guess what i got for mothers day????

[party of 3]

Hi and Happy Mothers Day,
Well my dh bought me a digital rebelxt for mothers day! YEA! But i have only a million questions!!! I have had a minolta regular 35mm (that i loved by the way) then for xmas 2 years ago he bought me a kodak 4mp easyshare digital. it was ok and served it purpose, but i longed for a better digital. So here we go!!!! I just dont want to have a $800 p & s camera. But on all the sites I have read, it's a little confusing what all these things mean. Am i every going to be able to figure out how to use it and get the most of it, or should i just go back to my 35mm? in all honesty, my 35mm takes way better pics than my kodak p&s. Someone please tell me i was you once upon a time and i will figure it out!!!!!
help!
i just need a little confidence!!!

 

[dcg0317]

First welcome to the DSLR family.
Here's a site you might want to look at. It has tutorials on the Rebel XT.
http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/index.html
You might also want to look into buying this book, it's just like the manual but explains the layout of your camera better better. Buy the book not just the ebook alone.
Good luck and look foward into seeing some of your pictures.

 

[JR6ooo4]

congratulations and happy mother's day!
Well it is definately not an $800 P&S! As far as the learning curve... If you can learn how to add pics to your signature here you can learn the camera. This forum has some realy great people willing to help everyone learn to shoot better, as well as over at www.dpreview.com Sign up at the 300d/350d forum. The search engine there is not the best but almost any question you might have has already been asked.
The first question I would ask is what lens did you get? The kit lens does a realy good job within it's limits. It just needs a lot of light. Shoot between f8 and f11 and watch the shutter speed. If the shutter is slower than 1/60 you may see camera shake in the results. It must be much higher to try and stop any action.
congrats again,
Mikeeee

 

[handicap18]

What settings did you use on your film SLR? Aperture and Shutter Speed mean the same thing on a digital SLR. Only you can change your 'film speed' (aka ISO) from shot to shot.

A good book for a refresher and to improve is "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.

I use shutter priority a lot. I find it a lot easier to know the shutter speed to use than f/stop. When I want depth of field I use aperture priority.

Play around a bit, use the meter in the view finder to know if you exposure is 'correct' when in manual mode.

If you use program mode instead of Auto mode, you will have control over ISO.

Good luck.

 

[JR6ooo4]

Oh and you did not let us guess......

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Rebel XT with Kit Lens? If you can use your 35mm SLR (assuming the Minolta you used to use is a 35mm), then there should be no problem for you to use dSLR.

 

[mhutchinson]

The Canon site itself has some nice features and how to's you should find helpful.

Canon Digital Learning Center

Mike

 

[WillCAD]

Yes, I was you when I got my first SLR. Don't panic!

You didn't mention whether you old "minolta regular 35mm" was an SLR. If it was, then the main photographic controls of the Rebel XT will be very similar to those on your Minolta. If it was not, then that means the Rebel XT is your first SLR camera.

Starting out with an SLR camera may look intimidating, but it's not if you know just a few of the basics.

Some of the controls will be obvious - the On/Off switch, the shutter release, and the button to pop up the flash. Others take a bit of explaining. The most important control on the whole camera, besides the On/Off switch and shutter release, is the Command Dial.

The Command Dial puts the camera into one of several modes. Each mode is represented by a symbol on the dial, and each one has a name and a specific funtion.

For beginners, I always recommend putting the Command Dial on "P" and forgetting the other modes for a while, until you are comfy with the basics of composing a shot. "P" stands for Program AE mode, which is a type of fully-auto mode that will take beautiful pictures 90% of the time. "P" mode lets you concentrate on the important stuff - compoding and lining up the shot - while the camera does the more complex work of light metering and determining exposure. I shoot 95% of my pics in "P" mode, even the night-time tripod shots.

"P" mode is not perfect, however. There are situations where "P" mode simply won't make the shot. And here is where you begin to learn photography, because as you start to see pics that didn't turn out, you begin to analyse WHY they didn't turn out, which in turn leads you to research ways to make the same pic turn out well in the future, all of which eventually leads you into the other settings on the Command Dial.

For the moment, the best thing you can do is to let the camera be an $800 P&S, and gradually get to know one feature at a time.

When you were in school, you didn't learn 200 years of American history over night; it took two whole semesters. So take your time and learn the art and science of SLR photography the same way - one thing at a time, each thing building on what you learned yesterday.

Your final exam will be your next WDW trip.

 

[party of 3]

First welcome to the DSLR family.
Here's a site you might want to look at. It has tutorials on the Rebel XT.
http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/index.html
You might also want to look into buying this book, it's just like the manual but explains the layout of your camera better better. Buy the book not just the ebook alone.
Good luck and look foward into seeing some of your pictures.

thank you dcg0317! so i went to that site and i don't see the book? maybe i should go to borders and poke around to see if they have one? that was my second time on that site and i have not a clue as to what some of the things they are talking about! sorry to sound dumb, but maybe i need someone to say this is that and that is this! really i feel very overwhelmed.

