Bought a 50D, any good books out there?

[CastleRocker]

Well, I took the plunge, and bought a decent camera.  Now I need to figure out how to use the dang thing!  I used to make some good photo's back in the 35mm days, so I know shutter speeds/and f stops.  However, this camera has a LOT more settings than that!  My question is; is there a good book dedicated to the 50D that is a good read?  I looked online and there are several for this camera body.  Just wondering if anyone had a recommendation?  I've been reading the manual all morning, but like most manuals, it's pretty dry reading.  I'm going to take camera in hand, and see how much I've absorbed so far, but if any of you have read one of these books, and liked it, please let me know.

[huntnphool]

Read the manual, get familiar with the settings, this is very important. After that if you need help you can send me a PM, I will try to answer your questions. If you have the basic knowledge of aperture, shutter speed etc. and how they interact with each other then you are ways ahead of the field for getting started. Forget about the "auto" functions, those with the little pictures on your dial, get used to shutter priority (Tv) and aperture priority (Av) and use those almost exclusively, AV being what I shoot 95% time. You will need a good post processing software, Lightroom, CS3/CS4 etc. and should shoot your images in RAW. Set your camera to shoot jpg/RAW simultaniously, this will allow you much more post processing options.

Now get out there and get to it.

[Tom Reichner]

Congratulations on your new camera!

I think the first thing to do would be to shoot it in RAW, then make sure that you're able to download the RAW images to your computer.  If not, you'll need to install the software CD that came with the 50D.

[CastleRocker]

Thanks Tom, I'm going to do that right now.  I took it to work with me, and as there were no big breakdowns tonight, I was able to re-read the manual and play with my camera quite a bit.  It's actually pretty easy to get a handle on, once I found a quiet place to read the manual.  I'd still like to find a better reading book though, as I'm not real fond of the way most manuals are written.  I read enough tech manuals at work already.

Here is a "stupid" question for someone;  why shoot in RAW, and not the other formats?

[Tom Reichner]

Here is a "stupid" question for someone;  why shoot in RAW, and not the other formats?

RAW allows you to do a bit more when it comes to post-processing the images.  There's a little bit of a misconception about this, however.  Many photographers believe that you can't adjust exposure/highlights/shadows with a jPeg image.   That is wrong - you can indeed adjust jPegs . . .

you can recover many of the highlights with a jPeg
you can lighten the shadows with a jPeg
you can adjust the overall exposure with a jPeg
you can adjust white balance with a jPeg

. . .you just can't do these things quite as effectively as you can with a RAW image.

The other reason to shoot RAW is because RAW files do not lose any data when they are opened, edited, and saved.  Each time you open a jPeg (in an editing program like Photoshop), make changes to the image, then close/save it, the jPeg will recompress, which will affect the image at the pixel level.  Do this several times and you will actually be able to notice that there is not as much sharp, clear detail in the image.

There are reasons not to shoot RAW.  One is that RAW images take up so much space on a memory card and on your hard drive.  The other is that you can't simply download and use the image without doing some type of conversion.  Almost no computer programs can recognize or open a RAW file, so at the least you have to convert it to a jPeg or a TIFF to be able to email it, post it to this forum, print it, etc.

Overall, RAW is best for absolutely superior image quality (but not necessary for excellent images).  jPeg is easiest to work with.

For more info on the RAW vs jPeg issue, I recommend the following link:
http://www.michaelfurtman.com/jpeg_myths.htm

The link I provided is from the website of Michael Furtman, an accomplished professional wildlife photographer.  He advocates the use of jPegs.  I find this an interesting read simply because he is in the minority - almost any working professional will shoot RAW exclusively.  So it's interesting to read an opposing view.  

One thing to keep in mind:  No one has ever claimed that jPegs will give you a better image than RAW!

[huntnphool]

you can recover many of the highlights with a jPeg
you can lighten the shadows with a jPeg
you can adjust the overall exposure with a jPeg
you can adjust white balance with a jPeg

 Good points Tom, along with the point on computers not being able to open a RAW image, this is why I suggested shooting in both .jpg and RAW at the same time.

 CastleRocker, yes you can adjust these things in .jpg but a Tom explained every time you open and save a .jpg the image is compressed again, degrading the final product.

 Look at RAW like an onion, many many different individual layers that can be peeled and worked with on their own, RAW is much the same. You can make all these adjustments, including individual color correction, WITHOUT effecting the rest of the image or colors, unlike with a .jpg.

 Bottom line is you have way more flexability and better finished product when working with a RAW image.

 Here is another thread on the topic with some good points and other links.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,3356.msg33605.html#msg33605

 

[CastleRocker]

Wow! Thanks to the both of you.  Looks like I have more reading/research to do.  I'm sure I'll have more question after this coming weekend. 

One of the reasons that I truly love this forum is the trading of knowledge on so many varied subjects!

Thanks again, and good shooting to you!

Erik

[tlbradford]

I have the same camera and love it.  I used the manual to learn the camera, so I can't help you with any good reads.  I think that the live view functions were the toughest to get used to.  Everyone here has been really helpful when I have had questions.  I'll try to help if I can.

[swanny]

If you do take Pope's advice and start shooting exclusively in RAW, be ready for your hard drive space to get filled up fast! I would suggest either burning lots of the photo album type pics to several discs so you have backups or getting a couple external hard drives to put them on.

[wabow]

The 50d is a great camera I prefer mine to my 5d for daily use. I also am not a firm raw over jpg shooter both have their advantages. The camera comes with a good software that will get you by and with as cheap as storage is now days I dont think file size is a real issue. Raw is a real drag when your vacationing and shoot a bunch of snap shots and want to view them on someone elses computer. Raw excels when your doing portraits that your going to sit down and edit.
My suggestion would be to try both and see what fits your style best. Id also suggest shooting in manual mode even if your just chasing the needle. You will learn faster how one part of the triangle affects the other. Also give the canon photo stitch application a try, it came with the camera. It will open up some good photo ops that would otherwise need a very wide lense or a full frame camera.

Don

[CastleRocker]

Thanks to all of you.  I'm going on vacation in a couple weeks, and from what I'm reading, will probably have to go jpeg the entire time, as we won't have access to a computer, and all pics will have to be stored on memory card(s).  I'm going to research this a bit more, and see if I can get enough memory card capacity to go with RAW files for some of the more artsy type shots.

I have read the manual three or four times now, and have been playing with the camera quite a bit.  This thing is amazing!

[wabow]

I prefer smaller 2g and 4 g cards. Easier to keep organized by area and shoot, something to thing about. Batteries are another needed accessory. Contray to what canon bielieves the batteries on ebay are good and will serve you well. Staples also carries an off brand battery that works great.

Don

[huntnphool]

Raw is a real drag when your vacationing and shoot a bunch of snap shots and want to view them on someone elses computer

...and the reason I suggested setting the camera to shoot both.

[CastleRocker]

I have it shooting in both right now.  However, the manual mentions that the files in RAW will take up significantly more space than JPEG files.  Right now, while learning, I am shooting in both for the experience of processing the files on the computer. 

What a gorgeous day!  I have absolutely no desire to go to work tonight.