Canon dslr t3i

[Iceprincess12]

I bought mine 1 1/2-2 years ago and used it 1 time. I was inspired by a photography thread and also the other day I tried to take a picture of the sunset with my ipad, but it couldn't capture any of the detail. I knew pretty much nothing about dslr's back then and even less now. Does anyone (meaning a website or photographer) offer newbie tutorials? I have looked on youtube, but they are still more advanced than I am. I can't even remember how to turn it on

 

[Privates1stClass]

They usually come with a manual. If you can find that, you're in. If you haven't used it in awhile, you might need to replace/recharge the batteries.

Good luck. Oh, and by the time you find the manual, the sunset will be over. Try another day. :

 

[Weird Harold]

http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/0/0300004720/01/eosrt3i-eos600d-im-en.pdf
http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/0/0300004720/02/eosrt3i-eos600d-im2-c-en.pdf

I'm not sure if you need both or just one or the other, but those are what google turned up for a user's manual.

Check your local junior college or community center to see if they offer an introductory photography class. Your local high school might offer some evening classes, too.

 

[Iceprincess12]

http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/0/0300004720/01/eosrt3i-eos600d-im-en.pdf
http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/0/0300004720/02/eosrt3i-eos600d-im2-c-en.pdf

I'm not sure if you need both or just one or the other, but those are what google turned up for a user's manual.

Check your local junior college or community center to see if they offer an introductory photography class. Your local high school might offer some evening classes, too.

Thank you for the manuals, I was looking for an easier guide or a quick how to video. The collge is a good idea as well.

 

[Que]

Click

 

[Hypoxia]

If you had been astute and bought Pentax instead of that Canon crap, I'd point you to PentaxForums.Com -- which also has a section on Canon questions. Yeah, go there anyway and ask for help. It's about the friendliest, most helpful website on the planet.

 

[NightL]

Thank you for the manuals, I was looking for an easier guide or a quick how to video. The collge is a good idea as well.

Put these words into google for lots of returns:
dslr photography for beginners

then cross reference to the camera's manual

 

[Iceprincess12]

Thank you guys for the help!!

Pentax?? Is that even a real camera? Jk!

 

[Hypoxia]

Pentax?? Is that even a real camera? Jk!

Quite. If you want the largest or smallest dSLRs, go Pentax. If you want the finest quality lenses, go Pentax. If you want to take your dSLR in the shower with you, go Pentax. If you want to differentiate from the Canikonympus crowd... go Pentax.

 

[Iceprincess12]

Quite. If you want the largest or smallest dSLRs, go Pentax. If you want the finest quality lenses, go Pentax. If you want to take your dSLR in the shower with you, go Pentax. If you want to differentiate from the Canikonympus crowd... go Pentax.

I like buying what is popular and everyone owned a canon. I did do a lot of reading to decide between the t3i and just the t3 though. Honestly in all the reviews I looked at, I don't don't remember pentax being mentioned as a top camera, it was never one I had considered. I did use cnet, consumer reports and looked at youtube-I wanted to see everyday, non pro reviews. This was something expensive that I know nothing about so I tend to go with popularity and don't take a lot of risks. Honestly I am an apple lover so being different in electronics...not so much

 

[tolyk]

I like buying what is popular and everyone owned a canon. I did do a lot of reading to decide between the t3i and just the t3 though. Honestly in all the reviews I looked at, I don't don't remember pentax being mentioned as a top camera, it was never one I had considered. I did use cnet, consumer reports and looked at youtube-I wanted to see everyday, non pro reviews. This was something expensive that I know nothing about so I tend to go with popularity and don't take a lot of risks. Honestly I am an apple lover so being different in electronics...not so much

I actually shoot with a Pentax but that is not your question. The camera doesn't matter really, not as much as the lenses at least. And not nearly as much as important as the 6 inches behind the camera knowledge is the key.

