450D Photography

AA30470C Cover A Short Course in Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D Photography Dennis P. Curtin ShortCourses.com ht...

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AA30470C

Cover

A Short Course

in

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D Photography

Dennis P. Curtin ShortCourses.com

http://www.shortcourses.com

For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Short Courses Publishing Company

Short Courses Books

and

Web Site

S

hort Courses is the leading publisher of digital photography books, textbooks, and guides to specific cameras from Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus and others. All of these books are available on-line from the Short Courses bookstore at: http://www.shortcourses.com/store/ All recent books are available in both black & white printed, and full-color eBook (PDF) versions available on CDs or as instant downloads. The list of books we’ve published is always expanding so be sure to visit the store to see if there is a book on your camera, or on another topic that interests you. If you find any errors in this book, would like to make suggestions for imhttp://www.photocourse.com/itext/pdf/PDFguide.pdf Click to view a PDF document describing how to use this eBook.

provements, or just want to let me know what you think I welcome your feedback. ShortCourses.com 16 Preston Beach Road Marblehead, Massachusetts 01945 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://www.shortcourses.com To learn more about digital photography, visit our two Web sites: • http://www.shortcourses.com is our consumer site. • http://www.photocourse.com is our instructor/student site.

© Copyright 2008 by Dennis P. Curtin. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Note

on the

ShortCourses.com Web Site

This book is designed to work with the many free on-line books available at the author’s Web site at www.shortcourses.com. Of special interest may be the books on displaying & sharing your digital photos, digital photography http://www.photocourse.com/itext/copyright/circ01.pdf workflow, image sensors and digital desktop lighting. Click to view a PDF document on how copyright law protects photographers and other artists.

• Discussion Forum is the place to discuss what’s exciting or bothering you as long as it’s related to digital photography. Click to visit • Bookstore is the home of printed copies, ebooks on CDs, and instant downloads of the digital photography books published by Short Courses. Click to visit • Curtin’s Guide to Digital Cameras and Other Photographic Equipment is a guide to choosing a digital camera and understanding its features. Includes coverage of camera bags, tripods, lighting equipment and much more. Click to visit • Using Your Digital Camera clearly explains everything you need to know about using your camera’s controls to capture great photos. Click to visit

ISBN 1-928873-84-7

• Displaying & Sharing Your Digital Photos discusses what digital photography is all about including printing your images as prints or books, displaying them on-screen, and moving beyond the still image into exciting new areas. Click to visit For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

ShortCourses Books and Web Site • Digital Photography Workflow covers everything from getting ready to take photos to storing, organizing, managing and editing your images. Click to visit • Image Sensors, Pixels and Image Sizes describes key concepts such as resolutions, aspect ratios and color depths that have a huge impact on your photographs. Click to visit • Digital Desktop Lighting is a guide to low-cost tabletop photography equipment and the techniques used to photograph products and other small objects for eBay, Web sites, catalogs, ads and the like. Click to visit • Hot Topics/About Us points you to some of the newer or more interesting parts of the site, explains how to navigate the site, recommends other sites, and tells you a little about who we are and how to contact us. Click to visit

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EDUCATORS Short Courses books have always been popular as textbooks in digital photography courses. If you are an instructor, you should know that special pricing is available for classroom use. For details on using this and other texts in the classroom, please call us at 781631-8520, Boston, Massachusetts USA time.


iii

Preface

Preface

A

great photograph begins when you recognize a great scene or subject. But recognizing a great opportunity isn’t enough to capture it; you also have to be prepared. A large part of being prepared involves understanding your camera well enough to capture what you see. Getting you prepared to see and capture great photographs is what this book is all about. It doesn’t matter if you are taking pictures for business or pleasure, there’s a lot here to help you get better results and more satisfaction from your photography.

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D is a very high-quality 12.2 megapixel camera.

To get better, and possibly even great photographs, you need to understand both concepts and procedures; the “whys” and “hows” of photography. • Concepts of photography are the underlying principles that apply regardless of the camera you are using. They include such things as how sharpness and exposure affect your images and the way they are perceived by viewers. Understanding concepts answers the “why” kinds of questions you might have about photography. • Procedures are those things specific to one kind of camera, and explain step-by-step how you set your camera’s controls to capture an image just the way you want to. Understanding procedures gives you the answers to the “how” kinds of questions you might have.

The XSi /450D accepts the full line of Canon EF and EF-S lenses.

The XSi/450D can print directly to a printer without a computer.

Photography On-line • To learn more about digital photography, visit our ShortCourses Web site at www. shortcourses.com.

iv

This book is organized around the concepts of digital photography because that’s how photographers think. You think about scenes and subjects, highlights and shadows, softness and sharpness, color and tone. The procedures you use with the Canon EOS Rebel XSi camera—called the 450D in many parts of the world—are integrated throughout the concepts, appearing in those places where they apply. This integrated approach lets you first understand the concepts of photography and then see step by step how to use the XSi in all kinds of photographic situations. To get more effective, interesting, and creative photographs, you only need to understand how and when to use a few simple features on your camera such as focus, exposure controls, and flash. If you’ve previously avoided understanding these features and the profound impact they can have on your images, you’ll be pleased to know that you can learn them on a weekend. You can then spend the rest of your life marveling at how the infinite variety of combinations make it possible to convey your own personal view of the world. You’ll be ready to keep everything in a scene sharp for maximum detail or to blur it all for an impressionistic portrayal. You’ll be able to get dramatic close-ups, freeze fast action, create wonderful panoramas, and capture the beauty and wonder of rainbows, sunsets, fireworks, and nighttime scenes. As you explore your camera, be sure to have fun. There are no “rules” or “best” way to make a picture. Great photographs come from using what you know to experiment and try new approaches. Digital cameras make this especially easy because there are no film costs or delays. Every experiment is free and you see the results immediately so you can learn step by step. This book assumes you’ve mastered the mechanics of your camera. It’s about getting great pictures, not about connecting your camera to computers and using your software. That information is well presented in the user guide that came with your camera. Be sure to visit our Web site at www.shortcourses. com for even more digital photography information.


Contents

Contents Cover...i Short Courses Books and Web Site...ii Preface...iv Contents...v

Chapter 1 Camera Controls and Creativity...7 The Digital Rebel XSi/450D Camera...8 Jump Start—Using Full Auto Mode...9 Good Things to Know...10 Using the Viewfinder...13 Diopter Adjustment...13 Focus Points ...13 Information Display...13 Metering Display...13 Anatomy of the Camera...14 Top and Front Views ...14 Rear View...14 Changing Settings with Buttons and Dial...16 Changing Settings with Menus...17 Playing Back & Managing Your Images...19 Image Review...19 Information Display...19 Image Playback...19 Jumping in Playback...20 Giving Slide Shows...20 Using the Playback Menu...21 Selecting Image Quality and Size...22 Number of Pixels...22 How an Image is Captured...24 The Exposure...24 It’s All Black and White After All...24 Choosing Image Size and Quality...25

Chapter 2 Controlling Exposure...28 Understanding Exposure...29 The Shutter Controls Light and Motion...30 The Aperture Controls Light and Depth of Field...32 Using Shutter Speed and Aperture Together...34 Exposure—Faucets & Buckets Analogy...35 Exposure—Seesaw Analogy...36 Retaining Highlight and Shadow Details ...37 Choosing Shooting Modes...38 Using Image Zone Modes...39 Using Program AE (P) Mode and Program Shift...40 Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode...41 Using Aperture-Priority (Av) Mode...42 Using Manual (M) Mode...43 How Your Exposure System Works...44 Meter Averaging and Middle Gray...44 Types of Metering...46 When Automatic Exposure Works Well...47 When to Override Automatic Exposure...48 Scenes Lighter than Middle Gray...48 Scenes Darker than Middle Gray...49 Subject Against Very Light Background...49 Subject Against Very Dark Background...50 Scenes with High Contrast...50

Hard to Meter Scenes...51 How Overriding Autoexposure Works...52 How to Override Automatic Exposure...53 Exposure Compensation...53 Autoexposure (AE) Lock...53 Autoexposure Bracketing (AEB)...55 Using Histograms...56 Displaying Histograms...56 Evaluating Histograms ...56 Clipped Pixels...58 Sample Histograms...59

Chapter 3 Controlling Sharpness...60 Getting Sharper Pictures...61 Supporting the Camera...61 Using the Self-timer...61 Increasing Sensitivity (ISO)...62 Sharpness Isn’t Everything...64 How to Photograph Motion Sharply...65 Speed of Subject...65 Direction of Movement...65 Distance to Subject and Focal Length of Lens...66 Focus and Depth of Field...67 Focus...67 Depth of Field...67 Checking Depth of Field...68 Focusing Techniques...69 Autofocus Modes...69 Selectable Focusing Points...70 Using Focus Lock...71 Manual Focus...72 Controlling Depth of Field...73 Using Deep Depth of Field...74 Focusing on the Hyperfocal Distance...74 Auto Depth-of-field AE (A-DEP)...75 Using Shallow Depth of Field...76 Conveying the Feeling of Motion...77

Chapter 4 Capturing Light & Color...78 Where Does Color Come From?...79 White Balance and Color...80 Using Preset White Balance Settings...80 Creating and Using a Custom White Balance Setting...81 Selecting a Color Space...82 Using White Balance Correction & Bracketing...83 Color and Time of Day...84 Sunsets and Sunrises...85 Weather...87 Photographing at Night...89 The Direction of Light...91 The Quality of Light...93


Contents Chapter 5 Understanding Lenses...94

Chapter 7 Other Features and Commands...134

Canon Lenses...95 Electronic Lens Mount...95 Focusing Technology...95 Ultrasonic Motors...96 Image Stabilization...96 Information on a Canon Lens...97 Focal Length...98 Zoom Lenses...99 Normal Lenses...100 Wide-Angle Lenses...101 Telephoto Lenses...103 Macro Lenses and Accessories...105 Tilt-Shift Lenses...107 Lens Accessories...108 Perspective in a Photograph...109

Chapter 6 Using Flash and Studio Lighting...110 How Flash Works...111 Using Autoflash...112 Flash and Shutter Speeds...112 Flash in the Basic Zone...112 Flash in the Creative Zone...113 Portraits with Flash...114 Positioning the Flash and Subjects...114 Red-eye...115 Using Fill Flash...116 Using Slow Sync Flash...117 Using Available Light...119 Controlling Flash Exposures...120 What’s E-TTL II?...120 Flash Exposure Compensation...120 Flash Exposure (FE) Lock...121 Using the Flash Control Setting...122 Using an External Flash...123 The 580EX II Speedlite...123 High-speed Sync (FP)...123 Flash Exposure Bracketing (FEB)...124 Wireless Remote Flash...124 Stroboscopic Flash...124 Autozoom...124 Using Flash in Close-ups...125 Studio Lighting...126 Candidates for Studio Lighting...126 Lighting...126 Backgrounds...128 Risers...128 Special Bulbs...128 Portrait and Product Photography—Introduction...129 The Main Light...130 The Fill Light...131 The Background Light...132 The Rim Light...133

vi

Live View Shooting...135 General Tips in Live View...135 Manually Focusing in Live View...137 Autofocusing in Live View...137 Continuous Photography...139 Using Picture Styles...140 Selecting Picture Styles...140 Adjusting Picture Styles...141 Remote Control Photography...142 Using My Menu...143 Using the Set-up Menu...144 Auto power off...144 File numbering...145 Auto rotate...145 Format...145 LCD auto off...146 Screen color...146 LCD brightness...146 Date/Time...146 Language...146 Video system...146 Sensor cleaning...146 Live View function settings...146 Flash control...146 Custom Functions (C. Fn)...147 Clear settings...147 Firmware Ver...147 Using Custom Functions...148 Entering a Print Order...152 Caring for Your Camera...153 Cleaning the Image Sensor...153 Cleaning the Camera and Lens...155 Protecting your Camera from the Elements...155 Protecting when Traveling...156 Storing a Camera...156 Caring for Yourself...156


Chapter 1. Camera Controls and Creativity

Chapter 1 Camera Controls and Creativity

Contents • The Digital Rebel XSi/450D Camera • Jump Start—Using Full Auto Mode • Good Things to Know • Using the Viewfinder • Anatomy of the Camera • Changing Settings with Buttons and Dials • Changing Settings with Menus • Playing Back & Managing Your Images • Selecting Image Quality and Size

S

erious digital cameras give you creative control over your images. They do so by allowing you to control the light and motion in photographs as well as what’s sharp and what isn’t. Although most consumer digital cameras are fully automatic, some allow you to make minor adjustments that affect your images. The best ones such as the Rebel XSi offer interchangeable lenses, external flash connections, and a wide range of controls—many more than you’d find on point and shoot cameras. However, regardless of what controls your camera has, the same basic principles are at work “under the hood.” Your automatic exposure and focusing systems are having a profound affect on your images. Even with your camera set to operate automatically, you can indirectly control, or at least take advantage of the effects these systems have on your images. In this chapter, we’ll first explore your camera and how you use it on Full Auto mode. You’ll also see how you use menus and buttons to operate the camera, manage your images and control image quality. In the chapters that follow, you’ll explore in greater depth how you take control of these settings, and others, to get the effects that you want.



The Digital Rebel XSi/450D Camera The Canon EOS XSi/450D’s compact and lightweight silver or black body houses a 12.2 Megapixel CMOS image sensor. It can capture images up to 4,272 x 2,848 pixels in size, large enough for 21 x 14 inch, high-quality prints. Its high-speed continuous mode captures up to 56 Large/Fine JPEGs or 6 RAW images at 3.5 frame-per-second (fps) making it ideal for photographing wildlife, sports and other action subjects. The XSi’s image sensor is smaller that a frame of 35mm film, but has the same familiar shape—called the aspect ratio.

The camera has a large three-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD monitor on which you can display menus, camera settings, and images you have captured. Using Live View, you can also use the monitor to compose and focus images, magnifying them up to 10x for the precise focus required in macro photography. You can even display a histogram on the monitor to ensure you have the best possible exposure before taking the picture. Using Live View, along with software and a cable supplied with the camera, you can use a much larger http://www.photocourse.com/itext/SLR/ computer screen as the monitor/viewfinder to compose and focus images and use menu commands to change camera settings. Click this button to play an animation that shows how an SLR works when you compose an image and press the shutter button.

In the Box • Rebel XSi Body (Black or Silver), Eyecup Ef, Wide Strap EW-100DBIII, Video Cable VC-100, USB Interface Cable IFC-200U, Battery Pack LP-E5, Battery Charger LC-E5 or LC-E5E, EOS Digital Solution Disk and Instruction Manuals, “Great Photography is Easy” Booklet and “Do More with Macro” Booklet.

The camera has a fast 0.1-second initial start-up, a shutter rated up to 100,000 cycles, a top shutter speed of 1/4000 sec, and 1/200 maximum Xsync flash shutter speed setting. ISO settings range from 100–1600. Because the camera’s APS-C size image sensor is smaller than a frame of 35mm film, the camera has a 1.6x focal length conversion factor and is compatible with the full line-up of Canon EF and EF-S lenses. The camera’s 14-bit Analog-to-Digital (A/D) conversion process recognizes four times as many colors as its predecessor, capturing images with finer and more accurate gradations of tones and colors. Highlight Tone Priority is perfect for wedding and nature photographers trying to capture details in wedding dresses, clouds, snow or other white subjects. When you don’t plan on editing your images on a computer, Picture Styles let you adjust them for printing right in the camera as you capture them. The camera captures images in the universal JPEG format but also offers the higher-quality RAW format. You can also select RAW+L to capture identical RAW and JPEG images with the same file name and different extensions (CR2 and JPG). You can then use the JPEG without farther processing and use the RAW image when you want to create the best possible image. The focusing system offers nine focus points from which you or the camera can select the one used to set focus. A 35-zone metering sensor, and evaluative metering, are linked to all AF points. Also available are centerweighted average metering, partial metering and spot metering—the last two metering approximately 9% or 4% in the center of the viewfinder. The camera has E-TTL II autoflash and 12 shooting modes. As an added convenience you can adjust the flash settings of the Canon Speedlite 580EX II directly from the camera.

Canon Selphy printers like this S2 can print 4 x 6 or 4 x 8 inch prints directly from the camera.

The camera’s integrated sensor cleaning offers a number of ways to prevent dust from affecting your images, or remove it if it does. Finally, the camera has customization features including 13 Custom Functions, picture styles you can edit or define from scratch, and the ability to create your own menu listing only those settings you use most frequently.


Jump Start—Using Full Auto Mode

Jump Start—Using Full Auto Mode The XSi’s Full Auto mode sets everything for you. Just frame the image and push the shutter button. This a good mode in most situations because it lets you focus on the subject rather than the camera. • Selecting the mode. Turn the power switch on the top of the camera to ON and set the Mode Dial to Full Auto (the green rectangle icon). The monitor displays the current camera settings (page 19). • Framing the image. The viewfinder shows about 95% of the scene you are going to capture. If the image in the viewfinder is fuzzy, turn the diopter adjustment knob in the upperright corner of the viewfinder to adjust it. When using a zoom lens, turn the zoom ring to zoom in and out. Power switch, Mode Dial, and shutter button.

Full Auto icon.

Tips • If the camera doesn’t work as described here, you may need to clear previous settings as described on page 147. • If you don’t use any controls for 30 seconds, the camera enters auto power off mode (page 144). To wake it up, press the shutter button halfway down and release it.

• Autofocus. Nine small rectangles called the AF points (AF stands for autofocus) are displayed in the viewfinder. When the focus switch on the lens is set to AF (page 69), the camera focuses on the closest subject covered by one or more of these points (page 70). When you press the shutter button halfway down and focus is achieved, a red dot flashes in the point or points being used to set focus, the round focus confirmation light in the lower right corner of the viewfinder glows green, and the camera beeps. How close you can get to a subject depends on the lens you are using. If the subject’s distance to the camera changes after you have focused on it, AI servo AF mode (page 69) keeps it in focus as long as it’s covered by one of the focus points. • Autoexposure. Evaluative metering divides the scene in the viewfinder into 35 zones and meters each of them to determine the best exposure for the scene (page 44). The shutter speed and aperture are displayed in the viewfinder and on the monitor when you press the shutter button halfway down. • Autoflash. When the light is too dim, or the subject is backlit, the built-in flash automatically pops up when you press the shutter button halfway down and fires when you press the shutter button the rest of the way down (page 111). When done, press the flash down to close it. Taking a Picture in Full Auto Mode 1. With the power switch on the top of the camera set to ON, set the Mode Dial to Full Auto (the green rectangle icon). Set the focus mode switch on the lens to AF (page 69) and remove the lens cap.

• The flash pops up automatically, when needed, in Basic Zone modes other than Sports, Landscape, and Flash Off (page 39). It does not do so in Creative Zone modes (page 38).

2. Compose the image in the viewfinder, making sure the area that you want sharpest is covered by one of the nine rectangular focus points.

• The color cast in a photograph is affected by the color of the light illuminating the scene. The camera adjusts white balance so white objects in the scene look white in the photo (page 80).

4. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.

3. Press the shutter button halfway down and pause so the camera can automatically set focus and exposure. When the camera has done so it beeps, the round green focus confirmation light in the viewfinder glows, and a dot in the focusing point(s) being used to set focus flashes red. ● The shutter sounds and the red access lamp on the back of the camera lights as the image is stored onto the memory card. ● The image is displayed on the monitor for 2 seconds so you can review it, or press the Erase button to delete it. 5. When done shooting, turn the power switch to OFF.



Good Things

to

Know When you first start taking photos with a new camera, it sometimes seems that there is too much to learn all at once. To simplify your getting started, here are some of the things you may want to know right off.

The card and battery compartments have sliding covers.

• If your camera is right out of the box, you need to mount a lens (page 95), insert a charged battery pack, and insert a memory card on which your images are saved. The camera uses Secure Digital (SD) memory cards which store up to 4 GB, or newer SDHC cards that store 4–32 GB. No card is included with the camera, and there may be no lens as part of the package. Be careful because it is possible to take photos without a card in the camera! If you turn this feature off, when you press the shutter button halfway down with no card in the camera Card is displayed in the monitor and you can’t take a picture. Preventing Shooting without a Card 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode, press MENU and display the Shooting 1 menu tab (page 17). 2. Press the up () or down () cross key to highlight Shoot w/o card and press SET to display choices. 3. Press the up () or down () cross key to highlight Off and press SET to select it. 4. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.

Icons on the monitor indicate the status of the battery charge as full (top), almost run down (middle), and out (bottom).

• To insert a memory card, turn off the camera, slide the card slot cover on the right side of the camera toward the back, and swing it open. Insert the card with its front label facing the rear of the camera and press it down until it locks into place. Slide the cover closed so it snaps into place. To remove a card, open the card slot cover and press the card down and release it so it pops up to where you can grasp it. Never open the battery or card slot cover when the red access lamp in the lower right corner of the camera back. Doing so can cause you to lose images, or even damage your card. • If you turn off the camera while the red access lamp is lit and Recording is displayed on the monitor, the camera finishes saving all of the previously captured images before it powers down.

The sensor cleaning icon.

• The first time you use the camera you should enter the correct date and time (page 146) since you’ll use these later to organize and locate pictures. • When you turn the camera on or off, the image sensor is cleaned (page 153). When on, the current camera settings are displayed on the monitor. • If you don’t use any controls for 30 seconds, the camera enters auto power off mode and the monitor turns off. To wake it up, press the shutter button halfway down and release it. (You can also press Playback, DISP, SET or MENU buttons.) To increase the auto power off time, see page 144.

Pressing the shutter button halfway down locks focus and exposure and pressing it all the way down takes the picture.

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• No matter what you are doing, you can instantly return to shooting mode by pressing the shutter button halfway down. • The shutter button has two stages. When you press it halfway down, the camera sets exposure and focus. When set, the current aperture and shutter speed are shown in the viewfinder and on the monitor. If you press the shutter button down in one stroke without pausing halfway, the camera may take For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Good Things to Know a moment before taking a picture. • In Full Auto mode, the focus mode is set to AI focus AF (page 69). When you press the shutter button halfway down in this mode:

If the focus confirmation light in the viewfinder blinks when you press the shutter button halfway down, the camera is having trouble focusing (page 69).

Tip •

If you turn the Mode Dial while watching the camera information display on the monitor, you’ll see the settings for each mode. Those that are grayed out can’t be changed in the current shooting mode.

• If the camera doesn’t beep, the round green focus confirmation light in the viewfinder blinks, and you can’t take a picture, the camera isn’t able to focus (page 69). • If the camera beeps softly and the focus confirmation light doesn’t light, the subject is moving and the camera has automatically switched from AI focus AF to AI servo AF mode to keep it in focus (page 69). • When you press the shutter button halfway down you activate metering and the shutter speed and aperture are displayed in the viewfinder and on the monitor (page 14). Metering only remains active for 4 seconds unless you use a control. You can turn it back on at any time by pressing the shutter button halfway down. • Be aware of the number of shots remaining displayed in brackets in the lowerright corner of the monitor when camera settings are displayed. • To take pictures, hold the camera in your right hand while supporting the lens with your left. Brace the camera against your face as you look through the viewfinder and brace your elbows against your body. Press the shutter button slowly and smoothly as you hold your breath after breathing in deeply and exhaling. • When you take a photo it’s displayed on the monitor for 2 seconds so you can review it, press the Erase button to delete it or the DISP button to change the display mode. You can change the review time, turn it off, or set it to Hold so it remains displayed until auto power off takes effect (page 144). Changing the Review Time 1. With the Mode Dial set to any shooting mode, press MENU and display the Shooting 1 menu tab (page 17).

Dioptric adjustment knob.

2. Press the up () or down () cross key to highlight Review time and press SET to display choices. 3. Press the up () or down () cross key to highlight Off, 2 sec., 4 sec., 8 sec. or Hold and press SET to select it. 4. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu. • The camera beeps when it focuses, and when you use the self-timer, but you can turn this off if you find it’s drawing attention or affecting others. Turning the Beep On and Off

The camera uses Secure Digital (SD) cards to store images. The white switch on the left, when slid down, writeprotects your image files and you can’t take new pictures or erase existing ones.

1. With the Mode Dial set to any shooting mode, press MENU and display the Shooting 1 menu tab (page 17). 2. Press the up () or down () cross key to highlight Beep and press SET to display choices. 3. Press the up () or down () cross key to highlight On or Off and press SET to select it. 4. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.


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Chapter 1. Camera Controls and Creativity • You can adjust the monitor’s brightness to match the light in which you’re viewing it (page 146). • When you bring your eye to the viewfinder, a sensor just below it turns off the monitor display so it doesn’t distract you. When you stop looking through the viewfinder, the monitor display comes back on. • You can reset most camera settings to their factory defaults using the Set-up 3 menu tab’s Clear settings command (page 147). This is useful if you make changes and can’t remember how to undo them. • The XSi supports Design rule for Camera File System 2.0 and Exif 2.21 (also called “Exif Print”). Exif Print is an industry standard that enhances compatibility among digital cameras and printers. When you connect the camera to a printer that also supports Exif Print, the shooting information is used to optimize print quality. • One rechargeable battery pack LP-E5 will capture about 600 images in warm weather when not using flash. Things that reduce battery life include holding the shutter button halfway down, and using the LCD monitor, flash, autofocus, image stabilization (on some lenses), and Live View. • Do not look through the viewfinder directly at the sun. Doing so may cause loss of vision. Don’t even point the camera toward the sun since it can scorch and damage the shutter curtains inside the camera. • If the focusing ring on a lens rotates during autofocusing, do not touch it. • If more than one AF point flashes, the camera has focused on all of those points so they must be almost equally distant from the camera. • If pressing the shutter button halfway down doesn’t focus the camera, the focus mode switch on the lens may be set to MF (Manual Focus). Switch it to AF autofocus). • If the flash pops up in daylight, the camera is in a Basic Zone shooting mode and the main subject is backlit. Flash will be used to reduce harsh shadows on the subject. • If the flash fires a series of flashes when you press the shutter button halfway down, it’s using its AF assist beam to help the camera focus. The beam is effective up to about 13 feet (4 meters). • If you use flash and a picture comes out dark, you were too far away from the main subject. Normally, you shouldn’t be more than 16 feet (5 meters) away. • If the flash is used and the bottom of the picture is in shadow, you were too close and the flash was blocked by the lens or lens hood.

A Look Ahead • The camera’s 12 shooting modes are divided into two types, or zones—Basic Zone and Creative Zone. Each zone has a number of modes you can select by turning the Mode Dial on top of the camera. Basic Zone modes, including Full Auto and six Image Zones, are indicated with picture-like icons and Creative Zone modes with text (P, TV, Av, M, and A-DEP). These modes are described in more detail starting on page 38.

12


Using the Viewfinder

Using

the

Viewfinder When taking photos you normally compose them in the viewfinder. Since this is your center of interest, the camera also displays focus, exposure and other information to guide you.

The diopter adjustment knob.

When focus is achieved a dot in the AF point or points being used to set focus flash red and the green confirmation light glows steady in the viewfinder.

Diopter Adjustment You can adjust the viewfinder display so you can read it without glasses. To do so, remove the lens cap and look through the viewfinder at a bright, evenly lit surface such as a wall or sky (not the sun!). If the viewfinder display isn’t sharp, try to bring the AF points into focus by turning the dioptric adjustment knob in the upperright corner of the viewfinder. If this doesn’t work, the camera also accepts accessory E-series Dioptric Adjustment Lenses in 10 types ranging from -4 to +3 diopters. These lenses slip into the viewfinder’s eyepiece holder. (See your Canon dealer for information.) Focus Points The viewfinder displays nine small rectangles called AF points (AF stands for autofocus). When the focus switch on the lens is set to AF (page 69), the camera focuses on the closest subject covered by one or more of these focus points. The one or ones being used to set focus can be selected manually or automatically (page 70). When you press the shutter button halfway down, dots in the focusing point or points being used for focus flash red. Information Display The viewfinder displays (from left to right below) the current shutter speed and aperture, the exposure level indicator, the ISO, the shots remaining in continuous mode, and the focus confirmation indicator. The exposure level indicator, only displayed in Creative Zone modes, is used for exposure compensation (page 53) and to guide you when setting the exposure in M (manual) shooting mode (page 43). As you will see in the following chapters, there are a number of other indicators that are displayed during various procedures.

The viewfinder displays information about settings that affect the current photograph.

Tip • To start metering and display exposure information on the monitor and in the viewfinder, press the shutter button halfway down.

Metering Display The aperture and shutter speed are both displayed in the viewfinder and on the monitor while the camera’s exposure metering is on. Metering is on for only four seconds after you press the shutter button halfway down, so if it turns off, you have to press the shutter button halfway down to turn it back on. When off, you can’t change many settings and the information displayed on the monitor isn’t as complete as it could be. For example, when metering is off: • The viewfinder display is also off so you can’t use to as a guide to changing settings. • The monitor display remains on (until auto power off takes effect) and you can change the aperture in Av mode and shutter speed in Tv mode (pages 41–42), but the corresponding shutter speed or aperture isn’t displayed.


13


Anatomy

of the

Camera The XSi has buttons and dials that quickly change important settings. In many cases you use buttons, cross keys and SET together or in sequence (page 16). Here are the dials and buttons you’ll be using to control the camera. Top

and

Front Views

The built-in flash pops-up on top of the camera.

The shutter button has two stages. When pressed halfway down, the camera locks focus and exposure and pressing it all the way down takes the picture.

1. Shutter button locks exposure and focus and turns on metering when pressed halfway down, and takes a photo when pressed all the way. 2. Main Dial selects menu tabs (page 17), adjusts exposure when used with the Av button (page 53), and changes shutter speeds and apertures (pages 41–43). In playback mode, the dial jumps through pictures you’ve taken (page 19). 3. ISO button displays ISO settings from which to choose (page 62). 4. Mode Dial selects one of the 12 shooting modes (page 38). 5. Power switch turns the camera on and off. 6. Flash button pops up the built-in flash when the Mode Dial is set to any mode in the Creative Zone (page 112). 7. Lens release button lets you turn the lens to remove it (page 95). 8. Depth of Field preview button lets you preview depth of field (page 68).

14

Rear View For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Anatomy of the Camera

Tips • Blue icons indicate a button’s function in playback mode. White icons indicate its function in shooting mode. • You can quickly reset all camera settings to their original factory defaults (page 147). • You can connect the camera to a computer and use Live View (page 135) so you and others can immediately see photos as you take them. This is a great way to take portraits and close-ups.

9. DISP button displays or hides information on the monitor about camera settings in shooting or menu mode, or about the currently displayed image in playback or review mode. 10. MENU button displays and hides the menu on the monitor (page 17). 11. Dioptric adjustment knob sharpens the viewfinder image (page 13). 12. Index/Reduce button in playback mode (blue icon) reduces a magnified image and switches to index view (page 19). In shooting mode AE/FE Lock (*) locks exposure (page 53) and flash exposure (page 121). 13. Magnify button in playback mode (blue icon) enlarges an image up to 10x (page 19). In shooting mode AF point selection is used with the Main Dial or cross keys to select focusing points used to set focus (page 70). 14. Aperture Value (Av)/Exposure compensation button is held down while turning the Main Dial to set the aperture in manual (M) mode (page 43), and exposure compensation in other Creative Zone modes (page 53). 15. Print/Share/WB button in playback mode prints and transfers images when a printer or computer is attached. In shooting mode it displays white balance settings from which to choose (page 80). 16. Erase button deletes images from the memory card (page 21). 17. Playback button lets you review the photos you have taken (page 19). 18. Metering mode button changes the metering mode (page 46) when you press it repeatedly. Cross keys move the highlight while using menus and scroll images in playback mode. In shooting mode, pressing a specific cross key lets you change metering, autofocus, drive, and picture style modes.

19. AF mode button changes the focusing mode (page 69) when you press it repeatedly. 20. Drive mode selection button selects single-shot, continuous (page 139), and self-timer (page 61) modes when you press it repeatedly. 21. Picture styles button selects a picture style (page 139) when you press it repeatedly. 22. SET button, in the middle of the cross keys, selects highlighted choices or confirms settings.


15


Changing Settings Tips • Many buttons won’t work when the camera is in auto power off mode. Press the shutter button down and release it to wake up the camera and activate the viewfinder and monitor displays. • You can quickly reset camera settings to their original factory defaults (page 147).

with

Buttons

and

Dial

When you first turn on the camera, or press the DISP button, the monitor displays the current camera settings. Many of these settings—typically those you are most likely to use when shooting photos—are changed using buttons and dials. (Those grayed out can’t be changed in the current shooting mode, and Drive is the only button that works in Basic Zone modes.) The sequence varies depending on which button you press to begin: • Press the ISO or AF point selection button to display a menu on the monitor and in the viewfinder, turn the Main Dial or press the cross keys to select the setting you want to use. • Press the white balance button or one of the four cross key buttons to display a menu on the monitor. Press the same button repeatedly, or press the cross keys to highlight one of the settings, then press SET to select it. • Hold down the Aperture Value AV/Exposure Compensation button (page 38) and turn the Main Dial to adjust the exposure level indicator in the viewfinder and on the monitor. • Pressing the DISP button toggles the monitor display on and off. Even when off, pressing one of the cross keys turns it back on. Custom Function 12 (page 148) can be set so the monitor remembers if it was on or off when you last turned off the camera and returns to that state when you turn it back on. For example, if you press DISP to turn off the display, then turn off the camera, when you turn the camera back on the display will be off.

When you press many buttons, their function remains active for only 4 seconds. If you are slow, just press the button again for another 4 seconds.

Tip • When you press one of the cross keys to display a menu on the monitor, you can highlight one of the menu choices by pressing the button repeatedly or pressing one of the cross keys.

• When the monitor display is on, moving your eye to the viewfinder turns it off to reduce glare when taking pictures, and moving your eye away turns it back on. If you are wearing sunglasses, it may not turn off automatically and if there are fluorescent lights nearby you may not be able to keep it on. You can turn off this feature using the Set-up 1 menu’s LCD auto off command (page 144). • If pressing a shooting button doesn’t display its settings on the monitor, the setting can’t be changed in the current shooting mode, or auto power off is in effect. If the later, press the shutter button halfway down and release it to activate the meters.

In shooting mode, the monitor displays information about the current settings and displays options when you press one of the shooting buttons on the back of the camera used to change settings.

