Canon EOS 40D AShortCourse2007

Cover
AA30470C
A Short Course in
C a n o n EO S 40D
Photography
Dennis P. Curtin
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h t t p :// w w w . s h o r t c o u r s e s . c o m
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Preface
Preface
A
great photograph begins when you recognize a great scene or
subject. But recognizing a great opportunity isn’t enough to capture
it; you also have to be prepared. A large part of being prepared in-
volves understanding your camera well enough to capture what you see. Get-
ting you prepared to see and capture great photographs is what this book is
all about. It doesn’t matter if you are taking pictures for business or pleasure,
there’s a lot here to help you get better results and more satisfaction from
your photography.
To get better, and possibly even great photographs, you need to understand
both concepts and procedures; the “whys” and “hows” of photography.
• Concepts of photography are the underlying principles that apply regardless
of the camera you are using. They include such things as how sharpness and
exposure affect your images and the way they are perceived by viewers. Un-
derstanding concepts answers the “why” kinds of questions you might have
about photography.
The Canon EOS 40D is • Procedures are those things specific to one kind of camera, and explain
a full-featured SLR with step-by-step how you set your camera’s controls to capture an image just the
interchangeable lenses. way you want to. Understanding procedures gives you the answers to the
“how” kinds of questions you might have.
This book is organized around the concepts of digital photography because
that’s how photographers think. We think about scenes and subjects, high-
lights and shadows, softness and sharpness, color and tone. The procedures
you use with the Canon EOS 40D camera are integrated throughout the con-
cepts, appearing in those places where they apply. This integrated approach
lets you first understand the concepts of photography and then see step by
The 40D can print
step how to use the 40D in all kinds of photographic situations.
directly to a printer
without a computer.
To get more effective, interesting, and creative photographs, you only need
to understand how and when to use a few simple controls on your camera
such as focus, exposure controls, and flash. If you’ve previously avoided
understanding these controls and the profound impact they can have on your
images, you’ll be pleased to know that you can learn them on a weekend.
You can then spend the rest of your life marveling at how the infinite variety
of combinations they provide make it possible to convey your own personal
view of the world. You’ll be ready to keep everything in a scene sharp for
maximum detail or to blur some or all of it for an impressionistic portrayal.
With the optional WFT- You’ll be able to get dramatic close-ups, freeze fast action, create wonderful
E3A wireless transmitter panoramas, and capture the beauty and wonder of rainbows, sunsets, fire-
you can send pictures works, and nighttime scenes.
directly to a computer
or network. It also As you explore your camera, be sure to have fun. There are no “rules” or
doubles as a vertical
grip. “best” way to make a picture. Great photographs come from using what you
know to experiment and try new approaches. Digital cameras make this espe-
cially easy because there are no film costs or delays. Every experiment is free
and you see the results immediately so you can learn step by step.
This book is about getting great pictures, not about connecting your camera
to your computer and using your software. That information is well presented
The 40D accepts the full
line of Canon EF and in the user guide that came with your camera. Be sure to visit our Web site at
EF-S lenses. www.shortcourses.com for even more digital photography information.
iv For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Contents
Contents
Cover...i Chapter 4
Short Courses Books and Web Site...ii Capturing Light & Color...78
Preface...iv
Contents...v Where Does Color Come From?...79
How To Sections Quick Lookup...vi White Balance and Color...80
Using White Balance Correction & Bracketing...83
Color and Time of Day...84
Chapter 1 Sunsets and Sunrises...85
Camera Controls and Creativity...7 Weather...87
Photographing at Night...89
The 40D Camera...8 The Direction of Light...91
Jump Start—Using Full Auto Mode...9 The Quality of Light...93
Good Things to Know...10
Using the Viewfinder...12
Operating the Camera...13 Chapter 5
Changing Settings with Buttons and Dials...15 Understanding Lenses...94
Using Menus to Change Settings...16
Playing Back & Managing Your Images...19 Canon Lenses...95
Using the Playback Menu...21 Focal Length...98
Selecting Image Quality and Size...22 Zoom Lenses...99
Normal Lenses...100
Wide-Angle Lenses...101
Chapter 2 Telephoto Lenses...103
Controlling Exposure...27 Macro Lenses and Accessories...105
Tilt-Shift Lenses...107
Understanding Exposure...28 Lens Accessories...108
The Shutter Controls Light and Motion...29 Perspective in a Photograph...109
The Aperture Controls Light and Depth of Field...31
Using Shutter Speed and Aperture Together...33
Retaining Highlight and Shadow Details ...36 Chapter 6
Choosing Shooting Modes...37 Using Flash and Studio Lighting...110
Using Image Zone Modes...38
Using Program AE (P) & Program Shift...39 How Flash Works...111
Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode...40 Using Autoflash...112
Using Aperture-Priority (Av) Mode...41 Portraits with Flash...114
Using Manual (M) Mode...42 Using Fill Flash...116
How Your Exposure System Works...43 Using Slow Sync Flash...117
When Automatic Exposure Works Well...46 Using Available Light...118
When to Override Automatic Exposure...47 Controlling Flash Exposures...119
How Overriding Autoexposure Works...51 Using an External Flash...122
How to Override Automatic Exposure...52 Using Flash in Close-ups...124
Using Histograms...55 Studio Lighting...125
Using the RAW Format...59 Portrait and Product Photography—Introduction...128
The Main Light...129
The Fill Light...130
Chapter 3 The Background Light...131
Controlling Sharpness...61 The Rim Light...132
Getting Sharper Pictures...62

Sharpness Isn’t Everything...64 Chapter 7
How to Photograph Motion Sharply...65 Other Features and Commands...133
Focus and Depth of Field...67
Focusing Techniques...69 Continuous Photography...134
Controlling Depth of Field...73 Live View Shooting...135
Using Deep Depth of Field...74 Using Picture Styles...138
Using Shallow Depth of Field...76 Registering Your Own Settings...140
Conveying the Feeling of Motion...77 Using Custom Functions...141
Using My Menu...146
Changing Other Settings...147
Entering a Print Order...152
Caring for Your Camera...153
For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

How To Sections Quick Lookup
How To Sections Quick Lookup
Taking a Picture in Full Auto Mode 9 Using White Balance

Using Menus 16 Correction/ Bracketing 83
Managing Images—Using Buttons 19 Using Bulb Exposures 90
Jumping in Playback 20 Mounting and Unmounting a Lens 95
Managing your Images—Using Menus 21 Zooming a Lens 99
Giving Slide Shows 21 Increasing Depth of Field in Close-ups 106
Selecting Image Quality 26 Using Autoflash 113
Changing Shooting Modes 37 Turning Red-eye Mode On and Off 115
Using Image Zone Modes 38 Using Fill Flash 116
Using Program AE (P) Mode 39 Using Slow Sync Flash 117
Using Program Shift 39 Preventing the Flash from Firing 118
Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode 40 Using Flash Exposure Compensation 120
Using Aperture-Priority (Av) Mode 41 Using Flash Exposure (FE) Lock 120
Using Manual (M) Mode 42 Using Flash Control 121
Changing the Metering Mode 45 Selecting a Continuous Mode 134
Using Exposure Compensation 52 Using Live View 135
Using Autoexposure (AE) Lock 53 Autofocusing in Live View 136
Using Autoexposure Bracketing (AEB) 54 Selecting Picture Styles 138
Displaying Histograms 55 Changing Picture Styles 139
Selecting the Histogram and Highlights 55 Registering Picture Styles 139

Evaluating Histograms 56 Registering Camera Settings 140
Using the Self-timer 63 Changing Custom Functions 142
Changing the ISO 63 Clearing Custom Functions 142
Increasing the Sharpness Registering My Menu Settings 146

of Moving Objects 66 Shooting w/o a CF Card 147
Selecting an Autofocus Mode 70 Setting the Time and Date 147
Selecting an AF Point 71 Changing the Review Time 148
Displaying AF Points 71 Specifying File Number Sequences 148
Using Focus Lock 72 Turning the Beep On or Off 148
Using Manual Focus 72 Adjusting Monitor Brightness 149
Focusing on the Hyperfocal Distance 75 Changing the Language or Video Setting 149
Zone Focusing 75 Adjusting Auto Power Off Time 149
Using Auto Depth-of-Field AE (A-DEP) 75 Formatting a CF Card 150
Decreasing Depth of Field 76 Setting Auto Rotate 150
Conveying Motion 77 Checking/Updating Your Firmware Version 151
Selecting a White Balance Mode 81 Resetting Camera Settings 151
Setting a Custom White Balance 81 Entering a Print Order 152
Selecting a Color Temperature in Kelvins 82 Cleaning the Sensor 153
Selecting a Color Space 82 Obtaining Dust delete Data 154
vi For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Chapter 1. Camera Controls and Creativity
Chapter 1
Camera Controls and Creativity
S
erious digital cameras give you creative control over your images. They
Contents do so by allowing you to control the light and motion in photographs
• The 40D Camera as well as what’s sharp and what isn’t. Although most consumer digital
• Jump Start: Using cameras are fully automatic, some allow you to make minor adjustments that
Full Auto Mode • affect your images. The best ones such as the Canon 40D offer interchange-
Good Things to Know
• Using the Viewfind- able lenses, external flash connections, and a wide range of controls—more
er • Operating the than you’d find on a 35mm SLR. However, regardless of what controls your
Camera • Changing camera has, the same basic principles are at work “under the hood.” Your au-
Settings with Buttons
and Dials • Using tomatic exposure and focusing systems are having a profound affect on your
Menus to Change images. Even with your camera on fully automatic, you can indirectly control,
Settings • Playing or at least take advantage of the effects these systems have on your images.
Back & Managing
Your Images • Using In this chapter, we’ll first explore your camera and how you use it on fully au-
the Playback Menu
• Selecting Image tomatic mode. We’ll also see how you use menus and buttons to operate the
Quality and Size camera, manage your images and control image quality. In the chapters that
follow, we’ll explore in greater depth how you take control of these settings,
and others, to get the effects you want.

The 40D Camera
The Canon EOS 40D’s dust and weather resistant magnesium alloy exterior
houses a 10.1 Megapixel CMOS imaging sensor that can capture images up to
3888 x 2592 pixels in size, large enough for 19 x 12 inch high-quality prints.
Its high-speed continuous mode captures up to 75 Large/Fine JPEGs or 17
RAW images at 6.5 frame-per-second (fps) making it ideal for photographing
wildlife, sports and other action subjects.
The camera has a large three-inch 230,000-pixel LCD monitor on which you
can review your images. Using Live View, you can also use the monitor to
compose and focus images, magnifying them up to 10x for the precise focus
The Canon 40D is an required in macro photography. Live View also has silent modes that avoid
SLR (single-lens reflex) spooking people and wildlife. Using Live View, along with software and a
camera so when you
look in the viewfinder cable supplied with the camera, you can use a much larger computer screen
you are seeing the as the monitor/viewfinder to compose and focus images and use menu com-
scene through the lens. mands and change camera settings. Using an optional wireless transmitter
you can even eliminate the cable and work wirelessly over short distances.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/SLR/
The camera has a fast 0.15-second initial start-up, a shutter rated up to
100,000 cycles, a top shutter speed of 1/8000 sec, and 1/250 maximum X-
Click this button to play
an animation that shows
sync flash shutter speed setting. ISO settings range from 100–3200.
how an SLR works when
you compose an image
Because the APS-C size image sensor is smaller than a frame of 35mm film,
and press the shutter the camera has a 1.6x focal length conversion factor and is compatible with
button. the full line-up of Canon EF and EF-S lenses.
The camera’s 14-bit Analog-to-Digital (A/D) conversion process recognizes
four times as many colors as its predecessor, capturing images with finer
and more accurate gradations of tones and colors. Highlight Tone Priority
is perfect for wedding and nature photographers trying to capture details in
wedding dresses, clouds, snow or other white subjects. When you don’t plan
on editing your images on a computer, Picture Styles let you adjust them for
printing right in the camera as you capture them, or later in playback mode.
The camera captures images in the universal JPEG format but also offers the
In the Box higher-quality RAW format. You can select either a full-sized RAW image
• The 40D is avail- format, or a smaller and more manageable sRAW that’s identical in all other
able as a body only respects but one-fourth the size.
and in a kit with a
lens. Both versions The focusing system uses nine points from which you or the camera can
include the camera
body as well as the select the one used to focus. Its 35-zone metering sensor and evaluative me-
BP-511A lithium-ion tering are linked to all AF points. Also available are centerweighted average
battery pack, Battery metering, partial metering and spot metering—the last two covering approxi-
Charger CG-580 or
CB5L, USB Cable mately 9 percent or 3.8 percent of the viewfinder at center, respectively.
IFC-200U, Video
Cable VC-100, a wide The camera has E-TTL II autoflash and 12 exposure control modes, plus three
neckstrap, 2 CDs custom exposure modes you use to store your own settings. As an added con-
with software and venience, particularly for wireless flash operations, you can adjust the flash
instructions, printed
instruction manu- settings of the Canon Speedlite 580EX II directly from the camera.
als, and a 1-year
Canon U.S.A. limited The camera’s integrated sensor cleaning offers a number of ways to prevent
warranty. The lens dust from affecting your images, or remove it if it does.
kit includes either
the EF-S 18–55mm Finally, the camera has amazing customization features including 24 custom
f/3.5–5.6 IS lens or functions with 62 options, the ability to register your own combinations of
the EF-S 17–85mm
f/4.5–5.6 IS USM settings to C1, C2, and C3 on the Mode dial, picture styles you can edit or de-
lens. fine from scratch, and the ability to create your own menu listing only those
settings you use most frequently.

Jump Start—Using Full Auto Mode
Jump Start—Using Full Auto Mode
The 40D’s Full Auto mode sets everything for you. All you have to do is frame
the image and push the shutter button. This is a good mode to use in most
situations because it lets you focus on the subject rather than the camera.
• Selecting the mode. Turn the Power Switch on the back of the camera to
ON and set the Mode Dial to Full Auto (the green rectangle icon).
• Framing the image. The viewfinder shows about 95% of the scene you
are going to capture. If the image in the viewfinder is fuzzy, turn the diopter
The Mode Dial with the adjustment knob to adjust it (page 12).
green Full Auto icon.
• Autofocus. The nine small rectangles displayed in the viewfinder are
AF points used for focusing. When the focus switch on the lens is set to AF,
the camera focuses on the closest subject covered by one or more of these
focus points (page 69). When you press the shutter button halfway down,
the focusing point or points being used to set focus momentarily flashes red,
the round focus confirmation light in the lowerright corner of the viewfinder
The Power Switch set
to ON. glows green, and the camera beeps. How close you can get to a subject de-
pends on the lens you are using.
• Autoexposure. Evaluative metering divides the scene in the viewfinder
into 35 zones and meters each of them to determine the best exposure for the
scene (page 45). The shutter speed and aperture that will be used to take the
picture are displayed in the viewfinder when the display is activated (page
12).
• Autoflash. When the light is too dim in Full Auto mode, the built-in flash
automatically pops up when you press the shutter button halfway down, and
fires when you press the shutter button the rest of the way down (page 112).
• Automatic white balance. The color cast in a photograph is affected by
Tips
the color of the light illuminating the scene. The camera adjusts white bal-
• If you don’t use ance so white objects in the scene look white in the photo (page 80).
any controls for 1
minute, the camera
enters sleep mode.
To wake it up, press Taking a Picture in Auto Mode
the shutter button
halfway down and 1. With the Power Switch on the back of the camera set to ON, set the
release it. (You can
also press the Play- Mode Dial to Full Auto (the green rectangle icon). Set the focus mode
back or Menu but- switch on the lens to AF (page 69).
tons.) To change the
auto power off time, 2. Compose the image in the viewfinder, making sure the area that you
see page 149. want sharpest is covered by one of the nine focus points.
• When you press
the shutter button 3. Press the shutter button halfway down and pause so the camera can
halfway down in Full automatically set focus and exposure. When its done so, it beeps, the
Auto mode the flash round green focus confirmation light in the viewfinder glows, and the
pops up and fires
when the light is focusing point(s) being used to set focus briefly flashes red.
dim, or the subject
is backlit. This also 4. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
happens in other
Image Zone modes ● The shutter sounds, buSY may be briefly displayed in the viewfind-
other than Sports, er, and the red access lamp on the back of the camera glows while the
Landscape, and Flash image is being stored. You can take another photo at any time.
Off (page 38). It
does not happen in ● The image is displayed on the monitor for 2 seconds so you can re-
Creative Zone modes
(page 37). To close view it, press Erase to delete it, or press INFO to change the display.
the flash, just press
it down. 5. When finished, turn the Power Switch to OFF.

Good Things to Know
When you first start taking photos with a new camera, it sometimes seems
that there is too much to learn all at once. To simplify your getting started,
here are some of the things you may want to know right off.
• If your camera is right out of the box you have need to mount a lens (page
95), insert a charged battery pack, and insert a CompactFlash (CF) card on
which to store your images. No CF card is included with the camera, and
there may be no lens as part of the package.
The battery compart-
ment cover is on the • When you turn the camera on or off, the image sensor is cleaned (page 153)
bottom of the camera
and accepts BP-511A, and a logo is displayed on the monitor.
511, 512 or 514 lithium
battery packs. • If you turn off the camera while an image is being saved, the message Re-
cording is displayed and the power remains on until all images are saved.
• The first time you use the camera, select a language (if necessary) and enter
the current date and time (page 147) so your images are accurately stamped.
• For some reason, one of the camera’s default settings lets you shoot pictures
without a CF card in the camera. (Some people believe it’s so salespeople can
demonstrate the camera without having to insert a memory card.) Images are
even displayed on the monitor so you think you are capturing them, but they
are not saved. To ensure you don’t take unsaved pictures, turn off the Shoot
Icons on the LCD
panel show the status w/o card setting on the Shooting 1 menu tab (page 147).
of the battery as full
(top), almost run down • To insert a CF card, turn off the camera, slide the CF card slot cover on the
(middle), and out right side of the camera toward the back, and swing it open. Insert the CF
(bottom). The middle card with its front label facing the rear of the camera and the small holes
icon starts to blink when
the battery is almost facing inward. Press the card down until the gray eject button pops out, then
dead. close the cover. To remove a card, open the CF card slot cover and press the
gray eject button to pop up the card so you can grasp it and pull it out.
• Should you inadvertently open the compact flash card door while the
camera is writing to the card, a warning will pop up on the LCD screen and
an open door “alarm” sounds, but the image(s) will continue writing to the
memory card without interruption as long as you don’t remove it.
• Shooting modes are divided into two categories or zones—the Creative Zone
and the Basic Zone. On the Mode Dial, Creative Zone modes are indicated
with letters and Basic Zone modes with icons.
• To take pictures hold the camera in your right hand while supporting the
lens with your left. Brace the camera against your face as you look through
the viewfinder and brace your elbows against your body. Press the shutter
The CF card slot cover is
on the right side of the button slowly and smoothly as you hold your breath after breathing in deeply
camera as seen from and exhaling.
the shooting position.
• The shutter button has two stages. When you press it halfway down, the
camera sets focus and exposure. You pause for a moment as it does so, and
then when the green confirmation light comes on in the viewfinder and the
camera beeps, you press it the rest of the way to take the picture. If you press
the shutter button all of the way down without pausing halfway, the camera
pauses before taking the picture.
• When you press the shutter button halfway down it activates the viewfinder
and LCD panel on top of the camera and icons or other indicators are dis-
played for the current settings. Some remain displayed or active for only 4, 6,
or 16 seconds unless you use a control.
10 For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

Good Things to Know
• Many buttons, including Flash and the four above the LCD panel, won’t
work when the camera is asleep. To wake it up, press the shutter button half-
way down and release it.
• You can‘t adjust exposure settings unless the current shutter speed, ap-
erture and ISO are displayed on the viewfinder and LCD panel. To activate
these displays, press the shutter button halfway down and release it.
• You can illuminate the LCD panel by pressing the button marked with the
The Mode Dial with light bulb icon on top of the camera.
letters for Creative Zone
modes and icons for • If the camera can’t focus, it doesn’t beep when you press the shutter but-
Basic Zone modes. ton halfway down, the round green focus confirmation light in the viewfinder
blinks, and you can’t take a picture. For help on focusing see page 69.
• You can use the camera’s monitor to review images you’ve taken (page 19),
and in Live View (page 135) use it to compose and focus them. You can adjust
the monitor’s brightness to match the light you’re viewing it in (page 149).
• When you take a picture, it is displayed on the monitor for two seconds but
you can extend the review time (page 148). While it’s displayed, you can press
the Erase button (page 19) to delete it, or INFO to change the display mode.
• You can reset all camera settings to their factory defaults (page 150). This is
useful if you make changes and can’t remember how to undo them.
• When photographing in a studio-like setting, or using the camera to give
a slide show, you can use the optional AC Adapter Kit ACK-E2 to power the
camera instead of the battery pack.
• When the camera is ready to shoot, press the INFO button to toggle be-
tween the Camera set. screen (that lets you change settings—page 15) and the
Shoot func. screen (that displays them).
• Be aware of the shots remaining displayed on the LCD panel. When the
number it brackets gets to zero you can’t take any more photos unless you
delete some or change memory cards.
• When you charge batteries the charge lamp blinks more rapidly the more
charged the battery is. It blinks once per second up to 50%, twice per second
up to 75%, three times per second up to 90%, and it remains lit over 90%.
The shutter button has
two stages. When you • A fully charged battery should capture between 700–1100 pictures depend-
press it halfway down,
the camera sets focus ing on how often you use flash or the monitor, and how cold it is. In Live
and exposure. When View (page 135) the number drops to 130–170. BP-511 and BP-512 battery
you press it all the way packs have only 75% of the power of BP-511 or BP-511A battery packs so will
down you take the
picture. capture only 75% of the above numbers.
• Recharge batteries immediately before using them because they gradually
loose their charge over time.
• The battery pack cover can be attached in two directions. Align it so the blue
seal shows through the battery shaped opening to indicate a battery is fully
charged. Align it in the other direction on a battery that needs charging.
• Although you may not notice it, the focal length of your lens is longer than it
would be on a 35mm film camera (page 98).
• If you encounter an error message you can’t resolve, or if the camera
controls “freeze” on you, you might “reboot” it by turning it off, removing
the battery for a few seconds, reinserting the battery and turning it back on.
Sometimes ensuring that the lens is locked into place also helps.
For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com 11

Using the Viewfinder
When taking photos with the 40D, you normally compose them in the view-
finder. Since this is your center of interest, the camera also displays focus and
exposure information to guide you.
Focus Screens
The camera accepts three interchangeable focus screens. Should you switch
them, you have to set Custom Function IV-5 (page 132) to tell the camera
which one you have installed.
• The Ef-A focus screen comes with your camera. It displays a bright view of
the scene and makes it easy to manually focus.
The Ef-D optional focus
screen. • The Ef-D is the same as Ef-A but displays grid lines that are great for studio
and architectural photography where accurately aligning vertical and hori-
zontal lines is important.
• The Ef-S is a super-precision matte screen designed for lenses with a maxi-
mum aperture of f/2.8 or larger. This screen is designed to make manual
focusing easier and more precise that EF-A, but when used with a lens slower
than f/2.8, the viewfinder image is darker.
Diopter Adjustment
You can adjust the viewfinder display so you can read it without glasses. To
The diopter adjustment do so, remove the lens cap and look through the viewfinder at a fairly bright
knob.
light source (not the sun!). If the viewfinder display isn’t sharp, try to bring
the AF points into focus by turning the dioptric adjustment knob in the
upperright corner of the viewfinder. If this doesn’t work, the camera also
accepts the accessory E-series Dioptric Adjustment Lenses in 10 types rang-
ing from -4 to +3 diopters. These lenses slip into the viewfinder’s eyepiece
holder.
Focus Points
When focus is achieved
the AF point or points The viewfinder displays nine small rectangles called the AF points (AF stands
being used to set focus for autofocus). When the focus switch on the lens is set to AF (page 69), the
flash red and the green
confirmation light
camera focuses on the closest subject covered by one or more of these focus
glows steady in the points. The one being used to set focus can be selected manually or automati-
viewfinder. cally (page 71). When you press the shutter button halfway down, the focus-
ing point or points being used flash red.
Tip
Information Display
• To start metering
and display exposure The viewfinder displays the current shutter speed and aperture, the ISO, the
information on the shots remaining in continuous mode, and the focus confirmation indica-
LCD panel and in
the viewfinder, press
tor. In Creative Zone modes it also displays an exposure scale that’s used
the shutter button for exposure compensation (page 52) and to set the exposure in M (manual)
halfway down. shooting mode. As you will see in the following chapters, there are a number
of other indicators that are displayed during various procedures.
The viewfinder displays
information about
settings that affect the
current photograph.

Operating the Camera
Operating the Camera
The 40D has a number of buttons and dials that quickly change important
Tips
settings without the time-consuming need to work your way through menus.
• You can quickly
reset all camera set-
tings to their original
factory defaults
(page 151).
• You can connect
the camera to a
computer and use
Live View (page 135)
so you and others
can immediately see
photos as you take
them. This is a great
way to take portraits
and close-ups.
The shutter button (top)

and Main Dial (bottom).
Top View
1. Shutter button locks exposure and focus, wakes up the camera, and
turns on the viewfinder and LCD panel information display when pressed
halfway down, and takes the photo when pressed all the way.
2. Main Dial is used by itself and with buttons to change camera settings
in shooting mode (page 37). In playback mode, turning the dial jumps you
through pictures you’ve taken (page 20).
3. ISO/Flash Exposure Compensation button, in conjunction with the
After pressing a button Main Dial changes the ISO (page 63), and sets flash exposure compensation
that has two functions, (page 120) in conjunction with the Quick Control Dial.
turning the Main Dial
changes the first setting 4. AF/Drive mode button specifies autofocus modes (page 70) in conjunc-
and turning the Quick tion with the Main Dial and cycles the camera among the drive modes single-
Control Dial changes the
second. shot, continuous (page 134), and self-timer (page 63) modes in conjunction
with the Quick Control Dial.
5. Metering mode/White balance button selects the metering mode
(page 45) in conjunction with the Main Dial and sets white balance (page 81)
in conjunction with the Quick Control Dial.
6. LCD Panel Illumination button lights the LCD panel.
7. Mode Dial selects one of the many shooting modes offered in the Basic
and Creative Zones (page 37).
8. Flash button pops up the built-in flash when the Mode Dial is set to any
mode in the Creative Zone (page 112).
Rear View
Tips
• If the camera has
gone to sleep, you
have to first press
and release the shut-
ter button or Play-
back, Menu, or AE
Lock buttons to wake
it up before press-
ing other buttons to
change settings.
• Throughout this
book when we tell
you to turn the Quick
Control Dial, in many
cases you can also
turn the Main Dial.
• You can quickly

reset camera settings
to their original fac-
tory defaults (page
151).
• In Creative Zone
modes (page 37),
pressing the AF-ON 1. Print/Share button, when pressed in playback mode, lets you print or
button performs the transfer images when connected to a printer or computer.
same function as
pressing the shutter 2. MENU button displays and hides the menu on the monitor (page 16).
button halfway down.
3. Playback button displays the last image you captured (page 19).
4. Erase button deletes the image displayed on the monitor (page 19).
5. JUMP button jumps you between menus tabs (page 16), and between
pictures in playback mode (page 20).
6. INFO/Trimming button cycles you through information about camera
settings in shooting mode (page 15), or images in playback mode (page 19).
7. Picture style selection button cycles you though available picture
styles (page 138).
8. Power switch turns the camera on and off and when set to the white
line, activates the Quick Control Dial in shooting modes.
9. Quick Control Dial adjusts exposure by itself, and works in conjunc-
tion with buttons to change settings in shooting mode (page 37). In playback
mode it scrolls through images, and in menu mode it highlights menu com-
mands.
10. Set button in the middle of the Quick Control Dial confirms settings.
11. Multi-controller, a small joy stick, moves in 8 directions plus straight
down. It selects AF points (page 71), makes white balance corrections (page
83) and scrolls around an enlarged image in playback mode (page 19).
12. AF Point selection/Enlarge button, in conjunction with the Main or
Quick Control Dial, manually selects which AF point is used to set focus (page
71). In Playback mode it zooms the image up to 10x (page 19).
13. AE/FE lock/Index/Reduce button (*) locks exposure (page 53) and
flash exposure (page 120). In playback mode, unzooms a zoomed image and
switches to index view (page 19).
14. AF-ON button autofocuses the camera (page 69).

Changing Settings with Buttons and Dials
Changing Settings with Buttons and Dials
Buttons and dials are often used together. Pressing a button initiates a pro-
cedure by activating the exposure displays in the viewfinder and on the LCD
panel, and then turning a dial highlights on of the available options. Each
time you press the button to initiate a procedure, you only have about 6 sec-
onds to turn the dial or the displays become inactive.
• Many buttons, including Flash and the four above the LCD panel, won’t
work when the camera is asleep. To wake it up, press the shutter button half-
way down and release it.
When you press many • After pressing buttons that have two functions, such as AF/Drive, turning
buttons, their function the Main Dial changes the setting listed first (AF) and turning the Quick Con-
remains active for only
6 seconds. If you are trol Dial changes the one listed second (Drive).
slow, just press the
button again for another
6 seconds. The Main Dial
Main Dial is used to change settings in shooting modes, highlight menu tabs
in menu mode, and scroll through pictures in playback mode.
The four buttons above

• When changing metering, AF mode, ISO or selecting an AF point, you first
the LCD panel work with press and release a button to select a setting before you turn the dial.
both the Main and Quick
Control Dials. Pressing • When changing shutter speeds and apertures in Creative Zone modes you
these after pressing the turn the dial without first pressing a button (pages 40–41).
INFO button also let’s
you change settings. • After pressing MENU, turn the dial to select menu tabs listing commands
(page 16).
The Quick Control Dial

The Quick Control Dial works in shooting modes to change settings, in menu
The Quick Control Dial mode to highlight menu commands, and in playback mode to scroll through
only adjusts exposure images.
settings when the
Power Switch is set to • When changing the white balance, drive mode, flash exposure compensa-
the white line above tion or AF point, you first press and release a button to select a setting before
ON. Setting it to ON
prevents inadvertent you turn the dial.
shifts in exposure by
turning the dial. • When changing exposure compensation (page 52), selecting an aperture in
manual mode (page 42), or using program shift (page 39), you turn the dial
by itself. This only works when the Power Switch is set past ON to the white
Tip line pointing to the Quick Control Dial
• You can’t press
most buttons to • When using the menu, after pressing MENU turn the dial to move the high-
change settings un- light up and down the menu.
less the displays are
active. If they aren’t
press the shutter
button halfway down
The Info Screen
to activate them. When the camera is ready to shoot, you can press the INFO button to cycle
through two screens of information—Camera set. and Shoot func. You can
use the Set-up 1 menu’s INFO button command to specify if both are dis-
played (the default) or only one.
When the camera setting screen is displayed (it’s the one with less informa-
tion and larger type), you can use it instead of the LCD panel as a guide when
using buttons and dials to change settings. It has the advantage of larger type
and better illumination. You can also press the AF point selection button and
The Camera set screen. change the AF point using the Multi-controller (page 71).

Using Menus to Change Settings
To change many settings, you press the MENU button to display a series of
menu tabs coded with colors, icons and dots. To charge settings from these
menus you use the Main Dial, the Quick Control Dial and the SET button.
• All of the camera’s menu commands and the pages on which they are
discussed in this book are listed in tables on pages 17–18. On those tables,
shaded menu items are only available in Creative Zone modes (page 37).
• Some menus are spread across 2 or three tabs. In these cases the tab num-
bers (1, 2, 3) are indicated on the tabs themselves with dots.
• The Shooting 2, Set-up 3, Custom Functions and My Menu tabs are only
available in Creative Zone modes (page 37) as are the Live View function set-
tings and Flash control commands on the Set-up 2 menu.
Icons, colors and
dots indicate (from • RAW, sRAW, and RAW/sRAW+JPEG quality modes (page 25) are only
top down) Shooting,
Playback, Custom
available in Creative Zone modes.
Functions and My Menu
tabs.
• When menus are displayed on the screen, you can press the shutter button
halfway down at any time to instantly return to shooting mode.
• You can place up to six frequently used menu commands on your own “My
Menu” and even have that menu displayed first when you press the menu
button (page 146).
• The last menu you viewed is displayed the next time you press MENU. The
only way to change this is to use the My Menu tab (page 146).
Using Menus
• To display the menu any time the camera is on, press the MENU
button to the left of the monitor.
• To select a tab, turn the Main Dial or press the JUMP button. Color
coding and an icons indicate what menu tab is displayed.
• To move the colored selection frame up and down the menu
to highlight commands, turn the Quick Control Dial.
• To display the options for a highlighted command, press the
Once you press MENU, SET button in the center of the Quick Control Dial. To select a listed
the Main Dial, the Quick
Control Dial (above) and option (not all commands list options), turn the Quick Control Dial to
the SET button in its highlight it, then press SET to confirm the change.
center are all you need
to change settings. • To redisplay the menu tabs at any time, press MENU.
• To backup without changing to a setting, press MENU or the
shutter button before pressing SET.
• To hide the menu, press the MENU or shutter button.

