Any advice for new G2 user?

[BigMac]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum so first I'd like to introduce myself. I'm a recently retired college professor living in Northeast Iowa. Here's my situation: I'm very familiar with 35mm photography but I'm new to digital photography and to the Canon G2. The proliferation of G2 settings, compressions, etc. has me very confused and intimidated. The manuals don't explain things like why you would choose one combination of settings rather than another or what "white balance" is. Can you recommend a website or a book that would help a digital neophyte make sense of all this? Thanks, in advance, for any help you can provide.

HankG

[shadsmom]

http://www.shortcourses.com/bookstore/canon/book_canong2.htm
i found it somewhat helpful, but get the book

[Leighow]

HANK

Still waters run deep.

Re your 35 mm .. was it an SLR ?

Even so, are you saying that you a light on the use of manual controls .. like shutter speed, ISO ratings, aperarture setting, Depth of Field

...or..

Just the added do-dahs that the G2 introduces over say an SLR.

Also, if you had/have an SLR did you have a telephoto and a macro lens.

HOWIE

PS: Was not my harmonica playing "friend" Herg Shriner form Iowa ?

[BigMac]

In anwer to some of Howie's questions:
I had Nikon SLRs with all sorts of lenses and accessories. I'm lost on all the digital complexities: storage modes, compression, etc. Thanks for your questions.
Hank
P.S. Herb Shriner was a Hoosier (Indiana).

[kowen]

I don't own this camera yet but from what i've read, if you shoot in RAW mode, you can undo/change your white balance, sharpenning, etc. options that are offered on the camera itself, once you download and get to Canon's photo software. Breezebrowser?. If I'm wrong on this I'm sure someone will chime in and let me know.

Look at Don Ellis' website,:

His paragraph on converting is helpful.
http://www.kleptography.com/notes-workflow.htm

Look at his photo gallery, click on a shot, and all of his exposure and setting information is right there. Seems like he uses standard settings for most of his shots-50ISO, RAW mode, low sharpness, white balance (auto or tungsten), low contrast. Hope this helps.

[BigMac]

Many thanks - I found Ellis' site to be very helpful!

[Leighow]

BIGMAC

You will catch on pretty quickly. I forget, but somewhere there is an index of features.

I would start with those things that make sense vis-a-vis your SLR experience, namely: ISO.. Aperature settings and Shutter speed settings. Also, there is a DOF chart somewhere -- some posted links. That said you will find a bunch of straightforward options for selecting full manual ( a la SLR), aperature priority, shutter priority, and fully automatic.

That will bring you to some of the file size issues. Excluding raw, the JPEG format allows you to pick various sized files for individual shots. The bigger the better, the lower ISO the better.

Then white balance allows you to set for indoor lighting (tungsten or florescent). If you have that solved, move on to the e-comp.

Let me know how you do .. if all this SLR -stuf is behind you.

HOWIE