Need a little help with Canon 10d

[vietcu]

I have no real experience with this type of camera at all. I do mostly point and shoot with whatever setting that the camera is set to. I am reading a few books on taking better digital photos though, so that might help me a bit. Anyways my brother gave me this camera, and I am going to purchase a 100mm macro lense soon. Question is what settings would you guys set this up at to take good macro shots of tank inhabitants? I would ask my brother for help, but he isn't into my fish stuff so not willing to help with the setup. Plus he tried to show me how to use this camera, but was going so fast I forgot all that he said on how to set it up for certain shots.

 

[MCary]

There is not a specific setting. You delving into a new world. Different lighting conditions will dictate different settings. Some tips. The 100 has a very shallow depth of field (DOF) at low f stops. Wide open, f2.8, you can take a picture of a zoo polyp, the front tentacle will be in focus and the back will already be blurred. The problem is, the tank is relatively dim, so if you shut down the aperature, you get prolonged esposures and motion blur. My advice would be, start at ISO 800, f8 aperature priority, tripod, timed or remote shutter. You might want to lock up your mirror to elliminate camera shake and take a shot. You may find that manual focus for true macros serves you better. A good flash is nice. Not the on-camera flash, but a strobe. After you take some shots at these settings, examine your photos. If they have noise, take you ISO down to 400. If you have motion blur, drop f-stop to f-5.6, if you have DOF problems but shutter speed is okay, try f11. And, its digital, take hundreds of shots.

Mike

 

[IPT]

The on the camera flash works - no where near like the strobe but it can help. Be sure to shoot and an angle to the glass so it doesn't bounce right back at you. You can use the exposure compensation to dial down the flash. I find often the flash over does it for me. That will also allow you to use F6 or 11 for a good DOF but still have a decent shutter speed to freexe motion.

The 10D was my forst departure from film .

 

[Jacob D]

You'll get the most mileage out of your camera and lens if you don't use your camera on auto and do understand how exposure works, more specifically how aperture, shutter speed and iso are related. Start with a fundamental understanding of the most basic elements of photography and work your way into the specifics (my .02).

When you can take properly exposed and in-focus pictures you're most of the way there. Get a grasp on how the aperture and shutter speed affect the look of the picture (not just the exposure) and your results will get better with experience.

Welcome to your next hobby