How to get the most out of my 6d
Discussion
Having recently bought a 6d camera I wanted to know if there are any books/ mag books that would help get the most out of it.
It's especially needed as my manual didn't come with any English version( I live in Switzerland and for what ever reason have every language but English included !)
I noticed some canon mag books on getting the most from the camera, but the 6d didn't feature in it.
Is there anything out there at all?
I know the basics re aperture, shutter speed , ISO, composure etc as my last camera was the canon 3 , but I've never used digital before, so anything with tips and useful suggests as to what you can do with the extra info a digital camera can give would be great, along with some clear explanation on the features it has( and a honest review on how actually useful these are!)
Thanks
It's especially needed as my manual didn't come with any English version( I live in Switzerland and for what ever reason have every language but English included !)
I noticed some canon mag books on getting the most from the camera, but the 6d didn't feature in it.
Is there anything out there at all?
I know the basics re aperture, shutter speed , ISO, composure etc as my last camera was the canon 3 , but I've never used digital before, so anything with tips and useful suggests as to what you can do with the extra info a digital camera can give would be great, along with some clear explanation on the features it has( and a honest review on how actually useful these are!)
Thanks
satans worm said:
Having recently bought a 6d camera I wanted to know if there are any books/ mag books that would help get the most out of it.
It's especially needed as my manual didn't come with any English version( I live in Switzerland and for what ever reason have every language but English included !)
I noticed some canon mag books on getting the most from the camera, but the 6d didn't feature in it.
Is there anything out there at all?
I know the basics re aperture, shutter speed , ISO, composure etc as my last camera was the canon 3 , but I've never used digital before, so anything with tips and useful suggests as to what you can do with the extra info a digital camera can give would be great, along with some clear explanation on the features it has( and a honest review on how actually useful these are!)
Thanks
Let me google that for you It's especially needed as my manual didn't come with any English version( I live in Switzerland and for what ever reason have every language but English included !)
I noticed some canon mag books on getting the most from the camera, but the 6d didn't feature in it.
Is there anything out there at all?
I know the basics re aperture, shutter speed , ISO, composure etc as my last camera was the canon 3 , but I've never used digital before, so anything with tips and useful suggests as to what you can do with the extra info a digital camera can give would be great, along with some clear explanation on the features it has( and a honest review on how actually useful these are!)
Thanks
http://www.canon.co.uk/Support/Consumer_Products/p...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA0Z-kbk2Mc
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-6D-Experience-Photog...
http://kenrockwell.com/canon/6d/users-guide/
Is that enough?
I actually shot in RAW from day one of having my DSLR.
I used Aperture from day one too.
As it of course reads RAW, at the start I just used the software as a gallery and storage system, but when I wanted to move on and get more involved, the fact I had RAW files there meant I could go back to my previous 'keepers' and do something more with them.
I used Aperture from day one too.
As it of course reads RAW, at the start I just used the software as a gallery and storage system, but when I wanted to move on and get more involved, the fact I had RAW files there meant I could go back to my previous 'keepers' and do something more with them.
Thanks for the replies, and links due to my lazy surfing 
What promped me was someone saying about shooting to the right using the histograph(?) to capture maximum detail in the shadows, then correcting in Lightroom.
So was wondering if there is something that incorporates this sort of thing.
I will take a look at some of those 6d books and buy one to help, has anyone bought one of these before and been satisfied with it? Ie the dummies guides, I've seen around, otherwise I'll buy blind from the nicest cover!
What promped me was someone saying about shooting to the right using the histograph(?) to capture maximum detail in the shadows, then correcting in Lightroom.
So was wondering if there is something that incorporates this sort of thing.
I will take a look at some of those 6d books and buy one to help, has anyone bought one of these before and been satisfied with it? Ie the dummies guides, I've seen around, otherwise I'll buy blind from the nicest cover!
This is question of exposure, and yes, it is one great benefit of shooting digital. You already know about exposure; the histogram is simply a graphic representation of it.
The left hand end is 'black'; the right hand end is 'white', and most photos should land in the middle. That's a generalisation since, for example, if you have specular highlights (eg sunlight on water or lights on glassware) they will be off the scale (and if they weren't the rest would look wrong). Aside from such deliberate highlights, the main trick is not to let normal highlights - eg a white shirt - go off the scale. If they do then you simply get a white lump and cannot recover any detail. Reducing brightness simply gives you a grey lump.
Watch out when specular highlights are about because the camera can try to include them and cock up the exposure my making it several stops too dark.
At the 'black' end of the scale, unless your shot has pure black in it, you need to keep things away from that end a little. In short, unless your shot has pure black or pure white, aim to get the curve (the image) between the two ends with nothing chopped off ('clipping'). The rest you can do in processing, RAW having more power than JPG as no data has been lost.
You can indeed recover much detail from shadows, but too much and you will see noise (speckles) appear - so use the histogram to try to get your exposure as close as possible to how you want it. Hence 'shooting to the right' - but too much and you will clip the whites.
It's actually much easier than it sounds!
NB: Another benefit of the histogram is that you can check exposure even in bright light (never use the monitor to judge exposure, only focus and composition).
