Questions from SLR newbie

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Thanks so much for your help!

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, someone posted it yesterday and it's really good for beginners

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

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---

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?

Check your manual. Page 40.

---Bob Gross---

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

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.

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---

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.

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!!!

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.