DSLRUsers.com

Hi all,
I am in a real mess here I have a my first DSLR a Canon 400D and I have been playing around with the lens taking photos etc trying to get use to my new toy and I would like to know how do you know what setting to use, what lens to use for what. This is what I have at the moment

0.28m/0.9ft 55mm

0.45m/1.5ft 50mm

Teleconverter 2x Can someone tell me how do I use this and with which lens

extenison tube also this how do you use this

Zoom lens EF 75-300mm 1.5m/4.9ft

I feel a bit silly at the moment not knowing how some of this works but I dont know anyone I can ask to show me.

I have taken a few photos they are ok I have been going over and over a DVD I have trying to work out how to use the camera and setting there is so much to learn
one day at a time I will get there ( I hope ) lol

I'm sure Gary will point you to the excellent tutorial section on this site. I'd also suggest you have a gander at this short course on digital photography. Its been updated a couple of times since I last read it in its entirity (several years ago) but I found it easy to understand

http://www.shortcourses.com/use/index.html

I don't know canon gear, so this is of necessity a bit general.
Lenses are specified by two numbers. The frst is the focal length (you mention 50mm, 55mm and 75-300. This last is a zoom lens, so it can be any focal length between the two extremes. Put very brefly, this number dictates how close you need to stand to what you are photographing A big number (e.g. 300 means you casn be a long way away from your subject. Useful for sports, animals etc. The smaller the number (e.g. the closer you need to get), or alternatively the more you can show. e.g. an entire skyscraper from across the street, an entire panorama.

The other number is the f-Number. . You don't appear to have mentioned this one at all. It tells the maximum size hole the lens has. The bigger the hole, the more light can get in, so the faster you can fire the shutter, or alternatively the darker the conditions can be and still allow you to take photos.. Paradoxically, the bigger the hoel, the smaller the number, so f1.4 has a very big hole, while F8 has a very small hole. The number on the lens specifies the maximum hole the lens is capable of producing, but all lenses (well nearly all!)can make the hole smaller, so there is little value in getting a lens with a small f-number, except that it is cheaper to make a lens witha small hole, so they are more affordable. You want to make the hole smaller in bright conditions
THere is a lot more to f-number than this, so be sure to read and experiment, but for niow, moving on...
A teleconverter can be used on any lens. It doubles the effective length of the lens, so your 50mm with converter becomes a 100mm lens. your 70-300 becomes a 150-600. However there's no such thing as a free lunch (TAANSTAFL) so you halve the efective size of the hole, so while your 300 becomes a truly impressive 600mm lens enabling you to photograph the jockey's nose, it becomes so slow, the shot becomes hopelessly blurred. This brings us on to tripods.. Nope you don't have one. Moving on...
Extension tubes. These simply move the lens further away from the sensor plane. and as this is how lenses focus closer, you can use one of these to focus really close, allowing you to take close up shots of your nasal hair, or anything else that takes your fancy.

This is a really basic coverage of what you have. You now need to learn how to use it. Play, Play Play. Assess your play and play some more.
Read the how to's here and elsewhere, and play some more. Coninue to look at your shots critically. Do I want tat telegraph pole growing out of mike's head? Would this be better if I moved Jane to one side? What if I tilted the camera. What if I used a faster lens, or a slower one? WHat if I blurred the background? rabbit...rabbit...rabbbit

Hope this helps.

Nina_1962 wrote:Hi all,
I am in a real mess here I have a my first DSLR a Canon 400D and I have been playing around with the lens taking photos etc trying to get use to my new toy and I would like to know how do you know what setting to use, what lens to use for what.

Ok ...

The first thing is to try to not get too wrapped up in the jargon, and certainly don't be intimidated by it.

All of those numbers sound confusing and important. Yes, they're important, but at the start, you really don't need to know, or understand, too much of it.

In time, it will start to make sense, but for the time being ...

This is what I have at the moment

0.28m/0.9ft 55mm

The first pair of these numbers is the approximate minimum focusing distance. It's of little real practical value unless you're really into shooting close-ups.