16


Changing Settings with Menus

Changing Settings Tips • Following this section when we say to “highlight” a command or setting we assume you know how to do so using the Main Dial and cross keys. • When a menu is displayed on the screen, press the shutter button halfway down to instantly return to shooting mode. • You can quickly reset all camera settings to their original factory defaults (page 147). • When a menu is displayed you can press the DISP button once to display some camera settings and again to return to the menu.

with

Menus

To change settings, you often use a tabbed menu that is displayed on the monitor when you press the MENU button. You navigate the menus and change settings using the Main Dial, cross keys, and the SET button. Using Menus ● To display the menu when the camera is on, press the MENU button above the monitor to display the last tab you used, with the last command you used highlighted. ● To select a different menu tab, turn the Main Dial or press the left () or right () cross key. ● To highlight a setting on the selected menu tab, press the up () or down () cross key to move the colored selection frame. ● To display choices for the highlighted setting, press the SET button in the center of the cross keys. The currently selected setting may be blue. To select a choice (not all commands list choices), press the up () or down () cross key to highlight it, then press SET. ● To back up without changing a setting, press MENU or the shutter button before pressing SET. ● To return to the menu if pressing SET took you to a second screen, press MENU. There is often a menu U-turn icon on the screen to remind you that this is an option. ● To hide the menu, press the MENU or shutter button. Below are the shooting and playback settings you’ll see on menus, and the numbers of the pages where they are discussed in this book. Which tabs and settings you see depend on the shooting mode you’ve selected with the Mode Dial. For example, the settings in gray in the table that follows are not available when the Mode Dial is set to a mode in the Basic Zone. Menu

Description

Page

Quality

Selects image size, quality and format

Red-eye On/Off

Off / On

Beep

On/Off

11

Shoot w/o card

On / Off

10

Review time

Off / 2 sec. / 4 sec. / 8 sec. / Hold

11

AEB

1/3-stop increments, ±2 stops

55

Flash exp comp

1/3-stop increments, ±2 stops

120

Custom WB

Manual setting of white balance

81

WB SHIFT/BKT

WB correction, White balance correction, white balance bracketing

81

Color space

sRGB / Adobe RGB

Picture Style

Standard / Portrait / Landscape / Neutral /Faithful / Monochrome / User Def. 1, 2, 3

140

Dust Delete Data

Obtains data to be used to erase dust spots

154

Shooting 1 (Red)

Icons and colors indicate shooting, playback, set-up and My Menu menu tabs. The dots indicate tabs 1, 2 and 3 of the menus.

The settings in gray on this table are not available when the Mode Dial is set to one of the modes in the Basic zone.

25 115

2 Shooting 2 (Red)


82

17

Chapter 1. Camera Controls and Creativity The settings in gray on this table are not available when the Mode Dial is set to one of the modes in the Basic zone.

Menu

Description

Page

Protect images

Protect / Unprotect image

21

Rotate

Rotate vertical image

21

Erase images

Select and erase images / All images on card

21

Print order

Specifies images to be printed (DPOF)

Transfer order

Select images to be transferred to a personal computer

—

Histogram

Brightness / RGB

56

Auto play

Auto playback of images

20

Playback (Blue)

152

Set-up 1 (Yellow) Auto power off

0 sec. / 1min. / 2 min. / 4 min. / 8 min. / 15 min. / Off

144

File numbering

Continuous / Auto reset / Manual reset

145

Auto rotate

On camera and computer / On computer only / Off

145

Format

Initialize and erase data in the card

145

LCD auto off

Enabled / Disabled

145

Screen color

Select the background color

146

LCD brightness

Seven brightness levels provided

146

Date/Time

Set the date (year, month, day) and time (hour, min., sec.)

146

Language

Select the interface language

146

Video system

NTSC / PAL

146

Sensor cleaning

Auto cleaning / Clean now / Clean manually

146

Live View function settings

Live View shooting / Grid display /Metering timer

146

Flash control

Flash firing/Built-in flash function setting/ External flash function setting/External flash C.Fn setting/Clear external flash C.Fn setting

146

Set-up 2 (Yellow)

Set-up 3 (Yellow) Custom Functions (C.Fn)

Customize the camera as desired

147

Clear settings

Clear all camera settings / Clear all Custom Func. (C.Fn)

147

Firmware Ver.

For updating the firmware

147

My Menu settings

Register frequently-used menu items and Custom Functions

My Menu (Green)

18

143


Playing Back & Managing Your Images

Playing Back & Managing Your Images Tips

When taking photos, there are many times when you want to review the images you’ve taken, ideally before leaving the scene.

•

After magnifying an image or displaying information, you can scroll through other images using the same settings. • To immediately return to shooting mode, press the shutter button halfway down. • The camera may not be able to display photos taken with other cameras.

Pressing DISP in playback mode displays information about the image.

The Playback icon.

Image Review When you take a photo, it’s displayed for 2 seconds although you can change the duration with the Shooting 1 menu tab’s Review time setting (page 11). With an image displayed, press the Erase button to delete it, or the DISP button to change the information display (see below). Pressing either button also keeps the image on the screen until you press the shutter button halfway down to take another photo, or auto power off takes effect (page 144). Information Display To display or hide information about images in review or playback, repeatedly press the DISP button to the left of the viewfinder. Each time you press it, you cycle through various information displays including a histogram (page 56). Once information is displayed for one image you can press the left () or right () cross key to scroll through other images with the same information displayed. Image Playback To review some or all of the images you have taken, press the Playback button to display the last photo you took. You can then magnify it to examine details, erase the image, scroll through other images, or display small thumbnails so you can quickly locate a specific image. You’ll find that the images are easier to see on the monitor when the light is dim so find a shady spot or dim room for best results. In playback mode, you can press the shutter button halfway down at any time to instantly return to shooting mode. MANAGING YOUR IMAGES—Using Buttons 1. With the camera on, press the Playback button to display the most recent photo on the memory card and use any of the following procedures:

The Index/Reduce icons.

The Magnify icon.

The Erase icon.

● To display one image after another, press the left () or right () cross key. ● To display 4 or 9 small thumbnails in index view, press the Index/Reduce button once or twice. Turn the Main Dial to jump a page at a time or press any of the cross keys to scroll the blue frame to highlight a specific image. To return to single-image view, press the Magnify button. ● To magnify an image up to 10x in 15 steps, press the Magnify button repeatedly or hold it down. When an image is magnified, a small square on the screen indicates which part of the image you are viewing as you press the cross keys to scroll around. You can also turn the Main Dial or press the left () or right () cross key to scroll to other images at the same magnification. To return to unmagnified singleimage view, press or hold down the Index/Reduce button or press the Playback button. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE ...


19


Tip In playback mode the Main Dial acts differently as follows: • In single-image view it jumps you the way you have specified (the default is 10 images). • In index view it scrolls through thumbnails a page at a time. • If an image is magnified, it scrolls you through other images one at a time.

MANAGING YOUR IMAGES—con’t. ● To erase the image displayed in single-image view, or the one highlighted in index view, press the Erase button (a trash can icon). Press the left () or right () cross key to highlight Erase and press SET. 2. To resume shooting, press the shutter button halfway down, or press the Playback button to return to the camera settings screen. Jumping in Playback In single image playback mode, it takes time to navigate through images when there are many of them on a card. To speed things up you can select one of the following jump modes so you jump as specified when you turn the Main Dial in single-image view. Your choices include 1, 10 (the default), and 100 images or forward or back to the first picture taken on the next or previous date. Jumping IN playback

Jumping in playback mode lets you jumps 10 images, 100 images or to the first image with the next or previous shooting date.

1. With the camera on, press the Playback button and display photos in single-image view. 2. Press the up () cross key to display the current jump setting. The default setting is Jump 10 images, but if you have changed the mode, your selected mode is displayed. ● To change the jump mode, press the up () or down () cross key to select one of the choices. ● To jump forward or back, turn the Main Dial, or press the left () or right () cross key to scroll image by image.

Tips • Canon’s optional AC adapter kit (ACKE5) let’s you give slide shows without draining your battery pack. • When giving a slide show, due to differences in the aspect ratio of the screen and image, images may not fill the screen, or if they do, parts may be cut off.

20

Giving Slide Shows You can display your images as a slide show on the camera’s monitor or on a connected TV. To show your images on the TV, turn both the TV and the camera off while you connect the supplied video cable to the VIDEO OUT terminal on the camera and the VIDEO IN terminal on the TV. Turn on the TV and set it for video input. Turn on the camera and set it to Auto play as described on the next page. Auto power off does not operate in auto play mode and the show loops over and over again. Be sure to end the show and turn off the camera when finished. When traveling you may need to switch between NTSC and PAL video systems (page 146). Image Recovery Software If you delete images by mistake, don’t despair. There is software available that can recover them if you don’t first save other photos on the same card. One such program is PhotoRescue at (http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/) but you can find others by Googling “digital image recovery.”


Playing Back & Managing Your Images

Tips • When looking for pictures to erase, protect, or rotate, it’s often faster if you press the Index/Reduce button to switch to index display. • You can rotate images automatically with the Set-up 1 menu’s Auto rotate command (page 145). • Print order is discussed on page 152. • Transfer Order is used to select which photos are transferred to your computer. • Histogram is discussed on page 56.

Giving Slide Shows 1. Press MENU, display the Playback menu tab, press the up () or down () cross key to highlight Auto play, and press SET. Each picture on the memory card is displayed for 4 seconds. ● To pause and restart the show, press SET. When paused, a pause icon is displayed in the upperleft corner of the image. ● To manually scroll through images turn the Main Dial or press the left () or right () cross key. ● To specify what information is displayed, press DISP. 2. To stop the show at any point, press the MENU or the shutter button. Using the Playback Menu The playback menu lists a variety of commands. Although only Protect images, Rotate, and Erase images are discussed here, and Auto play above, the other commands are discussed elsewhere in this book. To see where, refer to the table of menu commands on page 17. MANAGING YOUR IMAGES—Using Menus 1. Press MENU and display the Playback menu tab.

The protect icon.

Tip The best way to delete images depends on how many you are deleting. • When deleting 100% of the images, use the All images on card choice or format the card (page 145). • When deleting less than 50%, use the Select and erase choice. • When deleting more than 50%, protect the images you want to save, and then use the All images on card choice to delete the rest. • If you use the RAW+JPEG format (page 25), deleting the displayed image deletes both formats.

● To protect selected images so they won’t be inadvertently erased, or to unprotect previously protected images, highlight Protect images, and press SET. Scroll through your saved images and press SET to protect or unprotect any image. (Protected images are marked with the protect icon at the top of the screen when the image is selected.) ● To rotate selected images, highlight Rotate, and press SET. Scroll through the images on your memory card and press SET one or more times to rotate any image to where you want it, or back to its original orientation. (To rotate images automatically, see the Auto rotate command on page 145). ● To erase selected images, highlight Erase images, and press SET, then with Select and erase images highlighted, press SET again. Scroll through images and press the up () or down () cross key to check any to be deleted, or uncheck any you previously checked. (Press Index/Reduce and Magnify to toggle between 1 or 3 images.) When finished selecting images, press the Erase button to delete them and select OK when asked to confirm the deletions. ● To erase all images, highlight Erase images, and press SET, then highlight All images on card and press SET again. Select OK when asked to confirm the deletion of all unprotected images. 2. Press the shutter button halfway down to return to shooting mode, or press MENU once to return to the menu or twice to hide it.


21


Selecting Image Quality

and

Size

Digital photographs are made up of millions of tiny squares called picture elhttp://www.photocourse.com/itext/pixelzoom/

ements—or just pixels. Like the impressionists who painted wonderful scenes with small dabs of paint, your computer and printer can use these tiny pixels to display or print photographs. To do so, the computer divides the screen or printed page into a grid of pixels. It then uses the values stored in the digital photograph to specify the brightness and color of each pixel in this grid—a http://www.photocourse.com/itext/dots/ form of painting by number. Click to see the effects of pixelization as an image is enlarged.

Click to see how dots are used in printing. An image that looks sharp and has smooth transitions in tones (top) is actually made up of millions of individual square pixels (bottom). Each pixel is a solid, uniform color.

Tip • The term “resolu-

tion” has two meanings in photography. Originally it referred to the ability of a camera system to resolve pairs of fine lines such as those found on a test chart. In this usage it’s an indicator of sharpness, not image size. With the introduction of digital cameras it began being used to indicate the number of pixels a camera could capture.

Number of Pixels The quality of a digital image depends in part on the number of pixels used to create the image (sometimes referred to as resolution). At a given size, more pixels add detail and sharpen edges. However, there are always size limits. When you enlarge any digital image enough, the pixels begin to show—an http://www.photocourse.com/itext/resolution/ effect called pixelization. This is not unlike traditional silver-based prints where grain begins to show when prints are enlarged past a certain point. Click to explore the original meaning of “resolution”.

22


Selecting Image Quality and Size When a digital image is displayed or printed at the correct size for the number of pixels it contains, it looks like a normal photograph. When enlarged too much (as is the eye here), its square pixels begin to show. Each pixel is a small square made up of a single color.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/imagesize/ Click to see how the output device determines image sizes.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/pixelresolution/ Click to explore how more pixels give sharper images.

The size of a photograph is specified in one of two ways—by its dimensions http://www.photocourse.com/itext/excel/math-imagesize.xls Click for an Excel worksheet you use to explore image sizes.

in pixels or by the total number of pixels it contains. For example, the same image can be said to have 4272 × 2848 pixels (where “×” is pronounced “by” as in “4272 by 2848”), or to contain 12.2 million pixels or megapixels (4272 multiplied by 2848).

Image sizes are expressed as dimensions in pixels (4272 × 2848) or by the total number of pixels (12.2 megapixels).

XSi Image Sizes •

The XSi gives you a choice of three image sizes: 4272 × 2848 (large), 3088 x 2056 (medium), and 2256 × 1504 (small).


23

Chapter 1. Camera Controls and Creativity How an Image is Captured Digital cameras are very much like the rapidly disappearing 35mm film cameras. Both types contain a lens, an aperture, and a shutter. The lens brings light from the scene into focus inside the camera so it can expose an image. The aperture is a hole that can be made smaller or larger to control the amount of light entering the camera. The shutter is a device that can be opened or closed to control the length of time the light is allowed to reach the image sensor. The big difference between traditional film cameras and digital cameras is how they capture the image. Instead of film, digital cameras use a solid-state device called an image sensor. The XSi’s image sensor is a CMOS chip. On the surface of this fingernail-sized silicon chip is a grid containing over 12 million photosensitive diodes called photosites, photoelements, or pixels. Each photosite captures a single pixel in the photograph to be.

An image sensor against a background enlargement of its square pixels, each capable of capturing one pixel in the final image.

The Exposure When you press the shutter button of a digital camera, an exposure system measures the light coming through the lens and sets the aperture and shutter speed for the correct exposure. When the shutter opens briefly, each pixel on the image sensor records the brightness of the light that falls on it by accumulating an electrical charge. The more light that hits a pixel, the higher the charge it records. Pixels capturing light from highlights in the scene will have high charges. Those capturing light from shadows will have low charges. When the shutter closes to end the exposure, the charge from each pixel is measured and converted into a digital number. This series of numbers is then used to reconstruct the image by setting the color and brightness of matching pixels on the screen or printed page. It’s All Black and White After All It may be surprising, but pixels on an image sensor can only capture brightness, not color. They record only the gray scale—a series of 256 increasingly darker tones ranging from pure white to pure black. How the camera creates a color image from the brightness recorded by each pixel is an interesting story.

The gray scale contains a range of tones from pure white to pure black.

When photography was first invented, it could only record black and white images. The search for color was a long and arduous process, and a lot of hand coloring went on in the interim (causing one photographer to comment “so you have to know how to paint after all!”). One major breakthrough was James Clerk Maxwell’s 1860 discovery that color photographs could be created using black and white film and red, blue, and green filters. He had the photographer Thomas Sutton photograph a tartan ribbon three times, each time with a different color filter over the lens. The three black and white images were then projected onto a screen with three different projectors, each equipped with the same color filter used to take the image being projected. When brought into alignment, the three images formed a full-color photograph. Over a century later, image sensors work much the same way.

24


Selecting Image Quality and Size Colors in a photographic image are usually based on the three primary colors red, green, and blue (RGB). This is called the additive color system because when the three colors are combined or added in equal quantities, they form white. This RGB system is used whenever light is projected to form colors as it is on the display monitor (or in your eye).

RGB uses additive colors. When all three are mixed in equal amounts they form white. When red and green overlap they form yellow, and so on.

Since daylight is made up of red, green, and blue light; placing red, green, and blue filters over individual pixels on the image sensor can create color images just as they did for Maxwell in 1860. Using a process called interpolation, the camera computes the full color of each pixel by combining the color it captured directly with the other two colors captured by the pixels around it. How well it does this is affected in part by the image size, quality and format you select. The XSi allows you to have two different image size/quality/format settings in use at the same time:

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/RGB/ Click to explore how three colors are used to create full-color images on the screen.

• Basic Zone modes (page 38), including Auto, are treated as a group. A change in any of these modes changes all of them. If you switch to any Creative Zone mode, the settings change to the new zone’s settings.

• Creative Zone modes (page 38) are treated as a group. A change in any of these modes affects all of them. If you switch to any Basic Zone mode, the sethttp://www.photocourse.com/itext/CMYK/ tings change to the new zone’s settings. Click to explore how three colors are used to create full-color prints.

Choosing Image Size and Quality The size of an image file and the quality of the picture it contains depends in part on the image’s size (the number of pixels), quality (the amount of http://www.photocourse.com/itext/compression/ compression), and format (JPEG or RAW). The XSi lets you select any of the combinations listed in the table below that describes each setting’s pixel diClick here to see the effects of compression. mensions, approximate file size, and the number that will fit on a 2 Gigabyte memory card. (You file sizes will vary somewhat depending on the subject matter and camera settings you use.)

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/RAW/ Click here to explore the differences between JPEG and RAW formats.

Size

Quality

Pixels

File Size (MB)

Number

Large

Fine

4,272 x 2,848

4.3

460

Large

Normal

4,272 x 2,848

2.2

880

Medium

Fine

3,088 x 2,056

2.5

770

Medium

Normal

3,088 x 2,056

1.3

1470

Small

Fine

2,256 x 1,504

1.6

1190

Small

Normal

2,256 x 1,504

0.8

2290

RAW

—

4,272 x 2,848

15.3

120

RAW+JPEG

—

4,272 x 2,848

15.3+4.3

99

Since good prints can be made using 200 pixels per inch you can calculate that a 4272 x 2848 pixel image will make a good 21 x 14 inch (53 x 36 cm) print. Although you may not want to make many prints this large, large image sizes also let you crop more while preserving image quality. A high capacity card lets you store the largest possible images without worrying as much about running out of storage space. Courtesy of SanDisk.

• Images are normally stored in a format called JPEG after its developer, the Joint Photographic Experts Group and pronounced “jay-peg.” This file format not only compresses images, it also allows you to specify how much they are compressed—Fine mode uses less compression than Normal mode. This is a useful feature because there is a trade-off between compression and image quality. Less compression gives you better images so you can make larger


25

Chapter 1. Camera Controls and Creativity prints. The only downside is that you can’t store as many images because file sizes are larger. • In addition to JPEG images, the XSi also let’s you use a RAW format in Creative Zone modes. Images captured in this format are often better than JPEGs because they are not processed in the camera, but on your more powerful desktop computer. There big advantage is that RAW files contain every bit of the captured image data, unlike JPEGs which are processed in the camera with some data being permanently discarded. RAW files are 4272 x 2848 pixels in size and can be viewed, edited, and converted to other formats using most photo-editing software such as Photoshop or Lightroom or Canon’s own Digital Photo Professional program included on a CD that comes with the camera. RAW images can be captured by themselves or with a companion Large/Fine JPEG file. The later choice gives you an identical high quality RAW file and a smaller, more easily distributable file with the same names but different extensions—.CR2 and .JPG. Selecting Image Size & Quality

Image sizes are indicated by letters L, M, and S (large, medium, and small). Compression modes are indicated with pie-slicelike icons. Fine mode has a smooth edge and Normal mode has a rough stair-step edge.

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode (or to any mode in the Creative Zone if selecting RAW), press MENU and display the Shooting 1 menu tab. 2. Highlight Quality and press SET to display a list of quality choices. 3. Highlight one of the choices and press SET to select it. (RAW modes are only displayed when the camera is set to one of the Creative Zone modes.) 4. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu. When choosing between JPEG and RAW formats, here are some things to consider about each format. There are a number of advantages to using the RAW format: • Images in this format used to require an extra processing step but since the latest programs such as Aperture and Lightroom were designed from the ground up after RAW formats were introduced they handle them as easily as they handle JPEGs.

Tip • As you highlight an image quality, the image’s size in megapixels, dimensions in pixels, and number of shots that will fit on the card are displayed above.

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• RAW lets you decide on most camera settings after you’ve taken the picture, not before. For example, when you shoot a JPEG image under fluorescent lights, the camera adjusts the image to remove the yellow-green tint. Any changes you make later are on top of this initial change. If you shoot the image in RAW format, the camera just captures the images as is and you decide what white balance setting to use later. You can even create different versions of an image, each with its own white balance. The only camera settings that permanently affect the image are focus, the shutter speed and aperture, and the ISO setting. • RAW images can be processed again at a later date when new and improved applications become available. Your original image isn’t permanently altered by today’s generation of photo-editing applications.


Selecting Image Quality and Size • You can generate alternate versions of the same RAW image. For example, you can adjust highlight and shadow areas and save these versions separately. Using a photo-editing program, you can then combine the two images as layers and by selectively erasing parts of the top image layer let areas of the lower image layer show through so all areas have a perfect exposure. Admittedly, there are drawbacks to using RAW images. • You can’t print RAW images directly from the camera or add them to a digital print order form (page 152). • RAW files are quite large. If you use this format a great deal you will need more storage space in the camera and on the computer, and computer processing times may be slightly longer. • When shooting images, you may have to wait longer between shots and you can’t shoot as many images in a continuous burst. The buffer gets filled more quickly and the camera is tied up longer processing the images you take, and moving them from the buffer to the memory card. • Since RAW images aren’t converted to a viewable format in the camera, you have to process them on the computer and export them in a usable format when you want to e-mail them, post them on a Web site, print them, or import them into another program to create a slide show or publication. When you are done shooting for the day, there is still work to do. • RAW images can only be viewed and edited on a computer using a program such as Adobe’s Photoshop or Lightroom that supports the format. Since each camera company has defined its own proprietary RAW format, many operating systems and even photo-editing programs are unable to recognize some or all of these files. For this reason camera manufacturers always supply a program to process RAW images along with their cameras—in the case of the XSi it’s the Digital Photo Professional program. Tip • Because you can’t add pixels later without reducing image quality, or remove the effects of compression after the fact, it’s usually best to use the RAW format or at least the largest available JPEG size (L) with the highest quality (Fine). This ensures your photos will have the highest quality the camera can produce. If you have to reduce the size of an image later, perhaps to e-mail it or post it on the Web, you can do so with a photo-editing program. Unfortunately it’s a one-way street and you can’t go the other way—enlarging a small file—without a loss of quality. If you shoot images with lower quality setting, you can never really improve them much or get larger, sharper prints if you want them. The only problem with this approach is that higher quality images have larger file sizes so you’re not able to store as many images on your memory card. Sometimes when there is no storage space left, you can switch to a smaller size and lower quality to squeeze a few more images onto the card.


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Chapter 2. Controlling Exposure

Chapter 2 Controlling Exposure

Contents • Understanding Exposure • The Shutter and Aperture • Choosing Shooting Modes • Using Image Zone Modes • Using Program AE and Program Shift • Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode • Using Aperture Priority (Av) Mode • Using Manual (M) Mode • How Your Exposure System Works • When Automatic Exposure Works Well • When to Override Automatic Exposure • How Overriding Auto-exposure Works • How to Override Automatic Exposure • Using Histograms

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A

utomatic exposure control is one of the most useful features of your camera. It’s great to have the camera automatically deal with the exposure while you concentrate on the image. This is especially helpful when photographing action scenes where there isn’t time to evaluate the situation and set the controls manually. You shouldn’t, however, always leave the exposure to the automatic system. At times the lighting can fool an automatic exposure system into producing an underexposed (too dark) or overexposed (too light) image. Although you can make adjustments to a poorly exposed image in a photo-editing program, you’ve lost image information in the shadows or highlights that can’t be recovered. You will find it better in some situations to override the automatic exposure system at the time you take the picture. Using the camera’s histogram feature discussed in this chapter is the surest route to perfect exposures. Typical situations in which you might want to override automatic exposure include scenes with interesting and unusual lighting. For example, you need to take control when photographing a variety of scenes including a light subject against a dark background, a dark subject against a light background, into the sun, a colorful sunset, a snow-covered landscape, or a dark forest.


Understanding Exposure

Understanding Exposure The most creative controls you have with any camera are the shutter speed http://www.photocourse.com/itext/exposure/ Click here to explore how changes in the exposure make pictures lighter or darker.

and aperture settings. Both affect the exposure, the total amount of light reaching the image sensor, and thus control how light or dark a picture is.

• The shutter opens to begin an exposure and closes to end it. The shutter speed setting specifies how long the shutter is open and the image sensor is exposed to light.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/focalplane/ • The aperture is the hole through which light enters the camera. The size of Click here to watch a focal plane shutter expose an image.

The XSi’s focal plane shutter uses two curtains—one opens to begin the exposure and the second closes to end it. At shutter speeds faster than 1/200 the two curtains form a slit traveling across the image sensor.

the hole can be changed to control the brightness of the light that enters.

When you press the shutter button, a metering system measures the light coming through the lens and sets the aperture and shutter speed for the correct exposure.

In the early days of photography, plates called waterhouse stops, were inserted into a slot in the lens to control the amount of light entering the camera. These stops had holes of various sizes drilled in them and they acted just like the adjustable iris apertures used today. A lens cap was removed from the lens to begin the exposure and replaced to end it—a primitive version of a shutter. This old wooden camera is surrounded by a number of waterhouse stops (apertures) and a lens cap (the shutter) leans against it. Photo by Ake Borgstrom at www.photographica.nu.


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The Shutter Controls Light

and

Motion

The shutter keeps light out of the camera except during an exposure, when it opens to let light strike the image sensor. In respect to just exposure, faster shutter speeds let less strike the image sensor so the image is darker. Slower speeds let in more so it’s lighter. As the shutter speed gets slower, the image gets lighter. The reason you don’t usually see this effect in your images is because when you or the camera change the shutter speed, the camera changes the aperture to keep the exposure constant.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/G-shutters/ Click to explore the various types of shutters used in digital cameras.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/speedseries/ Click to explore the effect of shutter speed on exposure.

Katie turned a little just as the shutter opened causing unwanted blur in the image.

In addition to controlling exposure, the shutter speed is the most important control you have over how motion is captured in a photograph. The longer the shutter is open, the more a moving subject will be blurred in the picture Also, the longer it’s open the more likely you are to cause blur by moving the camera slightly. Although you normally want to avoid blur in your images there are times when you may want to use it creatively. 30


The Shutter Controls Light and Motion A fast shutter speed (left) opens and closes the shutter so quickly a moving subject doesn’t move very far during the exposure. A slow speed (right) can allow moving objects to move sufficiently to blur their image on the image sensor.

Tip • To get faster shutter speeds, increase the ISO (page 62). To get slower shutter speeds, use a neutral density filter (page 108).

Shutter Speeds 1/4000 1/3200 1/2500 1/2000 1/1600 1/1250 1/1000 1/800 1/640 1/500 1/400 1/320 1/250 1/200 1/160 1/125 1/100 1/80

1/60 1/50 1/40 1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/13 1/10 1/8 1/6 1/5 1/4 0”3 0”4 0”5 0”6 0”8

1” 1”3 1”6 2” 2”5 3”2 4” 5” 6” 8” 10” 13” 15” 20” 25” 30”

Although digital cameras can select any fraction of a second for an exposure, there are a series of settings that have traditionally been used when you set it yourself (which you can’t do in many shooting modes). These shutter speed settings, shown in bold to the left, are arranged in a sequence so that each setting lets in half as much light as the next slowest setting and twice as much as the next fastest. The XSi adds two stops between each of the traditional ones—shown in the table without boldfacing. This allows you to adjust exposure in one-third stop increments for finer exposure control. • Speeds faster than 1 second are fractions of a second. On the monitor they are displayed as fractions. However, the viewfinder displays only the denominator, sometimes with a quotation mark (”) indicating a decimal point. For example 1/3 second is displayed as 0“3. At shutter speeds of 1/4 second and higher no quote marks are used. For example, 1/4000 is shown as 4000. • Speeds of 1 second or slower are whole seconds and are shown on the monitor and in the viewfinder as numbers with quotation marks (“). For example, 2 seconds is displayed as 2”. The Way It Was: Early Shutter Designs

• The shutter, used to control the amount of time that light exposes the image sensor, has changed considerably over the years. The earliest cameras, using imaging materials that might take minutes to be properly exposed, came http://www.photocourse.com/itext/shutterspeed/ with a lens cap that the photographer removed to begin the exposure and then Click to explore how the replaced to end it. As film became more sensitive to light and exposure times shutter speed affects became shorter, faster shutters were needed. One kind used a swinging plate the capture of moving while another design used a guillotine-like blade. As the swinging plate or blade subjects. moved past the lens opening, a hole allowed light to briefly reach the film. The speed at which it moved determined the shutter speed.


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The Aperture Controls Light

and

Depth

of

Field

The aperture adjusts the size of the opening through which light passes to the http://www.photocourse.com/itext/G-apertures/ Click here to explore the standard series of apertures and the aperture’s effects on exposure.

image sensor. The aperture can be opened up to let in more light or closed (stopped down) to let in less. In respect to just exposure, smaller apertures let less light strike the image sensor so the image is darker. Larger apertures let in more, so it’s lighter.

As the aperture number gets smaller (for example, from f/8 to f/5.6) the aperture opening gets larger and the image gets lighter. The reason you don’t usually see this effect in your images is because when you or the camera change the aperture, the camera changes the shutter speed to keep the exposure constant.

The aperture is a series of overlapping leaves located between the glass elements in the lens.

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As with the shutter speed, the aperture also affects the sharpness of your picture, but in a different way. Changing the aperture changes the depth of field, the depth in a scene from foreground to background that will be sharp in a photograph. Smaller apertures increase depth of field while larger ones decrease it. For some pictures—for example, a landscape—you may want a smaller aperture for maximum depth of field so that everything from near foreground to distant background is sharp. But perhaps in a portrait you will want a larger aperture to decrease the depth of field so your subject is sharp but the background is soft and out of focus. For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

The Aperture Controls Light and Depth of Field A small aperture increases depth of field so foreground and background are sharp (top) and a large aperture decreases depth of field so the background is soft (bottom).

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/DOF/ Click here to explore how the aperture affects depth of field.

Tip • As you change the aperture you don’t see the image get lighter and darker because in all modes, other than manual, the camera offsets the change by selecting a new shutter speed to keep the exposure constant.

• To get smaller

apertures, increase the ISO (page 62). To get larger apertures, use a neutral density filter (page 108).

F/Stops f/1.4 f/1.6 f/1.8 f/2.0 f/2.2 f/2.6 f/2.8 f/3.2 f/3.6

f/4.0 f/4.5 f/5.0 f/5.6 f/6.3 f/7.0 f/8.0 f/9.0 f/10

f/11 f/13 f/14 f/16 f/18 f/20 f/22

The EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens is currently one of Canon’s fastest lenses.

Aperture settings are called f/stops and indicate the size of the aperture opening. From the largest possible opening to increasingly smaller ones, the f/stops have traditionally been those shown in boldface to the left but the range of stops varies from lens to lens. Each of these bold f/stops lets in half as much light as the next larger opening and twice as much light as the next smaller opening. Notice that as the f/stop number gets larger (f/4 to f/5.6, for example), the aperture size gets smaller. This may be easier to remember if you think of the f/number as a fraction: 1/8 is less than 1/4, just as the size of the f/8 lens opening is smaller that the size of the f/4 opening. Many highend digital cameras like the XSi add two stops between each of the traditional ones. This allows you to adjust exposure in one-third stop increments for finer exposure control. How wide you can open the aperture depends on the len’s maximum aperture—its widest opening. The term “fast lens” applies to lenses that can be opened to a wide maximum aperture. For example, a lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 opens wider, and is faster, than a lens with a maximum aperture of f/5.6. Faster lenses are better when photographing in dim light or photographing fast moving subjects. With most, but not all, zoom lenses the maximum aperture changes as you zoom the lens. It will be larger when zoomed out to a wide angle, and smaller when zoomed in to enlarge a subject.


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Using Shutter Speed

In this book and the animations, apertures are represented by these realistic icons with a small aperture (left) and a large one (right).

and

Aperture Together

When taking photos, one of the first decisions you make is which shooting mode to use. Your choice determines if you control the aperture or shutter speed. If your shooting mode lets you select them, you can pair a fast shutter speed (to let in light for a short time) with a large aperture (to let in bright light) or a slow shutter speed (long time) with a small aperture (dim light). Speaking of exposure only, it doesn’t make any difference which combination you use. But in other ways, it does, and it is just this difference that gives you creative opportunities. Whether you know it or not, you’re always balancing camera or subject movement against depth of field because a change in one causes a change in the other. Let’s see why. As you’ve seen, shutter speeds and apertures each have a standard series of settings called “stops.” The stops are arranged so that a change of 1 stop lets in half or twice the light of the next setting.

In this book and the animations, shutter speeds are represented by these symbolic icons with a fast shutter speed (left) and a slow one (right). The cut out “pie slice” indicates how far an imaginary second hand would sweep.

When you press the shutter button halfway down, check the readouts in the viewfinder. If the aperture or shutter speed are blinking, you have exceeded the camera’s ability to get a good exposure. In low light you may have to pick a larger aperture, slower shutter speed, higher ISO or use flash. In bright light, you may have to use a smaller aperture, faster shutter speed or lower ISO.

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• With shutter speeds, each stop is a second or more, or a fraction of a second indicating how long the shutter is open. A shutter speed of 1/60 second lets in half the light that 1/30 second does, and twice the light of 1/125 second. • With apertures they are f/stops indicating the size of the opening through which light enters. An aperture of f/5.6 lets in half the light that f/4 does, and twice the light of f/8. If you make the shutter speed 1 stop slower (letting in 1 stop more light), and an aperture 1 full stop smaller (letting in 1 stop less light), the exposure doesn’t change. However, although the exposure is the same, the slower shutter speed increases the possibility of blur from camera or subject movement and the smaller aperture increases depth of field slightly. A one-stop change like this has only a small effect, but a 3 or 4 stop change can be dramatic. For example with a three stop change the shutter speed might drop from 1/125 to 1/15 and the aperture might stop-down from f/2.8 to f/11. The effects of those changes on blur and depth of field would be very noticeable. • For fast-moving subjects you need a fast shutter speed such as 1/500 to freeze the action, or a slow one such as 1/15 to seriously blur it (although the focal length of the lens you are using, the closeness of the subject, and the direction in which it’s moving also affect how motion is portrayed). When photographing moving subjects shutter-priority (Tv) mode (page 41) is favored because it gives you direct control over the shutter speed. • For maximum depth of field, with the entire scene sharp from near to far, you need a small aperture, and for shallow depth of field you need a large one (although the focal length of the lens and the distance to the subject also affects depth of field—page 65). When photographing landscapes and portraits aperture-priority (Av) mode (page 42) or A-Dep mode (page 75) are favored because they give you direct control over the aperture and depth of field.


Using Shutter Speed and Aperture Together

Tips • To be sure you are always using the fastest possible shutter speed, set the camera to aperture-priority (Av) mode and select the aperture you need for depth of field. The camera then always selects the fastest possible shutter speed. • To be sure you are always using the largest possible aperture, set the camera to shutter-priority (Tv) mode and pick the shutter speed you need to freeze or blur motion. The camera then always selects the largest possible aperture.

For larger apertures or slower shutter speeds, use a screw on neutral density filter that cuts the light entering the lens (page 108).