Using Menus to Change Settings
In the tables on this Shooting 1 (Red)

page shaded commands
are available only when Command Settings Page
the Mode Dial is set to Quality Sets image size, compression and format 26
a mode in the Creative
Zone. Red-eye On/Off Turns red-eye reduction Off/On 115
Beep Turns camera beep Off/On 148
Shoot w/o card Specifies if the camera takes pictures without 147
a card inserted
Review time Specifies how long an image is displayed im- 148
mediately after capture
Shooting 2 (Red)
Command Settings Page
AEB Autoexposure bracketing 54
White balance Prevents color casts 81

Custom WB Sets white balance in unique lighting situa- 81
tions
WB SHIFT/BKT Adjusts and brackets white balance 83
Color space Specifies the color space used to capture 82
images
Picture Style Lets you select predefined image settings, or 139
create your own
Dust Delete Data Locates dust on the sensor so its effects can 154
be removed from images using software.
Playback 1 (Blue)
Protect images Protects images from being erased 21
Rotate Rotates images shot in portrait mode 21

Erase images Erases images from the memory card 21
Print order Specifies images to be printed 152
A few commands are
only displayed when an Transfer order Selects images to be sent to PC --
optional WFT-E3/E3A
wireless transmitter is External media Used with WFT-E3/E3A wireless transmitter --
mounted. backup to save images
Playback 2 (Blue)
Highlight alert Highlights overexposed areas in images 55
AF point disp. Specifies if AF points used to focus are dis- 71

played in review or playback modes
Histogram Selects type of histogram displayed 55
Auto play Plays back images automatically 21

In the tables on this

page shaded commands Set-up 1 (Yellow)
are available only when Command Settings Page
the Mode Dial is set to
a mode in the Creative Auto power off Specifies when camera turns off 149
Zone.
File numbering Specifies image file numbers 148
Auto rotate Rotates images shot in portrait mode 150
INFO button Specifies which INFO screens are 15
displayed
Format Prepares card to store images 150
WFT settings Used with WFT-E3/E3A wireless --
transmitter
Recording func.+media Used with WFT-E3/E3A wireless --
select transmitter
Set-up 2 (Yellow)
LCD brightness Adjusts monitor brightness 149
Date/Time Sets camera date and time 147

Language Specifies language used for menus 149
and messages
Video system Specifies PAL or NTSC video 149
Sensor cleaning Cleans dust from the sensor 153
Live View function settings Customizes the Live View display 135
Flash control Sets built-in and external flash 121
Set-up 3 (Yellow)
Camera user setting Stores your own settings to C1, C2, 140
or C3 on the Mode Dial
Clear all camera settings Resets many camera settings to their 151
factory defaults
Firmware version Updates the camera’s firmware 151
Custom Functions (Orange)

C.Fn I: Exposure Exposure, ISO, and bracketing 141
C.Fn II: Image Noise reduction and highlight tone 141

C.Fn III: Auto focus/Drive Autofocus and mirror lockup 141
C.Fn IV: Operation/Others Shutter button, AF-ON, SET dials, 141
focusing screen and Live View
Clear all Custom Func. (C.Fn) Resets Custom Functions to their 141
defaults
My Menu (Green)
My Menu Settings Stores frequently used commands 146

Playing Back & Managing Your Images
Playing Back & Managing Your Images
When taking photos, there are many times when you want to review the im-
Tips ages you’ve taken, ideally before leaving the scene.
• After zooming an
image or display-
ing information, you Image Review
can turn the Main or
Quick Control Dials
When you take a photo, it’s displayed for 2 seconds (counting from when you
to scroll through release the shutter button) although you can change this with the Review
other images using time command (page 148). With an image displayed, press the Erase button
the same settings.
to delete it, or the INFO button to change the display mode. Pressing either
• To immediately button also keeps the image on the screen until you press the shutter button
return to shooting
mode, press the
halfway down to take another photo.
shutter button half-
way down.
Image Playback
To review some or all of the images you have taken, press the Playback button
to display the last photo you took. You can then display small thumbnails so
you can quickly locate a specific image, erase the image, or zoom in to exam-
ine details. In playback mode, you can press the shutter button halfway down
at any time to instantly return to shooting mode.
INFO Display
To display or hide information about images in review or playback, repeated-
Pressing INFO in ly press the INFO button to cycle through single image display, single image
playback mode displays display with recording quality, histogram display, and shooting information
information about the
image. display. On two of the screens a small thumbnail and one or more histograms
are displayed (page 56). Once information is displayed for one image in
playback (but not review) mode, you can turn the Quick Control Dial to scroll
through other images with the same information displayed.
MANAGING IMAGES—Using Buttons

The Playback icon.
1. With the camera on, press the Playback button and use any of the fol-
lowing procedures:
● To display one image after another, turn the Quick Control Dial.
● To display 4 or 9 small thumbnails in index view, press the Index
button marked with the blue grid-like icon once or twice. Turn the
The Index/Reduce Quick Control Dial to scroll the blue frame to select a specific image.
To return to single-image view, press the Enlarge button.
● To zoom an image up to 10x, press or hold down the Enlarge
button. When an image is zoomed, a small square on the screen
indicates which part of the image you are viewing as you press the
Multi-controller to scroll around. To unzoom and return to single-
image view, press and hold down the Index/Reduce button or press
The Enlarge icon. the Playback button.
● To erase the image displayed in single-image view or the one high-
lighted in index view, press the Erase button below the monitor (a
trash can icon). Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Erase and
press SET.
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE ...
The Erase icon.

TIP MANAGING IMAGES—Using Buttons, con’t.

• One way to delete ● To change the information displayed, press INFO.
all images on a card
(and all folders but 2. To resume shooting, press the Playback button or press the shutter
the current one), is button halfway down.
to format the card
(page 150).
Jumping in Playback
In playback mode, it takes time to navigate through images when there are
many of them on a card. To speed things up you can use the Main Dial to
jump in single-image, magnified, and index modes. (You can jump in index
The Playback icon. view or with an image zoomed but you can’t change the jump mode.)
The jump modes from which you can choose include the following:
• 1 image is the default.
• 10 images jumps you forward and back 10 images at a time.
You can press the JUMP
button to select the • 100 images jumps you forward and back 100 images at a time.
jump method.
• Screen, designed for use in index mode, jumps you forward and back a
screen, or page of thumbnails, at a time. As you turn the Main Dial to jump
in this mode, a position bar on the screen indicates where the currently
displayed images fall within the total collection of images on the card. In this
mode, turning the Quick Control Dial continues to jump you one image at a
time.
• Date jumps you forward or back to the first picture take on the next or pre-
vious date.
Jumping IN Playback
1. With the camera on, press the Playback button and display photos in
single-image, magnified or index view.
2. Do one of the following:
Tips
• Canon has an ● To select a jump method, press the JUMP button and turn the
optional AC adapter Quick Control Dial.
kit (ACK-E2) you
can use to give ● To jump using the selected method, turn the Main Dial clockwise to
slide shows without jump forward and counter-clockwise to jump backward.
draining your battery
pack.
• When giving a slide
show, due to differ-
ences in the aspect Image Recovery Software
ratio of the screen
and image, im- If you delete images by mistake, don’t despair. There is software that will let you
ages may not fill the recover them if you don’t first save other photos on the same card. One such
screen, or if they do program is PhotoRescue at (http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/) but you
parts may be cut off. can find others by Googling “digital image recovery.”

Using the Playback Menu
Using the Playback Menu
The playback menu lists a variety of commands. Although only Protect,

Tips
Erase, Rotate, and Auto play from the Playback 1 menu tab are discussed
• When looking for here, the other playback commands are discussed elsewhere in this book.
pictures to erase,
protect, or rotate,
it’s often faster if MANAGING YOUR IMAGES—Using Menus
you press the In-
dex/Enlarge button 1. Press MENU and display the Playback 1 menu tab.
to switch to index
display. ● To protect selected images so they won’t be inadvertently erased,
• You can rotate im- or to unprotect previously protected images, turn the Quick Control
ages automatically Dial to highlight Protect images and press SET. Turn the Quick Con-
with the Set-up 1 trol Dial to scroll through images and press SET to protect or unpro-
menu’s Auto rotate
command (page tect selected images. (When you select a protected image, the protect
150). icon is displayed at the top of the screen.)
• Print order is dis- ● To rotate selected images, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight
cussed on page 152.
Rotate, and press SET. Turn the Quick Control Dial to scroll through
• Transfer Order your images and press SET one or more times to rotate an image.
is used to select
which photos are ● To erase selected images, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight
transferred to your
computer. Erase images, and press SET, then with Select and erase images
highlighted, press SET again. Turn the Quick Control Dial to scroll
through images and press SET to check those to be deleted. (Press
Index and Enlarge to toggle between 1 or 3 images.) When finished
selecting images, press the Erase button to delete them and select OK
when asked to confirm
The protect icon.
● To erase all images, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Erase
Images, and press SET, then turn it again to select All images on
Tip
card and press SET.
The best way to de-
lete images depends 2. When finished, press MENU.
on how many you
are deleting.
You can display your images as a slide show on the camera’s monitor or on
• When deleting a connected TV. To show your images on the TV, turn both the TV and the
100% of the images,
use the All images on camera off while you connect the supplied video cable to the VIDEO OUT
card choice. terminal on the camera and the VIDEO IN terminal on the TV. Turn on the
• When deleting less TV and set it for video input. Turn on the camera and set it to Auto play as
than 50%, use the described below. Auto power off does not operate in auto play mode and the
Erase choice. show loops over and over again. Be sure to end the show and turn off the
• When deleting camera when finished. If you are traveling and need to switch between NTSC
more than 50%, and PAL video systems see page 149.
protect the images
you want to save,
and then use the All Giving Slide Shows
choice to delete the
rest. 1. Press MENU and select the Playback 2 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Auto play, and press SET.
Each picture on the CF card will be displayed for 3 seconds.
● To pause and restart the show, press SET. When paused, a pause
icon is displayed in the upper left corner of the image.
● To manually scroll through images turn the Quick Control Dial.
● To specify what information is displayed, press INFO.
2. To stop the show at any point, press the MENU or shutter button.

Selecting Image Quality and Size
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/dots/
Digital photographs are made up of millions of tiny squares called picture el-
ements—or just pixels. Like the impressionists who painted wonderful scenes
Click to see how dots with small dabs of paint, your computer and printer can use these tiny pixels
are used in printing.
to display or print photographs. To do so, the computer divides the screen or
printed page into a grid of pixels. It then uses the values stored in the digital
photograph to specify the brightness and color of each pixel in this grid—a
form of painting by number.
Any image that looks

sharp and has smooth
transitions in tones
(top) is actually made
up of millions of
individual square pixels
(bottom). Each pixel is
a solid, uniform color.
Tip
• The term “resolu-
tion” has two mean-
ings in photography.
Originally it referred
to the ability of a
camera system to
resolve pairs of fine
lines such as those
found on a test
chart. In this usage
it’s an indicator of
sharpness, not im-
age size. With the
introduction of digital
cameras it began be-
ing used to indicate
the number of pixels
a camera could cap-
ture.
Number of Pixels
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/resolution/
Click to explore the
The quality of a digital image depends in part on the number of pixels used to
original meaning of create the image (sometimes referred to as resolution). At a given size, more
“resolution”. pixels add detail and sharpen edges. However, there are always size limits.
When you enlarge any digital image enough, the pixels begin to show—an
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/pixelzoom/
effect called pixelization. This is not unlike traditional silver-based prints
Click to see the effects where grain begins to show when prints are enlarged past a certain point.
of pixelization as an
image is enlarged.

When a digital image

is displayed or printed
at the correct size for
the number of pixels it
contains, it looks like
a normal photograph.
When enlarged too
much (as is the eye
here), its square pixels
begin to show. Each
pixel is a small square
made up of a single
color.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/imagesize/
Click to see how
the output device
determines image sizes.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/pixelresolution/
Click to explore how
more pixels give
sharper images.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/excel/math-imagesize.xls
The size of a photograph is specified in one of two ways—by its dimensions
in pixels or by the total number of pixels it contains. For example, the same
Click for Excel work
sheet on image sizes.
image can be said to have 3888 × 2592 pixels (where “×” is pronounced “by”
as in “3888 by 2592”), or to contain 10.1 million pixels or megapixels (3888
multiplied by 2592).
Image sizes are

expressed as
dimensions in pixels
(3888 × 2592) or
by the total number
of pixels (10.1
megapixels).
40D Image Sizes

• The 40D gives you
a choice of three
image sizes: 3888 ×
2592 (large), 2816 x
1880 (medium), and
1936 × 1288 (small).

How An Image is Captured

Digital cameras are very much like the rapidly disappearing 35mm film
cameras. Both types contain a lens, an aperture, and a shutter. The lens
brings light from the scene into focus inside the camera so it can expose an
image. The aperture is a hole that can be made smaller or larger to control
the amount of light entering the camera. The shutter is a device that can be
opened or closed to control the length of time the light is allowed to enter.
The big difference between traditional film cameras and digital cameras is
how they capture the image. Instead of film, digital cameras use a solid-state
device called an image sensor. In the 40D, the image sensor is a CMOS chip.
On the surface of this fingernail-sized silicon chip is a grid containing over
10 million photosensitive diodes called photosites, photoelements, or pixels.
Each photosite captures a single pixel in the photograph to be.
The Exposure
When you press the shutter button of a digital camera, an exposure system
measures the light coming through the lens and sets the aperture and shutter
speed for the correct exposure. When the shutter opens briefly, each pixel on
the image sensor records the brightness of the light that falls on it by accu-
mulating an electrical charge. The more light that hits a pixel, the higher the
charge it records. Pixels capturing light from highlights in the scene will have
high charges. Those capturing light from shadows will have low charges.
An image sensor When the shutter closes to end the exposure, the charge from each pixel is
against a background
enlargement of its measured and converted into a digital number. This series of numbers is then
square pixels, each used to reconstruct the image by setting the color and brightness of matching
capable of capturing pixels on the screen or printed page.
one pixel in the final
image.
It’s All Black and White After All
It may be surprising, but pixels on an image sensor can only capture bright-
ness, not color. They record only the gray scale—a series of 256 increasingly
darker tones ranging from pure white to pure black. How the camera creates
a color image from the brightness recorded by each pixel is an interesting
story.
The gray scale contains
a range of tones from
pure white to pure
black.
When photography was first invented, it could only record black and white
images. The search for color was a long and arduous process, and a lot of
hand coloring went on in the interim (causing one photographer to comment
“so you have to know how to paint after all!”). One major breakthrough was
James Clerk Maxwell’s 1860 discovery that color photographs could be cre-
ated using black and white film and red, blue, and green filters. He had the
photographer Thomas Sutton photograph a tartan ribbon three times, each
time with a different color filter over the lens. The three black and white im-
ages were then projected onto a screen with three different projectors, each
equipped with the same color filter used to take the image being projected.
When brought into alignment, the three images formed a full-color photo-
graph. Over a century later, image sensors work much the same way.

Colors in a photographic image are usually based on the three primary colors
red, green, and blue (RGB). This is called the additive color system because
new colors are formed by mixing together other colors. This RGB system is
used whenever light is projected to form colors as it is on the display monitor
(or in your eye).
Since daylight is made up of red, green, and blue light; placing red, green,
and blue filters over individual pixels on the image sensor can create color
images just as they did for Maxwell in 1860. Using a process called interpola-
RGB uses additive tion, the camera computes the full color of each pixel by combining the color
colors. When all three it captured directly with the other two colors captured by the pixels around it.
are mixed in equal
amounts they form How well it does this is affected in part by the image format, size, and com-
white. When red and pression you select.
green overlap they form
yellow, and so on.
Image Formats
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/RGB/
One of the most important choices you’ll make when shooting photos is what
Click to explore how format to use—JPEG or RAW.
three colors are used to
• JPEG is the default format used by the 40D and almost every other digital
create full-color images
on the screen.
camera ever made. Named after its developer, the Joint Photographic Experts
Group (and pronounced “jay-peg”) this format lets you specify both image
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/CMYK/
size and compression.
Click to explore how The 40D lets you choose from three image sizes when shooting JPEGs. Be-
three colors are used to
create full-color prints.
cause you can squeeze more 2816 x 1880 images onto a storage device than
you can squeeze 3888 x 2592 images, there may be times when you’ll want to
switch to the smaller size and sacrifice quality for quantity.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/compression/
The JPEG format compresses images to make them smaller and the 40D lets
you specify how much they are compressed. This is a useful feature because
Click here to see the
effects of compression.
there is a trade-off between compression and image quality. Images captured
in the 40D’s Fine mode are compressed less than those in the Normal mode.
Less compression gives you better images so you can make larger prints, but
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/RAW/
you can’t store as many images.
Click here to explore
the differences between • RAW images are often better than JPEG images because they are not
JPEG and RAW formats. processed in the camera, but on your more powerful desktop computer.
These RAW files contain every bit of the captured data, unlike JPEGs which
are processed in the camera with some data being discarded. RAW files are
3888 x 2592 pixels in size and can be viewed, edited, and converted to other
formats using most photo-editing software such as Photoshop or Lightroom
or Canon’s own Digital Photo Professional program included on a CD that
comes with the camera. RAW images can be captured by themselves or with a
Tips companion JPEG image of any size and quality. The later choice gives you an
identical high quality RAW file and a smaller, more easily distributable JPEG
• You can change
contrast, sharpness, file with the same names but different extensions—.CR2 and .JPG. For more
saturation, and color on RAW images, see page 59.
tone settings using
Picture Styles (page sRAW images are about one-quarter the size of other RAW images (1936 x
138). 1288 vs. 3888 x 2592) but share all of their larger sibling’s attributes and can
• When you change be edited and adjusted in the same way. Their purpose is to give you highest
image quality, the possible image quality when you don’t need a full-size image.
LCD panel always
indicates the number
of new shots that will Selecting an Image Quality
fit on the current CF
card. When you select an image format, size, and compression, you’re not only
affecting image quality but also how many images can be stored on your

CF card. Sometimes when there is no storage space left, you can switch to a
smaller size and higher compression to squeeze a few more images onto the
card. The list that follows gives the sizes/compression ratios from which you
can choose. The approximate size of photo files for each format and the num-
ber of images that you can store on a 1 GB CF card are given in parentheses.
The exact file size and number that can be stored vary somewhat depending
on the subject matter and camera settings being used.
• Large/Fine have 3888 x 2592 pixels (3.5MB, 274)
• Large/Normal have 3888 x 2592 pixels (1.8MB, 523)
• Medium/Fine have 2816 x 1880 pixels (2.1MB, 454)
• Medium/Normal have 2816 x 1880 pixels (1.1MB, 854)
• Small/Fine have 1936 x 1288 pixels (1.2MB, 779)
• Small/Normal have 1936 x 1288 pixels (0.7MB, 1451)
• RAW images have 3888 x 2592 pixels (12.4MB, 76).
• RAW + Large Fine gives you two identical 3888 x 2592 images–one in the
RAW format and one a Large/Fine JPEG (12.4+3.5MB, 59).
Image sizes are The 40D allows you to have up to five different image quality settings avail-
indicated by letters
L, M, and S (large,
able from the Mode Dial at the same time:
medium, and small).
Compression modes are
• Basic Zone modes (page 37) are treated as a group. A change in any of
indicated with pie-slice- these modes changes all of them. If you switch to any Creative Zone mode,
like icons. Fine mode the settings change to the new zone’s settings.
has a smooth edge and
Normal mode has a • Creative Zone modes (page 37) are treated as a group. A change in any of
rough stair-step edge.
these modes affects all of them. If you switch to any Basic Zone mode, the set-
tings change to the new zone’s settings.
• Camera user settings C1, C2 and C3 can each be set to it’s own image
quality (page 140).
Selecting Image Quality

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode (or to any mode in the Creative
Zone if selecting RAW), press MENU and display the Shooting 1
menu tab. (The Creative Zone is discussed on page 37.)
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Quality and press SET to
display a list of quality choices.
A high capacity card lets
you store the largest 3. Highlight one of the choices (its size in pixels is displayed above the
possible images without choices with the number of shots that will fit on the card at that set-
worrying as much about
running out of storage ting displayed in brackets—999 means “999 or more”) and press SET
space. Courtesy of to select it. (RAW modes are only displayed when the camera is set
SanDisk. to one of the Creative Zone modes.)
4. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.

Chapter 2. Controlling Exposure
Chapter 2
Controlling Exposure
A
utomatic exposure control is one of the most useful features of your
Contents camera. It’s great to have the camera automatically deal with the
• Understanding exposure while you concentrate on the image. This is especially helpful
Exposure • Choos-
ing Shooting Modes
when photographing action scenes where there isn’t time to evaluate the situ-
• Using Image ation and set the controls manually.
Zone Modes • Using
Program AE and You shouldn’t, however, always leave the exposure to the automatic system.
Program Shift • Us- At times the lighting can fool any automatic exposure system into producing
ing Shutter-Priority
(Tv) Mode • Using
an underexposed (too dark) or overexposed (too light) image. Although you
Aperture Priority can make adjustments to a poorly exposed image in a photo-editing program,
(Av) Mode • Using you’ve lost image information in the shadows or highlights that can’t be
Manual (M) Mode
• How Your Expo-
recovered. You will find it better in some situations to override the automatic
sure System Works exposure system at the time you take the picture.
• When Automatic
Exposure Works Well Typical situations in which you might want to override automatic exposure
• When to Override include scenes with interesting and unusual lighting. For example, you need
Automatic Exposure
• How Overriding
to take control when you photograph into the sun, record a colorful sunset,
Auto-exposure Works show the brilliance of a snow-covered landscape, or convey the dark moodi-
• How to Override ness of a forest.
Automatic Exposure
• Using Histograms
• Using the RAW
Format

Understanding Exposure
The most creative controls you have with any camera are the shutter speed
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/exposure/
and aperture settings. Both affect the exposure, the total amount of light
Click here to explore reaching the image sensor, and thus control how light or dark a picture is.
how changes in the
exposure make pictures • The shutter opens to begin an exposure and closes to end it. The shutter
lighter or darker. speed setting specifies how long the shutter is open and the image sensor is
exposed to light.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/focalplane/
• The aperture is the hole through which light enters the camera. The size of
Click here to watch the hole can be changed to control the brightness of the light that enters.
a focal plane shutter
expose an image. When you press the shutter button, a metering cell measures the light com-
ing through the lens and sets the aperture and shutter speed for the correct
exposure.
In the early days of photography, plates called waterhouse stops, were inserted into
a slot in the lens to control the amount of light entering the camera. These stops
had holes of various sizes drilled in them and they acted just like the adjustable iris
apertures used today. A lens cap was removed from the lens to begin the exposure
and replaced to end it—a primitive version of a shutter. This old wooden camera
The 40D’s focal plane is surrounded by a number of waterhouse stops (apertures) and a lens cap (the
shutter uses two shutter) leans against it. Photo by Ake Borgstrom at www.photographica.nu.
curtains—one opens to
begin the exposure and
the second closes to end
it. At shutter speeds
faster than 1/250 the
two curtains form a slit
traveling across the
image sensor.

The Shutter Controls Light and Motion
The Shutter Controls Light and Motion
The shutter keeps light out of the camera except during an exposure, when it
opens to let light strike the image sensor. In respect to just exposure, faster
shutter speeds let less strike the image sensor so the image is darker. Slower
speeds let in more so it’s lighter.
As the shutter speed

gets slower, the image
gets lighter. The reason
you don’t usually see
this effect in your
images is because when
you or the camera
change the shutter
speed, the camera
changes the aperture
to keep the exposure
constant.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/G-shutters/
various types of
shutters used in digital
cameras.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/speedseries/
effect of shutter speed
on exposure.
In addition to controlling exposure, the shutter speed is the most important

control you have over how motion is captured in a photograph. The longer
Katie turned a little just the shutter is open, the more a moving subject will be blurred in the picture
as the shutter opened Also, the longer it’s open the more likely you are to cause blur by moving the
causing unwanted blur
in the image.
camera slightly. Although you normally want to avoid blur in your images
there are times when you may want to use it creatively.

A fast shutter speed

(left) opens and closes
the shutter so quickly a
moving subject doesn’t
move very far during
the exposure. A slow
speed (right) can allow
moving objects to move
sufficiently to blur their
image on the image
sensor.
Tip
• To get faster shut-
ter speeds, increase
the ISO (page 63).
To get slower shut-
ter speeds, use a
neutral density filter
(page 108).
Although digital cameras can select any fraction of a second for an exposure,
Shutter there are a series of settings that have traditionally been used when you set it
1/8000 1/125 0”5 yourself (which you can’t do in many shooting modes). These shutter speed
1/6400 1/100 0”6
settings, shown in bold to the left, are arranged in a sequence so that each
1/5000 1/80 0”8
1/4000 1/60 1” setting lets in half as much light as the next slowest setting and twice as much
1/3200 1/50 1”3 as the next fastest. The 40D’s shutter speeds are listed in the table to the left.
1/2500 1/40 1”6
The 40D adds two stops between each of the traditional ones—shown in the
1/2000 1/30 2”
1/1600 1/25 2”5 table without boldfacing. This allows you to adjust exposure in one-third stop
1/1250 1/20 3”2 increments for finer exposure control.
1/1000 1/15 4”
1/800 1/13 5” • Speeds faster than 1 second are fractions of a second. A quotation mark (”)
1/640 1/10 6”
indicates a decimal point. For example 0.3 seconds is displayed as 0”3. At
1/500 1/8 8”
1/400 1/6 10” shutter speeds of 1/4 second and higher, only the denominator is shown and
1/320 1/5 13” no quote marks are used. For example, 1/4000 is shown as 4000.
1/250 1/4 15”
1/200 0”3 20” • Speeds of 1 second or slower are whole seconds and are shown as numbers
1/160 0”4 25”
with quotation marks (”). For example, 2 seconds is displayed as 2”.
30”
The Way It Was: Early Shutter Designs

The shutter, used to control the amount of time that light exposes the image
sensor, has changed considerably over the years. The earliest cameras, us-
ing imaging materials that might take minutes to be properly exposed, came
with a lens cap that the photographer removed to begin the exposure and then
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/shutterspeed/
replaced to end it. As film became more sensitive to light and exposure times
Click to explore how the became shorter, faster shutters were needed. One kind used a swinging plate
shutter speed affects while another design used a guillotine-like blade. As the blade moved past the
the capture of moving lens opening, a hole in the blade allowed light to briefly reach the film.
subjects.

The Aperture Controls Light and Depth of Field
The Aperture Controls Light and Depth of Field
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/G-apertures/
The aperture adjusts the size of the opening through which light passes to the
image sensor. The aperture can be opened up to let in more light or closed
the standard series (stopped down) to let in less. In respect to just exposure, smaller apertures let
of apertures and the less light strike the image sensor so the image is darker. Larger apertures let
aperture’s effects on in more so it’s lighter.
exposure.
As the aperture
number gets smaller
(for example, from f/8
to f/5.6) the aperture
opening gets larger and
the image gets lighter.
The reason you don’t
usually see this effect in
your images is because
when you or the camera
change the aperture,
the camera changes the
shutter speed to keep
the exposure constant.
As with the shutter speed, the aperture also affects the sharpness of your
picture, but in a different way. Changing the aperture changes the depth of
field, the depth in a scene from foreground to background that will be sharp
in a photograph. Smaller apertures increase depth of field while larger ones
decrease it. For some pictures—for example, a landscape—you may want a
The aperture is a series smaller aperture for maximum depth of field so that everything from near
of overlapping leaves foreground to distant background is sharp. But perhaps in a portrait you will
located between the
glass elements in the want a larger aperture to decrease the depth of field so your subject is sharp
lens. but the background is soft and out of focus.

A small aperture
increases depth of
field so foreground
and background are
sharp (top) and a large
aperture decreases
depth of field so the
background is soft
(bottom).
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/DOF/
how the aperture affects
depth of field.
Tip
• To get smaller ap-
ertures, increase the
ISO (page 63). To
get larger apertures,
use a neutral density
filter (page 108).
Aperture settings are called f/stops and indicate the size of the aperture
F/Stops opening. Each f/stop lets in half as much light as the next larger opening
f/1.4 f/4.0 f/11 and twice as much light as the next smaller opening. From the largest pos-
f/1.6 f/4.5 f/13 sible opening to increasingly smaller ones, the f/stops have traditionally been
f/1.8 f/5.0 f/14
f/2.0 f/5.6 f/16
those shown in boldface to the left but vary from lens to lens. Notice that as
f/2.2 f/6.3 f/18 the f/stop number gets larger (f/4 to f/5.6, for example), the aperture size
f/2.6 f/7.1 f/20 gets smaller. This may be easier to remember if you think of the f/number
f/2.8 f/8 f/22
f/3.2 f/9
as a fraction: 1/8 is less than 1/4, just as the size of the f/8 lens opening is
f/3.6 f/10 smaller that the size of the f/4 opening. Many high-end digital cameras like
the 40D add two stops between each of the traditional ones. In the table to
the left these one-third stops are shown without boldfacing.
How wide you can open the aperture depends on the len’s maximum aper-
ture—its widest opening. The term “fast lens” usually applies to lenses that
can be opened to a wide maximum aperture for the focal length. For example,
a lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 opens wider, and is faster, than a
lens with a maximum aperture of f/3.2. Faster lenses are better when photo-
graphing in dim light, photographing fast moving subjects, or using shallow
depth of field. With most, but not all, zoom lenses the maximum aperture
changes as you zoom the lens. It will be larger when zoomed out to a wide
angle, and smaller when zoomed in to enlarge a subject.
The EF 85mm f/1.2 L
II USM lens is currently
one of Canon’s fastest
lenses.

Using Shutter Speed and Aperture Together
When taking photos, one of the first decisions you make is which shooting
mode to use. Your choice determines if you control the aperture or shutter
speed. If your shooting mode lets you select them, you can pair a fast shutter
speed (to let in light for a short time) with a large aperture (to let in bright
light) or a slow shutter speed (long time) with a small aperture (dim light).
In this book and the
animations apertures Speaking of exposure only, it doesn’t make any difference which combination
are represented by you use. But in other ways, it does make a difference, and it is just this differ-
these realistic icons with
a small aperture (left)
ence that gives you some creative opportunities. Whether you know it or not,
and a large one (right). you’re always balancing camera or subject movement against depth of field
because a change in one causes a change in the other. Let’s see why.
As you’ve seen, shutter speeds and apertures each have a standard series of
settings called “stops.”
• With shutter speeds, each stop is a second or more, or a fraction of second
indicating how long the shutter is open.
• With apertures they are f/stops indicating the size of the opening through
In this book and the which light enters.
animations, shutter
speeds are represented The stops are arranged so that a change of 1 stop lets in half or twice the light
by these symbolic icons of the next setting. A shutter speed of 1/60 second lets in half the light that
with a fast shutter
speed (left) and a slow 1/30 second does, and twice the light of 1/125 second. An aperture of f/5.6
one (right). The cut out lets in half the light that f/4 does, and twice the light of f/8. If you make the
“pie slice” indicates how shutter speed 1 stop slower (letting in 1 stop more light), and an aperture 1
far an imaginary second
hand would sweep. full stop smaller (letting in 1 stop less light), the exposure doesn’t change. (In
all modes other than manual this happens automatically.) However, although
the exposure is the same, the slower shutter speed increases the possibility
of blur from camera or subject movement and the smaller aperture increases
depth of field slightly. A one-stop change like this has only a small effect, but
a 3 or 4 stop change can be dramatic. For example with a three stop change
the shutter speed might drop from 1/125 to 1/15 and the aperture might
stop-down from f/2.8 to f/11. The effects of those changes on motion blur and
depth of field would be very noticeable.
• For fast-moving subjects you need a fast shutter speed to freeze it, or a slow
one to blur it (although the focal length of the lens you are using, the close-
ness of the subject, and the direction in which it’s moving also affect how
motion is portrayed). When photographing moving subjects shutter-priority
(Tv) mode (page 40) is favored because it gives you direct control over the
shutter speed.
• For maximum depth of field, with the entire scene sharp from near to far,
you need a small aperture, and for shallow depth of field you need a large one
(although the focal length of the lens and the distance to the subject also af-
fects depth of field). When photographing landscapes and portraits aperture-
priority (Av) mode (page 41) is favored because it gives you direct control
over the aperture and depth of field.
To be sure you are using the fastest possible shutter speed in changing light,
use aperture-priority mode and select the largest aperture, or the one that
gives you the depth of field you need. The camera will then always select the
fastest matching shutter speed. The same principle works when you want the
smallest possible aperture. Use shutter-priority mode and select the slowest
shutter speed you need for sharpness. The camera will then always select the
smallest possible aperture.

