1、SPECIAL ADVICE FOR D70 & 350D USERSGEAR ADVICE: RECOMMENDED LENSES & ACCESSORIESTips for every D-SLR ownerShooting checklistHistogram lessons Filter advice & technique Using white balance JPEG & RAW know-howAND MORE.FREE WITHPracticalPhotographyESSENTIAL GUIDE 2 | Using your digital SLR Free with Pr
2、actical Photography | 3ContentsWelcome from editor Andrew James Five-step digital SLR shooting checklist 6 How to hold your digital SLR 8 Selecting your exposure modes 12 Understanding histograms 16 Using lters 18 Choosing a le format 24 Using white balance 26 Improving your pictures in-camera 30 Ty
3、pical settings for the Canon 350D & Nikon D50 32 Keeping your sensor clean 34 Inside a digital SLR 36 Choosing the right lens 38 Recommended lenses 40 Digital accessories 42A digital SLR is the hottest thing around right now. But if youve just taken the plunge (or are about to), it can seem scary. T
4、heres new technology to master and words that read like a foreign language. At least at the heart of it all is a desire to shoot great pictures and I know many people who have had their passion rekindled by digital capture. There is a danger that the freedom offered by digital leads to a gung-ho app
5、roach shoot as much as you can as fast as possible, in the hope that one or two images will be perfect. Dont let this happen. Enjoy the THIS GUIDE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY.Using Your Digital SLR is brought to you by the Practical Photography team and is published by EMAP Active Limited. No part of this
6、booklet can be reproduced without the publishers permission. For more information about Practical Photography you can visit: www.practicalphotography.co.ukWords/photography: Andrew James, Chris Rutter, Bob Martin, Ben Turner and Ben HawkinsDesign: Rob Holmes and Chris RigbyProduction: Shane CollinsM
7、arketing: Christiaan Pinder and Aaron BannieReproduction: Guildenburgh, PeterboroughPrinted by: Precision Colour Printing, TelfordShot on a budget D-SLR with a 105mm macro lens, these two blades of grass covered in dew have a creative edge. freedom and bene ts that owning a D-SLR brings. You can be
8、more creative certainly, but a thoughtful approach to every picture you take is still the best way forward. I hope you nd this guide useful. Weve tried to touch on many of the issues you will encounter on your journey.Shooting adviceCamera settings & careGear adviceShooting adviceYour digital SLR gi
9、ves you freedom and exibility to explore as many creative avenues as you like. But it also raises a number of different questions from traditional lm photography. In this section well explore some of the advantages of digital capture and some of the key points you need to know. USING YOUR DIGITAL SL
10、RGet out with your digital SLR and discover how effective a creative approach is. This lone silver birch was shot mid-morning on the Isle of Skye.Shooting adviceFree with Practical Photography | 7Your digital SLR is a highly sophisticated piece of kit but it will only do what you tell it to do. And
11、if youve told it to do one thing on one day it will do exactly the same the next, unless you override those instructions. As a result, perfectly good pictures can be ruined simply because you forgot to press a couple of buttons. It sounds obvious, but running through a simple checklist in your head
12、will prevent silly mistakes from occurring and ultimately mean better pictures. Here are ve simple but important things you need to remember every time you plan a photo-sessionFive-step digital SLR shooting checklistA digital SLR is completely power-reliant, so if your battery is only half-charged o
13、r, worse still, completely dead when you come to shoot, then youll be down the pub earlier than expected. Its best to slot batteries into the charger after every trip out and give them a blast. When theyre fully charged pop one set back into the camera itself and tuck a spare (you should always carr
14、y an extra set) safely in your camera bag. By formatting the memory card you wipe all the information held on it. So when you do format, be certain that any images on it you want to keep have already been downloaded and safely stored. If you havent, you can still shoot as the card will store your ne
15、w images into a separate folder, but space on the card will be limited. To format your card, simply access the Format Card option in your cameras menu. Once youve hit the Okay button and formatting has started theres no going back. Once formatted, you will have plenty of free card space on which to
16、store your new images.Back in the old days of lm and manual cameras, when you put a roll of lm into your camera you needed to set the ISO manually too. Then along came modern electronic lm cameras and the DX coding on the lm allowed the camera to automatically rate the lm at the required ISO. With a
17、 D-SLR, of course, theres no lm at all, but ISO rating still plays a role. It effectively alters the sensitivity of the cameras sensor, allowing you to continue shooting in different light levels. But larger ISO also brings greater visible noise (unwanted graininess) on an image, meaning its best to
18、 use as low an ISO setting as possible. So if you have used ISO 800 to shoot fast-moving action in low light and then forgot to change back to ISO 100 for a landscape shoot, you may feel your resulting pictures are ruined by excessive noise. Remember, on a D-SLR you can change ISO from shot to shot.