Exposure—Faucets & Buckets Analogy One way to think of how apertures and shutter speeds relate is to use the analogy of a faucet for the aperture and a timer for the shutter speed. • When you open a faucet all the way, water gushes out so you fill a bucket in a very short time. This is the same as pairing a large aperture and fast shutter speed to let in bright light for a short time. • When you open a faucet just a little, water trickles out and so it takes a much longer time to fill a bucket. This is the same as pairing a small aperture and slow shutter speed to let in dim light for a longer time. No matter which combination you choose, the bucket can be filled the same amount. Likewise, an image in a camera can be exposed the same amount by various aperture and shutter speed combinations while also controlling motion and depth of field.

1. We start with the aperture set to f/16 and the shutter speed to 1/30.

2. When you open the aperture one stop to f/11 the shutter speed has to decrease to 1/60 to keep the exposure the same. This change decreases depth of field slightly and freezes action better.

3. When you open the aperture another stop to f/8 the shutter speed has to decrease another stop to 1/125. This change decreases depth of field even more and freezes action even better.

The Way It Was: Early Apertures • A variety of designs in the past century and a half have enabled photographers to change the size of the lens opening. A form of the iris diaphragm, used in today’s cameras, was used as early as the 1820s by Joseph Nicephore Niepce, one of the inventors of photography. Waterhouse stops, used in the 1850s were a series of blackened metal plates with holes of different sizes cut in them. To change apertures the photographer chose the appropriate plate and slid it into a slot in the lens barrel. With wheel stops, different size apertures were cut into a revolving plate. The photographer changed the size of the aperture by rotating the plate to align the desired opening with the lens. For smaller apertures or faster shutter speeds, increase the ISO (page 62).


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Chapter 2. Controlling Exposure Exposure—Seesaw Analogy http://www.photocourse.com/itext/seesaw/ Click to explore the relationship between the aperture and shutter speed.

Another way to think of exposure is as a seesaw. As one child rises a given distance, the other falls by the same amount but their average distance from the ground is always the same. In photography, when you or the camera changes the aperture or shutter speed to let in more or less light, you or the camera must also change the other setting in the opposite direction to keep the exposure constant. The illustrations below show how a change in the aperture setting must be matched by a change in the shutter speed and vice versa. As these offsetting changes are made, the exposure stays constant but depth of field changes slightly and subjects are more or less likely to be frozen.

1. Here the aperture is f/4 and the shutter speed is 1/125.

2. If you reduce the aperture one stop to f/5.6 the shutter speed has to decrease one stop to 1/60 to keep the exposure the same.

3. If you reduce the aperture one more stop to f/8 the shutter speed has to decrease one more stop to 1/30 to keep the exposure the same.

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Retaining Highlight and Shadow Details

Retaining Highlight

and

Shadow Details

Knowing how to control exposure is one of the most important aspects of http://www.photocourse.com/itext/exposure/ Click here to explore how changes in the exposure make pictures lighter or darker.

photography. When a scene has both very light and very dark areas, getting the perfect exposure is a lot like parking a large car in a small garage—there isn’t a great deal of room for error. The goal is to hold details in both the darkest and lightest areas so pure white is used only for spectral highlights such as reflections and pure black is used only for small areas of the scene that are black with no details.

In this scene there are details in all of the whites that give them texture and form. The small white square has been added to give you a reference to what pure white would look like.

One of the things that makes an Ansel Adams print so stunning was his ability to hold details in both the brightest and darkest parts of a scene. To do this with film he developed the Zone System that guided him in adjusting exposure and development times for the best results. Today the adjustments are made with programs such as Photoshop.

In this scene there are details in the darkest shadows. The small black square has been added to give you a reference to what pure black would look like.


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Choosing Shooting Modes Your XSi offers thirteen shooting modes. All give equally good results in the vast majority of photographic situations. However, when you photograph in a specific situation, one of the modes may have unique advantages.

The Mode Dial indicates Basic Zone modes with icons and Creative Zone modes with text.

The shooting modes are divided into two types, or zones—Basic Zone and Creative Zone. Each zone has a number of modes you can select by turning the Mode Dial on top of the camera. Basic Zone modes are indicated with picture-like icons and Creative Zone modes with text (P, TV, Av, M, and A-DEP). Let’s take a look at these two zones and the modes they include.

Basic Zone modes include Full Auto, which we’ve already discussed (page 9), and six Image Zone modes designed for specific situations. These modes including Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait and Flash Off http://www.photocourse.com/itext/modedial/ are discussed in detail on page 39. You can’t change many settings in these Click to see why you modes (see the table on pages 17–18). change exposure modes.

Tips • In some situations, your pictures can be too light or too dark in any shooting mode. To darken or lighten them, use exposure compensation (page 53).

Creative Zone modes give you more control of shutter speed, aperture, and other important color, ISO, and exposure settings for creative effects. • P (Program AE) is like Full Auto, but you can change many more settings and use program shift to easily select different pairs of aperture/shutter speed settings to control how depth of field or motion is captured (page 40). • Tv (shutter-priority AE) lets you choose the shutter speed, while the camera automatically sets the aperture to give you a good exposure. You select this mode when the portrayal of motion is most important. It lets you set your shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action or slow enough to blur it (page 41).

• Check the shutter speed and aperture in the viewfinder when you press the shutter button halfway down. If either is blinking, the camera doesn’t have the right exposure setting. To see how to adjust it, read the sections that follow.

• Av (aperture-priority AE) lets you select the aperture (lens opening) while the camera automatically sets the shutter speed to give you a good exposure. You select this mode whenever depth of field is most important. To be sure everything is sharp, as in a landscape, select a small aperture. To throw the background out of focus so a main subject such as a portrait stands out, select a large aperture (page 42).

• In Basic Zone modes, the Auto Lighting Optimizer automatically adjusts an image’s brightness and contrast. You can also turn it on and off (the default) in Creative Zone modes using Custom Function 06 (page 148). Even when on, it doesn’t work in Manual Mode or with the RAW image format.

• A-DEP (Auto Depth-of-field Priority) evaluates all of the active focus points and selects an aperture that gives enough depth of field to keep all of them in focus (page 75).

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• M (manual) lets you choose both the shutter speed and aperture so you can get just the setting you want. Most photographers select this mode only when other modes won’t give them the results they want (page 43).

Knowing how to use these various modes gives you amazing creative control over your images. Because these are the most important controls in your creative arsenal, we’ll look at them in depth in the pages that follow. Changing Shooting Modes ● Turn the Mode Dial so the setting you want to use aligns with the small white marker.


Using Image Zone Modes

Using Image Zone Modes The Mode Dial’s six point-and-shoot Image Zone modes work just like Full Auto, but each is set for a specific situation. For example, in Portrait mode the camera selects a large aperture for shallow depth of field so the background is out of focus and softer. In Landscape mode, it does the opposite and selects a small aperture to give you as much depth of field as possible. (For more on the concepts of depth of field, see Chapter 3.) In all Image Zone modes, the metering mode is set to evaluative (page 46). ISO (page 62) is set to Auto so it varies between 100–400 depending on how bright the scene is. Portrait and Sports modes have drive set to continuous (page 139) so you can take pictures one after another as long as you hold down the shutter button. This makes is more likely you’ll capture a fleeting expression or action you might miss with a single shot. Also, Picture Styles are set to boost color saturation, contrast, and sharpness for sharper, more vivid images (page 140).

Image Zone icons.

• Portrait softens flesh tones and hair and sets the camera for continuous shooting (page 139) and minimum depth of field so portraits have a soft, and less distracting, background. To maximize the soft background, zoom in or use a long lens so the subject fills most of the viewfinder, and get as much distance as possible between the main subject and the background. • Landscape sets the camera for maximum depth of field so everything is sharp from foreground to background and increases the saturation of blues and greens. Since a slow shutter speed may be used in this mode, you may need to support the camera (page 61). This mode works best with a short focal length (wide-angle) lens, and the built-in flash doesn’t fire in this mode so it’s a good mode for night scenes such as cityscapes. • Close-up is used to capture flowers and other small objects but isn’t a substitute for a macro lens (page 105). This mode works best when subjects are at the lens’ minimum focusing distance and you are zoomed in or using a long focal length lens.

Tips • In Image Zone modes, settings you can’t change are grayed out on the camera settings screen. • In some situations, your pictures can be too light or too dark in any shooting mode. To darken or lighten them, switch to a mode in the Creative Zone and use exposure compensation (page 53). • In Image Zone modes, all of the shooting buttons on the back right side of the camera, other than the Drive button, are disabled.

• Sports mode is ideal for action sports and other fast-moving subjects. Autofocus is set to AI Servo AF (page 69) to keep a moving subject in focus as long as it’s covered by one of the focus points. The built-in flash doesn’t fire in this mode. For best results zoom in on the subject or use a long focal length lens (page 103). • Night Portrait is designed for photographing people or other nearby subjects at twilight, night, or dawn. The flash illuminates foreground subjects and the shutter speed is set slow enough to lighten the background. Since a slow shutter speed may be used, you may need to support the camera (page 61). When taking a picture, be sure to hold the camera still until the shutter closes; don’t move it just because the flash fires because the shutter may still be open. Also, if people are in the foreground, ask them to freeze until a few seconds after the flash has fired. • Flash Off disables the built-in flash or any external Speedlite flash when you don’t want it to fire. Using Image Zone Modes ● Turn the Mode Dial so the icon for the Image Zone mode you want to use aligns with the small white marker.


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Using Program AE (P) Mode Tips • If the 30” shutter speed and largest aperture are blinking in the viewfinder, the image will be too dark. Use flash or a higher ISO. • If the 4000 shutter speed and smallest aperture are blinking, the image will be too light. Decrease the ISO or use a neutral density filter (page 108).

and

Program Shift

In Full Auto mode (page 9), your camera is automatically set to produce the best possible exposure. Program AE (P) mode is also fully automatic, but it let’s you change more settings, including all of those available in other Creative Zone modes. Using Program AE (P) Mode ● Turn the Mode Dial so P (for Program AE) aligns with the small white marker. One unique feature of Program AE mode is called program shift. This feature let’s you cycle through pairs of aperture/shutter speed settings that have equivalent exposures. By choosing the right pair you can emphasize depth of field (page 67) or motion capture (page 65, 67). If you are using flash, you cannot shift the program. Using Program Shift 1. With the Mode Dial set to P (for Program AE), and the flash closed, press the shutter button halfway down, and then release it to activate metering so the aperture and shutter speed are displayed. 2. Turn the Main Dial to scroll through aperture/shutter speed combinations displayed in the viewfinder and on the monitor until you find the combination you want to use. Be sure the shutter speed isn’t so slow you’ll get blur from camera or subject movement.

Program AE mode is so flexible it gives you the control you need for creative images.

3. Take the photo and the shifted program setting is cancelled if you release the shutter button and pause a few seconds. If you take another picture before metering turns off, you reuse the shifted settings. You can also hold the shutter button halfway down to keep the shifted setting from changing. When ready, release the shutter button then press it down again to focus and take the picture. One reason to use program shift is that it prevents you from choosing settings that exceed your camera’s exposure limits. In shutter-priority (Tv) and aperture-priority (Av) mode it’s possible to select a setting that can’t be matched. For example, you may pick an aperture that’s so large the camera doesn’t have a shutter speed that’s fast enough to prevent overexposure. Although aperture-priority and shutter-priority modes warn you when this happens (page 41–42), you may not notice the warning. Following are some of the situations you avoid when using programmed shift.

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When you select a...

There may be...

Result

Large aperture

No shutter speed that’s fast enough

Overexposure

Small aperture

No shutter speed that’s slow enough

Underexposure

Slow shutter speed

No aperture that’s small enough

Overexposure

Fast shutter speed

No aperture that’s large enough

Underexposure


Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode

Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode When controlling motion is the most important goal, you use shutter-priority, what Canon calls time-value (Tv) mode, so you can set the shutter speed directly. Although digital cameras can select any fraction of a second for an exposure, there are a series of settings that have traditionally been used when you set it yourself (shown boldfaced in the table on page 31). The XSi has two additional shutter speeds between each pair of traditional ones so you can change the shutter speed in one-third stops. When choosing a shutter speed, here are some things to be aware of: • Pressing the shutter button halfway down activates metering which then remains activated as long as you are changing the shutter speed, and for four seconds after you stop. • When metering is on, both the shutter speed and aperture are displayed in the viewfinder and on the monitor and when you change the shutter speed the matching aperture also changes on the display.

A fast shutter speed (top) opens and closes the shutter so quickly a moving subject doesn’t move very far during the exposure, a slow speed (bottom) can allow moving objects to move sufficiently to blur.

• When metering is off, the aperture matching the shutter speed you’ve selected isn’t displayed on the monitor and you can’t see either setting in the viewfinder. • Shutter speeds are displayed as described on page 31. • The range of selectable shutter speeds is from a slow 30 seconds to a fast 1/4000 in one-third stop increments. • There is a bulb setting available in M (manual) mode that keeps the shutter open as long as you hold down the shutter button (page 90). • If you can’t get a fast enough shutter speed, increase the camera’s ISO (page 62). If you can’t get a slow enough one, use a neutral density filter (page 108). • Custom Function 01 (page 148) changes exposure increments from 1/3rd to 1/2 stops. • When using the built-in flash, the fastest shutter speed you can select is 1/200 (page 112).

Pointer icons on the monitor indicate you can turn the Main Dial to adjust settings.

Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode 1. With the Mode Dial set to Tv (time value) press the shutter button halfway down and then release it to activate metering. 2. Turn the Main Dial to select a shutter speed as you watch the viewfinder or monitor. If the aperture value isn’t blinking, the exposure is OK. However;

Shooting down from an upper level at the Guggenheim Museum, a very slow shutter speed froze the people who were standing, and blurred those who were walking.

● If the lens’ largest aperture (smallest f/number) blinks, the image may be underexposed and too dark so turn the Main Dial to select a slower shutter speed. ● If the lens’ smallest aperture value (largest f/number) blinks, the image may be overexposed and too light so turn the Main Dial to select a faster shutter speed. 3. Take the picture.


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Using Aperture-Priority (Av) Mode

f/2

f/3.5

As the aperture number gets smaller, the lens opening gets larger.

When controlling depth of field is the most important goal, you use aperturepriority (Av) mode, which Canon calls aperture value, so you can set the aperture directly. Aperture settings, called f/stops, indicate the size of the aperture opening inside the lens. In the traditional series of f/stops (shown boldfaced in the table on page 33), each full stop lets in half as much light as the next larger opening and twice as much light as the next smaller opening. The camera has two additional apertures between the traditional f/stops so you can adjust exposure in one-third stops. The range of apertures you have to choose from, including the maximum aperture (the widest opening), depends on the lens you are using. Lenses with large maximum apertures are better when the light is dim, or you are photographing fast moving subjects because they let you use faster shutter speeds. Their only disadvantages are that they are generally heavier and cost more than slower lenses. When choosing an aperture, here are some things to be aware of:

Great depth of field keeps everything sharp from the foreground to the background.

• Pressing the shutter button halfway down activates metering which then remains activated as long as you are changing the aperture, and for four seconds after you stop. • When metering is on, both the aperture and shutter speed are displayed in the viewfinder and on the monitor and when you change the aperture the matching shutter speed also changes on the display. • When metering is off, the shutter speed matching the aperture you’ve selected isn’t displayed on the monitor and you can’t see either setting in the viewfinder. • To check depth-of-field in the viewfinder when using a Creative Zone mode, press the depth-of-field preview button (page 68).

A shallow depth of field can make part of an image stand out sharply against a softer background. This emphasizes the sharpest part of the image.

• If you can’t get a small enough aperture, increase the ISO (page 62). If you can’t get a large enough one, use a neutral density filter (page 108). • When using flash in Av mode, you can set Custom Function 02 (page 148) to fix the shutter speed at 1/200 and prevent a slow shutter speed when photographing in dim light. This will help you avoid blur caused by camera or subject movement. • Custom Function 01 (page 148) changes exposure increments from 1/3rd to 1/2 stops. Using Aperture-Priority (Av) Mode 1. With the Mode Dial set to Av (aperture value), press the shutter button halfway down and then release it to activate metering.

Pointer icons on the monitor indicate you can turn the Main Dial to adjust settings.

2. Turn the Main Dial to select an aperture as you watch the viewfinder or monitor. If the shutter speed isn’t blinking, the exposure is OK. However; ● If the 30” shutter speed blinks, the image may be underexposed and too dark so turn the Main Dial to select a larger aperture. ● If the 4000 shutter speed blinks, the image may be overexposed and too light so turn the Main Dial to select a smaller aperture. 3. Take the picture.

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Using Manual (M) Mode

Using Manual (M) Mode Tips • The exposure level indicator doesn’t indicate how far under or over the recommended exposure you are unless metering is on. To turn it on, press and release the shutter button. • In M (Manual mode, the Auto Lighting Optimizer (page 148) doesn’t work. • You can’t use exposure compensation in M mode, and don’t need to. Just change the shutter speed or aperture to increase or decrease the exposure from that recommended by the camera.

When you want total and absolute control over exposures, you can switch to manual shooting mode. In this mode, you manually select both the shutter speed and aperture setting. Since automatic exposure combined with exposure compensation (page 53) is so easy to use, most photographer’s only resort to manual mode in those rare situations where other modes can’t give them the results they want. For example, you may use this mode when photographing a series of images for a panorama or animated GIF where you don’t want the exposure to change from one shot to the next. Pressing the shutter button halfway down activates metering and it remains activated as long as you are changing the aperture or shutter speed, and for four seconds after you stop. • When metering is on, a bar under the exposure level indicator shows you how much you are under (-) or over (+) exposed. If the bar under the indicator flashes at the -2 or +2 end of the scale it means you are off by more than two stops. • When metering is off, the exposure level indicator is also not active. Using Manual (M) Mode 1. With the Mode Dial set to M (manual), press the shutter button halfway down and then release it to activate metering so the exposure level indicator shows how much you are over or under the recommended exposure. 2. As you watch the viewfinder or monitor: ● Turn the Main Dial by itself to select a shutter speed. ● Hold down the Av/Exposure Compensation button as you turn the Main Dial to select an aperture.

Manual mode is often used when doing studio-like shots where you want to rearrange subjects without affecting the exposure, or you know the right exposure for the main subject, but want to try variations in lighting on the background.

3. If the marker below the exposure level indicator is centered (0), your settings are giving you the exposure recommended by the camera. (You may have to press the shutter button halfway down to activate metering.) ● If the indicator is on the minus (-) side of the scale, you are underexposing and darkening the image. To lighten it, select a slower shutter speed or larger aperture. ● If the indicator is on the plus side (+) you are overexposing and lightening the image. To darken it, select a faster shutter speed or smaller aperture. 4. Take the picture.

The AV/Exposure Compensation button.

The exposure level indicator.


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How Your Exposure System Works All exposure systems, including the one built into your XSi, operate on the same general principles. A light-sensitive photocell regulates the amount of electricity flowing in the exposure system. As the intensity of the light reflected from the subject changes, the amount of electricity flowing through the photocell’s circuits changes. These changes are then used by the autoexposure system to calculate and set the shutter speed and aperture. Your camera’s meter measures light reflecting from the part of the scene shown in the viewfinder. The coverage of the meter (the amount of the scene that it includes in its reading) changes, just as your viewfinder image changes, when you change your distance relative to the scene or when you change the focal length of the lens. Suppose you move close or zoom in and see in your viewfinder only a detail in the scene, one that is darker or lighter than other objects nearby. The suggested aperture and shutter speed settings will be different for the detail than they are for the overall scene. Meter Averaging and Middle Gray Your exposure meter doesn’t “see” a scene the same way you see it. Its view is much like yours would be if you were looking through a piece of frosted glass. Your meter sees scenes as if it were looking at them through a piece of frosted glass. It doesn’t see details, just averages.

Where you see a checkerboard-like pattern (top), your camera sees only an average gray (bottom).

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Every scene you photograph contains a range of tones like the scene (top left). Portions of it are pure black, pure white, and every possible tone in between. The exposure system in your camera can’t think about the scene or make decisions about it. Regardless of the scene’s subject matter, color, brightness, or composition, the system just measures the overall brightness—how light or dark it is. It then sets the aperture and the shutter speed needed to render this average level of brightness as “middle gray” in the photograph. Most of the time this works very well because most scenes have an overall reflectance that averages out to middle gray. But some scenes and situations don’t and that’s when autoexposure will lead you astray. So what is middle gray? For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

How Your Exposure System Works Most scenes contain a continuous spectrum of tones, ranging from pure black http://www.photocourse.com/itext/frostedglass/ Click to see how your exposure system sees a scene.

at one end to pure white at the other. In a photograph an approximation of this continuous scale is made up of a series of discrete tones—the gray scale. When shooting JPEGs there are 256 tones in the scale (28) and when shooting RAW images there are 16,384 (214). The tone in the middle of these ranges is middle gray and reflects exactly 18% of the light falling on it.

The gray scale captured in an image is a range of tones from pure black to pure white.

When you photograph a subject, your camera’s autoexposure system sets an exposure so that the subject appears in the final image with an average brightness of middle gray regardless of its actual brightness. When you photograph subjects that have an overall tone lighter or darker than middle gray, they will be middle gray in the final image and therefore look too light or dark. For example, if you photograph a white card, a gray card, and a black card, and each completely fills the viewfinder when the exposure is calculated, each of the cards will be middle gray in the captured image. White, gray, and black cards will all photograph as gray cards.

When you fill the screen with a gray card and press the shutter button halfway down, your camera will indicate the best exposure regardless of how light or dark the scene is.


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Chapter 2. Controlling Exposure To make scenes that don’t average out to middle gray appear in an image the way they appear in real life, you have to use exposure compensation (page 53) or some other form of exposure control to lighten or darken the picture. Types of Metering All parts of a scene are usually not equally important when determining the best exposure to use. In a landscape, for instance, the exposure of the foreground is usually more important than the exposure of the sky. For this reason, the Creative Zone offers various metering methods. • Evaluative metering (the default) divides the scene into 35 zones that the camera can link to any focus point. Each of the 35 zones is the same size and they are laid out in a 7 x 5 matrix. When using autofocus, the metering system gives special emphasis to the subject you’re focused on at the active AF point (page 70). This mode is the default because it’s ideal for general shooting conditions and backlit scenes. This is the only mode available in the Basic Zone. When used with manual focus (page 72), metering is based on the center AF point. This mode differs from the three that follow in one other respect. When using evaluative metering with One-Shot AF (the default), pressing the shutter button halfway down locks both exposure and focus. When using AI Servo AF, neither is locked and both are set when you take the picture. Any other combination of metering and focus (page 69) modes locks just focus. The areas metered (from top to bottom) include evaluative, center-weighted, partial and spot.

Metering mode icons displayed on the monitor include (clockwise from upper left) evaluative, centerweighted, partial and spot.

• Center-weighted average metering meters the entire scene but assigns the most importance to the center of the frame where the most important subjects are usually located. • Partial metering meters the part of the scene falling within the circle of AF points in the center of the viewfinder. This zone covers only 9% of viewfinder area so you can meter a specific part of the scene instead of relying on an overall reading. This mode is ideal when photographing a subject against a very dark or very light background. You can also meter any part of the scene and use AE Lock (page 53) to use that reading for the overall photo. • Spot metering meters 4% of the viewfinder area—the area within the viewfinder’s spot metering circle. This mode is similar to partial metering but is better when you want to base your exposure on an even smaller part of the scene. Metering can cause problems if the camera isn’t metering the main subject or when the main subject is very dark or light. For instance, a dark object located off center against a very light background may not be exposed properly if it is not located in the area the meter is emphasizing. These occasions are uncommon, but when they occur you can ensure accurate exposures using exposure compensation (page 53), AE Lock (page 53) and autoexposure bracketing (page 55). Changing the Metering Mode

The metering button on the cross keys.

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● With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, repeatedly press the Metering button on the cross keys to highlight the icon for the metering mode you want to use, then press SET.


When Automatic Exposure Works Well

When Automatic Exposure Works Well Most scenes that you photograph have an overall brightness of middle gray. Some areas of the scene may reflect 90% of the light and other parts may reflect 5%, but overall the average amount of light reflecting from the scene is 18%, the amount reflected by a middle gray subject. Whenever you photograph a normal scene with this average brightness, your automatic exposure system exposes it correctly. Typical middle gray scenes include the following: • Scenes in bright sunlight where the subject is front-lit by a sun that is behind you when you face the scene. • Scenes on overcast days or under diffused light, such as in the shade or in evenly-lit scenes indoors. This image has detail in the lightest (highlight) and darkest (shadow) areas. If just a little darker or a little lighter, details would be lost in the shadows or highlights.

Portraits in indirect light generally have the tones needed to get a good image without additional exposure adjustment.


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When

to

Override Automatic Exposure Let’s take a look at some of the most common situations where your automatic exposure system will have problems. It’s in these situations where you’ll need to override the suggested exposure settings. Scenes Lighter than Middle Gray Scenes lighter than middle gray, such as beach scenes, or bright sand or snow covered landscapes, reflect more than 18% of the light falling on them. The autoexposure system doesn’t know the scene should look bright so it calculates an exposure that produces an image that is too dark. To lighten the image so it matches the original scene, you must override the camera’s automatic exposure system to add exposure.

The snow scene here is typical of scenes that are lighter than middle gray. Most of the important tones in the scene are at the lighter end of the gray scale. The overall “average” tone would be about one stop brighter than middle gray. For a good picture you have to increase the exposure by one stop (+1) to lighten it. If you didn’t do this (top), the snow in the scene would appear too gray (bottom).

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When to Override Automatic Exposure Scenes Darker than Middle Gray Scenes that are darker than middle gray, such as deep shadows, dark foliage, and black cloth, reflect less than 18% of the light falling on them. If you photograph such scenes using automatic exposure, they will appear too light. The meter cannot tell if the scene is dark or just an ordinary scene with less light falling on it. In either case it increases the exposure to make a photograph of the scene lighter. To photograph a scene that has an overall tone darker than middle gray, you need to override the autoexposure system to decrease the exposure to make the picture darker. The black cat is between one and two stops darker than middle gray. To darken the scene so the cat’s not middle gray, exposure must be decreased by one (-1) or two (-2) stops.

Tip • In Basic Zone

modes other than Landscape, Sports, and Flash Off, the built-in flash will pop up and fire automatically in backlit conditions.

Subject Against Very Light Background Subjects against a very light background such as a portrait against a bright sky or light sand or snow, can confuse an automatic exposure system, particularly if the subject occupies a relatively small part of the scene. The brightness of the background is so predominant that the automatic exposure system reduces the exposure to render the overall brightness as a middle gray. The result is an underexposed and too-dark main subject.

Here the scenes were underexposed to silhouette the people in the foreground. To show detail in the people, exposure would have had to have been increased two stops (+2).


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Chapter 2. Controlling Exposure Subject Against Very Dark Background When a small bright subject appears against a large dark background, your autoexposure system increases the exposure to produce a middle gray tone. The result is an overexposed and too light main subject. The rising sun illuminated only one boat in this harbor scene. If the exposure hadn’t been reduced by two stops (-2), the background would be too light and the white boat would have been burned out and too white. A scene like this is a great place to use partial or spot metering (page 46).

TIP • When photographing high contrast scenes, you can decrease contrast at the time you take the picture (page 140).

Scenes with High Contrast Many scenes, especially those with brightly lit highlights and deep shadows, have a brightness range that cannot be completely captured by an image sensor. When confronted with such scenes, you have to decide whether the highlight or shadow area is most important, then set the exposure so that area is shown accurately in the final picture. In high contrast situations such as these, use AE Lock (page 53) or exposure compensation to adjust the exposure. Another way to deal with high contrast is to lighten the shadows. A portrait, for example, lit from the back or side is often more effective and interesting than one lit from the front. But when the light falls directly on one side of a subject, the other side may be in dark shadow. In this case use fill flash (page 116) or a white reflector card to fill and lighten the shadows.

The archway was in shadow while the cathedral was brightly lit by the sun. Both couldn’t be exposed properly, so the archway was left as a solid black.

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When to Override Automatic Exposure Hard to Meter Scenes Occasionally it’s not convenient or even possible to meter a scene. Neon street signs, spotlit circus acts, fireworks, moonlit scenes, and many similar situations are all difficult and sometimes impossible to meter. In these cases, it’s easiest simply to experiment using partial or spot metering (page 46), exposure compensation (page 53), or autoexposure bracketing (page 55) so you have more than one exposure to select from.

This scene has a bright sky and one brightly illuminated fisherman against a dark background. A scene such as this is hard to meter because of the variety of lighting.

Tip • When photographing a TV or computer monitor, use a shutter speed of 1/30 second or slower.

A relatively small subject against a wide expanse of sky will almost always be underexposed unless you use exposure compensation.


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How Overriding Autoexposure Works When a scene is lighter or darker than middle gray you need to change the exposure to capture it the way it looks in real life, or it will be too light or dark. To lighten or darken an image many cameras let you increase or decrease exposure by two stops or more. Here are some typical situations where you’d make these changes: This lighthouse in the fog on Cape Cod would have looked too dark if exposure compensation hadn’t been used to lighten it.

• +2 is used when the light is extremely contrasty and important shadow areas are much darker than brightly lit areas. • +1 is best for sidelit or backlit scenes, beach or snow scenes, sunsets and other scenes that include a bright light source, or very light objects, such as a white china on a white tablecloth. • 0 (the default) is best for scenes that are evenly lit and when important shadow areas are not too much darker than brightly lit areas. • -1 is for scenes where the background is much darker than the subject, such as a portrait in front of a very dark wall. Also good for very dark objects, such as black china on a black tablecloth. • -2 is for scenes of unusual contrast, as when an extremely dark background occupies a very large part of the image and you want to retain detail in the brighter parts of the scene.

1. Here are three cards that you photograph with each filling the metering area at the time you take the picture.

2. The camera’s exposure system makes all three cards appear gray in the photographs. Only the middle gray card in the center is exposed correctly.

3. Increasing the exposure for the white card and decreasing it for the black card captures them as they appear in real life. Only the middle gray card in the center doesn’t need the exposure adjusted manually.

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+2

0

-2


How to Override Automatic Exposure

How

to

Override Automatic Exposure

Tips • Use + exposure compensation when the subject is bright and - when it’s dark. • You can specify exposure compensation in one-half stop increments with Custom Function 01 (page 148).

An exposure level indicator shows you how much you are under (-) or over (+) the recommended exposure. If the indicator flashes at the -2 or +2 ends of the scale it means you are off by more than two stops.

Most digital cameras, including the XSi, provide one or more ways to override the automatic exposure system to get the exposure you want. Exposure Compensation Exposure compensation lets you lighten or darken the photograph that the camera would produce if autoexposure were used. To lighten a picture, you increase the exposure; to darken one, you decrease the exposure. The amount you increase or decrease the exposure is specified in “stops.” For example, to increase the exposure 1 stop, you specify +1 to open the aperture or slow the shutter speed. It’s easy to use exposure compensation because you can immediately see the effects of your changes on the monitor.

When you adjust exposure compensation you can do so in full stops and even finer one-third stop increments. When you use the command an exposure level indicator is displayed. The “0” indicates the exposure suggested by the camera. As you adjust the exposure toward the plus (+) side of the scale the image gets lighter. As you adjust it toward the minus (-) side it gets darker. Here you see the results as it’s adjusted from +2 (left) to -2 (right). The effect of the changes on the image are dramatic.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/expcomp/ Using Exposure Compensation Click to explore exposure compensation.

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone except M (manual), press the shutter button halfway down to turn on metering, then hold down the AV/Exposure Compensation button as you http://www.photocourse.com/itext/explock/ turn the Main Dial to move the marker on the exposure level indicator that’s displayed in the viewfinder and on the monitor. Click to explore exposure lock.

● To darken the image, move the marker toward the minus (-) end of the scale. ● To lighten the image, move the marker toward the plus (+) end of the scale. 2. When done, reset exposure compensation to 0 otherwise it will be remembered even when you turn off the camera.


Autoexposure (AE) Lock When you want to base your exposure on a specific part of a scene, you can do so in the Creative Zone. • When the autofocus mode is set to One-Shot AF (the default), it’s as easy as pressing the shutter button halfway down to lock exposure and focus.


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Pressing the shutter button halfway down locks exposure and pressing it all the way down takes the picture.

TIP • Custom Function 10 (page 148) specifies how the AE/FE Lock and shutter buttons work together.

• In any autofocus mode, focus the camera and press the AE/FE Lock button (marked with an asterisk) to lock exposure but not focus. This allows you to lock exposure and then move closer to or farther from the subject. After locking focus recompose the image and take the picture. • AE Lock works best when you use spot metering and lock it on the part of the scene that’s most important. • When used with evaluative metering (page 46), exposure is based on the automatically or manually selected AF point (page 70). • When used with center-weighted, partial or spot metering, or when manually focusing, exposure is based on the central focus point. • When using evaluative metering with One-shot AF, pressing the shutter button halfway down to lock exposure also locks focus. When using AI Servo AF neither is locked. Any other combination of metering (page 46) and focus (page 69) modes locks just focus. • When using the built-in or external Speedlight, the AE/FE Lock button acts as a FE Lock button (page 121).

Point the camera so you are metering the area on which you want to base the exposure (top left). Press the shutter button halfway down to lock exposure and press the AE/FE Lock button. Release the shutter button, compose the image the way you want it (bottom right) and press the shutter button to lock focus and take the photo.

Using Autoexposure (AE) Lock If you took the picture without first locking exposure, it would be too dark because the background influenced the exposure.

Tip • After locking exposure in P, Tv, and Av modes, you can turn the Main Dial to use program shift (page 40).

1. With the flash closed, the Mode Dial set to a mode in the Creative Zone other than manual (M) and metering set to partial or spot, select the AF point you want to use and focus on the part of the scene on which you want to lock exposure. 2. Press the shutter button halfway down to lock exposure and focus, then press the AE/FE Lock button. An asterisk to the left of the shutter speed in the viewfinder indicates that exposure is locked as long as metering is on, or until you release the shutter or AE/FE Lock button. 3. Release the shutter button and recompose the scene. Press the shutter button halfway down to refocus and take your photo. AE lock turns off automatically. ● To cancel AE lock without taking a picture, release the shutter button and wait a few seconds for the * icon to disappear.

The AE/FE Lock icon.

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● To keep it locked for other photos keep the shutter button pressed halfway down, or continue holding down the AE/FE Lock button. For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

How to Override Automatic Exposure

Tips • If you use continuous mode (page 139) for autoexposure bracketing, the series of three shots is taken when you hold the shutter button down. • If you use the self-timer or remote control in AEB mode, all three photos are taken automatically.

Autoexposure Bracketing (AEB) Instead of using exposure compensation, or in conjunction with it, you can use autoexposure bracketing (AEB) to run off a series of three images, each at a slightly different exposure—correctly exposed, underexposed, and overexposed. The difference from one shot to the next can be set at up to 2 stops in 1/3rd stop increments. • AEB stays in effect until you reset it to 0, turn the camera off, change lenses, or turn on the flash. If you don’t do one of these things, the camera remains set to this mode so subsequent pictures are captured at different exposure levels. • You can’t use flash or bulb mode with AEB. • You can use exposure compensation with AEB to shift all three exposures up or down the exposure level indicator. • AEB may not work as expected when Custom Function 06 Auto Lighting Optimizer is enabled (page 148). Using Autoexposure BRACKETING (AEB) 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the MENU button and display the Shooting 2 menu tab.

The AEB icon.

The exposure level indicator used to specify the exposure increment between shots. Here the small bars indicate it’s one stop.