What lenses do you have so far? The standard 18-55mm kit lens?

 

[Iceprincess12]

I actually shoot with a Pentax but that is not your question. The camera doesn't matter really, not as much as the lenses at least. And not nearly as much as important as the 6 inches behind the camera knowledge is the key.

What lenses do you have so far? The standard 18-55mm kit lens?

Ho tolyk, yes the 18-55 and the 55-250 lenses.

 

[tolyk]

Ho tolyk, yes the 18-55 and the 55-250 lenses.

Good lenses to start off with, but even better would be a nice basic single focal length lens (prime). Something like a 50mm f1.8. They retail around a hundred bucks and I found it was the easiest way to learn.

If you are not interested in spending more money on it right now, until you get more into it, I understand that fully.

Some basic info for you:

50mm is standard, anything with a lower number is considered a wide angle and starts to become affected by Wide Angle Distortion (everything seems more spaced out) and anything longer is a telephoto and you get compression effect (everything seems closer together). You use these for creative effect.

Modes of the T3i

http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/media/upload/tutorials/rebel-t3i/rebel-t3i-creative-modes.jpg

So, you have a lot of auto mode options, and a few semi-auto modes and 1 manual mode. I recommend staying on any of the following 4 modes while you learn.

P = Program (You pick ISO, camera picks Aperture and Shutter speed)
S = Shutter priority (You pick ISO and Shutter speed, camera picks Aperture)
A = Aperture priority (You pick ISO and Aperture, camera picks shutter speed)
M = Full blown manual (You pick everything)

The last one highlighted in the above image is A-dep, or Automatic Depth, here's a link with some info on that (I don't use this mode).

I'll preface this by saying I mostly shoot on Aperture priority as that allows me to worry about my composition and creative effect without always having to change my shutter speed. I switch to full blown manual when facing very tricky lighting situations, or when using artifical light (such as strobes or flashes).

A few more settings you have control over:

ISO - Light sensitivity of the sensor. Higher you go, the more digital noise you introduce into your image. The native ISO of a T3i is 100, so as you go higher you get more and more noise.

Frame rate - Single shot, burst mode, or self timer are your options here.

Auto focus mode - One-shot, AI Focus or AI Servo. One shot focus you focus once and it will not move again as long as you are holding half way down on the shutter button. AI Focus will continue to refocus on objects moving laterally through the frame as long as you half depress the shutter. AI Servo will continue to focus on anything moving through the frame, laterally or directly towards or away from you.

 

[tolyk]

Exposure is a word you'll hear/see a lot. Exposure is made up of three parts: Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO. Shutter speed is simple, how long are you leaving the shutter open to collect light. Aperture is the physical opening in the lens the light is passing through. ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor. Again, you change any of these for creative effect.

Shutter speed broken down:

Why would you want to control your shutter speed? Because you want to freeze action, or slow action down. Shooting a jogger and want to freeze all action? Shoot with a fast shutter speed, 1/250th of a second or faster. Want a bit of motion blur in that same shot, shoot a bit slower, 1/125th of a second perhaps. Shooting a waterfall and want the water to blur into itself, shoot slow. 1 second or longer typically, depending on how fast the water is moving (A tripod is highly recommended).

Aperture:

This number is a mathematical equation that is taking the focal length of the lens and dividing it by the physical opening dimension. Your lenses are both what is called a variable aperture lens. This means the aperture changes as you zoom the lens. On the wide end of your lenses you have f3.5 and on the long end you have f5.6 maximum. Lenses that are considered "bright" are f2.8 or lower. You will see people saying "stop your aperture down", or "open your aperture up". Stopping down is increasing the physical number, such as f16. Opening up is of course the opposite, the smaller the number the more light is coming in to your lens. This is one of the main components of Depth of Field. All lenses have a minimum and maximum aperture value they can achieve. The Maximum is the one they are often rated on and will be written somewhere on the lens. Some canon lenses can stop down to f32, some only to f22 or even f16, depends on the lens.