 

[party of 3]

congratulations and happy mother's day!
Well it is definately not an $800 P&S!
The first question I would ask is what lens did you get? The kit lens does a realy good job within it's limits. It just needs a lot of light. Shoot between f8 and f11 and watch the shutter speed. If the shutter is slower than 1/60 you may see camera shake in the results. It must be much higher to try and stop any action.
congrats again,
Mikeeee

i did get the lens with the kit. not sure how to use it, but i have it!

 

[party of 3]

Rebel XT with Kit Lens? If you can use your 35mm SLR (assuming the Minolta you used to use is a 35mm), then there should be no problem for you to use dSLR.

yes my minolta was a 35mm and i loved it! thanks for your vote of confidence. i am having trouble finding it today!

 

[party of 3]

Yes, I was you when I got my first SLR. Don't panic!

You didn't mention whether you old "minolta regular 35mm" was an SLR. If it was, then the main photographic controls of the Rebel XT will be very similar to those on your Minolta. If it was not, then that means the Rebel XT is your first SLR camera.

Starting out with an SLR camera may look intimidating, but it's not if you know just a few of the basics.

Some of the controls will be obvious - the On/Off switch, the shutter release, and the button to pop up the flash. Others take a bit of explaining. The most important control on the whole camera, besides the On/Off switch and shutter release, is the Command Dial.

The Command Dial puts the camera into one of several modes. Each mode is represented by a symbol on the dial, and each one has a name and a specific funtion.

For beginners, I always recommend putting the Command Dial on "P" and forgetting the other modes for a while, until you are comfy with the basics of composing a shot. "P" stands for Program AE mode, which is a type of fully-auto mode that will take beautiful pictures 90% of the time. "P" mode lets you concentrate on the important stuff - compoding and lining up the shot - while the camera does the more complex work of light metering and determining exposure. I shoot 95% of my pics in "P" mode, even the night-time tripod shots.

"P" mode is not perfect, however. There are situations where "P" mode simply won't make the shot. And here is where you begin to learn photography, because as you start to see pics that didn't turn out, you begin to analyse WHY they didn't turn out, which in turn leads you to research ways to make the same pic turn out well in the future, all of which eventually leads you into the other settings on the Command Dial.

For the moment, the best thing you can do is to let the camera be an $800 P&S, and gradually get to know one feature at a time.

When you were in school, you didn't learn 200 years of American history over night; it took two whole semesters. So take your time and learn the art and science of SLR photography the same way - one thing at a time, each thing building on what you learned yesterday.

Your final exam will be your next WDW trip.

thank you so much willcad!
i guess that's where i will start! i just get so ahead of myself and want to take beautiful pics today. patience is not a word to describe me!!! i aspire to be like some of the people on here that take such beautiful pics. i have a great subject to practice on. i have a beautiful 4year old son. but he does not stay still for long. always on the go!
after my dh gave me the camera he said at least you can practice with it for a year before we go to wdw! so that's great news, because he was not even talking about another trip before today!
so all in all it's been a great mother's day!!!

(now if i can just learn to use my new camera!)

thanks everyone for all advise. i'm going to need ALOT! so watch out for me, cause i'll be around ALOT!

 

[goodferry]

Congrats on the new camera! I got a Rebel a few weeks ago and I got some accessories for Mother's Day. I got a Tamrac backpack bag, a tri-pod, and a Digital Rebel Field Guide which DH found at Ritz Camera, and I have read a little bit of it and it seems like a pretty good guide. I spent a lot of time on Canon's website in thier digital learning center, which helped me a good bit, but it will be nice to have the book that I can carry along with me. Have fun, I just go out a take pictures with different settings, that's the nice part of digital, just hit delete if it doesn't turn out like you want! I have the lens it came with and two others I have bought since.
Have fun!

 

[andromedaslove]

I am not talking to you!! Last night as my DH was scanning the board he moused over your post, and I told him not to click it. He did anyway!! Only to hear me get upset that you got what I have been dreaming of for years!! Shows him I guess!! Actually, I am just kidding!! Congrats on the new camera. Maybe seeing how jealous I was will instill it into DH's head that this camera is what I REALLY want!!

Dana

 

[WillCAD]

I am not talking to you!! Last night as my DH was scanning the board he moused over your post, and I told him not to click it. He did anyway!! Only to hear me get upset that you got what I have been dreaming of for years!! Shows him I guess!! Actually, I am just kidding!! Congrats on the new camera. Maybe seeing how jealous I was will instill it into DH's head that this camera is what I REALLY want!!

Dana

Why not print out a picture of the Rebel XT and hang it up above the computer.

Too subtle?

 

[Lachesis00]

Take it one step at a time. If you have used a SLR and used the "extra settings" you should have little problems with the rebel. I have one that is a step up from yours, the 20d.
If you have questions PM me.