2. Highlight AEB and press SET to activate the exposure level indicator. 3. Press the left () or right () cross key to expand or contract the exposure increment between shots. Three small bars under the scale indicate what the exposure will be for each of the three shots. The middle bar is at the exposure recommended by the camera (or shifted with exposure compensation—page 53) and the left and right bars indicate by how many stops the other images will be underexposed (-) and overexposed (+). 4. Press SET to confirm the settings and take each of the three photos just as you normally would. ● While AEB is in effect the three markers are displayed on the exposure level indicator in the viewfinder and on the monitor.

Exposure is locked after the first exposure and the AE/FE Lock icon flashes in the viewfinder.

● After you take the first shot, the markers and the AE/FE Lock icon in the viewfinder flash. When you press the shutter button halfway down, the marker on the exposure level indicator indicates which of the three images is being captured. When the series is complete, the flashing stops. 5. When finished, repeat Steps 1–3 to reset AEB to 0.

Autoexposure bracketing captures a series of three shots at different exposures. Here the sequence is +1 (left), 0 (center), and -1 (right).

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/AEB/ Click to explore autoexposure bracketing.


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Using Histograms Tips • When a histogram is displayed, the monitor also displays a thumbnail image. Areas in this image that blink are so overexposed they lack detail (they are “clipped”). To darken these areas in subsequent images, you can use minus (-) exposure compensation. • In Live View (page 135) you can display a live histogram on the monitor to guide you when setting exposure before taking a photo.

Most serious photo-editing programs such as Lightroom, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements let you use a histogram as a guide when editing your images. However, since exposure problems can be diagnosed by looking at a histogram, it helps to look at it while still in a position to reshoot the image. It’s for this reason that histograms can be displayed on the XSi’s monitor. As you’ve seen (page 24), each pixel in an image can be one of 256 levels of brightness from pure black (0) to pure white (255) and a histogram graphs the number of pixels at each level of brightness. Displaying Histograms You can check histograms in playback mode or while reviewing an image you have just taken. Just press the DISP button until the histogram and a small thumbnail are displayed. If the image has any overexposed and burned out highlights without details, they blink in the small thumbnail. Once you display a histogram for one image in playback mode, you can scroll through other images to see their histograms. Displaying Histograms ● In playback mode, with an image displayed in single image view, or when reviewing an image you just shot, press the DISP button once or twice to display the image’s histogram. The default histogram, called Brightness, graphs the overall brightness of the composite image. However, you can use the Playback menu’s Histogram setting to display the levels of brightness of each color—red, green and blue.

The Histogram is accompanied by a thumbnail that indicates if any pixels are clipped.

Selecting the Brightness or RGB HistoEvaluating Histograms gram 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode, press the MENU button and display the Playback menu tab. 2. Highlight Histogram and press SET to display the choices Brightness (the default) and RGB. 3. Highlight your choice and press SET.

The horizontal axis of a histogram represents the range of brightness from 0 http://www.photocourse.com/itext/highlight/ Click to explore how overexposed highlights blink.

(shadows) on the left to 255 (highlights) on the right. Think of it as a line with 256 spaces on which to stack pixels of the same brightness. Since these are the only values that can be captured by the camera, the horizontal line also represents the camera’s maximum potential tonal range or contrast.

The vertical axis represents the number of pixels that have each of the 256 brightness values. The higher the line coming up from the horizontal axis, the http://www.photocourse.com/itext/histogram/ more pixels there are at that level of brightness. Click to explore histograms.

To read the histogram, you look at the distribution of pixels. Here are some things to look for. • Many photos look best when there are some pixels at every position because these images are using the entire tonal range.

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Using Histograms

Evaluating Histograms ● If the histogram shows most pixels toward the left (darker) side of the graph, use exposure compensation to add exposure (page 53). ● If the histogram shows most pixels toward the right (lighter) side of the graph, use exposure compensation to reduce exposure (page 53).

• In most images, pixels are grouped together and occupy only a part of the available tonal range. These images lack contrast because the difference between the brightest and darkest areas isn’t as great as it could be. However, this can be fixed using a photo-editing program’s commands that spread the pixels over the entire available tonal range. These controls often allow you to adjust the shadow, midtone, and highlight areas independently without affecting the other areas of the image. This lets you lighten or darken selected areas of your images without loosing detail. The only pixels that can’t be fixed in this way are those that have been “clipped” to pure white or black.

The original image (top) is flat and its histogram indicates only part of the tonal range is being used. Photoshop’s Levels command was then used to expand the tonal range (bottom). You can see the change in both the image and in the histogram.


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Tip • If highlights are being clipped in wedding dresses, clouds, snow and other bright subjects, you can enable Custom Function 05 to give priority to highlight tones (page 148). This preserves details in these bright areas of the image and prevents them from being clipped.

Clipped Pixels When a histogram shows pixels at the extreme ends of the range, in the 0 (left) and 255 (right) positions, it means details in those tones are being lost or “clipped” in your image. These extremes should be reserved for small dark shadows and specular highlights (reflections). When large areas lack detail an image suffers.

In the top image you can tell from the histogram that some of the highlight pixels are pure white and hence clipped. There is nothing you can do later to display details in the area of these pixels. However, if you reshoot the scene at a different exposure you can shift the pixels to the left and avoid the clipping (bottom).

To avoid clipping and better place the tonal values in subsequent shots, you use exposure compensation (page 53). Shifting the pixels in this way gives you a chance to correct the image in a photo-editing program. Increasing exposure shifts pixels to the highlight, or right end of the histogram. Decreasing exposure shifts them the other way.

This series of photos was taken one stop apart using exposure compensation. As the exposure increased pixels on the histogram shifted right. You can tell from the way the fan blades blur that the shutter speed was changed to adjust the exposure. In the image where it was faster, the image is darker and the blades are frozen. As slower speeds were used to increase the exposure, the images get lighter and the blades more blurred.

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Using Histograms Sample Histograms The way a histogram looks depends on the scene you’re shooting and how you expose it. There’s no such thing as a good or bad histogram. Whether a particular histogram is good or bad depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If fact, you may prefer to trust your visual reaction to the image more than the very numeric image data provided by a histogram. However, even if you never use a histogram, you can learn about digital images by understanding what a histogram can tell you about an image. Following are some histograms from good images along with a brief summary of what each histogram reveals. In this well exposed portrait there is a fairly even distribution of values in both the shadow and highlight areas of the image. There are no deep blacks in the image as shown by the gap at the far left end of the scale.

This brown moth on a gray card has most of its values in the midrange. That’s why there are a number of high vertical lines grouped in the middle of the horizontal axis.

This high-key fog scene has most of its values toward the highlight end of the scale. There are no really dark values in the image. The image uses only a little more than half the camera’s tonal range.

The distinct vertical line to the left of middle gray shows how many pixels there are in the uniformly gray frame border added in Photoshop.

This low-key scene has the majority of its values in the shadow area with another large grouping around middle gray. There are wide levels of brightness that have only a few pixels.


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Chapter 3. Controlling Sharpness

Chapter 3 Controlling Sharpness

Contents • Getting Sharper Pictures • Sharpness Isn’t Everything • How to Photograph Motion Sharply • Focus and Depth of Field • Focusing Techniques • Controlling Depth of Field • Using Deep Depth Of Field • Using Shallow depth of Field • Conveying the Feeling of Motion

O

ne of the first things you notice about a photograph is whether or not it is sharp. Extremely sharp photographs reveal a richness of detail, even more than you would normally notice in the original scene. If the entire image isn’t sharp, your eye is immediately drawn to the part that is. When learning to control sharpness, the first goal is to get pictures sharp when you want them sharp. If your photos aren’t as sharp as you want them to be, you can analyze them to see what went wrong. • Focus. If nothing in your image is sharp or if your central subject is not sharp but other parts of the photograph are, your camera was improperly focused. • Depth of Field. If your central subject is sharp but the background or foreground is less so, you may not have used a small enough aperture to get the depth of field you wanted. • Camera Movement. If the image is blurred all over, with no part sharp, the camera moved during the exposure. Some dots appear as lines and edges are blurred because the image was “painted” onto the moving image sensor. • Subject Movement. When some of the picture is sharp but a moving subject appears blurred, your shutter speed was too slow.

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Getting Sharper Pictures

Getting Sharper Pictures Tips • When using a tri-

pod or other support, you can use a remote control device to trigger the shutter so you don’t move the camera when you press the shutter button (page 142).

• Custom Function 09

(page 148) lets you lock up the mirror so its movement doesn’t introduce imagesoftening vibrations when you take a picture.

• Canon makes im-

age stabilization (IS) lenses that help you get sharper pictures (page 93). • In critical situations you can use continuous mode to run off a series of photos and select the sharpest later.

Unwanted camera movement when the shutter is open is one of the major causes of unsharp photographs. You can reduce this problem in bright light and when using flash simply by holding the camera steady and depressing the shutter button smoothly. At slow shutter speeds, such as those you get in dim light, especially with a long focal length lens, you need a camera support. Supporting the Camera As the focal length of your lens changes (page 98), so does the minimum shutter speed you need to hand-hold the camera without getting any blur from camera shake. The rule of thumb is never to hand-hold the camera at a shutter speed lower than your lens’ focal length multiplied by 1.6 (page 98). For example, you can handhold a 100mm lens at a shutter speed of 1/160 or faster. (The camera displays the current shutter speed on the monitor, and in the viewfinder when you press the shutter button halfway down.) When the shutter speed is too slow to handhold the camera, for example when photographing in dim light without flash, you need to support the camera to prevent blur in your images. One way to do this is to lean against a wall or tree and brace yourself with your elbows tight to your body. You can also find a branch or railing to rest the camera on. For stability anywhere, any time, you need a small tripod or an even easier to carry monopod. To hand hold the camera as steady as possible, brace the camera against your face and brace your elbows against your sides. Just before taking a shot, inhale deeply, then exhale and hold your breath while smoothly depressing the shutter button. When holding the camera for both horizontal and vertical photographs use your right finger to press the shutter button and your left hand to support the camera.

The camera was steady for the picture on the left, and moved for the one on the right.

Monopods by Gitzo.

Placing the eyepiece cover over the viewfinder blocks light from entering and affecting the exposure when using the selftimer.

Using the Self-timer Although often used to give you time to get into the picture, the camera’s selftimer is also a great way to reduce blur when photographing in dim light. Just place the camera on a stable surface, or use a tripod, compose the image, and use the self-timer to take the picture without any camera shake. The self-timer can be set to 10 seconds (the setting also used with a remote control—page 142), 2 seconds, or continuous. In this later mode you can specify that up to 10 photos be taken in a burst after a 10 second delay. In this mode exposure and white balance for all photos are set when the first picture in the series is taken. The time between shots may lengthen if you use flash or the camera’s buffer fills.


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Using the Self-timer Icons for 10-second, 2second, and continuous self-timer modes.

1. With the camera in any shooting mode, repeatedly press the Drive button (clock icon) on the cross keys to select one of the three selftimer icons. If you select the continuous self-timer icon, press the up () or down () cross key to specify the number of images in the sequence. Press SET to select the highlighted setting. 2. Press the shutter button halfway down to set focus and exposure, then all the way down to start the timer. (To stop the timer without taking a picture, press the self-timer button again.)

Tips

● When set to a 10 second delay (the default), the timer starts and the self-timer lamp blinks and timer sounds. Two seconds before the picture is taken, the lamp and sound speed up.

• When using the self-timer to photograph yourself, use focus lock (page 71) to focus on something at the same distance as where you’ll be.

● When set to a 2 second delay (see below), the self-timer lamp and sound are fast and the picture is taken 2 seconds later.

• You can turn off

3. When finished, repeat Step 1 but select the single frame icon, or turn off the camera to cancel the mode.

the self-timer beep if it’s distracting (page 11). • Using Custom Function 09 (page 148) to lock up the mirror, with a two second self-timer delay is the perfect combination to eliminate blur caused by camera movement. • If you enable Custom Function 05 Highlight tone priority (page 148), the ISO range is 200–1600.

● When set to continuous, the 10 second timer starts and the selftimer lamp blinks and timer sounds. Two seconds before the picture is taken, the lamp and sound speed up. After 10 seconds pass, the camera starts taking the number of photos you specified.

Increasing Sensitivity (ISO) When photographing in dim light, you can increase the camera’s ISO. ISO is a term used to designate film speeds, or how sensitive a film is to light. There is no equivalent standard for digital cameras but the sensitivity of a sensor is given as an ISO equivalent. Increasing the sensitivity means less light is needed for a picture and gives you important advantages. A higher ISO lets you use a smaller aperture for greater depth of field or a faster shutter speed to reduce blur. It will also increase the range of the flash (page 112), but also let’s you shoot pictures without it in places such as concerts and museums where flash is prohibited. • In Basic Zone modes, the ISO is set to Auto which sets the ISO between 100–800 depending on how dark the scene is, and you can’t change it yourself. The current shutter speed is always displayed on the monitor. • In Creative Zone modes, the ISO is also set to Auto but you can set it to a fixed ISO of 100, 200, 400, 800 or 1600 in full stop increments. The only exceptions are when using manual (M) mode or flash, when it’s fixed at 400.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/noise/ The only down side to increasing the ISO is that it adds noise to images. This

is because increasing sensitivity amplifies the captured signal, but also amplifies the background noise captured along with it. The noise then appears in the image as randomly spaced bright pixels. Generally, the higher the ISO the more noise you’ll get. To reduce noise caused by high ISO settings you can turn on Custom Function 04 (page 00). When on, noise reduction is http://www.photocourse.com/itext/ISO/ performed at all ISO settings, but has the greatest effect on those shot at high ISOs. At low ISOs, noise in shadow areas is reduced. When on, the frame Click to see the effects of increasing ISO. rate in continuous shooting (page 139) drops dramatically and white balance bracketing (page 83) is disabled. Click here to explore the effect of noise in an image.

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Getting Sharper Pictures The situations in which various ISO settings are best include those in the following table. ISO Setting

Good For

100–200

Bright daylight outdoors

400–800

Dark overcast, dawn and dusk

1600

Night or dark indoors, fast action

Noise appears in images as random color pixels especially when you use long shutter speeds or high ISO settings.

Changing the ISO 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the ISO button to display a menu of ISO settings on the monitor. 2. Turn the Main Dial or press the up () or down () cross key to select a setting. The ISO button on top of the camera.


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Sharpness Isn’t Everything Your photos don’t have to be sharp to be effective. In many cases, it’s better to have part of the scene sharper than the rest. Your pictures can be sharp or unsharp in different ways. The first way concerns motion. Several factors affect the way motion is captured in images. These include your shutter speed, lens focal length, and subject speed, direction, and distance. Another kind of sharpness concerns depth of field, how much of the scene will be sharp in the image from foreground to background. Even if you are photographing a static scene, your picture may not be sharp if you do not have enough depth of field. However, a shallow depth of field can be used to make a busy background less distracting by having it out of focus in the picture. Several factors affect depth of field, including lens aperture, lens focal length, and subject distance. Motion in a scene can be frozen or blurred depending on the shutter speed and other factors. Blur can be used creatively to evoke a feeling of motion as in this shot of a waterfall in Yosemite National Park.

Shallow depth of field can focus attention on a foreground subject by making the background less sharp.

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How to Photograph Motion Sharply

How

to

Photograph Motion Sharply

Tip • To capture action, point the camera toward where you expect the action to occur and press the shutter button halfway down to set and lock focus and exposure. Hold the button down until the action happens and you’ll be able to get a shot off a lot faster.

The sharpness of different parts of an image helps direct the viewer who tends to look first at the most sharply focused part of the picture. In addition, sharpness itself can be part of the message of the photograph. The immobility of a frozen figure can be made more apparent by blurring people moving in other parts of the scene. Blur in an image is caused when all or part of a subject focused onto the image sensor moves when the shutter is open. To show a moving subject sharply, the shutter needs to open and close before the image on the sensor moves a significant amount. In other words, you need to use a fast shutter speed. But just how fast is fast enough? The answer depends on several factors. Because several variables are involved, you can’t always predict how motion will be portrayed in the final photograph. So use different settings and take more than one shot if possible. Try shooting from different angles or perhaps wait for a pause in the action. You are much more likely to get a good shot if you have several to choose from. Just be aware that sharpness and blur are hard to evaluate on the camera’s monitor. Speed of Subject The faster a subject is moving, the faster the shutter speed you need for a sharp image. However, it’s not the speed of the subject in the real world that determines blur. It’s how far the subject moves on the image sensor while the exposure is being made. This depends not just on the subject’s actual speed, but also on the direction of its movement, its distance from the camera, and the focal length of the lens.

The shutter speed froze the central dancer but was slow enough to blur the others. This makes the central dancer the most important person in the photograph.

Direction of Movement When the shutter is open, a subject moving parallel to the image sensor crosses more of the pixels on the sensor and is more blurred than a subject moving directly toward or away from the camera. This is why you can use a slower shutter speed to sharply photograph a subject moving toward, or away from you, and not the same subject moving from one side of the scene to the other. For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

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Chapter 3. Controlling Sharpness Distance to Subject and Focal Length of Lens http://www.photocourse.com/itext/distance/ If a subject is close to the camera, even slight movement is enough to cause blur. A subject—or part of one—far from the camera can move a considerable distance before its image on the image sensor moves very much. The focal length of the lens can also affect the apparent distance to the subject. Increasing the focal length of your lens—for example, zooming in on a subject—has http://www.photocourse.com/itext/shutterspeed/ the same effect as moving closer to your subject. The longer the focal length Click to explore how of the lens, the less a subject has to move for its image to move on the image shutter speed affects sensor and become blurred. sharpness. Click to explore how camera-subject distance affects shutter speeds.

The shutter speed needed to control the sharpness of a moving object is determined by the subject’s speed, direction of movement, and distance.

Shutter Speed Needed

Faster

Slower

Speed of Subject

On this speeding train, the part closest to the camera looks the most blurred while the farthest part looks sharper. Since all parts of the train are moving at the same speed, this shows how distance affects blur.

Direction of Movement

Amount of zoom and Distance to Subject

Tip • To visualize the effects of distance on blur, look out the side window of a speeding car (but not when you’re driving). The objects in the foreground seem to fly by while those on the horizon don’t seem to move at all.

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Increasing The Sharpness of Moving Objects ● Photograph fast-moving subjects heading toward or away from you and not from side to side. ● Move farther away from the subject or use a shorter focal length lens. ● Switch to Tv (shutter-priority) mode (page 41) or use program shift (page 40) and select a fast shutter speed such as 1/500. ● Increase the camera’s ISO so you can use a faster shutter speed although this adds some noise to the image (page 62). For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Focus and Depth of Field

Focus

and

Depth

of

Field

If you look around you—the book in your hand, the chair across the room, http://www.photocourse.com/itext/criticalfocus/ Click to explore how focusing shifts the plane of critical focus.

the far wall—everything seems to be sharp. That is because your eyes refocus every time you look at an object at a different distance. But the sharpness you see when you glance at a scene is not always what you get in a photograph of that scene. To understand why not, you have to understand focus and depth of field. Focus A lens can only bring one part of a scene into the sharpest possible focus. This part of the scene falls on what is called the plane of critical focus. Subjects falling on this plane will be the sharpest part of the picture. You move this plane toward and way from the camera as you focus. The plane of critical focus in your image will be the area that falls on the AF point(s) containing a dot that flashes red in the viewfinder. A

The shutter button has two stages. When pressed halfway down, the camera locks focus and establishes the plane of critical focus.

Tip • To control depth of field, switch to Av (aperture-priority) mode and select a small aperture for great depth of field, or a large aperture for shallow depth of field (page 76).

Imagine the part of the scene on which you focus as a flat plane (much like a pane of glass). It is superimposed from one side of a scene to the other, so that the plane is parallel to the back of the camera or the image sensor. Objects falling exactly on this imaginary plane are in critical focus, the sharpest part of your picture. This plane of critical focus is a very shallow band and includes only those parts of the scene located at identical distances from the camera. As you point an autofocus camera at objects nearer or farther away in the scene, the plane of critical focus moves closer to or farther away from the camera. As the plane moves, objects at different distances from the camera come into or go out of critical focus.

Depth of Field If you look at photographs, you can see a considerable area of the scene from near to far that appears sharp. Even though theoretically only one narrow plane is critically sharp, other parts of the scene in front of and behind the most sharply focused plane appear acceptably sharp. This area in which everything looks acceptably sharp is called depth of field. Objects within the depth of field become less and less sharp the farther they are from the plane of critical focus. Eventually they become so out of focus that they no longer appear sharp. Often it doesn’t matter so much exactly what you are focused on. What does matter is whether or not all of the objects you want to be sharp are within the


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Chapter 3. Controlling Sharpness depth of field so they appear sharp. If you want a large part of the scene to be sharp, you can increase the depth of field. If you want less of the scene sharp, you can decrease it. In some scenes, you can significantly increase or decrease the depth of field simply by shifting the point on which you are focused or by changing the aperture setting. B

A

C

This photo of a page shows how shallow depth of field can be when you get close to a subject.

The near and far limits of depth of field are shown here as two planes (B and C), parallel to the plane of critical focus (A). Actually, they are usually not visible as exactly defined boundaries. Nor can you usually find the plane of critical focus by looking at a picture. Instead, sharp areas imperceptibly merge into unsharp ones. In most situations depth of field is not evenly divided. At normal shooting distances, about one-third of the depth of field is in front of the plane of critical focus (toward the camera), and two-thirds is behind it (away from the camera). When the camera is focused very close to an object, the depth of field becomes more evenly divided. In both of these images the plane of critical focus has been placed on the middle face. In the left image a large aperture was used to give shallow depth of field. In the right image a small aperture was use to give great depth of field.

To check depth-offield in the viewfinder press the depth-of-field preview button.

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Checking Depth of Field To check depth-of-field in the viewfinder in a Creative Zone mode, press the shutter button halfway down to focus the camera, then press the depth-offield preview button on the lower left side of the lens mount. (In A-DEP mode (page 75) you have to continue to hold down the shutter button as you press the depth of field button so an aperture is selected.) Pressing this button locks exposure and closes the lens aperture down to the f/stop you’ve selected so the viewfinder gives you an idea of what’s sharp and what isn’t. However, when using small apertures, the viewfinder image is very dark. When the maximum aperture is selected, as it often is in dim light, you’ll see no change at all. To see how this works, select Av mode and while looking through the viewfinder, focus on a nearby subject then hold down the depth-of-field preview button as you turn the Main Dial to change apertures. For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Focusing Techniques

Focusing Techniques When the lens switch is set to AF, the XSi focuses on the nearest subject covered by one of the nine AF points displayed in the viewfinder. The dots in the AF point or points used to set focus briefly flash red when you press the shutter button halfway down and focus is achieved.

Lens focus switch set to autofocus (AF).

Tip • When using an USM (Ultrasonic Motor) lens with a distance scale in One-Shot AF mode, you can turn the focusing ring on the lens to fine tune focus after focus is achieved (called fulltime manual focusing). • When using an extender on a lens with a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or smaller, you can’t use autofocus. • Zoom before focusing since zooming can throw off focus. • In Basic Zone modes the AF mode, AF point selection, and drive mode are set automatically. • One of the main reasons the camera won’t focus is because you are too close.

When autofocus is locked, the focus confirmation light glows a steady green, and a point in the active AF point flashes red in the viewfinder.

• The plane of critical focus in your image will be the area that falls on the active AF point in the viewfinder—the one that flashes red. As you point the camera at various subjects and press the shutter button halfway down, you’ll see them pop into focus. • To check depth-of-field in the viewfinder when using Creative Zone modes, press the depth-of-field preview button (page 68). The XSi’s autofocus system uses contrast to set the focus. In dim light, if the flash pops up in any Basic Zone mode it may strobe an AF-assist beam when you press the shutter button halfway down. (It doesn’t do this in Creative Zone modes unless you first raise the flash—page 113.) The beam works out to about 13 feet (4m). Using Custom Function 07 (page 148) you can turn the assist beam on or off or choose to have it enabled on an external Speedlite. As good as the autofocus system is, there are times when it has trouble focusing. In these situations the focus confirmation light flashes in the viewfinder instead of glowing a steady green. This happens with: • Subjects such as a blank wall or clear blue sky or other subjects with very low contrast and evenly lit expanses of a single color. • Subjects that are backlit or have reflective surfaces. • Subjects in very dark settings. • Overlapping subjects at different distances or with repetitive patterns. In these situations you might want to try selecting the AF point manually, use focus lock, or manually focus the lens. Let’s see how these techniques work, but first, let’s look at the autofocus modes you have to choose from. Autofocus Modes The XSi has two autofocus modes—One-Shot AF and AI Servo AF, and a third—AI Focus AF—that automatically switches between the first two. (AI stands for artificial intelligence.) In Basic Zone modes, the camera specifies one of these modes for you and you can’t change it, but in Creative Zone modes you can choose any of the three modes depending on whether a subject is moving or not. • One-Shot AF mode works best for still subjects including portraits and landscapes. In this mode when you press the shutter button halfway down, focus locks (page 71) on the part of the scene closest to the camera covered by one of the AF points. Focus remains locked as long as you continue to hold down the button. In this mode, the camera won’t take a picture until focus is locked and the focus confirmation glows a steady green. When using evaluative metering (the default) when focus locks in this mode, so does exposure. To change focus once it’s locked, you must release the shutter button and then press it halfway down again. One-Shot AF is selected for you in Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, and Night Portrait modes and is selectable in all Creative Zone modes.


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Chapter 3. Controlling Sharpness • AI servo AF mode continually adjusts the focus (and exposure) as long as http://www.photocourse.com/itext/focuszone/

you hold the shutter button halfway down. This mode is selected for you in Sports mode and is one of your choices in all Creative Zone modes. It’s designed to help you keep a moving subject in focus and is great for sports and nature photography, or any other situations where you are photographing http://www.photocourse.com/itext/servofocus/ moving subjects. If the subject moves after you have focused on it, it remains in focus as long as it’s covered by one of the nine AF points although the dot Click to explore the effects of servo focus. in the one being used doesn’t flash red. When focus is achieved in this mode neither it or exposure is locked and the focus confirmation light doesn’t glow a steady green. However, if you have selected a specific AF point (see below), the red dot in that point flashes red when focus is acheived. Click to explore the way focus zones work.

• When the AF point is being selected automatically, as it always is in Full Auto and Sports modes, the camera first uses the center AF point to focus. If the subject then moves away from this point, focus tracking continues as long as it is covered by one of the other AF points.

The AF button.

Tip • If the camera has trouble focusing, switch to manual focus, or pop-up the flash so it can strobe to assist focus. (It does this automatically in most Basic Zone modes.) To use the flash to assist focus but not fire during the exposure, use Custom Function 07 (page 148).

Tips • AI Servo AF and automatic AF point selection is a great combination to use with moving subjects.

• If you have selected the AF point manually, the camera uses that point to track focus until the subject moves so it’s covered by another AF point. • AI focus AF mode initially focuses on the subject using One-Shot AF mode, but if the subject’s distance from the camera changes, the camera automatically switches to AI servo AF mode so it can keep it in focus. AI focus AF mode is automatically selected for you in Full Auto and Flash Off modes and is one of the three you can select in any Creative Zone mode. Selecting An Autofocus Mode ● With the camera in any Creative Zone mode and the focus switch on the lens set to AF, repeatedly press the AF button on the cross keys to highlight ONE SHOT, AI FOCUS, or AI SERVO on the monitor and press SET. Selectable Focusing Points The XSi’s nine AF points are all active and when using the default One-shot AF mode, the camera focuses on the closest part of the scene covered by one of the points. In Creative Zone modes other than A-DEP (page 75) you can switch from automatic to manual selection. This lets you specify which point is used to focus, and also lets you get shots off more quickly since the camera doesn’t have to take time calculating where to focus. The center point is usually the most accurate and many photographers use it in combination with focus lock (page 71) to take most of their photos. Also, with a fast lens of f/1.0–f/2.8 the center point uses high precision focus—the most accurate kind. When manually selecting, the AF point currently being used, called the active AF point, is indicated in blue on the monitor and displays a red dot in the viewfinder when you press the shutter button halfway down.

When you press the AF point selector button, the selected AF point is indicated with a red dot in the viewfinder (left) and is displayed in blue on the monitor (right).

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Focusing Techniques

Selecting AF Points

The AF point button

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone other than A-DEP, press the AF point selector button (five dot icon) on the back of the camera to display the active AF point(s) with a red dot in the viewfinder and in blue on the monitor. 2. Select AF points as follows:

Tips • You can lock focus and exposure independently using AE Lock (page 53). • Custom Function 10 (page 148) lets you change the way you lock focus and exposure.

● Turn the Main Dial to cycle through all possibilities including all nine points at once. (When all nine points are selected, you are in auto mode and the camera will pick the AF point for you.) ● Press the cross keys to move directly to any point. ● Press SET once to select the center point and again to select all nine for auto mode. 3. Compose and photograph the scene using the selected point(s).

4. When finished, repeat Steps 1 and 2 to reset AF point selection to auto (all nine dots). If you don’t do so, the current setting remains in http://www.photocourse.com/itext/focuslock/ affect even when you turn the camera off. Click to explore focus lock.

Tips • You can use AE Lock (page 53) to lock exposure on one part of a scene and use focus lock to lock focus on another. You can then take the picture, or even recompose the scene first. • The center AF point is the best AF point to use because it’s more sensitive and accurate. Also, with a fast lens from f/1.0 to f/2.8, high-precision focusing is based on the center AF point. • When using evaluative metering with One-shot AF, pressing the shutter button halfway down to lock focus also locks exposure. When using AI Servo AF neither is locked. Any other combination of metering (page 46) and focus (page 69) modes locks just focus.

Using Focus Lock To change the position of the plane of critical focus in One-Shot AF mode (page 69), or AI focus AF mode and a static subject, you can use focus lock. The XSi has a two-stage shutter button. When you press it halfway down, the camera sets focus, and also exposure if you are using the default evaluative metering (page 46). When the focus confirmation light in the viewfinder glows a steady green, these readings are locked. If you don’t release the shutter button, you can then point the camera anywhere else and the settings remain unchanged. This lets you set the focus at any distance from the camera to control both focus and depth of field. Focus lock doesn’t work when using AI Servo AF which is automatically selected in Sports mode and can be manually selected in Creative Zone modes other than A-DEP. One of the most common techniques photographers use is to select the center AF point to set focus and then use focus lock to keep focus unchanged while they recompose and capture the image. Using Focus Lock 1. With autofocus set to One-Shot AF (page 69), and in any mode other than Sports, point the camera so the subject you want to lock focus on is covered by one of the AF points in the viewfinder. (It’s often faster and more accurate to first select just the center point.) 2. Press the shutter button halfway down and hold it there to lock focus. The green focus confirmation light glows a steady green and a dot in the AF point being used to set focus briefly flashes red in the viewfinder. 3. Without releasing the shutter button, recompose the scene and press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.


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The lens focus switch.

Manual Focus To manually focus, set the lens’ focus switch to M or MF (for Manual) and focus by turning the lens’ focus ring. If you are using an USM (Ultrasonic Motor) lens that has a distance scale in One-Shot AF mode, you can turn the focusing ring on the lens to fine tune focus after focus is achieved (called full-time manual focusing). Manual focus is extremely useful when autofocus has problems, when you want to quickly focus on an off-center subject or a subject that is in a busy setting where the camera has trouble isolating the subject you want, or when you want focus fixed no matter how the subject moves. • To see if the area covered by the center AF point is being used to set focus, press the shutter button halfway down, or press the AF point selector button, to see if its dot flashes red. • Hold the shutter button halfway down as you manually focus. When the subject covered by the active AF point comes into focus, the red dot in the AF point flashes red and the focus confirmation light glows a steady green. • After focusing, you can recompose the scene at will without focus changing or having to use focus lock.

Tip • In Live View you can enlarge part of the image up to 10x for very precise manual focusing (page 135).

Using Manual Focus 1. Set the focus switch on the lens to M or MF. 2. Position one of the AF points over the part of the scene you want critically sharp. 3. Hold the shutter button halfway down and focus by turning the focus ring on the lens. When focus is achieved, the AF point used to set focus flashes red and the focus confirmation light glows a steady green.

Manual focus is useful when the main subject doesn’t fall on one of the AF points, or when you want to focus on a very specific spot such as this monarch butterfly.

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Controlling Depth of Field

Controlling Depth

of

Field

Sharpness—or the lack of it—is immediately noticeable when you look at a photograph. If you are making a portrait, you want only the person to be sharply focused, but not a distracting background. In a landscape, on the other hand, often you will want everything sharp from close-up rock to far away mountain. Once you understand how to control depth of field, you will feel much more confident when you want to make sure something is—or isn’t—sharp. To control depth of field, you have three factors to work with.

This photo of a page from a book shows how shallow depth of field can be when you get close to a subject.

• Aperture size. The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field. The larger the aperture, the shallower the depth of field. • Camera-to-subject distance. As you move father from the subject you are focused on, you increase depth of field. As you move closer, you decrease it. • Lens focal length. A shorter focal length lens increases depth of field and a longer one decreases it. Each of these three factors affects depth of field by itself, but even more so in combination. You can get the shallowest depth of field with a lens zoomed in on a nearby subject using a large aperture. You get the greatest depth of field when you are far from a subject, with a wide-angle lens, using a small aperture.

Here the camera’s depth of field was just deep enough to keep the bird in focus. Parts of the image closer to the camera and further away become increasingly less sharp.

Effect on Depth of Field

Deeper

Shallower

Aperture Size

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/DOF/ Click to explore how the aperture affects depth of field.

Camera to Subject Distance

To check depth-offield in the viewfinder press the depth-of-field preview button (page 68).

Amount and direction of zoom


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Using Deep Depth

of

Field

Often you will want to get as much depth of field as possible because important parts of a scene that you want sharp are both near to and far from the camera. Maximum depth of field seems particularly important for photographs of landscapes and other scenes where a distant horizon is a part of the picture.

Zooming out and using a small aperture keeps everything in the foreground and background in focus.

Focusing on the Hyperfocal Distance When a subject extends to the far distance, many photographers unthinkingly focus on that part of the scene. When you are focused on that distant point, everything beyond it will be sharp. But since one-third of the available depth of field falls in front of the point on which you are focused and two-thirds behind it, you are wasting two-thirds of your depth of field. That may mean that some other part of the scene in the foreground will not be included in the one-third remaining depth of field and consequently will not be sharp. Instead of focusing on infinity, if you focus on some object one-third of the way between you and the horizon, you bring forward the point on which you are focused and increase the depth of field in the foreground of your picture. This new point of focus is called the hyperfocal distance. You can use this procedure not just for landscapes, but whenever you want to shift depth of field toward and away from the camera.

When you focus on the most distant part of the scene, here it’s the mountains, all available depth of field to the right of that point is wasted. As a result, the middle and foreground are not sharp because they don’t fall within the range of available depth of field.

By focusing on the hyperfocal distance, the most distant part of the scene remains in focus but the near point of depth of field moves closer to the camera. The entire scene is sharp.

The icon for landscape mode.

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Understanding hyperfocal distance has a side benefit. It lets you pick the sharpest possible aperture while still getting the depth of field you want. The smallest apertures may give greater depth of field, but they may also have interference patterns that soften the image. For the sharpest possible images, you should use a midrange aperture such as f/8 provided it will give you the depth of field you need. For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Using Deep Depth of Field

Setting Your Lens to the Hyperfocal Distance

Here the infinity symbol on the distance scale has been aligned with f/11 (the selected aperture) on the right side of the scale. On the left side of the scale, read up from f/11 to see that everything from about 2.5 feet (0.7m) to infinity is in focus.

