HMMM.. .. ..husband bought me a new camera. *SUPER BIG SMILES*
but.. .. .. ..now I have to learn what all those things everyone is talking about mean. No more AUTO for me. Guess that is a good thing.. .. .. ..
To begin with ~ if you are here to criticize me DON'T I don't need that I am asking for assistance as I am stepping way out of my box.
I appreciate constructive comments, all others go jump in the lake. I tried this once before when I first started here and ended up in tears with some of the comments. SO I am trying again.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..Here goes.
I now have a Canon EOS Rebel XT (bought for me with lots of love) but no manual
Now to begin the dumb questions:
1. Auto focus VS Manual Focus

2. The dial has Av and Tv ~ what is the difference?

3. Can anyone lend me a link to find what settings I should use?

4. What is an f? and Where do I find it?

5. To Flash or Not to Flash??

6. What is RAW and should I use it yet?

7. What are all those little numbers at the bottom of the screen when I look through the view finder?

Ok.. .. .. .. ..that should be enough information to get me started.
Yes, everything to date has been shot on AUTO.. .. ..I let the camera decide what was best. However, I am changing a lot in my life ~ starting with the way I take photographs.
About Time.. .. .. ..I appreciate your assistance and kindness.
Thank You In Advance
Karman

Karman,
I have had Canon T2i for over 2 years and I admit I use auto a lot and am still learning.
I would just experiment for awhile. Sometimes I let it flash and sometimes I turn the dial where it won't because I don't want those deep shadows. I like doing both and comparing.
Auto focus - I usually keep it on auto-focus until I am doing a close-up and it does not focus where I want it to then I switch auto-focus off.
I have been practicing with the TV switch and using my tripod. We will see on that. But my advice would be experiment and practice. I am sure some others can give you more advice.

Thank You My Friend. I have been practicing. So far, with little success. But I keep trying.
Looking forward to learning.

...a start, perhaps:
http://photo.tutsplus.com/articles/round-ups/100-helpful-photography-tutorials-for-beginners-and-professionals/
I wish You a lot of patience, success, and good lights!

Thank You, a start is a good as success. Thank You Very Much!!

Here's my only criticism, Karman: if you don't enjoy it, don't do it. With that said, I envy you because this is a wonderful point in your creative journey. As I said to someone very recently whose work now leaves me speechless, "you have no idea just how far you'll progress in three months' time".

1. AF vs. MF: in AF mode (using a switch on your lens for your Canon), the camera AF points (the red dots in your viewfinder) search for a sharply contrasting point, often the nearest to the camera, and focus on it. In MF mode, you have to use your viewfinder or LCD to turn the focus ring on the lens barrel until your subject is in focus.

2. PASM (Program, Aperture priority [Av], Speed priority [Tv] and Manual): program is almost exactly the same as "full auto". Use Av to shoot portraits, macros, landscapes, basically things that don't move. In Av mode, you set the aperture (size of the hole in the lens through which light passes) and the camera does the other settings for you. This is measured in f/ values and appears counter-intuitive because the smaller the number, the larger the hole (diaphragm). Think of f/ as "1 over" or "fraction". A wide aperture (large hole) allows more light and narrows the depth of field (what's in focus behind and in front of your subject), so that's good for a portrait where the face is in focus and the background is blurry. Tv is good for things that do move (sports events, water, etc.). Here, set the exposure and the camera does the other settings for you. In manual mode, you have to do all the aperture, exposure (time) and other settings yourself, which is where the most creative fun lies.

3. Not a link, but Amazon. Search in Amazon for your camera and a book called "field guide". This is one step beyond the user manual, which only shows you what you can do. A field guide will show you why and how. Find one whose style matches your thinking processes.

