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Canon EOS 40D

P

Phimp

Gawd
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
596
My dad just bought the Canon EOS 40D so he can use it to photograph his paintings to make high quality prints with a high-end Epson printer.
Which means I get to learn how to use it and have all of the fun :D

After learning the features of this camera in and out, I am in love.

It can even be controlled remotely via a laptop/pc... *drool*

Any photographers out there have any advice/tips for me while using this camera?
 
Buy good glass :)

And read the manual, and stay off the dummy modes. Work with M, AV, or TV. Shoot RAW and learn your CFn to customize it to your liking.
 
Congrats, it's really a fantastic camera. I'd say the first thing to do is really get familiar with manual modes and aperature priority and shutter priority (AV and TV). Learn what they do, and why. The more you know about how your camera works, the more control you'll have over your shots. I would start out shooting tifs until you get camera operation down, then move on to shooting RAW.

What kind of things are you interested in shooting (besides the paintings)?
 
I've already gone through the manual twice :p
I'm not an expert at every camera function or every aspect of photography, but I'm getting the hang of things likes aperture, ISO speed, exposure, white balance, etc... so I've been living in the non-basic modes, especially Av.
I have it set to save both full quality JPEG + RAW for each shot.
I grabbed a 2 GB CF card from best buy for $40 or so.
I'm amazed that it can actually take over 6 shots per second even while saving JPEG + RAW for each!
I'll need to learn the ins and outs of all of the features before I start to customize the CFn modes though :p

Also, I'm going to give Adobe Lightroom a try, it seems like an amazing product for photographers. Anyone have any experience with this software?

It came with a Canon EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens. The IS Lens' stabilization mode is awesome!!!

I'm really wanting to get a Macro lens though.

I'm big on shooting an assortment of landscape scenes - beaches, Mt.Rainier, lakes, forests, etc. But I also tend to try to compose unique shots of random things.
Here's a link to some of my Dad's photography... I tend to mimic his style a lot.

Also, what kind of tripod should I have my Dad buy for this behemoth? I was told that Best Buy occasionally has very nice $250-ish tripods on sale for $80-ish...

And would you recommend using a USB cable and the EOS Utility to transfer the images, or buying a cheap usb - CF card reader?
 
I would not buy CF cards or tripods at Best Buy. Try B&H or Adorama for your camera needs. Heck I would even buy camera stuff at Newegg before Best Buy....

Also get a good CF card reader over cheapies. There are some good ones that are very cheap. If you can get a firewire CF Card reader if you can afford it, they are faster. But a good true USB2.0 card reader is okay.
 
I have a few CF card readers I'm currently looking into. It's hard to find nice ones that aren't a 6000-in-1 card reader that can do everything from read your random xD cards to checking the pressure of the tires on your car and it has a built in tape measure too! I hate those type of gimmicks.

I'll head over to B&H tomorrow or the day after to have a look around.

Just to verify something here... I'm slightly new to the terminology of the hardware, what is the "glass"? :confused:

Also, I found a Manfrotto-Bogen 57.5" 190XDB tripod, which is listed for $270 at B&H, for $89.95 at Buy.com. Should I spring for it?
 
A big thing as with any camera... Know the controls. The settings for M & AV (2 that i use mostly) change, if you know your controls you will spend less time looking at the camera and more time shooting pictures.

You have digital camera dont be afraid to take pictures... thus buy a large card and dont be afraid to fill it up. Often the more photos you take the more "good" photos you will take.


Buy a tripod. It doesnt have to cost alot but a solid tripod is a must, also pick up a shutter release.

Depending on what you shoot you will want to get various types of glass (lense). I use a 24-70 2.8 as my walk around piece. Something with a little zoom like my 70-200 2.8 or 28-300 is nice. And wide angle 10-22 is what i use. A good prime like the nifty fifty ( 50mm 1.8) helps when learning.

all and all it depends on what you will be shooting. I tend to take photos in low light portrait shots that need atleast 2.8 or more and my wide angle i normally use with tripod and shutter for nighttime photos and city scapes.

before you go and spend your hard earned money i would reccomend you go to a local dealer and look at some of their tripods. get a feel for size, shape, and any extras you may want.

Good luck!

EDIT for a great Canon/Photography site. http://photography-on-the.net/forum/index.php
 
Just remember that the fast glass (large apeture / small f stop 1.4, 2.8, etc) will most likely cost more than the camera body. If you live in a big city there are most likely Canon lens rental services. You can rent a lens before you shell out $1500 for a fast telezoom. Camera bodies are cheap once you become a lensaholic so be warned, it IS addictive.
 
