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My New 20D

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 7:44 pm
by doug395
I ended up coming home with a new 20D yesterday. This is my first digital camera and that instruction manual looks pretty intense. I’m slowly working my way through the menu and program modes. It’s too soon for questions, but any advice for dummies would be cool, especially settings for white balance and processing parameters.

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:21 pm
by Buck Forester
Hey, congrats! You mean to tell me it comes with an instruction manual? I never cracked it open. I've never changed the white balance, whether it's a sunny day, cloudy day, evening, night, inside with flash, etc., I've never touched it. I just shoot it exactly the same I do with my Elan 7. I must warn you, it's cheating to use this camera. Everything comes out good. It's scary.

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:26 pm
by mountaineer
it's cheating to use this camera
Aha! An honest photographer. Us film photogs have to WORK to get a good shot.:)

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:26 pm
by doug395
I'm going to keep reading the manual, that should be worth some credit for cheating. What about RAW verses JPEG?

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:31 pm
by Windwalker
I like to shoot in the Raw :o
oops I mean RAW mode.

If you have enough memory you can shoot in Raw+JPEG too
RAW is more versatile but takes more time.

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 11:40 pm
by Buck Forester
It depends on what I'm shooting that determines RAW vs. JPEG. If I'm shooting documentary type shots, or people shots, and stuff I doubt I'll blow up to a 10 feet by 15 feet mural on the wall, I'll shoot large jpeg. If I'm shooting a sweet landscape that could be a winner, I'll shoot in both. RAW is more versatile to work with and you don't lose anything to compression each time you save it (I usually save as a tiff), and it may give you more versatility in the future too. But jpeg is quick and simple and still gives you huge files with great detail so it's usually the mode I still shoot in. I have an Epson P-2000 so I can download my CF cards in the field and view them to make sure they downloaded okay, otherwise for a multi-day backpacking trip you're gonna need a lot of expensive CF cards. You'll also find yourself shooting the crud out of everything and have WAY more files than you can ever look at. I have stuff from Yosemite last spring I haven't even looked at yet. It's insane.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:55 pm
by Snow Nymph
Windwalker wrote:I like to shoot in the Raw :o
oops I mean RAW mode.

.

:eek:

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:14 pm
by doug395
Thanks for all the RAW details…. the dots are starting to connect.
That 1.6 crop sure takes a bite out of my 20 -35 lens, but I like what it did to my 200mm.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:57 pm
by copeg
Can some of you digital SLR savy folk describe (or give me a resource that does) what the 20D has above and beyond the Rebel? I'm in the market for a digital SLR (I would like to stick with canon as I have some compatable lenses). I wanted the rebel, but when I held it the other day it felt very flimsy, plasticky and weak.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:20 pm
by Windwalker
A rugged magnesium alloy body for starts :D

I had the Rebel and picked up a used 20D and I love it!
Steve's Digicams -Very thorough reviews.

You might consider looking for a lightly used 20D...lots of folks moving up to the 5D. I paid $950 for mine and it looked brand new. It only had 735 exposures on it, my Rebel has 8,783.

Just a thought