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Canon EOS 1000D (1 Viewer)

Bird spotter

Well-known member
Received a Canon EOS 1000D DSLR camera for Christmas,along with a tripod and 70 - 300mm zoom lens. :)
This is my first DSLR so have a lot to learn with reference to all the configurable settings.
I'm certainly not new to photography having owned Canon Digital compact camera for a number of years,but the time to move into the world of DSLR's has been way over due.
Looking forward to discuss this camera with anyone else who is in a similar position to me or from the more experienced.
 
I'm in your position almost exactly; I've had a canon powershot for several years, and just got a 450d for Christmas, with a 55-250mm lens. As for the settings, I usually shoot with the dial on the "P", but I also shoot in shutter priority (Tv). If you'd like to see some sample shots, just let me know!
 
Hi Birdspotter, welcome to the world of DSLR's. Here are a few pointers to get you started:

The vast majority of bird photographs use either AV mode (aperture priority) or Manual mode. As manual is something for the more advanced I would suggest that you start off in AV mode. The idea is to set the aperture as open as you dare for your lens, that way you get the bird in focus but the background is blurred. I believe that your lens is f5.6 but you may have to stop down a bit to get the best out of it, especially when shooting at the long (300mm) end.

ISO 400 is the standard setting used by many but you may need to vary according to the light - take note of the shutter speeds you are getting, if it is too slow then up the ISO but if it is fast you may be able to reduce the ISO.

As for the AF drive mode you can select one shot for perching birds or AI servo for flyers ( I personally use AI servo all the time). I would advise against using AI Focus

For a metering mode (assuming you will not be using manual) I would suggest that you start with partial metering. You will find that there are many instances where you will need to dial in some exposure compensation to get correct exposure.

As for focus points, most people with your camera would use the centre point only.

Hope this helps to get you started.
 
As you're new to the world of DSLR I'd recommend keeping things simple while you get used to the camera and lens. Stick the camera into P, set the ISO at a level that will allow for a decent shutter speed and spend a bit of time learning how to use exposure compensation. As you get more into it then give AV a try, by setting the aperture you are conotrolling the depth of field which has a huge effect on the way the photo will look. A wide aperture (low f number) will give a shallow DOF which is great for out of focus backgrounds, a narrow aperture (big f number) gives you a greater DOF which makes it easier to keep the whole of the subject in focus. Personally I'd forget about M (manual) for quite a while, it's the setting which will give you the greatest opportunity to mess up the shot!

I use P as my safety net, putting the camera into it when moving from one location to another - in P you can be sure of a useable shot even if another mode might have made it a bit better. Once set up I'll often use AV so I can control my shots a bit more and only on very rare occassions to I use M for birds.
 
I'd forget about M (manual) for quite a while.
I agree with this as I stated above. Even some experienced bird photographers never seem to master Manual. I personally find it much easier to get the exposure right with Manual but that it because I am crap at judging exposure compensation.

Bird spotter: you are starting to get a feel for DSLR and what it entails. Three responses, one suggesting TV mode, one suggesting AV mode and one suggesting P mode . At the end of the day there is no right or wrong way, it is the end results that counts. Just be aware of the different methods of getting sharp, well exposed shots and go for the one that suits you best. There will no doubt be a learning curve, some people pick it up quicker than others (I have been a snapper for four years now and am still very much a novice but I am enjoying learning which is what it is all about).
From my experiences thus far if I had to give one piece of advice for the bird photographer it would be to get as near as you can to the subject - I do not think it is a coincidence that most of my better efforts have all been where I was fairly close to the bird.
 
Unusually I disagree with Roy. If you want the fastest shutter speed you must use Av.
Baffled by this John - I was the only one that advocated using AV :t:

Quote from my first post "I would suggest that you start off in AV mode"
 
I agree with this as I stated above. Even some experienced bird photographers never seem to master Manual.

I for one never got a hang of it, always use Av myself. But I agree with postcard, start out with P until you have a feeling for the camera.

Thomas
 
Many thanks for the replies,apologies for not getting back earlier.
Have read the manual as an when I need to, as reading it from cover to cover I think is just to much to absorb in one go.
The manual explains what the settings are and how to make adjustments,however the relationship between them all is taking time to get use to.
For example shutter speed,aperture size and ISO settings is certainly a subject that requires a good understanding.There are some excellent presentations on this subject on YouTube which have been very useful.

Roy C - I am enjoying the transition from a point & shoot compact camera,which works very well,but having a camera that can you manage the settings in order to get a better picture is very rewarding.The zoom lens takes you right up to the action,but have been rather disappointed at times with results but that's because of me and not the camera.Perhaps I should be mastering the camera and settings with the standard lens first, before I use the zoom lens.


PostcardCV - The world of DSLR is certainly very exciting I will take what you have suggested and give it a try and will let you know the outcome.


Cardamon Pod - Very interested to see how you are getting on,as soon as I have produced something of value I will upload it.


I have a wide range of subjects,including birds in flight,aviation shots in particular high altitude aircrafts producing contrails across a blue sky and cloud formations to name a few.I just need to master the settings of my new camera to get those winning shots.
It could take some time
 
It's a long journey that you have started. Just take it one day at a time. I would read Understanding Exposure and Understanding Photography Field Guide, both by Bryan Peterson. You will learn a ton of useful stuff from those two books alone. Keep asking questions and take zillions of pictures, you will catch on quickly!
 
Hi Bird Spotter,
There is plenty of excellent advice here. I too would recommend you try to get to grips with AV as soon as you can.

A local bird feeding station, your park or garden would be all good places to start. Get into the habit of taking lots of shots at this stage so you can try the different settings in a bird rich environment. Change things like the ISO and the Aperture and look at what happens to the shutter speed and image quality. See if you can notice the differences.

Once you understand the relationship between ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed the rest is easy. Well kind of...
 
Today I had some quality time with my camera.The weather has been very good here today with blue skies and sun.
I set the camera to AV mode as suggested using the zoom lens without the tripod on this occasion.
These pictures I considered to be best of the bunch so far,they are all original without the use of any picture editing.All I have down is zoomed in,cropped and saved to my pc.
Many thanks for the helpful suggestions since I started this thread.
 

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As always, birds fly off if I try to set the camera up... so before setting off, set the camera to 2 basic settings (AV & M) ( canon remembers bar iso ) So, AV I take a test shot at the optimum setting ( f11 bright, F7.1 dull) aiming at a brightest part of a tree (but not against the sky) ... that tells me roughly what speed....then off to Manual and set up speed & aperature. (though I do tend to up the speed one or 2 notches)
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Then when out I have the camera set at AV... but if a bird flies by I quickly swith to manual and get the bird in detail more times than if left in av... not a shadow.

depending on the lens, iso400 as suggested is usually the one.

btw I also set tv but thats just getting complicated!!
 
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