clarksditch

hey to all. first post so here goes:
i recently bought a canon 300d with the kit ef-s lens... but am relatively new to slr photography and am having trouble finding a good place online to increase my minimal knowledge of lenses, how they work, what the numbers mean, what's good/bad and how to evaluate them. any advise or direction towards online (or otherwise) resources would be greatly appreciated.
thanks to all in advance,
ap

clarksditch

alright... i'll check back later. thank for the looks at least.

SCrubjay

If you haven't seen this site, you should. By spending time with the "learn" section, their reviews and links you can develop your knowledge pretty quickly. I've alos found that digital cameras are great to learn and experiment with as there is no "risk" and immediate feedback; contrast this to film SLR's where every experiment costs you a development charge and frequently, unless you take great notes about what the settings were for which photo, impossible to remember what you did from what shot to the next. Good luck and have a good time.


http://www.dpreview.com/

abel

dpreview is a good place to learn... they have a ton of info there to help you out...

your lens is a 18-55 f4-5.6 which means:
you can use F4 and up on the 18mm end and only F5.6 and up on the 55mm end.

quick run down of F Stop numbers...

the LOWER the Aperture Value (f Number) you use, the SHALLOWER the depth of field gets. the LOWER number means the 'eye' of the lens is open much WIDER which in turns allows MORE light into the camera which causes u to SPEED UP the shutter in order to get a proper exposed photo an not one that is all WASHED OUT BY TOO MUCH LIGHT

the HIGHER the Aperture Value (f Number) you use, the DEEPER the depth of field gets. the HIGHER number means the 'eye' of the lens is open much SMALLER which in turns allows LESS light into the camera which causes u to SLOW DWON the shutter in order to get a proper exposed photo an not one that is all DARK AND UNDEREXPOSED.

you will notice that lenses with low F Numbers like F2.8 F2.0 and F1.4 will be alot more expensive... simply because they can allow more light into the camera...

it may not make sense to u right off the bat but after u read it a couple of times and take some practice shots it will all make sense...

__________________
Abel
www.LifeAtF8.com

bal8664

here are the photo sites i go to for information:

www.dpreview.com
www.dcresource.com
www.steves-digicams.com
www.imaging-resource.com

each of them has lots of information you might find useful especially in the forums.

tellumFS

www.photo.net is a good place to start as well. Also, for books on general photography, check out "A Short Course in Photography" by Barbara London and Jim Stone. It's a great book to get your feet wet.

spade111

I second TellumFS.

Spend time at www.photo.net.

Look at photos, and lots of them. Pick out what you like about certain photos, and then concentrate on developing an "eye" for it. Don't read reviews, and tutorials the whole time... because that will only show you how to look at photo's by someone else's measure.

Once you have an idea of what you like, and why... you'll have a much better chance of taking those pictures yourself. The why will show you the how.

The mechanics of taking the shot however... go here. This is the best starter anywhere on the net.

http://www.photo.net/learn/making-photographs/

__________________
"If the work of the city is the remaking or translating of man into a more suitable form than his nomadic ancestors achieved, then might not our current translation of our entire lives into the spiritual form of information seem to make of the entire globe, and of the human family, a single consciousness?" -Marshall McLuhan - 1939.