Lightroom is really fantastic software (my photographer GF uses it), and has a lot of nice features. It's great for organizing and editing pictures. On the flipside, it can eat up a lot of resources pretty quick, so make sure your computer is up to the task.

I know everyone here is being very free with lens recommendations, but as Kaolinchemist pointed out, lenses are not cheap and I really wouldn't recommend getting more glass until you've put in some more time with the camera. Fast glass is great, but you can do a lot with what you have already. The stock lens is a good starting place and you can learn a lot with it. If you want to play around with macro, you can get some macro rings for much cheaper than buying a dedicated lens.

Finally, when I talk about learning the camera and how it works, the manual is a great place to start, but a terrible place to stop. Even if you know how all the features of the camera works, you have to be able to use them to create the effect you're going for. Talking to photographers, maybe taking a class, and shooting a LOT will all help with this.

I don't know what your level of experience is, but I will offer a few bits of advice that it seems many amateur photgraphers could use:
1) Remember the rule of thirds. It can really help with your compositions. (Don't be afraid to deviate, either though, if you've got a cool idea)
2) Control your depth of field. Don't run around with your camera set to some middling f-stop like f11. It's a cop-out setting and generally results in mediocre pictures IMO. Either go for full depth of field and crank the f-stop all the way up, or stick to the smallest f-stop for short depth. Honestly, unless there is a specific reason you want to control shutter speed (e.g. capturing movement) you should be using shutter priority.
3) White balance. You should actually use this feature. The presets work well most times, but you can dial in the color temp if they aren't getting it quite right. You don't need a white card, but if there's something nearby that you can use, it makes things easy.
4) Don't be afraid to turn the camera. You should use both vertical and horizontal. It's ok to have a preference, but make sure the one you choose isn't just because you like it better. Use your space effectively and make sure to frame the subject.
5) Take lots of pictures. Most of them won't be anything special, but the more you take, the more you learn and the better your chances of getting a really great one.
 
Join local photographer groups in your area. Flickr has groups in just about every mid/large cities. Not only you can learn, you can play with other peoples glass (that just sounded bad) :)

What state do you live in?
 
Phimp said:
Also, what kind of tripod should I have my Dad buy for this behemoth? I was told that Best Buy occasionally has very nice $250-ish tripods on sale for $80-ish...

And would you recommend using a USB cable and the EOS Utility to transfer the images, or buying a cheap usb - CF card reader?
Click to expand...

Check out www.bhphoto.com for some Manfrotto tripods if you want the best. I'd probably avoid Best Buy, and there usually overpriced crap. BH Photo is a very popular photography dealer, as well as Amazon.

When I had a Canon XTi, I used the card reader because the camera transfer was slow, but now I use the USB cable with the 40D and it's fast enough for me. It's safer as you don't chance bending the contacts on your 40D's CF slot by reinserting the card every time so I wouldn't recommend it.

The more you play and use your camera, the more you will understand how it works and begin to expect it to work certain ways in certain situations. Your camera will always only be as good the glass used with it. An XTi with L Lenses will beat a 1Ds MKIII with an old cheap zoom.

Most of all, enjoy!
 
berndawg3 said:
When I had a Canon XTi, I used the card reader because the camera transfer was slow, but now I use the USB cable with the 40D and it's fast enough for me. It's safer as you don't chance bending the contacts on your 40D's CF slot by reinserting the card every time so I wouldn't recommend it.
Click to expand...

My dad bent one of the pins on his 20D, so it can happen. He also decided to replace it himself, had to take out 2 circuit boards to do it, damaged one of them and had to do a little soldering to fix it :eek:. So yeah... be careful, he almost bricked his.
 
carlson19, thanks for the tips and the link! very helpful. And :)I'm hoping to pick up a shutter release soon :)

Kaolinchemist, I had no idea you could rent the lenses, I will definitely look into that.

aethelwulf, I started playing around with Lightroom and it really is an amazing piece of software. It will definitely be a little while until I start investing in more glass because I can see it becomming a very expensive hobby :p I've been attempting to apply everything I learn so I can be able to use every function/feature in a practical use, and I'm thinking about ordering some DVD tutorials. And thanks for the little bits of advice, much appreciated :)

darktiger, I'm in WA, close to Seattle, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

berndawg3, I'll be taking a look at B&H's tripods in-store soon.

