From a Disposable to a Canon Digital Rebel

[Bubba]

Hi folks. I've now gone from a disposable camera to a Canon Digital Rebel that my wife bought me. I'm having a couple problems, that I assume are operator related, and I hope you might be able to lend some help. Problem 1: When taking indoor pictures of people, it just seems to me that their faces are out of focus (camera is set for auto everything). Problem 2: When taking those indoor pictures, they seem to come out on the dark side (again, the camera is set on auto). Any guidance would be most appreciated. Thank you in advance for your patience.

[paulnj]

post an example of the "too dark". it could just be the BG lighting and your metering

btw... I'm on the other side of the raritan river from you..... off Amwell Rd.

[Sean Dempsey]

I am a rebel owner too

First, you need to use the flash and/or a tripod. If your shutter speed is coming in at under 125 with the "P" setting, you'll get camera shake. 125 is about the handheld limit. So get a tripod if you're shooting it at a 60 or 40 shutter speed. And try the flash.


With the focusing, make sure that the little red dots in the viewfinder blink over the person, that means they are in focus. The camera will tell you where it it focusing. Also, you can choose the focus point really simply by pressing the little button on the righthand side where it has the 7 little boxes, then look in the viewfinder and turn the multiwheel, and you'll see the red dot cycle through the boxes. Just pick the one you want it to focus with.

[Bubba]

Sean & Paul,
Thanks for taking the time to help. I'll give it a try tonight and let you know. Thanks agian. Bubba

[Liz]

Hi Bubba,
Welcome!

As was stated above, there could be a few reasons for the results you are getting. Some of the factors that may effect the results include:

What lens are you using?

You mentioned you'd try again "tonight" - are you shooting after dark? What is the available light? How far are you from the subject?

Also, the DSLR isn't set up like a P&S - and usually requires some post processing. Sometimes the images just need a touch-up - more lightening/brightening/contrast.

The PhotoshopElements2.0 you got with your camera is excellent.

When you get used to using the Rebel, you will be very happy, but understand there is quite a learning curve, although it does well on auto for starters. You can learn slowly or quickly - whatever, but it's worth the effort.

I love my Rebel - best investment I've made in photography.

Liz

Sean & Paul,
Thanks for taking the time to help. I'll give it a try tonight and let you know. Thanks agian. Bubba

[Bubba]

Liz,
Your the nicest Moderator on any forum that I've looked at. I've figured out that the learning curve is fairly steep and that I have some work to do. I really appreciate your supoport and direction. I look forward to coming back here with some good results and hopefully some tips for others.
Thanks,
Bubba

[Liz]

Bubba,
That's very kind of you to say! You made my day........

I hope you won't go away.....stick around while you're learning! People around here are good at answering questions.....good luck with your learning.

Liz

Liz,
Your the nicest Moderator on any forum that I've looked at. I've figured out that the learning curve is fairly steep and that I have some work to do. I really appreciate your supoport and direction. I look forward to coming back here with some good results and hopefully some tips for others.
Thanks,
Bubba

[stew]

I also have the Digital Rebel - the first camera I have ever owned! I love it.

One of your original comments caught me - that the pictures on auto tend to come out on the dark side. I remember, during my camera research before buying the Digital Rebel, I read somewhere (one of the review sites) that when the exposure is in the middle (help with terminology here), the images tend to be about 1/3 stop too dark in that reviewer's opinion. Seems to jive with your experience.

I have found this as well, even though it's hard to make a rule of it. I have been using Manual settings almost exclusively myself. I figure the best way to learn is to plunge into the water! To generalize my experience: I usually dial about +1/3 or +2/3 stop to make the scene have the right exposure. This may be especially true if there's a bright spot somewhere (like the sun is factoring in) as I think the built-in light meter is keying off of the brightest spot, or some average thereof. Again, that's a general rule for myself but usually produces good results to start.

Good luck with your camera! As I mentioned before, I love mine, and I hope you get many many hours of enjoyment from yours as well...

-Stew

[Bubba]

Stew,
Being the neophyte that I am when it comes to photography (especially the digital kind), I tend to keep thing simple which means I would always turn the dial to "AUTO". After reading comments within this forum (like Liz below), I have now ventured into what I once considered the "dark side" by turning the dial to some of the manual settings. My picture quality/clarity has improved dramatically. I still have a long way to go on the learning curve, but I've found that taking pictures and then hooking up to my computer, then taking more pictures and back to the computer allows me to see what does and doesn't work. This is great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to post and help.
Bubba