1. With the focus switch on the lens set to M or MF, set the Mode Dial to M (manual) or Av (aperture-priority) mode so you can select the aperture. 2. Turn the lens’ focus ring to align the infinity mark on the right side of the lens’ depth of field scale with the f-stop you’re using (1 in illustration left). Read the near limit of depth of field by reading up from the same aperture number on the left side of the scale (2 in illustration left). For action photography, you can use a variation of this technique, called zone focusing, to prefocus and set depth of field so a specific range is always in focus. If anything happens within that range you can quickly capture it without focusing. Zone Focusing

Here 6 feet (2m) on the distance scale has been aligned with f/11 on the right side of the scale. On the left side of the scale, read up from f/11 to see that everything from about 1.75 feet (0.6m) to 6 feet (2m) is in focus.

Tip •

If you raise the flash in A-DEP mode, the camera acts as if it were set to P mode and doesn’t try to give you the necessary depth of field.

1. With the focus switch on the lens set to M or MF, set the Mode Dial to M (manual) or Av (aperture-priority) mode so you can select the aperture. 2. Turn the lens’ focus ring to align the far limit of depth of field on the lens’ depth of field scale with the f-stop you’re using on the right side of the scale (1 in illustration left). Read up from the f-stop on the left side of the depth of field scale to see what the near limit of depth of field is (2 in illustration left). Auto Depth-of-field AE (A-DEP) The XSi’s auto depth of field (A-DEP) mode is specially designed to help you get the depth of field you want. In this mode the camera evaluates all nine AF points and selects an aperture that will give enough depth of field to keep the parts of the scene covered by all of them in focus. Since the aperture setting is given priority, the shutter speed may be so low you need to use a tripod or other support. This is an ideal mode when photographing groups and landscapes because it keeps everyone or everything in focus. Using Auto Depth-of-field AE (A-DEP) 1. Set the lens focus switch to AF and the Mode Dial to A-DEP. 2. Compose the image so each element of the scene that you want in focus is covered by one of the nine AF points in the viewfinder. 3. Press the shutter button halfway down and the dots in AF points covering subjects that will be sharp flash red in the viewfinder. ● If the aperture value blinks it means exposure is OK but the camera can’t get the desired depth of field. Recompose the image, use a wider focal length lens, or move farther away and try again. ● If the 30” shutter speed blinks, the image may be underexposed and too dark so turn the Main Dial to select a larger aperture. ● If the 4000 shutter speed blinks, the image may be overexposed and too light so turn the Main Dial to select a smaller aperture. 4. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.


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Using Shallow Depth

of

Field

Shallow depth of field, sometimes called selective focus, is a great way to

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/selectfocus/ isolate a subject from a distracting foreground or background. When everyClick to explore selective focus.

thing in a picture is equally sharp, the viewer gives equal attention to all parts of the scene. But if some parts of an image are sharp and others are not, the viewer is drawn to the sharpest part. You can selectively focus the camera and your viewer’s attention on the most important part of the scene by limiting depth of field so the significant elements are sharp while the foreground and background are less so.

Only the bubble gum blower is sharp while figures in the foreground and background aren’t.

Here attention is drawn to the sharp monarch butterfly caterpillar. The boy’s face is soft and less distracting, but sharp enough that you can see the expression.

Decreasing Depth of Field ● Zoom the lens in or move closer to enlarge the subject. ● Use aperture-priority mode or program shift to select a large aperture such as f/2.8. ● Use a neutral density filter for a larger aperture. 76


Conveying the Feeling of Motion

Conveying

the

Feeling

of

Motion

Although sharpness is a laudable goal, it isn’t the only one. The creative use of blur can lead to some interesting photos—especially when conveying the feeling of motion. The shutter speed can be selected to blur some or all of an image. Many times you don’t do anything but benefit from a happy accident. Anything that moves day or night is a candidate for creative blurring. Your only limitation is getting a slow enough shutter speed in bright light.

Panning with this barred owl blurred the background and created an impressionistic image.

Panning the camera in the same direction as a moving subject produces an image where the subject is relatively sharp against a blurred background. Your movement should be smooth and controlled to get a good pan, so begin to pan the camera before the subject enters your viewfinder. Smoothly depress the shutter button as you follow the motion of the subject, keeping it in the same position in the viewfinder. Follow through as you would in golf or tennis. Panning takes practice so take as many images as you can. Results are quite unpredictable because your body motion adds yet another variable to the final picture.

Here a fast shutter speed froze everything but the ball.

Conveying Motion ● Try blurring images in lowlight situations. In bright light, the shutter will open and close too fast. ● Use shutterpriority mode or program shift to select a slow shutter speed. ● Use a neutral density filter to get a slower shutter speed. ● When panning with a moving subject, use AI Servo AF mode (page 69) to keep the image focused as long as you hold the shutter button halfway down. For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

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Chapter 4. Capturing Light & Color

Chapter 4 Capturing Light & Color

Contents • Where Does Color Come From? • White Balance and Color • Using White Balance Correction & Bracketing • Color and Time of Day • Sunsets and Sunrises • Weather • Photographing at Night • The Direction of Light • The Quality of Light

I

mage sensors in digital cameras are designed to produce colors that match those in the original scene. However, there is a lot of variation among sensors and among the circuits and software that process raw images into final photographs. The results you get depend, in part, on the accuracy with which you expose the image and how the camera handles colors. With film cameras, photographers usually explored a wide variety of films before settling on the one or two they liked best. This is because each film type had it’s own unique characteristics. In some the grain was small, in others it was larger. A film may have had colors that were warmer than other films, or slightly colder. These subtle variations among films are what made photographers gravitate to one or the other. With digital cameras, you don’t have the same choice offered by film cameras. The “film” in the form of an image sensor is built into your camera. Whatever its characteristics are, they are the characteristics you have to live with until you buy another camera. In this chapter, we explore the world of light and color and how you manage it in your photos.

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Where Does Color Come From?

Where Does Color Come From? Why do we see colors? Light from the sun or from a lamp seems to have no http://www.photocourse.com/itext/color/ Click here to explore color and prisms.

Although light from the sun appears colorless or “white,” it actually contains a range of colors similar to a rainbow. You can see these colors using a prism to separate them out.

particular color of its own. It appears simply to be “white” light. However, if you pass the light through a prism, you can see that it actually contains all colors, the same effect that occurs when water droplets in the atmosphere separate light into a rainbow. A colorful object such as a leaf appears green because when white light strikes it, the leaf reflects only the green wavelengths of light and absorbs the others. A white object such as a white flower appears white because it reflects most of the wavelengths that strike it, absorbing relatively few. Ink dyes or pigments in color prints also selectively absorb and reflect certain wavelengths of light and so produce the effect of color.

White objects reflect most of the wavelengths of light that strike them. When all of these wavelengths are combined, we see white. When all of them are absorbed, and none reflected, we see black.

A green object such as a leaf reflects only those wavelengths that create the visual effect of green. Other colors in the light are absorbed by the leaf.

“White” light actually contains light of different colors. The overall color cast of the light changes as the proportions of the colors change.


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White Balance

and

Tips • Color temperature

ranges from high temperature blues to low temperature reds. As color temperature increases it moves through the colors red, orange, yellow, white, and blue white in that order. • If you shoot images in the RAW file format (page 25), you can adjust white balance on your computer instead of having the camera do it.

Color

Although light from the sun or from a light bulb looks white to us, it not only contains a mixture of all colors, it contains these colors in varying proportions. Light from the midday sun, for example, is much bluer than light from a sunrise or a tungsten lamp. To produce what appears to us to be normal or accurate color balance, the image we capture must contain the colors in the original scene. One problem is that these colors are affected by the color of the light source. One way to describe the color of a light source is by its color temperature, specified in degrees Kelvin. This is similar to a thermometer that calibrates heat temperatures in degrees centigrade. The color temperature scale ranges from the lower color temperatures of reddish light to the higher color temperatures of bluish light. Daylight has a color temperature of about 5,000–5,500 K and adds no color cast to pictures. If white balance isn’t adjusted, light sources with a lower color temperature, such as incandescent or fluorescent, add a red or yellow cast. Those with a higher color temperature, such as open shade, add a blue cast. To adjust colors so photos have no color cast and look like they were shot outdoors at midday, we use a system called white balance. You can check white balance by looking at a captured image on the camera’s monitor. If you examine it closely, you may notice that white areas in particular have some color cast to them. If so, you may want to adjust white balance for subsequent shots taken under the same light source.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/whitebalance/ Click here to explore how the white balance setting affects the way images are captured.

Using Preset White Balance Settings The XSi offers a variety of white balance settings, each for a different lighting situation. When you select a mode in the Basic Zone, auto white balance (AWB) is automatically selected. For modes in the Creative Zone you can select auto, one of the six presets, or use the Custom setting for even greater control. • Auto (AWB) automatically selects the white balance to match the current light source. Select another mode if this mode doesn’t give you the results you want. • Daylight is best when photographing in cloudless sunlight. • Shade is best when photographing in open shade. • Cloudy is best when photographing outdoors in cloudy or overcast conditions. • Tungsten is best when photographing indoors under incandescent lights.

Clockwise from top, auto (AWB), daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, florescent, flash, and custom icons.

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• White Fluorescent is best when photographing indoors under white fluorescent lights. • Flash is best photographing with the built-in or external flash. • Custom (page 81) is best when other settings don’t give you the results you want.


White Balance and Color

Tip • If you like the warm glow of incandescent lights or candlelight, you can capture it by setting white balance to daylight.

Selecting a White Balance Setting 1. With the camera on and the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the WB button on the back of the camera to display a list of setting on the monitor. 2. Press the cross keys to highlight the icon for the white balance you want to use (AWB is the default) and press SET to select it. 3. Take photos using the changed setting. 4. When finished, repeat Steps 2–3 to reset white balance to AWB (Auto) or the mode will be remembered even when you turn off the camera.

Fluorescent light has a variety of color temperatures depending on its type. Some bulbs are daylight balanced.

Creating and Using a Custom White Balance Setting If none of the preset white balance settings give you the results you want, you can create your own. To do so, you first photograph an evenly lit surface, such as a sheet of white paper, with it filling the spot metering circle in the center of the viewfinder. You then use the captured image to set and save a custom white balance. Once saved you can access the custom setting at any time by selecting the custom white balance icon just as you select any other white balance setting. • You may need to use manual focus to focus on a surface with a uniform color. • If you take pictures of a standard white surface under various lighting situations and keep them on your memory card, you can select one at any time with the Custom WB menu command. This is a useful technique if you regularly shoot under more than one type of light. It’s like having a library of custom settings. • A photo taken with the Picture Style set to Monochrome (page 140) can’t be used to set custom white balance. Setting A Custom White Balance 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, and white balance set to any setting, photograph a white subject that fills the spot metering circle in the center of the viewfinder.

The white subject should fill at least the spot metering circle in the viewfinder.

The custom white balance icon.

2. Press MENU, display the Shooting 2 menu tab, highlight Custom WB, and press SET to display the image you took in Step 1. 3. Press SET to use the image to set white balance, or scroll to any other image and press SET. 4. When asked to confirm using the image for white balance, select OK. If you aren’t already using the custom white balance setting, you are asked if you want to “Set WB to” custom white balance. You can select OK to switch to it, or select it later just as you select any other white balance setting (see above). 5. When finished, reset white balance to AWB (Auto) or custom white balance will be used even when you turn the camera off and back on.


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Tip • All image filenames begin with IMG_ except for those shot using the Adobe RGB color space which begin with _MG_.

Selecting a Color Space You can change the color space used to capture images from the default sRGB to the wide gamut Adobe RGB color space. sRGB, which supports fewer colors, is the color space used in Basic Zone modes and is suitable for images that will be displayed on a monitor. However, if you plan on editing your images and making high-quality prints, Adobe RGB is a better choice. The only drawback is that when displayed on a non-compatible screen, colors look subdued. However, in a program, such as Photoshop, you can always convert images from Adobe RGB to sRGB without any loss in quality.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/colorspace/ Click to explore how sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces compare when it comes to the number of colors they can capture.

Selecting a Color Space

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the MENU button and display the Shooting 2 menu tab. 2. Highlight Color Space and press SET to display the choices sRGB and Adobe RGB. 3. Highlight your choice and press SET. 4. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.

The effects of color balance are most obvious in the early morning and late evening when the sunrise or sunset often changes the color of everything you see.

Tip • High temperatures, high ISOs, and long shutter speeds can all have adverse affects on the colors in your images.

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Using White Balance Correction & Bracketing

Using White Balance Correction & Bracketing Tips • When white balance bracketing is in effect the remaining pictures readout shows only one-third the number of images it would normally show. • Much of what you do to adjust white balance at the time of shooting is done more easily after taking pictures in the RAW format (page 25). • Each level of blue/ amber is equivalent to 5 Mireds of a color conversion filter. • You can’t bracket white balance when Custom Function 04 High ISO speed noise reduction is on (page 148).

White balance correction and bracketing are integrated on the XSi. You make both settings on the WB correction/WB bracketing screen. • You can correct the color temperature used for white balance much as you would on film cameras with a color temperature conversion or color compensating filter. To do so, you move a dot around the WB correction/WB bracketing screen with the cross keys, selecting any one of nine levels. • You can bracket white balance by having a single image processed into three pictures with different color tones using the Main Dial to specify the degree of change between images. The image is bracketed with up to + or – 3 levels of a blue/amber (B/A) bias, or magenta/green (M/G) bias (but not both at the same time). The first version is captured at the set white balance and the other two are made more blue/amber or magenta/green. You cannot bracket white balance when using the RAW format, but there is no need to do so because you can change white balance later on your computer. You can combine white balance bracketing with exposure bracketing (page 55), but you will get 9 images in each series. While an image is being processed into a series you cannot take another picture so continuous mode (page 139) slows down. Using White Balance Correction/Bracketing 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the MENU button, display the Shooting 2 menu tab, select WB SHIFT/ BKT and press SET to display the WB correction/WB bracketing screen. 2. Do one or both of the following: ● To make color corrections use the cross keys to move the dot towards B (blue), G (green), A (amber), and M (magenta). On the right side of the screen SHIFT shows the bias direction and correction amount. When the shift is 0,0 there is no correction.

The WB correction/ WB bracketing screen showing white balance bracketing in the Blue/ Amber (B/A) direction.

● To set the bracketing direction and level turn the Main Dial. This expands the single dot to tree dots that indicate what the white balance will be for each of the three shots. The middle dot is at the white balance recommended by the camera or selected by you, and the left and right dots indicate by how much white balance is adjusted. Turning the dial clockwise sets B/A bracketing and counterclockwise sets M/G bracketing. The BKT indicator to the right of the grid shows the bracketing direction and amount of adjustment. 3. Press SET to confirm the setting and MENU to hide the menu: ● If you have made color corrections, a WB +/- icon is displayed in the viewfinder and on the monitor.

The white balance correction (left) and bracketing (right) icons are displayed on the monitor when they are in effect.

● If you have set bracketing, the white balance bracketing icon is displayed on the monitor. 4. When finished, repeat Steps 1–3 to reset BKT and SHIFT to 0. If you don’t every shot you take will be corrected or bracketed.


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Color

and

Time

of

Day

In photography, there is a color of light called “daylight” that occurs between 10 A.M. and 2 P.M on a clear day. During these hours, colors appear clear, bright, and accurately rendered in a photo. Before and after this period, the light can change from a warm red at sunrise to a warm red or orange at sunset. This is because before and after midday, light from the sun is modified by the extra distance it travels through the Earth’s atmosphere. Some of the blue light is filtered out, leaving the light with a more reddish cast than at midday. This is easily seen very early or late in the day when the light is often quite red-orange in tone. The change in color has a significant affect on your pictures, but this reddish cast is a wonderful light to photograph in. When clouds cover the sky, the light also changes, this time to a more bluish light, much like that found in open shade. Just before dawn and at dusk, colors often appear muted or monochromatic. During these hours when light is relatively dim, you often have to use a longer exposure time.

Midday light on a sunny day produces colors that appear natural and accurately rendered.

Early morning and late afternoon light produce a more reddish color than you get at midday.

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Sunsets and Sunrises

Sunsets

and

Sunrises Sunsets and sunrises are relatively easy to photograph because the exposure is not as critical as it is with some other scenes. If you underexpose the scene slightly, the colors will simply be a bit richer and darker. Slight overexposure will make the same scene slightly lighter.

The sun often takes on a flattened appearance as it rises above the horizon. When partially obscured and softened by a haze, its warm, red glow illuminates the foreground.

Sunrises and sunsets by themselves aren’t very interesting. It’s objects in the foreground, such as a skyline, or unusual atmospheric effects such as this dark cloud that give them some punch.

The colors in the sky are often richest in the half hour before the sun rises and the half hour after it sets. It pays to be patient as you watch the sky change during these periods. For one thing, when the sun is below the horizon and not in the image, exposure problems are greatly reduced. Also, clouds in the sky often light up dramatically and in some cases, reflect the light to other clouds until you find yourself under a wonderful canopy of reflected color. Every sunrise and sunset is unique and the variations can be truly amazing. It’s certainly not true that “if you’ve seen one sunrise or sunset, you’ve seen them all.” If you want the sun in the photo, it’s best if it is softened and partly obscured by a mist or haze. If it rises as a hot white or yellow ball, find an-

With the bright disk of the sun included in a sunset or sunrise, your picture may come out somewhat underexposed and darker than you expect it to be. Add 1 or 2 stops of exposure to a sunset or sunrise that includes the disk of the sun.


Warning! • Never look at the bright sun through the viewfinder. You can seriously damage your eyes.

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Chapter 4. Capturing Light & Color other subject or turn around and photograph the scene it’s illuminating. The rich, warm light changes the colors of everything it hits. This is a magic time to capture images that will really stand out. Colors take on a warm, soft glow that can’t be found at any other time of the day. Instead of shooting into the sun at sunrise or sunset, shoot with it behind you to capture rich, warm colors of scenes bathed in the sun’s light.

A long-focal-length lens enlarges the disk of the sun so that it becomes a more important part of the picture. Foreground objects silhouetted against the bright sky, can also add interest.

Here the camera was positioned so the rising sun was behind one of the grain elevators where it wouldn’t burn out the image with its glare.

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Anticipating the Sun and Moon When planning to integrate the sun or moon into an image it helps to know when it rises or sets and what phase the moon is. This information is available in almanacs and on the Web at the U.S. Naval Observatory (http://www.usno.navy.mil).


Weather

Weather There’s no need to leave your camera home just because the sun hasn’t come out. In fact, rain, snow, fog, and mist can add interest to your pictures. Objects at a distance often appear diffused and gray in such weather, with foreground objects brighter than normal because they are seen against a muted background. Remember to take a little extra care in bad weather to protect your camera against excessive exposure to dampness. Snow covered scenes are not only beautiful to look at, they make great photographs.

Tip • Canon L series lenses are sealed and weather resistant as is the 580EX II Speedlight. Unfortunately, the XSi isn’t as well protected.

A light fog subdues colors and softens objects in the background.

A very light mist can dim the sun enough to include it in a photograph. If it weren’t partially obscured by the fog, it would appear as a white dot in an otherwise dark scene.

Rainbows always make good pictures. The problem is, you rarely find them where you want them, when you want them. To get better at capturing them, you should know how they form so you can anticipate them. Rainbows are formed when sunlight is refracted by raindrops. You’ll usually find the combination of rain and sun at the leading or trailing edge of a summer storm. You


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CAMERA CARE

can’t see rainbows at all times of the day. To understand why, visualize the way the rainbow works.

• In the cold, batteries run down much faster. To prevent this, keep the camera or battery under your coat or in an inside pocket so the battery stays warmer.

If you stand with your back to the sun while looking at a rainbow, imagine a line from the sun passing through your eye, through the Earth, and out into space. (This is called the antisolar point.) The rainbow forms a complete circle around this imaginary line, however from ground level part of it is always below the horizon. A line drawn from your eye to the top of the rainbow forms a 42-degree angle with the imaginary line from the sun through your eye. (If there is a secondary rainbow, it forms an angle of 51-degrees.) Because these angles determine the position of the rainbow in the sky, it will sink as the sun rises and rise as the sun sinks. At some points, the entire rainbow, not just the bottom half, will be below the horizon where you can’t see it. That’s why you won’t see a summer rainbow at midday when the sun is directly overhead.

From a plane you can sometimes see all 360degrees of a rainbow. Here you see a section of one shot through an airliner window. To the right of the brighter primary rainbow is a dimmer secondary one.

Here a rainbow dramatically appears in a New England

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Photographing at Night

Photographing

at

At twilight you may want to use the Night Portrait setting (page 39).

Night You can photograph many different things outdoors at night, so don’t put your camera away just because the sun is gone for the day. Light sources (street lights, automobile lights, neon signs, or fires) or brightly lit areas (illuminated buildings or areas under street lights) will dominate pictures at night because they stand out strongly against darker backgrounds. Plan to use these bright areas as the dominant part of your picture. A tripod or solid surface will support your camera during long exposures and prevent blur caused by camera motion during the time the shutter is open.

This scene of Faneuil Hall in Boston was shot at night with just illumination from street lights.

Fireworks can be dramatic, but are difficult to capture. You need to experiment and a digital camera is perfect for that because you can instantly review your results.

Tip • If the camera has trouble focusing, switch to manual focus, or use focus lock. In some Basic Zone modes, the flash may pop up and strobe to assist focus on nearby subjects. In Creative Zone modes you have to raise the flash if you want it to assist focus.

To capture interesting images of fireworks, put people or water in the foreground. It also helps if there are identifiable objects in the image such as an illuminated building or monument to give the viewer a sense of place. Get upwind from the show since fireworks generate a lot of smoke that can become a problem if you are downwind. If you are upwind, the smoke will become part of the image, illuminated by the fireworks. Set your exposure for fireworks by switching to Av (aperture-priority) or Tv (shutter-priority) mode and try for a setting of f/2.8 at 1/30 second. Try a series of exposures of different bursts because there is a certain amount of luck involved. If there are foreground figures you might try fill flash (page 116) or Night Portrait mode (page 39). You can try increasing the ISO, use exposure compensation, and try different combinations of aperture and shutter speed. Finally, for really interesting effects, you might switch to manual exposure and use the bulb setting (page 90) and select a small aperture so you can keep the shutter open long enough to capture multiple bursts. You might also explore using Program AE and program shift to get the slowest possible shutter speed (page 40). The moon, especially when full, adds a lot to an image. The best time to capture the moon is when it’s near the horizon. Because it is close to foreground objects at that time, it looks much larger than when it’s higher in the sky.


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Tips • You might want to switch to Tv (shutter-priority) mode so you can use shutter speeds as slow as 30 seconds (page 41) or M (manual) mode and use the bulb setting. • Turn on Custom Function 03 to reduce the effects of noise on long exposures (page 148). • If you combine bulb exposures, the self-timer, and mirror lockup, hold down the shutter button during the entire self-timer delay time and bulb exposure time). If you release it prematurely, there will be a shutter-release sound but no picture is taken.

Keep in mind that the moon is relatively dim and usually requires long exposures. Since it’s moving relative to the Earth, longer exposures can actually blur it, giving it a slightly oblong shape. To reduce the chances of this happening, shoot just before sunrise or just after sunset when there is still some light in the atmosphere from the recently set sun. (It bends around the Earth’s curvature due to refraction in the atmosphere.) Try Night Portrait mode when photographing people at twilight, night, or dawn. It illuminates foreground subjects with the flash and the shutter speed is set slow enough to lighten the background. This mode is especially good for outdoor shots with foreground subjects in front of an illuminated background such as a cityscape. Since a slow shutter speed may be used in this mode, you may need to support the camera (page 61). To get exposures at night, you can use the bulb setting with or without flash. Bulb makes it possible to capture light trails from moving cars and star trails as the Earth rotates under a canopy of stars. When in this mode, the shutter remains open as long as you hold the shutter button down, and while open, moving lights paint lines in the image. To avoid blur from camera shake, you must use a tripod or other secure support. It can be tiring to hold the shutter button down, and hard to keep from moving the camera. It is much easier to use the remote switch RS-60ES (page 142) to lock the shutter open for long exposures. Keep in mind that when using bulb, you can’t see through the viewfinder while the exposure is being made. Also long exposures add noise to an image but you can turn on Custom Function 03 to reduce it (page 148). Using Bulb Exposures 1. Set the Mode Dial to M (manual).


2. Turn the Main Dial counterclockwise all the way to display buLb in the viewfinder and BULB on the monitor, then hold down the AV/ Exposure Compensation button as you turn the Main Dial to select an aperture. 3. Press and hold down the shutter button for as long as you wish. A minute and second timer is displayed on the monitor to guide you. (If it isn’t displayed, press DISP.)

The full moon taken with a telephoto lens on a digital camera.

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The Direction of Light

The Direction

of

Light The direction that light comes from relative to your camera’s position is important because it determines where shadows will be visible in your picture. It can also affect your exposure. Backlighting, for example, can silhouette your subject against a background so bright that your automatic exposure system underexposes the scene and makes the subject even darker. This is fine, if you want a silhouette. If you don’t, use exposure compensation to lighten the image. Four main types of lighting are illustrated here: front-lighting, side-lighting, backlighting, and top-lighting. Notice the position of the shadows in these photographs and how they affect the subjects.

Side-lighting, increases the sense of texture and volume because it casts shadows visible from the camera’s position. Landscape photographers often prefer to work early in the morning or late in the day because the low sun sidelights scenes and adds interesting surface textures.

Front-lighting decreases visible shadows and minimizes surface details as well as the apparent depth or volume of the subject.


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Chapter 4. Capturing Light & Color Backlighting puts the side of the subject that is facing the camera in shade and automatic exposure tends to make these scenes too dark. You can use exposure compensation to lighten the picture, especially those parts that are in shade.

Top-lighting can occur outdoors at midday or indoors where ceiling lights predominate. If you are photographing a person, you will notice that top-lighting tends to cast shadows in eyesockets and illuminates the top of the nose. To avoid this effect, you might try moving the person into the shade.

Tip • In Basic Zone modes other than Landscape, Sports, and Flash Off, the built-in flash pops up and fires automatically in backlit conditions.

Top-lighting, such as that found at midday, can selectively illuminate things, such as this flag in the man’s back pocket, that would be in shadow with light coming from a lower angle.

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The Quality of Light

The Quality

of

Light

Light not only has direction, it can be direct or diffused. Direct light that http://www.photocourse.com/itext/lightquality/ Click to explore hard and soft light.

comes mainly from one direction produces relatively high contrast between bright highlights and dark shadows. Diffused light bounces onto the subject from several directions, lowering contrast. Contrast, in turn, affects the brilliance of colors, the amount of visible texture and detail, and other visual characteristics. In direct light you may have to choose whether you want highlights or shadows to be correctly rendered because image sensors can accurately record only a limited range of contrast between light and dark areas. If this creates a problem because both highlights and shadowed areas are important, you can sometimes add fill light to lighten shadows and decrease contrast or adjust the camera’s contrast setting (page 140). In diffused light, colors tend to be softer than in direct light and textures are also softened because shadow edges are indistinct.

Direct light comes from a point source, such as the sun on a clear day. It produces dark, hardedged shadows that crisply outline details. Here the light and shadows almost form an abstraction.

Diffused light comes from a light source that is so large relative to the subject that it illuminates from several directions. On a hazy or overcast day, illumination comes from the entire dome of the sky, not from the brighter, but smaller, sun. Indoors, light from a flash bounced into an umbrella reflector or onto a wall or ceiling creates a broad source of light that wraps around the subject.


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Chapter 5. Understanding Lenses

Chapter 5 Understanding Lenses

Contents • Canon Lenses • Focal Length • Zoom Lenses • Normal Lenses • Wide-Angle Lenses • Telephoto Lenses • Macro Lenses and Accessories • Tilt-Shift Lenses • Lens Accessories • Perspective in a Photograph

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T

he Canon XSi lets you draw from a vast array of interchangeable lenses. These range from fish-eye lenses for extreme wide-angle shots, to lenses that will capture an athlete’s expression across the width of a football field. If you’re new to photography, you’ll be amazed at the difference high-quality interchangeable lenses can make. If you are an experienced digital photographer with a background in SLR cameras, you’ll enjoy being able to use your old lenses on your new camera. A favorite lens of many photographers is a high quality zoom lens that lets you quickly zoom in or out to meet different photographic opportunities. Zoom in on a subject and you can capture distant action at sporting events or in the field. Zoom out and you can capture a wide-angle view of a large group, a roomy interior, or of an expansive landscape. The ability to change your angle of view as you frame your image is one of your most powerful creative controls. But there are many more lenses to choose from. They include macro lenses, tilt-shift lenses, and even a soft focus lens for misty, romantic portraits and landscapes.


Canon Lenses

Canon Lenses One of the best things about the XSi is that it can use any one of the 50 or so lenses from the Canon line. Even better, if you have a 35mm EOS camera you can switch your lenses between film and digital cameras. Let’s take a look at some of the things that Canon lenses have in common.

If you have the money, Canon has the lens.

Tip • The mount on an EF-S lens works with the XSi and other EOS digital camera models that use the APS-C sized sensor. It won’t work with cameras using fullframe sensors.

Electronic Lens Mount The Canon family of EF (Electronic Focus) lenses was introduced with the first EOS camera in 1987. Instead of mechanical linkages, all communications between the lens and the camera pass through electrical contacts. These connections provide the power needed by a small motor in the lens that controls autofocus and the electromagnetic diaphragm (EMD) that controls aperture settings. This electronic system is much more accurate, reliable, and flexible than older mechanical linkages. Until recently all Canon’s lenses were designed to work with all EOS film and digital cameras. With the introduction of EF-S lenses (the “S” stands for short back focus), this has changed. These lenses work only with EOS digital cameras having an APS-C sized image sensor such as the XSi. They can’t be used with cameras such as the 5D because their reduced image circle isn’t large enough to cover a larger full frame sensor and they use a different mount. These lenses have a white index mark in addition to the traditional red marking, and a rear rubber ring that prevents any damage should you try to mount the EF-S lens on a camera it’s not designed for. When you change lenses, be careful that dust or other debris doesn’t enter the camera through the lens opening. In fact, keep this opening covered with a lens or the body cap as much as possible. Don’t change lenses or remove the body cap in a dusty or windy environment, and when you do remove the cap or lens, keep the opening pointed down. Should foreign matter find its way onto the image sensor it will show up as specks or blotches in your photographs. If you notice this in your images, see page 153. Mounting and Unmounting a lens 1. In a dust and wind free environment, twist the rear lens cap counterclockwise until it stops, then lift it up to remove it. Remove any body cap from the camera the same way. 2. Align the red dot on the lens (EF lenses), or the white dot (EF-S lenses), with the dot of the same color on the camera body’s lens mount.

The lens release button.

3. Insert the lens into the mount and turn it clockwise (as you face the lens) until it clicks into place. Gently try to turn the lens in the other direction to ensure that it’s securely locked in place. 4. To remove the lens, press the lens release button and turn the lens counterclockwise so the red or white index mark is at the top, then remove it.

The lens focus switch.

Focusing Technology Canon EF lenses have a focus switch that let’s you select autofocus (AF) or manual focus (M on older lenses and MF on newer ones). When set to M or MF you focus by turning the focus ring on the lens. When using an USM (Ultrasonic Motor) lens with a distance scale in One-Shot AF mode, you can turn


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On some zoom lenses, setting the Distance Limiter Switch to FULL lets the lens try to focus over it’s entire range. When set to LIMIT, it will only try a specific range of distances.

the focusing ring on the lens to fine tune focus after focus is achieved (called full-time manual focusing). This let’s you override the autofocus system to fine-tune the focus without having to look up from the viewfinder to find the focus switch to change modes. Full-time manual focus comes in two versions. Electronic manual focusing detects how much you’ve turned the focus ring and then uses the focusing motor to focus the lens by the same amount. Mechanical manual focusing adjusts the focus manually as you turn the focus ring. As the lens focuses, it uses one of five different focusing methods that include the following: • Overall extension where the entire optical system moves forward or backward. • Front group extension where only the front-most lens group moves forward or backward. • Front group rotation extension, used only in zoom lenses, where the frontmost lens group rotates as it moves forward or backward.

• Inner focusing where only the lens group between the front lens and the http://www.photocourse.com/itext/canonlenses/canoneflenses.pdf aperture diaphragm is moved.

Click for a PDF listing Canon lenses.

• Rear focusing when only the lens group behind the aperture diaphragm is moved. Some lenses have a focus preset feature so you can store the desired focusing distance in memory. This lets you focus elsewhere and then instantly return to the preset focus distance if necessary. This is ideal in sports and nature photography where you are monitoring action at a specific point such as a nest or goal, but where you also want to capture other action. A few lenses have an AF stop feature that prevents focus from shifting when something passes between you and the subject you’re focused on. You turn this feature on by pressing an AF Stop button on the lens.

Ultrasonic Motors Since electronically coupled lenses need to move lens groups to focus the http://www.photocourse.com/itext/antishake/ image, Canon developed small, light, and powerful motors that fit inside the lens. One of their most impressive is the Ultrasonic Motor (USM). Unlike Click to explore how traditional motors that use a magnetic field to rotate an armature, these image stabilization reduces but doesn’t motors use ultrasonic vibrational forces to rotate a ring. The motor contains eliminate blur caused by two rings; one that is fixed and one that rotates. As electricity is applied to camera movement. piezoelectric ceramic elements on the fixed ring, the ring generates ultrasonic vibrations that rotate the movable ring with significant force. The result is a motor that is fast, reliable, accurate and almost silent.

To turn image stabilization on, you set the switch to the vertical line. To turn it off you set the switch to the “o”.

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Image Stabilization If you’ve ever photographed in dim light, or tried to hand-hold a long telephoto lens, you know how easy it is to get blur in your images from camera shake. In most cases, we resort to tripods or other camera supports. However, Canon has another way; image stabilization (IS). Lenses with this feature contain gyro sensors that sense movement of the lens and micro-motors that instantly shift a special image stabilization lens group to compensate for the motion and keep the image steady on the sensor. These lenses break the old rule that you should never hand hold a lens using a shutter speed slower than the reciprocal of the lens focal length times 1.6. For example, when using a For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Canon Lenses 100mm lens, you normally shouldn’t use a shutter speed slower that 1/160. Image stabilized lenses let you add two or three stops to that calculation so you can handhold an image stabilized version of the same lens at 1/30 of a second shutter speed.

The Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO uses a technology called MultiLayer Diffractive Optical Element that makes it smaller and lighter than it would otherwise be.

Note that when using an image stabilized lens on a tripod, you should turn off image stabilization. If you don’t, you can actually add blur to the image. (A few lenses have a mechanism that prevents this problem.) This is because when image stabilization is on, the special image stabilization lens group is free to move. If it moves or vibrates while everything else is perfectly stable, blur results. When image stabilization is off, the image stabilization lens group is locked in place so it can’t move. Also, turn it off in B (bulb) mode to avoid unpredictable results. Some Canon lenses have two IS modes. IS Mode1 works for normal shooting and IS Mode-2 stabilizes the image as you pan the camera to follow a moving subject. Information on a Canon Lens When you look at Canon lenses, or read about them, you may be confused at first by all of the information cryptically provided. Here is what each of the terms or abbreviations refers to.

