Canon 30D - Manual (Page 3)

Page 3 of 35 © Ken Rockwell 2006
BASICS: CAMERA
Many of these adjustments require you to be in the P, Tv, Av or M exposure
modes. You set that on the top dial. The cute preset modes often lock out
some adjustments. I never use these preset scene modes and won't cover
them.
I leave most settings at their defaults and use the Program exposure mode. I
never use the cute little preset icon modes because I prefer to set anything
special myself.
Power: I always leave the power switch ON or set to the line (explained at
Controls). The 30D ignores all the other buttons except the shutter once it
goes to sleep a minute after you ignore it. The only way to get the 30D to
respond to other keys, like Playback or MENU, is to tap the shutter button to
wake it up. I don't bother turning it OFF, since it doesn't use the batteries
while sleeping. I only turn it off if it's going in a case where the shutter might
get tapped unintentionally.
ISO: I use 100 in daylight. If the light gets dim and my images would get blurry
from slower shutter speeds I increase the ISO to 400, 800 or 1,600. I never
bother with in-between settings like 250 or 640. Unlike film, the 30D looks
great at high ISOs, so I use them anytime I need them. I'd much rather have a
slightly grainy but sharp image than a less grainy and blurry one. See
examples of the noise and grain on my noise comparison page. I explain how
to set these on my Controls page, and I explain ISO (sensitivity to light) on my
ISO page.
White Balance: I use AUTO. I explain how to set these on the 30D at
Controls. See my White Balance Examples page and my White Balance page
for why you'd want to change them.
Quality: I shoot Large JPG NORMAL, which shows as L and a stair-step icon
on the rear and top LCDs. Large is 3,504 x 2,336 pixels image size. I don't
bother with RAW. See RAW vs. JPG and file format examples from a Nikon
D200 for explanations and examples of the various settings. I explain how to
set these at Menus.
For parties or sports where' I'll be shooting hundreds and hundreds of images,
I shoot Medium Normal (M and stair step icon) to save file space. The images
still look great!
I've made 12 x 18" prints of the same shot and seen no difference among the
file types. Don't worry!
I never use FINE, which is the quarter circle in place of the stair step icon. It
looks the same to me and takes up twice the file space.