Not satisfied with my Canon 20D

Multi-

Do you know how to use your cameras histogram?

Mike, Only the basics. A histogram to the left indicates a dark image and the one to the right indicates a bright image. A good shot should be something in the middle. I don't use the histogram that much, yet.

Is there a link or something that I can read more about how to use the histogram more effectively?

MultiDim2009 wrote in post #8310019
...Is there a link or something that I can read more about how to use the histogram more effectively?

Plenty of reading here: http://www.lmgtfy.com/​?q=Camera+histogram

mikeassk wrote in post #8309939
Learn to shoot in manual.
Your camera is exposing properly for what you are telling it to expose.
If you shoot in manual (M) you just need to look at the back of the camera (Histogram) to see what your getting and adjusting as you need to.
You can also learn to shoot in AV or P or TV but it does help you learn exposure control nearly as fast IMHO.

If you can nail shots while shooting in M you will advance much faster.

Av, Tv, P, and M are all the same thing. Getting the exposures you want requires the same understanding of metering.

So, OP, read up on metering and exposure compensation.

The 20D is a great camera if you knnow how to use it properly, like any other camera.

However, not only is that scene underexposed due to your unfamliarity with the camera, it is also a hard scene for the camera to meter (or guess what you want the exposure to be) and the contrast range is very high. You're either going to have to add exposure compensation (+Ev) to blow out the skies to get the people lit properly, or underexpose the people (-Ev) to keep the sky from blowing out. If you shot in RAW mode, you may be able to rescue the highlights by a couple of stops and maybe add fill light to make the people's skin more "lit".

HEre is how I would make a scene like this work and have the scene better exposed:

1. omit the sky from your composition, then the "brightest" area would be something at ground level and not the blown out sky, allowing the camera to meter the scene better.

OR

2. Shoot 3 bracketed exposures (one with the sky exposed perfectly, one somewhere in the middle and the last with the people exposed perfectly with the sky blown out) then use HDR techniques (or software like Photomatix) to blend the 3 images into one perfectly exposed image. You would have to make sure the people don't move though, or be really good with photoshop and blend them manually.

MultiDim,

The problem is you, not the camera. Don't take offense, we all have to start somewhere. You are making some common newbie mistakes. Once you learn about exposures and how to work with your camera, things will improve tremendously.

In the photo you posted, you have made one of the classic newbie mistakes. The brightness of the various parts of the image covers too wide a range for the camera to capture a good image. Once you have gained some experience and a higher level of understanding, you will know that this image is not possible without some modification to your technique.

There are several ways to correct this situation. Since the area outside the covered patio is very bright and makes up most of the image, the camera has set the exposure settings for that. By changing the exposure compensation, you can get the interior portions of the image better exposed, but then you blow out the outside portion of the image. A better choice would be to just pop up the flash and us it for fill. This would have the effect of making the exposure inside closer to the exposure outside, therefore giving a good balance of lighting. A narrower dynamic range that the camera's image sensor can handle.

Spend some time learning about exposure and lighting and you will find that your camera is more than capable of producing great images.

Good luck

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toxic wrote in post #8310290
Av, Tv, P, and M are all the same thing. Getting the exposures you want requires the same understanding of metering.

So, OP, read up on metering and exposure compensation.

Which will come much faster if use manually control your exposure.

why dont you take a picture at f2.8 instead of f14, then post the results.

MultiDim2009 wrote in post #8309856
Friends,
Thanks for the quick responses.
Please see a picture attached with the Exif data.
http://www.screencast.​com/t/WDS9rucwn

The result you got with this image is exactly how it should be using evaluative metering. If your Digital Rebel or your friends Nikon's expose this exact setup any differently then those cameras are broken.

For strongly backlit scenes like this you need to use Exposure Lock (see "AE Lock" on page 86 of your 20D manual). I'd have to use the same approach with my D700 or I'd get the same result.

Cl!ckFoto wrote in post #8311566
why dont you take a picture at f2.8 instead of f14, then post the results.

Because the problem here is the metering, not the aperture. So whether at f/14, or f/2.8, the subjects would still be underexposed.

Bob_A wrote in post #8311624
The result you got with this image is exactly how it should be using evaluative metering. If your Digital Rebel or your friends Nikon's expose this exact setup any differently then those cameras are broken.

For strongly backlit scenes like this you need to use Exposure Lock (see "AE Lock" on page 86 of your 20D manual). I'd have to use the same approach with my D700 or I'd get the same result.

Love the subtle sarcasm.

k_wakasugi wrote in post #8311649
Because the problem here is the metering, not the aperture. So whether at f/14, or f/2.8, the subjects would still be underexposed.

Which is why it is important when learning how to correctly expose photographs that one uses Manual mode to have complete control over what is happening.

I'd be going for centre weighted metering. I have a 20D and I love it. But since i bought it the P setting has never been used. You need to take control. And evaluative metering focusses on the whole scene, so the meter will be tricked by the light areas.

Try Av (Aperture priority and Centre weighted metering. And watch that ISO speed, 1600 may give you 'noisy' pics. In this scene, an Av below 7.1 would probably have given you a good usable outcome. As flareak said, the background is perfectly exposed!

When I put mine away after a session, I always set it to TV (shutter speed priority) and 1/125 speed. That means I can grab it and ususally get a usable shot, if I see something in a hurry. Then if there is time I can go to Av and be a bit more thoughtful about it.

Ditch the program, you'll never get good shots while using it unless conditions are absolutely perfect.

mikeassk wrote in post #8311529
Which will come much faster if use manually control your exposure.

No. Achieving the proper exposure requires knowing how to meter. Just using "M" and centering the exposure arrow doesn't tell anyone anything. Not centering the arrow is the same thing as using any other mode with exposure compensation.