The Canon Tripod Collar B supplied with some lenses provides a tripod mount so you can mount the lens, rather than the camera, to a tripod. With longer lenses in particular, this provides a much better balance point for the combined weight of the camera body and lens.

• EF—The lens is one of the EF (electronic focus) family of lenses that works with the XSi and with any EOS SLR, Advanced Photo System EOS SLR, and any camcorder with a VL mount. • EF-S—These lenses work only with Canon digital cameras such as the XSi using a smaller APS-C sized image sensor. • 28–105mm—The lens’s focal length or zoom range in millimeters. Since the XSi’s sensor is smaller than a frame of 35mm film, the effective focal length of a lens is greater than it is on a film camera (page 98). • f/2.8—The maximum aperture of the lens (page 33). On many lenses it’s listed on the lens as a ratio such as 1:2.4 or 1:3.5–5.6. On many zoom lenses, two maximum apertures are given because the aperture changes as you zoom the lens in and out. However, Canon makes a series of f/4L lenses that don’t change the aperture as you zoom the lens. This lets you set exposure and zoom all the way through the lens’s zoom range without the aperture changing. • 0.25m/0.8ft, or something similar, indicates the lens’s minimum focus distance on some lenses.

Lenses with larger maximum apertures let you use faster shutter speeds and are often called “fast” lenses.

• L—An indication that the quality of the lens is especially high (or Luxury). • USM—The lens features an ultrasonic motor and the lens is marked ULTRASONIC. • II—The Roman numeral indicates that the lens has been revised or improved upon from an earlier version. • IS—The lens has image stabilization built in. • TE-S—The lens is a tilt-shift lens used for perspective and depth of field control. • Macro—The lens is designed for close-up photography.

The EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens.

• DO—Diffractive Optical Element technology makes the lens smaller and lighter than it would otherwise be.


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Focal Length A zoom lens lets you choose any focal length within the range the lens is designed for. When you change focal lengths by zooming the lens, two important effects are immediately obvious in the lens’ angle of view and its magnihttp://www.photocourse.com/itext/sensor/ fying power. Click to explore sensor sizes.

• Angle of view refers to how much of a scene the lens covers. A wide-angle

lens captures a wide expanse of a scene. A longer focal length narrows the http://www.photocourse.com/itext/imagecircle/ Click to explore how the size of an image sensor determines the focal length of a lens.

field of view and you can isolate small portions of the scene without moving closer to the subject.

• Magnification is related to the lens’ angle of view. Since a wide-angle lens includes a wide sweep of the scene, all of the objects in the scene are reduced to fit into the image. A longer focal length lens, with its narrower angle of http://www.photocourse.com/itext/focallength/ view, makes objects in a scene appear larger. Click here to explore how the focal length of a lens determines its angle of view.

Canon has a wide variety of zoom lenses covering various focal length ranges between 10mm and 600mm. The focal length of a lens determines it’s angle of view. The focal length is based on its physical attributes so it’s an absolute value. However, a given focal length lens may have an “effective” focal length on different cameras. This is because the effective focal length depends on the size of the film or image sensor being used. As these get smaller, a given focal length lens appears to magnify more because it’s capturing a smaller area of the image circle. Since the XSi’s image sensor is smaller than a frame of 35mm film, it essentially captures only the central section of the focused image projected by the lens. As a result, the effective focal length increases by a factor of 1.6 times compared to the indicated focal length of the lens. For example, a 35 mm lens is equivalent to 56mm on the XSi This multiple works across the entire range of focal lengths, making wide-angle lens less so on the digital SLR than on a film or full-frame digital SLR, and making telephoto lenses more so. • The XSi penalizes you when used with shorter focal length lenses because no wide angle lens is as wide as indicated. • The XSi with its smaller sensor gives you a bonus when used with long focal length lenses or macro lenses because a lens’ focal length is always 1.6x more than indicated.

The longer a lens’ focal length, the narrower its angle of view.

A lens projects a circle of light and the size of the film or image sensor determines how large an area of the circle is captured. The XSi (smaller frame) captures a smaller area than a camera using a full-frame sensor (larger frame).

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Zoom Lenses

Zoom Lenses A zoom lens lets you choose any focal length within the range the lens is designed for. Zooming a lens is like walking toward or away from the scene but without changing the perspective (page 109). Here, a lighthouse in Maine is photographed a number of times from the same spot. The images vary from wideangle to telephoto.

Zooming a Lens ● To zoom a Canon EF or EF-S lens, turn the zoom ring on the lens one way to zoom in and the other way to zoom out.

Tip • Zoom before focusing since zooming can throw off focus.

The lens was zoomed during a long exposure.


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Normal Lenses A “normal lens” for a 35mm camera usually refers to a lens with a 50 mm focal length (35 mm equivalent). When you zoom your lens to this focal length and look at the image on the screen, the scene looks about the same as it does to the unaided eye. With the lens zoomed all the way out things appear closer than they actually are. With it zoomed out to a wide-angle, everything looks farther away. A normal-focal-length zoom isn’t necessarily the one photographers normally use. Many urban or street photographers prefer the wider angle of view and greater depth of field provided by a shorter focal length. Portrait, event, sports and nature photographers often prefer a lens with a longer focal length.

It’s hard to look at a photo and tell what focal-length lens was used to take it. However, objects in an image taken with a normal lens look normal in their spatial relationships.

See for Yourself • A lens is called normal because it captures a scene just as the human eye does even though the eye’s angle of view is much wider than any normal lens. However, you can demonstrate for yourself why a specific focal length is normal for your camera. When a passenger in a car, try zooming the lens or change focal lengths as you watch the traffic ahead through the viewfinder. A longer focal length makes distant cars appear right on top of you. A shorter focal length makes cars look far ahead, even when relatively close. A normal focal-length makes the cars appear in the same distance relationship as you perceive them ordinarily. Canon’s EF 50mm f/1.0L USM lens, although not made anymore, has a maximum aperture of f/1.0–extremely fast!

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Another demonstration is to take two photographs of greatly different size and tape them to a wall. Look at them one at a time through the viewfinder with the lens zoomed to a normal focal-length. Move close enough so each fills the monitor. You’ll discover you are at the correct distance for viewing the prints. With a longer focal-length you would feel too far away, and with a shorter one, too close.


Wide-Angle Lenses

Wide-Angle Lenses Wide-angle (short focal length) lenses capture a wide expanse of a scene. This wide angle of view is ideal for use in tight spaces, when photographing landscapes, and in small rooms where you can’t position the camera a great distance from the subject. If you don’t get too close to your subjects, a wide-angle lens is good for indoor portraits where including the setting is important.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/panorama/ Click to see how extreme wide-angle lenses can be used to create 360 degree interactive panoramas.

A wide-angle lens also has great depth of field that makes it ideal for street or action photographs. When out to capture quickly unfolding scenes, you can also use zone focusing (page 74) so you’ll have maximum depth of field when you respond quickly to a photo opportunity. Wide-angle lenses are ideal when you need great depth of field because part of the scene is close to the camera and part farther away. These lenses also make focusing less critical so you can capture those fleeting moments you might otherwise miss.


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Chapter 5. Understanding Lenses Short lenses also let you focus very close to your subject, and the effect this can have on the perspective in your images can be dramatic. Objects very close to the camera loom much larger than those farther away. This distortion in the apparent size of objects can deliberately give emphasis and when carried to an extreme will give an unrealistic appearance to a scene. Wide-angle lenses have tremendous depth of field. Here one was used to shoot through a toy space station and make Quinlan look like a giant.

Canon’s 15mm fisheye lens gives a circular “fisheye” look to images.

Canon’s 14mm wide-angle lens is a rectilinear lens so its images don’t have the distorted look of some fisheye lenses.

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Telephoto Lenses

Telephoto Lenses A telephoto (long focal length) lens acts somewhat like a telescope—It magnifies the image of your subject. This is especially useful when you can’t get close to your subject—or don’t want to. These lenses are ideal for wildlife, portrait, and candid photography, whenever getting close to a subject might disturb or distort it. As the focal length increases, depth of field gets shallower so you must focus more carefully. Also, a long lens visually compresses space, making objects in the scene appear closer together than they actually are. The primary drawback of longer lenses is that they often have smaller maximum apertures that require longer shutter speeds. Also, since a long lens magnifies movement, just as it magnifies the subject, you may have to support the camera better to get maximum sharpness.

Telephoto lenses come in fixed focal lengths and as zooms. This is a 10x 35–350mm zoom.

A long focal length makes distant objects appear compressed. Here a long lens has been used to “compress” a street scene at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in

A long lens makes the sun look larger in relation to foreground objects.

When the lineup of cement trucks (bottom) is shot head-on with a long lens (top) they appear much closer together then they really are. This is actually due to the distance from the subject, not the focal length of the lens, but the effect is easy to get with a long lens.


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Chapter 5. Understanding Lenses A telephoto lens is an excellent portrait lens, especially for head-and-shoulders portraits. It lets you keep your distance and still fill the viewfinder frame with the subject. Keeping at a distance eliminates the exaggerated perspective caused by working very close to a subject with a shorter focal length lens. It also helps relax your subjects if they get uneasy, as many people do, when a camera comes close. A long lens lets you get portraits without crowding in on the subject. This let’s you capture more natural expressions.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/distortion/ Click here to explore how a wide angle lens can distort a subject.

Using a wide-angle lens close to the subject adds some distortion to the portrait by making objects closer to the camera larger.

Extenders fit between the lens and camera body to increase focal lengths by 1.4x or 2x. The II series works with both EF and EF-S lenses.

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You can extend the focal length of a fixed focal length lens (without affecting the minimum focus distance) using an extender, an optical device that mounts between the lens and camera body. With the XSi, you can use both 1.4x and 2x extenders. The 1.4x extender requires you to open up one stop and the 2x requires 2 stops. If a lens’ maximum aperture is smaller than f/4 for the 1.4x extender or f/2.8 for the 2x, you have to use manual focus. For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Macro Lenses and Accessories

Macro Lenses

and

This symbol on the camera body indicates the position of the image plane. The lens’ minimum focusing distance is measured from this mark.

Accessories

When photographing small objects from coins to insects, your lens’ focal length and minimum focusing distance affect how small objects are captured in photos. For example, if you’re photographing a small coin, you probably don’t want it to appear as a tiny coin surrounded by a large background. More likely you’d like a photo showing a large coin surrounded by a small background. For many pictures, just zooming your lens in on the subject will suffice. However, macro lenses allow you to get closer to the subject, making smaller subjects much larger in the final image. If you can’t get close enough to an object to fill the image area, you can always crop out the unwanted areas later. However, the more you crop, the smaller the pixel dimensions of the image becomes.

This small, but very colorful caterpillar was captured with a macro lens.

Tip • For maximum magnification, zoom all the way in, set the lens focus mode to M or MF (manual), turn the focus ring to the minimum focus distance and zoom all the way in. Look through the viewfinder as you focus the subject by moving in and out.

Canon offers a wide range of macro lenses that are compatible with Canon’s extension tubes and macro flash units (page 125).

The 50mm macro lens.

The 180mm macro lens gives you plenty of working distance when doing close-up photography.

• The EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro focuses up to 9.1 inches (231mm) for 1:2 (half life-size) magnification. At 9.1 inches and f/11, depth of field is 0.24 inches (6mm). The EF Life Size Converter for the lens extends its range to between 1:4 and 1:1 magnification and also compensates for spherical aberrations. • The EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens focuses over the full range from infinity down to life size (1:1 reproduction ratio). The lens allows full-time manual focusing so you can override autofocus to fine tune it. When shooting at life size (1x) magnification, the minimum working distance between the lens and the subject is approximately 6 inches (152mm), providing enough room for a flash or other light source to illuminate the subject. • The EF 180mm f/3.5L MACRO USM Telephoto Lens shoots throughout the focusing distance range from 1x to infinity. The lens has full-time mechanical manual focusing and focuses as close as 1.5ft (0.48m).


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Chapter 5. Understanding Lenses • The manual focus MP-E65mm f/2.8 Macro Photo Lens extends the capabilities of conventional macro lenses and is designed exclusively for highmagnification close-ups from 1x to 5x. Working distances (from the front of the lens to the subject) range from 4 inches at 1x (life size) to 1.6 inches at 5x. The lens is equipped with a detachable tripod collar.

The Canon MP-E65mm f2.8 1–5x Macro lens.

• Extension tubes EF 12 II and EF 25 II fit between the lens and the camera body and allow the lens to focus much closer than normal, increasing magnification. The larger the amount of extension and the shorter the focal length of the lens used, the greater the increase in magnification. (The newer series II extension tubes work with both EF and EF-S lenses. Older extension tubes work only with EF lenses.)

• Canon’s Angle Finder C attaches to the viewfinder eyepiece so you can http://www.photocourse.com/itext/macromag/ Click here to explore macro lens enlargement factors.

photograph from a low angle without kneeling or lying down. It’s also great when doing copy work and macro photography. It features a rubber eyecup, a built-in adjustable diopter, and a roof prism that keeps the image correctly oriented. The viewfinder has switchable magnification (1.25x or 2.5x). The 1.25x setting shows the entire image area including exposure data outside the picture area, while the 2.5x setting provides a magnified view of the center of the image area—excellent for critical focusing with macro lenses and other specialty optics.

A monarch butterfly captured with a macro lens.

Angle Finder C.

Increasing depth of Field in Close-ups The Canon Life-size Converter EF is an extension tube.

● Increase the illumination of the subject to stop down the aperture. ● Don’t get any closer to the subject than you have to. ● Focus on the most important part of the subject keeping in mind that in close-ups, depth of field is half in front and half behind the plane of critical focus. ● Use aperture-priority (Av) or program shift to select a small aperture (pages 40 and 42).

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Tilt-Shift Lenses

Tilt-Shift Lenses Tilt-shift lenses serve two very important purposes. The tilt controls depth of field and the shift controls the way vertical lines appear in the image. Until Canon developed these kinds of lenses, their effects could only be achieved on a large format camera. The lenses charge a small penalty for all of their flexibility. They can cause metering errors and require you to focus manually and open up one or two stops.

A Canon TS-E lens.

A bubble level that slips into the hot shoe assures you that the camera is perfectly level when using the camera’s shift control. This is the Bl2 from Kaiden.

• Tilting the lens allows you to control depth of field in an image without changing the aperture. Normally, the glass elements in a lens are parallel to the image sensor. To change the depth of field for a given subject and camera position you have to open or close the aperture. With a lens that tilts from side to side or top to bottom, the plane of critical focus can be tilted one way to dramatically increase depth of field, or the other way to dramatically decrease it. This makes it possible to use a large aperture and still get great depth of field. The larger aperture allows faster shutter speeds so you can capture scenes you might have missed before, such as a field with flowers blowing in the wind. • Shifting the lens helps you correct for converging vertical lines that occur when you tilt the camera to capture trees, buildings, or other tall subjects. These lines converge in the image whenever the camera is tilted and the image sensor is no longer parallel to the subject. Using the lens’ shift function, the lens can be shifted upward to eliminate the foreground while keeping the image sensor parallel to the subject. • You can create panoramic images, or even stereo pairs, by taking two photos with the lens shifted in opposite directions. • When photographing reflective subjects, you can eliminate your reflection by moving the camera to a position where the reflection doesn’t show, and then shifting the lens to center the subject in the picture area. The same technique can be used to eliminate unwanted subjects in the foreground. Canon has three Tilt-Shift (TS-E) lens in different focal lengths. All three can rotate 90 degrees, tilted +/-8 degrees, and shifted +/-11 mm. On the 24 mm lens, some of the shift and tilt ranges are marked in red because images may be vignetted if shifted or tilted into these zones on a 35mm or full frame digital camera. Vignetting occurs because the lens focuses a circle of light on the image plane and as you tilt and shift, the image sensor captures different parts of the circle. However, on the XSi the image sensor is smaller so the lens can be shifted and tilted farther without vignetting.

The house on the left, shot by pointing the camera up to get in the entire house, has converging vertical lines and looks tilted. In the photo on the right taken with the lens shifted, the house looks rectangular and all vertical lines are parallel.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/tiltshift/tiltshift.gif Click to see these images animated.


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Lens Accessories TIP • If you use more than one filter at a time you may get vignetting (dark corners in your images).

All but the largest Canon lenses have threads into which you can screw filters and other accessories. However, keep in mind that many of the effects created by traditional screw on filters can now be done with software filters in programs such as Adobe Photoshop. Applying the effects after capturing an image not only lets you experiment with effects and see what they do in real-time, it also allows you to have an unaffected version of the image. Also, if you are using the Picture Styles Monochrome setting, there are a number of software filters built into the camera (page 140). If you do want to use lens attachments, here are some to consider. • Lens hoods protect the front element from bumps and keep stray light from striking the front of the lens and causing flare or ghost images. • Caps protect the front and rear of the lens when it’s not in use. A body cap prevents dust from entering the camera when no lens is attached. • Protect filters keep the front element of your lens from getting scratched or dirty.

Lens hoods protect the front element and reduce lens flare.

• Circular polarizing filters remove reflections from glass, water, and other reflective surfaces, darken blue skies, and improve color saturation. If you use a linear polarizing filter, you can’t use autofocus.

A polarizing filter (topleft) darkens the sky and removes reflections from foliage so it has more color. A shot without a filter is shown at the bottom-right.

For larger apertures or slower shutter speeds, you can use a screw on neutral density filter that cuts the light entering the lens.

• Skylight filters reduce the blue casts you often get when photographing subjects in the shade on sunny days. • UV filters absorb ultraviolet light and cut the haze when photographing landscapes or from airplanes. • Neutral density filters cut the light entering the camera so you can use slower shutter speeds or wider apertures in bright light.

Cases protect lenses from shocks and other abuse. Courtesy of Kenesis.

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• Soft focus filters soften the focus to make portraits more flattering and to make hazy, romantic landscapes. • Close-up lenses magnify the subject without affecting aperture settings. • Color conversion filters let you fine-tune the way you capture colors. For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Perspective in a Photograph

Perspective

in a

Photograph A photograph can appear to compress space so that objects appear closer together than you expect. Another photograph of the same scene can seem to expand space so that objects appear farther apart than normal. These apparent distortions in perspective—the appearance of depth in a photograph—are often attributed to the focal length of the lens being used but are actually caused by your distance from the subject.

As the camera is moved closer to the foreground subject and zoomed out to keep it the same size (top), the background diminishes in size relative to the foreground. When you move back and zoom in, the background looms over the foreground subject (bottom). This changing relationship between the size of objects in the foreground and background creates the difference in perspective.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/perspective/ Click to explore perspective.

As you move closer and select a focal length that keeps the subject the same size, the angle of view widens and the background diminishes in size.


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Chapter 6. Using Flash and Studio Lighting

Chapter 6 Using Flash and Studio Lighting

Contents • How Flash Works • Using Autoflash • Portraits With Flash • Using Fill Flash • Using Slow Sync Flash • Using Available Light • Controlling Flash Exposures • Using an External Flash • Using Flash in Close-ups • Studio Lighting • Portrait and Product Photography–Introduction • The Main Light • The Fill Light • The Background Light • The Rim Light

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A

utomatic electronic flash is so convenient and easy to use that you are usually unaware it even fires. It’s always ready when your autoexposure system decides it’s needed. But this on-camera flash lighting has certain characteristics that can make a difference in the way your pictures look. For example, the pictures will have a “flat” lighting typical of flash-oncamera shooting. Alternative approaches, such as using an external flash to bounce light off walls or ceilings, or even just turning off the flash may produce more interesting results. In any event, you will be able to use flash to better advantage as you become more familiar with its characteristics. But flash isn’t your only source of controlled lighting. You can also use the camera in a home studio setting, perhaps taking formal portraits, or photographing smaller items for your records, insurance, sharing, or even selling on eBay. In this chapter we explore all of these forms of lighting, from the built-in flash, to an external flash, to studio lighting. In the process you’ll learn what makes lighting more effective and when, where, and how to use and control it.


How Flash Works

How Flash Works The XSi has a built in pop-up flash and a hot shoe into which you can slip any Canon EX-series flash when you want more power or features. Both options give you access to Canon’s advanced flash technology. Every flash has a maximum useful range. How bright the light from a flash is when it reaches a subject depends on the flash’s power and on how far the light has to travel. The further the subject is from the flash, the less light will reach it and so the less light will be reflected from the subject back toward the camera. The built-in flash pops-up on top of the camera.

The light from a flash falls off with distance. When you double the distance, one-quarter as much light illuminates the subject. This relationship is called the inverse square law.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/inverse/ When the flash fires, the beam of light expands as it moves father from the

camera so it becomes weaker the farther it travels. The rate at which the light falls off is described by the inverse square law. If the distance between the flash and subject is doubled, only one quarter the amount of light will reach the subject because the same amount of light is spread over four times the http://www.photocourse.com/itext/excel/guidenumbers.xls area. Conversely, when the distance is halved, four times as much light falls on a given area. The built-in flash has Click to explore the inverse square law.

a guide number of 43/13 (ft/m) at ISO 100. Click here for an Excel worksheet you can use to explore these numbers and what they mean about the power of the flash.

When subjects in an image are located at different distances from the camera, the flash exposure will only be correct for those at one distance—normally those closest to the camera or in the middle of the area metered by the autoexposure system. Subjects located farther from the flash will be increasingly darker the farther away they are. You often see people at concerts and other events using flash in large spaces. Since its range is so short they would get much better results by increasing the ISO, using the widest possible aperture and the slowest possible shutter speed.


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Using Autoflash Tips • In all modes, flash metering is linked to the active AF point (page 70). • To increase the range of the flash increase the ISO. • Using the Set-up 2 menu’s Flash control setting (pages 122) you can have the flash fire as soon as the shutter is fully open (1st curtain sync), or just before the second curtain closes (2nd-curtain sync). • Some EX series speedlites let you use high-speed sync so you can use shutter speeds faster than 1/200 with flash (page 123).

If you are too close, the lens or lens hood may cast a shadow on the subject as it has here on the lower part of the image.

The XSi’s built-in flash lets you get better photos in dim light or backlit situations. It has the following coverage and range: • The flash can cover the same area as a 17mm lens. Using a wider-angle lens may leave image corners dark from light fall-off. Some lenses and lens hoods may block part of the flash and cast a shadow on the scene. If this happens remove the lens hood, try another lens, or use an external flash. • The range of the flash varies with the ISO (page 62) and the focal length of the lens. For example, with the EF-S 18–55mm lens, you can see in the chart below that the range increases with a higher ISO and a shorter focal length (in all cases, the minimum distance is 3.3 feet or 1 meter. Only the maximum distances vary. Maximum Flash Range—EF-S 18–55mm f/3.5–5.6 IS Lens ISO

Wide angle (18mm)

Telephoto (55mm)

100

12.1’ (3.7m)

7.5’ (2.3m)

200

17.4’ (5.3m)

10.8’ (3.3m)

400

24.3’ (7.4m)

15.1’ (4.6m)

800

34.4’ (10.5m)

21.7’ (6.6m)

1600

48.9’ (14.9m)

30.5’ (9.3m)

Flash and Shutter Speeds When you take a picture, the shutter opens and closes to let light strike the image sensor. The shutter contains two curtains and the exposure starts when the first curtain slides out of the way to uncover the sensor and ends when the second curtain slides to cover it. As these curtains open and close the shutter is fully open for a very short time. At fast shutter speeds the second curtain has already started to cover the sensor before the first has fully uncovered it—in effect creating a slit moving across the sensor. At these speeds the very short burst of light from the flash won’t fully expose all parts of the image sensor. The fastest shutter speed you can use because the sensor is fully uncovered at some point is called the flash synchronization speed. On the XSi this is 1/200 second although some external flash units such as the Canon 580EX let you use high-speed sync with faster shutter speeds (page 123). Flash

in the

Basic Zone

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/sync/ When the Mode Dial is set to any mode in the Basic Zone other than Sports, Click here to explore the flash sync speed.

Landscape, or Flash Off, the flash pops up automatically and fires when the light is dim, or the subject is backlit. You can’t pop it up yourself in these modes, and you can’t prevent it from firing if it wants to. If the camera has trouble focusing when the flash is up in these modes, it strobes what’s called a focus assist beam to provide enough light for the camera to focus. When taking pictures in areas where flash isn’t permitted or wanted, you can prevent the flash from firing by switching to Flash Off mode or selecting any mode in the Creative Zone and closing the flash if it’s up.

Slow sync flash (page 117) lets you get interesting effects.

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Using Autoflash

Tip • Remove the lens hood if it blocks the flash and casts a shadow on the subject. If the lens does the same thing you may need an external flash.

Flash in the Creative Zone When the Mode Dial is set to any mode in the Creative Zone (P, Tv, Av, M, or A-DEP), you raise the flash by pressing the Flash button. When the flash is raised in A-DEP mode, the depth of field feature is disabled (page 75) and the camera acts as if it is in P mode. In other Creative Zone modes it works as follows: • In P (Program AE) mode the flash is fully automatic so the shutter speed is automatically set to between 1/200 and 1/60 and the aperture is set automatically. • In Tv (shutter-priority) mode, you select a shutter speed of 1/200 second or slower, and the camera selects the aperture. The exposure of the main subject is determined by the flash and the exposure of the background is determined by the shutter speed.

When you press the shutter button halfway down and buSY is displayed in the viewfinder or BUSY on the monitor, the flash is recycling.

• In Av (aperture-priority) you set the aperture and the shutter speed is automatically set to 1/200 seconds or slower. • When used with a dark scene, Av mode fires the flash to expose the main subject and uses a slow shutter speed to lighten the dark background. This process, called slow-sync flash is described on page 117. • You can avoid blur from slow shutter speeds by changing Custom Function 02 (page 148) so the shutter speed remains fixed at 1/200 when using flash in Av mode. • In M (manual) mode, you set the shutter speed to 1/200 or slower, and select a matching aperture. The exposure of the main subject is determined by the flash and the exposure of the background is determined by the aperture and shutter speed settings. Using Auto Flash

The flash button that pops-up the flash in Creative Zone modes.

1. With the camera on, do one of the following: ● In Basic Zone modes, set the camera to any mode other than Landscape, Sports, or Flash Off since the flash won’t fire in those modes. ● In Creative Zone modes, press the Flash button (marked with a lightening bolt icon on the left side of the lens mount) to raise the flash. 2. While at least 3.3 feet (1m) from the subject, press the shutter button halfway down. (In Basic Zone modes the flash pops up if needed.) When the flash icon is lit in the viewfinder, the flash is charged and ready to fire. 3. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.

The flash icon.

4. When finished with the flash, press it down to close it.


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Portraits

with

Flash Flash is a good source of light when you want to make portraits, particularly of children. The light from the flash is so fast that you rarely have to worry about your subject moving during the exposure and blurring the picture. For the same reason you don’t have to be quite as careful about camera motion blurring the image; you can hand-hold the camera and shoot as rapidly as the flash will recharge. Positioning the Flash and Subjects You may want to choose carefully the position of the flash. Light from a flash built-into the camera often produces less attractive results than if you use an external flash to bounce the light onto the subject off a wall, ceiling, or umbrella reflector.

When photographing more than one subject, each is given the same importance when lined up parallel to the camera because each receives the same amount of flash illumination. If subjects are at different distances from the flash, they will be illuminated differently. This is a good way to make one subject more visually dominant than others in the image.

When a subject is placed close to a wall, there will almost always be a distracting shadow in the image cast by the light from the flash. By moving the subject away from a wall, these shadows disappear.

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Portraits with Flash Red-eye http://www.photocourse.com/itext/redeye/ Click here to explore red-eye.

When photographing people, you’ll often see images with what’s called “red eye.” The light from a flash has entered through the subject’s pupil, reflected off the back of the eye (the retina), and bounced back out to the camera. Since the retina is full of thin blood vessels, the eyes take on a red color. To reduce red-eye when using the built-in flash, the XSi has a red-eye reduction mode that lights a bright red-eye reduction lamp that closes the subject’s iris when you press the shutter button halfway down. The best way to eliminate red-eye is to use an external flash (page 123) because it’s positioned farther away from the axis of the camera lens and you can also use it to bounce flash off a wall or ceiling. If you have to use the built-in flash, turn on red-eye reduction (see below), and tell the subject to look directly at the camera. Red-eye reduction works best in brighter settings with the camera relatively close to the subject. You can remove red-eye with photo-editing software, but it’s a lot easier to avoid it to begin with.

In black & white, redeye can look eerie. In color it’s even more so.

There is no way to illustrate red-eye in a book that’s printed in black and white. However, for your entertainment, Eric shows one way it can be avoided.

With red-eye turned on, when you press the shutter button halfway down and the camera focuses, the red-eye reduction lamp lights and its countdown timer appears in the viewfinder. You can shoot anytime the indicator is displayed, but for the greatest effect press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture just after this indicator goes out. Turning red-eye Mode On and Off

The red-eye countdown timer in the viewfinder flashes fewer and fewer indicators and when the last indicator goes out, take the picture.

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode other than Sports, Landscape, or Flash Off, press the MENU button and display the Shooting 1 menu tab. 2. Highlight Red-eye On/Off and press SET to display choices. 3. Highlight On or Off and press SET to select it. 4. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.


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Using Fill Flash When photographing people or other subjects in bright sun, shadow areas

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/fillflash/ can be so dark in the image that they show little or no detail. If the shadows Click here to explore fill flash.

cover a large part of the subject, the effect can be distracting and unattractive. You can lighten such shadows by using flash to “fill” the shadows to lighten them. Using fill flash is also a good way to get accurate color balance under unusual lighting. With the XSi, you do so by popping up the flash so it fires even when there is enough available light to take the picture. It should popup and fire automatically in some Basic Zone modes, but to be sure, switch to a Creative Zone mode and press the flash button to pop it up.

With no fill flash (left) the bright background has caused the main subject to be underexposed. Using fill flash (right), the subject is properly exposed. Photo courtesy of Tim Connor.

One reason to use fill flash outdoors is to add catch lights to eyes—hot spots that make the eyes sparkle.

Using Fill Flash ● With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the Flash button (a lightening bolt icon) on the left side of the lens mount to pop up the flash. The flash button that raises the flash in Creative Zone modes.

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● With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Basic Zone other than Landscape, Sports, and Flash Off, the camera will recognize a backlit situation and pop up and fire the flash automatically. For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Using Slow Sync Flash

Using Slow Sync Flash

Show sync flash was used to create this photo showing both sharpness and blur.

In very dim light, flash pictures often show a well exposed foreground subject against a black or almost black background. The slow sync mode is designed to minimize this problem by leaving the shutter open longer than usual to lighten the background. In many cases, the slow shutter speed used in this mode allows blur from camera shake or moving subjects to appear as blur in images. To avoid blur from camera shake, use a tripod and photograph static subjects. Or use this effect creatively. A short flash burst combined with a long shutter speed gives interesting effects. The flash freezes nearby objects sharply, and the long shutter speed lets moving objects blur and moving lights appear as streaks. There are a number of ways to use slow sync: Using Slow Sync Flash ● To use first curtain sync automatically, set the Mode Dial to Av or Night Portrait mode. ● To better control slow sync effects, set the Mode Dial to Tv mode and control the amount of blur by varying the shutter speed. In a fairly dim room try 1/20 or so to start.

Combining flash with a slow shutter speed can give you unusual effects in dim light.

Tips • Night Portrait mode (page 39) uses slow sync flash and is a good way to start exploring how it affects your images. • When using slow sync flash, long exposure times may create unwanted blur in the image. At times like this, you may want to use a camera support (page 61). • When using a high ISO with slow sync the chances of overexposure increase as you get closer to the subject.

Normally, when you combine a slow shutter speed with flash, the flash fires at the very beginning of the exposure when the first shutter curtain is fully open and the second hasn’t started to close. This is known as 1st curtain sync. If the scene you are photographing contains bright lights that are moving, such as automobile head or tail lights, they’ll create streaks in your image. These can be interesting elements and used creatively. To give you even more creative control, in Creative Zone modes you can use 2nd curtain sync. In this mode, the flash fires just before the second shutter curtain closes rather than just after the first has fully opened. The differences between first and second curtain sync can be quite significant, as when photographing a moving car or other moving lights at night: If you photograph a moving car at night with a very slow shutter speed, first curtain sync captures it with the streaks from the head or tail lights streaming out in front of the car, making the car appear to be moving backward. (The flash fires to freeze the car, but the car then continues to move forward with it’s lights painting trails in the image in front of the car until the shutter closes.) Second curtain sync captures the streaks flowing behind the car. (The shutter opens to capture the light trails in the image as the car moves forward, then the flash fires to freeze the car with the trails behind it.) When using a fast shutter speed, the effects of first curtain and second curtain sync are often identical and not much different from those taken with slow sync off. However, as you slow shutter speeds, the effects get more pronounced. You’ll find that you have to experiment to find what works with subjects at different distances and moving at different speeds. In general, the closer you get to the main subject illuminated by the flash, the more pronounced the effect. When too far away the flash and ambient light are more balanced so the subject isn’t frozen by the flash. If you use an external flash, set it to 2nd-curtain sync instead of the camera.


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Click here to explore first and second curtain sync.

Using 2nd Curtain Sync 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press MENU and select the Set-up 2 menu tab. 2. Highlight Flash control and press SET to display the flash control menu. 3. Highlight Built-in flash func. setting and press SET. 4. Highlight Shutter sync and press SET. 5. Highlight 2nd-curtain (page 122) and press SET. 6. When finished using 2nd Curtain sync, repeat Steps 1–5 but select 1st-curtain.

1st curtain sync (top) fires the flash at the beginning of the exposure, then records ambient light. As a result, light streaks from the moving subject appear in front of it. 2nd curtain sync (bottom) fires the flash at the end of the exposure, after the ambient light has been recorded so the streaks trail behind the subject.

Slow sync flash outdoors at sunset captured gulls in mid flight with interesting effects. Show sync flash lets you use blur creatively as shown here with the streaked lights highlighting the champaign glass.

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Using Available Light

Using Available Light There are times when the light is dim but you want to capture the unique colors of the available light, or you want to photograph in places where flash isn’t allowed. In these circumstances you need to prevent the built-in flash from firing and support the camera for a long exposure. If the flash fires, foreground subjects will appear as if photographed in daylight and the background is likely to be very dark. Using available light will often even out the lighting, however if you don’t support the camera you will likely have blur from camera movement. Available light can add beautiful colors to a photograph.

Tip • When the Mode Dial is set to any mode in the Basic Zone, other than Sports, Landscape, or Flash Off you can’t prevent the flash from firing in dim light. • You can also use slow sync flash to lighten the background (page 117).

Preventing the Flash from Firing ● In the Basic Zone, set the Mode Dial to Sports, Landscape, or Flash Off. ● In the Creative Zone, close the built-in flash if it’s popped up. When photographing in dim light there are things you can do to get better results without using the flash. Try the following procedures described on pages 61–62: • Increase the camera’s ISO although it will add noise to the image. • Use the camera’s self-timer to trigger the shutter so you don’t introduce blur from camera shake when pressing it with your finger. • Support the camera or use a tripod and a remote control.