19、 A D-SLR gives you various options as to what format your digital le is saved in. The most popular is JPEG, but even this gives you various choices that relate to the nal quality of the image itself. All you need to know is how big you are likely to want to print your image at and how much post-capt
20、ure control you want over it. If, for example, you want a small image for use only on a website or for e-mailing, you may choose to shoot the smallest JPEG option available. On the ip side, if you want as big a le as possible and as much post-capture control over it, then shooting RAW is the best op
21、tion. From a shooting checklist perspective, you just need to have the right le option selected for the job at hand. More on JPEGs and RAWs later. Theres a whole issue wrapped up in white balance choice that we will cover later, but at the checklist stage just be sure that you dont have a completely
22、 inappropriate white balance selected that could make your picture look a bit weird. If youre in any doubt as to which white balance you should use, then go for the fail-safe of auto white balance. The camera will make the decision for you. More on white balance selection and use later. Have you cha
23、rged your batteries?Have you formatted your memory card?Have you checked the ISO setting? Have you selected the right le type? Have you chosen the white balance?Check the settings on your digital SLR every time you start shooting to be sure that youre using the correct settings for the subject youre
24、 tackling. 6 | Using your digital SLRMost D-SLR users will format their memory card out in the eld. But its better to get in the habit of doing this at home. Download your images, check everything is okay, then pop the card back into the camera and format it then and there. This way you know you hav
25、e a clean card for every outing. tip8 | Using your digital SLRShooting adviceFree with Practical Photography | 9NOR LIKE THIS If youre used to holding a compact you may be tempted to hold your digital SLR like this. The weight of the lens will make this unstable and tend to tip it down to the front.
26、 You wont have quick access to the zoom ring to reframe the composition either.NOT LIKE THIS Zooming and focusing like this will rely on three ngers and the thumb of your other hand to support the weight of your camera and lens. This is not very stable and is hard work with heavier kit. Try to hold
27、the weight of the camera with the palm of your left hand. T o improve your chances of getting a rst-rate shot, you need to go back to basics and make sure youre holding your D-SLR properly. Correctly supporting the camera and bracing yourself where possible will minimise the effects of camera shake
28、and allow you to get more stunning, pin-sharp images and less blurry snaps. Camera shake is the distracting blur that you sometimes see across an image, and is a particular problem in lowlight conditions where long exposures are needed. Its caused by a slight movement in the camera as the shot is ta
29、ken, and the longer the shutter is open the greater your chance of having problems.How to hold your digital SLRGet it rightRIGHT HANDYour right thumb should sit at the back of the camera, near or over the rear shuttle wheel (if your camera has one).Your fore nger should not carry any weight and be f
30、ree to press the shutter button and use the other controls on the top of the camera.Your other ngers should clasp the grip and bear some of the cameras weight.LEFT HANDBear the majority of the cameras weight on the palm of your left hand. Position it on the camera body, just below the lens.Hold the
31、focus ring or the zoom ring with your thumb, fore nger and middle nger, as shown.PIN-SHARPCAMERASHAKE12345Shooting adviceFree with Practical Photography | 1110 | Using your digital SLRThe chances of getting camera shake increases proportionally as the focal length of the lens increases. To combat th
32、is, use a fast shutter speed. If handholding your camera, aim to use a shutter speed that is 1 stop over the focal length, or faster. With a 50mm lens, a shutter speed of at least 1/50sec should be used. A 300mm lens will need a faster shutter speed of 1/300sec. The 35mm equivalent focal length shou
33、ld be used, see page 38 for more on lenses. tipN ow youve got a good grip on your digital SLR were going to show you four ways to position yourself while youre holding your camera, to ensure youre rock steady no matter what youre shooting.SHOOTING AT EYELEVEL Stand with your legs shoulder-width apar
34、t, so youre really stable. You may nd that its more comfortable to stand with one leg in front of the other, rather than the side-by-side as shown here. In either case, just ensure your legs are a good distance apart. Try to keep your arms low, and support your elbows against your body if possible.