4. F-stops are measurements of the camera's or lens' ability to record light. This doesn't help yet, but here's a more confusing example. The maximum (or indeed any) aperture setting on a lens is the focal length (e.g. 50 mm) divided by the size of the hole (e.g. 25 mm), which gives the f/ value as f/ 2.0 (50/25 = 2). When you adjust your aperture setting from 25 mm to 12.5 mm (you never see this value), you'll go through f/2.0 to f/4 to f/8 to f/16 etc. At f/32, for example, the hole is tiny, but everything is in focus because the depth of field (the area in focus behind and in front of the subject) is huge. This is one application of using f/ values. We use f/ values as scale. For example, show an overexposed image to a fellow photographer and s/he might say "that's burnt out, try it again one f/ stop down". That means you should reshoot the image at one full f/ value below the last one, e.g. from f/5.6 to f/8.

5. Huge question. Relatively simple answer: try not to. Your rebel has a "fill flash" pop-up. Use it in this scenario: thank husband with a fine portrait of him in front of a sunset. Without fill flash, the sun is bright and husband is dark (silhouette). Use the fill flash to show his face. Don't use the pop-up as an alternative light source in a dark room. Contrasts and shadows are ugly. Again, read the field guide about flash photography.

6. RAW: this is a proprietary file format. For example, you can e-mail a RAW file to a friend but s/he must have Canon software (or recent versions of Lightroom or Photoshop) to view it. RAW files are also always larger in size than jpgs and take more time for the camera to process. They must be post-processed with a good image editor. Despite these inconveniences, some of us shoot exclusively in RAW because jpgs do not offer the highest definition and are harder to correct. Also, the camera automatically adds things to each jpg which some of us do necessarily want (for example, sharpening and colour correction). I would advise you to stay with jpgs for now if you're happy with what comes out of the camera. When you start doing some serious image editing, that's when you'll gravitate towards RAW captures.

7. Viewfinder numbers: usually on Canons they are the aperture and exposure settings on the left, the EV slider (don't worry about, just make sure it remains firmly in the exact centre for now) and either the ISO setting or the number of available captures before the camera has stop for a rest (buffer).

Karman, you asked for a lot of information and I've done my best to answer without adding useless additional information but there's still a lot to absorb and this can feel daunting. It needn't be. No one reads the owner's manual when renting a car, but we do drive. I strongly recommend a field guide, which will answer all your questions using clear and concrete examples.

At the risk of muddying the water after Stéfan's crystal clear rundown I would like to offer the following intuitive image of photographic exposure.

Taking a picture with a camera is like filling a glass with water from a tap. You can do it quickly by opening up the tap or more more slowly by closing the tap. So, on the camera, opening up the tap is analogous to opening the aperture ( f 2.8 is larger then f 5.6)
and of course stopping down the aperture of does the opposite. The time it takes to fill the glass would be the shutter speed.

There is a third dimension, sensitivity or the ISO number, where increasing sensitivity would be analogous to getting a smaller glass which would fill faster and decreasing sensitivity would equate to getting a larger glass that fills more slowly.

The rules of thumb here being,
1) The faster the shutter speed, the faster movements can be captured looking sharp.
2) The smaller the aperture the deeper the field of focus (the area in which objects are in focus).
3) The lower the ISO the better (generally speaking) the resolution is and the less "noise" in the image.
4) Most lenses are at their sharpest shut down about 2 steps,

And all this is a zero sum game where changing one parameter will force the changing of one or more of the others (if you want a correct exposure)

Congratulations Karman , don't give up and all this information has been very helpful for me too although I haven't that type of camera YET!!!! I think I will print this page out for future reference , Thanks.

I think Stefan said everything
by the way, they say ''Real Photographers shoot in Raw'' I say '' I don't shoot in RAW because I've not so many memory cards to carry on'' LOL or ''I Like JPG because it's easier to work with and easier to process'' LOL congrats on your camera, you must be excited! I was 1 year and half ago

My explanation felt rather turgid to me and I like Mark's truly 'crystal clear' zero sum explanation. Even so, I think it's best to experiment with concrete examples. I suggest doing the following:

1. Put three objects in a line, one behind the other (for example, three pieces on a chess board, one on the front row, one in the middle of the board and one on the back row). Make sure you can see each one even if you line them up.

