First SLR- any tips?

[projekz]

I just bought my first good camera, a Canon Rebel XS. I was told it was a good starter camera. I'm heading to Maui in the next few days and I wanted to know if there was any good tips you guys could give me on using the SLR. I know I can just leave it in Auto mode and let it do the work for me but that wouldn't be fun. I read the manual already and some of the stuff is really confusing to me (noob). Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[soupey]

www.michaelthementor.com

take a look thru all the vids to get comfy with the basics.

[projekz]

Should I set it down to 5mp or leave it at 10mp? It's mostly for emails and online use...not really planning on making posters out of the pics.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Memory cards are cheap (~$35 for 8gb CF at costco). Shoot at your highest resolution.

[ex1z7]

And shoot in P, not Auto..

[The_Rural_Juror]

Yup. P for panoramas.

[bcylau]

P for "Professional". The only mode real pros use ;)

[bituerbo]

Originally posted by The_Rural_Juror
Memory cards are cheap (~$35 for 8gb CF at costco). Shoot at your highest resolution.

Doesn't make a difference in price, but the Rebel XS uses SD memory cards. I just picked one of these up, too - did you get the IS lens kit, or the 18-55 NON-IS kit? I Price-matched my IS kit at Future Shop for $470.

[soupey]

there's a non IS kit for the XS/XSi kit?

[projekz]

I got the IS kit from Costco for $470. I'm still reading up on the different features and stuff...We'll see how it turns out!:dunno:

[blackpeople]

point and shoot:nut:

[Xtrema]

I'm thinking to get a starter D90 Kit with 18-55mm lens whenever it's on sale next.

Any recommendation on Zoom, wide angle lens for D90?

Is D90 a good place to start? Or should one start with D5000?

[Seanith]

Originally posted by ex1z7
And shoot in P, not Auto..

Not sure about Canon, but with Nikon P is "Programmed Auto".

[Mckenzie]

If you are going to Hawaii, you may want to get a couple filters for your lens. A UV lens and polarizing filter will help with bright sunny day shots and also make your skies look better. Use the landscape mode and portrait mode as they are really good for shooting either subject. One thing you can do to learn the camera a bit, especially if it is sunny, is go to Landscape, auto focus it and take note of the aperture size (F stop) and shutter speed. Then either go into AV (to adjust aperture) or TV (to adjust shutter speed) and play around with either as if you were setting it yourself (maybe leave ISO for now- AV for portrait or landscape or TV for moving things)). This will allow you to learn which adjustments do what to the picture. If it is bright out, apply the same settings as the pre-programmed mode, but turn the exposure down a little bit to not over-expose it.

[blitz]

Originally posted by Xtrema
I'm thinking to get a starter D90 Kit with 18-55mm lens whenever it's on sale next.

Any recommendation on Zoom, wide angle lens for D90?

Is D90 a good place to start? Or should one start with D5000?

I bought a used D80 recently as my first SLR and I love it. About half the price of buying a D90 and very similar outside of the lack of a video mode. From what I've read of the D5000, the D90 is a better choice for the cash.

I've got the Nikkor 18-200mm and 10-24mm and a few primes (35 & 50 1.8). A little pricey but covers everything I need for the foreseeable future.