No more Automatic, I am going Manual (on my new camera)

HWYCRZR

Old Man with a Hat
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I have always been just a point and shoot photographer. My last camera was a nice compact 10 megapixel Canon G7 with a built in telescopic lens. I did buy some lens adapters for it and an underwater case for it, but never could master anything but the Automatic mode. Generally it worked OK, but darker scenes never really turned out or were grainy.
My daughter used it from time to time, but as cell phones got better it sat around.
This September I hit 30 year milestone with Bobcat Company (Compact Construction Equipment). As a gift I got to pick from a catalog of gifts.
I decided on a Canon Rebel EOS SL3 with an 18-55 kit lens. As I was surfing the web for some better feature explanations than the manual could provide, I found some good detailed information on the capabilities. As I started digging deeper I decided it was time to learn how to use the Aperture, shutter speed and exposure. ( I am still learning all the terms). I have tried many times to go off auto before, but I didn't quite understand the math behind each setting and how they react with each other. So I am starting to learn. U-tube is a great thing.

I will post some pictures as I am experimenting with settings and different lighting. I will try some night shots next week.

Here are some initial un-edited manual shots. Once I master the camera I want to learn some editing of the Raw files.

Whoops, I need to figure out how to downsize them. They want to come in at 10 MP and won't load.
 
Should have started with one of these...

IMG_1014.JPG
IMG_1020.JPG
 
You either need to resize them during post processing or adjust file size in the camera. Remember RAW files are BIG.

Yep still learning. For this quick trial this afternoon I had the camera save both the JPEG and Raw. I just grabbed the Jpeg ones.
I got this one downsized in MS paint. Kind of cumbersome. Something else I need to learn. I really wish I could just select the ones I want and hit compress like in power-point.
So far I downloaded the Canon Digital Photo Professional 4. Not sure if I like it yet or not.

IMG_1720 1.jpg
 
That would have been a challenge. It is kind of cheating when you can see the shot instantly and re-adjust. Oh and all your shooting information is on the camera screen with a live view.

Ah, but film has a quality all it's own which cannot be duplicated by a digital camera. The camera's sensor renders a "perfect" picture while film doesn't as it sees things differently due to the film chosen, the lens shot with, and the developer used. Film is like watching three painters paint a landscape but all three render it differently.
 
Should have started with one of these...

View attachment 333277 View attachment 333278

Whoa! That's quite the Minolta collection. I've got a couple of triple lens 8mm's I'll take pic's of and post. I think my medium format rolliflex style camera is a Minolta too.

That would have been a challenge. It is kind of cheating when you can see the shot instantly and re-adjust. Oh and all your shooting information is on the camera screen with a live view.

Yep, cheating big time. Environmentally friendly and speeds up the learning curve. Can't blame a guy in that respect. I spent alot at the developer's back then, and still do, with much lower volume. Prices these day's is crazy!
 
I know what you mean. I finally bought a decent camera about a year ago. I have a Nikon D7500. I have bought a couple of Nikon books. And I have taken a basic camera class at my local community college. That was pretty useful. I learned a lot about camera's. I still can't take pictures worth a crap unless it's an automatic mode. You can see my camera work on my Skyline Drive & Blue Ridge Parkway thread. Lol.
 
Whoa! That's quite the Minolta collection. I've got a couple of triple lens 8mm's I'll take pic's of and post. I think my medium format rolliflex style camera is a Minolta too.

That is only a small part of the Minoltas as those are most of the rangefinders and only the SRT SLRs leaving out the SR models, XE models, XD models, and all the Maxxums. You haven't seen the Nikon, Pentax, Ricoh, Yashica, Miranda, Topcon, Agfa, Voigtlander, Mamiya, Konica, and Kodak cameras and other miscellaneous brands.
IMG_1024.JPG
The TLR is called the Autocord.
 
Instead of resizing the file lower the resolution in the camera.
Unless you plan on printing the images larger than 8x10 a 2 mp jpeg file is plenty big.
 
Instead of resizing the file lower the resolution in the camera.
Unless you plan on printing the images larger than 8x10 a 2 mp jpeg file is plenty big.
I'll disagree with that. Shoot at the largest you feel comfortable with. Images can always be resized smaller, but going the other way leaves poor results. At that low a resolution it may be okay for the picture as is, but if you are anything like me, there re many time I will crop an image. Unless you want to leave the cropped image even smaller, the large size lets you have a clear image for the cropped area. I typically shoot at 5MB.

5MB pic to start 3456 x 4608 pixels

upload_2019-11-28_21-0-14.jpeg


Cropped from 5MB gives 274 x 184 pixels

upload_2019-11-28_21-9-52.jpeg


Same image cropped from 2.1MB gives 164 x107 pixels

upload_2019-11-28_21-16-37.jpeg
 
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I am pretty sure I will do a little of both. Lower the resolution and re-save a few for posting at a lower resolution. I don’t quite need 24MB unless I am doing a wall poster.
I can go directly to my cell phone via blue tooth at a lower resolution as well.
 
Believe me, 2 mb is plenty big to print an 8x10 professionally. And it transmits easily via the net. Even cropping the image and printing an 8x10 is quite good.
Been doing this photography gig designing, building and repairing cameras now for 36 years.
I sure miss film. Back then you could be a great photographer but the real art was in the lab.
Digital has done away with the chemicals and the errors of photography.
Anyone can be a great photographer today...even me!
 
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It seems we are crossing MP Megapixels with MB. Megabytes.
If everything on the internet is relatively true here is what I found googling picture size.
What I haven’t learned yet is how to convert MP into MB

A 2 megabyte file size for an 8x10 picture should be fine.
A2 megapixel is good up to a 6x4. If you plan to do major cropping up to 4 MP should work.


Do more Megapixels mean better photo quality? :: Digital Photo Secrets
 
Exact same camera and lens I have. The first extra lens I bought is the 50mm 1:1.8 lens.
I like the zoom but for up close detail shots I go with the 50mm. I’ve used the manual setting maybe 20% of the time for more artsy shots. Playing with depth of field etc.
At car shows, like today, the zoom is great to frame a car without having to step back 20 ft to get the whole subject. With the 50mm I had to by back at least 20 ft to get a quarter view shot of the cars below.
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This wagon gets around! A handicap tag from Pa. and an EZ Pass transmitter.
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I’m happy with the camera after a few years use.
 
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