How difficult Is It To Learn The 40D System?

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Graelwyn

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I have had a glance through the field guide I bought and the buttons do look pretty complicated, in terms of most serving several functions.

Bear in mind I am coming from the Nikon d200 which I found pretty easy and fast to learn.

Any hints for working it all out pretty quick AND remembering what is what, lol ?
 
RTFM :rules:

Thats about it
 
OG - That don't mean what i think it mean's does it? :lol:

Graelwyn - I have not got the 40D but all i would say is what i always say. Sit down when you get an hour free or something and just muck around in the settings etc etc and see what different things do and that. The sensor cleaning system is so cool ant they? switch it off and it scans it for you :)
 
oldgit said:
RTFM :rules:

Thats about it
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Oftentimes, you can end up even more confused after reading a manual than before, lol.

Point taken though,although I obviously read the manual anyway...or parts of it. That goes without saying.
 
I went direct from a p&s to the 40D and all (I think) I set was the picture type/format and focus point, the shooting and metering modes, and I have turned off the automtic flash. I know where the ISO and shutter speed (or aperture if you use av) buttons are without looking. Anything else I will look up or ask about when I need it!!

Once you get out and start using it things fall into place a lot quicker than trying to take it all in at once from the manual. Plus the manuals are done in small font so they are not exactly user friendly to read (thats probably the same across the manufacturers but still annoying :lol: )
 
bidden said:
I've been following your quandry as to what to buy etc and already am a fan of your photos so can't wait to see what you produce!! have fun!!
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Eh thanks, I am massively excited about getting this camera... just hope it all arrives safe and sound and that I can catch up on the year of non shooting I have had.
 
Shouda stuck with Nikon....:lol:

No but seriously, making the switch isn't as easy as starting from scratch, you'll already have pre-programmed instincts installed, going from sensible logic to another form of logic will take a little time, but you'll be fine, 6 months from now and 40D will be sensible logic.
So when do we get brains with System Restore function..:suspect:...cos mine needs a complete re-format, s'full of spyware and dead sectors:lol:
 
Techno-Geek said:
How comes you stopped for a year?
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I hate to admit it, but one reason was that I decided I was rubbish at it and would never get anywhere. I posted my stuff on another forum...a rather immense one actually, and got hardly any response, and often none, which told me I must be 'too crap to comment'. I still consider myself to be pretty rubbish at it.

I tend to take such things to heart as I already lack confidence in my ability to achieve.

Also, financial issues forced me to sell my D200, and I just never got together enough to get anything else.
 
Can a baby walk without practice? nope, then no one can be perfect with photography without practice can they?

I know what you mean though, i used to take things to heart alot but now i just let them go. Don't ever let anything get you down.

If you come to thinking like that again, just put the camera gear away for a week. Then go back to it fresh.

Hope that helped

Tony :thumbs:
 
Nope, if you were that 'crap' your photos would have be easy to comment on, it was just a rude forum. I am pretty confident you are better than you think you are and I can assure you by this time next year you'll have improved in ways you never thought possible.

On the subject of your post I am sure that you will find the 40D just as easy to use as the D200. I had a quick play on my mates 40D and its a nice camera, you may miss a few things like the electronic grid lines the inbuilt wireless controller (if you ever used a SB600 or SB800), but perhaps the live view may make up for it, I'm sure you'll let us know.
 
One concern I have is that I have read complaints that images come out of the camera soft? Or is it the case that most dslr images are not perfect out of the camera?

I shall have to play with levels, I guess, to get the saturation, sharpness etc that I want.

And nope, never even used the electronic grid lines or explored a lot of the features on the D200. I simply wanted to take my shots and get out with it rather than spend ages looking through the menu systems etc.
 
Techno-Geek said:
Can a baby walk without practice? nope, then no one can be perfect with photography without practice can they?

I know what you mean though, i used to take things to heart alot but now i just let them go. Don't ever let anything get you down.

If you come to thinking like that again, just put the camera gear away for a week. Then go back to it fresh.

Hope that helped

Tony :thumbs:
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Yes true, but such is my nature of wanting myself to achieve perfection, lol.

I hold myself to quite high standards, unfortunately, but I shall bear that in mind and hopefully, shall not sell up this time.
 
Graelwyn said:
One concern I have is that I have read complaints that images come out of the camera soft? Or is it the case that most dslr images are not perfect out of the camera?

