. BE VERY CAREFUL - ESPECIALLY IF YOU USE CANNED AIR!!!!

By the way nothing on your focusing screen will affect your recorded image at all. The dirt may be on the light path to your eye but it's not on the light path to the sensor.

[htbyron]

If you are seeing this crud when you look through the viewfinder, then it's almost certainly on the focusing screen. Take the lens off, hold the camera body upside down and look at the focusing screen and you probably will be able to see it, if it's of any size at all. Use a blower, or a brush to clean it off. BE VERY CAREFUL - ESPECIALLY IF YOU USE CANNED AIR!!!!

By the way nothing on your focusing screen will affect your recorded image at all. The dirt may be on the light path to your eye but it's not on the light path to the sensor.

Thanks Dave! Of course, that makes sense -- See how long it's been since I've thought about what goes on in an SLR? I appreciate the tip for cleaning it & will try it out tonight.

Tom