Top Tips specifically for the 350D

What smart, innovative, efficient, money saving ideas do you guys have that specifically apply to the 350D. I've read a bunch of the tips and mods info here and on the web, but many of them apply to other cameras and don't apply to the 350D.

Just a simple one that I found on the web is changing Cf#4 to have the "*" button perform the focusing and then the shutter button only snaps the picture. I've occasionally run into the problem in the past of accidentally snapping a picture when I was trying to compose.

I also see how using the "creative zones" are probably preferrable to the "basic zones" in most circumstances.

So, For you Rebel XT guys, is there anything that you do that really transforms your XT or that you can't imagine changing back?

I kind of wish the old split circle style manual focus screen could be retro fit to my XT for those occasions when I want to focus manually. I've seen something for that in the past, but I'd be surprised if it worked on the 350.

nothing? Come on, some of you veterans have to have something.

Not a veteran but shoot RAW i will not be going back to jpeg.

RoB B

custom function 3 allows you to lock the flash sync in av mode to 1/200 (I seldom change that one back to default) invaluable for macro shots where you need a specific aperture...... it still allows you a half decent shutter speed every time regardless of light (if you shoot in raw you can adjust a dark image or vice versa)

ditto on the always shooting in RAW.............. (whats a jpg again?.... I forget)

oh ...and custom function 7 allows mirror lockup too (I use that regularly when i'm taking cable remote shots on a tripod for long exposures) even the movement of the mirror fliping up can cause camera shake. mirror lockup allows you to compose your shot..... 1 click on the shutter release cable to lock the mirror up....... second press opens the shutter......

ps on the money saving ideas........... get yourself a ton of 3rd party batteries
you can pick these up for as little as 4 pounds (and they usually have a higher capacity than the canon battery)

Actually, the majority of tips and tuning tricks apply to all the Canon series cameras. All the cameras, including the 1-series use the exact same Cfn for the * button.

chemicalbro wrote:
ps on the money saving ideas........... get yourself a ton of 3rd party batteries
you can pick these up for as little as 4 pounds (and they usually have a higher capacity than the canon battery)

NOTE!!!! money saving tip from a Scotsman, I do agree, my oem battery was from Ebay @ 99p plus £4.99 postage and lasts within 5% of the Canon original.

RoB B

How did those splits circle focus screens work? I couldn't figure it out.

LOL Rob we're masters at money saving

the focus screen on the 350 is real easy to take out (i've done it a couple of times to clean it)
so i guess if you can find one the right size you can put it in .........

Actually, there are a couple people who make and sell split focus screens for the XT. There's one guy who has been shilling them on the DPR forum. However, it should be noted that they reportedly throw the metering off.
If you want an XT specific tip, here's one: Even though I shoot almost all Raw I have the "Set" button configured to give me direct access to the Quality menu, just in case I need a Jpg in a hurry.

Excellent, thanks tons, guys. I haven't taken pictures more than the occasional snapshot in years, so I need all of the help I can get. Fortunately despite the plethora of buttons, etc... these new DSLRs aren't that complicated. The owners manual is ok, but with the info available here and other places on the web is top notch. Unfortunately it also makes me realize how little I know and how much practice I need.

One trick I've been using the last few weeks is setting my focus point. I use my new 50mm about 90% of the time, and use shallow depth of field a lot. If I set my focus on one area of my scene and then reposition the camera for the shot, the in-focus spot will now be out of focus. Even a small camera movement has ended up showing a softer focus.

Solution: I now set the focus point so I do not have to reposition the camera. It works great and I feel good about using yet another feature of the camera. Continually makes me happy to have the XT/350D.

I've never shot in RAW on mine. I've kind of been intimidated I guess and I'm just concerned about using it 'cause you can only fit about 2 photos on the memory card then I'm sure the upload time to the computer would take forever right? And I know there must be a ton of post processing. But I do want to try it as it seems everyone swears by it. Lots to learn. Overall I've been pretty satisfied as I usually use shutter priority so I can get a fast shutter speed. Seems to work well, even for fast moving objects and handheld camera.

Hmmm... this sounds interesting....

Thanks for all of the info. Now for some more of my own comments and questions.

1 The split circle takes a lot of the guess work out of manual focus. It's really, really easy (assuming the subject cooperates) to get a perfect focus every time. The split circle focuse uses a small circle in the middle of the viewfinder that has a horizontal line through the middle of the circle (and usually another concentric ring around that). To focuse you find a high contrast line somewhere on the subject and put the circle on the line. When the focus is off the line on the subject will be split, but as you come into focus it will merge into one line.
like this
out of focus
-------|
----------|

in focus
---------|
---------|

2 All of this talk about post processing and adjusting images and raw. It sounded a bit like "cheating" at first. Your pictures should come out right the first time, right. anyone can alter a pic to look good. But then I realized. I guess in film photography there is also adjusting in the developement of the pictures. Color, etc can be altered. So basically the adjusting phase in digital photography is like developing pictures in film photography. Is that basically correct?

3 I decided to try some RAW photography this evening, but I haven't had time to work on the shots yet. Yowza, I wasn't expecting pics that big, averaging nearly 10 MB, but then I guess that's what RAW gives you, the 8mp plus the other info about the shot, right?

4 Am I also correct that the 350D raw is only supported in PS CS2, not CS1?