I shall have to play with levels, I guess, to get the saturation, sharpness etc that I want.

And nope, never even used the electronic grid lines or explored a lot of the features on the D200. I simply wanted to take my shots and get out with it rather than spend ages looking through the menu systems etc.
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:eek: never used the electronic gridlines - that's a feature of the Nikon system I've fallen in love with - you suprise me that you never used it, that's the first thing I activated on my new D200 and assuming the Fuji S5 Pro has them too, it will be on that when it arrives!

As for the softness I keep reading similar things about almost all digital cameras. I think it comes from the fact that all digital photos look better with approprate post processing; some cameras need slightly more sharpening than others but at the end of it the photos all look much of a muchness. My tip to you is to get out there and enjoy your camera and the fantastic photos that you'll produce with it.

Just remember to print them for yourself and post them on here for us to tell you how good they are. :thumbs:
 
I can assure you, lol, I shall not dare post a single shot unless it passes my Kate standards testing first, heh.
 
susie said:
I went direct from a p&s to the 40D
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Same for me. Providing you are familiar with camera functions - you will soon pick it up. Basically, the buttons on top have 2 functions - ie AF.Drive when pressed either turn the main dial ( behind the shutter button ) for the AF type or the thumbwheel at the back for the Drive type.
All buttons below the display have only 1 function.
After that, it's just the Menu to sort out, easy ain't it ?
It does appear daunting at first - I just played with the basics & when I didn't understand something consulted the manual
Good Luck - any problems with it theres plenty of 40D owners around to sort you out.:)
 
Gofer said:
Yup - and experiment. The 40D is a doddle to learn and use (pity about the c**p rear LCD panel though).
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Yes, I have to admit, the LCD was the one thing that I found offputting. It seemed fuzzy and dim to me when I looked in the store.

As to softness, I wonder if this happens with all Slrs? Seems a shame you cannot get good quality images direct from the camera really. RAW files take up so much more space on the card.
 
Raw does allow a lot more latitude for correcting colour balance and exposure though. You can even change just the highlights or shadows so it can be really useful in shooting landscapes where the foreground is a little dark.

Once I got used to shooting RAW I realised just how much extra I could do with it.

And welcome to TP :)
 
Gofer said:
Yeah, thanks for that. Nice one J. Gonna be bit of a b****r if you only shoot JPEGS though.
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Perhaps that will persuade you to shoot RAW!! You know it makes sense! ;)
 
The 40D is a great camera, don't worry - you will soon get used to the controls you need. (Does anyone use ALL of them?)

I just use the screen to check composition and exposure/histogram. It is a great help (I never had this feature with my film cameras) but I don't expect it to tell me when I have got the picture of a lifetime.

I shoot my images in RAW format, which means that I don't need to bother with picture styles etc. On the plus side (as said previously) RAW does give you more latitude for adjusting white balance, exposure etc, but on the down side this does mean that my images NEED work in the PC.

As for getting started with camera settings: The in-built exposure meter is pretty accurate, so that is what I use. I then basically decide if I require more control over aperture or the shutter speed. (Av or Tv on the top dial). Auto ISO is OK (to start with). Single shot for the drive mode.

Take pictures!

If exposure is a tad out (after checking histogram on the screen) I just adjust the exposure compensation with the thumb wheel on the back.

Most of the time that works well enough (for me) to get good images (after PC work of course.)
As others have said, you will soon get the hang of how to get the best out of your camera. Plus if you do get a problem we are all here to help!
 
Graelwyn said:
Yes, I have to admit, the LCD was the one thing that I found offputting. It seemed fuzzy and dim to me when I looked in the store.

As to softness, I wonder if this happens with all Slrs? Seems a shame you cannot get good quality images direct from the camera really. RAW files take up so much more space on the card.
Click to expand...

The LCD displays the menu's (rarely changed if you shoot RAW) and the histogram after taking a picture, something "dim and fuzzy" doesn't matter too much for. Not everyone limits themselves to those uses of the LCD though.

DSLR's produce "soft" out-of-the-camera pictures due to an Anti-Aliasing Filter sitting in front of the sensor. The stronger that filter, the "softer" the pictures produced. AA-induced softness is not the same as missed-focus softness, the former can the corrected with sharpening, the latter can't.
 
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