Digital Camera
To start, here’s a total
beginner’s guide to the
cameras.
1. Turn
the
camera
off, if it was on, by
turning the left-hand
dial (looking from the
back of the camera) to
the red square marked
L for “lock.”
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2. Make sure the camera has a working battery installed. The battery cover
is on the bottom, and the battery goes into the camera terminal-end
(metal contacts) first.
3. Open the camera back. The release catch to the camera back is on the
left side of the camera when viewed from the back.
4. Take a fresh roll of 35mm film and slot it into the space on the left. The
exposed bit of film should protrude out to the right and the plastic
cylindrical end should be at the bottom.
5. Pull the film tongue out as far as the orange mark on the right side of the
camera. Be extremely careful not to poke the fragile shutter with your
finger. (the shutter is the black rectangle with the sort of Venetian-blind
panels in the middle of the camera)
6. Close the camera back. The camera will whir and wind for a half minute
or so.
7. When the camera has finished prewinding, the film icon and
the total number of shots available on the film will be displayed on the
top screen, meaning everything’s ready to go. If the flashing circle icon
appears on the panel on the top then the film did not load correctly and
you’ll probably have to open the camera back and line up the film with
the orange mark.
8. Turn the left-hand dial to the green rectangle. This is the
beginner mode.
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9. Make sure the AF/MF switch on the lens is set to AF, for autofocus.
Remove the lens cap if necessary.
10.Look in the viewfinder and push the shutter release button halfway
down. Whatever is in the very centre of the viewfinder should snap into
focus.
11.If a green dot in the viewfinder blinks it means your subject is not in
focus. Try refocusing again. You may need to find an object with a
vertical line to focus on.
12.If the lightning bolt icon blinks in the viewfinder it means
there isn’t enough light, so lift up the flash at the top of the camera (if
your camera comes with built-in flash) to turn it on.
Push the shutter all the way to take the picture.
Installing/removing a lens.
Any Canon EF lens can be used with any EOS camera - there are almost
no incompatibility issues, and those that exist are minor ones that don’t affect
newer cameras like the Rebel 2000.
Most third party (ie: not built by Canon) lenses that are designed to
support the EF lens mount system will also work, though occasional electronic
incompatibilities can arise. Such third-party lenses are usually marked “Canon
EOS compatible” or “Canon autofocus compatible.” Lenses designed for other
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camera systems, such as Nikon, Pentax, Minolta, etc., are not compatible with
EOS cameras, though older manual-focus lenses can sometimes be adapted to
EOS cameras through the use of special metal rings - see the section on manual
lenses below. Old Canon manual-focus FD lenses are also incompatible with
EOS cameras.
Focusing the lens
There is usually a switch on the lens barrel marked AF/MF - or AF/M on older
lenses. Turn this switch to MF or M and the camera will be in manual focus
mode. Then you turn the focussing ring on the lens to focus manually. Note
that if your lens is a Canon EOS lens with full-time manual focussing (FTM) then
you can adjust focus manually at any time that the autofocus motor isn’t
actually working.
A handful of very old inexpensive EOS lenses lack this switch since they don’t
support manual focussing. If that’s the case (such lenses are usually marked
with the letter A, such as the EF 35-70mm f 3.5-4.5 A) you’re out of luck and
can only use autofocus, I’m afraid. And a small number of specialized and
expensive Canon EOS lenses (the MP-E 65mm macro and the three tilt-shift
lenses) support manual-focus only and do not contain autofocus motors.
Image zone modes
Clockwise from the centre lock position are the five PIC (image zone or
PIC - programmed image control) modes, each identified by a small icon. These
are various beginner modes that have different shooting assumptions built-in.
Later EOS cameras refer to them as “basic” modes.
Note that the PIC modes aren’t designed to work properly with
external flash units. The only common PIC mode missing from this camera is
“night” mode, which you can approximate by shooting in Av mode with flash
turned on.