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Controlling Flash Exposures When using flash there are times when the main subject is too dark or light. In these situations, you can adjust the flash power to lighten or darken the part of the scene illuminated by the flash. As you’ve seen, you can use exposure compensation, exposure lock and autoexposure bracketing to control daylight exposures (pages 53–55). You have access to the same controls when using flash—although flash bracketing is only available on the flash, not the camera. What’s E-TTL II? The XSi features an E-TTL II (evaluative; through the lens) flash system that gives outstanding natural-looking flash pictures. For example, when used for fill flash outdoors, E-TTL II balances the light so well that it isn’t even obvious that flash was used. E-TTL II flash works by firing a preflash in the brief instant after you press the shutter button and before the camera’s reflex mirror goes up. The camera uses the preflash to set focus and exposure. The exposure of the main subject to be illuminated by the flash is determined by evaluative metering based on all AF points with special emphasis given to the one that’s active. However, if an object with an unusually strong reflection, such as a mirror or window, is detected in any of the other metering zones the reading from that zone is factored out or adjusted to prevent incorrect exposure. The camera also uses evaluative metering (page 46) to calculate the background exposure. It combines the two readings to calculate and set the flash output required for optimum exposure of the main subject, while maintaining a subtle balance between flash and natural lighting. Using this approach the flash setting determines the exposure of the main subject on the active AF points and the aperture and shutter speed determine the exposure of the background.

Tip • If the camera and EX-series Speedlite are both set for flash exposure compensation, the EX-series speedlight setting takes precedence.

Flash Exposure Compensation Flash exposure compensation lets you manually adjust the amount of flash illuminating the subject without changing the camera’s aperture or shutter speed. This is an ideal way to balance flash and natural light when using fill flash and to correctly expose scenes or subjects that are darker or lighter than normal (middle-gray). The XSi’s flash exposure compensation function lets you vary flash exposures plus or minus 2 stops in one-third stop increments on the camera, and more on an attached EX-series Speedlite. If you set flash exposure compensation on both the camera and the external flash, the external flash takes precedence. You can use flash exposure compensation in conjunction with regular exposure compensation. Doing so lets you use regular exposure compensation to lighten or darken the background that’s illuminated by natural light, and use flash exposure compensation to lighten or darken the subject illuminated by the flash. This is a powerful combination of exposure controls that let’s you capture images just the way you want them.

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Controlling Flash Exposures

Using Flash Exposure Compensation 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, pop up the flash or attach an EX-series Speedlite. The flash exposure compensation icon is displayed on the monitor and in the viewfinder when flash compensation is set to anything but 0.

2. Press the MENU button, display the Shooting 2 menu tab, highlight Flash exp comp and press SET to activate the exposure level indicator. 3. Press the left () or right () cross key to move the marker on the flash exposure level indicator on the monitor. ● To darken the flash illuminated part of the image, move the marker toward the minus (-) end of the scale and press SET. ● To lighten the flash illuminated part of the image, move the marker toward the plus (+) end of the scale and press SET.

An exposure level indicator shows you how much you have adjusted flash output in stops.

When flash exposure compensation setting is anything but 0, the flash exposure compensation icon is displayed in the viewfinder and on the monitor. 4. Take your picture, and when finished reset flash exposure compensation to 0 or it will be remembered even when you turn off the camera.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/flashcomp/ Click here to explore flash exposure compensation.

Tip • If Custom Function 06 Auto Lighting Optimizer is enabled (page 148), exposure and flash exposure compensation may not work as expected.

Flash Exposure (FE) Lock Flash exposure lock (FE lock) acts much like the more previously discussed AE Lock (page 53) but works with the built-in or external flash in Creative Zone modes. When you use this feature, a preflash is fired and the exposure system reads the flash exposure at the center AF point. The captured reading is stored for about 16 seconds so you have time to recompose the scene or make exposure or focus adjustments without losing your flash exposure information. (If you don’t do anything for 16 seconds, FE Lock is cancelled.) FE Lock is extremely useful when you wish to place the main subject in a part of the picture area that is not covered by one of the AF points. It can also eliminate potential exposure errors caused by unwanted reflections from highly reflective surfaces such as windows or mirrors. Using Flash Exposure (FE) Lock 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, pop up the flash or attach an EX-series Speedlite.

The AE/FE Lock icon marks the flash exposure lock button and is displayed in the viewfinder when flash exposure is locked.

2. Place the center AF point over the part of the scene on which you want to lock flash exposure. Press the shutter button halfway down and hold it there to focus, then press the AE/FE Lock button (an asterisk icon). A preflash fires, FEL is displayed briefly in the viewfinder, and the AE/FE Lock icon is displayed in the viewfinder and on the monitor to indicate flash exposure is locked. (If the flash icon in the viewfinder blinks, move closer and repeat this step or the image will be underexposed.) 3. Release the shutter button, recompose the scene and press the shutter button halfway down to reset focus before taking the picture. To cancel FE Lock, release the shutter button and wait for the * icon to disappear. To keep it locked, continue to hold the shutter button halfway down, or hold down the AE/FE Lock button.


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The Flash control menu.

Tip • When using 2ndcurtain flash, a preflash is fired for flash metering as soon as you press the shutter button. The main flash fires just before the shutter closes.

Using the Flash Control Setting You can control both the built-in and some external flash units such as the 580EX II using the Flash control setting on the Set-up 2 menu’s tab. (At the time this is being written, the only Speedlite that is fully compatible with the XSi is the 580EX II.) One big advantage of being able to change flash settings from the camera is that you can set the flash when it’s connected to the camera wirelessly. Here are the choices you have, although they vary depending on the specific EX-series flash you are using: • Flash firing is normally set to Enable, but you can set it to Disable when you want to AF-assist beam to fire, but not the internal or external flash. • Built-in flash func, available only when an external flash isn’t attached, displays a submenu with the following settings: • Flash mode is grayed out and can’t be selected. • Shutter sync. lets you select 1st curtain (the default) or 2nd curtain sync (page 117). When you use 2nd curtain, the flash fires once when you press the shutter button halfway down, then again when you press it all the way down. The first flash is for metering purposes. The second, which fires just before the shutter closes to end the exposure, is the actual flash that illuminates the scene. • Flash exp. comp lets you increase of decrease flash exposure (page 120) • E-TTL II is normally set to Evaluative but you can change it to Average so the exposure is based on the entire scene. You may need to adjust the exposure using flash exposure compensation (page 120). • External flash func setting, fully available only when a compatible external flash is attached, displays a submenu you can use to change the Flash mode, Shutter sync, FEB (flash exposure bracketing), Flash exp. comp, E-TTL II, and Zoom. When Zoom is set to Auto the flashhead automatically zooms the flash as you zoom the lens. As you zoom in on a subject, the flash beam narrows, and when you zoom out, it widens. The result is that you have flash coverage of the image area at all times. The 580EX II also zooms to adjust to the size of the sensor on a digital camera. • External flash C.Fn setting, available only when an 580EX II Speedlite is attached, lets you set or cancel the Speedlite’s Custom Function settings (C.Fn-0 to 13) from the camera. Using Flash Control 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press MENU and select the Set-up 2 menu tab. 2. Highlight Flash control and press SET to display the flash control menu. 3. Make any of the choices described above.

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Using an External Flash

Using

an

External Flash The small automatic flash built into your camera is convenient, however its range is short and it is so close to the lens that photos of people often capture them with red eyes. It also emits a hard, direct light and can’t be rotated to bounce flash off a wall or ceiling to soften it.

The 580EX is compatible with all film and digital EOS cameras as well as G-series digital cameras.

Tips • The built-in flash doesn’t support FP high-speed sync operation flash. To use this feature you need a compatible EX flash such as the 580EX. • When using an external flash in dim light, it may strobe before the exposure to assist focusing. • If you have trouble focusing, use the center AF point.

Canon off camera shoe cord.

For better flash photography you need Canon EX-series Speedlite such as the 580EX or earlier models mounted on the camera’s hot shoe or attached by an off-camera shoe cord for off-camera use. When using these flash units, the camera controls the exposure just as it does with the built-in flash. One of the biggest advantages of these units is that they let you swivel or rotate the flash head so you can bounce light off walls and ceilings. This lets you get softer light on the subject so contrast is reduced and hard shadows are minimized. Let’s take a look at some of the features you’ll have access to on the 580EX Speedlite, and some other models. The 580EX II Speedlite The Speedlite 580EX II flash has a maximum guide number of 58/191 at ISO 100 in meters/feet (at 105mm focal length). Using the XSi’s E-TTL II (which also works with other EX-series flash units) the camera uses subject distance and other information to automatically modify flash power, so exposures are better regardless of the subject’s size, reflectance, or photographic composition. On the XSi the 580EX auto-compensates for the smaller size of the CMOS sensor, and zooms the flash head automatically to match the effective focal length of the lens (page 98). This maximizes the efficiency of light distribution and produces more flashes from a set of batteries. When used with the EOS XSi, the flash and camera also communicate with each other to adjust auto white balance based on the charge level of the batteries and the duration of each flash burst, resulting in consistently accurate color for every shot. The Speedlite 580EX II Flash features an AF-assist beam, which is matched to the different AF point arrangements of various EOS SLRs. The unit includes a swiveling flash head that turns a full 180 degrees in both directions, while a single release lock controls tilt and swivel adjustments. A wide-angle diffuser covers focal lengths as short as 14mm. The flash also features a new catchlight reflector for optimal lighting quality during bounceflash photography. The Speedlite 580EX flash has 14 Custom Functions that let you control flash functions such as recycling with external power and auto-zooming to match sensor size. Many settings for the 580EX II can be set from either the camera or the flash. For example, flash exposure compensation can be set from either but the range of adjustment is greater on the flash. Flash bracketing is set only on the flash. FE lock is set only on the camera. Here are some of the features you’ll find on the 580EX and some other EX-series flash units.

High-speed Sync (FP) http://www.photocourse.com/itext/tilthead/ Click here to explore how a flash head can pivot up and down and rotate for bounce flash.

The shutter speed you use when shooting with flash is important. When you take a flash photo, the first shutter curtain opens to begin the exposure, then the second curtain closes to end it. At shutter speeds above 1/200 the second curtain starts to close before the first curtain is fully open. As a result, a “slit” formed by the two curtains moves across the image sensor and normally


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Chapter 6. Using Flash and Studio Lighting only a part of the image can be captured by the brief burst of flash. Light is blocked from the rest of the sensor by one or both curtains. To get a fully exposed image, the flash must fire when the shutter is fully open. This timing between the flash and the shutter is called flash synchronization or X sync. On the XSi, the shutter is fully open only at shutter speeds The high-speed sync of 1/200 second and slower. Faster shutter speeds require what’s known as icon. high-speed sync flash (also called FP or focal plane sync). High-speed sync can capture a fully exposed image at fast shutter speeds because the flash fires repeatedly as the shutter’s “slit” moves across the image sensor during http://www.photocourse.com/itext/fpflash/ the exposure. The only drawback is that the flash power is reduced so you can’t be positioned as far from a subject. The higher the shutter speed you Click to explore high speed sync. use, the closer you have to be. There are at least three situations where you might find it useful: • When using fill flash out of doors, you can use a fast shutter speed to freeze action, or a wide aperture to throw the foreground or background out of focus. • When doing a portrait you can capture catchlights in the subject’s eyes. • When using fill flash outdoors you can lighten shadows.

The flash exposure bracketing icon.

TIP • The Speedlite 580EX has an optional external power pack called the Compact Battery Pack CP-E4. It significantly improves flash recycle times and increases the number of firings before batteries need to be replaced.

Flash Exposure Bracketing (FEB) Flash exposure bracketing (FEB) takes a series of three consecutive pictures exposed at slightly different settings up to three stops above or below the first exposure recommended by the autoexposure system in one-third stop increments. The flash output changes with each image while the background exposure level remains the same. Wireless Remote Flash Wireless flash lets you mount a master flash such as the 580EX, or a transmitter (ST-E2) on the camera’s hot shoe and trigger other remote flash units. This allows you to get lighting effects you couldn’t possibly get with a single flash unit. The on-camera flash or transmitter (the master unit) transmits wireless signals to the units (the slaves) telling them when to fire. The master flash on the camera can be set to flash or not as it transmits signals to the remote units. When using wireless remote flash, you can use a modeling light that illuminates the subject for a full second so you can preview flash effects such as shadows and light balance before taking a picture. If you are using more than one flash, the modeling light uses the flash ratios you have chosen. Stroboscopic Flash Stroboscopic flash fires the flash a number of times at high speed to capture multiple images of the same subject in the same photograph. You’ve probably seen examples of this mode in sports photography where it can be used to demonstrate or analyze the swing of a bat or club. Autozoom Autozoom flash heads, found on many external flash units, automatically zoom the flash as you zoom the lens. As you zoom in on a subject, the flash beam narrows, and when you zoom out, it widens. The result is that you have flash coverage of the image area at all times. The 580EX also zooms to adjust to the size of the sensor on a digital camera.

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Using Flash in Close-ups

Using Flash

in

Close-ups There are two important reasons to use flash in close-up or tabletop photography. With flash, you can use smaller apertures for greater depth of field, and extremely short bursts of light at close distances prevent camera or subject movement from causing blur. Using electronic flash with predictable results takes a little effort and you may need to practice and experiment. For example, direct on-camera flash doesn’t give a picture the feeling of texture and depth that you can get from side-lighting. If you use an external flash (page 123), you can bounce the flash off a reflector, or use an off-camera flash cord to illuminate the subject from an angle for a better lighting effect. A special kind of flash is the ring flash. These units fit around the lens and fire a circle of light on the subject. They are ideal for shadowless close-up photography such as that used in medical, dental, and nature photography. Because ring flash is so flat (shadowless), the unit can be set to fire just one side of the ring, or one side of the ring can be fired with more intensity than the other so the flash casts shadows that reveal surface modeling in the subject.

The Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX (top) and the Macro Twin Lite MT-24X (bottom) are designed for close-up photography.

Flash was used to freeze the katydid and stinkbug.

Canon’s Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX provides you with full E-TTL II flash capability when used with the XSi. With a Guide Number of 46 (ISO 100/ft.), the MR-14EX mounts directly to Canon macro lenses. It offers flash exposure lock, FP high-speed sync, and a number of other features. The flash has two flash tubes that can be used together or independently. When used together, lighting ratios between the two tubes can be set in one-half stop increments up to +/- 3 stops. The Macro Ring Lite is also equipped with twin focusing lamps and a set of 7 Custom Functions that allow you to modify flash operation for specific shooting conditions. The MR-14EX requires 4 AA-size batteries and is equipped with a socket for optional external power supplies such as the Canon Compact Battery Pack CP-E4 to reduce recycling time and increase the number of flashes per set of batteries. The Macro Twin Lite, designed for serious nature and other macro photography, gives a directional quality of light, rather than the flat light characteristic of the ring flash. Two separate flash heads can be independently swiveled around the lens, independently aimed, and even removed from their holder and mounted off-camera. Like the MR-14EX, the Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX is fully E-TTL II compatible with all EOS bodies, including digital SLRs, and even allows Wireless E-TTL II flash control with one or more EX-series “slave units.” It also provides easy ratio control of each flash head’s output, over a six-stop range.

You can use exposure compensation to darken the background without affecting the foreground object that’s illuminated by the flash. Here flash was used to photograph a spicebush swallowtail larvae without (left) and with (right) -2 exposure compensation to darken the background.


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Studio Lighting There are two important reasons to use artificial lighting in studio photography. First, increasing the level of light lets you use smaller apertures for greater depth of field, and faster shutter speeds to reduce blur from camera or subject movement. Second, you can better control the illumination of the subject, placing highlights and shadows to reduce or emphasize modeling. Candidates for Studio Lighting There are a number of subjects that lend themselves to being photographed under controlled lighting. Here are just some of them. • Portraits can be either candid or more formal. Candid portraits are usually captured during the flow of action. It’s the more formal ones that give you the time needed to arrange lighting.

When lighting flat objects you want the light even over the entire surface. To do this you need two lights set at 45 degree angles so there are no hot spots or reflections. Lights courtesy of tabletop studios— http://www.ezcube. com.

• Small three-dimensional objects need to be illuminated properly to bring out shapes, details and colors. You can light a subject in several ways, depending on your objectives. For example, an object with low relief, such as a coin needs to be cross-lit to bring out surface details. A translucent or transparent object needs to be backlit to bring out colors. As you’ll see, many of these subjects photograph better with the diffuse lighting provided by a light tent. • Flat copy such as posters, stamps, prints, or pages from books require soft, even light over their surface and the camera’s image sensor must be exactly parallel to it to prevent “keystoning.” Even then, most lenses will curve otherwise straight lines at the periphery of the image because they are not designed for copying and are not perfectly rectilinear. (This is called curvilinear distortion.) There are other lens aberrations that make it difficult to keep the entire image in focus at the same time. One suggestion is to use a small aperture that increases depth of field and uses the center portion of the lens where aberrations are least likely to affect the image. Lighting For good portraits or product shots, you need to improve on the camera’s built-in flash. Direct on-camera flash creates hard shadows and doesn’t give a picture the feeling of texture and depth that you can get from side-lighting. If you use an external flash, try using an off-camera flash cord so you can handhold it to the side to light the subject from an angle.

Light tent with red goblet— http://www.ezcube.

5000k compact fluorescent bulb highly recommended for product photography— http://www.ezcube. com.

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• Light tents bathe a subject in soft, even lighting and are particularly useful for complex subjects such as wildflowers and bouquets, highly reflective subjects such as jewelry, and translucent subjects such as glassware. A subject placed in the light tent is surrounded by a pure white translucent material which is lit from the outside by two or more lights. The white fabric of the tent diffuses the light so it’s the equivalent of surround-sound in the theater— realistic light strikes the object from all directions. The result is a very even, soft lighting of the subject. • Studio lights use reflectors mounted on adjustable stands. Keep in mind that the color of the light you use to illuminate an object affects the colors in the final image. For best results you need bulbs that are daylight balanced. The best of these are daylight fluorescents because they don’t give off any heat and last a very long time. The quality of the stands and reflectors is also important because they should be easy to work with and lock in position. For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Studio Lighting A light tent can make an amazing difference in tabletop photos— http://www.ezcube.com

This very complex subject was shot in a lite tent. The soft diffuse light reached every part allowing it to be captured without dark shadows and burned out highlights. http://www.ezcube. com.

• Reflectors. When the light illuminating a small subject casts hard, dark shadows, you can lighten the shadows by arranging reflectors around the subject to bounce part of the light back onto the shadowed areas. You can use almost any relatively large, flat reflective object, including cardboard, cloth, or aluminum foil (crumpling the foil to wrinkle it, then opening it out again works best). Position the reflector so light bounces toward the shadowed side of the subject. As you adjust the angle of the reflector, you will be able to observe its effects on the shadows. Be sure to use a neutral-toned reflector so its color doesn’t add a color cast to the image. • Light panels are an ideal source of light because they have so many uses. When you place an object on the illuminated panel and shoot from above, the area surrounding the object is captured as pure white. If you cut a hole in a sheet of background paper and arrange it as a sweep above the panel, a glass placed on the hole appears to glow from within as light streams through the hole and through the glass. Finally, by tipping a panel on its side, it can be used as a background or like any other light source.

A medallion placed on a light box and shot from above has a pure white background. A small lamp is used to side light the coin to bring out its relief. http://www.ezcube. com.

• Flash. There is definitely a role for on camera flash in studio photography. It doesn’t hurt to see what results you get from the built-in flash. You might even want to try the Macro Twin Lite MT-24X because you can rotate the two flash heads to bounce light off reflectors or off the walls of a light tent.


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Chapter 6. Using Flash and Studio Lighting Backgrounds Some thought should be given to the background you use. It should be one that makes your subject jump out, and not overwhelm it. The safest background is a white or neutral curved sweep like the one that comes with an EZcube light tent. It can be lit so it disappears in the photo or so it provides a smooth gradation of light behind the subject. It’s safe, because most things photograph well against it. Other options include black, colored or graduated backgrounds, and these should be selected to support and not clash with the colors in the subject. The texture of the background is also a consideration. For example, black velvet has no reflections at all while black poster board might show them.

Here a crystal glass was shot in a light cube against a black background to set it off.

There are times when you don’t want a background in a photo so the subject is silhouetted against a pure white background. You’ll often see this technique used in catalog photos but it’s also a great way to make it easy to select an object in a photo-editing program so you can cut it out and paste it into another image. To get this effect you need to overexpose the background. In some cases this is as easy as pointing lights at it. In the case of small objects, a light panel makes it very easy.

A hole was cut in a piece of black paper and placed on a light panel. The glass was then placed over the hole and looks like it’s illuminated from within.

Risers A white, black, colored or clear high gloss acrylic platform, called a riser, provides a soft reflection of the subject placed on top. The elevation of the platform on a clear riser also eliminates any shadow beneath the subject because raising it throws the background out of focus. This helps the background “disappear”. If you position the subject in the middle of the riser, you can then crop out the edges with a photo-editing program so the subject seems to float in space. Special Bulbs You can experiment with different kinds of lights. For example, TabletopStudio.com introduced their Diamond Dazzler bulb with 18 daylight color LEDs to bring out the brilliance in faceted gemstones.

The Diamond Dazzler light brings out the brilliance of diamonds. Courtesy of tabletop studios— http://www.ezcube. com. A riser creates attractive reflections and softens the background. Courtesy of tabletop studios— http://www.ezcube.

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Portrait and Product Photography—Introduction

Portrait

and

Product Photography—Introduction In the studio, you usually use more than one light to illuminate a portrait or product. The goal is often to create light that looks like that found outdoors. The lights can be florescent bulbs, strobes, slave flash units–or even fill cards. Sometimes you can get away with only one or two lights but the use of main, fill, background and rim lights is a classic studio lighting setup for portraits that can be adapted to other subjects. • The main light is positioned somewhat to one side of the subject and somewhat above it. • A fill light is placed opposite the main light, but more nearly at the subject’s level. • A background light is used to control the lighting on the background behind the main subject.

Most photographers without studios use continuous lights that usually have three parts—stands, reflectors, and bulbs.

• A rim light is placed quite high and behind the subject to highlight edges and separate the subject from the background. For most purposes you can get by with just the main light and a fill light. In fact, you can often get along with just the main light by replacing the fill light with reflectors to bounce light into the shadows. The way you position a light relative to the subject is very important.

• As you move a light farther away from the subject you reduce the light fallhttp://www.photocourse.com/itext/lightquality/ Click to explore hard and soft light.

ing on it. Because there is less light you may have to use a larger aperture which gives less depth of field.

• Moving a light back hardens its light, while moving it closer softens it. By moving a light farther away, you also reduce the light striking the subject. On strobes, you do it by adjusting the light’s intensity. On continuous lights you can do the same with a dimmer switch. You can have one light illuminate the subject with more intensity than another light. The difference between the two lights is called the lighting ratio. • Positioning the light at an angle to the subject will make the light uneven over the subject. The part of the subject closest to the light source will receive more light. The exposure will only be correct at one distance—normally the part metered by the autoexposure system. Parts of the setup located farther from the light source will be increasingly darker the farther away they are.


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The Main Light Outdoors the brightest source of light is usually the sun. In the studio, the sun’s role is filled by the main light. Like the sun it’s the brightest source of light and casts the darkest shadows. Like the sun, the main light is often positioned in front of, above and slightly to the side of the subject. This setup creates light on the subject that is familiar, as are the shadows it creates.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/main/ Click to explore the main light.

Here the main light is set to the right, above, and left of the subject.

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The Fill Light

The Fill Light A fill light represents the light that falls on an outdoor subject from the broad expanse of an open sky, or reflecting from surfaces in the landscape. The fill light is almost always less bright than the main light, in fact about half as bright. Its relative brightness can be controlled in a number of ways. For example, it can be placed farther away from the subject, you can add a diffuser, or you can use a less powerful light. The fill light, placed opposite the main light, opens shadows by lighting the dark side of the subject facing away from the main light.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/fill/ Click to explore the fill light.

The fill light on the right of the subject is moved from close to the subject (left) to farther away (middle and right). The closer it is, the more it lightens shadows created by the main light.


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The Background Light A background light controls how light or dark the background behind the subject is. A lighter or darker background can help visually separate the subject from the background. It can also lighten shadows cast on the background by other lights. In fact, if made bright enough, it can silhouette the subject. The background light is off to the side and lights the background behind the subject without lighting the subject itself.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/background/ Click to explore the background light.

The background light can be varied for different effects. When only spillover light illuminates the background (far left) it’s a uniform gray. When not illuminated at all (second from left) it’s black. When the background is lit by a spot it is graduated (second from right). When illuminated with a bright light it is burned out to pure white (far right).

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The Rim Light

The Rim Light A rim light positioned behind the subject and facing toward the camera illuminates the edges of the subject from behind so they glow and are visually separated from the darker background. In portrait photography a rim light is often used to back light the hair. The rim light is often set up behind the subject and slightly higher than the other lights. Because this light is facing the camera, it’s important that it be completely blocked by the subject or out of the field of view. If not you may get lens flare and lowered contrast. One way to block the light is to position a piece of cardboard (called a gobo) between the light and subject.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/rim/ Click to explore the rim light.

The final image is beautifully lit and well separated from the background. It’s a visually interesting image.


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Chapter 7. Other Features and Commands

Chapter 7 Other Features and Commands

Contents • Live View Shooting • Continuous Photography • Using Picture Styles • Remote Control Photography • Using My Menu • Using the Set-up Menu • Using Custom Functions • Entering a Print Order • Caring for Your Camera

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T

he XSi has many settings that control how your camera operates. In this chapter we discuss those features not covered elsewhere in the book. You’ll see how to compose images on the monitor using Live View, shoot in continuous mode, select and edit picture styles, use remote controls, create your own personal menu, use the Set-up set and Custom Function menus, and enter a print order. You should find a great deal of useful information here that you’ll be glad to know including caring for your camera. Especially interesting is how Canon’s new EOS integrated cleaning system uses every possible technology to reduce the problem caused by dust on your camera’s image sensor.

For information on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Live View Shooting

Live View Shooting Tip • A side benefit of Live View is that it reduces vibration by lifting the reflex mirror out of the way long before the exposure takes place. In this respect it is much like mirror lockup (page 148).

Tip Live View has two stages of activation. Setting Live view shoot to Enable activates Live View, but pressing SET turns it on or off.

You can use the monitor, or even a connected computer, to compose and focus images—a procedure called Live View. In most ways using Live View is just like using the viewfinder. The difference is that in Live View the camera lifts the mirror up and out of the way (the viewfinder blacks out) and opens the shutter so the image sensor can capture the scene in real time and display it on the monitor. You’ll find this mode especially useful when using a tripod and macro lens to capture close-ups requiring very precise focusing. It’s also useful in a studio setting because using the EOS Utility software and the USB cable supplied with the camera you can use a computer’s screen to compose and focus an image. Although it’s not designed specifically for hand-held photography, there’s no reason you shouldn’t give it a try. Using Live View 1. With the camera set to any mode in the Creative Zone, set the lens focus mode switch to MF, press MENU and select the Set-up 2 menu tab. 2. Highlight Live View function settings, and press SET. 3. Highlight Live View shoot, press SET, highlight Enable, and press SET. Press MENU to hide the menu. 4. Press SET to raise the mirror and open the shutter so the scene is displayed on the monitor and the viewfinder blacks out. 5. Focus the image manually, and if necessary, hold down the Av/Exposure compensation button and turn the Main Dial to adjust exposure. 6. Take the picture and after image review ends, the camera automatically returns to Live View shooting. 7. When done using Live View for the moment, press SET while Live View is displaying the scene on the monitor. When finished, repeat Steps 1–3 but select Disable. General Tips in Live View • Live View works only in Creative Zone modes—P, Av, Tv or M. In Live View A-DEP mode works exactly the same as P mode. Changing the Mode Dial to any mode in the Basic Zone ends Live View until you return to a Creative Zone mode and press SET again. • Don’t point the camera at the sun or you can damage the image sensor or shutter curtains. • Live View shooting disables Custom Functions 9, 10 and 11 (page 148). • If a light source within the scene varies, the image on the screen may flicker. If this happens, press SET once to end shooting, and then again to resume Live View after adjusting the lighting. • If you recompose the scene, the image brightness on the monitor may briefly change. Wait until it readjusts or your photo’s exposure may be off. • Extremely bright sources in the scene, such as a light bulb or the sun, are blackened on the screen but will be captured correctly in the photo.


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Chapter 7. Other Features and Commands • The monitor displays 100% of the area that will be captured in the photo. • When LCD brightness on the Set-up 2 menu tab is set to a bright setting in low light, the Live View image on the monitor may display chrominance noise but the noise won’t be in the captured image. • Live View consumes more power than normal camera operation. You can shoot between 180–200 pictures depending on the temperature and how often you use the flash. • If you don’t operate any camera controls, auto power off takes effect (page 144). If you set Auto power off to Off (page 144), Live View shooting ends automatically after 30 minutes although the camera’s power remains on. • If you use the provided video cable to connect the camera to a TV set, you can view images on the TV as you take them.

The focusing frame can be moved about the screen.

Tip • Using the Set-up 2 menu’s Live View function settings command you can change Metering timer (to specify how long metering remains on after you press the shutter button halfway down) and Grid display (to make it easier to align horizontals and verticals in an image).

• In Live View you can set the ISO speed, white balance, and exposure compensation. You can’t change the Picture Style, drive mode, AF mode, and AF point. • When you use Live View shooting for an extended period, the camera’s internal temperature may increase to the point where image quality is affected. To prevent this, press SET to end Live View shooting when not actually taking photos. You may also want to turn Live View off before taking a long exposure and wait several minutes before turning it back on to shoot the picture. • High ambient temperatures, high ISO speeds, or long exposures may cause noise or irregular colors in an image captured using Live View. • In Live View, using an Extension Tube or a TS-E lens may cause irregular or unintended exposures. • FE Lock and modeling flash (with an external Speedlite) cannot be used. • You can use flash, and when it fires the mirror drops down briefly so the camera can measure the preflash used to set the flash exposure. There are two shutter sounds but only one photo is taken. A non-Canon flash will not fire. Exposure

Clicking this button on EOS Utility displays the scene the camera sees on your computer screen. You can then remotely adjust white balance and focus, check histograms and depth of field, and take pictures.

in

Live View

• The camera adjusts the brightness of the image on the monitor to roughly match the brightness of the image you will capture. You can press DISP to display a live histogram (page 56) to guide you in getting the best possible exposure because it reflects the current exposure settings. If you use flash or bulb mode (page 90) the histogram changes from yellow to gray but still works. In extremely bright or dark situations, the brightness of the screen image won’t reflect the exposure settings but the captured image will. • When Custom Function 06 Auto Lighting Optimizer is enabled (page 148), an image made darker with exposure compensation may look brighter on the monitor. • During Live View shooting, the metering mode is set to evaluative metering regardless of the current metering mode setting. • You can use continuous shooting (page 139) in Live View and exposure is locked with the first image even if you recompose while shooting, so images may be under- or overexposed. The exposure isn’t readjusted until you release the shutter button and then press it down again.

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Live View Shooting Manually Focusing in Live View In Live view, manual focusing is highly recommended because you can enlarge the image on the screen up to 10x for the most precise focusing available. The EX.SIM icon on the monitor indicates the following: • Displayed in white, the Live View image’s brightness is close to what the captured image will look like. • When blinking, the lighting is too dim or bright the Live View image doesn’t accurately reflect image brightness on the monitor. However, the captured image will reflect the exposure setting. • When grayed out the flash is raised or bulb is set. The histogram might not be properly displayed in low light or bright light conditions.

• To manually focus the image, set the lens focus mode switch to MF and turn the focus ring on the lens. • To magnify the image to check focus, press the cross keys to move the rectangular focusing frame over the area of the scene that you want sharpest, or press the Erase button to center the frame on the monitor. Press the Magnify button to magnify the area within the frame and turn the focusing ring on the lens to focus. Each time you press it you cycle through full view > x5 > x10 and then back to full view. When the scene is magnified on the monitor, the camera enhances image sharpness from what it will on the captured image to help you better evaluate focus and sharpness. If you take a picture while the image is magnified, you capture the full view but the exposure may not be accurate. To be safe, return to the full view before taking a picture. During the magnified view, the shutter speed and aperture are displayed in red. • To check depth of field, press the depth of field preview button (page 68). • You can’t use the focus preset feature found on super telephoto lenses. Autofocusing in Live View Although not as precise as manual focusing, you can set the lens focus switch to AF and set Custom Function 08 AF during Live View shooting (page 148) to 1: Quick mode or 2: Live mode autofocus. (In either mode, pressing the AE/FE Lock button lowers the reflex mirror so the camera can autofocus. Releasing the AE/FE Lock button then returns you to Live View so you can take a picture.) These two modes use different autofocus methods, but these points apply to both. • You can’t use the Remote Switch RS-60E3 (sold separately) to initiate autofocus.

The AE/FE Lock button.

• To move the focus frame, press the cross keys; and to magnify the area within the frame, press the Magnify button. • If you want AF and AE lock to work separately, set Custom Function 10 Shutter/AE lock button to 1: AE lock/AF (page 148). 1: Quick mode lowers the reflex mirror when you press the AE/FE Lock button and the monitor goes black. It then uses the camera’s dedicated AF sensor to meter the scene. When you release the AE/FE Lock button after focus is achieved, the mirror goes back up, the shutter opens and the scene is again displayed on the monitor. Although this mode focuses quickly, the Live View image is interrupted and the monitor goes black while the camera autofocuses. • This mode focuses on the selected AF point, but you have to select the point (page 70) before pressing SET to turn on Live View. • Although you can set the autofocus mode to AI Servo AF or AI Focus AF, autofocus ends when the camera returns to the Live View image display, so you can’t keep a moving subject in focus.


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Chapter 7. Other Features and Commands 2: Live mode uses the image sensor to focus and is less likely to achieve focus quickly. Its only advantage is that the screen doesn’t go black as the camera autofocuses. • There are many things that affect the camera’s ability to focus in this mode. If you encounter problems, switch to Quick mode or use manual focusing. • If the image flickers to the extent it makes focusing difficult, press SET to end Live View, adjust the lighting, and press SET again to resume Live View. Check that the flickering has stopped, then autofocus. • If you autofocus in full view, then magnify the image, the focus might be off. • The AF-assist beam is not emitted. • The image brightness may change during and after autofocusing. • The speed of autofocusing may be different during the full view and magnified view.

Tip • You can magnify the image and then autofocus, but you should return to full view before taking the picture.

Autofocusing in Live View’s Quick Mode 1. Set Custom Function 08 AF during Live View shooting (page 148) to Quick mode, the lens focus mode switch to AF, and the AF mode to One-Shot. 2. Select the AF point you want the camera to use for focusing. 3. Press SET to display the Live View image on the LCD monitor along with the selected AF point(s) and the larger focusing frame. 4. To focus, place the selected AF point over the part of the scene you want to focus on, and hold down the AE/FE Lock button. The Live View image turns off, the reflex mirror goes back down, and the camera autofocuses. When focus is achieved, the beeper sounds. 5. Release the AE/FE Lock button and the Live View image reappears on the monitor. 6. Press the shutter button to take the picture.

