The Digital Photography Equipment Thread

[Vector Prime]

I just had a play with my uncle's Rebel T2i, identical to the 550D. Nice and chunky, it's pretty solid. I think I'm sold. Hopefully I'll pick one up Friday.
I asked him about the settings and he say's he just leaves it on auto

Cool! Yeah, that's what I loved about the feel of the 550D - it feels solid (although it feels slightly small in my hands), but once you add a big lens to it, it still feels the part.

Are you going to go single lens? Or body only and add your own lens?

And whatever you do, don't follow your uncle's lead and leave it in Auto!

[gamblor916]

I'll get the stock lens and go from there.

[Vector Prime]

I'll get the stock lens and go from there.

Yeah the standard 18-55mm is a good starting point - in no time, you'll be picking up other lenses left right and centre.

Another setting to add to the mix is white balance. This will be why some of your photos look orange/warm. It is most likely set to auto. Not sure on the Nikon as I am a Canon user, but you should be able to change the white balance to tungsten or a light bulb symbol. You will want to change it back to auto when your new white lights arrive though.

I think as a beginner learning the ropes on a DSLR, it's most important to comprehend the 'triangle' first (shutter, aperture & ISO) and how they all relate to each other before even introducing white balance adjustment into the equation.

Once the grasp of all the key elements are firmly in place (with plenty of practice and understanding of how they all affect the exposure result), then white balance can be introduced into the mix.

Hell, I haven't even touched the white balance adjustments yet!

[Robzy]

I was gonna mention White Balance... but, yeah, baby steps to the elevator

White balance is, imo, crucial to getting a good photo (almost as crucial as correct exposure) but I was worried about bringing it up because too much info too quickly might scare people off . Photography's pretty simple once you understand what you're doing. Trouble is--there's quite a lot to learn.

Of course, one option is to shoot in RAW mode; that way you can change your white balance in post production if you have the right software The downside is that RAW files eat up your memory. But that's how I tend to shoot personally.

[Vector Prime]

Goes to show how blessed we are these days with modern technology - back in the old days, it was shutter, aperture and ISO (and lighting) and that's all they had to work with pretty much - and they still churned out great pics.

[Hursticon]

Goes to show how blessed we are these days with modern technology - back in the old days, it was shutter, aperture and ISO (and lighting) and that's all they had to work with pretty much - and they still churned out great pics.

You're dead right VP, truly some amazing work was done in the past with photography huh? - Gives you a better appreciation too IMO.

[gamblor916]

So it begins
Canon 550D with stock 18-55 lens.

[Hursticon]

That looks beautiful, purpose built and frightfully expensive Gamblor!

[Vector Prime]

So it begins
Canon 550D with stock 18-55 lens.

[IMG]--SNIP--[/IMG]

Welcome to the dark side!

[gamblor916]

That looks beautiful, purpose built and frightfully expensive Gamblor!

It wasn't really that expensive. It only cost a little bit more than my fixed lens Olympus, which I've used for the past 6 years. If I get similar mileage out of the dslr then I think it's a pretty good deal.

Welcome to the dark side!

Let the fun begin