Questions from SLR newbie

[JasonMX]

I have had digital cameras (about 4) since 1996, but this new Canon Digital Rebel EOS is the first semi-professional SLR I have had. Here are some questions I have:

#1. When you set the camera to a macro setting (where you can change all of the settings), I noticed there is a "Reset to default" option. Does that reset just the settings for the mode your in or all?

#2. When you make changes to macro modes, do the changes stay when you turn off the camera?

#3. What is a good setting to take pictures during a cloudy or super sunny day?

#4. What is a good multi-purpose lense (or lenses) for zooming, night shots, and nature shots. About 80% of my shots are landscapes, night landcapes, or close ups (bugs, leaves, animals).

#5. Where can I buy a lens cap for the lens kit it came with?

#6. What is the best way to clean the LCD screen and lens.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Jon]

I have had digital cameras (about 4) since 1996, but this new Canon Digital Rebel EOS is the first semi-professional SLR I have had. Here are some questions I have:

#1. When you set the camera to a macro setting (where you can change all of the settings), I noticed there is a "Reset to default" option. Does that reset just the settings for the mode your in or all?

Welcome, and enjoy your DR. First, "M" is "Manual", not "Macro" on the Program Selector dial, if that's what you're referring to. "Macro" refers to close-up photography from 1/2 lifesize and in. Manual gives you complete control of shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and flash on/off. The Reset to default" refers to the "Menu" settings you pick from the color LCD on the back of the screen. It won't affect shutter/aperture settings. The "Close-up" Program mode (flower on the Program Selector dial) will set everything for you, if that's what you meant.

#2. When you make changes to macro modes, do the changes stay when you turn off the camera?

See 1, and only as long as you stay in that mode. If you shift to Tv, say, and come back, you'll start over on aperture/shutter speed. ISO setting, depends on what other mode you shift to.

#3. What is a good setting to take pictures during a cloudy or super sunny day?

The rule of thumb is "sunny 16" - in open sunlight, normal scene, use 1/ISO at f/16. Cloudy bright, open up 2 stops. Open shade or overcast, open up 3. But that's what your meter's for.

#4. What is a good multi-purpose lense (or lenses) for zooming, night shots, and nature shots. About 80% of my shots are landscapes, night landcapes, or close ups (bugs, leaves, animals).

Mmmm . . . night shots, you need a tripod. Same for real (1/3 lifesize and beyond) close-ups. Night work, lens speed will be an advantage. Close-up, you're going to need to either get a dedicated macro lens, extension tubes, or a close-up lens (works like a filter). Landscapes, you want something fairly wide, usually. A number of people have been saying nice things about the Tamron 28-75 which might be a good general-purpose lens for you.

#5. Where can I buy a lens cap for the lens kit it came with?

Most camera stores will stock these, with or without the Canon nametag. Without is cheaper.

#6. What is the best way to clean the LCD screen and lens.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

There's a thread or two on cleaning around here - the "Search" tool is your friend. Generally, lens and the LCD can be wiped down with lens tissue or microfibre cloth and a little lens cleaning solution.

[JasonMX]

Thanks so much for your help!

[commando]

I didn't realise about the macro preset mode, that'll be handy. Night shots on a tripod come out amazing - with long exposures the colors come out almost as well as during the day, so long as there's at least a little light around. Great fun!

btw i'm a newbie too, this is a really handy place to learn stuff. Have a look at this (http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/lessons_16-20.html), someone posted it yesterday and it's really good for beginners :)

[JasonMX]

I did buy a tripod and mini-tripod I will be using for night shots.

[robertwgross]

I didn't realise about the macro preset mode, that'll be handy.

No, there is no macro preset mode. The earlier poster was confused.

The close-up mode (flower icon) is not macro, nor is the M mode (manual).

---Bob Gross---

[commando]

I knew about M=manual, but I forget what the little flower means because I don't really use those modes much. Can anyone remember what it is?

[robertwgross]

Check your manual. Page 40.

---Bob Gross---

[commando]

It's not near me. Doesn't matter, I don't need it.

[PacAce]

I knew about M=manual, but I forget what the little flower means because I don't really use those modes much. Can anyone remember what it is?

