DSLR Guide 2 - Pre-Shoot Checks
 
In the second of this series of easy-to-understand DSLR articles, I’ll go through a few checks you should make before you start to shoot.  Just a few simple things to make sure you get the photos you deserve once you venture past the Auto mode.
 
Before you start reading, please find your camera’s manual and have it handy - like it or not, you will have to refer to it!
 
Pre-Shoot Checklist
  1. Battery charged and in the camera
  2. Memory card formatted
  3. ISO low
  4. Image size and quality set
  5. White balance to Auto
  6. Cleaning kit
  7.  
Batteries
Unfortunately, your DSLR is about as useful as a chocolate teapot if your battery isn’t charged and in the camera.  Get into the habit of recharging your battery after each photography session and replacing it in the camera as soon as it’s charged, so that when you grab your camera you know it’s ready to go.  If you have spare batteries, keep them charged and in your camera bag, just in case and occasionally top up the charge.  Spare batteries can seem expensive, but cheaper third-party equivalents are available and I’ve had very good results from the Hahnel range.  Just make sure that they’re exactly the right model for your camera.
 
Some cameras come supplied with an adapter which allows you to use other widely-available batteries (such as lithium cells) as a substitute if you need to, while others have a similar adapter available as an optional accessory.  If you have an adapter, find out which batteries it takes, make a note of it and put the note in your camera bag so you’ll know exactly what you’re looking for.
 
Memory Cards
Apart from not having a memory card in the camera, there’s nothing worse than going to capture some great family event only to discover that some precious photos you took last week have yet to be downloaded and are filling up the card.  You have two choices - delete some of the older photos or miss the current opportunity.  Not an easy call to make!  
 
Try to set up a routine of downloading your photos to your computer (and preferably backing them up to CD/DVD) and formatting your memory card after each shooting session so that when the next photo opportunity arises you’ll be all ready to go.  Formatting the card, as opposed to just choosing ‘delete’ from a menu, clears all the photos from the card and prevents problems with the card.  You usually format a card using a menu option within the camera - check the manual.
 
There are thousands of brands of memory cards on the market and you’d be forgiven for thinking they’re all the same, but there are a few subtle differences, mainly to do with reliability and speed.  While it is very rare for a memory card to fail, it’s not entirely unheard of.  Sticking to well-known brands (Lexar, SanDisk, FujiFilm, Transcend) should offer you some peace of mind in that department, particularly if they offer some sort of guarantee.  Some can receive data at 133x the speed of other cards, for example.  If you’re interested in continuous shooting (a series of shots in a row) then a faster card will mean better capabilities in this area.  However, you do need to check that your camera is compatible with these faster cards.  Check your manual for details of the recommended models.
One word of warning - beware of buying memory cards from online auctions.  Many are cheap cards with fake labels to make them look like more expensive brands.  At best this means they won’t work as fast as they claim, at worst they may fail.
 
ISO
The ISO setting alters the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor.  Just like when you used a 100 or 200 ISO film in your camera for normal use and a 400 or 800 for sports, for example, you can adjust the DSLR’s ISO for different situations.  Because the higher the ISO, the more ‘noise’ (random coloured pixels throughout the image, like film grain) you get, you’ll want to keep the ISO as low as possible, so make sure the ISO is returned to 100 or 200 ISO for normal shooting.
 
  
 
As you can see, it’s important to use the lowest ISO you can get away with but sometimes you might need to increase the ISO just to get the shot as it allows you to use faster shutter speeds and smaller apertures.  For example, the ISO 200 shot needed an exposure of 1/4 second, which is too long to hold the camera completely steady, so it requires a tripod to get a sharp shot.  If you really needed to get that shot without a tripod, you might have to use a higher ISO.  
 
So having the ability to adjust the ISO is a big advantage, helping you to get shots you wouldn’t otherwise be able to capture, but it could ruin shots where a high ISO isn’t necessary.
 
