[TurboFan]

ISO is adjusted through a menu or sep. button. Some newer cameras have auto iso. Check your manual(sorry, been dyin' to use that!), it's usually pretty straight forward.

In manual mode, you have control of aperature (that's the f/ thingie) and shutter speed, and I doubt any auto-iso works in manual mode. The iso issue is very camera specific, and I'm sorry, but I'm too lazy to look up the XTi manual!

[adc]

Originally Posted by bronco

Is there a MODE that I can go in to adjust both the shutter speed, the ISO, and the f?

Yes, appropriately named the Manual mode.

But the point is this: when you take a picture, in order for it to look good it needs to be "properly exposed". That means the shutter speed and aperture opening must have correct values (at a particular ISO rating).

For example, for one scene you can have the correct exposure at 1/60sec f2.8, or 1/30sec f5.6, or any other combination like this.

If you select Aperture mode, you adjust the aperture value and the camera figures out the shutter speed.

If you select Shutter mode, you adjust the shutter speed and the camera figures out the correct aperture value.

In both modes you can select whatever ISO value you want, or alternatively some cameras allow for an "auto-ISO" setting (automatically bumping up the ISO in order to achieve correct exposure given your requested parameters).

It's also possible that in order to expose correctly, the camera will be out of range for any of these parameters (shutter speed, aperture value or ISO). When this happens, your experience and some external equipment takes over (tripods, flashguns etc.).

Lastly, a scene may be exposed correctly but the picture can be crap. For instance, a well lit scene where your child's face is out of focus, or blurred due to movement.

To "guess" the effect that various settings may have on the picture, only experience helps. So learn the basics, and shoot thousands of pictures. Experiment with various household scenes: learn how to freeze a drop of water in the sink, or how to expose a dark scene, what difference DOF (depth of field) makes on the appearance of a subject (can be an apple), etc.

[bronco]

Originally Posted by TurboFan

ISO is adjusted through a menu or sep. button. Some newer cameras have auto iso. Check your manual(sorry, been dyin' to use that!), it's usually pretty straight forward.

In manual mode, you have control of aperature (that's the f/ thingie) and shutter speed, and I doubt any auto-iso works in manual mode. The iso issue is very camera specific, and I'm sorry, but I'm too lazy to look up the XTi manual!

Heheheh I did read the manual but it was like at 2:00am last night, (morning, I should say), and I dont remember all the specifics.

I do know how to adjust the ISO, but wasnt able to find out how to adjust the shutter and the f at the same time.
Right now I can go to AV Mode and adjust the F and the ISO, but not the shutter, or I can go to Tv and adjust the shutter and the ISO, but not the F....

[adc]

Originally Posted by bronco

Right now I can go to AV Mode and adjust the F and the ISO, but not the shutter, or I can go to Tv and adjust the shutter and the ISO, but not the F....

A good thing too, at this stage. See my explanation above regarding the proper exposure. When you adjust both shutter and aperture, most times you will either under-expose, or over-expose the picture - but luckily, these are easy to diagnose and fix.

Edit: This is analogous to pushing both the gas and brake pedals at the same time on your car.

Another whole aspect of DSLR ownership is to shoot RAW. That allows you to change exposure, white balance etc. after the fact during post-processing, but requires the use of specialized SW to convert from RAW to JPEG. IMO, once you are past the basic experimentation, RAW is the way to go.

[TurboFan]

Originally Posted by adc

...Another whole aspect of DSLR ownership is to shoot RAW. That allows you to change exposure, white balance etc. after the fact during post-processing, but requires the use of specialized SW to convert from RAW to JPEG. IMO, once you are past the basic experimentation, RAW is the way to go.

I couldn't agree more. Bronco, make sure you buy some memory cards. If you shoot any other format, you're losing some of the resolution you paid so much to obtain with a DSLR.

[bronco]

I got it with a 4GB, isnt that enough?

[TurboFan]

Unitl it's full of outstanding RAW images, and you have 4 more hours to shoot!

I have 7 cards at 4gb each, and 2 more at 2GB. Also, don't get the cheapies. Look for the 133x or better. The utlra IIIx and IVx SanDisk are my fav's, but there are many other quality high-speed cards out there. The advantage of the high speed cards is they allow your camera buffer to empty faster, and keep you shooting. If you're shooting action or doing a lot of bracketing, this is important.

[bronco]

The one that I got yesterday was a SanDisc Ultra II

[TurboFan]

Check around and see what your camera can make use of. The manual usually says. My Nikon D200 tops out with the Ultra III's, which is ok, as the IV's are driving down the price of the III's!

[bronco]

I am good for right now. I need to improve on the pic quality first

I really want to get the EF 50mm 1/4 but cant justify it yet -- simply because I havnt tried it and dont know if I will stay hooked to photography

[gos]

Originally Posted by TurboFan

Unitl it's full of outstanding RAW images, and you have 4 more hours to shoot!

I have 7 cards at 4gb each, and 2 more at 2GB. Also, don't get the cheapies. Look for the 133x or better. The utlra IIIx and IVx SanDisk are my fav's, but there are many other quality high-speed cards out there. The advantage of the high speed cards is they allow your camera buffer to empty faster, and keep you shooting. If you're shooting action or doing a lot of bracketing, this is important.

