Bought a 50D

Eclipsed

Well, I took the plunge into higher quality cameras and bought a 50D tonight. Coming from a 1000d I know I am going to love this body in just about every way! Does anyone have any tips to share about settings I should set?

Richard

Eclipsed wrote: »

Well, I took the plunge into higher quality cameras and bought a 50D tonight. Coming from a 1000d I know I am going to love this body in just about every way! Does anyone have any tips to share about settings I should set?

I don't know what the 1000d has, but you can probably carry over most of the custom functions easily enough. Here are the things that I found new and tried when I moved from a 20D to the 50D:

- AF microadjustments: definitely worth taking the trouble to calibrate your lenses. Scott Quier started a thread that you will find useful.
- Highlight tone priority: I keep it on all the time.
- ISO expansion: Lets you shoot up to 12,800. I don't go that high very often, but sometimes a noisy shot is better than no shot at all. You'll get lots of noise at 3200 and above, but if you have good NR software, you can still get usable--if not very sharp--results.
- Custom menu and shooting modes: I rarely need the menu, but when I do it's never more than one click away. I also set up a shooting mode for HDR bracketing so I can switch on the fly.
- Auto ISO: Great concept but since you can't set the thresholds yourself, the result is lame. Tried it and abandoned it.
- Sensor cleaning: Turned it on auto and haven't had to manually clean the sensor in 10,000 shots. Works better than I expected.
- Live view settings: I haven't used live view much, but if it interests you there are a number of options you should investigate.

HTH. Oh, and congrats on your new toy. :ivar I like mine.

Eclipsed

Richard wrote: »

I don't know what the 1000d has, but you can probably carry over most of the custom functions easily enough. Here are the things that I found new and tried when I moved from a 20D to the 50D:

- AF microadjustments: definitely worth taking the trouble to calibrate your lenses. Scott Quier started a thread that you will find useful.
- Highlight tone priority: I keep it on all the time.
- ISO expansion: Lets you shoot up to 12,800. I don't go that high very often, but sometimes a noisy shot is better than no shot at all. You'll get lots of noise at 3200 and above, but if you have good NR software, you can still get usable--if not very sharp--results.
- Custom menu and shooting modes: I rarely need the menu, but when I do it's never more than one click away. I also set up a shooting mode for HDR bracketing so I can switch on the fly.
- Auto ISO: Great concept but since you can't set the thresholds yourself, the result is lame. Tried it and abandoned it.
- Sensor cleaning: Turned it on auto and haven't had to manually clean the sensor in 10,000 shots. Works better than I expected.
- Live view settings: I haven't used live view much, but if it interests you there are a number of options you should investigate.

HTH. Oh, and congrats on your new toy. :ivar I like mine.

Thanks Highlight tone priority is one of the reasons I bought a new camera. Blown out highlights are the bane of my existence in harsh light.

I'll also have to set up a custom menu for HDR, that's a great idea and I hadn't thought about it.

My 55-250mm may need micro-adjustments too, so I'm looking forward to playing with that.

ziggy53

Congratulations on the new camera.

Jekyll & Hyde

Eclipsed wrote: »

Does anyone have any tips to share about settings I should set?

J: Congrats on the fine purchase.

H: I started out by disabling HTP, ALO, and all Noise Reduction (I shoot 99% of the time in Manual Mode). RAW Only. aRGB.

J: Removed AF from the shutter button (I only use the AF-ON button).

H: Assigned the SET button to "Image Replay."

J: ISO increments to full stops.

H: Set C2 (custom user settings) for BIF: "Focus Search" to Off, AI Servo AF, Center AF, High Speed burst, Manual Exposure, Max Aperture, 8-minute Auto Shutdown, Sunny WB, ISO 400, Center-weighted Metering, 8-second Playback.

J: I use C2 for BIF so that I can just spin the Mode dial all the way until it stops (without looking) when a BIF pops into view. Very fast and intuitive.

H: I always turn IS off for subjects in motion (it'll work against you).

J: C1 is then set for perched birds/wildlife and uses the exact same settings, except I turn Focus Search back on.

H: For general shooting, I set the dial to Manual Mode. That way I don't accidentally goof up one of my Custom (C1 C2) settings.

J: If I'm having trouble keeping up with variable lighting, I'll resort to Av Mode.

H: Check the Histogram often and watch for the "Blinkies."

J: Shoot burst in low light (Poor-man's IS).

H: I know there's a lot more I'm forgetting at the moment. Apologize.

J: Best of luck with your new toy!

H: Post some pics when you get the chance.

J&H

LeeHowell

I find it a handy feature on my 30D to enable the custom function allowing you to use the multicontroller to select your AF focus points. ;-) I don't think that option is a default but comes in very useful...

GadgetRick

LeeHowell wrote: »

I find it a handy feature on my 30D to enable the custom function allowing you to use the multicontroller to select your AF focus points. ;-) I don't think that option is a default but comes in very useful...

I'll second that...

paddler4

Congrats. I have been shooting with a 50D for a year and love it.

I agree with several of J&H's recommendations:

I started out by disabling HTP, ALO, and all Noise Reduction (I shoot 99% of the time in Manual Mode). RAW Only. aRGB.

ISO increments to full stops.

For the first, if you google, you'll find reasons. Only one of them (I think it is HTP, but I am not sure) affects RAW anyway, and you should definitely be shooting RAW if you want to take advantage of that camera.

Rather than looking at the histogram, I would set the display most of the time to show the separate histograms for the three color channels. It is possible to blow out one channel (red is particularly common) without seeing it in the overall luminosity histogram.

I changed the direction of the wheel motion so both wheels have the same effect (I chose 'counterclockwise==less light')

As on any camera, lower ISOs are better, but sometimes there is no choice.

Have fun. it is a great camera.

Eclipsed

Thanks for the recommendations everyone! By the way, I do shoot RAW, it's awesome.

GadgetRick

paddler4 wrote: »

I changed the direction of the wheel motion so both wheels have the same effect (I chose 'counterclockwise==less light')

Standing on the brake pedal and screeching to a halt...

I can change the way I turn the wheel to change things like shutter speed!!?? Where do I find that? My main complaint about Canon cameras is the darn meter is backwards from how I must adjust my shutter speed/etc to get it metered correctly...

JRSabater

Hello GadgetRick
Yes, you can. In C.Fn IV-4.

Eclipsed

I'm really excited, it comes tomorrow!

GadgetRick

JRSabater wrote: »

Hello GadgetRick
Yes, you can. In C.Fn IV-4.

Oh man, now I'm just as excited as the day I bought my 50D!!! Thanks!

Eclipsed

I am so excited! :ivar My 50D came today and it is simply awesome.

ziggy53

Congratulations on the new camera.