Need help figuring out manual mode...

[gary-s]

I mostly use my 20D for sports, and leave it on Tv, but im heading away on holiday and after trying some tests out in manual mode to get a good DOF, i cant seem to get a good balance. I've been trying to basically get a good setting whereby i have almost the entire picture in focus, handheld, but im getting different results. I tried one setting, ISO400, 1/60th and only changed the F stop from something like 10 to 22. The shot at 10 was ok, but the shot at 22 was darker, and blurry. Being much of an amature, im basically trying to set the camera so i can get good landscape shots and the like where the entire picture is in focus, and that doesnt seem to work in Tv.

So, what am i doing wrong, or, how can i best set the camera to where i can just adjust the ISO and shutter speed, while still getting a good DOF? I'll be using my 20D with a Sigma 17-70.

[lakiluno]

switch to Av? Exposure is a linear scale - you cannot adjust one thing without adjusting another, or your image will be dark. A lot of landscape photographers use tripods because they allow you to have longer exposures.

Switch to Av, and go between f/8 and f/16 (above f/16 and you start having IQ problems)

Put the camera on a tripod, get the ISO as low as possible and get a cable release (ISO 100-200).

Look on the travel and landscapes forum, and look at the exif of photos there.

[20droger]

This is NOT sarcasm.. I'me serious here!

The best way I have found for a newbie to learn to shoot manually is to go to a used book store and buy an OLD book on basic photography. Not having any bells and whistles, all those oldsters (like me) had to go on was what we now call "manual mode."

With the old book to guide you, and your 20D set to manual, experiment with various settings, mostly aperture and shutter speed. I suggest that initially you avoid playing with ISO. Set it to 100 and leave it there.

Why 100? because the most common film speed in the old days was either 64 or 100 ASA. (ASA is now ISO).

Start with the "sunny 16 rule." Set the shutter speed to the reciprocal of the ISO and the aperture to f/16 for a bright sunny day. If your ISO is at 100 (as I suggest), then your shutter speed shoulld be 1/100s.

Adjust for other than bright sunlight accordingly:

f/16 = Sunny (shadows are sharp and distict);
f/11 = Hazy (shadows are sharp with fuzzy edges);
f/8 = Overcast (shadows are soft); and
f/5.6 = Cloudy (shadows are missing).

Play with these exposures for awhile, then experiment with shutter speeds. Remember that a stop is a stop. Making the shutter 1-stop faster decreases exposure. Making the aperture 1-stop bigger increase exposure. Doing both at the same time leaves exposure the same.

f/16 @ 1/100s = f/11 @ 1/200s = f/22 @ 1/50s

1 stop is a multiplication or division by 2. Aperture is an area function, so a doubling in aperture is a change in f/number of 1:1.4 (the square root of 2).

After you get exposure down, then you can play with depth of field (which is a whole 'nuther thing!).

Above all, have fun.

[gary-s]

Some very useful stuff there that will get me started, thanks

[rklepper]

Just to add something to the discussion. Manual will really allow you to get to know your camera. It gives you the maximum creative control. Once you gain the knowledge and the control that manual allows you, you will never want to use any of the other settings, there really is no reason.