For someone very new to DSLRs I'd disagree about shooting RAW. RAW requires so much work on the backend to see if you got a usable picture, while you can find out in a few seconds if you got the jpeg you wanted.

Until a high quality jpeg is limiting you, I wouldn't move past it.

[TurboFan]

How do you figure RAW requires work? If the image is good, you're done. If it's not, the format won't matter. Admittedly, my camera shoots RAW and jpeg at the same time, so I set the jpg to basic just for a thumbnail. If it didn't, I'd just shoot RAW.

[vs60r]

RAW is more forgiving because it gives you roughly +/-2 stops of exposure correction with minimal loss in image quality as well as easy white balance correction. If you shoot a lot of pics, RAW post production process is generally faster too with the right software... However in terms of image quality, if you got your techniques down, RAW vs JPEG is a moot point.

UltraII is plenty fast in a Rebel XT, as a beginner amature shooter you will never need anything faster if all you are doing are shooting family portraits or landscapes. Unless you want to be your local BMW chapter event photographer, don't bother paying for more.

[bronco]

Originally Posted by vs60r

RAW is more forgiving because it gives you roughly +/-2 stops of exposure correction with minimal loss in image quality as well as easy white balance correction. If you shoot a lot of pics, RAW post production process is generally faster too with the right software... However in terms of image quality, if you got your techniques down, RAW vs JPEG is a moot point.

UltraII is plenty fast in a Rebel XT, as a beginner amature shooter you will never need anything faster if all you are doing are shooting family portraits or landscapes. Unless you want to be your local BMW chapter event photographer, don't bother paying for more.

heheheh that is what I thought

[hockeynut]

I was recently in the same boat. I got the same camera, same kit lens, plus the 75-300 zoom. That was in December. A month later I purchased the "Thrifty 50" 50mm f1.8 for $75.

What've learned since then:

1. open apertures (smaller f-number) give better low light pics and often don't need flash. So smaller f-numbers are generally good when light is low.

2. If you want to capture something "freeze frame" where there is lots of motion then you want faster exposure times.

3. get a book on basic photography so you understand aperture, exposure, depth of field, ISO, etc.

4. play with the different settings to understand the effect they have. Choose aperture priority and shoot several pictures with different settings and look at the differences. Do the same for shutter priority and ISO settings.

5. Get big cards. I have 4 cards, each 8GB. Why? See #6...

6. Shoot RAW. It captures the most information and lets you do the most processing with a program like....

7. ...Adobe Lightroom. I use this on PC and its great. Handles RAW, good for organizing and basic image processing.

The important thing is to just get out and shoot. Remember what settings you used and see what effects those settings had.

NEVER SHOOT FULLY AUTOMATIC! IF YOU WANT FULLY AUTOMATIC, PUT THE XTi ON EBAY AND GET A POINT AND SHOOT!

The camera will bring you more and more joy, the more you learn about it. I am just scratching the surface and I'm ecstatic at the pics I've been able to take so far.

[bronco]

[QUOTE=hockeynut;1534267]

NEVER SHOOT FULLY AUTOMATIC! IF YOU WANT FULLY AUTOMATIC, PUT THE XTi ON EBAY AND GET A POINT AND SHOOT!

QUOTE]

Heheheheh Exactly. I already have a really expensive Point and Shoot one that I will leave for moments that require fast acting and small movie clips

[Etnies]

Some good advice in this thread. I'll just add that sometimes if lighting is a problem in a given situation, increase the exposure bias to +1. That is the diagram that you see on the LCD that goes from -2 up to +2. The Xti is a great entry-level DSLR, but is said to have a little bit of underexposure, which I have seen in my own photos when I first started.

I've got the XTi as well, with the kit lens (18-55 f/3.5-5.6), the 50mm f/1.4 and the 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. The 50 is great for low-light, though not a really ideal range on the 1.6x crop factor.

I skimmed through the comments about CF cards, but I'll just recommend that you get/stick with SanDisk as far as what brand to use.

Use natural light as best you can, your photos will look much better if you are able to avoid using the flash. Shooting on the wider (lower number) end of the aperture range will typically result in softer images, but it all depends on the lens. If you don't want to spend much money but want a lens with good low-light capability, I would definitely recommend the 50mm f/1.8. You should be able to find it for under $100.

[bronco]

Originally Posted by Etnies

Some good advice in this thread. I'll just add that sometimes if lighting is a problem in a given situation, increase the exposure bias to +1. That is the diagram that you see on the LCD that goes from -2 up to +2. The Xti is a great entry-level DSLR, but is said to have a little bit of underexposure, which I have seen in my own photos when I first started.

I've got the XTi as well, with the kit lens (18-55 f/3.5-5.6), the 50mm f/1.4 and the 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. The 50 is great for low-light, though not a really ideal range on the 1.6x crop factor.

I skimmed through the comments about CF cards, but I'll just recommend that you get/stick with SanDisk as far as what brand to use.

Use natural light as best you can, your photos will look much better if you are able to avoid using the flash. Shooting on the wider (lower number) end of the aperture range will typically result in softer images, but it all depends on the lens. If you don't want to spend much money but want a lens with good low-light capability, I would definitely recommend the 50mm f/1.8. You should be able to find it for under $100.

There is actually one that is brand new for $69.00 I think