Depth of Field:

Controlled by several variables, including aperture, focal length, medium size (sensor of film plain) and distance. The wider your aperture is (lower number) the more easily you achieve a shallow depth of field. The longer your lens is, the more easily you achieve a shallow depth of field. The closer you are to your subject and the further your subject is from the background, the easier you achieve a shall depth of field. The bigger your sensor or film, the more easily you achieve a shallow depth of field. (Repetative yet? I think so) So, the inverse is true. To achieve a larger depth of field, use smaller apertures (higher number), move further from your subject, use a wider angle lens, and use a small sensor. Cell phones have huge depth of fields due to their small sensor size for instance. DSLRs have a much easier time achieving a shallow depth of field, but harder time achieving infinite depth. The closer your subject is to the background, the harder it is to blur said background out.


Well, that's the basics that are springing to mind right now. No idea where you fall on the scale of camera knowledge, so thought I'd start there. If you have any particular questions I'd be happy to elaborate

 

[Hypoxia]

I have accumulated a pile of Pentax-compatible lenses. Savvy Canonites buy old Pentax glass and hack the mounts to fit. The K50/1.2 is especially popular, chopped. I've done the same with old Nikon, Olympus and Exakta lenses. Why? Well, that Nikkor 85/2 only cost me TEN BUCKS and I just had to do it.

Because of the EOS mount design, Canoneers can easily adapt many breeds of lenses for their use -- just the opposite of Nikon. But the Pentax mount is... well, I just like it better. And with in-body shake reduction, ANY lens is automatically stabilized.

What lenses are in my bag? My main zooms are 10-24mm ultrawide, 18-250mm utility, and 170-500 superzoom. My primes usually include a 10mm fisheye, 24/2 fast wideangle, 50/1.2 ultrafast, 85/2 fast portrait, 135/2.5 fast tele, and various oddities. Sometimes I get to borrow superb Limited primes, ooh ooh. And I like OLD glass and strange optical filters, to help replicate imagery of the past 150 years.

If you want image quality than Canon and Nikon can't begin to touch, check out the Pentax 645 family. Yeah, they're medium format, and waterproof, and bombproof -- and not cheap, alas, but much cheaper (and more portable) than the MF competition.

For snapshooting, sure, the t3i is just fine. I like to MAKE rather than TAKE photos. My Pentax gear gives me the wherewithall for careful picture-making.

 

[tolyk]

If you had been astute and bought Pentax instead of that Canon crap, I'd point you to PentaxForums.Com -- which also has a section on Canon questions. Yeah, go there anyway and ask for help. It's about the friendliest, most helpful website on the planet.

I have accumulated a pile of Pentax-compatible lenses. Savvy Canonites buy old Pentax glass and hack the mounts to fit. The K50/1.2 is especially popular, chopped. I've done the same with old Nikon, Olympus and Exakta lenses. Why? Well, that Nikkor 85/2 only cost me TEN BUCKS and I just had to do it.

Because of the EOS mount design, Canoneers can easily adapt many breeds of lenses for their use -- just the opposite of Nikon. But the Pentax mount is... well, I just like it better. And with in-body shake reduction, ANY lens is automatically stabilized.

What lenses are in my bag? My main zooms are 10-24mm ultrawide, 18-250mm utility, and 170-500 superzoom. My primes usually include a 10mm fisheye, 24/2 fast wideangle, 50/1.2 ultrafast, 85/2 fast portrait, 135/2.5 fast tele, and various oddities. Sometimes I get to borrow superb Limited primes, ooh ooh. And I like OLD glass and strange optical filters, to help replicate imagery of the past 150 years.

If you want image quality than Canon and Nikon can't begin to touch, check out the Pentax 645 family. Yeah, they're medium format, and waterproof, and bombproof -- and not cheap, alas, but much cheaper (and more portable) than the MF competition.

