From the Rebel to the Mark III, all Canons have a menu of preset white balances. Meant to be used “on the fly” when walking into a scene or under rapidly changing conditions (such as dark clouds moving across sunny blue skies), they are based on predetermined color temperature numbers and will, in a general [...]

If you primarily work in jpeg, Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) is a great little tool, easy to implement, that will help you get even more out of your images. There are many instances in a photographer’s career when “just a little more” or “just a little less” would have made the difference between a great [...]

Canon cameras provide a number of options for image type from RAW, with the most data and flexibility of all file types that the camera’s sensor can provide, to Large (L), Medium (M), and Small (S) jpegs. Each file size will provide high quality images. The difference is in the degree of enlargement a given [...]

A source of wonder for some photographers, and a source of confusion for others, the Menu can look daunting. Don’t let it bother you. My suggestion is to open it, dive in, and play with it. You won’t wreck the camera, and if you mess something up and don’t know how to fix it, you [...]

When holding the camera as if to take a picture, the Shutter Button will be easy to reach with your right index finger (FIG 4.7). The Shutter Button is a two-stepped switch. Push it halfway down and it will activate and set auto focus (AF) and auto exposure metering (AE) for every Zone except Manual. [...]

Found on the back of every EOS prosumer model and EOS-1 camera, the Quick Control Dial works in conjunction with a great many of the camera’s settings (the Rebel uses a set of Cross-Keys). You will use it to dial through the many Menu items, select AF (Auto Focus) points, make exposure adjustments, or just [...]

The Main Dial is located just behind the shutter button on the camera-right side. You will use this wheel to change Focus Points, make Exposure Compensation adjustments, change ISO, and to control many more functions (FIG 4.3). EOS-1 bodies have an extra Main Dial (with its own on/off switch), along with an additional FEL button [...]

All prosumer and professional Canon cameras have a two-stepped power switch (the Rebel does not). To power the camera up, raise the toggle to either the first or second position. On prosumer EOS bodies, the first position is a general “on” switch with the Quick Control Dial disabled. The second on position will allow you [...]