Autofocusing in Live View’s Live Mode 1. Set Custom Function 08 AF during Live View shooting (page 148) to Live mode and the lens focus mode switch to AF. 2. Press SET to display the Live View image on the LCD monitor along with a focusing frame (which the manual calls an AF point). 3. Press the cross keys to position the focusing frame over the part of the scene you want to focus on and hold down the AE/FE Lock button to autofocus (it may take a few moments). ● If focus is achieved, the focusing frame turns green and the beeper sounds. ● If focus is not achieved, the focusing frame turns orange. 4. Press the shutter button to take the picture. 138


Continuous Photography

Continuous Photography To be sure you capture a fleeting moment, you can use continuous mode to capture up to 27 Large/Fine JPEGs, 10 RAW images, or 8 RAW + Large/Fine JPEGs at a rate of up to 3.5 frames-per-second. You can then choose the best image from the sequence or use all of them to create an animation on your computer. One way to do this is to create an animated GIF using Photoshop or shareware programs such as GIF Construction Set at http://www. mindworkshop.com. When viewed with a Web browser, the images are quickly displayed one after the other like frames in a movie. The drive mode button.

Tip • Continuous mode works with the flash, but pictures are taken more slowly because the camera has to wait for the flash to recycle.

When you hold down the shutter button in this mode images are first stored in a buffer because this is faster than storing them on a memory card. When the buffer becomes full, the viewfinder displays buSY as it moves images from the buffer to the memory card. When the message disappears, room is again available in the buffer, and the camera captures another image. When metering is on, a number (0–9) to the left of the viewfinder’s focus indicator indicates how many more images will fit in the buffer. It only goes to 9 and you may have to release the shutter button to see it. • Continuous is the only mode available in Portrait and Sports modes. • Single-frame is the only mode available in Full Auto, Landscape, Close-up, Night Portrait, and Flash Off modes. • Both single-frame and continuous modes are available in all Creative Zone modes. When using continuous mode, set the focus mode to AI servo AF (page 69) so the camera continues to focus for each photo in the sequence. In One-Shot mode focus locks with the first photo. Turning Continuous Mode On and Off

The continuous (top) and single-frame (bottom) mode icons.

1. With the camera on and in any shooting mode, repeatedly press the Drive button on the cross keys to highlight the continuous icon on the monitor and press SET. 2. To capture a series of photos, hold down the shutter button until you or the camera decides enough is enough. When the buffer is full, buSY is displayed in the viewfinder and you can’t take any more pictures until it goes away. 3. When finished repeat Step 1 to select the single-frame icon.

Continuous mode can capture a series of positions in sports photography.

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/continuous/ Click here to explore creative uses of continuous mode.


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Using Picture Styles Tips • Picture styles, including monochrome, affect RAW image thumbnails and previews, but make no changes to the actual images. • The Neutral and Faithful styles assume you will adjust the images using a photo-editing program. These settings are not for images you will print directly from the camera. • Using Canon’s Picture Style Editor you can design the look of your photographs by inputting your own preferred style, color and tone curves. • For additional Pictures Styles and more information visit Canon at: web.canon.jp/imaging/picturestyle/file/

Picture Styles store settings, in some cases for specific situations such as portraits and landscapes. The settings have been chosen by Canon, but you can change them in Creative Zone modes to better suit your own tastes. Selecting Picture Styles The styles from which you can choose include the following: • Standard images are sharpened to look crisp, and the color tone and saturation are set to render vivid colors. • Portrait images have color tone and saturation set to obtain natural skin tones. Sharpness, one step weaker than in Standard, is kinder to skin. • Landscape has color tone and saturation set for deep, vivid blues and greens for skies and foliage. Sharpness is set one step more than Standard so that the outlines of mountains, trees and buildings look crisp. • Neutral captures natural color and no sharpness is applied. This is the setting preferred by professionals who edit their images in a program such as Photoshop because it has the least effect on the images. • Faithful applies no sharpening and renders colors as “faithfully” as it can to the original subject. In Canon’s terms “ When the subject is photographed under a color temperature of 5200K, the color is adjusted colorimetrically to match the subject’s color, even with JPEG images.” • Monochrome lets you shoot in black and white, or another tone of your choice. When you select this setting B/W is displayed in the viewfinder. For best results in this mode, adjust white balance for the available lighting. • User defined 1–3 can be set to any settings you prefer (page 141). The initial settings are the same as Standard.

Selecting Picture Styles 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, repeatedly press the Picture Style button to select the icon for the style you want to use and press SET to select it. 2. Take your photos and when finished repeat Steps 1–2 and select Standard (the default).

The Picture Style Editor tool palette.

140


Using Picture Styles

On Picture Style screens, icons refer to (from left to right) sharpness, contrast, saturation, and color tone. When you select the Monochrome style, the last two icons are replaced with ones for filter effects and color toning.

Tip • Sharpness can be set from 0 (less sharp) to +7 (sharper). • Contrast can be set from -4 (low) to +4 (high) • Saturation can be set from -4 (low) to +4 (high) • Color tone can be set to -4 (reddish skin tone) to +4 (yellowish skin tone) • Filter effect can be set to None, Yellow, Orange, Red or Green. • Toning effect can be set to None, Sepia, Blue, Purple or Green.

Tip • Initially the first three Picture Styles, Standard, Portrait and Landscape, include sharpness levels 3, 2 and 4, respectively, settings that are best for images that won’t be edited in a program such as Photoshop.

Adjusting Picture Styles You can adjust the settings for each of the predefined styles. You can also select one of the three user defined settings and select a style to use as the basis for your adjustments. Changes you make to any style remain in effect until you change them or use the Clear settings command (page 147). For each of the styles, you can adjust sharpness, contrast, saturation and color tone. In Monochrome the color saturation and tone choices in the other styles are replaced by choices for filter and toning effects. Toning effects add an overall tint to the image, and filters act like the glass filters that can be attached to lenses. • Yellow makes clouds crisper while leaving the blue sky unaffected. • Orange darkens a blue sky and makes sunrises/sets more brilliant. • Red is like orange, only more so, and also brightens fall foliage. • Green improves skin tones in portraits and makes green foliage crisper and brighter.

Adjusting Picture Styles 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press MENU and display the Shooting 2 menu tab. 2. Highlight Picture style and press SET to display a list of styles. 3. Highlight a style and press SET to select it and return to the menu, or DISP to display the Detail set screen for that style so you can edit it. If you selected one of the three user defined settings, press SET, press the up () or down () cross key to highlight the style you want to base your user definition on, and press SET again to return to the Detail set screen 4. Highlight a setting you want to adjust, and press SET to activate its scale or display a list of choices. 5. Press the cross keys to adjust the setting or select a choice from the list, and press SET to return to the Detail set screen. 6. Adjust other settings or press MENU to return to the Picture Style Screen. Any setting that’s been changed is displayed in blue. 7. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.


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Remote Control Photography

Slipping the eyepiece cover over the viewfinder blocks light from entering and affecting the exposure.

A typical remote switch.

To get the sharpest possible images, the camera has to be perfectly still and free from even slight vibrations created when you press the shutter button or the mirror swings up. This is especially true when working at high magnifications with macro or telephoto lenses. To prevent you from introducing vibrations when you take a picture you can select the self-timer/remote control drive mode (page 61) and use a cable release or wireless remote control to trigger the shutter. • The wired remote switch RS-60E3 has a 2ft/60cm cable that connects to the camera’s remote control terminal and replicates all of the functions of the camera’s shutter button. You can press the shutter button halfway down, all the way down, and even lock it down. Locking it down is ideal for extended time exposures using bulb mode (page 90). • The wireless RC-1 uses an infrared transmitter and may be set for either instant shutter release or 2-second delay. The RC-1 may also be used to activate mirror-lockup and bulb exposures. • The Wireless Controller RC-5 doesn’t take photos instantly, but instead always introduces a 2-second delay. The two wireless remotes are good up to about 16.4 feet (5m), although some fluorescent lights can prevent the wireless remote from operating correctly.

The drive mode button.

When taking pictures with a remote control, light can leak in through the viewfinder and affect the exposure. To prevent this, remove the eyecup from the viewfinder and slip the eyepiece cover, carried on the camera strap, over the eyepiece. To remove the eyecup cover, grasp both sides and slide it up and away from the camera. The XSi includes EOS Utility software you can use to remotely operate the camera. Using this program you can change camera settings and specify a start time and interval time for a series of photos. This lets you set up the camera and get pictures like the one of the squirrel below.

The EOS Utility program.

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Using My Menu

Using My Menu

The My Menu tab’s icon.

You can store up to six frequently used menu commands or Custom Functions on your own personal menu so you can access them more quickly. Normally the commands you add to the menu are displayed when you press MENU and select the My Menu tab. However, if you enable Display from My Menu the My Menu tab is always displayed first when you press MENU, regardless of which menu tab was last displayed. Registering My Menu settings 1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and display the My Menu tab listing any menu settings you have already registered. 2. Highlight My Menu settings and press SET to display a submenu. 3. Highlight any of the following commands and press SET: ● Register displays a list of menu commands so you can highlight one and press SET to add it to the menu. When asked to confirm the addition, highlight OK and press SET. ● Sort changes the order of the registered items on the menu. ● Delete and Delete all items delete one or all of the previously listed menu items. ● Display from My Menu, when enabled, displays the My Menu tab first when you press the MENU button. 4. When finished with any step, press the MENU or shutter button to return to Step 3. 5. To hide the menu, press the shutter or MENU button.


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Using

the

Set-up Menu

Set-up menu tab icons.

The XSi has a number of commands on the Set-up menu tabs that change the basic settings of your camera. Set-up menu tab 3 is only available in Creative Zone modes. Using the Set-up Menus 1. With the camera on, press MENU and display the Set-up 1, 2, or 3 menu tab. 2. Highlight any of the commands described in this section and change them as discussed below. 3. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.

Tip • If you turn off Auto power off, to extend your battery’s life turn the camera off when not taking pictures or press DISP to turn off the monitor.

Set-up 1 (Yellow) Auto power off

0 sec. / 1min. / 2 min. / 4 min. / 8 min. / 15 min. / Off

144

File numbering

Continuous / Auto reset / Manual reset

145

Auto rotate

On camera and computer / On computer only / Off

145

Format

Initialize and erase data in the card

145

LCD auto off

Enabled / Disabled

146

Screen color

Select the background color

146

LCD brightness

Seven brightness levels provided

146

Date/Time

Set the date (year, month, day) and time (hour, min., sec.)

146

Language

Select the interface language

146

Video system

NTSC / PAL

146

Sensor cleaning

Auto cleaning / Clean now / Clean manually

146

Live View function settings

Live View shooting / Grid display /Metering timer

146

Flash control

Flash firing / Built-in flash function setting / External flash function setting / External flash C.Fn setting / Clear external flash C.Fn setting

146

Custom Functions (C.Fn)

Customize the camera as desired

147

Clear settings

Clear all camera settings / Clear all Custom Func. (C.Fn)

147

Firmware Ver.

For updating the firmware

147

Set-up 2 (Yellow)

Set-up 3 (Yellow)

Auto power off Normally the camera will go into auto power off mode if you don’t take a picture or use any of the commands for 30 seconds. You can select a longer time or even turn this feature off so the camera doesn’t power off until you turn it off. To adjust the auto power off setting, highlight Auto power off and press SET. Highlight your choice and press SET.

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Using the Set-up Menu

Tip • Eventually, you can run through all of the available folder and file numbers. If a folder numbered 999 is created, the message Folder number full is displayed on the monitor. Then if a file numbered 9999 is created, you are prompted to replace the memory card. Do so, or move the files to your computer and format the card. • In Continuous and Auto reset modes, if the new card already has images on it, numbering may begin for the highest number. The only way to ensure the first image is 0001 is to format the card before using it.

File numbering By default, each photo you take is given a unique sequential number from 0001 to 9999 and is stored in a folder numbered from 100 to 999. To change the way files are numbered, highlight File numbering, press SET then select one of the following and press SET. • Continuous (the default) continues image numbering in sequence so you don’t have duplicate file names. • Auto reset restarts numbering at an initial value of 0001 when you insert a new memory card. This can cause problems if you copy images into the same folder on the computer because there may be duplicate file names. • Manual reset creates a new folder and stores all subsequent images in it starting with the number 0001. The Continuous or Auto reset setting you selected then resumes. Auto rotate When you rotate the camera into a vertical (portrait) position to take photos and then play the photos back on the computer screen or TV, everyone watching has to tilt their heads to see the images because they are rotated 90 degrees. To avoid this, the XSi has an orientation sensor that, when on, senses the position of the camera when you take a picture and automatically rotates pictures you took vertically so they are also displayed vertically when played back. Images displayed for review right after you capture them are not rotated and if you take a vertical image when the camera is pointed up or down, orientation may be confused and not automatically rotate during playback. However, you can rotate these or other pictures manually (page 21). To turn auto rotate on or off, highlight Auto rotate and press SET. Highlight the choice to rotate them on both the camera and computer, just the computer, or not at all, and then press SET.

The Auto rotate menu choices include—both camera and computer, computer only, and off.

All Is Not Lost This might be a good point to introduce some good news. If you ever delete files or format a memory card by mistake, you can recover your images. The first step is to stop taking pictures because new ones can overwrite the old and make them impossible to recover. Next, get a program that recovers the files. To find one Google the term “image recovery.”

Format When you get a new memory card, you often have to format it to work with the camera. You may also need to reformat a card if it develops problems, or when you want to be certain it works well with a new camera. Be careful with this command because it erases all of the image files on the card, including those that you have protected (page 21). However, the image files are not really permanently deleted until new files are stored over them on the card. To recover files, see the Image Recovery Software tip box on page 20. Also, be aware that if you loan or sell the card, the other person can also recover your images. The only way to prevent this is to take enough new photos to fill the card or use software designed to wipe the card clean. To format a card highlight Format and press SET to display the prompt Format card and the choices Cancel and OK. Highlight your choice and press SET. You can also press the Erase button to turn low-level formatting on and off. Low-level formatting may be helpful if your card has gotten slower when saving or opening images. Since low-level formatting erases all recordable sectors, it takes a little longer than regular formatting.


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Beep, Beep • If you don’t want the camera to beep when focus is achieved, you can turn it off with the Beep command on the Shooting 1 menu tab (page 11).

LCD auto off Normally, when you bring your eye to the viewfinder, the monitor display automatically turns off. If you use this command and select Disable, the monitor will remain on. The default setting is Enable. Screen color You can change the background color of the shooting settings screen. LCD brightness You can adjust the brightness of the monitor so it better matches the lighting conditions you’re in at the moment. To do so, highlight LCD brightness and press SET. Press the cross keys to select one of brightness levels, and press SET again. One reason not to do this is because it makes it more difficult to evaluate exposures in Live View. However, histograms are a better way to do that anyway (page 56). Date/Time When you first use the camera, or when the batteries have been removed or run down for some time, you should set the date and time so your image files are correctly dated. After highlighting the command, press SET and then do the following: • To change the setting highlighted with the orange frame, press the up or down cross key. • To move the orange frame to the next setting, press the left or right cross key. When finished, press SET to return to the Set-up 1 menu. Language You can choose a language for menus and prompts. To do so, highlight Language and press SET. Highlight a language choice and press SET again. Video system At rare times you may need to specify a different video system (NTSC or PAL) so you can connect the camera to a TV set to give a slide show. To change the video system, highlight Video system and press SET. Highlight NTCS or PAL and press SET again. Sensor cleaning If any dust or other debris enters the camera and adheres to the image sensor, it may show up as a dark speck in the images. If this happens to you see the section “Caring for your Camera” on page 153. Live View function (See page 135.)

settings

Flash control (See page 122.) 146


Using the Set-up Menu Custom Functions (C. Fn) (See page 148.) Clear settings As you make changes to settings, it is sometimes easy to forget what you’ve done. At other times, you’ve changed so many settings, it’s time consuming to reset them all to their original values. For this reason, there is a command that resets all of the settings for you. To clear changes you have made to settings, highlight Clear settings and press SET to display two choices. Select one and press SET: • Clear all camera settings restores most camera settings other than Custom Functions to their factory defaults listed in the table below. • Clear all Custom Func. (C. Fn) sets all Custom Functions (page 148) to 0, their default settings. Menu

Default

AF mode

One-Shot AF

Page 69

AF point selection

Automatic selection

70

Metering mode

Evaluative metering

46

Drive mode

(Single shooting)

Exposure compensation

0 (Zero)

AEB

Canceled

53

Flash exposure compensation

0 (Zero)

120

Live View shooting

Disable

135

Quality

Large/Fine

25

ISO speed

Auto

62

File numbering

Continuous

Color space

sRGB

82

White balance

Auto WB

80

WB correction

Canceled

83

WB bracketing

Canceled

83

Picture Style

Standard

140

61, 139 53

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Firmware Ver If Canon releases updated software for the camera you use this command to install it after downloading it from their Web site. Follow the directions that come with it. If you want to see what version is currently loaded, this command lists it.


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Using Custom Functions The XSi has 13 Custom Functions you change in Creative Zone modes to control camera operations. All default settings are 0. Changing Custom Functions

The Set-up 3 menu tab icon.

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the MENU button and display the Set-up 3 menu tab. 2. Highlight Custom Functions (C. Fn) and press SET to display a table of 13 Custom Functions at the bottom of the monitor. The current setting for each function is listed below its number (all default settings are 0). Current settings other than “0” are displayed in blue. 3. Press the left () or right () cross key to scroll through the functions. 4. To change the function listed below the small bar, press SET to display choices, highlight the one you want to use, and press SET again to select it. 5. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.

Tip Custom functions 9, 10 and 11 are disabled during Live View shooting.

Number

Function

Page

C.Fn I: Exposure 1

Exposure level increments

148

2

Flash sync. speed in Av mode

148

3

Long exposure noise reduction

149

4

High ISO speed noise reduction

149

5

Highlight tone priority

149

6

Auto Lighting Optimizer

149

C.Fn II: Image

C.Fn III: Auto focus/Drive

The Custom Functions screen.

7

AF-assist beam firing

149

8

AF during Live View shooting

149

9

Mirror lockup

150

C.Fn IV: Operation/Others 10

Shutter/AE lock button

150

11

SET button when shooting

150

12

LCD display when power ON

150

13

Add original decision data

150

• 01 Exposure level increments selects 0: 1/3-stop or 1: 1/2-stop increments for shutter speeds, apertures, exposure compensation, AEB and other exposure settings. • 02 Flash sync. speed in AV mode sets the shutter speed to 0: Auto or 1: 1/200sec. (fixed) when using flash in Av mode. Fixing the shutter speed prevents a slow shutter speed when photographing in dim light, so backgrounds will be darker and you will avoid blur caused by camera shake. When set to Auto, slower shutter speeds are used to lighten the background just as they are in slow sync flash photography (page 117) so you may get blur from camera or subject movement. 148


Using Custom Functions • 03 Long exp. noise reduction is used to remove noise from images taken with long exposures. The image processing time is the same as the exposure time so longer exposures mean longer intervals between shots. • 0: Off turns off noise reduction. • 1: Auto reduces noise in images taken at exposures of 1 second or longer if it detects noise. • 2: On reduces noise in all images taken at exposures of 1 second or longer. This setting may be more effective in detecting and removing noise than Auto. If you take a long exposure in Live View while this choice is active, no image is displayed for review on the monitor while noise reduction is being performed. • 04 High ISO speed noise reduction is used to remove noise from images shot at high ISO settings. • 0: Off turns off noise reduction. • 1: On performs noise reduction at all ISO settings, but has the most effect at high ISOs. At low ISOs, noise in shadow areas is reduced. When On, the frame rate in continuous shooting drops dramatically and white balance bracketing is disabled. • 05 Highlight tone priority can be set to 0: Disable or 1: Enable. When enabled, highlight details are improved although noise in shadow areas may be increased. The dynamic range is expanded between 18% middle gray and the brightest highlights. As a result, the gradation between the grays and highlights is smoother. This is a good setting for weddings and landscapes since it captures more detail in white subjects such as wedding dresses, clouds, and snow. Also, the ISO range is 200–1600, and to remind you it’s on, zeros in the ISO are displayed in small type on the monitor and in the viewfinder. • 06 Auto Lighting Optimizer, when enabled, adjusts image brightness and contrast automatically if an image would otherwise be too dark or have contrast that’s too low. (Depending on the shooting conditions, image noise may increase.) This function doesn’t work with manual exposures nor RAW and RAW+Large/Fine JPEG images. In the Basic Zone modes, Auto Lighting Optimizer operates automatically. • 07 AF-assist beam specifies when and if the flash’s AF assist beam fires (page 69). You may want to turn it off in some circumstances since it draws attention. • 0: Enable enables the AF-assist beam. • 1: Disable disables the AF-assist beam. • 2: Only external flash emits enables the AF-assist beam on an external flash and disables the one on the camera. Tip • If you set Custom Function 08 to 1 or 2 and want to use AE lock set Custom Function 10 to 1.

• 08 AF during Live View shooting offers three choices. When set to 1 or 2, you can autofocus during Live View shooting (page 135). • 0: Disable disables autofocus during Live View shooting. • 1: Quick mode is the same as normal autofocus using the dedicated AF sensor. Although you can focus quickly, the Live View image is interrupted momentarily during the AF operation.


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Tips • When the mirror is locked up, the viewfinder goes dark. • In very bright light, take the picture as soon as possible after locking up the mirror. • When the mirror is locked up, don’t point the camera at the sun with the shutter button pressed halfway down. Doing so can damage the shutter curtains. • In continuous mode, only one picture can be taken at a time when using mirror lockup.

• 2: Live mode uses the image sensor to focus and the Live View image display is not interrupted. However, autofocus takes longer than with Quick mode and achieving focus may be more difficult. • 09 Mirror lockup lets you 0: Disable or 1: Enable mirror lockup. When enabled, the mirror is lifted just before the shutter opens and remains locked up so when you then take a picture the swinging mirror doesn’t create any image-softening vibrations. This is a very useful feature when taking macro close-ups, or using very long lenses. After tuning it on, here is how it works: • Pressing the shutter button all the way down raises the mirror, and pressing it again takes the picture and lowers the mirror. If you don’t press the shutter button within 30 seconds, the mirror lowers automatically. • When using the self-timer (page 61), pressing the shutter button all the way down raises the mirror and then takes the picture 2 seconds later. If you don’t have a remote control, this is a great way to avoid camera shake caused by pressing the shutter button. • When using bulb and the self-timer, hold the shutter button down until the exposure is complete. If you release it before the self timer ends, there will be a shutter release sound but a picture isn’t taken. • 10 Shutter/AE lock button has four settings that specify how the shutter and AE/FE Lock button work. These combinations determine how and when focus (AF) and exposure (AE) are locked:

The AE/FE Lock icon.

• 0: AF/AE lock—Pressing the shutter button halfway down locks focus and exposure when using evaluative metering. Pressing the AE/FE Lock button locks exposure and keeps it locked even when you release the shutter button. • 1: AE lock/AF—Pressing the shutter button halfway down locks exposure. Pressing the AE/FE Lock button locks focus. • 2: AF/AF lock, no AE lock—In AI Servo AF mode (page 69), pressing the AE/FE Lock button locks focus so an object passing in front of the camera doesn’t affect focus. Exposure is set when the picture is taken. • 3: AE/AF, no AE lock—In AI Servo AF mode (page 69), pressing the AE/ FE Lock button locks focus and releasing the button unlocks it. Exposure is set when the picture is taken. This option is useful when photographing a subject that repeatedly stops and starts. • 11 SET button when shooting specifies which screen is displayed on the monitor when you press the SET button. (When using Live View, these settings are ignored and pressing SET displays the Live View image instead.) • 0 Normal (disabled). • 1 Change quality changes image quality (page 25). • 2 Flash exposure comp displays the flash exposure compensation screen (page 120). • 3 LCD monitor On/Off performs the same function as the DISP button (page 16). • 4 Menu display performs the same function as the MENU button. • 12 LCD display when power on specifies if the monitor displays information when you turn on the camera.

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Using Custom Functions • 0: Display turns on the monitor when you turn on the camera. • 1: Retain power OFF status remembers if the monitor was on or off when you last turned off the camera and returns to that state when you turn it back on. For example, if you press DISP to turn off the display, then turn off the camera, when you turn the camera back on the display will be off.

When you shooting information for an image with verification data appended, this icon is displayed.

13 Add original decision data, when on, appends data to the image file that lets you verify if an image is original or not. When played back a padlock icon is displayed. To verify if the image is an original you’ll need the Original Data Security Kit OSK-E3 (sold separately).

Clearing Custom Functions 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the MENU button, and display the Set-up 3 menu tab. 2. Highlight Clear settings and press SET. 3. Highlight Clear all Custom Func. (C. Fn) and press SET. 4. Highlight OK and press SET to clear the functions and return to the menu. 5. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.


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Entering

a

Print Order If you have a DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatible printer with a memory card slot, or if your photofinisher has one, you can create a print order right on the memory card storing your images. (You can use a similar procedure to print on a printer connected to the camera. For information on direct printing refer to the XSi manual and the manual that came with your printer.) When creating a print order to be saved onto a memory card, there are three basic steps: • Sel. Image selects the images to be printed and specifies how many copies of each are to be made. • Set up specifies print types (Standard prints one image on each sheet, Index prints a number of small thumbnail images on each sheet, or Both) and lets you specify if the date an image was taken and its file number are printed on each photo. • All image is used to select all pictures for printing, or to clear all previously specified print quantities.

Tips • Images in the RAW file format (page 25) cannot be marked for printing nor can some photos or movies captured by other cameras. • If you specify that both the Date and the File Number be printed on each image, you may not get both. You may get only the date on standard prints and the file number on index prints. • When printing an index, both Date and File No. can’t be turned on at the same time. • Print orders are stored on the memory card so when images are transferred to a computer the settings are lost. • Some printers, even if marked DPOF compatible may not print your order correctly.

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Entering a Print Order 1. With the camera on, press MENU and display the Playback menu tab. 2. Highlight Print order and press SET to display the Print order menu. 3. Do one of the following: ● To specify the print type, highlight Set up and press SET. Highlight Print type, press SET, select Standard, Index, or Both and then press SET again. (You can also specify if the date and file number is printed on the image by turning those features on.) When finished, press MENU to return to the Print Order menu. ● To individually select images to be printed, highlight Sel. Image and press SET to display the last image taken. Press the Index/Reduce and Magnify buttons to switch between displaying 3 images and 1. Scroll through the images and when you find one you want printed, press the up () or down () cross key to specify the quantity, and then resume scrolling. (If ordering just index prints, a check mark is displayed instead of a number.) The number of copies of that image, and the running total of all images to be printed are displayed in the upperleft corner of the monitor. When finished, press MENU to return to the Print Order menu. ● To select or unselect all images, highlight All image and press SET. Highlight Mark all on card, or Clear all on card and press SET again to return to the Print Order menu. 4. Press MENU to hide the menu and save the order to the memory card.


Caring For Your Camera

Caring

for

Your Camera Some of the best opportunities for interesting photographs occur during bad weather or in hostile environments. You can take advantage of these opportunities as long as you take a few precautions to protect your camera.

Cleaning the Image Sensor http://www.photocourse.com/itext/dust/ Click to see the effects of dust on your images.

Tips • Change lenses in a dust free environment and out of the wind. • Store the camera with a lens or the body cap attached. • Remove dust from the body cap and lens mounts before attaching them.

The sensor cleaning icon is displayed while auto sensor cleaning is being performed.

If you change lens a lot, or even once in a windy or dusty environment, dust can enter the camera and stick to the low-pass filter covering the image sensor. This dust creates dark spots on the images. One way to check if this has happened is to take a few photos of a clear sky or white card. Open the images in your photo-editing program and flip through them. (On a PC running Photoshop, zoom the pictures to the same size then Ctrl-Tab through them quickly and the dust spots jump out at you.) If images have small, dark spots in the same place, they are caused by dust on the sensor. The XSi uses state-of-the-art technology, called the EOS Integrated Cleaning System, to automatically eliminate this problem. It has the following stages: Reduce. Canon minimizes the dust and particles created by the camera itself, by using materials in the body cap and shutter that don’t create dust and other particles during normal wear and tear. Repel. Canon treats the camera’s low pass filter with an anti-static charge to prevent static-charged dust from adhering to it. Remove. The low pass filter in front of the CMOS image sensor, designed to eliminate moiré patterns and give accurate color, is attached to an ultrasonic vibrating unit that literally shakes the loose dust particles off of the filter. The newly liberated dust is then captured by an adhesive material that keeps the particles from becoming airborne again. The low-pass filter, normally a single unit, is also divided into two components, a front and a rear. The front component, where any dust would accumulate, is positioned far enough out in front of the sensor that any dust on it is out of focus and less likely to show in your images. The sensor unit’s ultrasonic anti-dust shake activates automatically for one second whenever you turn the camera on or off, ensuring that the sensor is relatively dust free. You can also activate cleaning at other times using the Clean now choice listed under the Set-up 2 menu tab’s Sensor cleaning setting. In addition to the EOS Integrated Cleaning System, the XSi lets you clean the sensor with sensor swabs and cleaning fluid. NEVER used compressed air, or other cleaning products, on the sensor. Cleaning supplies are available from B&H and Calumet. The most popular products seem to be those from Photographic Solutions (http://www.photosol.com). For more information Google “cleaning image sensor” but proceed at your own risk. One of the best Web sites I’ve found on this topic is Cleaning Digital Cameras at http:// www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/howto.html. To clean a sensor you use the camera’s Clean manually choice listed under the Set-up 2 menu tab’s Sensor cleaning setting to lock the mirror up and out of the way and hold open the shutter so you can get to the surface of the image sensor. This is a high-risk procedure and we recommend extreme caution. It’s more prudent to have it done by you camera company’s service center.


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Tips

Cleaning the Sensor

• When cleaning the sensor set the camera down on a flat surface. For best results, don’t tip it forward or back.

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode, press the MENU button, display the Set-up 2 menu tab, highlight Sensor cleaning and press SET to display three choices—Auto cleaning, Clean now, and Clean manually.

• You can take a picture while sensor cleaning is being performed.

● To turn auto cleaning on (the default) or off, highlight Auto cleaning and press SET, then highlight Enable or Disable and press SET again. ● To clean the sensor at any time, highlight Clean now and press SET. When asked to confirm, select OK. ● To manually clean the sensor, highlight Clean manually and press SET. Follow the instruction on the screen and on page 53. 2. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu. In addition to removing dust from the sensor, the XSi also lets you remove it from images. You just photograph a white wall or sheet of paper (or, in a pinch, remove the lens from the camera) and the camera’s Dust Delete Data function maps the size and position of any dust particles remaining on the low pass filter. Once the dust is “mapped”, that information is attached as metadata to all newly captured images—both RAW and JPEG. When you then transfer the images to a computer you can use the included Digital Photo Professional software to subtract the dust from the images by selecting the “apply dust delete data” option. You can update the Dust Delete Data at any time using the Dust Delete Data choice on the Set-up 2 men tab. Obtaining Dust Delete Data 1. Get ready: ● Find a solid white surface. ● Set the lens focal length to 50mm or more. ● Set the lens focus switch to MF and set focus to infinity. (If the lens has no focus scale, turn the lens focus ring all the way counter-clockwise as viewed from the back of the camera. 2. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the MENU button, display the Shooting 2 menu tab, highlight Dust Delete Data and press SET to display a confirmation screen. 3. Highlight OK to display an instructional screen. Highlight OK and press SET to clean the sensor. 4. At a distance of 0.7–1.0 feet (2–30cm) completely fill the viewfinder with the white surface and press the shutter button all the way down.

Here are the five steps recommended by Photographic Solutions for cleaning your image sensor with their sensor swabs and Eclipse cleaning fluid. http:// www.photosol.com.

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● If successful, you see the message Data obtained. (The image data is stored internally and is not saved to the memory card.) OK is highlighted so press SET. ● If unsuccessful, you’ll be asked if you want to try again. If so, repeat Step 2–4. 5. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu. For information on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Caring For Your Camera Cleaning the Camera and Lens Clean the outside of the camera with a slightly damp, soft, lint-free cloth. Open the “flaps” to the memory and battery compartments occasionally and use a soft brush or blower to remove dust. Clean the LCD monitor by brushing or blowing off dirt and wiping with a soft cloth, but don’t press hard and be sure there is no grit on the cloth that can scratch the surface. Cleaning kits are available at most office supply stores. The first rule is to clean the lens only when absolutely necessary. A little dust on the lens won’t affect the image, so don’t be compulsive. Keep the lens covered when not in use to reduce the amount of cleaning required. When cleaning is necessary, use a soft brush, such as a sable artist’s brush, and a blower (an ear syringe makes a good one) to remove dust. Fingerprints can be very harmful to the lens coating and should be removed as soon as possible. Use a lens cleaning cloth (or roll up a piece of photographic lens cleaning tissue and tear the end off to leave a brush like surface). Put a small drop of lens cleaning fluid on the end of the tissue. (Your condensed breath on the lens also works well.) Never put cleaning fluid directly on the lens; it might run between the lens elements. Using a circular motion, clean the lens surface with the cloth or tissue, then use the cloth or a tissue rolled and torn the same way to dry it. Never reuse tissues and don’t press hard when cleaning because the front element of the lens is covered with a relatively delicate lens coating. Protecting your Camera from the Elements Your camera should never be exposed to excessively high temperatures. If at all possible, don’t leave the camera in a car on a hot day, especially if the sun is shining on the car (or if it will do so later in the day). If the camera has to be exposed to the sun, such as when you are at the beach, cover it with a light colored and sand free towel or piece of tinfoil to shade it from the sun. Dark materials will only absorb the heat and possibly make things worse. Indoors, avoid storage near radiators, places likely to get hot or humid, or where direct sunlight can hit it. When it’s cold out, keep the camera as warm as possible by keeping it under your coat. Always carry extra batteries. Those in your camera may weaken at low temperatures just as a car battery weakens in the cold. Prevent condensation when taking the camera from a cold area to a warm one by wrapping the camera in a plastic bag or newspaper until its temperature climbs to match that of its environment. If some condensation does occur, do not use the camera or take it back out in the cold with condensation still on it, or it can freeze up camera operation. Remove the battery and memory card, and leave the compartment covers open until everything dries out. Never place the camera near electric motors or other devices that have strong magnetic fields. These fields can corrupt the image data stored in the camera. Always protect equipment from water, especially salt water, and from dust, dirt, and sand. A camera case helps, but at the beach a plastic bag is even better. When shooting in the mist, fog, or rain, cover the camera with a plastic bag into which you’ve cut a hole for the lens to stick out. Use a rubber band to seal the bag around the lens. You can reach through the normal opening in the bag to operate the controls. Screwing a skylight filter over the lens allows you to wipe off spray and condensation without damaging the delicate lens surface.


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Chapter 7. Other Features and Commands Protecting when Traveling Use lens caps or covers to protect lenses. Store all small items and other accessories in cases and pack everything carefully so bangs and bumps won’t cause them to hit each other. Be careful packing photographic equipment in soft luggage where it can be easily damaged. When flying, there are no reports of damage caused by carry-on metal detectors, but those used to examine checked baggage are much more powerful. Storing a Camera Store your camera in a cool, dry, well ventilated area, and remove its battery if it’s to be stored for some time. A camera bag or case makes an excellent storage container to protect it from dust. Digital cameras have lots of components including batteries, chargers, cables, lens cleaners, and what not. It helps if you have some kind of storage container in which to keep them all together. Caring for Yourself When hiking outdoors, don’t wear the camera strap around your neck, it could strangle you. Don’t aim the camera directly at the sun, it can burn your eye.

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