@ Pat - You couldn't have stated it any better! Too bad we can't put that in a "What every new photographer should know" thread! I would have appreciated hearing all of that in one shot when I first started!
@ Pat - You couldn't have stated it any better! Too bad we can't put that in a "What every new photographer should know" thread! I would have appreciated hearing all of that in one shot when I first started!
A bit of a response to Conropl and Kayaker for Bill's benefit. The charts are a helpful guide but are not the end-all-be-all. There is one major deficiency in that all of the chart images are shooting a picture of the same-sized object! This is handy when trying to compare what you're going to get when shooting people as a head-and-shoulders shot. However, lens performance also varies based on the distance to target. A lens that looks great in the charts might look like crap at the maximum magnification of the lens (or much, much better as I happily discovered with the 85 mm f/1.2 wide open). So that said you've got to learn your glass. That tree is a lot bigger than Bryan's test target so it's a lot further away. You could certainly use aperture priority and step through your f/#'s 1/3 stop at a time (make sure to set that in the functions area instead of 1/2 stop). Since you're shooting on a APS-C crop camera you'll find that things are relatively sharp in the corners pretty quickly. At f/4 the lens is ok in the corners but give it about 1.5 stops and you'll have an even sharpness across your sensor. Perhaps on a full-frame camera you'd need to be closer to f/8.
Bill
I think everyone has given you good info. I am going to hit a few of the highlights others posted that I think are the most important points and advice given so far for someone just starting out and learning. Obviously your F stop was too high and your shutter speed to slow.
Sean pointed out DLA, you will find this noticeable at F/16 or so, and I seldom go over F/11 for normal hand held work. Above that I go over because I have a special need for it, like Macro work or some Landscape work. I would try and keep your 70-200mm between F/4 and F/8, and what will determine where I keep it is how much shutter speed I need.
Brant pointed out the 1/full frame focal length rule, which for the 70-200mm means you would never be below 1/70 on the wide end on a full frame camera and 1/200 on the long for hand held work. For me I find this rule marginal, usually I want it doubled. (Which on the long end means I want to have at least 1/400) Maybe I should take up drinking coffee and I wouldn’t shake so much but I have to have fast speeds. Fast shutter speed will stop action, and it helps stops camera shake. If you are real fast, like 1/2000 it is not going to hurt.
Let me give you some beginner insight. The camera will do as little or as much as you like or need. Starting out I would probably let the camera pick the ISO, work on handling the ISO after you master shutter speed and aperture. (the exception for using Auto ISO here is if the T2i has a fully auto ISO like the 7D and 1D IV, which I do not believe it does.)
You can start by using the Aperture Priority setting. With it you only have to set the aperture and the camera sets the shutter speed and ISO. It can give you a feel for what the aperture does without having to worry about the other settings.
TV mode will let you set shutter speed, and the camera handles everything else. It can give you a feel of what you can do with faster and shorter speeds.
Manual mode you have control of aperture and shutter, you can set your ISO or you can leave it Auto.
It would be easy to get overwhelmed, but you can keep it as simple or as complex as you would like.
Rick
Last edited by HDNitehawk; 02-14-2012 at 01:56 PM.
@Rick not sure what you mean by a "fully auto ISO" but my T2i can select ISO160 on Auto that I would not normally be able to select.
@ChadS, all the canon cameras have Auto ISO, but it is not fully Auto ISO. The 1D IV ISO is fully automatic, if set on Auto you can define a range. Say 100-12800, when you are in manual mode regardless of what shutter speed or aperture you have the camera will ramp the ISO up and down to get correct exposure, regardless if it is the correct ISO for the condition. The cameras without this function will pick your ISO in Auto ISO but they will not adjust your ISO so you have to either set your aperture or shutter speed to get correct exposure.Originally Posted by ChadS
It can be a very convenient feature for shooting fast moving objects in changing light. But for a beginner photog it can be very distracting.
First of all, Thank you to everyone for the answers and the time taken to write them. I have read through everything at least once and I know I will read through it all a couple more times. I am going to get outside today at lunch and take some more shots following the advice above.
Kayaker72, You are correct, Northern NH is amazing. You almost literally can't turn around without beautiful scenery. I checked and Understanding Exposure 3rd Edition is available as a Kindle book. I wil have a look at it.
Thanks again
@Rick, could you try that explanation one more time please? I understand mechanics of cameras reasonably well but don't have a 1D4 so I can't compare that to my T2i. In 'M' I can set my exposure to 1/125 and my aperture to f/1.2 and my ISO to 'Auto'. In my dark office if I point at the dark bookshelves the shot comes out with ISO 800. When I point more at the window it comes up as 100, 160, etc. depending on where I aim. I suppose if I were in 'P' and had ISO set to Auto that's almost point-and-shoot (I never use 'P'). I'm not sure I understand from your description how the 1D4 would act differently. If I set my aperture and shutter the only other variable to control exposure would be ISO. Are you saying that the 1D4 will override my ISO setting if it's not set on Auto? I doubt you're saying that as that would be horrible!
Now, in my menu settings I cannot set a minimum ISO - only a maximum.
@ChadS if you were setting in your dark office and you point it at the wall and it comes out ISO 800, if it were fully automatic you could move your aperture or your shutter speed and the ISO will either go up or down to maintain correct exposure. If it is not fully automatic it will stay at ISO 800 and you will either underexpose or overexpose. Your setting of course will say Automatic, it just means it picked ISO800 as being appropriate. (pointing your camera out the window of course will change your ISO as the light changes, keep your camera pointed at the same lighted area if you want to test this.)
I believe the 7D has a fully automatic ISO. I am not sure if they incorporated this in to the new rebels. I know the 5D II does not.
Last edited by HDNitehawk; 02-14-2012 at 03:29 PM.
@Rick, I see what you're getting at. My camera doesn't display the ISO until the exposure is evaluated. So I can use the hold exposure button and it will display the exposure setting for the current image. However, while holding the exposure preset button if I change the shutter speed the ISO _does_ change accordingly.
Consulting Bryan’s review of the T2i it does have a fully automatic ISO. If that is the case I would recommend to Bill that he set his ISO to what appears to be the appropriate ISO or limit his ISO to 1600.
Bryans Review:
“As we have also seen implemented in the 7D and the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, my long-awaited full Auto ISO feature has now landed in the Rebel Series. Auto ISO now uses the full range of ISO settings up to ISO 3200 or ISO 6400 in most modes (Portrait and with flash are the exceptions). The maximum auto ISO setting can be limited to a specific value set in the shooting menu. Although only full-stop ISO settings can be selected on the T2i, auto ISO will utlilize in-between settings when it needs to. This is an important feature as a 1-stop change will often be too much.”
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