40D - Tips and Tricks

After watching a long video about all the settings on a 1D III, I tried this one on my 40D.

LCD Sharpness

1. Shoot in RAW, because the sharpness values set on the camera has no effect on the RAW result.
2. Select a profile, I used Neutral, and set the sharpness to its maximum. In my case - 7
3. Take shot and zoom in when you chimp. Notice the sharp look and feel in the LCD.
4. To verify, set the value to zero and repeat the shot
5. Chimp again and notice the soft look an feel when zoomed in.

I was amazed to see my 40D showing sharp results on the LCD. My neutral is now set to 7 and will stay there for the benefit of chimping.

Feel free to add more advice.

Auto Rotate

This feature is nice, but on the LCD it produces a small print. If you want to verify anything,it is required to zoom in. Only realised the other day that I have the option of selecting auto rotate only for the PC. The LCD images will not auto rotate. Yes, you need to slant\urn the camera, but that is OK for me.

Now I get a full LCD screen of shots I take with the camera turned through 90 degrees.

Maybe not that usefull, but it works for me and after a while it doesn't bother you to see the picures without any rotation on the LCD.

Cool, I'll try that sharpness thing. Seems obvious but I hadn't thought of it.

Cranking up the sharpness is going to skew your RGB histogram to a certain extent if you are pushing ETTR.

Just keep in mind that you're seeing the embedded JPEG in the LCD and its associated Histogram.

You will actually have a bit more headroom with the RAW file.

the pictures i took wont automatically pop up after i take a picture on my 40D
how do i make it do that?

vinsanityy wrote in post #10121286
the pictures i took wont automatically pop up after i take a picture on my 40D
how do i make it do that?

In the menu, go to the first icon. Scroll down to review time. Select the desired amount o ftime you wish to review the picture after taking the shot.

David Ransley wrote in post #10120757
Auto Rotate

This feature is nice, but on the LCD it produces a small print. If you want to verify anything,it is required to zoom in. Only realised the other day that I have the option of selecting auto rotate only for the PC. The LCD images will not auto rotate. Yes, you need to slant\urn the camera, but that is OK for me.

Now I get a full LCD screen of shots I take with the camera turned through 90 degrees.

Maybe not that usefull, but it works for me and after a while it doesn't bother you to see the picures without any rotation on the LCD.

Very, EXTRA useful! This annoyed me so bad! You are the MAN.

Are we doing this because the native resolution on the 40D LCD is so nasty? 3" and only 230,000 pixels I think.

Canon really should have just increased the resolution on the larger screen on the 40D.

Yep, same resolution as on the earlier 2" and 2.5" screens. Big pixels. But really you shouldn't need to chimp to check for sharp pictures. There isn't much to adjust on the 40D to improve the sharpness anyways, all you can do I suppose is retake the picture if it sucks.

Even the 920000 pixel screens don't really let you see the full resolution. I have one on another body and it is nicer but still isn't a substitute for a proper computer screen or better yet, a print, to see how well it will look on a screen or print.

I check for critical sharpness all the time by zooming in on my 30D images.....I find the 30D screen very conducive to this activity.

bauerman wrote in post #10127506
Are we doing this because the native resolution on the 40D LCD is so nasty? 3" and only 230,000 pixels I think.

Canon really should have just increased the resolution on the larger screen on the 40D.

This is why I am doing it and it helps. The imbedded JPG cracked up looks good on the LCD. It is easier now to see where the focus is sharp. Later in RAW on the PC I can change what I want at leisure.

hpulley wrote in post #10127538
Yep, same resolution as on the earlier 2" and 2.5" screens. Big pixels. But really you shouldn't need to chimp to check for sharp pictures. There isn't much to adjust on the 40D to improve the sharpness anyways, all you can do I suppose is retake the picture if it sucks.

Even the 920000 pixel screens don't really let you see the full resolution. I have one on another body and it is nicer but still isn't a substitute for a proper computer screen or better yet, a print, to see how well it will look on a screen or print.

Agreed, and no arguments at all. It is now easier to see wether your depth of field is where you want it. The sharpness of the picture is better evaluated on the PC.