set up for manual manipulation on 550d/T2i

back in the film days, i would set my shutter speed and then use my support hand (left) to spin the aperture ring to get the desired exposure...

on the T2i, in manual the finger wheel will only adjust the shutter speed. you can hit the Q button on the back which will let you select which of the many different adjustments on the rear screen but once you hit the shutter button to activate the viewfinder info, it automatically shifts back to the shutter speed (for adjustment)...

ive looked through the manual and looked at the custom settings but i cant seem to 'lock in' the aperture by wheel adjustment...

does this make sense the way ive described it?

Press and hold the "Av" button right above the "Q" button. Use the dial when the "Av" button is held down.

Make sure you are in "M" manual mode. In Av mode the dial changes aperture and in Tv the dial changes shutter speed. You need to be in Manual if you want to change both.

themadman wrote in post #14552846
Press and hold the "Av" button right above the "Q" button. Use the dial when the "Av" button is held down.

Make sure you are in "M" manual mode. In Av mode the dial changes aperture and in Tv the dial changes shutter speed. You need to be in Manual if you want to change both.

yeah. i can do that but it sure would be easier if i could set it up so the wheel changed the aperture WITHOUT having to try and hold a friggin button down...

there needs to be the option of having the wheel 'set-up' for either aperture or shutter speed...

thanks

there is.. in shutter priority the wheel changes shutter speed, in aperture priority it changes aperture. if you need 2 wheels it's xxD time

Davinor wrote in post #14554794
there is.. in shutter priority the wheel changes shutter speed, in aperture priority it changes aperture. if you need 2 wheels it's xxD time

Bingo! This is one of the reasons people step up from the Rebel/xxxD series to 50D, 60D, 7D, etc. Two dials... one on top and a second on the rear of the camera... that control aperture and shutter separately.

yup.
when I started to shoot in manual mode it became tedious with the Rebel T1i. So I bought a 60d.
front dial is for shutter, rear is for aperture