The second of these numbers is the focal length of the lens. it's used to help describe the viewing angle of the lens, and it is an important number to understand.

Basically, it helps you to identify what the lens, when mounted on a full frame or 35mm camera, is able to see.

A lens that's in the range of 45 - 55mm, such is this one, might also be referred to as a "standard" lens, and it permits the camera to "see" something similar to what the human eye can see, and everything else is relative to that.

A lens with a shorter focal length (17mm, 21mm, 24mm 28mm ... etc) is regarded as a wide angle lens, because, relative to the "standard lens", it has a wider field of view. In other words, it can fit more into the frame between the edges, but what it fits in will appear to be smaller. You might want to use a wide angle lens when you're in a confined space.


A lens with a longer focal length (85mm, 105mm, 135mm, 200 and so on) is regarded as a telephoto lens, because, relative to the "standard lens", it has a narrower field of view. In other words, it can fit less into the frame between the edges, but what it fits in will appear to be larger. if you want to shoot something that's a long way from you, but you'd like to have the appearance of bringing it closer, then you'd use a telephoto lens.

A zoom is simply a single lens that covers a range of focal lengths, and a single zoom lens might encompass any, or even all, of the above lens types. the Canon 17-55, for instance, is a zoom lens that covers a range of wide angle through to standard.

The 55mm that you're asking about is actually a prime, meaning that it covers just a single focal length, and that focal length in the realm of being a "standard" lens.

0.45m/1.5ft 50mm

Using the above information, we should be able to see that this is another standard prime lens, with a minimum focusing distance of about 18".

Am I making sense thus far?

Teleconverter 2x Can someone tell me how do I use this and with which lens

Think of a teleconverter as being something akin to a magnifying glass for your lenses'. It mounts between the camera body and the lens.

A 2x converter doubles the effective focal length of your lens, and so, if you using one with your 50mm lens, this would make it behave similarly to a 100mm lens, and thus it can be seen that it can convert your standard 50mm lens into a sort of telephoto lens.

Use this when you want to bring things closer, or make them appear bigger.

extenison tube also this how do you use this

As with a teleconverter, this fits between the camera body and the lens. Where a teleconverter acts as a magnifying glass, an extension tube reduces the minimum focusing distance of the lens, making it more suitable for close-up (macro) photography.

Where a telephoto lens might be used to make images of birds flying, macro lenses are used perhaps to make close-ups of flowers and/or instects, for instance.

Zoom lens EF 75-300mm 1.5m/4.9ft

Using the above data, you tell us.

I feel a bit silly at the moment not knowing how some of this works

You have no reason to feel silly: photography is both a technical, as well as artistic, persuit, and being technical, there is much to learn.

The only silly questions are the ones that you fail to ask.

one day at a time I will get there ( I hope ) lol

You shall.

For starters, set your camera to Av, then set your aperture to f/8 (using the control wheel), then start shooting.

Hi Nina, great advice by Mr Darcy and Gary. I think the best advice was Gary's line "set it to Av and f8 and start shooting", you will soon learn or Mr Darcy's "play, play, play".

My question to you is did you buy the lens new with the camera? The 75-300 sounds like a lens which comes in a package deal, but it seems unusual to have a 50 and 55mm lens in a package. The numbers describing the lens are often on the front (I would take a shot of a lens but my camera is broken) it is probably worth establishing exactly what you have.

I would also put the extension tubes and teleconverter away for a few weeks so as not to confuse you. Good luck.

shakey wrote:I'm sure Gary will point you to the excellent tutorial section on this site. I'd also suggest you have a gander at this short course on digital photography. Its been updated a couple of times since I last read it in its entirity (several years ago) but I found it easy to understand

http://www.shortcourses.com/use/index.html

Thanks for posting that link, shakey. I found it very helpful for a beginner like me, especially the bits on flash.

Nina I have also found all the settings on an SLR a bit daunting but there are some great tutorials on this site and, as you've just read, lots of knowledge in the members. Luckily with digital you can experiment all you like without having to pay for film