I have my Rebel XT

This is one sweet camera and now all I have to do is figure out how to use it in other modes besides Auto!! I am so impressed at the quality of the pictures, the depth of color, I took side by side shots with my Oly 4040 and (Yes apples to oranges) and the rebel kicked butt (I would expect that) but the images..wow, I can't explain it.

I am having a devil of a time using manual and getting the settings right, lots of blurriness. Even my pet shots last night had blurred spots (in auto) am I not waiting long enough for the focus, dropping the camera too soon after the shot, AND which AF do you recommend?

Oh one last question, I have the firmware which could be updated-is this something that needs to be done?

Thank you.

Wendy

For regular land use (not fast moving objects) I like one-shot auto. That way the shutter won't fire until focus is achieved. If you're getting blurred shots it's probably too slow a shutter speed. Av mode on Canon's defaults to slow flash sync (equivalent to SLOW on your Oly) so that could be the culprit. Better to use Tv or Manual in low light with a faster shutter speed. Otherwise you can also use a custom function to switch flash syn in Av to 1/200.

On the firmware, it definitely does not NEED to be done, but it is probably worth doing. I have been so far unable to download it -- it times out in the middle. If you got the file successfully do you mind e-mailing it to me (lanierb@stanford.edu)? Thanks!

Before you can learn to use the camera in manual mode, you have to learn what all of the settings mean. It makes no sense to start changing settings you dont know what do.

A introductory photography book would be a good place to start.

Go though the manual, pick out all of key words and to google search for them. Reasurch definition, how they effect the functioning of the camera and how they show up in your images.

To start you off read about "Aperature" and "Depth of field" and how they are related. This will allow you to understand the "blurred spots". And no it isnt related to incorrect focus.

Here is a good place to start.

http://www.photo.net/photo/tutorial/