Thanks for all of the feedback/advice guys, I really appreciate the help!

My dad wants me to order a tripod tonight, so I've got some research to do!

Another thing I've been wondering about is Color Space.
Should I use Adobe RGB? I'm using Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. And my Epson Stylus Pro 3800 printer supports the Adobe RGB color profile.
So should I switch the camera over to use that for pictures? Benefits?
 
I don't know all the differences between Adobe RGB and sRGB except for a few minor ones I read way back. sRGB is pretty much the standard for the web, and Adobe RGB is usually the standard for photographers. Adobe RGB covers a wider range and if your printer uses it, even better. It is what you use.

FYI: You're file name's prefixes will change from IMG to _MG. Now you won't freak out when it happens like I did.
 
A great book to look into is:

Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure"

Understanding Exposure $17 Amazon

Very good bood with great examples of cretaive exposures, read reviews at Amazon as well.

Hope you enjoy it
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
berndawg3, thanks, and ya I had switched it over to Adobe RGB already and was weirded out by the filename differences lol

Kaolinchemist, thanks! I'll look around for that book next time I'm in my local book store.

Here's a picture I took while playing around with the Aperture setting. (link)
 
I went back to the same place that I got my camera from today, and after looking through the tripods they had, the one I really liked ended up being the Manfrotto-Bogen 190XDB that I was looking at online :p
I was able to talk the price down to $125 from $179.
Extremely sturdy and works great.
 
I thought this was a relatively neat shot.

trampoline_s.jpg

Medium - Large

And I watched this little bugger rip off the threads from the tarp covering the springs on the trampoline, getting a huge bundle in his mouth, and running off and up into the tree to stash it for god knows what. lol

scavenger.jpg


Question... when saving your photos for the web to show off, what settings do you use while saving?
I use Photoshop (CS2 & CS3) and I usually resize to just 20% or so, and save both the resized and the full sized as JPEG at a quality of 10. Recommendations?

Also, I wanna get a wired remote for shutter control, can someone recommend a decent/cheap one?​
 
Phimp said:


scavenger.jpg

​
Click to expand...

That's hilarious! I love it.

Phimp said:

Question... when saving your photos for the web to show off, what settings do you use while saving?
I use Photoshop (CS2 & CS3) and I usually resize to just 20% or so, and save both the resized and the full sized as JPEG at a quality of 10. Recommendations?

Also, I wanna get a wired remote for shutter control, can someone recommend a decent/cheap one?​
Click to expand...

I kind of mentioned this earlier, but if you plan on editing, it's really better to shoot files as tif files. You can save the RAWs if you want, but I don't think it's THAT necessary until you are used to manipulating RAW files. The jpg file is going to lose image quality every time you save it, so the more times it's edited, the worse it's going to look. tif will preserve the data integrity and prevent this sort of quality issues. That's one very nice feature of lightroom: it save a set of instructions to perform on the image rather than editing the image itself, so no matter how many times you edit, you don't lose any of the original data.
 
aethelwulf said:
I kind of mentioned this earlier, but if you plan on editing, it's really better to shoot files as tif files. You can save the RAWs if you want, but I don't think it's THAT necessary until you are used to manipulating RAW files. The jpg file is going to lose image quality every time you save it, so the more times it's edited, the worse it's going to look. tif will preserve the data integrity and prevent this sort of quality issues. That's one very nice feature of lightroom: it save a set of instructions to perform on the image rather than editing the image itself, so no matter how many times you edit, you don't lose any of the original data.
Click to expand...
Well, I always keep the original images from my camera, since I have tons of HD space, no matter what format they are taken in.
But do you mean have the camera save the photos as Tif? I don't think that's possible with the 40D, if it is, it's beyond me.
But anyways, whether the camera shoots RAW or JPEG, if I ever want to edit the photo, I'll open up the original photo so I'm not resaving and recompressing other already resaved JPEG's.
And wouldn't JPEG or PNG be best for showing on the web, like forums?
 
Well i've joined the 40D club, looking forward to all the photos ill be snapping.

Phimp, hows the photography coming along?
 
It's coming along great! I haven't head a whole lot of time lately to play around with photography, but I've still managed to take a few interesting shots here and there.
I've been playing around with composing Panoramic shots a lot lately.

I'll post a few later on.

And welcome to the 40D club! Gives you a nice warm and fuzzy feeling doesn't it? lol
 
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