Exposure—Faucets & Buckets Analogy

One way to think of how apertures and shutter speeds relate is to use the
analogy of a faucet for the aperture and a timer for the shutter speed.
• When you open a faucet all the way, water gushes out so you fill a bucket in
a very short time. This is the same as pairing a large aperture and fast shutter
speed to let in bright light for a short time.
• When you open a faucet just a little, water trickles out and so it takes a
much longer time to fill a bucket. This is the same as pairing a small aperture
and slow shutter speed to let in dim light for a longer time.
No matter which combination you choose, the bucket is filled the same
amount. Likewise, an image in a camera can be exposed the same amount by
various aperture and shutter speed combinations while also controlling mo-
tion and depth of field.
For larger apertures or

slower shutter speeds,
you can use a screw
on neutral density
filter that cuts the light
entering the lens (page
108).
1. We start with the 2. When you open the 3. When you open the
aperture set to f/16 and aperture one stop to f/11 aperture another stop to
the shutter speed to the shutter speed has to f/8 the shutter speed has
1/30. decrease to 1/60 to keep to decrease another stop
the exposure the same. to 1/125. This change
This change decreases decreases depth of field
depth of field slightly and even more and freezes
freezes action better. action even better.
The Way It Was: Early Apertures

A variety of designs in the past century and a half have enabled photographers to
change the size of the lens opening. A form of the iris diaphragm, used in today’s
cameras, was used as early as the 1820s by Joseph Nicephore Niepce, one of the
inventors of photography. Waterhouse stops, used in the 1850s were a series of
blackened metal plates with holes of different sizes cut in them. To change aper-
tures the photographer chose the appropriate plate and slid it into a slot in the
For smaller apertures or lens barrel. With wheel stops, different size apertures were cut into a revolving
faster shutter speeds, plate. The photographer changed the size of the aperture by rotating the plate to
you can increase the align the desired opening with the lens.
ISO (page 63).

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/seesaw/
Exposure—Seesaw Analogy
Another way to think of exposure is as a seesaw. As one child rises a given
relationship between distance, the other falls by the same amount but their average distance from
the aperture and the ground is always the same. In photography, when you or the camera
shutter speed.
changes the aperture or shutter speed to let in more or less light, you or the
camera must also change the other setting in the opposite direction to keep
the exposure constant.
The illustrations below show how a change in the aperture setting must be
matched by a change in the shutter speed and vice versa. As these offsetting
changes are made, the exposure stays constant but depth of field changes
slightly and subjects are more or less likely to be frozen.
1. Here the aperture is

f/4 and the shutter
speed is 1/125.
2. If you reduce the

aperture one stop to
f/5.6 the shutter speed
has to decrease one
stop to 1/60 to keep
the exposure the same.
3. If you reduce the

aperture one more stop
to f/8 the shutter speed
has to decrease one
more stop to 1/30 to
keep the exposure the
same.

Retaining Highlight and Shadow Details
Knowing how to control exposure is one of the most important aspects of

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/exposure/
photography. When a scene has both very light and very dark areas, getting
Click here to explore the perfect exposure is a lot like parking a large car in a small garage—there
how changes in the isn’t a great deal of room for error. The goal is to hold details in both the
exposure make pictures
lighter or darker. darkest and lightest areas so pure white is used only for spectral highlights
such as reflections and pure black is used only for small areas of the scene
that are black with no details.
In this scene there

are details in all of the
whites that give them
texture and form. The
small white square has
been added to give you
a reference to what
pure white would look
like.
One of the things that

makes an Ansel Adams
print so stunning was
his ability to hold details
in both the brightest
and darkest parts of
a scene. To do this
with film he developed
the Zone System
that guided him in
adjusting exposure and
development times for
the best results. Today
the adjustments are
made with Photoshop.
In this scene there are

details in the darkest
shadows. The small
black square has been
added to give you a
reference to what pure
black would look like.

Choosing Shooting Modes
Choosing Shooting Modes
Your EOS 40D offers 12 shooting modes, each of which has unique ad-
vantages in specific situations. These modes are divided into two types, or
zones—Basic Zone and Creative Zone. Each zone has a number of modes you
can select by turning the Mode Dial on top of the camera. Basic Zone modes,
including Full Auto and six Image Zones, are indicated with picture-like icons
and Creative Zone modes with letters (P, TV, Av, M, and A-DEP). Let’s take a
look at these two zones and the modes each includes.
Basic Zone modes include Full Auto, which we’ve already discussed (page
9), and six Image Zone modes designed for specific situations—Portrait,
The Mode Dial indicates
Basic Zone modes with Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait and Flash Off. These modes are
icons and Creative Zone discussed in detail on page 38. To prevent mistakes, you can only change the
modes with text. drive mode, image quality, and red-eye reduction in these modes.
Creative Zone modes give you more control of shutter speed, aperture, and
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/modedial/
other important color, ISO, and exposure settings for creative effects.
Click to see why you • P (Program AE) is like Full Auto, but you can easily select different pairs
change exposure
modes.
of aperture/shutter speed settings to control how depth of field or motion is
captured (page 39).
• Tv (shutter-priority AE, called time value by Canon, lets you choose the
shutter speed, while the camera automatically sets the aperture to give you
a good exposure. You select this mode when the portrayal of motion is most
The Full Auto icon. important. It lets you set your shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action
or slow enough to blur it (page 40).
• Av (aperture-priority AE, called aperture value by Canon, lets you select
the aperture (lens opening) while the camera automatically sets the shutter
speed to give you a good exposure. You select this mode whenever depth of
field is most important. To be sure everything is sharp, as in a landscape, se-
lect a small aperture. To throw the background out of focus so a main subject
such as a portrait stands out, select a large aperture (page 41).
• M (manual) lets you choose both the shutter speed and aperture so you can
get just the setting you want. Most photographers select this mode only when
Tips other modes won’t give them the results they want (page 42).
• In some situations,
your pictures can
• A-DEP (Auto Depth-of-field Priority) evaluates all of the focus points in the
be too light or too viewfinder and selects an aperture that will give enough depth of field to keep
dark in any shoot- all of them in focus (page 75).
ing mode. To darken
or lighten them, use • Camera user settings C1, C2 and C3 are used to store your own personal
exposure compensa-
tion (page 52).
combinations of settings (page 140).
• Check the shutter Knowing how to use these various modes gives you amazing creative control
speed and aperture over your images. Because these are the most important controls in your cre-
in the viewfinder
when you press
ative arsenal, we’ll look at them in depth in the pages that follow.
the shutter button
halfway down. If
either is blinking, the Changing Shooting Modes
camera doesn’t have
the right exposure 1. Set the Power Switch to ON or the white line above it.
setting. To see how
to adjust it, read the 2. Turn the Mode Dial to any setting so it aligns with the small silver
sections that follow. marker.

Using Image Zone Modes
The Mode Dial has six point-and-shoot Image Zone modes that work just like
Full Auto, but draw on a library of settings designed for specific situations.
For example, in Portrait mode the camera selects a large aperture for a shal-
low depth of field so the background is out of focus and softer. In Landscape
mode, it does the opposite and selects a small aperture to give you as much
depth of field and sharpness as possible. (For more on the concepts of depth
of field, see Chapter 3.)
In all Image Zone modes, the metering mode is set to evaluative (page 45).
ISO (page 63) is set to Auto so it varies between 100–800 depending on the
scene (except Portrait mode, where it’s fixed at 100). Portrait and Sports
modes have the drive mode set to continuous mode (page 134) so you can run
off a series of shots and capture an expression or action you might miss with
a single shot. Also, Picture Styles are set to boost color saturation, contrast,
and sharpness for sharper, more vivid images (page 139).
• Portrait sets the camera for continuous shooting (page 134) and minimum
depth of field so a portrait will have a soft, and less distracting, background.
To maximize the effect, zoom in on the subject, use a long focal length lens
(telephoto) so the subject fills most of the viewfinder, and make sure there is
as much distance as possible between the main subject and the background.
Image Zone icons.
• Landscape sets the camera for maximum depth of field so everything is
sharp from foreground to background. Since a slow shutter speed may be
used in this mode, you may need to support the camera (page 62). This mode
works best with a short focal length (wide-angle) lens, and the built-in flash
doesn’t fire in this mode so it’s useful in night scenes where the flash would
throw off the exposure.
• Close-up is used to capture flowers and other small objects but isn’t a
substitute for a macro lens (page 105). This mode works best with a long focal
length lens set to its minimum focus distance. If you get too close, the focus
confirmation light blinks when you press the shutter button halfway down.
• Sports mode is ideal for action sports and other fast-moving subjects. The
autofocus mode is automatically set to AI Servo AF (page 70) to keep a mov-
ing subject in focus. The drive mode is set to high speed continuous (page
134) so you can take pictures at 6.5 frames per second as long as you hold
down the shutter button. The built-in flash doesn’t fire in this mode. For best
results use a long focal length lens (page 103).
Tips • Night Portrait is designed for photographing people or other nearby

subjects at twilight, night, or dawn. The flash illuminates foreground subjects
• In some situations,
your pictures can
within range of the flash (page 112), and the shutter speed is set slow to light-
be too light or too en the background. Since a slow shutter speed may be used, you may need
dark in any shooting to support the camera (page 62). When taking a picture, be sure to hold the
mode. To darken or
lighten them, switch
camera still until the shutter closes; don’t move it just because the flash fires.
to a mode in the Cre- Also, if people are in the foreground, ask them to freeze until a few seconds
ative Zone and use after the flash has fired. In daylight, this mode operates just like Full Auto.
exposure compensa-
tion (page 52). • Flash Off disables the built-in flash or any external Speedlite flash.
• In Image Zone
modes, most but-
tons are disabled to Using Image Zone Modes
prevent you from
making mistakes • Turn the Power Switch to ON and turn the Mode Dial to any Image
with settings. Zone icon so it aligns with the small silver marker.

Using Program AE & Program Shift
Using Program AE (P) & Program Shift
In Full Auto mode (page 9), your camera is automatically set to produce the
best possible exposure. Program AE (P) mode is also fully automatic, but only
the aperture and shutter speed are set automatically. You can change other
settings including all of those you can change in other Creative Zone modes.
Tips Using Program AE (P) Mode

• If the 30” shutter 1. Set the Power Switch to ON or the white line above it.
speed is blinking in
the viewfinder, the 2. Set the Mode Dial to P (for Program AE).
image will be too
dark. Use flash or a One unique feature of Program AE mode is called program shift. This feature
higher ISO.
let’s you cycle through pairs of aperture/shutter speed settings that offer
• If 8000 is blinking identical exposures. By choosing the right combination you can choose to em-
in the viewfinder,
the image will be too phasize depth of field (page 31) or motion capture (page 29). When the flash
light. Decrease the is popped up, you cannot shift the program.
ISO or use a neutral
density filter (page
108). Using Program Shift
1. Set the Power Switch to ON or the white line above it and close the
flash.
2. With the Mode Dial set to P (for Program AE), press the shutter
button halfway down, and then release it to activate the exposure
readouts in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
3. Turn the Main Dial to scroll through pairs of aperture/shutter speed
settings and select the pair you want to use.
4. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the photo. The
shifted program setting is cancelled automatically if you pause a
few seconds after the picture is taken before taking another one. If
you take another picture before the readings disappear, you use the
shifted settings. You can also hold the shutter button halfway down
to keep the shifted setting from changing. When ready, press it all the
way down to take the picture.
One reason to use program shift mode is that it prevents you from choosing
Program AE mode is so
flexible it gives you the settings that exceed your camera’s exposure limits. In shutter-priority (Tv)
control you need for and aperture-priority (Av) mode it’s possible to select a setting that can’t be
creative images. matched. For example, you may pick an aperture that’s so large the camera
doesn’t have a shutter speed that’s fast enough to prevent overexposure.
Although aperture-priority and shutter-priority modes warn you when this
happens (page 40–41), you may not notice the warning. Following are some
of the situations you avoid when using programmed mode:
When you select a... There may be... Result
Large aperture No shutter speed that’s Overexposure

fast enough
Small aperture No shutter speed that’s Underexposure
slow enough
Slow shutter speed No aperture that’s small Overexposure
enough
Fast shutter speed No aperture that’s large Underexposure
enough

Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode
When controlling motion is the most important goal, you use shutter-prior-
ity, what Canon calls time-value (Tv) mode, so you can set the shutter speed
directly. Selecting a fast shutter speed reduces the effects of blur caused by
subject or camera movement. Selecting a slow shutter speed increases those
effects.
• When selecting a shutter speed, exposure information isn’t fully displayed
in full in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel until you press the shutter
button halfway down. After doing so, you can then release the shutter button
and have up to 6 seconds to select a shutter speed. (Actually, you can select it
whenever the camera is awake, but you won’t see the matching aperture dis-
played on the LCD panel, or either in the viewfinder so you are flying blind.)
• The current shutter speed is displayed whenever the camera is awake but
the matching aperture is only displayed when you press the shutter button
halfway down.
• Shutter speeds are displayed as described on page 30.
• The range of selectable shutter speeds is from a slow 30 seconds to a fast
1/8000 in one-third stop increments. Although digital cameras can select any
A fast shutter speed
(top) opens and closes
fraction of a second for an exposure, there are a series of settings that have
the shutter so quickly a traditionally been used when you set it yourself (shown boldfaced in the table
moving subject doesn’t on page 30). The 40D has two additional shutter speeds between each pair of
move very far during
the exposure. A slow
traditional ones so you can change the shutter speed in one-third stops.
speed (bottom) can
allow moving objects to
• There is a bulb setting available in M (manual) mode that keeps the shutter
move sufficiently to blur open as long as you hold down the shutter button (page 90).
their image.
• If you can’t get a fast enough shutter speed, try increasing the camera’s ISO
(page 63). If you can’t get a slow enough one, use a neutral density filter (page
108).
• Custom Function I-1 changes exposure increments to either 1/3rd or 1/2
stops.
• If the light changes suddenly, the camera automatically overrides your
settings for a good exposure if you have enabled Custom Function I-6 (page
142).
Shooting down from Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode

an upper level at the
Guggenheim Museum, 1. With the Mode Dial set to Tv (time value or shutter-priority) press
a very slow shutter the shutter button halfway down and then release it to activate the
speed froze the people exposure readouts in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
standing, and blurred
those who were 2. Turn the Main Dial to select a shutter speed and if the aperture value
walking.
isn’t blinking, the exposure is OK. However;
● If the lens’ largest aperture (smallest f/number) blinks, the image
may be underexposed and too dark, so turn the Main Dial to select a
slower shutter speed.
● If the lens’ smallest aperture value (largest f/number) blinks, the
image may be overexposed and too light so turn the Main Dial to
select a faster shutter speed.
3. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.

Using Aperture-Priority (Av) Mode
When controlling depth of field is the most important goal, you use aper-
ture-priority (Av) mode, so you can set the aperture directly. Changing the
f/2 f/3.5 aperture changes the depth of field, the depth in a scene from foreground
to background that will be sharp in a photograph (page 31). The smaller the
aperture you use, the greater the area of a scene that will be sharp. For some
As the aperture number
gets smaller, the lens pictures—for example, a landscape—you may want a smaller aperture for
opening gets larger. maximum depth of field so that everything from near foreground to distant
background is sharp. But perhaps in a portrait you will want a larger aperture
to decrease the depth of field so that your subject’s face is sharp but the back-
ground is soft and out of focus.
Aperture settings, called f/stops, indicate the size of the aperture opening in-
side the lens. In the traditional series of f/stops (shown boldfaced in the table
on page 32), each full stop lets in half as much light as the next larger opening
and twice as much light as the next smaller opening. The camera has two ad-
ditional apertures between the traditional f/stops so you can adjust exposure
in one-third stops. The range of apertures you have to choose from, includ-
Great depth of field ing the maximum aperture (its widest opening), depends on the lens you are
keeps everything sharp using. Lenses with large maximum apertures are better when the light is dim
from the foreground to
the background. or you are photographing fast moving subjects because they let you use faster
shutter speeds, but they cost more than slower lenses.
• When selecting an aperture, exposure information isn’t fully displayed in
the viewfinder and on the LCD panel until you press the shutter button half-
way down. After doing so, you can then release the shutter button and have
up to 6 seconds to select an aperture.
• The current aperture is displayed at all times but the matching shutter
speed is only displayed when you press the shutter button halfway down.
• Custom Function I-1 sets exposure increments to either 1/3rd or 1/2 stops.
The EF 85mm f/1.2 • To check depth-of-field in the viewfinder when using Creative Zone modes,
L II USM lens has a press the depth-of-field preview button (page 68).
maximum aperture of
f/1.2. • If you can’t get a small enough aperture, increase the ISO (page 63). If you
can’t get a large enough one, use a neutral density filter (page 108).
• If the light changes suddenly, if you have enabled Custom Function I-6
(page 142) the camera automatically overrides your settings for a good expo-
sure.

1. With the Mode Dial set to Av (aperture value), press the shutter but-
ton halfway down and then release it to activate the exposure read-
outs in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
A shallow depth of
field can make part 2. Turn the Main Dial to select an aperture and if the shutter speed isn’t
of an image stand blinking, the exposure is OK. However;
out sharply against
a softer background. ● If the 30” shutter speed blinks, the image may be underexposed
This emphasizes the
sharpest part of the and too dark so turn the Main Dial to select a larger aperture.
image.
● If the 8000 shutter speed blinks, the image may be overexposed
and too light so turn the Main Dial to select a smaller aperture.

Using Manual (M) Mode
When you want total and absolute control over exposures, you can switch to
manual shooting mode. In this mode, you manually select both the shut-
ter speed and aperture setting. Since automatic exposure combined with
exposure compensation (page 52) is so easy to use, most photographer’s
only resort to manual mode in those rare situations where other modes can’t
give them the results they want. For example, you may use this mode when
photographing a series of images for a panorama or animated GIF where you
don’t want the exposure to change at all from one shot to the next.
When you press the shutter button halfway down, An exposure scale shows
you how much you are under (-) or over (+) exposed. If the indicator flashes
at the -2 or +2 end of the scale it means you are off by more than two stops.
Manual mode is often

used when doing studio-
like shots where you
know the right exposure
for the main subject but
want to try variations
on the background
lighting.
Tip
• When changing
settings, the view-
finder’s information
display isn’t turned
on until you press
the shutter button
halfway down. After
doing so, you can
then release it while
selecting settings.
• You can’t use ex-
posure compensation
in M mode, and don’t
need to. Just change Using Manual (M) Mode
the shutter speed or
aperture to increase 1. With the Mode Dial set to M (Manual), press the shutter button
or decrease the halfway down and then release it to activate the exposure scale that
exposure from that shows how much you are over or under the recommended exposure.
recommended by the
camera. 2. With the Power Switch set to the white line above ON, turn the Main
Dial to select a shutter speed and the Quick Control Dial to select an
aperture as you watch the viewfinder or LCD panel.
● If the marker below the scale is centered (0), you’re set to the expo-
sure recommended by the camera.
● If the indicator is on the minus (-) side of the scale, you may be
The exposure scale. underexposing and darkening the image. To lighten it, select a slower
shutter speed or larger aperture.
● If the indicator is on the plus side (+) you may be overexposing and
lightening the image. To darken it, select a faster shutter speed or
smaller aperture.

How Your Exposure System Works
All exposure systems, including the one built into your 40D, operate on the
same general principles. A light-sensitive photocell regulates the amount of
electricity flowing in the exposure system. As the intensity of the light re-
flected from the subject changes, the amount of electricity flowing through
the photocell’s circuits changes. These changes are then used by the autoex-
posure system to calculate and set the shutter speed and aperture.
Your camera’s meter measures light reflecting from the part of the scene
shown in the viewfinder. The coverage of the meter (the amount of the scene
that it includes in its reading) changes, just as your viewfinder image chang-
es, when you change your distance relative to the scene or when you change
the focal length of the lens. Suppose you move close or zoom in and see in
your viewfinder only a detail in the scene, one that is darker or lighter than
other objects nearby. The suggested aperture and shutter speed settings will
be different for the detail than they are for the overall scene.
Meter Averaging and Middle Gray

Your exposure meter doesn’t “see” a scene the same way you see it. Its view is
much like yours would be if you were looking through a piece of frosted glass.
Your meter sees scenes

as if it were looking at
them through a piece
of frosted glass. It
doesn’t see details, just
averages.
The exposure system in your camera can’t think. It does exactly what it’s de-
signed to do that is only one thing. Regardless of the scene, its subject matter,
color, brightness, or composition, the meter measures only average bright-
ness, or how light or dark the scene is. The automatic exposure system then
calculates and sets the aperture and the shutter speed to render this level of
Where you see a brightness as “middle gray” in the photograph. Most of the time this works
checkerboard-like
pattern (top), your
very well because most scenes have an overall brightness that averages out to
camera sees only an middle gray. But some scenes don’t and that’s when autoexposure will lead
average gray (bottom). you astray. Let’s see why.

Most scenes contain a continuous spectrum of tones, ranging from pure black
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/frostedglass/
Click to see how your
at one end to pure white at the other. In a photograph an approximation of
exposure system sees a this continuous scale is made up of a series of discrete tones—the gray scale.
scene. When shooting JPEGs there are 256 tones in the scale (28) and when shoot-
ing RAW images there are 16,384 (214). The tone in the middle of these ranges
is middle gray and reflects exactly 18% of the light falling on it.
The gray scale captured
in an image is a range
of tones from pure black
to pure white.
When you photograph a subject, your camera’s autoexposure system sets

an exposure so that the subject appears in the final image as middle gray
regardless of its actual brightness. When you photograph subjects that have
an overall tone lighter or darker than middle gray, they will be middle gray
in the final image and therefore look too light or dark. For example, if you
photograph a white card, a gray card, and a black card, and each completely
fills the viewfinder when the exposure is calculated, each of the cards will be
middle gray in the captured image.
White, gray, and black

cards will all photograph
as gray cards.

To make scenes that don’t average out to middle gray appear in an image the
way they appear in real life, you have to use exposure compensation (page 52)
or some other form of exposure control to lighten or darken the picture.
Types of Metering
All parts of a scene are usually not equally important when determining
the best exposure to use. In a landscape, for instance, the exposure of the
foreground is usually more important than the exposure of the sky. For this
reason, the Creative Zone offers various metering methods.
• Evaluative metering divides the scene as seen through the viewfinder
into 35 zones, each of which is linked to the focus points. Each of the 35 zones
is the same size and they are laid out in a 7 x 5 matrix. When using autofo-
cus, the metering system gives special emphasis to the subject you’re focused
on at the active AF point (page 69). This mode is the default in all shooting
modes because it’s ideal for general shooting conditions and backlit scenes.
This is the only mode available in the Basic Zone. When used with manual
focus (page 72), metering is based on the center AF point.
This mode differs from the three that follow in one other respect. When using
evaluative metering with One-Shot AF (the default), pressing the shutter but-
ton halfway down locks both exposure and focus. When using AI Servo AF,
neither is locked and both are set when you take the picture. Any other com-
bination of metering (page 45) and focus (page 69) modes locks just focus.
• Partial metering meters the part of the scene falling within the circle of
AF points in the center of the viewfinder. This zone covers only 9% of view-
finder area so it’s almost a spot meter. This allows you to meter just a specific
part of the scene instead of relying on an overall reading. This mode is ideal
when photographing a subject against a very dark or very light background.
You can also meter any part of the scene and use AE Lock (page 53) to use
that reading for the overall photo.
• Spot metering meters 3.8% of the viewfinder area—the area within the
viewfinder’s spot metering circle. This mode is similar to partial metering but
is better when you want to base your exposure on an even smaller part of the
scene.
• Center-weighted average metering meters the entire scene but assigns
The areas metered the most importance to the center of the frame where the most important
(from top to bottom) subjects are usually located.
include evaluative,
partial, spot, and Metering can cause problems if the camera isn’t metering the main subject
center-weighted.
or when the main subject is very dark or light. For instance, a dark object lo-
cated off center against a very light background may not be exposed properly
if it is not located in the area the meter is emphasizing. However, you can
ensure accurate exposures using exposure compensation (page 52), AE Lock
(page 53) and autoexposure bracketing (page 54).
Changing the Metering Mode
Metering mode icons ● With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the
displayed on the LCD Metering button on top of the camera and then turn the Main Dial to
panel include (left to cycle from evaluative (the default) through center-weighted, spot par-
right, top to bottom)
evaluative, center tial, and back to evaluative metering.
weighted, partial and
spot.

When Automatic Exposure Works Well
Most scenes that you photograph have an overall brightness of middle gray.
Some areas of the scene may reflect 90% of the light and other parts may
reflect 5%, but overall the average amount of light reflecting from the scene
is 18%, the amount reflected by a middle gray subject. Whenever you photo-
graph a normal scene with this average brightness, your automatic exposure
system exposes it correctly. Typical middle gray scenes include the following:
• Scenes in bright sunlight where the subject is front-lit by a sun that is be-
hind you when you face the scene.
• Scenes on overcast days or under diffused light, such as in the shade or in
evenly-lit scenes indoors.
This image has detail in

the lightest (highlight)
and darkest (shadow)
areas. If just a little
darker or a little lighter,
details would be lost
in the shadows or
highlights.
Portraits in indirect
light generally have the
tones needed to get
a good image without
additional exposure
control.

When to Override Automatic Exposure
Let’s take a look at some of the most common situations where your automat-
ic exposure system will have problems. It’s in these situations where you’ll
need to override the suggested exposure settings.
Scenes Lighter than Middle Gray

Scenes lighter than middle gray, such as beach scenes, or bright sand or
snow covered landscapes, reflect more than 18% of the light falling on them.
The autoexposure system doesn’t know the scene should look bright so it
calculates an exposure that produces an image that is too dark. To lighten
the image so it matches the original scene, you must override the camera’s
automatic exposure system to add exposure.
The snow scene here

is typical of scenes
that are lighter than
middle gray. Most of the
important tones in the
scene are at the lighter
end of the gray scale.
The overall “average”
tone would be about
one stop brighter than
middle gray. For a good
picture you have to
increase the exposure
by one stop (+1) to
lighten it. If you didn’t
do this, the snow in the
scene would appear too
gray (bottom).

Scenes Darker than Middle Gray

Scenes that are darker than middle gray, such as deep shadows, dark foliage,
and black cloth, reflect less than 18% of the light falling on them. If you pho-
tograph such scenes using automatic exposure, they will appear too light. The
meter cannot tell if the scene is dark or just an ordinary scene with less light
falling on it. In either case it increases the exposure to make a photograph of
the scene lighter. To photograph a scene that has an overall tone darker than
middle gray, you need to override the autoexposure system to decrease the
exposure to make the picture darker.
The black cat is be-
tween one and two
stops darker than
middle gray. To darken
the scene so the cat’s
not middle gray, expo-
sure must be decreased
by one (-1) or two (-2)
stops.
Subject Against a Very Light Background

Subjects against a very light background such as a portrait against a bright
sky or light sand or snow, can confuse an automatic exposure system, par-
ticularly if the subject occupies a relatively small part of the scene. The
brightness of the background is so predominant that the automatic exposure
system reduces the exposure to render the overall brightness as a middle
gray. The result is an underexposed and too-dark main subject.
Here the scenes were

underexposed to
silhouette the people
in the foreground.
To show detail in the
people, exposure would
have had to have been
increased two stops
(+2).

Subject Against a Very Dark Background

When a small bright subject appears against a large dark background, your
autoexposure system increases the exposure to produce a middle gray tone.
The result is an overexposed and too light main subject.
The rising sun
illuminated only one
boat in this harbor
scene. If the exposure
hadn’t been reduced
by two stops (-2), the
background would be
too light and the white
boat would have been
burned out and too
white. A scene like this
is a great place to use
partial or spot metering
(page 45).
Scenes with High Contrast

TIP
Many scenes, especially those with brightly lit highlights and deep shadows,
• When photograph- have a brightness range that cannot be completely recorded on an image
ing high contrast
scenes, you can sensor. When confronted with such scenes, you have to decide whether the
decrease contrast at highlight or shadow area is most important, then set the exposure so that
the time you take the area is shown accurately in the final picture. In high contrast situations such
picture (page 139).
as these, move close enough so the most important area fills the viewfinder
frame. Use AE lock (page 53) from that position to lock in the exposure.
Another way to deal with high contrast is to lighten the shadows. A portrait,
for example, lit from the back or side is often more effective and interesting
than one lit from the front. But when the light on the scene is contrasty, too
much of the person’s face may be in overly dark shadow. In this case use fill
flash (page 116) or a white reflector card to fill and lighten the shadows.
The archway was in

the shadows and dark
while the cathedral
was brightly lit by the
sun. Both couldn’t be
exposed properly, so
the archway was left as
a solid black.

Hard to Meter Scenes

Occasionally it’s not convenient or even possible to meter a scene. Neon
street signs, spotlit circus acts, fireworks, moonlit scenes, and many similar
situations are all difficult and sometimes impossible to meter. In these cases,
it’s easiest simply to experiment using spot metering (page 45), exposure
compensation (page 52), or autoexposure bracketing (page 54) so you have
more than one exposure to select from.
This scene has a bright

sky and one brightly
illuminated fisherman
against a dark
background. A scene
such as this is hard to
meter because of the
variety of lighting.
Tip
• When photograph-
ing a TV or computer
monitor, use a shut-
ter speed of 1/30
second or slower.
A relatively small
subject against a
wide expanse of sky
will almost always be
underexposed unless
you use exposure
compensation.

How Overriding Automatic Exposure Works
How Overriding Autoexposure Works
When a scene is lighter or darker than middle gray you need to change the
exposure to capture it the way it looks or it will be too light or dark. To light-
en or darken an image many cameras let you increase or decrease exposure
by two stops or more. Here are some typical settings where you’d make these
changes.
• +2 is used when the light is extremely contrasty and important shadow
This lighthouse in the areas are much darker than brightly lit areas.
fog on Cape Cod would
have looked too dark if • +1 is best for sidelit or backlit scenes, beach or snow scenes, sunsets and
exposure compensation
hadn’t been used to
other scenes that include a bright light source, or very light objects, such as a
lighten it. white china on a white tablecloth.
• 0 (the default) is best for scenes that are evenly lit and when important
shadow areas are not too much darker than brightly lit areas.
• -1 is for scenes where the background is much darker than the subject, such
as a portrait in front of a very dark wall. Also good for very dark objects, such
as black china on a black tablecloth.
• -2 is for scenes of unusual contrast, as when an extremely dark background
occupies a very large part of the image and you want to retain detail in the
brighter parts of the scene.
1. Here are three cards

that you photograph
with each filling the
screen at the time you
take the picture.
2. The camera’s
exposure system
makes all three cards
appear gray in the
photographs. Only the
middle gray card in
the center is exposed
correctly.
3. Increasing the
exposure for the white
card and decreasing
it for the black card
captures them as they
really appear. Only the
+2 0 -2
middle gray card in the
center doesn’t need
the exposure adjusted
manually.

How to Override Automatic Exposure
Most digital cameras, including the 40D, provide one or more ways to over-
Tips ride the automatic exposure system to get the exposure you want.
• Use + exposure
compensation when
the subject is bright Exposure Compensation
and - when it’s dark.
Exposure compensation lets you lighten or darken the photograph that the
• You can specify camera would produce if autoexposure were used. To lighten a picture, you
exposure compen-
sation in one-half
increase the exposure; to darken one, you decrease the exposure. The amount
stop increments with you increase or decrease the exposure is specified in “stops.” For example,
Custom Function I-1 to increase the exposure 1 stop, you specify +1 to open the aperture or slow
(page 142).
down the shutter speed. It’s easy to use exposure compensation because you
• Enabling Cus- can immediately see the effects when you review or playback an image.
tom Function IV-7
simulates the image
exposure on the
monitor during Live
View shooting.
An exposure scale
shows you how much
you are under (-) or
over (+) exposed. If
the indicator flashes at
the -2 or +2 ends of the
scale it means you areWhen you adjust exposure compensation you can do so in full stops and even finer
off by more than two one-third stop increments. When you use the command, an exposure compensation
stops. scale is displayed. The “0” indicates the exposure suggested by the camera. As you
adjust the exposure toward the plus (+) side of the scale the image gets lighter. As
you adjust it toward the minus (-) side it gets darker. Here you see the results as
it’s adjusted from +2 (left) to -2 (right). The effect of the changes on the image are
dramatic.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/expcomp/
Click to explore
exposure compensation. Using Exposure Compensation
1. With the Power Switch set to the white line above ON, and the Mode
Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone except M (manual), press
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/explock/
the shutter button halfway down to activate the readout, and then
Click to explore turn the Quick Control Dial to move the marker on the exposure
exposure lock. scale displayed in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
● To darken the image, move the marker toward the minus (-) end of
the scale.
● To lighten the image, move the marker toward the plus (+) end of
the scale.
2. When done, reset exposure compensation to 0 otherwise it will be
remembered even when you turn off the camera.
When you fill the
screen with a gray card Autoexposure (AE) Lock
and press the shutter
button halfway down, When the subject you want to expose correctly isn’t in the center of the screen
your camera indicates and the camera is set to its default settings, you can use it to lock focus and
the best exposure
regardless of how light exposure by pressing the shutter button halfway down, and then recompose
or dark the scene is. the image. However, you can also lock exposure separately from locking focus
using the AE/FE Lock button (an * asterisk-like icon). This allows you to lock

How to Override Automatic Exposure
in the exposure of a subject such as a door of a barn sitting in a snow-covered

field, and then move back to shoot the barn in the context of the much lighter
landscape. In this example, the exposure is locked in from close up but focus
Pressing the shutter
button halfway down is locked from the actual shooting position.
locks exposure and
pressing it all the way AE Lock is set by pressing the AE/FE Lock button in any Creative Zone mode.
down takes the picture.
• When used with evaluative metering (page 45), exposure is based on the
automatically or manually selected AF point (page 71).
TIP • When used with center-weighted, spot or partial metering, or when manu-
• Custom Function
ally focusing, exposure is based on the central focus point.
IV-1 (page 142)
specifies how the AF-
• When using the built-in or external Speedlight, the AE Lock button acts as a
ON and shutter but- FE Lock button (page 120).
tons work together.
• When using evaluative metering with One-Shot AF (the default), pressing
the shutter button halfway down lock exposure and focus. However, when
you then press the AE/FE Lock button you lock exposure. You can then
release the shutter button, recompose the scene and press it halfway down
again to lock focus. When using AI Servo AF neither is locked and both are
Point the camera so you
are metering the area
set when you take the picture. Any other combination of metering (page 45)
on which you want to and focus (page 69) modes locks just focus.
base the exposure (top
left). Press the shutter
button halfway down to
lock exposure and press
the AE/FE Lock button.
Release the shutter
button, compose the
image the way you want
it (bottom right) and
press the shutter button
to lock focus and take
the photo.
Using Autoexposure (AE) Lock

If you took the picture
without first locking 1. With the flash closed and the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Cre-
exposure, it would be ative Zone other than manual (M), focus on the part of the scene on
too dark because the which you want to lock exposure and select the AF point you want to
background influenced
the exposure. use for focus (page 71). Using partial or spot metering (page 45) you
can lock exposure on an area smaller than the entire scene.
2. Press and hold the shutter button halfway down to lock exposure,
then press the AE/FE Lock button. (Each time you press it, you lock
Tip the current exposure setting.) An asterisk to the left of the shutter
• After locking expo- speed indicator on the screen indicates that exposure is locked.
sure in P, Tv, and Av
modes, you can turn 3. Release the shutter button and recompose the scene. Press the shut-
the Main Dial to use ter button halfway down to set focus and then take your photo. AE
program shift (page lock turns off automatically.
39).
● To cancel AE Lock without taking a picture, release the shutter but-
ton and wait a few seconds for the * icon to disappear.
● To keep it locked for other photos, press the shutter button halfway
down before the icon disappears, or continue holding down the AE
The AE/FE Lock icon. Lock button.