I think Bob already said it two posts up from yours. It's the Close-up mode.

[commando]

I think Bob already said it two posts up from yours. It's the Close-up mode.

Thanks for pointing that out, I misread his post. What's the difference between closeup and macro? They sound like the same thing to me.

[robertwgross]

What's the difference between closeup and macro? They sound like the same thing to me.

Similar.

Closeup is something that you do with some normal lens, and you are trying to focus on something like a flower at the normal minimum focus distance of the lens. You are typically holding the lens at wide open aperture to narrow the depth of field. That way, the flower is in focus and everything behind it is blurred background.

Macro generally requires a specialized macro lens that allows you to get much closer and have better depth of field control. That is what you use for shooting just the bee that is on the flower. Well, actually, that is a bad example, since the bee is likely moving around, and it takes a few seconds to set up a good shot with a macro lens. That's where SuperGlue comes in. But I digress...

You can also do something in-between with the use of a normal lens plus an extension tube (which fits between the lens and the camera). I call this the poor man's macro. It allows you to focus much closer to the flower using the normal lens.

---Bob Gross---

[commando]

Thanks Bob. The next two lenses on my list are macro and telephoto, I haven't decided the order yet - prob macro first I guess.

[robertwgross]

Don't everybody go gasp, but I used my 100-400mm lens for shooting wildflower closeups. I know that sounds bizarre. I stuck an extension tube on it, and I was shooting off a tripod from a distance that was within the normal 1.8 meter minimum focus. That was good, since I was far enough back that I was not disturbing the bee that was working the flower, so I got the flower with the bee.

If I had used just about any normal lens arrangement, the bee would have flown... which brings me back to the SuperGlue solution.

---Bob Gross---

[PacAce]

Don't everybody go gasp, but I used my 100-400mm lens for shooting wildflower closeups. I know that sounds bizarre. I stuck an extension tube on it, and I was shooting off a tripod from a distance that was within the normal 1.8 meter minimum focus. That was good, since I was far enough back that I was not disturbing the bee that was working the flower, so I got the flower with the bee.

If I had used just about any normal lens arrangement, the bee would have flown... which brings me back to the SuperGlue solution.

---Bob Gross---

GASP!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:

Actually I've done the same, too, with my 100-400 chasing after a bee but I didn't have an extension tube so the bee wasn't as big as I would have liked it in the frame. But I still got the shot and the flower it was on, too. :D

[robertwgross]

You've never had to resort to SuperGlue, huh?

You don't need the Canon variety. The ordinary stuff is fine.

Bees hate the smell.

---Bob Gross---

[JasonMX]

"You are typically holding the lens at wide open aperture to narrow the depth of field. "

Please correct me if I am wrong.. I am trying to take all of this in. Is the depth of field determine where focussed objects in a picture stop and it gets blurry? For example a wide depth of field only keeps very close objects in focus, while a small depth of field keeps far objects sharp?

[robertwgross]

Every lens and every lens aperture will have different depth of field characteristics. When using the same lens, a wide open aperture might leave everything in focus from 45 feet to 50 feet, and a narrowed down aperture might leave everything in focus from 15 feet to 200 feet. On one day, you are trying to get one effect, and the next day, you are trying to get the different effect. If you shift over to a much longer focal length, then those distances will get thrown out and a different set of distances will come in.

So, if you ask a beginner photographer this question:
"What does the lens aperture do?" ... He'll probably answer that it varies the amount of light coming through the lens to make the exposure right for that shutter speed. And that is true.

If you ask the experienced photographer the same question, you'll get a different true answer.
He'll answer that the aperture allows him to control the depth of field.

Both answers are true, but it just depends on your perspective.

I was shooting a hawk the other day, and I ended up with an unusual situation where the depth of field went from (calculated) 99.3 feet to 100.7 feet. As soon as the hawk raised one wing, it was out of focus.

---Bob Gross---

[JasonMX]

Ok, that makes much more sense now.

[robertwgross]

If you take a photography class sometime, that is the sort of stuff that they will beat into you for the first session or two.

People with a moderately technical brain will grasp the concept and practice until they can use it. Others will simply try to memorize some rule, and they don't master it, and their photography will stay odd.

---Bob Gross---