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Full auto. This is the simplest point and grin mode, for people who
want to take snapshots without having to learn anything about the operation
of the camera. Turn your camera to this mode and snap away! Full auto
switches automatically between one-shot AF and AI servo modes, depending
on whether the camera senses subject motion or not. It also uses single-frame
wind with evaluative metering. Full auto mode is similar to Program AE mode,
but you can’t adjust exposure compensation in this mode, nor can you use
partial metering or multiple exposures.
Portrait mode. For taking head and shoulders photos of people - even
men. One-shot AF, continuous wind, evaluative metering. Attempts to set the
lens aperture as wide as reasonable in order to blur the background and set
the foreground figure off from the ground. If you have a zoom lens try to set it
to a long focal length (eg: if you have a 28-90 shoot at 90mm) to maximize the
blur. Also, longer focal lengths tend to be used for more flattering portrait
shots.
Landscape mode. For taking photos of landscapes.
One-shot AF, single frame wind, evaluative metering. Attempts to set
the aperture as small as reasonable for wide depth of field. I believe the builtin flash will not fire in this mode.
Close-up/macro mode. For taking close-up photos of things. Requires
a lens capable of closeup photography to be truly useful. (ie: just putting your
camera into this mode doesn’t somehow alter the abilities of whatever lens
you have attached to the camera) One-shot AF, single frame wind, partial
metering.
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Sports mode. For fast-moving subjects. AI servo AF, continuous wind,
evaluative metering. Attempts to keep the shutter speed as high as reasonable.
I believe the built-in flash will not fire in this mode.
Program AE (auto-exposure) mode (P).
Turn the command dial to P. The camera will automatically select
shutter and aperture settings according to its built-in basic program. Program
AE mode uses continuous wind and also evaluative metering unless you push
the partial metering button.
Unlike the green mode you can program shift by turning the main dial
and adjust the exposure compensation by turning shift-main dial. (see below)
If the camera’s maximum shutter speed (1/1000 sec for the Rebel/EOS
1000/1000 QD and 1/2000 sec for the Rebel II/S II/EOS 1000N/1000FN/1000SQD/1000S-QDP) and the value of the minimum aperture of the lens flash in the
viewfinder then there’s too much light. Either use slower film or put a neutraldensity filter in front of the lens. If a shutter speed of 30 seconds and the value
of the maximum aperture of the lens flash in the viewfinder then there isn’t
enough. Use faster film, flash or bulb mode.
Adjusting program AE (program shift, exposure compensation).
The camera lets you adjust certain metering options in program mode.
Program shifting means you can alter the shutter speed and aperture
value together whilst retaining the same exposure value. You can do this in
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Program AE and DEP modes by turning the main dial. For example, 1/90
second at f 4.0 is the same exposure value as 1/30 second at f 6.7, since both
settings let the same amount of light hit the film. However the settings result
in different photos being taken because of the differences in shutter speed and
aperture (depth of field). You cannot program-shift if flash (internal or shoemounted Speedlite) is enabled. You can, however, program shift in DEP mode.
Exposure compensation means you can set the exposure setting to be
more or less than what the camera thinks you need. For example, if you’re
shooting a snow scene you might want to apply a +1 stop exposure
compensation setting. To do this in AE Program mode you shift-rotate the
main dial. The top-deck LCD and viewfinder scales will indicate the amount of
compensation that you’re applying by shifting the black rectangle on the scale.
Shutter priority AE mode (Tv).
In this AE mode you set the shutter speed (time) and the camera
automatically sets an appropriate lens aperture for you, based on the selected
metering mode - evaluative (default) or partial.
Turn the command dial to Tv, which stands for “Time value”. (Nikon
more sensibly refer to shutter priority as S mode.) Turn the main dial to adjust
the shutter speed setting and shift-main dial to adjust exposure compensation.
The camera flashes the aperture value if you’re out of range. (ie: if you haven’t
got enough light it’ll flash the maximum aperture of the lens, and if you’ve got
too much it’ll flash the minimum aperture of the lens.)
You can’t go into bulb mode here - the maximum time value is 30
seconds. For bulb you need manual mode. The shutter values are expressed as
fractions of a second unless the " symbol appears, in which case the value is
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expressed as a second. Thus 125 means the shutter speed is 1/125 of a second
whereas 1"5 means the shutter speed is 1.5 seconds.
