My new (used) toy...

[KevC]

Canon EOS 650
My father's. He hasn't touched it in like 10 years. I hope it still works. I'm gonna go order a battery from ebay (2CR5) and slap it in. Any tips for photography in the daytime (gonna move away from flash) and of people? I'm a total camera newbie....

 

[Gondi]

Any tips for photography in the daytime

Sunny 16 rule: F16 and shutter speed = 1/film speed

if it's overcast, stop down a step... another if it's partly cloudy, ... etc...cloudy, foggy... etc etc..

 

[KevC]

Right right, I read about that somewhere. Anyone have relevant newbie reading info? It'd be greatly appreciated.

 

[jimnms]

Sunny 16 rule: F16 and shutter speed = 1/film speed

if it's overcast, stop down a step... another if it's partly cloudy, ... etc...cloudy, foggy... etc etc..

I tried that a few times, I didn't get good results. There are too many missing variables, focal length for example.

 

[Tim_axe]

Hand-holding rule - Keep Shutter Speed greater than 1 over the Focal Length.

ie, with a 50mm lens, try to keep a shutter speed faster than 1/50th, such as using 1/60th. With a 200mm lens, aim for 1/250th or so. If you're using a tripod, have the shutter speed be enough to freeze motion if that is what you want to do.


Sunny 16 has never been perfect for me, but it is close. If you're using Sunny 16, here are some conversions:
Arpeture - Film Speed - Shutter Speed (Approx)
F16 - ISO 100 - 1/100 (1/100)
F11 - ISO 100 - 1/200 (1/250)
F8 - ISO 100 - 1/400 (1/500)
F5.6 - ISO 100 - 1/800 (1/1000)
F4 - ISO 100 - 1/1600 (1/2000)


You'll want to learn how ISO, Shutter Speed, and Arpeture affect exposure, motion blur, depth of field, and grain. And it could be helpful to memorize the different f-stops so you can accurately predict how you'll need to expose. (Hint: Grab a calculator and start raising the Square Root of 2 to different powers)

If you have access to a darkroom, you might have fun developing B&W film (and learning about push-procesing). My school has a darkroom and provides film/paper/chemicals to yearbook photographers, but I broke my dad's film SLR because the shutter came out of alignment after ~10 years of non-use, and I also stripped some gears that advance the film and other critical things...

 

[KevC]

Hey, thanks for the advice. I just got my batteries from ebay, can't wait to start shooting! Film will be expensive though...

 

[emorphien]

I tried that a few times, I didn't get good results. There are too many missing variables, focal length for example.

Not at all, shutter speed, aperture and ISO are accounted for. That's all you need to get to the appropriate exposure.