2. Set your camera in front of the board and change the mode dial to Av. Do not move the camera. Make sure the ISO setting is at e.g. 400 (not auto).

3. Set the f/ value to the lowest aperture value (probably f/3.5 with the included lens at its shortest focal length, which is probably 18 mm). Focus on the front object and take a picture.

4. Repeat this exercise twice: once with the f/ value at 7.1 and again at f/16.

This is what you will see:

The first image will have the front object sharp and everything else slightly out of focus (we call this background blur "bokeh").

The second image should show the front and middle objects in focus and the third OOF (out of focus).

The third image should show all three objects and probably all of the background also in focus.

When taking the photographs, look in the viewfinder at the numbers below the image. One is the exposure time (speed). The second image will require twice as much time as the first because the aperture is half the size. The third will take approximately four times longer than the first because the aperture is approximately four times smaller. This is an example of what Mark calls the 'zero sum' approach. You can also do this with compacts although the effects will not be so noticeable. Remember, the ISO setting (the third variable) must be constant, so much sure it isn't on 'auto'.

The practical upshot of this is simple: depth of field/aperture is not an additional headache but a means of expressing your creativity by making parts of an image "pop" out.

We have all developed our own rules of thumb over the years or adopted other people's and this is a good thing, but the best way is to take lots and lots and lots of pictures. Technical mastery and familiarity with diffraction, sunny f/16 rules, reciprocal focus, focal planes and parallax correction, etc., are the dark side of the force, which you shouldn't be seduced by, young Jedi. It's handy to know how your camera operates, but that should never take precedence over creating pictures and enjoying yourself.

BTW, you can download the manual for your camera at no charge from the Canon USA website and elsewhere.

Hope this helps you a bit Karman "Information and Links" and "The Manual"

You guys are AMAZING!!! I have printed this so that I will be able to read it more slowly and when I have my glasses Will follow the sites provided as well.

Thank You!!!! A M A Z I N G ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

As far as I (from the revenant account) am concerned, you're welcome. Keep posting your questions. This is truly what the forums of this site are all about, IMO.

Your Welcome!

Okay, have another question... ... ...you guys are gonna get real tired of me I thinks. *insert cheezy grin*
Have three lenses; not sure which to start with ~ use most ~
I am going to research them but am seeking advice to be able to work to learn the above information first. LOTS OF INFORMATION! Which is wonderful.
Here are the lens numbers: Let me know what at think.
1 ~ Zoom Lens EF 75-300 mm 1:45.6 III
2 ~ EFS 18-55mm
3 ~ 28-90mm
Been outside with all three lenses this morning but not sure exactly which I should be starting with....or if it even makes a difference.
I greatly appreciate the help
AND
I am beginning to understand Av just a bit.. .. ..will post a couple as soon as I can.
Thanks Guys/Gals ~ You Rock!!

revenant ~ I will be trying your experiment because I think that would help greatly but I have yet to stop for more than 15 minutes at a time in the past 3 weeks. Attempting to sell our house and keeping it clean is a pain in my....well never mind it is just a pain.

Lenses: start with the 18-55 mm, because that covers wide-angle to nearly portrait and, somewhere in the middle, you'll find the equivalent of what the human eye sees. The 28-90 mm sounds interesting and isn't in the Canon lens line-up. Hmmm.

We select lenses to perform specific tasks in terms of their angle of view and speed. As angle of view is hard to judge without a compass, lens makers prefer to use the focal length in relation to the "full-frame/film equivalent" (as if your camera had a full-frame sensor (it doesn't) or used 24 x 36 mm film.

