Camera Labs

I just bought my first DSLR today, the canon eos 450D. I turned it on to try out and as you do i pressed a button or two and cant change the exposure when it is turned to the manual setting, it stays on -2 which means every photo i take comes out black! I know you shouldnt button bash new products but it was purly and accident!

Thanks alot!

Jack

In manual mode, you don't directly set the exposure. I'm assuming when it's showing -2 it really means it at or below meter range. You need to compensate by doing one or more of the following: increase aperture (smaller f value), use longer shutter times, use higher ISO setting.

To start with, you might find one of the other modes easier to learn from.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I don't mean to be rude, but you should have a look at the manual. A DSLR is a complex device and if you're going to just mash buttons without consulting the manual, you're going to be in trouble.

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PhilipGoh.com

yeah i would have loved to have looked at the manual but i am an expat living in china who dosnt do too well with chinese characters, i have been using a manual film camera for a while so i know about ISO, aperture and shutter speed but i just couldnt understand why in my room with the lights all on that i would need a shutter speed of 1 second and an aperture of 4.5 and a really high ISO, surley something is wrong:S, thanks for the replies i really appreciate it!

That sounds rather odd. Change the mode to Av or Tv and see if that changes the settings.

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PhilipGoh.com

yeah i have and those work fine, the exposure goes to 0 and the shots look good, but due to my use of manual slr's i prefer to use the manual setting but obviously cant, should i take it somewhere or should i go to setting that says clear all settings, i am slightly dubious of this as i dont want to ruin it in the first few hours

Check the metering mode? I've fallen for it a few times when I forget to switch between spot and scene metering for example.

As for the manual, I suggest having a search. Chances are you can find the manual for download.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

yeah i just downloaded the manual, i will have a look, so what is spot metering good for and why would it not work, because that is the setting i have it on at the moment, sorry if i am being a pain in arse about this lol but yeah just pretty fustrated as u can imagine

Spot metering does exactly what it says - it meters at a single point only, usually the middle, not sure if some cameras let you change it. You would use this if the subject was very different from the surroundings and you want the subject to be right, and don't care much about the surrounding. So if you point at a bright subject, the rest of the scene can come out very dark.

Also note you can do exposure lock, so you can meter at one point and recompose. But I don't think you can lock in manual mode since as before you don't directly set the exposure.

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

ahhh ok thanks, i think i might take into my art teacher who is pretty big on photography so he should know, thanks alot for you help though! much appreciated!

cheers

Jack

Hi Jack further to the other comments, you may also find our workshops useful at http://www.dslrtips.com/.