Aperture priority AE mode (Av).
In this AE mode you set the lens aperture and the camera automatically
sets an appropriate shutter speed for you, based on the selected metering
mode - evaluative (default) or partial.
Turn the command dial to Av (for Aperture value). Turn the main dial to
adjust the aperture setting and shift-main dial to adjust exposure
compensation. The camera flashes the shutter speed value if you’re out of
range. (ie: if you haven’t got enough light it’ll flash 30" and if you’ve got too
much light it’ll flash 1000 or 2000, whichever is the maximum shutter speed for
your particular model)
You can choose any aperture value that falls within the aperture range
of the lens you happen to have installed. The wide-open aperture varies a lot
from lens to lens - f/1.4, 1.8 and 2.8 are typical values for fast lens and 3.5, 4.5
and 5.6 are typical for slower zoom or telephoto lenses. The largest aperture
value is usually printed on the lens itself, and is sometimes an aperture range
on zoom lenses which do not have constant apertures - eg: f/3.5-5.6. The
smallest aperture value on a 35mm lens is usually f/22.
Metered Manual mode (M).
In this mode you set both the lens aperture and the shutter speed
manually. The camera will assist you by telling you whether it thinks you have
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the correct metering based on the selected metering mode - centre-weighted
averaging (default) or partial.
Turning the command dial to M lets you shoot in metered manual. How
the camera behaves in this mode depends on which camera you have.
The older 1000/Rebel viewfinders display a simulated needle match
mode. This sort of animated graphic tells you if your picture is likely to be
underexposed, overexposed or exposed correctly. (correct exposure is
obviously when the moving rectangle appears in the middle of the scale)
However, the Rebel II/S II cameras the camera will display little + and arrows telling you whether your picture is correctly exposed, overexposed or
underexposed. Minus means that the image is underexposed and that the
camera needs more light; plus means that the image is overexposed and the
camera means less light. Both plus and minus means that the camera thinks
the exposure is correct. This is not as useful, since the arrows don’t tell you
how far you’re under or over. This step backwards in functionality between the
version numbers was apparently done for patent licensing reasons.
Either way, use the main dial to change the shutter speed and shift-main
dial to change the aperture. You can also go into bulb (long time exposure)
mode - it’s the “buLb” setting that’s one step past 30 seconds. However, since
the camera lacks any provision for remote shutter release it isn’t a very useful
feature unless you rig up a homemade mechanical lever to keep the button
pressed during long exposures. Bulb mode means the shutter stays open for as
long as you keep the shutter release button pressed. Apparently the name
comes from the olden days of mechanical shutter releases, when you’d have a
rubber ball-shaped bulb that you’d squeeze to trigger and hold the shutter.
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I understand the camera switches to centre-weighted averaging
metering mode when you go into manual mode, which is annoying, since you
can’t specify evaluative if you happen to prefer that. You can always go into
partial by pressing and holding the awkward partial metering button.
Depth of field AE mode (DEP).
DEP is short for “depth of field AE mode.” Not to be confused with depth
of field preview (which these cameras lack), DEP is a function that help you set
the correct depth of focus field for your photos. Basically it tries to keep
everything between two user-selected points in focus.
Select DEP mode using the mode dial. Then autofocus on a foreground
item you want within your desired depth of field by selecting the subject and
pressing the shutter halfway. “dEP 1” will appear in the viewfinder. Then
recompose the image and autofocus on a background item by selecting the
subject and pressing the shutter halfway. “dEP 2” will appear in the viewfinder.
Finally, compose the final image in the viewfinder and press the shutter
release halfway again. The camera will then calculate the necessary aperture
setting and shutter speed to keep both items, and everything in between, in
focus. Press the shutter release all the way to take the photo.
Of course, this all works only if the lighting conditions are OK for your
selected depth of field. If there isn’t enough light then the slowest shutter
speed (30 seconds) and the maximum aperture value of the lens will flash. If
there’s too much light then the fastest shutter speed (1/1000 sec or 1/2000
sec, depending on your camera model) and the smallest aperture value of the
lens will flash. And if the aperture value flashes then you can’t set the desired
depth of field and need to move further away from the subject or set a wider
setting on a zoom lens.