For snapshooting, sure, the t3i is just fine. I like to MAKE rather than TAKE photos. My Pentax gear gives me the wherewithall for careful picture-making.

Is this really necessary? She asked for help with the camera she already owns, not to be told it's crap and that she should've bought a different brand.

 

[Iceprincess12]

Exposure is a word you'll hear/see a lot. Exposure is made up of three parts: Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO. Shutter speed is simple, how long are you leaving the shutter open to collect light. Aperture is the physical opening in the lens the light is passing through. ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor. Again, you change any of these for creative effect.

Shutter speed broken down:

Why would you want to control your shutter speed? Because you want to freeze action, or slow action down. Shooting a jogger and want to freeze all action? Shoot with a fast shutter speed, 1/250th of a second or faster. Want a bit of motion blur in that same shot, shoot a bit slower, 1/125th of a second perhaps. Shooting a waterfall and want the water to blur into itself, shoot slow. 1 second or longer typically, depending on how fast the water is moving (A tripod is highly recommended).

Aperture:

This number is a mathematical equation that is taking the focal length of the lens and dividing it by the physical opening dimension. Your lenses are both what is called a variable aperture lens. This means the aperture changes as you zoom the lens. On the wide end of your lenses you have f3.5 and on the long end you have f5.6 maximum. Lenses that are considered "bright" are f2.8 or lower. You will see people saying "stop your aperture down", or "open your aperture up". Stopping down is increasing the physical number, such as f16. Opening up is of course the opposite, the smaller the number the more light is coming in to your lens. This is one of the main components of Depth of Field. All lenses have a minimum and maximum aperture value they can achieve. The Maximum is the one they are often rated on and will be written somewhere on the lens. Some canon lenses can stop down to f32, some only to f22 or even f16, depends on the lens.

Depth of Field:

Controlled by several variables, including aperture, focal length, medium size (sensor of film plain) and distance. The wider your aperture is (lower number) the more easily you achieve a shallow depth of field. The longer your lens is, the more easily you achieve a shallow depth of field. The closer you are to your subject and the further your subject is from the background, the easier you achieve a shall depth of field. The bigger your sensor or film, the more easily you achieve a shallow depth of field. (Repetative yet? I think so) So, the inverse is true. To achieve a larger depth of field, use smaller apertures (higher number), move further from your subject, use a wider angle lens, and use a small sensor. Cell phones have huge depth of fields due to their small sensor size for instance. DSLRs have a much easier time achieving a shallow depth of field, but harder time achieving infinite depth. The closer your subject is to the background, the harder it is to blur said background out.


Well, that's the basics that are springing to mind right now. No idea where you fall on the scale of camera knowledge, so thought I'd start there. If you have any particular questions I'd be happy to elaborate

My camera knowledge right now is pretty much 0. I do recognize some of the terms you are using and I like the way you explain it, even I can understand. On your thread when you took the sunset picture where the trees were far away, what lens were you using for that? I do remember the 50mm being one that everyone seemed to use as a basic lens. I know I need to get that at some point, but until I learn to take a picture on something other than auto mode, I will wait. I will practice a bit in the next few days and I am sure I will have some questions. I really appreciate how much time you took to explain basics to me!!

 

[Iceprincess12]

I have accumulated a pile of Pentax-compatible lenses. Savvy Canonites buy old Pentax glass and hack the mounts to fit. The K50/1.2 is especially popular, chopped. I've done the same with old Nikon, Olympus and Exakta lenses. Why? Well, that Nikkor 85/2 only cost me TEN BUCKS and I just had to do it.

Because of the EOS mount design, Canoneers can easily adapt many breeds of lenses for their use -- just the opposite of Nikon. But the Pentax mount is... well, I just like it better. And with in-body shake reduction, ANY lens is automatically stabilized.

