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Canon 450D Settings (1 Viewer)

T

thesilverloon

Member
Have just purchased a Canon 450D, 2ND Hand Borg ED76/ f6.6 (FL 500mm)Refractor and a Kenko 1.4 Pro 300 DGX Teleconverter. This is my first time using a DSLR.
Was wondering as to what camera settings best suit this combination? |=)|
 
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Try spot metering for little birds that never fill the frame, and centre weighted for large birds that do.

I found the metering is more accurate with centre weighted than spot, but there are times when spot is required IMO.

Get the fastest shutter speed you can without accidently introducing ISO noise.. Paul C likes to shoot 800 ISO and this will get fast SS in lower light and super fast SS in very good light.

You should get focus confirm with your scope, depending on aperture of your scope. I can get focus confirm on my SW80 ED ( same as Paul C's ) @ f7.5 but as soon as i stick a Barlow on ( or TC ), i lose that. If your scope is say, f5.6, you will get focus confirm. but the 1.4 Kenko will add 1 stop ( so your max ap will be down to f8 ) and you may find it wont focus confirm...you might be lucky though, as its only a smidge past f7.5 and i get FC at that aperture.
Depends on the scope i suppose, and the light it lets in

I have rediculous eyesight ( at the moment ) so any help i can get i take it. I expoxied a Focus Confirm EOS/EF adapter to my ext. tubes and it works a treat.

Sometimes, if the subject is a long way off and small in the frame, i use live view x10.
 
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thesilverloon, share your experience here. I am trying to jump on this bandwagon too but with the Skywatcher 80ED. Your experience will guide me there too.

Musoman, so the AF can only work with the 80ED only. Anything else you add in will be MF. Meaning, no use for me to try a AF confirm adaptor or chip as I will always be using it with at least a 2 X TC.
 
Vince i get no AF at all, neither will you. Focus Confirm is just that, a confirmation that the camera is telling you your shot is in focus. Auto Focus only comes with Auto Focus digital camera lenses.

I literally dont own any AF lenses anymore - maybe sometime in the future again ;)

No, there's little point in you buying a FC adapter - as you say you want to start at least around 1200mm. No FC at 1200mm so no need to waste your money.

The reason i have the FC chipped adapter is that sometimes i use the Scope at 600mm, and then it works fine. Using the scope at 600mm means i can now get focusing down to under 15ft
 
Musoman, how foolish of me asking about AF and MF LOL. Age must be catching up. Yeah, What I meant is FC, with my camera it can either be a lit green LED or a beep (if I set my camera to AF mode).

I will only use the scope for longer FL shots. Shorter ones I will stick with my 200-500 Tamron. Thanks for pointing out and now that will be one less area to remember.

Edit: Just realise this thread belong to thesilverloon and I shouldn't go off topic...sorry about that.

thesilverloon, did you manage to get your setting right? Let us know your learning curve. I have not reached that stage but would like to brace myself for it. Good Luck and happy trying.
 
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Thanks Musoman and Alphan for your input. I realize that the answer to my question probably lies in previous posts submitted by many others over the past year or two.
Will dig some more.
No Alphan, I have not had a chance to play with my setup as yet. Two small children keep me time poor at the moment. Part of the fun is collecting all the bits, the challenge will be learning how it all works.
 
On my 450D I just use full manual mode and use the light meter in the viewfinder to gauge the shutter speed. I use spot metering or centre weighted metering and set the shutter speed so the the dot on the light meter is about two marks to the left of middle on the scale. If it's a really bright scene then you may need a slightly higher speed which makes the dot move more to the left. I set the ISO to 800 for virtually all conditions.

Paul.
 
Is it better to use the M setting over the AV, which I believe sets the shutter speed?
I also see that there are those who use mirror lock, and others who prefer live view.
I have a remote, so was wondering which would be the better method?
I have put this rig together as a portable system to take with me on the times I get to go bush. Have just returned from the Simpson Desert. It was there that I wished I had a camera with a long reach to capture the distant bird life. Eagles, falcons etc.
The nice thing about the Borg is that it breaks down into little bits, easy to transport.
Weights just over 2kg with the 450D.
 
I think the camera in AV mode will tend to pick the wrong shutter speed by quite a wide margin. Having full control in manual is better. I use mirror lock up if the shutter speed is getting slow, say below 1/60 sec, above that I can usually get sharp photos but that comes with plenty of practice. Live view is generally a much slower method but it can be useful for really critical focus on a long range subject.

Paul.
 
Paul Corfield said:
On my 450D I just use full manual mode and use the light meter in the viewfinder to gauge the shutter speed. I use spot metering or centre weighted metering and set the shutter speed so the the dot on the light meter is about two marks to the left of middle on the scale. If it's a really bright scene then you may need a slightly higher speed which makes the dot move more to the left.
Paul.
Click to expand...

Same here Paul.

I dont set metering so the meter pointer is right in the middle, as i will get over exposure. I always meter like you, 2 points to the left of centre where the light is average on the subject. If the subject is extremely well light from bright sun, i have to move the metering to maybe 3 or 4 points to the left, by either upping the shutter speed or lowering the ISO.

I have histogram set to highlight blown areas on the instant review of the last photo taken
 
Full Manual are always but I am still using A priority so that the camera will take care of the speed, though quite often it came out wrong because of where the sensor pointed when the shot is taken. Birds in flight are worst. The contrast are just too great between bird and back ground (usually the brighter sky). Tried to go full M, but because of lack of experience and practice, most often I never make the shot. The birds are gone before I get everything right LOL.

Thanks Paul and Musoman for the pointer on the -0.6 EV. Will keep that in mind with my learning curve.
 
450D settings

Attached photo taken with the Borg 76ED plus Kenko 1.4 TC.
Distance 60m, late afternoon.
ISO: 800. Centre weighted metering.Shot in Large(3.6 meg)
M Setting, Tripod mounted. mirror lock. remote release.
I do not have Photoshop,have cropped in I- Photo so I can attach here.
Any thoughts. |=)|
 
I have no idea what to expect of your pic. Are you satisfied with it? I heard that it's not easy to handle it initially. Needs lots of practice and adjustment. I would like to follow your learning path. Can you post a pic of your setup?

Cheers on your first pic.
 
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