Autoexposure Bracketing (AEB)

Tips
Instead of using exposure compensation, or in conjunction with it, you can
• If you use con- use autoexposure bracketing (AEB) to run off a series of three images, each at
tinuous mode (page
134) for autoexpo- a slightly different exposure—correctly exposed, overexposed, and underex-
sure bracketing, the posed. The difference from one shot to the next can be set at up to 2 stops in
series of three shots 1/3rd stop increments.
is taken when you
hold the shutter but- • AEB stays in effect until you reset it to 0, turn the camera off, change lenses,
ton down.
or turn on the flash. If you don’t do one of these things, the camera remains
• If you use the self- set to this mode so subsequent pictures are captured at different exposure
timer in AEB mode,
all three photos are levels.
taken automatically.
• You can’t use flash or the bulb setting (page 90) with AEB.
• You can use exposure compensation with AEB to shift all three exposures
up or down the exposure scale.
Using Autoexposure BRACKETING (AEB)

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press
MENU and select the Shooting 2 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight AEB and press SET to acti-
vate the exposure scale.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to expand or contract the exposure
increment between shots and press SET. Three small bars under the
The AEB icon. scale indicate what the exposure will be for each of the three shots.
The middle bar is at the exposure recommended by the camera (or
shifted with exposure compensation—page 52) and the left and right
bars indicate by how many stops the other images will be underex-
posed (-) and overexposed (+).
The exposure scale used
to specify the exposure 4. Take each of the three photos just as you normally would.
increment between
shots. Here the dots ● While AEB is in effect, the AEB icon is displayed on the LCD panel
indicate it’s one stop.
and the three markers are displayed on the exposure scale in the
viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
● After you take the first shot, the above indicators and the AE/FE
lock icon in the viewfinder flash. When you press the shutter button
halfway down, the marker on the exposure scale indicates which of
the three images is being captured. When the series is complete, the
flashing stops.
5. When finished, repeat Steps 1–3 to reset AEB to 0.
Autoexposure
bracketing captures a
series of three shots
at different exposures.
Here the sequence is +1
(left), 0 (center), and -1
(right).
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/AEB/
Click to explore
autoexposure
bracketing.

Using Histograms
Using Histograms
Most serious photo-editing programs such as Photoshop, Lightroom and

Overexposure Photoshop Elements let you use a histogram as a guide when editing your
warning images. However, since most image corrections can be diagnosed by look-
• If you enable ing at a histogram, it helps to look at it while still in a position to reshoot the
Highlight alert, image. It’s for this reason that an image’s histogram can be displayed on the
when a histogram
is displayed areas 40D’s monitor. As you’ve seen, each pixel in an image can be set to any of 256
in the small image levels of brightness from pure black (0) to pure white (255) and a histogram
next to it that are graphs which of those levels of brightness are in the image and how they are
overexposed blink.
To darken these distributed.
areas in subsequent
images, you can use
minus (-) exposure Displaying Histograms
compensation.
You can check histograms in playback mode or while reviewing an image you
have just taken. Just press the INFO button until the histogram and a small
thumbnail of the selected image are displayed. Once displayed in playback
mode, you can scroll through other images to see their histograms.
Displaying Histograms
● In playback mode with an image displayed in single image view, or when
reviewing an image you just shot, press the INFO button until the desired
histogram for the current image is displayed.
Pressing INFO displays two histograms—Brightness graphs the overall

brightness of the composite image and RGB displays the levels of brightness
of each color—red, green and blue. You can use the Playback 2 menu’s Histo-
gram command to change the order in which they are displayed. Also, when
the histogram is displayed, so is a small thumbnail of the current image. If
you set the Playback 2 menu’s Highlight alert setting to Enable (the default is
Histograms are Disable), any overexposed areas in the image without details blink.
displayed when you
press INFO.
Selecting the Histogram and Highlights
1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode, press MENU and select the
Playback 2 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Histogram or Highlight
alert and press SET to display the choices Brightness and RGB, or
Enable and Disable. Select one and press SET.
Evaluating Histograms
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/highlight/
The horizontal axis of a histogram represents the range of brightness from 0
Click to explore how (shadows) on the left to 255 (highlights) on the right. Think of it as a line with
overexposed highlights 256 spaces on which to stack pixels of the same brightness. Since these are
blink.
the only values that can be captured by the camera, the horizontal line also
represents the camera’s maximum potential tonal range or contrast.
The vertical axis represents the number of pixels that have each of the 256
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/histogram/
brightness values. The higher the line coming up from the horizontal axis, the
Click to explore more pixels there are at that level of brightness.
histograms.
To read the histogram, you look at the distribution of pixels. Here are some
things to look for.

Chapter 2. Controlling Exposure Using Histograms
Evaluating
Histograms
● If the histogram
shows most pixels
toward the left
(darker) side of the
graph, use expo-
sure compensation
to add exposure
(page 52).
• Many photos look best when there are some pixels at every position because
● If the histogram these images are using the entire tonal range.
shows most pixels
• In most images, pixels are grouped together and occupy only a part of the
toward the right
available tonal range. These images lack contrast because the difference
(lighter) side of the
between the brightest and darkest areas isn’t as great as it could be. However,
graph, use expo-
this can be fixed in a photo-editing program using commands that spread the
sure compensation
pixels over the entire available tonal range. These controls allow you to adjust
to reduce exposure
the shadow, midtone, and highlight areas independently without affecting
(page 52).
the other areas of the image. This lets you lighten or darken selected areas of
your images without loosing detail. The only pixels that can’t be fixed in this
way are those that have been “clipped” to pure white or black (page 57).
• In a color RGB histogram, too many pixels to the left indicate that colors
may be weak. If there are too many to the right, the colors may be too satu-
rated and lack details.
The original image (top)
is flat and its histogram
indicates only part of
the tonal range is being
used. Photoshop’s
Levels command was
then used to expand the
tonal range (bottom).
You can see the change
in both the image and in
the histogram.

Using Histograms
Clipped Pixels
When a histogram shows pixels at the extreme ends of the range, in the 0
and 255 positions, it means details in those tones are being lost or “clipped”
in your image. These extremes should be reserved for specular highlights
(reflections) and small dark shadows. When large areas lack detail an image
suffers.
In the top image
you can tell from the
histogram that some
of the highlight pixels
are pure white and
hence clipped. There is
nothing you can do later
to display details in the
area of these pixels.
However, if you reshoot
the scene at a different
exposure you can shift
the pixels to the left
and avoid the clipping
(bottom).
Tip
• If highlights are
being clipped in wed-
ding dresses, clouds,
snow and other
bright subjects, you
can enable Custom
Function II-3 to give
priority to highlight
tones (page 142).
This preserves de-
tails in these bright
areas of the image To avoid clipping and better place the tonal values in subsequent shots, you
and prevents them use exposure compensation (page 52). Increasing exposure shifts pixels to
from being clipped. the highlight, or right end of the histogram. Decreasing exposure shifts them
the other way. Unless you are deliberately trying to get pure whites or pure
blacks, you should shift the pixels if any are being clipped. This then gives
you a chance to correct the image in a photo-editing program.
This series of photos was taken one stop apart using exposure compensation. As the
exposure increased pixels on the histogram shifted right. You can tell from the way
the fan blades blur that the shutter speed was changed to change the exposure. In
the image where it was faster, the image is darker and the blades are frozen. As
slower speeds were used to increase the exposure, the images get lighter and the
blades more blurred.

Sample Histograms
The way a histogram looks depends on the scene you’re shooting and how
you expose it. There’s no such thing as a good or bad histogram. Whether a
particular histogram is good or bad depends on what you are trying to accom-
plish. If fact, you may prefer to trust your visual reaction to the image more
than the very numeric image data provided by a histogram. However, even if
you never use a histogram, you can learn about digital images by understand-
ing what a histogram can show about an image. Following are some histo-
grams from good images along with a brief summary of what the histogram
reveals.
In this well exposed

portrait there is a
fairly even distribution
of values in both the
shadow and highlight
areas of the image.
There are no pure
blacks in the image as
shown by the gap at the
far left end of the scale.
This brown moth on

a gray card has most
of its values in the
midrange. That’s why
there are a number
of high vertical lines
grouped in the middle of
the horizontal axis.
This high-key fog scene

has most of its values
toward the highlight end
of the scale. There are
no really dark values in
the image. The image
uses only a little more
than half the camera’s
dynamic range. The distinct vertical line to the left of
middle gray shows how many pixels
there are in the uniformly gray frame
border added in Photoshop.
This low-key scene

has the majority of its
values in the shadow
area with another large
grouping around middle
gray. There are wide
levels of brightness that
have only a few pixels.

Using the RAW Format
Using the RAW Format
One of Ansel Adam’s better know expressions, drawn from his early experi-
ences as a concert pianist, was “The negative is the score, the print is the
performance.” In digital photography, the image file is your score and your
photo-editing program is where you perform. The printer then just does what
you’ve told it to do as you edited the image. To get the highest possible qual-
ity, you want to start with the best possible score—a RAW image file. These
files contain all of the image data captured by the camera’s image sensor
without it being processed or adjusted. You can interpret this data any way
you want instead of having the camera do it for you. If you want total control
over exposure, white balance, and other settings, this is a format you will
learn to love. Only four camera settings permanently affect a RAW image.
They are the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and focus. Other settings may
affect the appearance of the thumbnail or preview but their effects can be un-
done in an editing program. Since each camera company has defined its own
proprietary RAW format, many operating systems and even photo-editing
programs are unable to recognize some or all of these files. If the camera sup-
ports the RAW format the camera manufacturer always supplies a program
along with the camera.
Advantages of Using the RAW Format

There are a number of advantages to using the RAW format:
• RAW lets you decide on most settings after you’ve taken the picture, not
before. For example, when you shoot a JPEG image under fluorescent lights,
the camera adjusts the image to remove the yellow-green tint. Any changes
you make later are on top of this initial change. If you shoot the image in
RAW format, the camera just captures the images as is and you decide what
white balance setting to use later. You can even create different versions of an
image, each with its own white balance.
• RAW images aren’t compressed using a lossy compression scheme that
throws out data to make image files smaller. Although some cameras have a
compressed RAW format, these images are compressed using lossless com-
pression. When you open these images, they contain all of the original image
data.
• RAW images aren’t processed in the camera as JPEG images are. When
you take JPEG photos, a processing chip with the power of a small computer
manipulates them based on the camera settings you have used and then com-
presses them to reduce their size. The changes made to your images cannot
be undone later because it’s the final, altered image that is saved in the image
file. Some of the original image data is lost for good. With RAW images, all of
the original data captured by the camera is saved in the RAW image files so
you can process them later on your computer. The settings used to take RAW
images are saved, but they are not permanently applied to your images until
you save them in another format such as JPEG or TIFF. The images displayed
on the screen when you use the camera’s playback mode are just thumbnails.
• RAW images have greater color depth and that gives you smoother grada-
tions of tones and more colors. For example, JPEG images use only 8 bits per
color (RGB) or 24 bits total. This means that JPEG images can have only 256
tones (28) and 16,777,216 colors (224). Meanwhile RAW images are processed
by the sensor in 42-bit RGB (14 bits per channel) but are reduced to 24 bit
RGB (8 bits per channel) when converted into JPEG files. The full 42 bits

are retained in the RAW file format after the images are processed on your
computer because the original file isn’t overwritten with your changes. You
can even retain all 14 bits per color by saving images in a format such as TIFF
and Photoshop’s PSD format.
• RAW images can be processed again at a later date when new and improved
applications become available. Your final image isn’t permanently altered by
today’s generation of photo-editing applications.
• You can use a RAW image to generate alternate versions of the same image.
For example, many photographers will adjust highlight and shadow areas
and save these versions separately. Using a photo-editing program, they then
combine the two images and by selectively erasing parts of the top image let
areas of the lower image show through so all areas have a perfect exposure.
Disadvantages of Using the RAW Format

Admittedly, there are drawbacks to using RAW images—the size of their files
and the need to process them. When you are done shooting for the day, there
is still work to do.
• RAW files in the camera are quite large. If you use this format a great deal
you will need more storage space in the camera and computer and processing
times will be longer.
• Since RAW images aren’t processed in the camera, you have to process
them on the computer and this takes time. You need to convert them to an-
other format when you want to e-mail them, post them on a Web site, print
Tip them, or import them into another program to create a slide show or publi-
• To use the RAW cation. Many cameras help you get around this by simultaneously capturing
format, set Quality JPEG versions at the same time they capture RAW images. You can use these
to any RAW or sRAW
format with or with- more universally supported images for many of your applications and reserve
out an accompanying the high quality RAW versions for when you need the highest possible qual-
JPEG (page 26). ity.
• RAW images are not always noticeably better. Where they shine is when
you have exposure or white balance problems. Because RAW images have 16
or 12 bits per color instead of the 8 bits used by JPEG’s you have dramatically
more information to work with when making adjustments.
A RAW image before

processing (above) and
after (right).

Chapter 3. Controlling Sharpness
Chapter 3
Controlling Sharpness
O
ne of the first things you notice about a photograph is whether or
Contents
not it is sharp. Extremely sharp photographs reveal a richness of
• Getting Sharper detail, even more than you would normally notice in the original
Pictures • Sharpness
Isn’t Everything • How scene. If the entire image isn’t sharp, your eye is immediately
to Photograph Mo- drawn to the part that is. When learning to control sharpness, the first goal
tion Sharply • Focus is to get pictures sharp when you want them sharp. If your photos aren’t as
and Depth of Field •
Focusing Techniques sharp as you want them to be, you can analyze them to see what went wrong.
• Controlling Depth
of Field • Using Deep • Focus. If nothing in your image is sharp or if your central subject is not
Depth Of Field • Us- sharp but other parts of the photograph are, your camera was improperly
ing Shallow Depth of focused.
Field • Conveying the
Feeling of Motion • Depth of Field. If your central subject is sharp but the background or
foreground is less so, you may not have used a small enough aperture to get
the depth of field you wanted.
• Camera Movement. If the image is blurred all over, with no part sharp,
the camera moved during the exposure. Some dots appear as lines and edges
are blurred because the image was “painted” onto the moving image sensor.
• Subject Movement. When some of the picture is sharp but a moving sub-
ject appears blurred, your shutter speed was too slow.

Getting Sharper Pictures
Unwanted camera movement when the shutter is open is one of the major
TIP causes of unsharp photographs. You can reduce this problem in bright light
• When using a tri- and when using flash simply by holding the camera steady and depressing the
pod or other support, shutter button smoothly. At slow shutter speeds, such as those you get in dim
you can use a re-
mote control device light, particularly with a long focal length lens, you need a camera support.
to trigger the shutter
so you don’t move
the camera when Supporting the Camera
you press the shutter
button. As the focal length of your lens changes, so does the minimum shutter speed
you need to hand-hold the camera without getting any blur from camera
• Custom Function
III-7 (page 142) shake. The rule of thumb is never to hand-hold the camera at a shutter speed
lets you lock up the lower than your lens’ focal length times the 1.6x lens focal length factor (page
mirror so it doesn’t 98). For example, a 100mm lens can be handheld at a shutter speed of 1/160
introduce vibrations
when you take a or faster. (The camera displays the current shutter speed on the LCD panel,
picture. and in the viewfinder when you press the shutter button halfway down.)
• Canon makes When photographing in dim light without flash, you need to support the cam-
image stabilization
(IS) lenses that get era to prevent blur in your images. One way to do this is to lean against a wall
you sharper pictures or tree and brace yourself with your elbows tight to your body. You can also
when you handhold find a branch or railing to rest the camera on. For real stability you need a
the camera (page
97). small tripod or an even easier to carry monopod.
To hand hold the camera as steady as possible, brace the camera against
your face and brace your elbows against your sides. Just before taking a shot,
inhale deeply, then exhale and hold your breath while smoothly depressing
the shutter button. When holding the camera for both horizontal and vertical
photographs use your right finger to press the shutter button and your left
hand to support the camera.
The camera was steady
for the left picture and
moved for the right one.
Monopods by Gitzo.
Using the Self-timer/Remote Switch
The 40D has self-timer settings that give you a 2-second or 10-second delay
between the time you press the shutter button and the picture is taken. Al-
though often used to give you time to get into a picture, the self-timer is also
a great way to reduce blur when photographing in dim light. Just place the
camera on a stable surface, compose the image, and use the timer to take the
picture without any camera shake. The 2-second timer is especially useful
when doing macro photography since it takes pictures without camera shake
Placing the eyepiece caused by pressing the shutter button. Don’t stand in front of the camera
cover over the when you press the shutter button to start the timer. If you do so, you’ll
viewfinder blocks light
from entering and prevent the camera from focusing correctly. If using the timer to photograph
affecting the exposure yourself, focus it on something at the same distance at which you will be
when using the self- positioned.
timer or remote.

Getting Sharper Pictures
The 40D also has an N3 type remote control socket into which you can plug
a Remote Switch RS-80N3 with a 2.6 foot (80cm) cord that works much like
a shutter button. You can press the remote’s button halfway down or all the
way down, or even lock the shutter open for bulb exposures.
The 10 second self-
timer icon. The 2 second Using the Self-Timer
timer is the same but
with a number “2.” 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode for the 10-second timer, or to
any mode in the Creative Zone for the 2 second timer, press and re-
lease the AF/DRIVE button and turn the Quick Control Dial until one
of the self-timer icons is displayed on the LCD panel.
2. With the camera on a stable surface or tripod, and pointed at the
subject you want to focus on, press the shutter button halfway down
to set focus, then all the way down to take the picture. The self-timer
In Basic Zone modes,
ISO is set to Auto and
lamp on the front of the camera flashes, the camera beeps, and the
this icon is displayed on LCD panel displays a countdown timer. Two seconds before the pic-
the LCD panel when you ture is taken, the lamp glows steady and the beep rate increases. (To
press the DRIVE-ISO
button.
cancel the timer, turn off the camera.)
3. When finished, repeat Step 1 to return to single-frame mode.
Increasing Sensitivity
Increasing the camera’s ISO means less light is need to expose a picture. This
lets you use a faster shutter speed to reduce blur caused by camera or subject
movement, use a smaller aperture for more depth of field, or add range to
When changing ISO, the your flash. Increasing sensitivity is also a good way to get pictures without
“H” icon represents an
ISO of 3200. using flash in places such as concerts and museums where flash is prohib-
ited. The downside is that this also adds noise to the image. This is because
increasing sensitivity amplifies the captured signal, but also amplifies the
background noise captured along with it. This noise appears in images as
randomly spaced bright pixels.
In Basic Zone modes the camera sets the ISO automatically, but in Creative
Zones you can change it in one-third stop increments.
• In Basic Zone modes, the ISO is set between 100–800. The exception is
Portrait mode where it’s fixed at 100.
• In Creative Zone modes, you can set the ISO to Auto, or manually set
Noise appears in images it between 100–1600 in one-third stop increments. A setting of 3200 (H) is
as random color pixels available if you turn on Custom Function I-3 ISO expansion (page 142). To
especially when you use
long shutter speeds or reduce noise in photos taken with a high ISO you can turn on Custom Func-
high ISO settings. tion II-2 High ISO speed noise reduction (page 142). When ISO is set to Auto
in P, Av or A-DEP modes, it varies between 400–800. (The ISO to be used is
displayed when you press the shutter button halfway down.) However, if this
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/noise/
will cause overexposure it’s set as low as 100. In Tv mode it is normally set
to 400 but for very bright or dark subjects it can vary in the range 100–800.
the effect of noise in an In M mode, the ISO is fixed at 400. When Auto ISO is used with flash in any
image. shooting mode, it is normally set to 400. However, if this will cause overex-
posure it will be set as low as 100.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/ISO/ Changing the ISO

Click to see the effects ● With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press and
of increasing ISO. release the ISO button on top of the camera and then turn the Main Dial
to scroll through the available ISO settings displayed on the LCD panel
and in the viewfinder.

Sharpness Isn’t Everything
Your photos don’t have to be sharp to be effective. In many cases, it’s better
to have part of the scene sharper than the rest. Your pictures can be sharp or
unsharp in different ways. The first way concerns motion. Several factors af-
fect the way motion is captured in images. These include your image sensor’s
ISO, the overall brightness of the scene, lens focal length, and subject speed,
direction, and distance. Another kind of sharpness concerns depth of field,
how much of the scene will be sharp in the image from foreground to back-
ground. Even if you are photographing a static scene, your picture may not
be sharp if you do not have enough depth of field. However, a shallow depth
of field can be used to make a busy background less distracting by having it
out of focus in the picture. Several factors affect depth of field, including lens
aperture, lens focal length, and subject distance.
Motion in a scene can

be frozen or blurred
depending on the
shutter speed and other
factors. Blur can be
used creatively to evoke
a feeling of motion as in
this shot of a waterfall
in Yosemite National
Park.
Shallow depth of field

can focus attention on
a foreground subject by
making the background
less sharp.

How to Photograph Motion Sharply
How to Photograph Motion Sharply
The sharpness of different parts of an image helps direct the viewer who
tends to look first at the most sharply focused part of the picture. In addition,
sharpness itself can be part of the message of the photograph. The immobility
of a frozen figure can be made more apparent by blurring people moving in
other parts of the scene.
Blur in an image is caused when all or part of a subject focused onto the im-
age sensor moves when the shutter is open. To show a moving subject sharp-
ly, the shutter needs to open and close before the image on the sensor moves
a significant amount. In other words, you need to use a fast shutter speed.
But just how fast is fast enough? The answer depends on several factors. Be-
cause several variables are involved, you can’t always predict how motion will
be portrayed in the final photograph. So use different settings and take more
than one shot if possible. Try shooting from a different angle or perhaps wait
for a pause in the action. You are much more likely to get a good shot if you
have several to choose from. Just be aware that sharpness and blur are hard
to evaluate on the camera’s monitor.
Speed of Subject
The faster a subject is moving, the faster the shutter speed you need for a
sharp image. However, it’s not the speed of the subject in the real world that
determines blur. It’s how far the subject moves on the image sensor while the
exposure is being made. This depends not just on the subject’s actual speed,
but also on the direction of its movement, its distance from the camera, and
the focal length of the lens.
The shutter speed froze
the central dancer but
was slow enough to blur
the others. This makes
the central dancer the
most important person
in the photograph.
Direction of Movement
When the shutter is open, a subject moving parallel to the image sensor
crosses more of the pixels on the sensor and is more blurred than a subject
moving directly toward or away from the camera. This is why you can use a
slower shutter speed to sharply photograph a subject moving toward, or away
from you, and not the same subject moving from one side of the scene to the
other.
Distance to Subject and Focal Length of Lens

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/distance/
Click to explore how If a subject is close to the camera, even slight movement is enough to cause
blur. A subject—or part of one—far from the camera can move a considerable
camera-subject distance
affects shutter speeds.
distance before its image on the image sensor moves very much. The focal
length of the lens can also affect the apparent distance to the subject. Increas-
ing the focal length of your lens—for example, zooming in on a subject—has
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/shutterspeed/
the same effect as moving closer to your subject. The longer the focal length
shutter speed affects
of the lens, the less a subject has to move for its image to move on the image
sharpness. sensor and become blurred.
The shutter speed

needed to control the
Shutter Faster Slower
sharpness of a moving Speed
object is determined Needed
by the subject’s speed,
direction of movement,
and distance.
Speed of
Subject
On this speeding train,

the part closest to
the camera looks the Direction of
most blurred while Movement
the farthest part looks
sharper. Since all parts
of the train are moving
at the same speed, this
shows how distance
affects blur.
Amount of
zoom and
Distance to
Subject
Tip Increasing The Sharpness of Moving Ob-

To visualize the ef- jects
fects of distance on
blur, look out the ● Photograph fast-moving subjects heading toward or away from you
side window of a and not from side to side.
speeding car (but not
when you’re driv- ● Move farther away from the subject or use a shorter focal length lens.
ing). The objects in
the foreground seem ● Switch to Tv (shutter-priority) mode (page 40) or use program shift
to fly by while those
on the horizon don’t (page 39) and select a fast shutter speed such as 1/500.
seem to move at all.
● Increase the camera’s ISO so you can use a faster shutter speed al-
though this adds some noise to the image (page 63).

Focus and Depth of Field
Focus and Depth of Field
If you look around you—the book in your hand, the chair across the room,
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/criticalfocus/
the far wall—everything seems to be sharp. That is because your eyes refocus
focusing shifts the plane every time you look at an object at a different distance. But the sharpness you
of critical focus. see when you glance at a scene is not always what you get in a photograph of
that scene. To understand why not, you have to understand focus and depth
of field.
Focus
A lens can only bring one part of a scene into the sharpest possible focus. This
part of the scene falls on what is called the plane of critical focus. Subjects
falling on this plane will be the sharpest part of the picture. You move this
plane toward and way from the camera as you focus. The plane of critical
focus in your image will be the area that falls on the active AF point in the
viewfinder—the one that flashes red.
The shutter button Imagine the part of the scene on which you focus as a flat plane (much like a pane
has two stages. When of glass) superimposed from one side to the other of a scene, so that the plane is
pressed halfway down, parallel to the back of the camera or the image sensor. Objects falling exactly on
the camera locks focus this imaginary plane will be in critical focus, the sharpest part of your picture. This
and establishes the plane of critical focus is a very shallow band and includes only those parts of the
plane of critical focus. scene located at identical distances from the camera. As you point an autofocus
camera at objects nearer or farther away in the scene, the plane of critical focus
moves closer to or farther away from the camera. As the plane moves, objects at
different distances from the camera come into or go out of critical focus.
Depth of Field
Tip If you look at photographs, you can see a considerable area of the scene from
• To control depth near to far that appears sharp. Even though theoretically only one narrow
of field, switch to Av
(aperture-priority)
plane is critically sharp, other parts of the scene in front of and behind the
mode and select a most sharply focused plane appear acceptably sharp. This area in which
small aperture for everything looks acceptably sharp is called depth of field. Objects within the
great depth of field,
or a large aperture
depth of field become less and less sharp the farther they are from the plane
for shallow depth of of critical focus. Eventually they become so out of focus that they no longer
field (page 41). appear sharp.
Often it doesn’t matter so much exactly what you are focused on. What does
matter is whether or not all of the objects you want to be sharp are within the

depth of field so they appear sharp. If you want a large part of the scene to be
sharp, you can increase the depth of field. You can decrease it if you want less
of the scene sharp. In some scenes, you can significantly increase or decrease
the depth of field simply by shifting the point on which you are focused or by
changing the aperture setting.
B A C
This photo of a page

from this book shows
how shallow depth of
field can be when you
get close to a subject.
Tip
• Canon digital SLRs
have an anti-aliasing
filter over the image
sensor to improve
colors and prevent
moire. The filter also
reduces sharpness so The near and far limits of depth of field are shown here as two planes (B and C),
you should sharpen parallel to the plane of critical focus (A). Actually, they are usually not visible as
your images in the exactly defined boundaries. Nor can you usually find the plane of critical focus by
camera (page 138) looking at a picture. Instead, sharp areas imperceptibly merge into unsharp ones.
or using a program In most situations depth of field is not evenly divided. At normal shooting distances,
such as Photoshop. about one-third of the depth of field is in front of the plane of critical focus (toward
the camera), and two-thirds is behind it (away from the camera). When the camera
is focused very close to an object, the depth of field becomes more evenly divided.
In both of these images

the plane of critical
focus has been placed
on the middle face. In
the left image a large
aperture was used to
give shallow depth of
field. In the right image
a small aperture was
use to give great depth
of field.
Checking Depth of Field

To check depth-of-field in the viewfinder in a Creative Zone mode, even while
using Live View, press the depth-of-field preview button on the lower left side
of the lens mount. (In A-DEP mode (page 75) you have to press the shutter
button halfway down to select an aperture, and continue to hold it there while
pressing the depth of field button.) Pressing this button locks exposure and
closes the lens aperture down to the f/stop you’ve selected so the viewfinder
To check depth-of- gives you an idea of what’s sharp and what isn’t. However, when using small
field in the viewfinder apertures, the viewfinder image is very dark. When the maximum aperture is
press the depth-of-field selected, as it often is in dim light, you’ll see no change at all.
preview button.

Focusing Techniques
Focusing Techniques
When the lens switch is set to AF and you press the shutter button halfway
down, or press the AF-ON button with your thumb in Creative Zone modes,
the camera focuses on the nearest subject covered by one or more of the
nine AF points displayed in the viewfinder. The AF point or points used to
set focus briefly flash red when focus is achieved. (You can turn this off with
Custom Function III-4—page 142.)
• The plane of critical focus in your image will be the area that falls on the
active AF point in the viewfinder—the one that flashes red. As you point the
camera at various subjects and press the shutter button halfway down, you’ll
Lens focus switch set to
autofocus (AF). see them pop into focus.
• To check depth-of-field in the viewfinder when using Creative Zone modes,
press the depth-of-field preview button (page 68). In A-DEP mode (page 75)
you must hold the shutter button halfway down as you press it.
Tip The 40D’s autofocus system uses contrast to set the focus. In dim light, if you
• When using an have trouble focusing, you can pop up the flash and it will strobe an AF-assist
USM (Ultrasonic
Motor) lens with a
beam when you press the shutter button halfway down. (The flash pops up
distance scale in automatically in Basic Zone modes other than Landscape, Sports, and Flash
One-Shot AF mode, Off.) The technique works up to about 13.2 feet (4m) with the built-in flash
you can turn the
focusing ring on the
and up to 32.8 feet (10m) with the external 580EX II Speedlite. If you want
lens to fine tune the AF-assist beam enabled, or disabled because it’s drawing attention, or
focus after focus is if you want the flash to help focus, but not fire when the picture is actually
achieved (called full-
time manual focus-
taken, you can do so with Custom Function III-5 (page 142).
ing).
As good as the autofocus system is, there are times when it has trouble fo-
• Zoom before focus- cusing. If the camera can’t focus, the focus confirmation light flashes in the
ing since zooming
can through off
viewfinder. This happens with:
focus.
• Subjects with very low contrast including those with even expanses of a
• In Basic Zone single color or brightness, such as a blank wall or clear blue sky.
modes the AF mode,
AF point selection, • Subjects that are backlit or have reflective surfaces.
and drive mode are
set automatically. • Subjects in very dark settings.
• One of the main
reasons the cam-
• Overlapping subjects at different distances or with repetitive patterns.
era won’t focus is
because you are too
In these situations you might want to try selecting the AF point manually, use
close. focus lock, or manually focus the lens. Lets see how these techniques work.
But first, let’s look at the autofocus modes you have to choose from.
Autofocus Modes
The 40D has two autofocus modes—One-Shot AF and AI Servo AF, and a
third—AI Focus AF—that automatically switches between the first two. In
Basic Zone modes, the camera selects one of these modes for you, but in
Creative Zone modes, you can choose any of the three depending on whether
a subject is moving or not.
• One-Shot AF mode works best for still subjects. It locks focus on a subject
covered by one of the AF points when you press the shutter button halfway
When autofocus is down and focus remains locked as long as you hold the button down. This
locked, the focus mode is best for portraits and landscapes and when using focus lock (page
confirmation lights 72). In this mode, the camera won’t shoot until focus is locked and the focus
green and the active AF
point flashes red in the confirmation light lights. When using evaluative metering (the default) when
viewfinder. focus locks, so does exposure. To change focus once it’s locked, you must

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/focuszone/
release the shutter button, recompose the scene, and then press it halfway
down again. One-Shot AF is selected for you in Portrait, Landscape, Close-up,
Click to explore the way
focus zones work. and Night Portrait modes and is selectable in all Creative Zone modes.
• AI servo AF is designed to help you keep a moving subject in focus, and
is great for sports and nature photography, or any other situations where
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/servofocus/
you are photographing moving subjects. Autofocus begins when you press
effects of servo focus.
the shutter button halfway down and as long as you continue to hold it
halfway down, the autofocus system keeps the subject in focus as it’s dis-
tance from the camera changes, provided it is covered by one of the nine AF
points. When focus is achieved in this mode, the AF point used to focus isn’t
displayed in red, the focus confirmation light doesn’t light, and the beeper
doesn’t sound—except in A-DEP mode. In this mode the camera will shoot
even when a subject isn’t in focus and exposure is determined just before the
Tip
picture is taken. AI servo AF is the mode selected for you in Sports mode and
• Custom Function is selectable in all Creative Zone modes.
III-3 lets you change
the way you manu- ● When the AF point is being selected automatically, the camera first uses
ally select AF points
(page 142). the center AF point to focus. If the subject then moves away from this
point, focus tracking continues as long as it is covered by one of the other
• When using the
Multi-controller to AF points.
select a focus point,
repeatedly pressing ● If you have selected the AF point manually, the camera uses that point to
it in the same direc- focus track.
tion toggles between
selecting one AF ● In A-DEP mode, the camera focuses on the subject nearest the camera
point and selecting covered by one of the AF points and when focus is achieved the focus con-
them all.
firmation light does light and the beeper does sound.
• AI focus AF mode focuses on the subject using One-Shot AF mode, but if
the subject then starts to move, the camera automatically switches to AI servo
AF mode so it can keep the subject in focus. AI focus AF mode is automati-
cally selected for you in Full Auto and Flash Off modes and can be manually
selected in any Creative Zone mode. If focus is achieved in this mode using
servo AF, the focus confirmation light doesn’t light up, but the beeper sounds
softly.
The AF-Drive button.
Selecting An Autofocus Mode

1. With the camera in any Creative Zone mode and the focus switch on
the lens set to AF, press and release the AF/Drive button.
2. Turn the Main Dial to cycle through ONE SHOT, AI FOCUS, or AI
SERVO on the LCD panel.
Selectable Focusing Points

The selected AF point is The 40D has nine AF points and in A-DEP and Basic Zone modes, the one(s)
displayed in red in the used to set focus are selected automatically by the camera. However, in
viewfinder. Creative Zone modes other than A-DEP you can easily switch from automatic
to manual selection. When manually selecting an AF point the one currently
being used, called the active AF point, is indicated on the LCD panel and is
shown in red in the viewfinder immediately after selecting it, or anytime you
The selected AF point
press the shutter button halfway down. Manually selecting an AF point lets
is displayed on the LCD you choose which part of the scene is used to focus the camera and also lets
panel. When all nine AF you get shots off more quickly since the camera doesn’t have to take time
points are displayed,
the camera selects the
calculating where to focus.
one to use.