Image size and quality
Most digital SLRs have two file types available - JPEG and RAW.  RAW files contain every bit of information captured by the camera’s sensor.  This gives the best definition possible, and the ability to edit the image with minimal loss of quality, but the file sizes are large (around 1mb per megapixel) and have to be edited in a program capable of processing RAW files.  JPEGs are compatible with most applications and the file sizes are smaller, so they’re great for that continuous shooting I mentioned earlier.  The down side is that because they are compressed to make the file sizes small, the quality is affected.   However, there are different levels of compression - usually Fine, Normal and Basic.  With the Fine option you’ll hardly notice any loss of quality, while Basic is almost certainly only useful for pictures destined for the web.
 
 
 
In this example (viewed at 400%) you can see the different levels of quality available.  The sample I’ve used is the edge of a number from a barcode.  The RAW file records all the variations in colour throughout the number, but would require a number of adjustments before it was ready to print.  The JPEG on the other hand records a good range of tones but would need less work.
 
You also have a range of options for the dimensions of the photos - usually Large, Medium and Small.  The bigger the image, the bigger it can be printed without loss of quality, so most of the time you should use the Large option.  
 
It’s really up to you to decide which format you use.  For most users, I don’t believe that the RAW  option offers enough benefits to make up for the increased time you’d need to spend on perfecting the images once they’re on your computer.  When you’re new to photography with a digital SLR, you really want the instant results that JPEG provides.  Having said that, I use RAW as I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to my photos!  A new generation of ‘RAW workflow’ software is now coming onto the market, starting with Apple’s Aperture (Mac only)and Adobe’s Lightroom (Beta version for Mac or Windows).  These programs make importing, organising, editing, printing and exporting RAW images much easier and are definitely worth investing in if you want to shoot RAW.
 
If you decide to experiment with settings, make sure you reset these options to your usual setup before the next use.
 
White Balance
Different light sources produce very different coloured light, even though your eyes adapt so quickly you won’t register the change.  Cameras being slightly less sophisticated than the human optic system, they need to be told what colour the light is in order to make it look right.  This is where the white balance setting comes in.  
 
DSLRs have a number of white balance options, for example Auto, Sunlight, Cloudy, Flash, Fluorescent etc.  They also have a custom preset option which I’ll explain in a future article.  In most situations, the camera can work out the adjustments it needs to make using the Auto setting, but if that doesn’t look right to you, try one of the other presets.
 
 
This example shows you what your photos can look when they’re taken with different white balance settings.  This shot was taken indoors with natural lighting and the Auto setting has made a good job of analysing the lighting situation.  For example, you can see that, while the Incandescent option would be perfect for taking pictures under tungsten lighting, which is what it’s designed to compensate for, using it under normal lighting conditions could be a bit of a disaster.   You could of course correct it in a photo editing program, but you would be likely to lose some quality in the process.  If you shoot in the RAW format, on the other hand, you could adjust the white balance easily and with little loss of quality.  It’s always best to get it right in-camera, so make sure you put it back to Auto at the end of shooting.
 
Cleaning
Not necessarily a task you need to carry out every single time you shoot, but it is important to keep your gear clean.  Your cleaning kit should consist of a large blower (the rocket-style one is great), a microfibre lens cloth and maybe some lens cleaning fluid.  First use the blower to blow the dust off, then the cloth to clean off grease and grime.  Use cleaning fluid according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Don’t forget to keep your lens cloth clean!
 
As I mentioned in article #1, if dust gets inside your DSLR while you’re changing lenses, it can settle on the delicate sensor and show up in your photos (the picture above shows two dust spots).  To prevent this, turn the camera off before changing lenses, hold the camera so the lens opening faces the floor while you’re fitting a new lens and keep the caps on your lenses when they’re not in use.  
 
If you start to see black specks in your photos and they don’t go away when you clean the lens, dust may have got on to the sensor.  Your camera manual should tell you how to clean the sensor.  If you’re at all unsure, take it to a professional.
 
In the next article:  Aperture and Shutter Speed
 
If you have any comments on this series, or would like to suggest topics for me to cover in the future, please e-mail me using the link below.
 
Thursday, 4 May 2006
Techniques, tips and tricks to help you take better pictures.