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DEP mode is program shiftable (main dial) and uses single-frame wind.
To cancel DEP mode just turn the command dial to something else. Note that
you mustn’t adjust zoom settings on zoom lenses between setting dEP 1 and
dEP 2, as you’ll throw everything out of whack. Likewise you can’t use flash in
DEP mode - if you do the camera will revert to basic program AE mode.
For more information about DEP mode have a look at Vadim Makarov’s
page on the subject. Or, if you’re interested in learning more about the
complex math that underlies this camera mode, check out section 9.27 of the
old EOS FAQ - “What is ‘depth of field’ and how does the ‘Depth-of-Field’ mode
work?”
Flash.
If your camera has a built-in flash (F and S models) then you can activate it by
simply lifting it up. None of these cameras has a motorized popup flash
housing - if the camera thinks you need flash it’ll flash a lightning-bolt flash
icon at you. The flash does not charge up until you lift it up, saving batteries.
Internal flash details.
The internal flash uses TTL flash metering only, though the camera supports
both TTL and A-TTL with external shoe-mounted Speedlite flash units. Flash
sync (X-sync) is 1/90 sec, and fill flash is possible in Av, Tv and M modes. The
flash does not zoom and covers the field of view of a 35mm lens. To close the
flash just push it down manually. You can’t use the built-in flash when an
external flash (or anything else for that matter) is mounted in the flash hot
shoe.
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Note that EOS cameras meter ambient light differently when flash is used in
full auto (green rectangle) and P modes compared to Av, Tv and M modes.
Please consult my flash photography document for more information on this
issue.
The flash-equipped cameras have a patterned red autofocus assist light in the
flash housing. (a feature sadly missing from the newer Rebel 2000/EOS 300
and Elan 7/EOS 30/EOS 7 cameras) This LED illuminates to help AF work in low
light.
Unfortunately the camera does not have flash exposure compensation (FEC)
controls. This means there is no way of adjusting flash output to be above or
below the level that the camera wants to use. If you have an external Speedlite
shoe-mount flash unit with FEC controls (such as the 430EZ, 540EZ or 550EX)
then you can use those, but the camera itself has no such facilities. This is a
shame, particularly since the onboard flash tends to be a bit aggressive in its
use of fill flash sometimes, and there’s no way to dial it back. The only other
way around this is to fiddle with ISO settings.
Redeye Reduction.
Since the flash is mounted on top of the camera in-line with the lens axis it
suffers from two problems. First, it’s not high enough to clear a lot of lens
hoods and large lenses (resulting in a dark semi-circular flash shadow at the
bottom of the picture) and you can get serious redeye in people pictures,
caused by the light from the flash striking the retina of the subjects’ eyes and
reflecting straight back to the lens.
To deal with redeye the 1000FN and the Rebel S II have a bright white red-eye
reduction lamp inside the housing next to the flashbulb. (the original 1000F
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and Rebel S cameras lack a redeye reduction lamp, apparently) I’ve heard from
some users that the redeye reduction lamp illuminates only when their camera
is in green (full auto) mode, however. The flash output on these cameras is also
a bit higher than the other models - GN 14 versus GN 12.
The redeye reduction lamp illuminates when you’re in full auto (green box),
self-timer or portrait mode for as long as you hold down the shutter release
button halfway. So instead of pictures of evil satanic red-eyed friends and
relatives you can take photos of them looking dazed and blank after staring at
a blinding white light for a few seconds. You can’t activate the redeye
reduction lamp in any other mode, but if you want to use it you can always
start in full auto mode, engage the redeye lamp, and then immediately switch
to the mode you really want to use and take a photo right away.
More information.
Understanding how EOS cameras use flash photography is pretty confusing.
It’d take a whole other document to explain. And so that is, in fact, what I’ve
done. Please consult my Canon EOS Flash Photography article for more
information.
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