The main, but by no means mandatory, ranges are as follows:
≈ 10-20 mm: fish-eye with a 180º field of view
≈ 20-35 mm: ultrawide angle
≈ 35-45 mm: wide-angle
The above capture more than the human eye can see without turning your head.
≈ 45-60 mm: what the human eye sees.
≈ 70-150 mm: portrait / telephoto
≈ 150-500 mm: telephoto / super-telephoto
Special case: macro lenses often have a 100 mm focal range

You can do portraits with wide-angle lenses, but the subject can be a bit lost in all the scenery and/or distorted. You can also do landscapes with a telephoto and portraits with macro lenses. It depends on how you feel. With all these choices available, it's probably a good idea to start with the "standard" focal range of the 18-55 or 28-90 lenses.

Telephoto lenses also shorten the distance between subject and background. A portrait with a telephoto lenses makes noses look smaller. Wildlife photographers and sports snappers tend to use super-telephoto lenses, but these require practice and a monopod or tripod. Landscape photographers tend to use wide-angle lenses.

To make things more complicated, your Rebel has a 1.6x crop factor. The sensor is 1.6 x smaller than a full-frame sensor / film image. This is good news for telephoto lenses. Your 75-300 mm will behave like a 420 mm telephoto on a full-frame / film camera, which gives you more reach. It's bad news for wide-angle lenses. It also explains why there are many macro lenses at 60 mm which are designed to behave like 100 mm macros on crop-sensor cameras.

Lenses are also rated by their maximum aperture. A "fast" lens is one with a wide maximum aperture. Just to frighten you, there's a Canon 400 mm f/2.8 L (pro) lens that retails for over $12,000 because it's fast (not a typo, that's more than the cost of a small car). Don't worry about this for now.

Thank You. The 18-55 is what I have on now.
To spend 12 thousand dollars on a lens I am gonna have to be making 120 thousand a year income. WoW!!!!!

The World's Most Expensive Camera Lens

There are a fair number of rare and exotic camera lenses available from different optics manufacturers. The Leica APO-Telyt-R 1:5.6/1600mm carries the dubious honor of being the world's most expensive lens ever produced for civilian use. It is Leica's longest, biggest, and heaviest telephoto lens. It was delivered in 2006 on special order from a rich photography aficionado, Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Thani of Qatar, at a price of two million US dollars. A prototype of the lens is on display at Leica's factory showroom in Solms, Germany.

Could you imagine how much money you would have to make a year to afford that one Karman?.......LOL

WoW!! Can not imagine that I will ever have that, but that if too cool!@!!!! LOL

you are all amazing, I can not add any thing to that has been said, I have a Canon and love it, have fun

PS this is why I love photoblog

I also stopped using the auto settings (for the most part) about 2 months ago. I didn't bother to read anything, I just spin the dial thingy, shoot, check, change direction of the dial spin (if necessary) spin again, shoot again, check again.

I think I'm learning something about where the settings need to be depending on light conditions etc. I'm just doing it the hard way which is typical for me. So, I've loved reading the experts explanations in this thread.
Thanks for starting it Karman.

@ liveandletlive ... I'm agonna try that! It's the way I learn too!

Hey don't worry it will take awhile just mess with the strings in manûel mode that will teach you a bit more about your new camera. That's what I did and now I run through the settings like crazy. AV is aperature TV is priority but I like I said give it whirl and you see the grasping. Have fun and watch YouTube videos on aperature I did works wonders too.

When I started using manual mode in my Nikon D5100 I was really bad but then I kept on trying. Yeah learning is one thing we ought to do always.
Anyway I found one simulator for you to practice manual mode. Try if this help you Camera Simulator

Was going thru all the comments on this post. Great things to learn.I just took a print of all those .This is why I love photoblog, a great place where guys like me get the opportunities to learn basic nuances of Photography

@ TheDashd.....That's so cool! Thanks for the link!

What a great learning experience this is!

I tried the simulator with these settings: Manual
Sunny
Distance 3 ft.
ISO 100
Focal Length 46mm
Aperture f/8
Shutter 1/100 sec.

Although the simulator says "Well Done" I would still like it to be better.......
How would you adjust the settings to make it better, without having to edit?
Any suggestions?