35、When holding the camera vertically for a portrait shot, rest your left elbow on your body. Just before you take the shot, hold your breath for a moment so as to minimise movement. WAIST-HEIGHT SHOTSWhen eyelevel shots are too high, crouching with one knee on the ground allows you to rest an elbow on
36、 your other leg for good support. This is generally very useful for landscape shoots, when trying to bring foreground detail into the scene, or to achieve a better perspective when shooting portraits of children.LOW VIEWPOINTFor an ants-eye view on the world, or when taking close-ups of nature, a pr
37、one position like this offers a very solid support. A bin bag is a cheap and effective tool for keeping mud and grime off your clothes, so is worth keeping in your kit bag.FINDING SUPPORTS AROUND YOUWhere possible it is best to improvise and use objects surrounding you to support your camera and hol
38、d it steady. This is particularly useful when using long telephoto zoom lenses, as the further you zoom in, the greater your chances of camera shake when even tiny movements become ampli ed. Rest your camera on a nearby fence or wall, or nd a comfortable way to brace the camera and yourself against
39、a post. This will massively increase your chances of getting a sharp shot.How to hold your digital SLR12 | Using your digital SLRShooting adviceFree with Practical Photography | 13350D AND D70S COMPAREDThe mode dials on all digital SLRs share the same basic layout. There are detail differences betwe
40、en models though. The Canon EOS 350D uses a green square to signify full auto and Tv for shutter-priority. The Nikon D70S uses Auto and S for the same modes.One of the major advantages of a digital SLR over a compact camera is the sheer number of creative controls it offers. Some creative compact ca
41、meras may come close but they still dont offer the same range of shutter speed and aperture options as even the cheapest of digital SLRs. It follows then, that taking control of these features unlocks the full creative potential of your digital SLR. Youll nd the main mode dial on the top-plate of mo
42、st D-SLRs, allowing you to select the appropriate setting for your subject. Selecting your exposure modes Full autoThis completely automatic mode doesnt allow you to override the settings on the camera. Its great for point-and-shoot simplicity, but youre missing out on the bene ts of using a D-SLR i
43、f this is the only mode you ever use, as youve got no control over the shutter speed, aperture or exposure. Its often indicated on the mode dial by being picked out in green.Alongside the fully automatic setting, these modes are still completely automatic, taking away some of the skills of using the
44、 camera, but theyre a good starting point if youre new to shooting with digital SLRs and want to explore how the shutter speed and aperture effects your images.Each program mode gears the settings towards a particular subject. Here are the basic settings used by most manufacturers. Portrait Selects
45、a wide aperture to throw the background out of focus in order to isolate the gure. Landscape Selects a small aperture where possible, increases colour saturation and turns off the built-in ash. Close-up Selects a small aperture to give maximum depth-of- eld for close-up images. Unlike the close-up m
46、ode on a compact camera this setting has no effect on how close the lens will focus. Sport Selects the highest shutter speed possible to freeze movement, and uses continuous shooting and focusing modes to keep up with moving subjects. Night Optimises the camera for shooting at long shutter speeds an
47、d turns off the built-in ash. Night portrait Allows the camera to shoot with ash and long exposures in order to record both foreground and background detail.ProgramThis mode is still fully automatic, setting both the shutter speed and aperture for you, but gives a little more control than full auto.
48、 The main advantage is the ability to set exposure compensation to over or underexpose according to the subject and lighting. The main mode dial is located on the top-plate of the camera. “Taking control of these features unlocks the full creative potential of your digital SLR”More on exposure modes
49、 over the pageSubject programsProgram mode is ideal for capturing scenes when you dont need to worry about the shutter speed or aperture being used. Shooting advice14 | Using your digital SLR Free with Practical Photography | 15MeteringDespite the fact that you can check the exposure on the LCD after youve taken a shot, it still pays to get the exposure right as not every image is repeatable. In most cases its best to u
