Camera set-up

AndyWest

AndyWest

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Andy
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Just after some advice on improving my shots really. I have a new 550d and all i have done is popped a lens on the front, set it to Aperture priority (my usual mode) set ISO to auto, white balance to auto and that's about it.

Should i be doing more to get better images from the camera? White balance I re set in Lightroom if needed. I took some pics the other day in Auto mode (Green Box) and they were better than they were in AV.

Any help appreciated. :)
 
Try it in program mode and set the ISO to 100 for bright well lit conditions, 200 for over cast or indoors and 400 for dull.

Either shoot in RAW and process yourself or JPG at highest quality.

Aperture priority is generally for when you need to control the depth of field, ie macro, landscape, portraits etc.
The smaller the aperture (larger F number) the more things in the background will be in focus ie the greater the depth of field, the larger the aperture the more the background will be out of focus, ie smaller depth of field.

Shutter priority - for when you need to control the shutter speed, ie fast moving objects or for when you want to shoot long exposures to blur water etc.

Manual for when you want to do things the traditional way

B is for long exposures, ie star trail photographs, night sky, night shots, astro photography, lightning shots etc.

Program will pick the best shutter and aperture for the condition, program shift allows you to choose between several solutions for the current conditions, ie a slower shutter speed or smaller aperture.

Full auto does everything and not only sets as per program but also controls the ISO.


If your not happy with your shots try bracketing them.

Set the bracketing to 1/3 EV steps, then when you press and hold the shutter it will take 3 different exposures of the same shot one after the other.
1 will be lighter, one normal and one darker.

I'm sorry if I have assumed wrongly.
 
You could try adjusting "levels," brightness, contrast, saturation and colour balance. That's one good thing with digital, the output can be easily tailored to personal taste without disappearing into a dark room with nasty chemicals.

I personally use Ap or Manual almost exclusively. I set the ISO to the lowest value which will give me a shutter speed I'm happy with (no auto ISO on my camera) and expose to the right if I can when using an ISO that I think might give a little more noise than I'd be happy with.
 
grum said:
Use the GF1 instead? :P

In what way were the pics better in auto? Examples?
Click to expand...

:lol::lol::lol::lol: oh you're SO funny! I'm taking my GF1 on me hols next week so it will get extensively used.

Thanks all for the replies but i know all that stuff already, just wondered if there was anything in the menu that could do with tweaking to improve things.
I have got some example shots of AV mode then Full auto but they are pic of children.....No don't start!! :D They are by youngest kids class at school.

I think i'll have a fiddle in the picture style bit!
 
Picture style changes won't make a scrap of difference if you are shooting raw and processing in Lightroom. If you can't post images here then I suggest you compare similar images taken in Green Box vs Av mode and look at what the camera chose to do differently. Main thing to check is aperture, shutter speed and ISO choices, but also look into metering mode, AF mode and AF point choices and any image enhancement features (if your camera has them) like noise reduction, auto lighting optimiser or anything else that differs.

Av mode gives you more control than full Auto, and that can work in your favour if you know what you are doing, or against you (sometimes) if you don't.
 
Cheers Tim. I have been looking at images from AV mode and green box mode and there is little difference so it looks like a little tweak here and there!

Always learning! :thumbs:
 
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