Focusing Techniques
When using the Multi-controller to select AF points, there are shortcuts.

• Pressing it straight down once selects the center AF point and pressing it
again selects all of them.
• Repeatedly pressing it in the same direction toggles between selecting one
The AF point button AF point and selecting them all.
Tips Selecting an AF Point

• You can lock focus 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone other than
and exposure inde- A-DEP, press the AF point selector button (five dot icon) on the back
pendently using AE
Lock (page 53). of the camera to display the active AF point in red in the viewfinder
and the AF point indicator on the LCD panel.
• Custom Function
IV-1 (page 142) lets 2. Turn the Main or Quick Control Dial to select an AF point or press
you change the way
you lock focus and the Multi-controller to select a point directly. (When all nine points
exposure. are indicated, the camera is in auto mode and will pick the AF point
for you.)
3. When finished, repeat Steps 1 and 2 to reset AF point selection to
auto (all nine dots). If you don’t do so, the setting remains in affect
even when you turn the camera off.
Displaying AF Points in Playback

When you play back images shot in One-Shot AF, or view them in review
mode, you can display the AF point or points used to set focus. This lets you
confirm that you focused on the right part of the scene. The points are dis-
played on the images in review and playback modes and on the same screens
as the histograms when you press INFO.
Click to explore focus

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/focuslock/
lock. Displaying AF Points
Playback 2 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight AF point disp. and press
SET to display the choices Enable and Disable (the default).
Tips 3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight your choice and press SET.
• You can lock expo-
sure on one part of a
scene and lock focus Using Focus Lock
on another. You can
then take the picture
To change the position of the plane of critical focus in One-Shot AF mode
or even recompose (page 70), you can use focus lock. The 40D has a two-stage shutter button.
the scene a third way When you press it halfway down, the camera sets focus, and also exposure
first.
if you are using evaluative metering (page 45). When the focus confirmation
• With most lenses light in the viewfinder glows a steady green, these readings are locked in. If
having a maximum
aperture larger than
you don’t release the shutter button, you can then point the camera anywhere
f/2.8 the center AF else and the settings remain unchanged. This lets you set the focus at any
point is twice as sen- distance from the camera to control both focus and depth of field.
sitive to vertical and
horizontal lines as When using evaluative metering with One-Shot AF (the default), pressing
the other points. The
exceptions are the EF
AF-ON or pressing the shutter button halfway down locks exposure and
28–80mm f/2.8–4L focus. When using AI Servo AF, neither is locked and both are set when you
and EF 50mm f/2.5 take the picture. AI Servo AF is used in Sports mode, possibly in Full Auto
Compact Macro
lenses.
and Flash Off modes, and you can select it in Creative Zone modes other than

A-DEP. Any other combination of metering (page 45) and focus (page 69)
modes locks just focus.
Using Focus Lock

1. With autofocus set to One-Shot AF (page 70), point it so the subject
you want to lock focus on is covered by one of the AF points in the
viewfinder.
2. Press the shutter button halfway down and hold it there to lock in
focus. The green focus confirmation light lights up and the AF point
being used to set focus briefly flashes red in the viewfinder.
3. Without releasing the shutter button, recompose the scene and press
the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
Manual Focus
To manually focus, set the lens’ focus switch to M or MF (for Manual) and
focus by turning the lens’ focus ring until the image looks sharp in the view-
finder. You can also manually focus with the lens set to AF if you are using
an USM (Ultrasonic Motor) lens that has a distance scale, in One-Shot AF
The lens focus switch. mode. You first autofocus and then turn the focusing ring on the lens to fine
tune the focus (called full-time manual focusing). Manual focus is extremely
useful when autofocus has problems, or when you want to quickly focus on an
off-center subject or a subject that is in a busy setting where the camera has
Tip trouble isolating the subject you want.
• In Live View you
can enlarge part • To see which AF point or points are being used to set focus, press the shut-
of the image up to ter button halfway down to see which flash red in the viewfinder.
10x for very precise
manual focusing • Hold the shutter button halfway down as you manually focus. When the
(page 135). subject covered by the active AF point comes into focus, it flashes red and the
focus confirmation light glows a steady green.
• After achieving focus, you can recompose the scene at will without focus
changing or having to use focus lock.
Using Manual Focus

1. Set the focus switch on the lens to M or MF.
2. Position one of the AF points over the part of the scene you want
critically sharp.
3. Hold the shutter button halfway down and focus by turning the focus
ring on the lens. When focus is achieved, the AF point used to set fo-
cus flashes red and the focus confirmation light glows a steady green.
Manual focus is useful

when the main subject
doesn’t fall on one of
the AF points, or when
you want to focus on a
very specific spot such
as the eye of a moth.

Controlling Depth of Filed
Controlling Depth of Field
Sharpness—or the lack of it—is immediately noticeable when you look at

a photograph. If you are making a portrait, you want only the person to be
sharply focused, but not a distracting background. In a landscape, on the
other hand, often you will want everything sharp from close-up rock to far
away mountain. Once you understand how to control depth of field, you will
feel much more confident when you want to make sure something is—or
isn’t—sharp.
To control depth of field, you have three factors to work with.
• Aperture size. The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field. The
larger the aperture, the shallower the depth of field.
This photo of a page
from a book shows how • Camera-to-subject distance. As you move father from the subject you
shallow depth of field
can be when you get are focused on, you increase depth of field. As you move closer, you decrease
close to a subject. it.
• Lens focal length. A shorter focal length lens increases depth of field and
a longer one decreases it.
Each of these three factors affects depth of field by itself, but even more so in
combination. You can get the shallowest depth of field with a lens zoomed in
on a nearby subject using a large aperture. You get the greatest depth of field
when you are far from a subject, with a wide-angle lens, using a small aper-
ture.
Effect Deeper Shallower

Here the camera’s on Depth
depth of field was just of Field
deep enough to keep
the bird in focus. Parts
of the image closer
to the camera and
further away become
increasingly less sharp.
Aperture
Size
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/DOF/
Click to explore how the
aperture affects depth
of field.
Camera to
Subject
Distance
Amount and
direction of
To check depth-of- zoom
field in the viewfinder
press the depth-of-field
preview button (page
68).

Using Deep Depth of Field
Often you will want to get as much depth of field as possible because impor-
tant parts of a scene that you want sharp are both near to and far from the
camera. Maximum depth of field seems particularly important for photo-
graphs of landscapes and other scenes where a distant horizon is a part of the
picture.
Focusing on the Hyperfocal Distance

Zooming out and When a subject extends to the far distance, many photographers unthinkingly
using a small aperture focus on that part of the scene. When you are focused on that distant point,
keeps everything in everything beyond it will be sharp. But since one-third of the available depth
the foreground and
background in focus. of field falls in front of the point on which you are focused and two-thirds
behind it, you are wasting two-thirds of your depth of field. That may mean
that some other part of the scene in the foreground will not be included in the
Tip one-third remaining depth of field and consequently will not be sharp.
• In Live View shoot- Instead of focusing on infinity, if you focus on some object one-third of the
ing, the image on way between you and the horizon, you bring forward the point on which you
the monitor previews
the brightness of the are focused and increase the depth of field in the foreground of your picture.
captured image when This new point of focus is called the hyperfocal distance. You can use this
you press the depth procedure not just for landscapes, but whenever you want to shift depth of
of field preview but-
ton. field toward and away from the camera.
When you focus on the

most distant part of
the scene, here it’s the
mountains, all available
depth of field to the
right of that point is
wasted. As a result, the
middle and foreground
are not sharp because
they don’t fall within the
range of available depth
of field.
By focusing on the
hyperfocal distance,
the most distant part
of the scene remains in
focus but the near point
of depth of field moves
closer to the camera.
The entire scene is
sharp.
Understanding hyperfocal distance has a side benefit. It lets you pick the
sharpest possible aperture while still getting the depth of field you want. The
smallest apertures may give greater depth of field, but they also have inter-
ference patterns that soften the image. For the sharpest possible images,
The icon for landscape you should use a midrange aperture such as f/8 provided it will give you the
mode. depth of field you need.

Using Deep Depth of Field
Focusing on the Hyperfocal Distance

1. With the focus switch on the lens set to M or MF, set the Mode Dial
to M (manual) or Av (aperture-priority) mode so you can select the
aperture.
Here the infinity symbol
on the distance scale 2. Turn the lens’ focus ring to align the infinity mark on the right side of
has been aligned with
f/11 (the selected
the lens’ depth of field scale with the f-stop you’re using (1 in illus-
aperture) on the right tration left). Read the nearest focus distance by reading up from the
side of the scale. On the same aperture number on the left side of the scale (2 in illustration
left side of the scale,
read up from f/11 to see
left).
that everything from
about 2.5 feet (0.7m) to For action photography, you can use a variation of this technique, called zone
infinity is in focus.
focusing, to prefocus and set depth of field so a specific range is always in fo-
cus. If anything happens within that range you can quickly capture it without
focusing.
Zone Focusing
1. With the focus switch on the lens set to M or MF, set the Mode Dial
to M (manual) or Av (aperture-priority) mode so you can select the
aperture.
Here 6 feet (2m) on the 2. Turn the lens’ focus ring to align the maximum focus distance on
distance scale has been
aligned with f/11 on the the lens’ depth of field scale with the f-stop you’re using on the right
right side of the scale. side of the scale (1 in illustration left). Read up from the f-stop on the
On the left side of the left side of the depth of field scale to see what the minimum focus
scale, read up from f/11
to see that everything distance is (2 in illustration left).
from about 1.75 feet
(0.6m) to 6 feet (2m) is Auto Depth-of-field AE (A-DEP)
in focus.
The 40D’s auto depth of field (A-DEP) mode is specially designed to help you
get the depth of field you want. In this mode the camera evaluates all nine AF
points and selects an aperture that will give enough depth of field to keep all
of them in focus. Since the aperture setting is given priority, the shutter speed
may be so low you need to use a tripod or other support. This is an ideal
mode when photographing groups and landscapes because it keeps everyone
or everything in focus. If you use flash, this mode works just like P.
Using Auto Depth-of-field AE (A-DEP)

1. With the focus switch on the lens set to AF, set the Mode Dial to A-
DEP and close the flash if it’s open.
2. Compose the image so the nearest and farthest points of the scene
that you want in focus are covered by one of the nine AF points in the
viewfinder.
3. Press the shutter button halfway down and the AF points covering
subjects that will be sharp flash red in the viewfinder.
● If the aperture value blinks exposure is OK, but the camera won’t
capture the desired depth of field. Recompose the image, use a wider
focal length lens, or move farther away and try again.
● If the 30” shutter speed blinks, the image may be underexposed
and too dark, so turn the Main Dial to select a larger aperture.
● If the 8000 shutter speed blinks, the image may be overexposed
and too light, so turn the Main Dial to select a smaller aperture.

Using Shallow Depth of Field
Shallow depth of field, sometimes called selective focus, is a great way to

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/selectfocus/
isolate a subject from a distracting foreground or background. When every-
Click to explore thing in a picture is equally sharp, the viewer gives equal attention to all parts
selective focus.
of the scene. But if some parts of an image are sharp and others are not, the
viewer is drawn to the sharpest part. You can selectively focus the camera and
your viewer’s attention on the most important part of the scene by limiting
depth of field so the significant elements are sharp while the foreground and
background are less so.
Only the bubble
gum blower is sharp
while figures in the
foreground and
background aren’t.
Here attention is drawn

to the sharp monarch
butterfly caterpillar and
the boy’s face is soft
and less distracting, but
sharp enough that you
can see the expression.
Decreasing Depth of Field

● Use a neutral density filter for a larger aperture.
● Zoom the lens in or move closer to enlarge the subject.
● Use aperture-priority mode or program shift to select a large aper-
ture such as f/2.8.

Conveying the Felling of Motion
Conveying the Feeling of Motion
Although sharpness is a laudable goal, it isn’t the only one. The creative use
of blur can lead to some interesting photos—especially when conveying the
feeling of motion. The shutter speed can be selected to blur some or all of an
image. Many times you don’t do anything but benefit from a happy accident.
Anything that moves day or night is a candidate for creative blurring. Your
only limitation is getting a slow enough shutter speed in bright light.
Panning the camera in the same direction as a moving subject produces an
image where the subject is relatively sharp against a blurred background.
Your movement should be smooth and controlled to get a good pan, so begin
to pan the camera before the subject enters your viewfinder. Smoothly de-
press the shutter button as you follow the motion of the subject, keeping it in
Panning with this
barred owl blurred the the same position in the viewfinder. Follow through as you would in golf or
background and created tennis. Panning takes practice so take as many images as you can. Results are
an impressionistic quite unpredictable because your body motion adds yet another variable to
image.
the final picture.
Here a fast shutter

speed froze everything
but the ball.
Conveying Mo-
tion
● Try blurring
images in low-
light situations. In
bright light, the
shutter will open
and close too fast.
● Use shutter-pri-
ority mode pro-
gram shift to select
a slow shutter
speed.
● Use a neutral
density filter to get
a slower shutter
speed.
● When panning
with a moving sub-
ject, use AI Servo
AF mode (page 70)
to keep the image
focused as long as
you hold the shut-
ter button halfway
down.

Chapter 4. Capturing Light & Color
Chapter 4
Capturing Light & Color
I
mage sensors in digital cameras are designed to produce colors that
Contents match those in the original scene. However, there is a lot of variation
• Where Does Color among sensors and among the circuits and software that process raw
Come From? • White images into final photographs. The results you get depend, in part, on the
Balance and Color •
Using White Balance
accuracy with which you expose the image and how the camera handles white
Correction & Bracket- balance.
ing • Color and Time
of Day • Sunsets and With film cameras, photographers usually explore a wide variety of films
Sunrises • Weather before settling on the one or two they like best. This is because each film type
• Photographing at
Night • The Direction
has it’s own unique characteristics. In some the grain is small, in others it’s
of Light • The Quality larger. A film may have colors that are warmer than other films, or slightly
of Light colder. These subtle variations among films are what make photographers
gravitate to one or the other. With digital cameras, you don’t have the same
choice offered by film cameras. The “film” in the form of an image sensor is
built into your camera. Whatever its characteristics are, they are the charac-
teristics you have to live with until you buy another camera.
In this chapter, we explore the world of light and color and how you manage
it in your photos.

Where Does Color Come From
Where Does Color Come From?
Why do we see colors? Light from the sun or from a lamp seems to have no
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/color/
particular color of its own. It appears simply to be “white” light. However, if
Click here to explore you pass the light through a prism, you can see that it actually contains all
color and prisms. colors, the same effect that occurs when water droplets in the atmosphere
separate light into a rainbow. A colorful object such as a leaf appears green
because when white light strikes it, the leaf reflects only the green wave-
lengths of light and absorbs the others. A white object such as a white flower
appears white because it reflects most of the wavelengths that strike it,
absorbing relatively few. Ink dyes or pigments in color prints also selectively
absorb and reflect certain wavelengths of light and so produce the effect of
color.
Although light from the
sun appears colorless
or “white,” it actually
contains a range of
colors similar to a
rainbow. You can see
these colors using a
prism to separate them
out.
White objects
reflect most of the
wavelengths of light
that strike them. When
all of these wavelengths
are combined, we see
white. On the other
hand, when all of them
are absorbed, and none
reflected, we see black.
A green object such

as a leaf reflects only
those wavelengths that
create the visual effect
of green. Other colors in
the light are absorbed
by the leaf.
“White” light actually

contains light of
different colors. The
overall color cast of the
light changes as the
proportions of the colors
change.

White Balance and Color
Although light from the sun or from a light bulb looks white to us, it not only
Tips contains a mixture of all colors, it contains these colors in varying propor-
• Color temperature tions. Light from the midday sun, for example, is much bluer than light from
ranges from high a sunrise or a tungsten lamp. To produce what appears to us to be normal or
temperature blues
to low temperature
accurate color balance, the image we capture must contain the colors in the
reds. As color tem- original scene. These colors are affected by the color of the light source.
perature increases it
moves through the The color of a light source can be described by its color temperature, specified
colors red, orange, in degrees Kelvin, somewhat like a thermometer that calibrates heat tem-
yellow, white, and
blue white in that
peratures in degrees centigrade. The color temperature scale ranges from the
order. lower color temperatures of reddish light to the higher color temperatures of
• If you shoot im-
bluish light.
ages in the RAW file
format (page 26),
Daylight has a color temperature of about 5,000–5,500 K and adds no color
you can adjust white cast to pictures. If white balance isn’t adjusted, light sources with a lower
balance on your color temperature, such as incandescent or fluorescent, add a red or yellow
computer instead of
having the camera
cast. Those with a higher color temperature, such as open shade, add a blue
do it. cast. To adjust colors so photos look like they were shot outdoors at midday,
we use a system called white balance.
You can check white balance by looking at the captured image on the cam-
era’s monitor. If you examine an image closely, you may notice that white
areas in particular have some color cast to them. If so, you may want to adjust
white balance for subsequent shots, or shoot in the RAW format so you can
adjust it later on your computer.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/whitebalance/
Using Preset White Balance Settings
Click here to explore The 40D offers a variety of white balance settings, each for a different light-
how the white balance
setting affects the way
ing situation. When you select a shooting mode in the Basic Zone, Auto white
images are captured. balance (AWB) is automatically selected. For modes in the Creative Zone you
can select Auto, one of the six presets, or use the Custom or Kelvin settings
for even greater control. The numbers in parentheses following each mode
below indicate the setting’s approximate color temperature in degrees Kelvin.
• Auto (AWB) automatically selects the white balance to match the current
light source. Select another mode if this mode doesn’t give you the results you
want. (3000–7000 K)
• Daylight is best when photographing outdoors in sunlight. (5200 K)
• Shade is best when photographing in open shade. (7000 K)
• Cloudy is best when photographing outdoors in cloudy or overcast condi-
tions. (6000 K)
• Tungsten is best when photographing indoors under incandescent lights.
(3200 K)
• White Fluorescent is best when photographing indoors under white
fluorescent lights. (4000 K)
• Flash is best photographing with the built-in or external flash. (6000 K)
Clockwise from top,
auto (AWB), daylight, • Custom (page 81) is best when other settings don’t give you the results you
shade, cloudy,
tungsten, florescent,
want. (2000–10000 K)
flash, custom, and
Kelvin icons.
• Kelvin (page 82) is best when setting a specific color temperature. (2500–
10000 K)

White Balance and Color
Tips Selecting a White Balance Mode

• If you like the 1. With the camera on and the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Cre-
warm glow of incan-
descent lights, you
ative Zone, press the WB button and then turn the Quick Control Dial
can capture them by to select a white balance icon displayed on the left side of the LCD
setting white balance panel (AWB is the default).
to daylight.
• You can save three
2. Take photos using the changed setting.
user defined Pic-
ture Styles for color
3. When finished, repeat Step 1 to reset white balance to AWB (Auto) or
saturation and tone the mode will be remembered even when you turn off the camera.
and then select any
one of them for a
specific situation Creating and Using a Custom White Balance Setting
(page 138). You can
also select the wide- If none of the preset color settings give you the results you want, you can cre-
gamut Adobe RGB ate your own. To do so, you first photograph a sheet of plain white paper or
color space to attach a commercially available 18% gray card while it fills the spot metering circle
to your images (page
82). in the viewfinder. You then use the captured image to set and save a custom
white balance. Once saved you can access the custom setting at any time by
• You can also use
the White balance selecting the custom white balance icon just as you select any other white bal-
command on the ance setting.
Shooting 2 menu tab
to set white balance. • When photographing a white or gray card, you may want to use manual
focus to ensure it’s in focus.
• If you photograph a white paper, use +1 or +2 exposure compensation to
lighten it. It you capture it so it look gray, white balance may not be as ac-
curate.
• If you take pictures of a standard white object or gray card under various
lighting situations and keep them on your CF card, you can select one at any
time with the Custom WB menu command. It’s like having a library of cus-
tom settings to choose from under various types of light.
The spot metering circle
in the viewfinder. • If you take a photo with Picture Style set to Monochrome (page 138), it can-
not be used to set white balance.
Setting A Custom White Balance

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, and white
balance set to any setting, photograph a white subject or gray card
while it fills the spot metering circle in the viewfinder.
The custom white
balance icon. 2. Press MENU, select the Shooting 2 menu tab, turn the Quick Control
Dial to highlight Custom WB, and press SET to display the image
you took in Step 1.
3. Press SET to use the image to set white balance, or turn the Quick
Control Dial to display another picture first and then press SET.
When asked to confirm setting white balance from the image, select
OK and press SET. When reminded to set white balance to Custom,
press SET.
4. Press the MENU or shutter button to exit the menu.
5. Press the WB button and turn the Quick Control Dial to select the
A gray card. icon for custom white balance on the LCD panel.

Using a Specific Color Temperature

As you’ve seen, one way to describe the color of a light source is by its color
temperature in degrees Kelvin. Lower color temperatures will make the im-
age bluer and higher ones will make it redder. If you know the color tem-
The Color temp icon. perature of your lights or have a color meter to measure them you can set the
camera to an exact match.
• When using color temperature under artificial light, you may need to use
white balance correction to adjust magenta or green bias (page 83).
• If you use a color temperature meter to determine the color temperature
of the light, you should take test shots and use white balance correction to
ensure the best possible results.
Setting Color Temperature in Kelvins

The effects of color
balance are most
obvious in the early MENU and select the Shooting 2 menu tab.
morning and late
evening when the 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight White balance and press
sunrise or sunset often SET, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight K which is displaying
changes the color of
everything you see.
the current color temperature setting.
3. Turn the Main Dial to change the setting to any temperature between
2500–10000K in 100K increments (5200 K is the default) and press
SET to select it.
4. Press MENU to exit the menu, and white balance is set to Kelvin with
the letter “K” displayed on the LCD panel.
5. When finished, reset white balance to AWB (Auto) as described on
page 81 or the selected color temperature will be used even when you
turn the camera off and back on.
Selecting a Color Space

Tip
You can switch between the default sRGB and the wider gamut Adobe RGB
• All image filenames
begin with IMG_ color space. sRGB, which supports fewer colors is the color space used in Ba-
except for those shot sic Zone modes and is suitable for images that will be displayed on a monitor.
using the Adobe RGB However, if you plan on editing your images and making high-quality prints,
color space which
begin with _MG_. Adobe RGB is a better choice. The only drawback is that when displayed on a
non-compatible screen, colors look very subdued. However, using a program
such as Photoshop or Lightroom, you can always convert images from Adobe
RGB to sRGB without any loss in quality.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/colorspace/
Selecting a Color Space
sRGB and Adobe RGB 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press
color spaces compare MENU and select the Shooting 2 menu tab.
when it comes to the
number of colors they 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Color space and press SET
can capture. to display the choices sRGB and Adobe RGB.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight your choice and press SET.

Using White Balance Correction & Bracketing
Using White Balance Correction & Bracketing
When you want to fine-tune white balance you can do so by correcting or

Tips bracketing it. You can also combine white balance bracketing with exposure
• When white bal-
bracketing (page 54), but you will get 9 images in each series.
ance bracketing is
in effect the cur-
• You can correct the color temperature used for white balance much as
rent white balance you would on film cameras with a color temperature conversion or color
icon on the LCD compensating filter. To do so, you move a dot around the WB correction/WB
panel blinks and the
remaining pictures
bracketing screen with the Multi-controller selecting any one of nine levels.
readout shows only
one-third the number
• You can bracket white balance by having a single image processed into
of images it would three pictures with different color tones having up to + or – 3 levels of a blue/
normally show. amber bias or magenta/green bias (but not both at the same time). The first
• Much of what you version is processed at the selected white balance and the other two are made
do to adjust white more bluish (decreased compensation) and reddish (increased compensa-
balance at the time
of shooting is done
tion). You cannot bracket white balance when using the RAW format, and
more easily after don’t need to. It is fully adjustable in a RAW editing program.
taking pictures when
you use the RAW While an image is being processed into a series you cannot take another
format (page 26). picture.
• Each level of blue/
amber is equivalent
to 5 Mireds of a color Using White Balance Correction/Bracket-
conversion filter. ing
• Custom Function
I-4 and I-5 specify
when bracketing is MENU, select the Shooting 2 menu tab, select WB SHIFT/BKT and
cancelled and the press SET to display the WB correction/WB bracketing screen.
order of the bracket
sequence (page 2. Do one or both of the following:
141).
• You can return
● To make color corrections use the Multi-controller to move the
color corrections and dot towards B (blue), G (green), A (amber), and M (magenta). In the
bracketing to their upperright corner of the screen SHIFT shows the bias direction and
default values by
pressing INFO.
correction amount. When the shift is 0,0 there is no correction.
● To set the bracketing direction and level turn the Quick Control
Dial. This expands the single dot to three dots that indicate what the
white balance will be for each of the three shots. The middle dot is at
the white balance recommended by the camera and the left and right
dots indicate by how many stops white balance is decreased (bluish)
and increased (reddish). Turning the dial clockwise sets B/A bracket-
ing and counterclockwise sets M/G bracketing. The BKT indicator to
the right of the grid shows the bracketing direction and level.
3. Press SET to return to the menu.
● If you have made color corrections, a WB +/- icon is displayed in
the viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
● If you have set bracketing, the current white balance icon on the
LCD panel flashes.
4. Press the MENU or shutter button to exit the menu and take your
photos.
The color correction
icon displayed when 5. When finished, repeat Steps 1–3 to reset BKT and SHIFT to 0. If you
using white balance don’t every shot you take will be corrected or bracketed.
correction or bracketing.

Color and Time of Day
In photography, there is a color of light called “daylight.” However, this type

of light occurs only at a specific time on clear days. Over the course of the
day, the light can change from a warm red at sunrise, to a cold blue at noon,
and then back to a warm red or orange at sunset. “Daylight” on the color
temperature scale is really set for midday sun between 10 A.M. and 2 P.M on
a clear day. During these hours, colors appear clear, bright, and accurately
rendered in a photo.
Before and after midday, light from the sun is modified by the extra distance
it travels through the Earth’s atmosphere. Some of the blue light is filtered
out, leaving the light with a more reddish cast than at midday. This is easily
seen very early or late in the day when the light is often quite red-orange in
tone. The change in color will affect your pictures strongly, but this reddish
cast is a wonderful light to photograph in.
Just before dawn and
at dusk, colors often
appear muted or mono-
chromatic. During these
hours when light is
relatively dim, you often
have to use an extra-
long exposure time.
Midday light on a sunny

day will produce colors
that appear natural and
accurately rendered.
Early morning and late

afternoon light produce
a more reddish color
balance than you get at
midday.

Sunsets and Sunrises
Sunsets and Sunrises
Sunsets and sunrises are relatively easy to photograph because the exposure
is not as critical as it is with some other scenes. If you underexpose the scene
slightly, the colors will simply be a bit richer and darker. Slight overexposure
will make the same scene slightly lighter.
The sun often takes on

a flattened appearance
as it rises above the
horizon. When partially
obscured and softened
by a haze, its warm,
red glow illuminates the
foreground.
Sunrises and sunsets by

themselves aren’t very
interesting. It’s objects The colors in the sky are often richest in the half hour before the sun rises
in the foreground, such and the half hour after it sets. It pays to be patient as you watch the sky
as a skyline, or unusual
atmospheric effects
change during these periods. For one thing, the sun itself is below the horizon
such as this dark cloud and not in the image so exposure problems are greatly reduced. Also, clouds
that give them some in the sky often light up dramatically and in some cases, reflect the light to
punch.
other clouds until you find yourself under a wonderful canopy of reflected
color.
Every sunrise and sunset is unique and the variations can be truly amazing.
It’s certainly not true that “if you’ve seen one sunrise or sunset, you’ve seen
them all.” If you want the sun in the photo, it’s best if it is softened and partly
obscured by a mist or haze. If it rises as a hot white or yellow ball, find an-
With the bright disk
of the sun included in Warning!
a sunset or sunrise,
your picture may • Never look at
come out somewhat the bright sun
underexposed and through the
darker than you expect viewfinder. You
it to be. Add 1 or 2 can seriously
stops of exposure to a damage your
sunset or sunrise that eyes.
includes the disk of the
sun.

other subject or turn around and photograph the scene it’s illuminating. The
rich, warm light changes the colors of everything it hits. This is a magic time
to capture images that will really stand out. Colors take on a warm, soft glow
that can’t be found at any other time of the day.
Instead of shooting into

the sun at sunrise or
sunset, shoot with it
behind you to capture
rich, warm colors of
scenes bathed in the
sun’s light.
A long-focal-length lens
enlarges the disk of the
sun so that it becomes a
more important part of
the picture. Foreground
objects silhouetted
against the bright sky,
can also add interest.
Here the camera was

positioned so the rising
sun was behind one
Anticipating the Sun and Moon
of the grain elevators When planning to integrate the sun or moon into an image it helps to know when
where it wouldn’t burn it rises or sets and what phase the moon is. This information is available in alma-
out the image with its nacs and on the Web at the U.S. Naval Observatory (http://www.usno.navy.mil).
glare.

Weather
Weather
There’s no need to leave your camera home just because the sun hasn’t come
out. In fact, rain, snow, fog, and mist can add interest to your pictures. Ob-
jects at a distance often appear diffused and gray in such weather, with fore-
ground objects brighter than normal because they are seen against a muted
background. Remember to take a little extra care in bad weather to protect
your camera against excessive exposure to dampness.
Snow covered scenes

are not only beautiful
to look at, they make
great photographs.
Tip
• Canon L series
lenses are sealed and
weather resistant
as is the 580EX II
Speedlight. Unfortu-
nately, the 40D isn’t
as well protected.
A light fog subdues

colors and softens
objects in the
background.
A very light mist can

dim the sun enough
to include it in a
photograph. If it weren’t Rainbows always make good pictures. The problem is, you rarely find them
partially obscured by
the fog, it would appear where you want them, when you want them. To get better at capturing them,
as a white dot against a you should know how they form so you can anticipate them. Rainbows are
very dark background. formed when sunlight is refracted by raindrops. You’ll usually find the combi-
nation of rain and sun at the leading or trailing edge of a summer storm. You

can’t see rainbows at all times of the day. To understand why, visualize the
CAMERA CARE way the rainbow works.
• In the cold, bat-
teries run down a
lot faster. To pre-
vent this, keep the
camera or battery
under your coat or
in an inside pocket
so the battery stays
warmer.
If you stand with your back to the sun while looking at a rainbow, imagine a line
from the sun passing through your eye, through the Earth, and out into space.
(This is called the antisolar point.) The rainbow forms a complete circle around this
imaginary line, however from ground level part of it is always below the horizon. A
line drawn from your eye to the top of the rainbow forms a 42-degree angle with
the imaginary line from the sun through your eye. (If there is a secondary rainbow,
it forms an angle of 51-degrees.) Because these angles determine the position of
the rainbow in the sky, it will sink as the sun rises and rise as the sun sinks. At
some points, the entire rainbow, not just the bottom half, will be below the horizon
where you can’t see it. That’s why you’ll never see a summer rainbow at midday.
From a plane you can

sometimes see all 360-
degrees of a rainbow.
Here you see a section
of one shot through an
airliner window. To the
right of the brighter
primary rainbow is a
dimmer secondary one.
Here a rainbow
dramatically appears
in a New England
seascape.