I think we could have some fun with this one! "CAMERA SIMULATOR"

@ArtBee
Simulator is fun. Right??? Yeah I loved it. It all started as fun for me and some learning though real practicals with your SLR is nothing to be compared with.

@TheDashd ....Yes it doesn't compare with hands on experience, but it is a great excercise in learning what the camera settings do and the kind of results you get.

I changed the settings and the results were quite good.
I moved the slider to the highest Sunny position, kept the distance at 3 ft. changed the focal length to 51mm, the shutter speed to 1/4000 sec. and the aperture to f/4.5. So interesting and fun too.....

Wow, thanks to TheDashd for the simulator link and to passerine for the illustration!

That simulator is really cool. I play with the simulator and then transfer that information to my camera.. .. ..gonna have to take the computer outside though Setting at my desk in the darker house does not compare to outside.
You all have been Amazing and the information has been fabulous!!!
I am learning so much. Slowly, but learning none the less.

BTW ~ have I ever mentioned that I am really BAD at math. I am more the psychology type. But, okay.. .. ..now to learn some math.

@TheDashd ... thanks for the simulator
@ArtBe ... Thanks for the funny example
@passerine2 ... thanks for explanations
All that is now so clear ! ... Even a "pauvre francophone" can understand !...

Karman, when you try and get your head around the illustration of apertures that passerine2 has given above, note that your camera has more f stops progressing from f8, f9, f10, f11, f13............up to f22, each stop giving you a smaller aperture = less light entering/greater depth of field.
Hope that helps!

@Karman The only mathematics to understand is this.... the bigger the number the lesser the light. The same goes for shutter speed....the bigger the number the slower the speed.
Think about how your eyes work on a bright sunny day and you need to squint to see. When you are in the dark, your eyes open wide to catch even a glimpse of light. Although a camera is not your own eyes, it tries very hard to simulate them.....
Light is the most important factor in photography! Next to the twelve inches behind the camera....

So in my world it would be a reverse psychology type thing. More is Less and Less is More. See, now that I can understand.
I am still practing.. .. ..it is my at home camera and I use my old one for work.
But, old one has all this stuff too so I can practice even more and my work will improve greately.

It only seems like reverse psychology because people (including me) very rarely read the numbers correctly. The f numbers are all fractions: f/1.8 f/5.6 f/22 etc. Whenever you have a bigger denominator (the lower number in the fraction) you'll actually have a smaller proportion.

e-mail cannon and order an instruction manual
buy a book, and lrarn the basics
it will eventually be fun

@Karman...Exactly
@ Passerine 2....Great illustration
@grasshopper44..Links to Manual have already been provided

Katarina's second diagram is excellent. Just remember that DOF, as determined by the aperture (AV) number, is the area in focus behind and in front of the subject. When you have time, Karman, do the chessboard experiment. It puts all of the above into practice. Don't worry about the math. In the sense, the reciprocal does help: the larger the f/ number the greater the depth of field.

I really must stress the importance of not losing sight of the, ahem, big picture - which is to be creative and enjoy oneself, not to master the intricacies of exposure, etc. If you take it gradually, all of the technical stuff becomes second nature and, more important, irrelevant. By analogy, many of us had the rules of Latin grammar drummed into us. Few of us were lucky enough to realise that it was to appreciate the beauty of Ovid.

Go for the field guide and familiarise yourself sufficiently with your camera that you can change the ISO, speed and aperture settings without having to take your eye away from the viewfinder (and possibly miss the shot). That's important. You'll have plenty of time to learn why make these adjustments over time.

I began with your Rebel's remote ancestor, the Canon 400D, in early 2007. As I said at the start, I envy you your position; it's all in front of you!

Oh, Gosh, so lovely to have a new camera to play with.. Fraid I`m a great one for just twiddling til it looks like what I want..I remember what works better this way but I would say just have fun!!! and then later on when ur not sure about why something works just ask, I do..we have some great explainers on here. x viv

Can I just say that the information that was been put on here is just amazing, great