Camera Settings

Hi guys,

I'm completely new to digital photography and have recently bought a Canon 400d DSLR camera kit. I'm very keen to experiment with as many settings as possible to really get to know my camera, but, being a new user I'm a little concerned about playing with settings I don't completely understand. I'm wondering if it's at all possible to damage my equipment in any way by experimenting with such settings.

What I'm really looking for is the green light to get on with it

Thanks,
Jen

You can't damage it, and there is always a reset settings button if you forget what you've done.
Just read the manual and experiment. Take lots of pictures and learn from what each setting you change has done. You'll be an expert in no time

Welcome to the Forums

Green to go

Buy Bryan Petersen's book "Understanding Exposure" which will help A LOT!

Use P mode which is pretty much an auto mode and if you want to experiment there are semi automatic modes like Av (aperture priority) and Tv (shutter priority) sa well as fully manual (M). Your anual will help too.

Experiment to your heart's content. That's the best way to learn. A good primer on exposure such as the Petersen book recommended above always helps, as well as his book on composition, Learning to See Creatively.

There's only one thing worse than playing with those settings.

That is playing with them and then posting them here, these guys will eat you alive trying to make you do it right.

chauncey wrote in post #4745393
There's only one thing worse than playing with those settings.

That is playing with them and then posting them here, these guys will eat you alive trying to make you do it right.

Well, of course we will. We're here to help.

Welcome...
2 warnings...in case you've not read up here before jumping to the SLR...
Most PnS cams have internal, nonadjustable automatic sharpening; the Dslr is fully adjustable (in cam and in PC) and initially pix look soft until you make the adjustments you like...the adjustments will show up in JPEG images (and in the rear LCD) and are somewhat adjustable afterwards in your pc…If you shoot RAW images your settings are a starting point and are nearly completely adjustable, including white balance (getting the white in the image to be white) in your pc later…
2nd warning...most newbies OVERadjust at the start...too much contrast, too much sharpening...
The best advice I can give is to read the archives about your camera on all the forums you can bear to read...when I got my D30 it was SIX years old...that was a lot of archived pages...but I learned a LOT...and then did the same when I got a 3-yr old 10D... and now the 2-yr old 30D...

Here's a great technical "white" paper...relevant for all Canon users...
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...ies-Camera.pdf

Here's a nice site for explaining about Canon lenses:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...ies-Camera.pdf

enjoy...

Thanks for the reply guys, very helpful indeed, as are these forums

Play with them all you like you can always re-set them if you get to lost.

Another thing to do is look at each in turn to see if you can see what it does and what it's relationship with other settings is. Look at altering the ISO and it's effect on shutter speed/aperture.

Look at the effevt aperture has on the depth of field and the effect of slow shutter speeds.

As I stated above Bryan Petersen's book is an invaluable resource.

I am new to this digital world as well, and someone suggested that I shoot in M mode all the time. This has given me the best learning curve I could have asked for. Too dark, have to figure which setting to change. Too light, have to figure which setting to change. When I am out with the family, and I don't want to miss a shot, I switch to either Av or Tv, but messing around, it is always Manual.

Don't forget if you get a shot that wasn't quite as you intended its not a mistake, its art!