Photographing at Night
Photographing at Night
You can photograph many different things outdoors at night, so don’t put
your camera away just because the sun is gone for the day. Light sources
(street lights, automobile lights, neon signs, or fires) or brightly lit areas (il-
luminated buildings or areas under street lights) will dominate pictures at
night because they stand out strongly against darker backgrounds. Plan to
use these bright areas as the dominant part of your picture. A tripod or solid
surface will support your camera during long exposures and prevent blur
caused by camera motion during the time the shutter is open.
This scene of Faneuil
Hall in Boston was
shot at night with just
illumination from street
lights.
Fireworks can be
dramatic, but are To capture interesting images of fireworks, put people or water in the fore-
difficult to capture. You ground. It also helps if there are identifiable objects in the image such as
need to experiment
and a digital camera is
an illuminated building or monument to give the viewer a sense of place.
perfect for that because Get upwind from the show since fireworks generate a lot of smoke that can
you can instantly review become a problem if you are downwind. If you are upwind, the smoke will
your results.
become part of the image, illuminated by the fireworks. Set your exposure for
fireworks by switching to Av (aperture-priority) or Tv (shutter-priority) mode
and try for a setting of f/2.8 at 1/30 second. Try a series of exposures of dif-
Tip ferent bursts because there is a certain amount of luck involved. If there are
• If the camera has foreground figures you might try fill flash (page 116) or Night Portrait mode
trouble focusing, (page 38).
switch to manual
focus, or pop-up the You might also want to try increasing sensitivity, use exposure compensation,
flash so it can strobe and try different combinations of aperture and shutter speed as well as those
to assist focus. (It
does this automati- recommended here. Finally, for really interesting effects, you might switch
cally in most Basic to manual exposure and use the bulb setting (page 90) to capture multiple
Zone modes.) To use bursts. You might also explore using Program AE and shifting the program to
the flash to assist
focus but not fire get the slowest possible shutter speed (page 39).
during the exposure,
use Custom Function The moon, especially when full, adds a lot to an image. The best time to cap-
III-5 (page 141). ture the moon is when it’s near the horizon. Because it is close to foreground
objects at that time, it looks much larger than when it’s higher in the sky.

Keep in mind that the moon is relatively dim and usually requires long ex-
Tips
posures. Since it’s moving relative to the Earth, longer exposures can actu-
• You might want to ally blur it, giving it a slightly oblong shape. To reduce the chances of this
switch to Tv (shut-
ter-priority) mode so happening, shoot just before sunrise or just after sunset when there is still
you can use shutter some light in the atmosphere from the recently set sun. (It bends around the
speeds as slow as 30 Earth’s curvature due to refraction in the atmosphere.)
seconds (page 40)
or M (manual) mode Try Night Portrait mode when photographing people at twilight, night, or
and use the bulb
setting. dawn. It illuminates foreground subjects with the flash and the shutter speed
is set slow enough to lighten the background. This mode is especially good for
• Turn on Custom
Function II-1 to outdoor shots with foreground subjects. Since a slow shutter speed may be
reduce the effects of used in this mode, you may need to support the camera (page 62).
noise on long expo-
sures (page 141). To get exposures at night, you can use the bulb setting. Bulb makes it possible
to capture light trails from moving cars and star trails as the Earth rotates
under a canopy of stars. When in this mode, the timer goes to 999 seconds
as long as you hold down the shutter button and moving lights paint lines in
the image. To avoid blur from camera shake, you must use a tripod or other
secure support. It can be tiring to hold the shutter button down, and hard
to keep from moving the camera. It is much easier to use the remote switch
RS-80N3 (page 63) to lock the shutter open for long exposures. Keep in mind
that when using bulb, you can’t see through the viewfinder while the expo-
sure is being made. Also long exposures add noise to an image but you can
turn on Custom Function II-1 to reduce it.
Using Bulb Exposures

1. Set the Mode Dial to M (manual) and the Power Switch set to the
white line above ON.
Pressing the LCD Panel 2. Turn the Main Dial to select buLB, then turn the Quick Control Dial
Illumination button to select an aperture.
lights the LCD panel
so it’s readable in the 3. Press and hold down the shutter button for as long as you wish. A
dark. It turns off after
6 seconds of inactivity. timer is displayed on the LCD panel to guide you and counts up to
Turning the Mode 999 seconds.
Dial or pressing any
shooting related button
extends it.
At twilight you may

want to use the Night
Portrait setting (page
38).

The Direction of Light
The Direction of Light
The direction that light comes from relative to your camera’s position is im-
portant because it determines where shadows will be visible in your picture.
It can also affect your exposure. Backlighting, for example, can have your
subject silhouetted against a background so bright that your automatic ex-
posure system will underexpose the scene and make the subject even darker.
This is fine, if you want a silhouette. If you don’t, you should use exposure
compensation to lighten the image.
Four main types of lighting are illustrated here: front-lighting, side-lighting,
backlighting, and top-lighting. Notice the position of the shadows in these
photographs and how they affect the subjects.
Side-lighting, increases
the sense of texture
and volume because it
casts shadows visible
from the camera’s
position. Landscape
photographers often
prefer to work early
in the morning or late
in the day because
the low sun sidelights
scenes and adds
interesting surface
textures.
Front-lighting decreases
visible shadows and
minimizes surface
details as well as the
apparent depth or
volume of the subject.

Backlighting puts the

side of the subject that
is facing the camera
in shade. Automatic
exposure tends to make
backlit scenes too dark.
You can add exposure
to lighten the picture,
especially those parts
that are in shade.
Top-lighting can occur

outdoors at midday or
indoors where ceiling
lights predominate. If
you are photographing
a person, you will notice
that top-lighting tends
to cast shadows in eye-
sockets and illuminate
the top of the nose
brightly. To avoid this
effect, you might try
moving the person into
the shade.
Tip
• In Basic Zone
modes other than
Landscape, Sports,
and Flash Off, the
built-in flash will pop
up and fire automati-
cally in backlit condi-
tions.
Top-lighting, such
as that found at
midday, can selectively
illuminate things, such
as this flag in the man’s
back pocket, that would
be in shadow with light
coming from a lower
angle.

The Quality of Light
The Quality of Light
Light not only has direction, it can be direct or diffused. Direct light that
comes mainly from one direction produces relatively high contrast between
bright highlights and dark shadows. Diffused light bounces onto the sub-
ject from several directions, lowering contrast. Contrast, in turn, affects the
brilliance of colors, the amount of visible texture and detail, and other visual
characteristics.
In direct light you may have to choose whether you want highlights or shad-
ows to be correctly rendered because image sensors can accurately record
only a limited range of contrast between light and dark areas. If this creates a
problem because both highlights and shadowed areas are important, you can
sometimes add fill light to lighten shadows and decrease contrast or adjust
the contrast setting (page 138). In diffused light, colors tend to be softer than
in direct light and textures are also softened because shadow edges are indis-
tinct.
Direct light comes from
a point source, such as
the sun on a clear day.
It produces dark, hard-
edged shadows that
crisply outline details.
Here the light and
shadows almost form an
abstraction.
Diffused light comes

from a light source
that is so large rela-
tive to the subject that
it illuminates from
several directions. On
a hazy or overcast day,
illumination comes
from the entire dome
of the sky, not from the
brighter, but smaller,
sun. Indoors, light
bounced into an um-
brella reflector or onto
a wall or ceiling creates
a broad source of light
that wraps around the
subject.

Chapter 5. Understanding Lenses
Chapter 5
Understanding Lenses
T
he Canon 40D is one of the latest affordable digital cameras that lets
Contents you draw from a vast array of interchangeable lenses. These range from
• Canon Lenses • fish-eye lenses for extreme wide-angle shots, to lenses that will capture
Focal Length • Zoom an athlete’s expression across the width of a football field. If you’re new to
Lenses • Normal
Lenses • Wide-Angle
photography, you’ll be amazed at the difference high-quality interchangeable
Lenses • Telephoto lenses can make. If you are an experienced digital photographer with a back-
Lenses • Macro ground in SLR cameras, you’ll just say “It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Lenses and Acces-
sories • Tilt-Shift A favorite lens of many photographers is a high quality zoom lens that lets
Lenses • Lens Acces- you quickly zoom in or out to meet different photographic opportunities.
sories • Perspective Zoom in on a subject and you can capture distant action at sporting events or
in a Photograph
in the field. Zoom out and you can capture a wide-angle view of a large group,
a roomy interior, or of an expansive landscape. The ability to change your
angle of view as you frame your image is one of your most powerful creative
controls. But there are many more lenses to choose from. They include macro
lenses, tilt-shift lenses, and even soft focus lenses.

Canon Lenses
Canon Lenses
One of the best things about the 40D is that it can use any one of the 50 or so
lenses from the Canon line. Let’s take a look at some of the things that Canon
lenses have in common and how they differ.
Electronic Lens Mount

The Canon family of EF (Electronic Focus) lenses was introduced with the
first EOS camera in 1987. Instead of mechanical linkages, all communications
If you have the money,
Canon has the lens.
between the lens and the camera pass through electrical contacts. These con-
nections provide the power needed by a small motor in the lens that controls
autofocus and the electromagnetic diaphragm (EMD) that controls aperture
settings. This electronic system is much more accurate, reliable, and flex-
Tip ible than older mechanical linkages. Until recently all Canon’s lenses were
• The mount on an designed to work with all EOS film and digital SLR cameras. With the intro-
EF-S lens works with duction of EF-S lenses (the “S” stands for short back focus), this has changed.
the 40D and other
EOS digital camera These lenses work only with EOS digital cameras having an APS-C sized
models that use the image sensor such as the 40D. They can’t be used with cameras such as the
APS-C sized sensor. 5D because their reduced image circle isn’t large enough to cover a full-frame
It won’t work with
cameras using full- sensor. To prevent you from trying to use them on such cameras, they have a
frame sensors. different mount. These lenses have a white index mark in addition to the tra-
• If you intend to ditional red marking, and a rear rubber ring that prevents any damage should
someday upgrade to you try to mount an EF-S lens on a camera it’s not designed for.
a full-frame Canon
camera, you might When you change lenses, be careful that dust or other debris doesn’t enter
consider buying only the camera through the lens opening. In fact, keep this opening covered with
EF lenses.
a lens or the body cap as much as possible. Don’t change lenses or remove the
body cap in a dusty environment, and when you do remove the cap or lens,
keep the opening pointed down. Should foreign matter find its way onto the
image sensor it will show up as specks or blotches in your photographs. If you
notice this, see page 153.
Mounting and Unmounting a lens

1. In a dust and wind free environment, twist the rear lens cap counter-
clockwise until it stops, then lift it up to remove it. Remove any body
cap from the camera the same way.
2. Align the red dot on the lens, or the white dot if it is an EF-S lens,
with the dot of the same color on the camera body’s lens mount.
The lens release button. 3. Insert the lens into the mount and turn it clockwise (as you face the
lens) until it clicks into place. Gently try to turn the lens in the other
direction to ensure that it’s securely locked in place. Set the focus
switch to AF or MF (M on some lenses).
4. To remove the lens, press the lens release button and turn the lens
counterclockwise so the red or white index mark is at the top, then
remove it.
Focusing Technology
Canon EF lenses have a focus switch that let’s you select autofocus (AF) or
manual focus (M on older lenses and MF on newer ones). When set to M or
MF you focus by turning the focus ring on the lens. When using an USM (Ul-
trasonic Motor) lens with a distance scale in One-Shot AF mode, you can turn
The lens focus switch. the focusing ring on the lens to fine tune focus after focus is achieved (called

full-time manual focusing). This let’s you override the autofocus system to
“fine-tune” the focus without having to look up from the viewfinder to find
the focus switch to change modes. Full-time manual focus comes in two ver-
sions. Electronic manual focusing detects how much you’ve turned the focus
ring and then uses the focusing motor to focus the lens by the same amount.
Mechanical manual focusing adjusts the focus manually as you turn the focus
ring.
On some zoom lenses,
setting the Distance As the lens focuses, it uses one of five different focusing methods that include
Limiter Switch to FULL
lets the lens try to focus the following:
over it’s entire range.
When set to LIMIT, it • Overall extension where the entire optical system moves forward or back-
will only try a specific ward.
range of distances.
• Front group extension where only the front-most lens group moves forward
or backward.
• Front group rotation extension, used only in zoom lenses, where the front-
most lens group rotates as it moves forward or backward.
• Inner focusing where only the lens group between the front lens and the
aperture diaphragm is moved.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/canonlenses/canoneflenses.pdf
• Rear focusing when only the lens group behind the aperture diaphragm is
Click for a PDF listing
Canon lenses. moved.
Some lenses have a focus preset feature so you can store the desired focusing
distance in memory and later instantly focus the lens at that distance. This
lets you focus elsewhere and then instantly return to the preset focus distance
if necessary. This is ideal in sports and nature photography where you are
monitoring action at a specific point such as a nest or goal, but where you
also want to capture other action.
A few lenses have an AF stop feature that prevents focus from shifting when
something passes between you and the subject you’re focused on. You turn
this feature on by pressing an AF Stop button on the lens. You can control the
effect with Custom Function III-2 (page 142).
Ultrasonic Motors
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/antishake/
Since electronically coupled lenses need to move lens groups to focus the
image, Canon developed small, light, and powerful motors that fit inside the
image stabilization lens. One of their most impressive is the Ultrasonic Motor (USM). Unlike
reduces but doesn’t traditional motors that use a magnetic field to rotate an armature, these
eliminate blur caused by
camera movement.
motors use ultrasonic vibrational forces to rotate a ring. The motor contains
two rings; one that is fixed and one that rotates. As electricity is applied to
piezoelectric ceramic elements on the fixed ring, the ring generates ultrasonic
vibrations that rotate the movable ring with significant force. The result is a
motor that is fast, reliable, accurate and almost silent.
Image Stabilization
If you’ve ever photographed in dim light, or tried to hand-hold a long tele-
photo lens, you know how easy it is to get blur in your images from camera
shake. In most cases, we resort to tripods or other camera supports. How-
ever, Canon has introduced a new way; image stabilization (IS). Lenses
To turn image
stabilization on, you with this feature contain gyro sensors that sense movement of the lens and
set the switch to the micro-motors that instantly shift a special image stabilization lens group to
vertical line. To turn it compensate for the motion and keep the image steady on the sensor. These
off you set the switch to
the “o”. lenses break the old rule that you should never hand hold a lens using a shut-

Canon Lenses
ter speed slower than the reciprocal of the lens focal length times the 1.6x
focal length factor (page 98). For example, when using a standard 125mm
lens, you normally shouldn’t use a shutter speed slower that 1/125. Image sta-
bilized lenses let you add two stops to that calculation. You can hand hold an
image stabilized 125mm lens at 1/30 of a second shutter speeds. Stabilization
starts when you press the shutter button halfway down and stops 2 seconds
The Canon EF 400mm after you release it. When on, you can the effects of its stabilization on the
f/4 DO uses the image in the viewfinder.
technology called Multi-
Layer Diffractive Optical Note that when using an image stabilized lens on a tripod, you should turn
Element that makes it off image stabilization. If you don’t, you can actually add blur to the image.
smaller and lighter than
it would otherwise be. (A few lenses have a mechanism that prevents this problem.) This is because
when image stabilization is on, the special image stabilization lens group is
free to move. If it moves or vibrates while everything else is perfectly stable,
blur results. When image stabilization is off, the image stabilization lens
group is locked in place so it can’t move. Also, turn it off in bulb mode (page
90) to avoid unpredictable results. Some Canon lenses have two IS modes. IS
Mode-1 works for normal shooting and IS Mode-2 stabilizes the image as you
pan the camera to follow a moving subject.
The Canon Tripod

Information on a Canon Lens
Collar B supplied with When you look at Canon lenses, or read about them, you may be confused at
some lenses provides
a tripod mount so you
first by all of the information cryptically provided. Here is what each of the
can mount the lens, terms or abbreviations refers to.
rather than the camera,
to a tripod. With longer EF—The lens is one of the EF (electronic focus) family of lenses that works
lenses in particular, this with the 40D and with any EOS SLR, Advanced Photo System EOS SLR, and
provides a much better
balance point for the
any camcorder with a VL mount.
combined weight of the
camera body and lens.
EF-S—These lenses work only with Canon digital cameras using a smaller
APS-C sized image sensor.
28–105mm—The lens’s focal length or zoom range in millimeters. Since the
40D’s sensor is smaller than a frame of 35mm film, the effective focal length
of a lens is greater than it is on a film camera.
f/2.8—The maximum aperture that you can use with the lens (page 41). On
many lenses it’s listed on the lens as a ratio such as 1:2.4 or 1:3.5–5.6. On
zoom lenses, two maximum apertures are given because the aperture changes
as you zoom the lens in and out. Canon makes a series of f/4L lenses that
don’t change the aperture as you zoom the lens. This lets you set exposure
and zoom all the way through the lens’s zoom range without the aperture or
Lenses with larger
maximum apertures let shutter speed varying.
you use faster shutter
speeds and are often L—An indication that the quality of the lens is especially high (or Luxury).
called “faster” lenses.
USM—The lens features an ultrasonic motor.
II—The Roman numeral indicates that the lens has been revised or improved
upon from an earlier version.
IS—The lens has image stabilization built in.
TE-S—The lens is a tilt-shift lens used for perspective and depth of field con-
trol.
Macro—The lens is designed for close-up photography.
The EF 85mm f/1.2L II DO—Diffractive Optical Element.

USM lens.

Focal Length
A zoom lens lets you choose any focal length within the range the lens is de-
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/sensor/
signed for. When you change focal lengths by zooming the lens, two impor-
Click to explore sensor tant effects are immediately obvious in the lens’ angle of view and its magni-
sizes.
fying power.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/imagecircle/
• Angle of view refers to how much of a scene the lens covers. A wide-angle
Click to explore how the lens captures a wide expanse of a scene. A longer focal length narrows the
size of an image sensor field of view and you can isolate small portions of the scene without moving
determines the focal
length of a lens. closer to the subject.
• Magnification is related to the lens’ angle of view. Since a wide-angle lens
includes a wide sweep of the scene, all of the objects in the scene are reduced
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/focallength/
to fit into the image. A longer focal length lens, with its narrower angle of
Click here to explore view, makes objects in a scene appear larger.
how the focal length of
a lens determines its Canon has a wide variety of zoom lenses covering various focal length ranges
angle of view. between 10mm and 600mm.
The focal length of a lens determines it’s angle of view. The focal length is
based on its physical attributes so it’s an absolute value. However, a given fo-
cal length lens may have an “effective” focal length on different cameras. This
is because the effective focal length depends on the size of the film or image
sensor being used. As these get smaller, a given focal length lens appears to
magnify more because it’s capturing a smaller area of the image circle.
Since the 40D’s image sensor is smaller than a frame of 35mm film, it essen-
tially captures only the central section of the focused image projected by the
lens. As a result, the effective focal length increases by a factor of 1.6 times
compared to the indicated focal length of the lens. For example, a 35 mm
lens is equivalent to 56mm on the 40D. This multiple works across the entire
range of focal lengths, making wide-angle lens less so on the digital SLR than
on a film or full-frame digital SLR, and making telephoto lenses more so.
• The 40D penalizes you when used with shorter focal length lenses because
no wide angle lens is as wide as indicated.
• The 40D with its smaller sensor gives you a bonus when used with long
focal length lenses or macro lenses because a lens’ focal length is always 1.6x
more than indicated.
The longer a lens’ focal

length, the narrower its
angle of view.
A lens projects a circle

of light and the size
of the film or image
sensor determines how
large an area of the
circle is captured. The
40D (smaller frame)
captures a smaller area
than a camera using a
full-frame sensor (larger
frame).

Zoom Lenses
Zoom Lenses
A zoom lens lets you choose any focal length within the range the lens is
designed for.
Zooming a lens is like

walking toward or away
from the scene but
without changing the
perspective (page 109).
Here, a lighthouse in
Maine is photographed
a number of times from
the same spot. The
images vary from wide-
angle to telephoto.
Zooming a
Lens
● To zoom a Canon
EF lens, turn the
zoom ring on the
lens one way to
zoom in and the
other way to zoom
out.
The zoom indicator on

a lens.
Tip
• Zoom before focus-
ing since zooming
can throw off focus.
The lens was zoomed

during a long exposure.

Normal Lenses
A “normal lens” for a 35mm camera usually refers to a lens with a 50 mm fo-
cal length (35 mm equivalent). When you zoom your lens to this focal length
and look at the image on the screen, the scene looks about the same as it does
to the unaided eye. With the lens zoomed all the way out things appear closer
than they actually are. With it zoomed out to a wide-angle, everything looks
farther away.
A normal-focal-length zoom isn’t necessarily the one photographers normally
use. Many photographers prefer the wider angle of view and greater depth of
field provided by a shorter focal length.
It’s hard to look at a

photo and tell what
focal-length lens
was used to take it.
However, objects in
an image taken with
a normal lens look
normal in their spatial
relationships.
See for Yourself

A lens is called normal because it captures a scene just as the human eye does
even though the eye’s angle of view is much wider than any normal lens. Howev-
er, you can demonstrate for yourself why a specific focal length is normal for your
camera. When a passenger in a car, try zooming the lens or change focal lengths
as you watch the traffic ahead through the viewfinder. A longer focal length
makes distant cars appear right on top of you. A shorter focal length makes cars
look far ahead, even when relatively close. A normal focal-length makes the cars
appear in the same distance relationship as you perceive them ordinarily.
Another demonstration is to take two photographs of greatly different size and
Canon’s EF 50mm tape them to a wall. Look at them one at a time through the viewfinder with the
f/1.0L USM lens, lens zoomed to a normal focal-length. Move close enough so each fills the moni-
although not made tor. You’ll discover you are at the correct distance for viewing the prints. With
anymore, has a a longer focal-length you would feel too far away, and with a shorter one, too
maximum aperture of close.
f/1.0–extremely fast!

Wide-Angle Lenses
Wide-Angle Lenses
Wide-angle (short focal length) lenses capture a wide expanse of a scene.

This wide angle of view is ideal for use in tight spaces, when photographing
landscapes, and in small rooms where you can’t position the camera a great
distance from the subject.
If you don’t get too
close to your subjects,
a wide-angle lens is
good for indoor portraits
where including the
setting is important.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/panorama/
Click to see how
extreme wide-angle
lenses can be used
to create 360 degree
interactive panoramas.
A wide-angle lens also has great depth of field that makes it ideal for street or
action photographs. When out to capture quickly unfolding scenes, you can
also use zone focusing (page 75) so you’ll have maximum depth of field when
you respond quickly to a photo opportunity.
Wide-angle lenses are

ideal when you need
great depth of field
because part of the
scene is close to the
camera and part farther
away. It also makes
focusing less critical so
you can capture those
fleeting moments you
might otherwise miss.
Tip
• Avoid using small
apertures with wide
angle lenses. They
can create diffraction
patterns that de-
grade image sharp-
ness.

Short lenses also let you focus very close to your subject, and the effect this
can have on the perspective in your images can be dramatic. Objects very
close to the camera loom much larger than those farther away. This distor-
tion in the apparent size of objects can deliberately give emphasis and when
carried to an extreme will give an unrealistic appearance to a scene.
Wide-angle lenses have
tremendous depth of
field. Here one was
used to shoot through
a toy space station and
make Quinlan look like
a giant.
Canon’s 15mm fisheye

lens gives a circular
“fisheye” look to
images.
Canon’s 14mm
wide-angle lens is a
rectilinear lens so its
images don’t have the
distorted look of some
fisheye lenses.

Telephoto Lenses
Telephoto Lenses
A telephoto (long focal length) lens acts somewhat like a telescope: It mag-
nifies the image of your subject. This is especially useful when you can’t get
close to your subject—or don’t want to. These lenses are ideal for wildlife,
portrait, and candid photography, whenever getting close to a subject might
disturb it.
As the focal length increases, depth of field gets shallower so you must focus
more carefully. Also, a long lens visually compresses space, making objects in
the scene appear closer together than they actually are.
The primary drawback of longer lenses is that they often have smaller maxi-
mum apertures that require longer shutter speeds. Also, since a long lens
magnifies movement, just as it magnifies the subject, you may have to sup-
port the camera better to get maximum sharpness.
Telephoto lenses come

in fixed focal lengths
and as zooms. This is a
10x 35–350mm zoom.
Zooming in makes
distant objects appear
compressed. Here a
long lens has been used
to “compress” a street
scene at the foot of
the Rocky Mountains in
Colorado.
A long lens makes

the sun look larger in
relation to foreground
When the lineup of cement trucks (bottom) is shot head-on with a long lens (top)
they appear much closer together then they really are. This is actually due to the
distance from the subject, not the focal length of the lens, but the effect is easy to
get with a long lens.

A telephoto lens is an excellent portrait lens, especially for head-and-shoul-

ders portraits. It lets you keep your distance and still fill the viewfinder frame
with the subject. Keeping at a distance eliminates the exaggerated perspective
caused by working very close to a subject with a shorter focal length lens. It
also helps relax your subjects if they get uneasy, as many people do, when a
camera comes close.
A long lens lets you
get portraits without
crowding in on the
subject. This let’s you
capture more natural
expressions.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/distortion/
how a wide angle lens
can distort a subject.
Using a wide-angle lens

close to the subject
adds some distortion
to the portrait but it
still works as an image.
Perhaps not as flattering
as it might be, the
image is probably more
interesting to others
than to the subject.
You can extend the focal length of a fixed focal length lens (without affect-
Extenders fit between
the lens and camera ing the minimum focus distance) using an extender, an optical device that
body to increase focal mounts between the lens and camera body. With the 40D, you can use both
lengths by 1.4x or 2x. 1.4x and 2.4x extenders. The 1.4x extender requires you to open up one stop
The II series works
with both EF and EF-S and the 2x requires 2 stops. If a lens’ maximum aperture is smaller than f/4
lenses. for the 1.4x extender or f/2.8 for the 2x, you have to use manual focus.

Macro Lenses and Accessories
Macro Lenses and Accessories
When photographing small objects from coins to insects, your lens’ focal
length and minimum focusing distance affect how small objects are captured
in photos. For example, if you’re photographing a small coin, you probably
don’t want it to appear as a tiny coin surrounded by a large background.
More likely you’d like a photo showing a large coin surrounded by a small
The camera body has background. For many pictures, just zooming your lens in on the subject will
a symbol that indicates
the position of the
suffice. However, macro lenses allows you to get a lot closer to the subject,
image plane should making smaller subjects much larger in the final image. If you can’t get
you ever need to know close enough to an object to fill the image area, you can always crop out the
where it is.
unwanted areas later. However, the more you crop, the smaller the image
becomes.
This small, but very

colorful caterpillar was
captured with a macro
lens.
Tip
• For maximum
magnification, zoom
all the way in, set
the lens focus mode
to M or MF (manual),
and turn the focus
ring to the minimum
focus distance. Look
through the viewfind-
er as you focus the
subject by moving in
and out.
Canon offers a wide range of macro lenses that are compatible with Canon’s
extension tubes and macro flash units (page 124).
• The EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro focuses up to 9.1 inches (231mm) for
1:2 (half life-size) magnification. At 9.1 inches and f/11, depth of field is 0.24
inches (6mm). The EF Life Size Converter for the lens extends its range to
The 50mm macro lens. between 1:4 and 1:1 magnification and also compensates for spherical aberra-
tions.
• The EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens focuses over the full range from
infinity down to life size (1:1 reproduction ratio). The lens allows full-time
manual focusing so you can override autofocus whenever you want. When
shooting at life size (1x) magnification, the minimum working distance be-
tween the lens and the subject is approximately 6 inches (152mm), providing
The 180mm macro enough room for an additional light source.
lens gives you plenty
of working distance • The EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM Telephoto Lens shoots throughout the
when doing close-up
photography.
focusing distance range from 1x to infinity. The lens has full-time mechanical
manual focusing and focuses as close as 1.5ft (0.48m).

• The amazing manual focus MP-E 65mm f/2.8 Macro Photo Lens extends
the capabilities of conventional macro lenses and is designed exclusively for
high-magnification close-ups from 1x to 5x. Working distances (from the
front of the lens to the subject) range from 4 inches at 1x (life size) to 1.6
inches at 5x. The lens is equipped with a detachable tripod collar.
• Extension tubes EF 12 II and EF 25 II fit between the lens and the camera
body and allow the lens to focus much closer than normal, giving increased
magnification. The larger the amount of extension and the shorter the focal
length of the lens used, the greater the increase in magnification. (The newer
The Canon MP-E65mm
f2.8 1–5x Macro lens.
series II extension tubes work with both EF and EF-S lenses. Older extension
tubes work only with EF lenses.)
• Canon’s Angle Finder C attaches to the viewfinder eyepiece so you can
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/macromag/
photograph from a low angle without kneeling or lying down. It’s also great
Click here to explore when doing copy work and macro photography. It features a rubber eyecup,
macro lens enlargement
factors.
a built-in adjustable diopter, and a roof prism that keeps the image correctly
oriented. The viewfinder has switchable magnification (1.25x or 2.5x). The
1.25x setting shows the entire frame including exposure data outside the
picture area, while the 2.5x setting provides a magnified view of the center of
the image area—excellent for critical focusing with macro lenses and other
specialty optics.
A monarch butterfly
captured with a macro
lens.
Angle Finder C.
Increasing depth of Field in Close-ups
The Canon Life-size

● Increase the illumination of the subject to stop down the aperture.
Converter EF is an
extension tube.
● Don’t get any closer to the subject than you have to.
● Focus on the middle of the scene (front to back) since in close-ups, depth
of field is half in front and half behind the plane of critical focus.
● Use aperture-priority (Av) or program shift to select a small aperture
(pages 39 and 41).

Tilt-Shift Lenses
Tilt-Shift Lenses
Tilt-shift lenses serve two very important purposes. The tilt controls depth of
field and the shift controls the way vertical lines appear in the image. Until
Canon developed these kinds of lenses, their effects could only be achieved
on a large format camera. The lenses charge a small penalty for all of their
flexibility. They can cause metering errors and require you to open up one or
two stops.
• Tilting the lens allows you to control depth of field in an image without
changing the aperture. Normally, the glass elements in a lens are parallel to
the image sensor. To change the depth of field for a given subject and camera
position you have to open or close the aperture. With a lens that tilts from
side to side or top to bottom, the plane of critical focus can be tilted one
way to dramatically increase depth of field or the other way to dramatically
A Canon TS-E lens.
decrease it. This makes it possible to use a large aperture and still get great
depth of field. The larger aperture allows faster shutter speeds so you can
capture scenes you might have missed before, such as a field with flowers
blowing in the wind.
• Shifting the lens helps you correct for converging vertical lines that occur
when you tilt the camera to capture trees, buildings, or other tall subjects.
These lines converge in the image whenever the camera is tilted and the im-
age sensor is no longer parallel to the subject. Using the lens’ shift function,
the lens can be shifted upward to eliminate the foreground while keeping the
A bubble level that image sensor parallel to the subject.
slips into the hot shoe
assures you that the • You can create panoramic images, or even stereo pairs, by taking two pho-
camera is perfectly
level when using the tos with the lens shifted in opposite directions.
camera’s shift control.
This is the Bl2 from • When photographing reflective subjects, you can eliminate your reflection
Kaiden. by moving the camera to a position where the reflection doesn’t show, and
then shifting the lens to center the subject in the picture area. The same tech-
nique can be used to eliminate unwanted subjects in the foreground.
Canon has three Tilt-Shift (TS-E) lens in different focal lengths. All three can
rotate 90 degrees, be tilted +/-8 degrees, and be shifted +/-11 mm. On the 24
mm lens, some of the shift and tilt ranges are marked in red because images
may be vignetted if shifted or tilted into these zones on a 35mm camera. This
happens because the lens focuses a circle of light on the image plane and
as you tilt and shift, the film captures different parts of the circle. However,
on the 40D the image sensor is smaller so the lens can be shifted and tilted
farther without vignetting.
The house on the left,
shot by pointing the
camera up to get in
the entire house, has
converging vertical
lines and looks tilted.
In the photo on the
right taken with the
lens shifted, the house
looks rectangular and
all vertical lines are
parallel.

