I bought new cannon elan 7 to start my SLR photography. if someone could help me with a check list of what to test in the new camera and how .. any tips in this woudl help me a lot...

-- Srini (ramasamy_srinivasan@consecofinance.com), December 06, 2001

Answers

Srini,

First of all, do not start with expecting your camera to have a problem ... if that is what you meant by 'check list of what to test in the new camera'.

If your idea is to explore the features, you will need to run thru 3 to 4 rolls of film before you start to observe and learn.

First try and use all the auto features. Take some photographs of friends and family in the auto mode. Take some closeup shots in daylight and also indoors. Take some shots from a moving car (not while you are driving ;-) ) and also try scenery, closeup shots .. with flash and without flash. All this while, ensure that you remember the ambient settings - better still keep general notes of the condition in which the picture was taken. This will give you a good feel of the camera.

Once that is done, then explore the advanced features (Creative Zone). With each shot, ensure that ... at least at the beginning keep a note of the readings - aperture/focus etc.

It will take some time to get a good hang of all photography techniques ... but it is a good way to start.

This is how I started 3 months ago with my ELAN 7 :-) A wonderful experience with a great camera.

All the best. Kurien

-- Kurien Philip (kurien_philip@hotmail.com), December 06, 2001.

Kurien offers some excellent advice. I can only add one more - use colour slide film, not colour negative film.

With slide film, the results are exactly what your camera recorded. With negative film you can be at the mercy of the person printing the photo at the lab. They may print with a colour cast or compensate for any deliberate (or not ;-) ) over- or under-exposure. When this happens you may be disappointed in your shots and think there's something wrong with either the camera or your technique.

Above all, have fun!

Nik

-- NikB (ndb_letters@yahoo.com), December 07, 2001.