Canon 30D Tutorial

By Patrick Nelson

The Canon EOS 30D allows you to take quick, fully automatic point and shoot shots; medium-level camera optimized shots; and fully manual, creative and advanced shots. Here's a quick tutorial to teach you the basics of these three types of operations.

Getting Started

Make sure you have charged the battery then insert it into the camera. Attach the lens. Most lenses attach by lining up with the red dot on the camera body. Set the lens to autofocus and carefully insert the compact flash (CF) card. Make sure you insert the card correctly, otherwise you might damage the camera's card terminals. Set the power switch to 'on' and the mode dial to 'full automatic,' which is the green icon.

Taking the Shot

Focus on your subject. You will see small points in the viewfinder. These are autofocus points which the camera will use to focus on the subject. To focus the lens, press the shutter release halfway down. Take the picture by steadily pressing the shutter release all the way down.

Review the Image

You will see the image you have taken on the camera's LCD for a few seconds. To replay that image press the playback button, which is the button on the back of the camera with an arrow icon on it. The image will appear on the screen.

Using Zone Modes

The photograph you just shot in Section two used the EOS 30D's fully automatic mode. You can optimize your results by using the camera's "zone modes." Using the mode dial, just choose an icon that represents the target subject. The camera will optimize the shot for that subject. For example, in portrait mode, the camera will blur the background to make the subject stand out and in sports mode, it will freeze the action.

Using Semi-Manual Settings

Again, using the mode dial you can manually adjust the camera. This will give you more control than the zone mode. The 'P' designator stands for program auto exposure. The camera will set the shutter speed and aperture dependent on the subject's brightness. The 'Tv' designator stands for Time Value and is the shutter priority auto exposure mode. The camera sets the aperture to the brightness but you set the shutter speed by rotating the main dial.

Other Manual Settings

The EOS 30D allows you to set the aperture and the camera sets the shutter speed. Set the mode dial to 'Av'. The aperture is adjusted using the main dial. You can set both the shutter speed and the aperture in 'M' mode. The shutter speed is adjusted with the main dial and the aperture with the quick control switch and quick control dial which are on the back of the camera.

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