Lens Accessories
All Canon lens have threads into which you can screw filters and other acces-
TIP sories. However, keep in mind that many of the effects created by traditional
• If you use more screw on filters can now be done with software filters in programs such as
than one filter at a Adobe Photoshop. Applying the effects after capturing an image not only lets
time you may get
vignetting (dark cor- you experiment with effects and see what they do in real-time, it also allows
ners in your images). you to have an unaffected version of the image. Also, if you are using the Pic-
ture Styles Monochrome setting, there are a number of software filters built
into the camera (page 138). If you do want to use lens attachments, here are
some to consider.
• Lens hoods protect the front element from bumps and keep stray light from
striking the front of the lens and causing flare or ghost images.
• Caps protect the front and rear of the lens when it’s not in use. A body cap
protects the camera when no lens is attached.
• Protect filters keep the front element of your lens from getting scratched or
dirty.
• Circular polarizing filters remove reflections from glass, water, and other
Lens hoods protect
the front element and reflective surfaces, darken blue skies, and improve color saturation. If you use
reduce lens flare. a linear polarizing filter, you can’t use autofocus.
A polarizing filter (top)

darkens the sky and
removes reflections
from foliage so it has
more color. A shot
without a filter is shown
at the bottom.
For larger apertures or

slower shutter speeds,
you can use a screw
on neutral density
filter that cuts the light
entering the lens.
• Skylight filters reduce the blue casts you often get when photographing
subjects in the shade on sunny days.
• UV filters absorb ultraviolet light and cut the haze when photographing
landscapes or from airplanes.
• Neutral density filters cut the light entering the camera so you can use
slower shutter speeds or wider apertures in bright light.
• Soft focus filters soften the focus to make portraits more flattering and to
make hazy, romantic landscapes.
Cases protect lenses
from shocks and other • Close-up lenses magnify the subject without affecting aperture settings.
abuse. Courtesy of
Kenesis. • Color conversion filters let you fine-tune the way you capture colors.

Perspective in a Photograph
Perspective in a Photograph
A photograph can appear to compress space so that objects appear closer

together than you expect. Another photograph of the same scene can seem to
expand space so that objects appear farther apart than normal. These appar-
ent distortions in perspective—the appearance of depth in a photograph—are
often attributed to the focal length of the lens being used but are actually
caused by your distance from the subject.
As the camera is moved

closer to the foreground
subject and zoomed
out to keep it the
same size (top), the
background diminishes
in size relative to the
foreground. When you
move back and zoom
in, the background
looms over the
foreground subject
(bottom). This changing
relationship between
the size of objects in
the foreground and
background creates
the difference in
perspective.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/perspective/
Click to explore
perspective.
As you move closer and

select a focal length
that keeps the subject
the same size, the angle
of view widens and the
background diminishes
in size.

Chapter 6. Using Automatic Flash
Chapter 6
Using Flash and Studio Lighting
A
utomatic electronic flash is so convenient and easy to use that you
Contents are usually unaware it even fires. With your camera on automatic,
• How Flash Works it’s always ready when your autoexposure system decides it’s needed.
• Using Autoflash • But this on-camera flash lighting has certain characteristics that can make a
Portraits With Flash •
Using Fill Flash • Us-
difference in the way your pictures look. For example, the pictures will have
ing Slow Sync Flash • a “flat” lighting typical of flash-on-camera shooting. Alternative approaches,
Using Available Light such as using an external flash to bounce light off walls or ceilings, or even
• Controlling Flash just turning the flash off may produce more interesting results. In any event,
Exposures • Using an
External Flash • Using
you will be able to use flash to better advantage as you become more familiar
Flash in Close-ups with its characteristics.
• Studio Lighting •
Portrait and Product But flash isn’t your only source of controlled lighting. You can also use the
Lighting—Introduc- camera in a home studio setting, perhaps taking formal portraits, or photo-
tion • The Main Light graphing smaller items for your records, insurance, sharing, or even selling
• The Fill Light • The on eBay.
Background Light •
The Rim Light In this chapter we explore all of these forms of lighting, from the built-in
flash, to an external flash, to studio lighting. In the process you’ll learn what
makes lighting more effective and when, where, and how to use and control
it.

How Flash Works
How Flash Works
The 40D has a built in pop-up flash and a hot shoe into which you can slip
any Canon EX-series flash when you want more power or features. Both op-
tions give you access to Canon’s advanced flash technology.
Every flash has a maximum useful range. How bright the light from a flash
is when it reaches a subject depends on the flash’s power and on how far the
light has to travel. The further the subject is from the flash, the less light will
reach it and so the less light will be reflected from the subject back toward the
camera.
The built-in flash

pops-up on top of the
camera.
Flash light falls off

(becomes dimmer)
the farther it travels.
Objects near the flash
will be lighter in a
picture than objects
farther away. You can
use this to advantage;
for example, at night
you can isolate a
subject against a dark
background.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/inverse/
inverse square law.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/excel/guidenumbers.xls
The power of a flash is When the flash fires, the beam of light expands as it moves father from the
indicated by its guide
number. Click here for
camera so it becomes weaker the farther it travels. The rate at which the light
an Excel worksheet you falls off is described by the inverse square law. If the distance between the
can use to explore these flash and subject is doubled, only one quarter the amount of light will reach
numbers.
the subject because the same amount of light is spread over four times the
area. Conversely, when the distance is halved, four times as much light falls
on a given area.
When subjects in an image are located at different distances from the cam-
era, the flash exposure will only be correct for those at one distance—nor-
mally those closest to the camera or in the area metered by the autoexposure
system. Subjects located farther from the flash will be increasingly darker the
farther they are from the flash.
As the distance doubles,
the amount of light
illuminating the subject
is only one-quarter of
the original amount.

Using Autoflash
The 40D’s built-in flash lets you get better photos in dim light or backlit situ-
Tips ations. In all modes flash metering is linked to the active AF point (page 71).
• Remove the lens
hood if it blocks
the flash and casts Flash Coverage and Range
a shadow on the
subject. If the lens
The built-in flash has the following coverage and range:
does the same thing
you may need an
• The flash can cover the same area as a 17mm lens. Using a wider-angle lens
external flash. may leave image corners dark from light fall-off. Some lenses and lens hoods
• Using the Set-up 2
may block part of the flash and cast a shadow on the scene. If this happens
menu’s Flash control move farther from the subject or use an external flash.
setting (pages 117,
121) you can have • The flash has a guide number of 43/13 (ft/m) at ISO 100 and its range
the flash fire as soon varies with the ISO and the focal length of the lens. If you use flash and the
as the shutter is fully
open (1st curtain
photo is dark, you may be too far from the subject. Here are some examples
sync), or just before at various ISO settings, one with a 18mm lens and the other with an 55 mm
the second curtain lens. In both cases, the minimum distance is 3.3 feet or 1 meter. Only the
closes (2nd-curtain
sync).
maximum distances vary as shown in this table:
• EX series speed- EF-S 18–55mm f/3.5–5.6 IS Lens
lites let you use
high-speed sync so ISO Wide angle (18mm) Telephoto (55mm)
you can use shutter 100 12.1’ (3.7m) 7.5’ (2.3m)
speeds faster than
1/250 with flash 200 17.4’ (5.3m) 10.8’ (3.3m)
(page 117, 121). 400 24.3’ (7.4m) 15.1’ (4.6m)
800 34.4’ (10.5m) 21.7’ (6.6m)
1600 48.9’ (14.9m) 30.5’ (9.3m)
H: 3200 68.9’ (21m) 43’ (13.1m)
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/guidenumbers/guidenumbers.pdf
The power of a flash is
indicated by its guide Flash and Focus Assist
number. Click here for a
The flash does more than supply light for the exposure. If the camera has
PDF explaining how you
use these numbers. trouble focusing in Basic Zone modes other than Landscape, Sports, and
Flash Off, the flash pops up and strobes an AF-assist beam to assist focusing.
It also emits the beam when needed in Creative Zone modes if you first raise
the flash manually. When you want the AF-assist beam enabled, or disabled
because it’s drawing attention, or when you want the flash to help focus, but
not fire when the picture is actually taken, you can do so with Custom Func-
tion III-5 (page 142).
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/sync/
Click here to explore the
flash sync speed. Flash and Shutter Speeds
The shutter works with two curtains. When you press the shutter button all
the way down, the first curtain slides out of the way so light can expose the
image sensor. At that point the second curtain slides over the sensor to cover
it and end the exposure. At fast shutter speeds, the second curtain starts to
close the shutter before the first curtain fully opens it so a slit between the
two curtains moves across the image sensor “painting” the image as it goes.
Were the flash to fire in this situation, its burst of light wouldn’t fully expose
the image sensor because parts of it would be covered by one or both cur-
tains. To prevent this from happening, the camera is set so you can only use
shutter speeds at which the shutter fully opens. The fastest of these, called
Slow sync flash (page the flash synchronization speed, is 1/250 second.
117) lets you get
interesting effects.

Using Autoflash
Flash in the Basic Zone

When the Mode Dial is set to any mode in the Basic Zone other than Sports,
Landscape, or Flash Off the flash pops up automatically and fires when the
light is dim, or the subject is backlit. You can’t pop it up yourself in this zone,
and when up, the only way to keep it from firing is to select the Flash Off
mode or select any mode in the Creative Zone and close the flash.
Flash in the Creative Zone

When the Mode Dial is set to any mode in the Creative Zone (P, Tv, Av, M, or
A-DEP), you have to manually pop up the flash by pressing the Flash button
(marked with a lightning bolt icon) on the left side of the lens mount. (You
can’t pop it up if the camera is in sleep mode.) When up, it fires regardless of
the ambient light.
The flash button that
pops-up the flash in • In A-DEP and P (Program AE) modes the flash is fully automatic. The
Creative Zone modes. shutter speed is automatically set to between 1/250 and 1/60 and the aper-
ture is set automatically.
Tip • In Tv (shutter-priority) mode, you select a shutter speed of 1/250 second or

slower, and the camera selects the aperture. The exposure of the main subject
• If the built-in flash
is fired rapidly in is determined by the flash and the exposure of the background is determined
succession, at some by the shutter speed.
point flash firing
stops to prevent heat • In Av (aperture-priority) you set the aperture and the shutter speed is auto-
damage to the built- matically set to 1/250 seconds or slower.
in flash cover and
fresnel lens diffuser. ● When used with a dark scene, flash exposes the main subject and a slow
shutter speed lightens the dark background. This process, called slow-sync
flash is described on page 117.
● Using Custom Function I-7 (page 141) you can set the shutter speed to
vary automatically or remain fixed at 1/250 when using flash in Av mode.
Auto allows a slow shutter speed to lighten the background when photo-
graphing in dim light as described above, and fixed prevents it from doing
so.
• In M (manual) mode, you set the shutter speed to 1/250 or slower, includ-
ing bulb, and select a matching aperture. The exposure of the main subject is
determined by the flash and the exposure of the background is determined by
the aperture and shutter speed settings.
Using Auto Flash

1. With the camera on do one of the following:
● In Basic Zone modes, set the camera to any mode other than Land-
scape, Sports, or Flash Off where the flash won’t fire.
The flash icon. ● In Creative Zone modes, press the Flash button (a lightening bolt
icon) on the left side of the lens mount to pop up the flash.
2. While at least 3.3 feet (1m) from the subject, press the shutter button
halfway down. (In Basic Zone modes the flash will pop-up if needed.)
When the flash icon lights up in the viewfinder, the flash is ready to
fire.
4. When finished with the flash, press it down to close it.

Portraits with Flash
Flash is a good source of light when you want to make portraits, particularly
of children. The light from the flash is so fast that you rarely have to worry
about your subject moving during the exposure and blurring the picture. For
the same reason you don’t have to be quite as careful about camera motion
blurring the image; you can hand-hold the camera and shoot as rapidly as the
flash will recharge.
Positioning the Flash and Subjects

You may want to choose carefully the position of the flash. Light from a flash
built-into the camera often produces less attractive results than if you use
an external flash to bounce the light onto the subject off a wall, ceiling, or
umbrella reflector.
When photographing
more than one subject,
each is given the same
importance when
lined up parallel to
the camera because
each receives the
same amount of
flash illumination. If
subjects are at different
distances from the
flash, they will be
illuminated differently.
This is a good way to
make one more visually
dominant than others in
the image.
When a subject is
placed close to a wall,
there will almost always
be a distracting shadow
in the image cast by
the light from the flash.
By moving the subject
away from a wall, these
shadows disappear.

Portraits with Flash
Red-eye
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/redeye/
When photographing people, you’ll often see images with what’s called “red
red-eye. eye.” The light from a flash has entered through the subject’s pupil, reflected
off the back of the eye (the retina), and bounced back out to the camera. Since
the retina is full of thin blood vessels, the eyes take on a red color. To reduce
red-eye when using the built-in flash, the 40D has a red-eye reduction mode
that lights a bright red-eye reduction lamp that closes the subject’s iris when
you press the shutter button halfway down.
The best way to eliminate red-eye is to use an external flash (page 122) be-
cause it’s positioned farther away from the axis of the camera lens and you
can also use it to bounce flash off a wall or ceiling. If you have to use the built-
in flash, turn on red-eye reduction, and tell the subject to look directly at the
camera. Red-eye reduction works best in brighter settings with the camera
relatively close to the subject. You can remove red-eye with photo-editing
software, but it’s a lot easier to avoid it to begin with.
In black & white, red-
eye can look eerie. In
color it’s even more so.
There is no way to
illustrate red-eye in
a book that’s printed
in black and white.
However, for your
entertainment, Eric
shows one way it can be
avoided.
With red-eye turned on, when you press the shutter button halfway down
and the camera focuses, the red-eye reduction lamp lights and the countdown
timer appears in the viewfinder. You can shoot anytime the indicator is dis-
played, but for the greatest effect press the shutter button all the way down to
take the picture just after this indicator goes out.
Turning red-eye Mode On and Off

Shooting 1 menu tab.
The red-eye countdown
timer in the viewfinder 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Red-eye On/Off and press
and on the LCD panel SET to display choices.
displays fewer and
fewer bars as it gets 3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight On or Off and press SET to
closer to finishing.
When the last bar goes
select it.
out, take the picture.

Using Fill Flash
When photographing people or other subjects in bright sun, shadow areas

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/fillflash/
can be so dark in the image that they show little or no detail. If the shadows
Click here to explore fill cover a large part of the subject, as they do when it’s backlit, the effect can
flash. be distracting and unattractive. You can lighten such shadows by using flash
to “fill” the shadows to lighten them. Using fill flash is also a good way to get
accurate color balance under unusual lighting. With the 40D, you do so by
popping up the flash so it fires even when there is enough available light to
take the picture. It should pop-up and fire automatically in Basic Zone modes
other than Landscape, Sports and Flash Off, but to be sure, switch to a Cre-
ative Zone mode and press the flash button to pop it up.
With no fill flash (left)
the bright background
has caused the
main subject to be
underexposed. Using fill
flash (right), the subject
is properly exposed.
Photo courtesy of Tim
Connor.
One reason to use fill

flash outdoors is to add
catch lights to eyes—hot
spots that make the
eyes sparkle.
Using Fill Flash

● With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the
Flash button (a lightening bolt icon) on the left side of the lens mount to
pop up the flash.
● With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Basic Zone other than
The flash button that Landscape, Sports, and Flash Off, the camera will recognize a backlit
pops-up the flash in situation and pop up and fire the flash automatically.
Creative Zone modes.

Using Slow Sync Flash
Using Slow Sync Flash
Normally, when you combine a slow shutter speed with flash, the flash fires at
the very beginning of the exposure just as the first curtain fully opens (known
as “first curtain sync”). If the scene you are photographing contains bright
lights, such as automobile head or tail lights, you’ll get streaks in your image
if either the camera or subject moves. These can be interesting effects and
used creatively. To give you even more creative control, the 40D also offers
second curtain sync (page 124). In this mode, the flash fires just before the
A slow shutter speed second curtain starts to close. The differences are quite significant.
and flash combined
to create this photo If you photograph a moving car at night with a very slow shutter speed, first
showing both sharpness
and blur.
curtain sync captures it with the streaks from the head or tail lights stream-
ing out in front of the car, making the car appear to be moving backward.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/flashsync1/
(The flash fires to freeze the car, but the car then continues to move forward
with it’s lights painting trails in the image in front of the car until the shutter
first curtain sync. closes.) Second curtain sync captures the streaks flowing behind the car. (The
shutter opens to capture the light trails in the image as the car moves for-
ward, then the flash fires to freeze the car with the trails behind it.)
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/flashsync2/
Click here to explore In aperture-priority (Av) mode, the camera automatically uses slow synch
second curtain sync. mode in low-light situations to lighten the background. At a shutter speed
of 1/250 or even 1/60, the effects of first curtain and second curtain sync are
often identical. However, as shutter speeds get slower, the effects get more
pronounced.
Show synchro flash
lets you use blur
creatively as shown
here with the streaked
lights highlighting the
champaign glass.
Tips
• Night Portrait mode
(page 38) uses slow
sync flash and is a
good way to start ex- Using Slow Sync Flash
ploring how it affects
your images. ● To use first curtain sync automatically, set the Mode Dial to Av (aper-
• When using slow ture-priority).
sync flash, long
exposure times may ● To better control slow sync effects, set the Mode Dial to shutter-pri-
create unwanted ority (Tv) mode and control the amount of blur by varying the shutter
blur in the image.
At times like this, speed. In a fairly dim room try 1/20 or so to start.
you may want to use
a camera support ● To use 2nd-curtain sync, select Flash control from the Set-up 2 menu
(page 62). tab (page 121).

Using Available Light
There are times when the light is dim but you want to capture the unique
colors of the available light, or you want to photograph in places where
flash isn’t allowed. In these circumstances you need to prevent the built-in
flash from firing and support the camera for a long exposure. If the flash
fires, foreground subjects will appear as if photographed in daylight and the
background is likely to be very dark. Using available light will often even out
the lighting, however if you don’t support the camera you will likely have blur
from camera movement.
Available light can add
beautiful colors to a
photograph.
Tip Preventing the Flash from Firing

• When the Mode ● In the Basic Zone, set the Mode Dial to Sports, Landscape, or Flash
Dial is set to any
mode in the Basic Off.
Zone, other than
Sports, Landscape, ● In the Creative Zone, close the built-in flash if it’s popped up.
or Flash Off you can’t
prevent the flash
from firing in dim When photographing in dim light there are things you can do to get better
light. results without using the flash. Try the following procedures described on
• You can also use pages 62–63:
slow sync flash to
lighten the back- • Increase the camera’s ISO although it will add noise to the image.
ground (page 117).
• Use the camera’s self-timer to trigger the shutter so you don’t introduce
camera motion when pressing it with your finger.
• Support the camera or use a tripod and a remote control.

Controlling Flash Exposures
When using flash there are times when the main subject is too dark or light.
In these situations, you can adjust the flash power to lighten or darken the
part of the scene illuminated by the flash. As you’ve seen, you can use expo-
sure compensation, exposure lock and autoexposure bracketing to control
daylight exposures (pages 53–54). You have access to the same controls when
using flash—although flash bracketing is only available on the flash, not the
camera.
What’s E-TTL II?

The 40D features an E-TTL II (evaluative; through the lens) flash system that
gives outstanding natural-looking flash pictures. For example, when used for
fill flash outdoors, E-TTL II balances the light so well that it isn’t even obvi-
ous that flash was used.
E-TTL II flash works by firing a preflash in the brief instant after you press
the shutter button and before the camera’s reflex mirror goes up. The camera
uses the preflash to set focus and exposure. The exposure of the main subject
to be illuminated by the flash is determined by evaluative metering based on
all AF points with special emphasis given to the one that’s active. However,
if an object with an unusually strong reflection, such as a mirror or window,
is detected in any of the other metering zones the reading from that zone is
factored out or adjusted to prevent incorrect exposure.
The camera also uses evaluative metering (page 45) to calculate the back-
ground exposure. It combines the two readings to calculate and set the flash
output required for optimum exposure of the main subject, while maintain-
ing a subtle balance between flash and natural lighting. Using this approach
the flash output determines the exposure of the main subject covered by the
active AF points, and the camera’s aperture and shutter speed determine the
exposure of the background.
Flash Exposure Compensation

Flash exposure compensation lets you manually adjust the output of the flash
and hence the exposure of the subject without changing the camera’s aper-
ture or shutter speed. This is an ideal way to balance flash and natural light
Tips when using fill flash and to correctly expose scenes or subjects that are darker
or lighter than normal (middle-gray). The 40D’s flash exposure compensa-
• If the camera and
EX-series Speed- tion function lets you vary flash exposures plus or minus 2 stops in one-
lite are both set for third stop increments for both the built-in flash and any attached EX-series
exposure compensa- Speedlite. (If you set flash exposure compensation on both the camera and
tion, the EX-series
speedlight setting the external flash, the external flash takes precedence.)
takes precedence.
You can use flash exposure compensation in conjunction with regular expo-
• You can switch sure compensation. Doing so lets you use regular exposure compensation to
between evaluative
and average meter- lighten or darken the background that’s illuminated by natural light, and use
ing using the Flash flash exposure compensation to lighten or darken the subject illuminated by
control setting (page the flash. This is a powerful combination of exposure controls that let’s you
121).
capture images just the way you want them.

Using Flash Exposure Compensation

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, pop up the
flash or attach an EX-series Speedlite.
The flash exposure
compensation icon
2. Press and release the Flash Exposure Compensation button and then
marks the Flash turn the Quick Control Dial to move the marker on the flash exposure
Compensation button scale displayed on the LCD panel or in the viewfinder.
and is displayed on the
LCD panel and in the ● To underexpose the flash illuminated part of the image and darken
viewfinder when flash
compensation is set to
it, move the marker toward the minus (-) end of the scale.
anything but 0 and you
press the shutter button
● To overexpose and lighten it, move the marker toward the plus (+)
halfway down. end of the scale.
When flash exposure compensation is set to anything but 0, the flash
exposure compensation icon is displayed in the viewfinder and on the
LCD panel.
An exposure scale
shows you how much 3. Take your picture, and when finished reset flash exposure compensa-
you have adjusted flash tion to 0 otherwise it will be remembered even when you turn off the
output in stops.
camera.
Flash Exposure (FE) Lock

Flash exposure lock (FE Lock) acts much like AE Lock (page 53), but works
when the flash is popped up or an external flash is attached in Creative Zone
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/flashcomp/
modes. When you use this feature, a preflash is fired and the exposure system
reads the flash exposure at the active focus point. The captured reading is
flash exposure stored for about 16 seconds so you have time to recompose the scene or make
compensation. exposure or focus adjustments without losing your flash exposure informa-
tion. (If you don’t do anything for 16 seconds, FE Lock is cancelled.) FE lock
is extremely useful when you wish to place the main subject in a part of the
TIP
picture area that is not covered by one of the AF points.
• To switch from
flash exposure comp
to regular exposure Using Flash Exposure (FE) Lock
comp, press the
shutter button half- 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, pop up the
way down. flash or attach an EX-series Speedlite.
• You can also set
flash exposure com- 2. Press the shutter button halfway down and hold it there to focus on
pensation from the the subject that you want to lock flash exposure on, then press the
menu (page 121). AE/FE Lock button (an asterisk or star icon). A preflash fires, FEL is
displayed briefly in the viewfinder, and the AE/FE Lock icon is dis-
played in the viewfinder to indicate flash exposure is locked. (If the
flash icon in the viewfinder blinks, move closer and repeat this step
or the image will be underexposed.
3. Release the shutter button, recompose the scene and press the shut-
ter button halfway down to set focus before taking the picture. To
cancel FE Lock, release the shutter button and wait for the * icon to
disappear or close the flash. To keep it locked, continue to hold the
The AE/FE Lock icon shutter button halfway down or hold down the AE/FE Lock button.
marks the flash
exposure lock button
and is displayed in the
viewfinder when flash
exposure is locked.

Using the Flash Control Setting

You can control both the built-in and some external flash units such as the
580EX II using the Flash control setting on the Set-up 2 menu’s tab. (At the
time this is being written, the only Speedlite that is fully compatible with the
40D is the 580EX II.) One big advantage of being able to change flash set-
tings from the camera is that you can set the flash when it’s connected to the
The Flash control menu.
camera wirelessly. Here are the choices you have, although they vary depend-
ing on the specific EX-series flash you are using:
• Flash firing is normally set to Enable, but you can set it to Disable when
you want to AF-assist beam to fire but not the internal or external flash.
• Built-in flash func, available only when an external flash isn’t attached,
displays a submenu with the following settings:
• Flash mode is grayed out and can’ be selected.
• Shutter sync. lets you select 1st curtain (the default) or 2nd curtain sync
(page 117). When you use 2nd curtain, two flashes are fired, once for me-
tering purposes when you press the shutter button all the way down and
then again just before the shutter closes to end the exposure.
• Flash exp. comp lets you increase of decrease flash exposure (page 120)
• E-TTL II is normally set to Evaluative but you can change it to Average
so the exposure is based on the entire scene. You may need to adjust the
exposure using flash exposure compensation (page 120).
• External flash func setting, fully available only when a compatible external
flash is attached, displays a submenu you can use to change the Flash mode,
Shutter sync, FEB (flash exposure bracketing), Flash exp. comp, E-TTL II,
Wireless set and Zoom. When Zoom is set to Auto the flashhead automati-
cally zooms the flash as you zoom the lens. As you zoom in on a subject, the
flash beam narrows, and when you zoom out, it widens. The result is that you
have flash coverage of the image area at all times. The 580EX II also zooms to
adjust to the size of the sensor on a digital camera.
• External flash C.Fn setting, available only when an 580EX II Speedlite
is attached, lets you set or cancel the Speedlite’s Custom Function settings
(C.Fn-0 to 13) from the camera.
Tip Using Flash Control

• You can press INFO 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press
to return the internal
and external flash
MENU and select the Set-up 2 menu tab.
settings to their
defaults.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Flash control and press SET
to display the flash control menu.
3. Make any of the choices described above.

Using an External Flash
The small automatic flash built into your camera is convenient, however its
range is short and it is so close to the lens that photos of people often capture
them with red eyes. It also emits a hard, direct light and can’t be rotated to
bounce flash off a wall or ceiling to soften it.
For better flash photography you need Canon EX-series Speedlite such as
the 580EX or earlier models mounted on the camera’s hot shoe or attached
by a sync cord for off-camera use. When using these flash units, the camera
controls the exposure just as it does with the built-in flash and you can set
almost all autoflash controls from the camera. One of the biggest advantages
of these units is that they let you swivel or rotate the flash head so you can
bounce light off walls and ceilings. This lets you get softer light on the subject
so contrast is reduced and hard shadows are minimized. Let’s take a look
at some of the features you’ll have access to the 580EX Speedlite, and some
other models.
The 580EX II is
compatible with all
digital EOS cameras as
well as G-series and
The 580EX II Speedlite
other cameras in the The Speedlite 580EX flash has a maximum guide number of 190 at ISO and
Canon line. It’s range is
98.4 feet with a 50mm
100 feet or 58 meters. Using the 40D’s E-TTL II (which also works with other
f/1.4 lens at ISO 100. EX-series flash units) the camera uses subject distance and other information
to automatically modify flash power, so exposures are better regardless of
the subject’s size, reflectance, or photographic composition. On the 40D the
Tips 580EX II auto-compensates for the smaller size of the CMOS sensor, and
• The built-in flash zooms the flash head automatically to match the effective focal length of an
doesn’t support FP EF or EF-S lens on a digital camera (page 95). This maximizes the efficiency
high-speed sync op- of light distribution and produces more flashes from a set of batteries. When
eration flash. To use
this feature you need used with the EOS 40D, the flash and camera also communicate with each
a compatible EX flash other to adjust auto white balance based on the charge level of the batteries
such as the 580EX II. and the duration of each flash burst, resulting in consistently accurate color
• When using an for every shot.
external flash in dim
light, it may strobe The Speedlite 580EX II features an AF-assist beam with a range up to 2–32.8
before the exposure feet (0.6–10m), a swiveling flash head that turns a full 180 degrees in both
to assist focusing.
directions, while a single release lock controls tilt and swivel adjustments.
• If you have trouble A wide-angle diffuser covers focal lengths as short as 14mm (22mm on the
focusing, use the
center AF point. 40D). The flash also features a new catchlight reflector for optimal lighting
quality during bounce-flash photography. The Speedlite 580EX flash has 14
custom functions that let you control flash functions such as recycling with
external power and auto-zooming to match sensor size.
The flash gives you the ability to control flash functions and settings from the
camera menu (initially for the 40D and EOS-1D Mark III only, but also future
cameras). Many settings can be set from either the camera or the flash. For
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/tilthead/
example, flash exposure compensation can be set from either but the range
Click here to explore of adjustment is greater on the flash. Flash bracketing is set only on the flash.
how a flash head can FE lock is set only on the camera. Following are some of the features you’ll
pivot up and down and
rotate for bounce flash. find on the 580EX II and some other EX-series flash units.
High-speed Sync (FP)

The shutter speed you use when shooting with flash is important. When you
take a flash photo, the first shutter curtain opens to begin the exposure, then
the second curtain closes to end it. At shutter speeds above 1/250 the second
curtain starts to close before the first curtain is fully open. As a result, a “slit”

Using an External Flash
formed by the two curtains moves across the image sensor and normally only
a part of the image can be captured by the brief burst of flash. The rest of the
sensor is blocked by one or both curtains.
To get a fully exposed image, the flash must fire when the shutter is fully
open. This timing between the flash and the shutter is called flash synchroni-
The high-speed sync zation or X sync. On the 40D, the shutter is fully open only at shutter speeds
icon.
of 1/250 second and slower. Faster shutter speeds require what’s known as
high-speed sync flash (also called FP or focal plane sync). High-speed sync
can capture a fully exposed image because the flash fires repeatedly as the
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/fpflash/
“slit” moves across the image sensor during the exposure. The only drawback
Click to explore high is that the flash power is reduced so you can’t be positioned as far from a sub-
speed sync. ject. The higher the shutter speed you use, the closer you have to be. There
are at least three situations where you might find it useful:
• When using fill flash out of doors, you can use a fast shutter speed to freeze
action, or a wide aperture to throw the foreground or background out of
focus.
• When doing a portrait and want catchlights in the subject’s eyes.
• When using fill flash outdoors to lighten shadows.
Flash Exposure Bracketing (FEB)

The flash exposure Flash exposure bracketing (FEB) takes a series of three consecutive pic-
bracketing icon. tures exposed at slightly different settings up to three stops above or below
the exposure recommended by the autoexposure system in one-third stop
increments. The flash output changes with each image while the background
exposure level remains the same.
Wireless Remote Flash

Wireless flash lets you mount a master flash such as the 580EX, or a trans-
mitter (ST-E2) on the camera’s hot shoe and trigger other remote flash units.
This allows you to get lighting effects you couldn’t possibly get with a single
flash unit. The on-camera flash or transmitter (the master unit) transmits
wireless signals to the units (the slaves) telling them when to fire. The master
flash on the camera can be set to flash or not as it transmits signals to the
remote units. When using wireless remote flash, you can use a modeling light
Tips that illuminates the subject for a full second so you can preview flash effects
such as shadows and light balance before taking a picture. If you are using
• Don’t connect any
flash unit to the one or more slave units, the modeling light uses the flash ratios you have
PC terminal that chosen.
requires 250 volts or
more.
• You can’t use the Stroboscopic Flash
hot shoe and PC Stroboscopic flash fires the flash a number of times at high speed to capture
terminal at the same
time. multiple images of the same subject in the same photograph. You’ve probably
seen examples of this mode in sports photography where it can be used to
• The Speedlite
580EX has an demonstrate or analyze a swing of a bat or club.
optional external
power pack called
the Compact Battery PC Terminal
Pack CP-E3. This
battery pack reduces The 40D has a PC (Prontor-Compur) terminal so you can use cables to con-
recycling time and nect the camera to a studio flash. When you take a picture, a signal is sent
increases the num- from the camera along the cable to fire the studio flash. To access the termi-
ber of flashes per
charge. nal you unscrew the small round cover on the left side of the camera marked
with a lightening bolt icon.
Using Flash in Close-ups
There are two important reasons to use flash in close-up or tabletop photog-
raphy. With flash, you can use smaller apertures for greater depth of field,
and extremely short bursts of light at close distances prevent camera or sub-
ject movement from causing blur.
Using electronic flash with predictable results takes a little effort and you
may need to practice and experiment. For example, direct on-camera flash
doesn’t give a picture the feeling of texture and depth that you can get from
side-lighting. If you use an external flash (page 122), you can bounce the flash
off a reflector to illuminate the subject from an angle for a better lighting ef-
fect.
A special kind of flash is the ring flash. These units fit around the lens and fire
a circle of light on the subject. They are ideal for shadowless close-up photog-
raphy such as that used in medical, dental, and nature photography. Because
ring flash is so flat (shadowless), the unit can be set to fire just one side of the
ring, or one side of the ring can be fired with more intensity than the other so
the flash casts shadows that show surface modeling in the subject.
Canon’s Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX provides you with full E-TTL II flash ca-
pability when used with the 40D. With a Guide Number of 46 (ISO 100/ft.),
the MR-14EX mounts directly to Canon macro lenses. It offers flash exposure
lock, FP high-speed sync, and a number of other features. The flash has two
The Macro Ring Lite
MR-14EX (top) and
flash tubes that can be used together or independently. When used together,
the Macro Twin Lite lighting ratios between the two tubes can be set in one-half stop increments
MT-24X (bottom) are up to +/- 3 stops.
designed for close-up
photography. The Macro Ring Lite is also equipped with twin focusing lamps and a set of 7
Custom Functions that allow you to modify flash operation for specific shoot-
ing conditions. The MR-14EX requires 4 AA-size batteries and is equipped
with a socket for optional external power supplies such as the Canon Com-
pact Battery Pack CP-E2 to reduce recycling time and increase the number of
flashes per set of batteries.
The Macro Twin Lite, designed for serious close-up, nature, and macro pho-
tography, gives a directional quality of light, rather than the flat light char-
acteristic of the ring flash. Two separate flash heads can be swiveled around
the lens, can be aimed separately, and even removed from their holder and
mounted off-camera. Like the MR-14EX, the new Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX
is fully E-TTL II compatible with all EOS bodies, including digital SLRs, and
Flash was used to
freeze the katydid and
even allows Wireless E-TTL II flash control with one or more EX-series “slave
stinkbug. units.” It also provides easy ratio control of each flash head’s output, over a
six-stop range.
When photographed
without flash, the
background can be light
and distracting (left).
Photographed with flash
and using exposure
compensation to darken
the background, sets
off the main subject
(right).