The left hand end is 'black'; the right hand end is 'white', and most photos should land in the middle. That's a generalisation since, for example, if you have specular highlights (eg sunlight on water or lights on glassware) they will be off the scale (and if they weren't the rest would look wrong). Aside from such deliberate highlights, the main trick is not to let normal highlights - eg a white shirt - go off the scale. If they do then you simply get a white lump and cannot recover any detail. Reducing brightness simply gives you a grey lump.
Watch out when specular highlights are about because the camera can try to include them and cock up the exposure my making it several stops too dark.
At the 'black' end of the scale, unless your shot has pure black in it, you need to keep things away from that end a little. In short, unless your shot has pure black or pure white, aim to get the curve (the image) between the two ends with nothing chopped off ('clipping'). The rest you can do in processing, RAW having more power than JPG as no data has been lost.
You can indeed recover much detail from shadows, but too much and you will see noise (speckles) appear - so use the histogram to try to get your exposure as close as possible to how you want it. Hence 'shooting to the right' - but too much and you will clip the whites.
It's actually much easier than it sounds!
NB: Another benefit of the histogram is that you can check exposure even in bright light (never use the monitor to judge exposure, only focus and composition).
satans worm said:
Thanks for the replies, and links due to my lazy surfing
What promped me was someone saying about shooting to the right using the histograph(?) to capture maximum detail in the shadows, then correcting in Lightroom.
So was wondering if there is something that incorporates this sort of thing.
I will take a look at some of those 6d books and buy one to help, has anyone bought one of these before and been satisfied with it? Ie the dummies guides, I've seen around, otherwise I'll buy blind from the nicest cover!
Expose to the right (ETTR) is nothing new, just the digital version of "Expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights". Only difference is that digital is easier to overexpose than negative film, but this is counter-balanced by the fact you have instant feedback.What promped me was someone saying about shooting to the right using the histograph(?) to capture maximum detail in the shadows, then correcting in Lightroom.
So was wondering if there is something that incorporates this sort of thing.
I will take a look at some of those 6d books and buy one to help, has anyone bought one of these before and been satisfied with it? Ie the dummies guides, I've seen around, otherwise I'll buy blind from the nicest cover!
That said, there are lots of clever tricks for getting that last percent out of a photo. They are all unnecessary for now (including ETTR). Just get out and shoot. Have a play with RAW files and post-processing. Get familiar with the camera and learn it's limits before you start worrying how to lift them.
Be careful of the histogram though it is generated from the preview jpg embedded in the raw which has been processed with white balance and your chosen picture style so can be quite exaggerated and the raw will be under exposed!
The 6d is fairly well setup as it comes and produces great output, even the jpgs.
The 6d is fairly well setup as it comes and produces great output, even the jpgs.
There are a few things I would change though.
I disable focus is from the shutter, and use the af-on button for 'back button focus ' imo a huge improvement.
I set the 8 way dial so it can select focus points.
I set preview to 100% zoom to focus point.
You can configure the set and dof preview to other things too see what works.
I set c1 to manual mode 2 second timer 7 shot bracket and c2 to a night shooting setup, ISO 6400 30 second etc.
I disable focus is from the shutter, and use the af-on button for 'back button focus ' imo a huge improvement.
I set the 8 way dial so it can select focus points.
I set preview to 100% zoom to focus point.
You can configure the set and dof preview to other things too see what works.
I set c1 to manual mode 2 second timer 7 shot bracket and c2 to a night shooting setup, ISO 6400 30 second etc.
I agree with Rob - go through the manual in detail and get to grips with all the custom settings (it may take a while!) so you have the camera set up exactly as you want it, and not some default mode you don't understand. F1 drivers spend hours getting their cars personally set up; do the same with a DSLR.
Having just got a 5DM3 (moving up from a 50D) reading the manual (if you've got it is a must I'm currently trying to get my head around the different AF modes.
The big advantage of digital is the ability to get instant feedback (screen, histogram etc) and also reviewing on the computer later with all the shooting information available. I'd also look into bracketing as then you get a spread of exposure. Initially I'd keep the post processing work to a minimum (Canon DPP does most things) and concentrate on getting it right in the camera.
I'm a bit wary of the Ken Rockwell articles, recommending only shooting 11Mp JPEGs? Some good information above about settings (the Ken Rockwell guide does cover this), I must get round to setting up C1/C2/C3.
There are also various field guides etc available on Amazon etc has anybody got experience of those?
The big advantage of digital is the ability to get instant feedback (screen, histogram etc) and also reviewing on the computer later with all the shooting information available. I'd also look into bracketing as then you get a spread of exposure. Initially I'd keep the post processing work to a minimum (Canon DPP does most things) and concentrate on getting it right in the camera.
I'm a bit wary of the Ken Rockwell articles, recommending only shooting 11Mp JPEGs? Some good information above about settings (the Ken Rockwell guide does cover this), I must get round to setting up C1/C2/C3.
There are also various field guides etc available on Amazon etc has anybody got experience of those?
You can do that!? *rushes off to Google*2slo said:
The best way to learn is just get out with the camera and use it. Make mistakes and find out where you've gone wrong. Reading a 300 page camera manual just gives me a bad head, refer to it if you get stuck otherwise hands on gets you there faster.
But there will be a great deal about your camera you will never know about or understand. However whilst the manual will tell you what everything IS, it will not tell you when to USE it.Reading the manual will explode your brains about 1/3 the way through. Just do it in 3 sessions
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