just got a new camera

[scoopgrate1200]

Hi .. looking forward to taiking the camera up the old road with the car and take some happy snaps.
my first SLR so i bought a canon 500d but invested in a good lens which is the 18-135mm. Are there any other snappers on here that have any tips or preferences?

[Smitty]

get some good filters for it
wack an UV or Polarizing on the end...does the job and also protects

also buy (if not provided) the largest/quickest SD storage chip you can afford
and a protector for the LCD screen (a scratch is NOT nice)

then RTFM...THREE TIMES and off you go and experiment

[Neilp]

A good camera bag will also help protect the camera and lenses while not in use, have a look at the Lowepro brand as a lot of pro's use them they are fairly exe but excellent quality.


Neil

[tim]

We brought our lowepro bag online on ebay from a reputable chinese seller - genuine article delivered for about half rrp price from what i remember......... awesome bag!

Tripod's a good idea for getting family shots and can be very creative for night shots etc.

Grab a good microfibre cloth from a camera store for cleaning lens/filter.

What kinda tips are ya after?

[scoopgrate1200]

We brought our lowepro bag online on ebay from a reputable chinese seller - genuine article delivered for about half rrp price from what i remember......... awesome bag!

Tripod's a good idea for getting family shots and can be very creative for night shots etc.

Grab a good microfibre cloth from a camera store for cleaning lens/filter.

What kinda tips are ya after?

Whats a good setting to start on beside auto.. AV?

[Che]

[tim]

I always teach people to learn all you can about aperture first!

Totally ignore everything else (just about) and immerse yourself by reading and experimenting entirely with aperture (yep Av setting will suit) until you understand a lot about it and how it affects an image and how one is taken.

Once that's accomplished and there's not too many questions in your head about aperture, move onto exposure(time, compensation etc).

There's so many inter-related facets to photography, so you need to learn one concept in isolation and apply it over and over to understand it well and be able to use it effectively .......... just like developing skills on the bike

[craig]

PICS OR IT DIDN"T HAPPEN>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[6maniac]

And there's nothing wrong with putting today's DSLR's on "auto" and taking pics ........... they do the job.

[mike-s]

My D100 DSLR doesn't HAVE "Auto", so whaddoido now? aside from the missus throwing the camera at me and telling me that it's too hard for her to take a photo and i should do it.

[6maniac]

Time for an upgrade ?

[seiko1]

If it was a bike they'de be saying ride the farker
It's a cam..................so take farkin pics

[B-Ry]

I am with Tim... Aperature is probably the single most important factor of photography. To add to that, yes the camera is capable of taking nice pictures in auto mode, however 2 factors to keep in mind.

1. Taking a photo on auto can be done by anyone, takes all the fun out of it.
2. The photo's that you can take by going to fully manual is very noticable.

Next small suggestion. Set the 500d to take photos in RAW not JPG, whilst the file sizes are much bigger (up to 20mb on my 50d). Then use the software that comes with the Canon camera (Digital Photo Professional) very easy to manipulate photos using that software if it is in RAW mode.

probably a bit late for this advice.

However, I am sure you will want to get additional lens's one day, or it may help someone else... the lens's you buy are more important then anything else to do with the camera. The lower the f stop rating the better the lens.

Canon have different ranges of lens's. The middle range (has a gold ring around the end) are great value for money. They focus in about 1/3 the time a normal lens will, plus f stop is excellent for letting more light in.

For example, my favourite lens I have is a 85mm f1.8 lens. Some of the pics I have taken with this lens have been loaded onto two fb albulms... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... d273089dcb
and
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... 215406f5ac