What lenses are in my bag? My main zooms are 10-24mm ultrawide, 18-250mm utility, and 170-500 superzoom. My primes usually include a 10mm fisheye, 24/2 fast wideangle, 50/1.2 ultrafast, 85/2 fast portrait, 135/2.5 fast tele, and various oddities. Sometimes I get to borrow superb Limited primes, ooh ooh. And I like OLD glass and strange optical filters, to help replicate imagery of the past 150 years.

If you want image quality than Canon and Nikon can't begin to touch, check out the Pentax 645 family. Yeah, they're medium format, and waterproof, and bombproof -- and not cheap, alas, but much cheaper (and more portable) than the MF competition.

For snapshooting, sure, the t3i is just fine. I like to MAKE rather than TAKE photos. My Pentax gear gives me the wherewithall for careful picture-making.

Those are a lot of lenses and I am much too much of a beginner to even try to think of getting that many. I will always be an amateur with photographs and want to use my camera for pictures that my ipad just can't take. Like a few nights ago we had a huge lightning storm and it was too dark for my ipad to get any good shots. Getting another camera would be out of the question. This one was not inexpensive and if I were to tell my husband I need a new one, when I have hardly even touched this one-hahahaha. Ty for commenting though

 

[Hypoxia]

Is this really necessary? She asked for help with the camera she already owns, not to be told it's crap and that she should've bought a different brand.

I didn't call Canon crap, but I was a bit snide. I apologize. I'll go away now.

 

[vrmmsm]

For great canon forums with lots of info and knowledgable folks......

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/

All I can say is thank goodness you didn't get a Pentax!

 

[vrmmsm]

Those are a lot of lenses and I am much too much of a beginner to even try to think of getting that many. I will always be an amateur with photographs and want to use my camera for pictures that my ipad just can't take. Like a few nights ago we had a huge lightning storm and it was too dark for my ipad to get any good shots. Getting another camera would be out of the question. This one was not inexpensive and if I were to tell my husband I need a new one, when I have hardly even touched this one-hahahaha. Ty for commenting though

Canon makes great cameras. You don't need a new camera. The also make great lenses. You don't need to buy and adapt Pentax lenses. You also don't need a dozen different lenses to take good photos.

I assume you have the kit lens. That's a good start. The only other lens that I would say you should have to start with is the "nifty 50" which is the 50mm f1.8 and should run you between $100-150. It's a great lens and is very inexpensive.

 

[Iceprincess12]

Canon makes great cameras. You don't need a new camera. The also make great lenses. You don't need to buy and adapt Pentax lenses. You also don't need a dozen different lenses to take good photos.

I assume you have the kit lens. That's a good start. The only other lens that I would say you should have to start with is the "nifty 50" which is the 50mm f1.8 and should run you between $100-150. It's a great lens and is very inexpensive.

Hi vr, ty for the great link. I will eventually get that lens since it seems to be the standard, but will try out my current lenses first. When I get to the point where I can't take the pictures I want, then I will be looking to buy. Right now I will take the "hey I have a pro camera, but I only take auto shots", haha. Looks are everything, non?

 

[JelenaIset]

If you want some books to read, I took a photography class in school a couple semesters ago, and the books we used were pretty helpful. They break things down and kind of walk you through any questions you might have. Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Box Set is what we used. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/03219...200_QL40&qid=1402477310&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

Best of luck, my friend.

 

[Iceprincess12]

If you want some books to read, I took a photography class in school a couple semesters ago, and the books we used were pretty helpful. They break things down and kind of walk you through any questions you might have. Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Box Set is what we used. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/03219...200_QL40&qid=1402477310&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

Best of luck, my friend.

Ty for that link. I love to read, but I think my brain is barely ready for a "dummy" book. I think that is the best place for me to start.

Have a good day (night)!

 

[NHKitty]

Stumbled across this thread...one of the things I love about Lit is the fact that I learn *something* every time I'm here!

Tol - thanks for taking the time to post all that information!