Can somebody help me use my camera? Canon 400D?

Question

Ok, i'm already shooting some good pictures using the ISO,aperture and shutter settings. But I want to take a step up. Does anybody have any suggestions? I want to be able to shoot magazine quality photos, but using the above, I can only come out with shaking blurred pics. I want to be able to use my camera to its full potential.

Also what is raw and would it benefit me?

Answer 1

SUggest you grab a good digital photo magazine and read through it.

Raw images are stored without all the compression / processing that its done automatically by the camera to store jpg's. There is much more information and "depth" to the picture but it's much bigger files and you need to be able to process them properly with your image editor.

Answer 2

Shooting RAW won't fix the shaking blurred pictures. Try using a faster shutter speed and bump up the ISO when needed, you can also use a flash or a tripod. That or invest in lenses with IS.

Answer 3

If you are shooting in low-light conditions and pictures come out blurry, it may be because of the long shutter speed, and because your lens is a "dark" one, meaning it has a high f number (maximum aperture).

I've been doing gig photography for a few years (and gig photography is very low-light photography). They key is to have good lens, with the maximum f number being around f1.4-f2.8, use Shutter Priority to set the shutter speed manually (otherwise the camera will want to use a very long shutter speed), and try to hold the camera very steady when you press the button.

Also keep in mind that when you start pressing the button, the camera sets the autofocus and some other parameters, so give it a fraction of a second to make those decisions.

Answer 4

HI Dan!!  I have one of those cameras.  They are really nice.  But if I might mention,  those magazine pictures are, for the most part,  not being taken with digital cameras.  It is true.  To get the vibrancy you see in magazine shots,  the professional photographers are using large format cameras and film.  If they do choose to use a digital,  they are using the large format digital cameras that cost around $20,000 not including the $10,000 lenses.  So,  we the little people can't get that kind of results.... not even close.   You have to start somewhere though, right?   Think of your ISO as a tool for your eyes to see.   In bright sunlight,  you need settings like 100 or 200.   In normal light you need 400.  As the lighting gets dimmer you will use 800 and over.   In combination with this ISO... you need to match the White Balance Settings (WB).  In bright sunlight, outdoors,  you would combine the 100/200 with the sun icon.  Indoors with normal light bulbs and 400 you would select the light bulb icon.   If you are using flash inside,  select 400 and the flash icon.  Read your manual to get all of the other combinations.   Now if you are just starting... to get the hang of using these settings first...   set the MODE to PROGRAM,  make the proper ISO/WB settings for your particular shot and shoot.   Get alot of good pictures first before you start adding in the other MODES or Aperture and Shutter settings.   One thing that alot of people are not aware of is the White Balance settings and it ruins their pictures.   Take it page by page and read your manual ..  you will learn alot more by doing that than people here have time or knowledge to help you with.   Hope my suggestions start you on your way.  Have much shooting fun.      Thanks for reading  :))

PSS::  silly me.   Raw is the largest setting for recording your images.  It will take up more room on your memory card meaning less pictures,  but will also give you the best quality pictures.    If you are wanting to print,  use Raw.  If you are wanting to print small 4X6's  /  5X7's / just look at the pictures on your computer  /  put your pictures on My Space / or send pictures to your friends.....  you don't need RAW.  JPG will be just fine and get you more pics on the card.

ONE LAST THING:   lots of times when we are concentrating to do something real hard...things get worse.... that might be why your pictures are blurry... you are ever so slightly moving the camera as you take the picure.  Try holding the sides of your arms and elbows very close to your body when you are focusing and taking the picture...  or use a tripod... or save some money for the (IS) anti-shake lenses.  There...  finished  :))

Answer 5

You're going to get an earful about RAW v.s. JPG. So I won't get into it.

My shots here were taken in RAW mode.

http://www.flickr.com/little_pooky

Most are marked with the lens and setting, as well.

Answer 6

join a 400d group on Flickr (there are several) you'll get advice in the forums and be able to look at other people's 400d photos and what settings they used to achieve them.

Raw is great for recovering details in the highlights and shadows - photos you think at first are rubbish can be converted from raw to jpeg and by adjusting the settings you can get a great result. if I were you though i'd forget about raw until you know the camera inside out.

Answer 7

To prevent visable camera shake, use a shutter speed of 1 over the focal length of your lens... for example, if you are using a 50mm lens then your shutter speed should never be slower than 1/50 unless you are using a tripod.

If you have a software that can read RAW then that would be the best way to shoot... RAW files are uncompressed and will not lose info like JPEG's will. They also allow you to easily make corrections to your exposure.