Studio Lighting
Studio Lighting
Using flash or other artificial lighting in a studio setting lets you better con-
trol the illumination of the subject, placing highlights and shadows to reduce
or emphasize modeling.
Candidates for Studio Lighting

There are a number of subjects that lend themselves to being photographed
under controlled lighting. Here are just some of them.
• Portraits can be either candid or more formal. Candid portraits are usually
captured during the flow of action. It’s the more formal ones that give you the
time needed to arrange lighting.
• Small objects need to be illuminated properly to bring out details and col-
ors. You can light a subject in several ways, depending on your objectives. A
flat object needs to be illuminated evenly while an object with low relief, such
as a coin needs to be cross-lit to bring out details. Your options are many,
limited only by your willingness to experiment.
• Flat copy such as posters, stamps, prints, or pages from books require soft,
even light over their surface and the camera’s image sensor must be exactly
When lighting flat parallel to the subject to prevent “keystoning.” Even then, most lenses will
objects you want the curve otherwise straight lines at the periphery of the image because they
light even over the
entire surface. To do are not designed for copying and are not perfectly rectilinear. (This is called
this you need two lights curvilinear distortion.) There are other lens aberrations that make it difficult
set at 45 degree angles to keep the entire image in focus at the same time. One suggestion is to use a
so there are no hot
spots or reflections. small aperture that increases depth of field and uses the center portion of the
Lights courtesy of lens where aberrations are least likely to affect the image.
tabletop studios—
http://www.ezcube.com
Lighting
For good portraits or product shots, you need to improve on the camera’s
built-in flash. Direct on-camera flash gives a hard light that doesn’t give a
picture the feeling of texture and depth that you can get from side-lighting or
the overall detail revealed by soft, diffuse light. If you use an external flash,
you can position the flash to illuminate the subject from an angle for a better
lighting effect. There are also other things you can do:
• Light tents bathe a subject in soft, even lighting and are particularly useful
for complex subjects such as bouquets, highly reflective subjects such as jew-
elry, and translucent subjects such as glassware. A subject placed in the light
Light tent with red tent is surrounded by a translucent material which is lit from the outside. If
goblet—
the subject is small enough, you can use a plastic gallon milk bottle with the
bottom cut out and the top enlarged for the camera lens. When positioned
over the subject and illuminated by a pair of floodlights, the light inside the
bottle is diffused by the translucent sides of the bottle. The result is a very
even lighting of the subject.
• Studio lights are usually just reflectors mounted on adjustable stands. Keep
in mind that the color of the light you use to illuminate an object may affect
the colors in the final image. For best results you need bulbs that are daylight
5000k compact
balanced. The best of these are fluorescent because they don’t give off any
fluorescent bulb highly heat.
recommended for
product photography.— • Reflectors. When the light illuminating a small subject casts hard, dark
http://www.ezcube.com shadows, you can lighten the shadows by arranging reflectors around the

subject to bounce part of the light back onto the shadowed area. You can use
almost any relatively large, flat reflective object, including cardboard, cloth,
or aluminum foil (crumpling the foil to wrinkle it, then opening it out again
works best). Position the reflector so that it points toward the shadowed side
of the subject. As you adjust the angle of the reflector, you will be able to
observe its effects on the shadows. Use a neutral-toned reflector so the color
of the reflector doesn’t add a color cast to the image.
A light tent can make

an amazing difference
in table-top photos—
This very complex

subject was shot in a
lite tent. The soft diffuse
light reached every
part allowing it to be
captured without dark
shadows and burned • Light panels are an ideal source of light. When you place an object on the
out highlights. illuminated panel and shoot from above, the area surrounding the object is
captured as pure white. If you cut a hole in a sheet of background paper and
arrange it as a sweep, a glass placed on the hole appears to glow from within
as light streams through the hole and through the glass. Finally, by tipping a
panel on its side, it can be used as a background or used like any other light
source.
A medallion placed on
a light panel and shot
from above has a pure
white background. A
small lamp is used to
side light the coin to
bring out its relief.
• Flash. There is definitely a role for on camera flash in studio photography.

It doesn’t hurt to see what results you get from the built-in flash. You might
even want to try the Macro Twin Lite MT-24X because you can rotate the two
flash heads to bounce light off reflectors or off the walls of a light tent.

Studio Lighting
Backgrounds
Some thought should be given to the background you use. It should be one
that makes your subject jump out, and not overwhelm it. The safest back-
ground to use is a sheet of neutral gray poster board that can be formed
into a sweep, a curved “L” shape that gives a nice smooth gradation of light
behind the subject. It’s safe, because it reduces potential exposure problems
and most things show well against it. Other options include black or white
backgrounds but they may cause some exposure problems unless you use
exposure compensation. Finally there are colored backgrounds, but these
should be selected to support and not clash with the colors in the subject. The
texture of the background is also a consideration. For example, black velvet
has no reflections at all while black poster board might show them.
There are times when you don’t want a background in a photo so the subject
Here a crystal glass is silhouetted against a pure white background. You’ll often see this tech-
was shot in a light nique used in catalog photos but it’s also a great way to make it easy to select
cube against a black
background to set it off.
an object in a photo-editing program so you can cut it out and paste it into
another image. To get this effect you need to overexpose the background so
it’s pure white without details. In some cases this is as easy as pointing lights
at it. In the case of a small object, photographing the object against an illumi-
nated light panel makes it very easy.
Focus and Exposure

The exposure procedure for close-up and tabletop photography isn’t a lot
different from normal photography but you have the opportunity to control
lighting. The biggest difficulty may arise from automatic exposure. Many
close-up photographs are of small objects that don’t entirely fill the view-
finder frame. Automatic exposure systems can be fooled if the brightness of
A hole was cut in a
piece of black paper the small object is different from the brightness of the larger background.
and placed on a light The meter averages all of the light reflecting from the scene and may select an
panel. The glass was exposure that makes the main subject too light or too dark. To correct this,
then placed over the
hole and looks like it’s you can use exposure compensation (page 52) to lighten or darken the main
illuminated from within. subject.
Macro lenses (page 105) are useful when you want to get close to small
subjects so they fill the frame. Just keep in mind that in macro photography,
depth of field gets very shallow. You can also try Close-up mode in the Basic
Zone with a normal lens (page 100).
Tips and Tricks

• When taking macro close-ups you can use spot or partial metering (page 45)
to meter just a small part of the image so the background doesn’t influence
the exposure.
• When using flash for macro close-up images the flash may not fully illumi-
nate the subject. Be sure to take a test shot.
• To control exposure, use the neutral density filter (page 108), or use flash
exposure compensation (page 120).
• White balance can compensate for most lighting but when there is more
A white background than one light source, you may get color tints in your image. You’ll have to
(top) causes the clock
to be underexposed experiment with this aspect using white balance settings (page 81). In other
while a gray background cases, you may find that you like the artificial colors or you may be able to
(bottom) gets the adjust them in your photo-editing program.
exposure correct.

Portrait and Product Photography—Introduction
In the studio, you usually use more than one light to illuminate a portrait or
product. The goal is often to create light that looks like that found outdoors.
The lights can be hot lights, strobes, or slave flash units–or even fill cards.
Sometimes you can get away with only one or two lights but the use of main,
fill, background and rim lights is a classic studio lighting setup for portraits
that can be adapted to other subjects.
• The main light is positioned somewhat to one side of the subject and
somewhat above it.
• A fill light is placed opposite the main light, but more nearly at the sub-
ject’s level.
• A background light is used to control the lighting on the background
behind the main subject.
Most photographers • A rim light is placed quite high and behind the subject to highlight edges
without studios use and separate the subject from the background.
continuous lights
that usually have For most purposes you can get by with just the main light and a fill light. In
three parts—stands,
reflectors, and bulbs. fact, you can often get along with just the main light by replacing the fill light
with reflectors to bounce light into the shadows. The way you position a light
relative to the subject is very important.
• As you move a light farther away from the subject you reduce the light fall-
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/lightquality/
ing on it. Because there is less light you may have to use a larger aperture
Click to explore hard
and soft light. which gives less depth of field.
• Moving a light back hardens its light, while moving it closer softens it. By
moving a light farther away, you also reduce the light it illuminates the sub-
ject with. On strobes, you do it by adjusting the light’s intensity. On continu-
ous lights you can do the same with a dimmer switch. You can have one light
illuminate the subject with more intensity than another light. The difference
between the two lights is called the lighting ratio.
• Positioning the light at an angle to the subject will make the light uneven
over the subject with the part closest to the light getting more light. The expo-
sure will only be correct for those at one distance—normally those in the area
metered by the autoexposure system. Parts of the setup located farther from
the light source will be increasingly darker the farther away they are.

The Main Light
The Main Light
Outdoors the brightest source of light is usually the sun. In the studio, the
sun’s role is filled by the main light. Like the sun it’s the brightest source of
light and casts the darkest shadows.
Like the sun, the main

light is often positioned
above and slightly to
the side of the subject.
Placing the light above
the subject creates
light on the subject that
is familiar, as are the
shadows it creates.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/main/
main light.
Here the main light is

set to the left, above,
and right of the subject.

The Fill Light
A fill light represents the light that falls on an outdoor subject from the broad
expanse of an open sky, or reflecting from surfaces in the landscape. The fill
light is almost always less bright than the main light, in fact about half as
bright. Its relative brightness can be controlled in a number of ways. For ex-
ample, it can be placed farther away from the subject, you can add a diffuser,
or you can use a less powerful light.
The fill light, placed
opposite the main light,
opens shadows by
lighting the dark side of
the subject facing away
from the main light.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/fill/
Click to explore the fill
light.
The fill light on the

right of the subject is
moved from close to
the subject (left) to
farther away (middle
and right). The closer it
is, the more it lightens
shadows created by the
main light.

The Background Light
The Background Light
A background light controls how light or dark the background behind the
subject is. A lighter or darker background can help visually separate the sub-
ject from the background. It can also lighten shadows cast on the background
by other lights. In fact, if made bright enough, it can silhouette the subject.
The background light is

off to the side and lights
the background behind
the subject without
lighting the subject
itself.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/background/
background light.
The background light can be varied for different effects. When only spillover light
illuminates the background (far left) it’s a uniform gray. When not illuminated at all
(second from left) it’s black. When the background is lit by a spot it is graduated
(second from right). When illuminated with a bright light it is burned out to pure
white (far right).

The Rim Light
A rim light positioned behind the subject and facing toward the camera il-
luminates the edges of the subject from behind so they glow and are visually
separated from the darker background. In portrait photography a rim light is
often used to back light the hair.
The rim light is often set
up behind the subject
and slightly higher
than the other lights.
Because this light is
facing the camera, it’s
important that it be
completely blocked by
the subject or out of the
field of view. If not you
may get lens flare and
lowered contrast. One
way to block the light
is to position a piece
of cardboard (called a
gobo) between the light
and subject.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/rim/
Click to explore the rim
light.
The final image is

beautifully lit and
well separated from
the background. It’s
a visually interesting
image.

Chapter 7. Other Features and Commands
Chapter 7
Other Features and Commands
T
he 40D has many settings that control how your camera operates or
Contents perform other useful functions. In this chapter we discuss those
• Continuous Pho- features not covered elsewhere in the book. You’ll see how to use Live
tography • Live View to compose and focus images on the monitor, shoot up to 6.5 frames
View Shooting • per second in continuous mode, use the monitor to compose and focus im-
Using Picture Styles
• Registering Your ages in Live View, use and customize picture styles, save your own settings
Own Settings • Using and menus, set custom functions, and make many other useful settings. You
Custom Functions should find a great deal of useful information here that you’ll be glad to know.
• Using My Menu
• Changing Other Finally you’ll see how to care for your camera and remove the dust that tends
Settings • Entering a to accumulate on the surface of the image sensor.
Print Order • Caring
for Your Camera

Continuous Photography
To be sure you catch those fleeting moments so common in sports and wild-
life photography, you can choose one of two continuous modes to capture up
to 75 Large/Fine JPEG or 17 RAW images:
• High speed continuous mode captures images at 6.5 frames per second.
• Low speed continuous mode captures images at 3 frames per second.
To capture more images in a single burst, reduce the image size, quality or
format (page 26). Also, other settings may slow down the capture rate. For
example, a low battery, a slow shutter speed or using the flash takes photos
more slowly as does taking repeated short bursts instead of one long one.
RAW images have the highest quality but you can only capture about 17 im-
ages per burst in either mode.
Images are first stored in a buffer, basically internal memory, because this
can be done faster than storing them to a CF card. When the buffer becomes
full, buSY is displayed in the viewfinder and the camera starts capturing im-
ages much more slowly as it frees up room in the buffer by moving images
to the CF card. After an image is moved and room is again available in the
buffer, the camera will capture another image. A faster CompactFlash card
can improve the performance slightly. When the viewfinder display is active,
a readout to the left of the focus indicator shows how many more images will
fit in the buffer. The readout doesn’t go above 99, so when 99 is displayed it
means you can capture 99 or more. In One-Shot AF, focus doesn’t change
after the first picture. In AI servo AF it does.
• Low-speed continuous is the only continuous mode available in Portrait
mode.
• High-speed continuous is the only continuous mode available in Sports
mode.
• Single-frame is the only mode available in Full Auto, Landscape, Close-up,
Continuous mode Night Portrait, and Flash Off modes.
can capture a series
of positions in sports • All modes are available in Creative Zone modes.
photography.
You can then choose the best image from the sequence or use all of them to
create an animation on your computer. One way to do this is to create an
animated GIF. When viewed with a Web browser, the images are quickly
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/continuous/
displayed one after the other like frames in a movie.
Click to see how
continuous mode can be Selecting a Continuous Mode
used creatively.
1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, press the
AF/DRIVE button and then turn the Quick Control Dial until the
desired continuous mode icon is displayed on the LCD panel. (One of
the continuous mode is selected automatically in Portrait and Sports
modes in the Basic Zone.)
2. To run off photos, hold down the shutter button until you or the
camera decides enough is enough. The shots remaining count is dis-
played at the bottom of the viewfinder next to the focus confirmation
The single frame (top)
indicator when you release the shutter button. The last photo in the
low speed continuous burst is briefly displayed on the monitor.
(bottom, left) and
high speed continuous 3. When finished, repeat Step 1 but select a different drive mode.
(bottom, right) icons.

Live View Shooting
Live View Shooting
You can use the monitor, or even a connected computer, to compose and
Tip focus images—a procedure called Live View. In most ways using Live View is
• A side benefit of just like using the viewfinder. The difference is that in Live View the camera
Live View is that lifts the mirror up and out of the way (the viewfinder blacks out) and opens
it reduces vibra-
tion by lifting the the shutter so the image sensor can capture the scene in real time and display
reflex mirror out of it on the monitor. You’ll find this mode especially useful when using a tripod
the way long before and macro lens to capture close-ups requiring very precise focusing. It’s also
the exposure takes
place. In this respect useful in a studio setting because you can tether the camera to a computer
it is much like mirror and use the larger computer screen to compose and focus the image. Al-
lockup (page 141). though usually used with manual focus, Custom Function III-6 allows you to
autofocus in Live View just by pressing the AF-ON button.
Using Live View

1. With the camera set to P, Av, Tv or M mode, set the lens focus mode
switch to MF, press MENU and select the Set-up 2 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Live View function settings,
and press SET.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Live View shoot, press SET,
highlight Enable, and press SET. Press MENU twice to hide the
menu.
4. To shoot, press SET to raise the mirror and open the shutter so the
scene is displayed on the monitor and the viewfinder blacks out.
Focus the image and take the picture.
5. When done, press SET while a Live View is displaying the scene on
the monitor and restore the view through the viewfinder.
General Tips in Live View

• Pressing MENU in Live View ends the Live View session until you press SET
Clicking this button on
EOS Utility displays
again. Make changes to menu settings before entering Live View.
the scene the camera
sees on your computer
• The four buttons above the LCD panel continue to let you change some set-
screen. You can then tings—white balance, drive mode, ISO and flash exposure compensation.
remotely adjust white
balance and focus, • Canon recommends you not use a hard disk based memory card. The high
check histograms and temperatures created by Live View might harm the card.
depth of field, and take
pictures. • A tripod is recommended to avoid blur in your images from camera shake.
• Using the EOS Utility software and the video cable supplied with the camera
you can use a computer’s screen as the monitor/viewfinder. Using an option-
al wireless transmitter you can make the connection wirelessly at distances
up to almost 500 feet (150m).
• Don’t point the camera at the sun or you can damage the image sensor.
• The monitor displays 100% of the area that will be captured in the photo.
• Press the INFO button to change the information displayed and change
shooting settings (page 15).
• Live View consumes more power than normal operation. You can shoot up
to 170 pictures in a warm setting, and as few as 130 when the temperature
falls toward freezing.

• You can use flash, and when it fires the mirror drops down briefly so the
Tip camera can measure the preflash used to set the flash exposure. There are
• When using flash two shutter sounds but only one photo is taken.
you can’t use FE
lock, modeling flash,
custom functions,
test firing or change
Shooting Modes in Live View
the 580EX II’s wire- • Live View works only in Creative Zone modes—P, Av, Tv or M.
less setting.
• Changing the shooting mode during Live View display, ends Live View.
• In Live View A-DEP mode works exactly the same as P mode.
Focusing in Live View

• To focus the image when the lens focus mode switch is set to MF, turn the
focus ring on the lens.
• To check focus, press the Multi-controller to move the rectangular focusing
frame over an important area of the scene (press it straight down to cen-
The focusing frame can ter the frame), and press the Enlarge button to magnify the area within the
be moved about the frame. Each time you press it you cycle through Full view > 5x > 10x and then
screen. back to Full view. When the scene is magnified on the monitor, the camera
enhances image sharpness from what it will on the captured image to help
you better evaluate focus and sharpness on the screen. Also AE lock is turned
on (page 53) and the shutter speed and aperture settings are displayed in
orange.
• To check depth of field, press the depth of field preview button (page 68).
• You can’t use the focus preset feature on super telephoto lenses.
Tip Auto Focusing in Live View

• During autofocus- Although not as precise as magnified manual focus, you can autofocus by set-
ing no AF points
are displayed on ting Custom Function III-6 AF during Live View shooting to Enable. When
the screen but they enabled, pressing the AF-ON button lowers the reflex mirror so the camera
are still operational. can autofocus. Releasing the AF-ON button then returns you to Live View so
Canon recommends
that you position the you can take a picture.
focusing frame at the
center and select the
center AF point for Autofocusing in Live View
autofocusing.
1. Set Custom Function III-6 AF during Live View shooting to Enable
(page 141), set the lens focus mode switch to AF (page 95), set the AF
mode (page 70) and select an AF point or all AF points for auto AF
point selection (page 71).
2. Press SET to display the scene on the monitor.
3. Cover the subject with a previously selected AF point or the focus-
ing frame (you can move it with the Multi-controller) and press the
AF-ON button. The Live View image turns off, the reflex mirror goes
down, autofocus is performed, and the reflex mirror goes back up. If
autofocus is successful the beeper sounds.
4. Release the AF-ON button and the Live View image is displayed.
5. Check the focus and take the picture.
Exposure in Live View

• When manually focusing, the area within the focusing frame and evaluative
metering are used to set exposure. Also, in manual focus you can’t change

Live View Shooting
the drive mode or select an AF point, but when autofocusing you can, pro-
vided you change them before entering Live View. Although you can’t see the
selected AF point(s) on the monitor, they do affect focus.
• Pressing the AE lock button won’t lock exposure when the image is magni-
fied and the aperture and shutter speed are displayed in orange.
In direct sunlight, or • If a light source within the scene varies, the image on the screen may flicker.
other situations that If this happens press SET once to end shooting, and then again to resume
might heat the camera,
the high temperature once you have adjusted the lighting.
icon (above) may be
displayed to indicate • If you recompose the scene, the image brightness on the monitor may
that image quality may briefly change. Wait until it readjusts or your photo’s exposure may be off.
be degraded by noise or
irregular colors. If you • Custom function IV-7 Live View exposure simulation, when enabled, ad-
continue shooting, Live justs the brightness of the image on the monitor to roughly match the bright-
View may discontinue
automatically and ness of the image you will capture (page 141). You can even press INFO to
not resume until the display a histogram to guide you in getting the best possible exposure (page
camera’s temperature 55). If you use flash or bulb mode (page 90) the histogram is grayed out
falls.
but still works. In extremely bright or dark situations, the brightness of the
screen image won’t reflect the exposure settings but the captured image will.
• You can use continuous shooting (page 134) and exposure is locked in with
the first image. If you recompose the image the exposure isn’t readjusted
until you stop shooting, so images may be under- or overexposed.
• Extremely bright sources in the scene are dimmed on the screen but will be
captured correctly.
Silent Shooting
Using the Set-up 2 menu’s Live View function settings command you can
change Metering timer (to specify how long the metered exposure setting is
retained) and Grid display (to make it easier to align horizontals and verti-
cals in an image). You can also set Silent shoot to Mode 1, Mode 2, or Disable
to avoid alarming people or wildlife.
• Mode 1 (the default) is quieter than normal camera operation. Normally,
when you press the shutter button to take a picture in Live View, the sec-
ond shutter curtain closes, and the image sensor is cleared. The first shutter
curtain then opens to begin the exposure, and the second closes again to end
it. In silent modes, the camera leaves the second curtain open. Instead, it
simulates its opening by activating the sensor one row of pixels at a time just
as if the curtain were sliding over it to uncover the rows. The second curtain
then closes to end the exposure. At shutter speed faster than 1/250 this com-
bination of an electronic first curtain and mechanical second curtain creates a
slit moving across the sensor. The result is that you can shoot up to 6 fps with
only the sound of the second shutter closing once for each picture. Also, since
the first curtain is an electronic shutter the release time is infinitesimal so you
can capture instantaneous actions.
• Mode 2 takes a shot and then suspends camera operations if you hold the
button down. When you release the shutter button back to the halfway posi-
tion the camera sounds softly as the shutter cocks. Delaying the shooting
Tip
sound can minimize the disturbance in some situations.
• When the camera
is set to Mode 1 or • Disable is used when making vertical shifts with a tilt-shift lens (page 107),
2 and flash is used, extension tubes (page 105) and non-Canon flash units. When you release the
the camera operates
as if it were set to shutter button in this mode it sounds as if two pictures are taken although
Disable. only one is.

Picture Styles store settings, in some cases for specific situations such as por-
Tips traits and landscapes. The settings have been chosen by Canon, but you can
• Style settings, in- change them in Creative Zone modes to better suit your own tastes.
cluding monochrome,
affect RAW image
thumbnails and pre- Selecting Picture Styles
views, but make no
changes to the actual The styles from which you can choose include the following:
images.
• Standard images are sharpened to look crisp, and the color tone and satura-
• The Neutral and
Faithful styles as- tion are set to render vivid colors.
sume you will adjust
the images using a • Portrait images have color tone and saturation set to obtain natural skin
photo-editing pro- tones. Sharpness, one step weaker than in Standard, is kinder to skin.
gram. These settings
are not for images • Landscape has color tone and saturation set for deep, vivid blues and
you will print directly greens for skies and foliage. Sharpness is set one step more than Standard so
from the camera or
at a kiosk. that the outlines of mountains, trees and buildings look crisp.
• Using Canon’s • Neutral captures natural color and no sharpness is applied. This is the set-
Picture Style Editor ting preferred by professionals who edit their images in a program such as
you can design the
look of your photo- Photoshop because it has the least effect on the images.
graphs by inputting
your own preferred • Faithful applies no sharpening and renders colors as “faithfully” as it can
style, color and tone to the original subject. In Canon’s terms “ When the subject is photographed
curves. under a color temperature of 5200K, the color is adjusted colorimetrically to
match the subject’s color, even with JPEG images.”
• Monochrome lets you shoot in black and white, or another tone of your
choice. When you select this setting B/W is displayed on the LCD panel and
in the viewfinder. For best results in this mode, adjust white balance for the
available lighting.
• User defined 1–3 can be set to any settings you prefer (page 139). The initial
settings are the same as Standard.
Selecting Picture Styles

Picture Style selection button to display choices on the monitor. (You
can also select Picture Style from the Shooting 2 menu tab.)
2. To select a style, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight it and press
SET.
The Picture Styles Editor
tool palette. 3. Take your photos and when finished repeat Steps 1–2 and select
Standard (the default).
Tips
• For additional Editing Picture Styles
pictures styles and
more information For each of the styles, you can adjust sharpness, contrast, saturation and
visit Canon at: color tone. In Monochrome the color saturation and tone choices in the other
web.canon.jp/imag- styles are replaced by choices for filter and toning effects. Toning effects add
ing/picturestyle/file/ an overall tint to the image, and filters act like the glass filters that can be at-
• To see the effects tached to lenses.
of Picture Styles,
select them one after • Yellow makes clouds crisper while leaving the blue sky unaffected.
another while watch-
ing the scene on the • Orange darkens a blue sky and makes sunrises/sets more brilliant.
monitor in Live View.
• Red is like orange, only more so, and also brightens fall foliage.

• Green improves skin tones in portraits and makes green foliage crisper and
brighter.
On the Picture Styles
screen, the icons refer There are three unspecified styles (User defined 1–3) that you can set up for
to (from left to right)
sharpness, contrast,
your own situations.
saturation, and color
tone. When you select
Initially the first three Picture Styles, Standard, Portrait and Landscape,
the Monochrome style, include sharpness levels 3, 2 and 4, respectively, settings that are best for im-
the last two icons are ages that won’t be edited in a program such as Photoshop.
replaced with ones for
filter effects and color
toning. Changing Picture Styles
Picture Style selection button. (You can also select Picture Style from
Tip the Shooting 2 menu tab.)
• Sharpness can 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight the style you want to edit
be set from 0
(less sharp) to +7 and press INFO to display the Detail set screen for that style.
(sharper).
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight a setting you want to adjust,
• Contrast can be set and press SET to activate its scale or display a list of choices. (You
from -4 (low) to +4
(high) can return a style to it’s default values by highlighting Default set and
pressing SET.)
• Saturation can be
set from -4 (low) to 4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to adjust the setting or select a choice
+4 (high)
from the list, and press SET to return to the Detail set screen.
• Color tone can be
set to -4 (reddish 5. Adjust other settings or press MENU to return to the Picture Style
skin tone) to +4 Screen. Any setting that’s been changed is displayed in blue.
(yellowish skin tone)
• Filter can be set 6. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
to None, Yellow, Or-
ange, Red or Green. Registering a Picture Style
• Toning effect can You can adjust any existing Picture style, and save those changes in one of
be set to None, Se-
pia, Blue, Purple or three user definitions. This allows you to reuse the settings at some point in
Green. the future without having to readjust them.
Registering Picture Styles

Tip Picture Style selection button. (You can also select Picture Style from
the Shooting 2 menu tab.)
• The following
disclaimer ap- 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight one of the User Def settings
pears on Canon’s
site “The provided
and press INFO to display the Detail set screen.
Picture Style files
are intended to only
3. Highlight Picture Style, press SET, turn the Quick Control Dial to
be effective in a highlight the style you want to base your user definition on, and press
very limited number SET again to return to the Detail set screen.
of scenes. Conse-
quently, they do not 4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight a setting you want to adjust,
guarantee that im-
ages can always be
and press SET to activate its scale.
generated as users
expect. In addition,
5. Turn the Quick Control Dial to adjust the setting, and press SET to
if they are used to return to the Detail set screen.
shoot casual scenes,
they may cause un- 6. Adjust other settings or press MENU to return to the Picture Style
natural images to Screen. Any user definition that’s been changed is displayed in blue.
be generated. Users
are asked to accept
(You can return a style to it’s default values by highlighting Default
these points before set and pressing SET.)
using Picture Style
files.” 7. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.

Registering Your Own Settings
If you use the same settings over and over again it may be worthwhile saving
Tips them for future use. The 40D allows you to save three sets and then instantly
• Picture Styles (page access any one of them at any time just by turning the Mode Dial to C1, C2
138) provide another or C3. Storing your own settings is as simple as setting the camera the way
way to store settings
for future use. you want it and then selecting the menu’s Camera user setting. Some set-
tings such as date/time information, language, communication setting, video
• A great thing about
registering settings output and others cannot be registered. Those that can be are listed in the
is that they are not column to the left.
affected when you
clear all camera • Changes you make to settings in C1, C2 or C3 are reset to the registered set-
settings or clear all tings when the camera goes to sleep or you turn it off. In other Creative Zone
custom functions
(page 142). modes, changes are remembered, and may affect future shots. If remembered
changes cause you problems, switch to a custom mode even if you don’t reg-
• To see what set-
tings are registered, ister your own settings. The default settings are the same as Program AE (P)
set the Mode Dial mode, but changes won‘t be remembered from one session to the next.
to any C mode and
press INFO. • When revising custom settings you’ve already registered, start with the
Mode Dial set to C1, C2, or C3 so your original settings are used as the start-
ing point. (You can’t do this if one of the changes you want to make is the
shooting mode.)
• You cannot register My Menu settings (page 146).
• When the Mode Dial is set to C1, C2 or C3 the Set-up 2 menu’s Clear all
camera settings and the Custom Function menu’s Clear all Custom Func
(C.Fn.) commands don’t work. To clear settings use the Clear settings com-
mand described in the QuickSteps box that follows.
• To check the settings, turn the Mode Dial to one of the settings and press
Settings you
INFO.
can Register
Shooting Settings
AF mode Registering Camera Settings
AF point selection
Metering mode 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in the Creative Zone, and the
ISO speed settings you want to save already made, press MENU and select the
Drive mode Set-up 3 menu tab.
Exposure compensa-
tion 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Camera user setting and
Flash exposure com-
pensation press SET to display two choices.
White balance
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Register and press SET to
Menu Settings display a list of the three custom modes.
Quality 4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight C1, C2 or C3 and press SET.
Beep
Shoot w/o card When asked to confirm, highlight OK and press SET.
AEB
WB SHIFT/BKT 5. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
Custom WB
Color temperature 6. Do any of the following:
Color space
Picture Style • To use the stored settings, turn the Mode Dial to C1, C2 or C3.
Review time
AF points • To change the stored settings, select the mode, change settings and
Histogram then repeat Steps 1–5 to store them in place of the current settings.
Auto power off
Auto rotate • To reset the settings to their defaults which are the same as P (Pro-
LCD brightness grammed) mode, repeat Steps 1–3 but select Clear settings. Select
File numbering
(method) the mode you want to clear and press SET. Highlight OK and press
Custom functions SET again.

Using Custom Functions
The 40D has twenty-four custom functions you change in Creative Zone
modes to control camera operations. Since there are so many custom func-
tions they are grouped into four categories numbered with Roman numer-
als—I: exposure, II: Image, III: Auto focus/Drive, and IV: Operation/Others.
Within each category are custom functions numbered with Arabic numbers.
To identify a specific function, we use both numbers. For example, to identify
the function AF-assist beam firing, we refer to it as III-5.
The Custom Functions
menu tab icon.
C.Fn I: Exposure
Number Settings Page
1 Exposure level increments 142
2 ISO speed setting increments 142

3 ISO expansion 142
4 Bracketing auto cancel 142
5 Bracketing sequence 142
The Custom Function
icon is displayed on 6 Safety shift 143
the LCD panel if any 7 Flash sync. speed in Av mode 143
Custom Function has
been changed from its
default setting.
C.Fn II: Image
1 Long exposure noise reduction 143

2 High ISO speed noise reduction 143
3 Highlight tone priority 143
C.Fn III: Auto focus/Drive

The shaded Custom
Functions in these 1 Lens drive when AF impossible 143
tables are not available
in Live View. 2 Lens AF stop button function 143
3 AF point selection method 143
4 Superimposed display 144
5 AF-assist beam firing 144
6 AF during Live View shooting 144
7 Mirror lockup 144
C.Fn IV: Operation/Others

1 Shutter button/AF-ON button 144
2 AF-ON/AE lock button switch 145

3 SET button when shooting 145
4 Dial direction during Tv/Av 145
The AE/FE Lock icon. 5 Focusing Screen 145

6 Add original decision data 145
7 Live View exposure simulation 145

Tip Changing Custom Functions

• When you clear all
custom functions, it
has no effect on the MENU and select the Custom Functions menu tab.
setting for custom
function IV-5 Focus- 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight one of the custom function
ing Screen. groups C. Fn I–C. Fn IV and press SET to display the custom func-
tions in the selected group. The current setting for each function is
listed below its number. The default settings are all 0.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight one of the custom functions
and press SET to display choices.
4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight one of the choices and press
SET to select it.
5. Change other functions in the group, or press MENU to return to the
main Custom Functions menu.
6. Select another group or press the MENU or shutter button to hide
the menu.
Clearing Custom Functions

MENU and select the Custom Functions menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Clear all Custom Func. (C.
Fn) and press SET.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight OK and press SET to clear
the functions (except IV-5 Focusing Screen) and return to the menu.
C.Fn I: Exposure
1 Exposure level increments selects 0: 1/3-stop or 1: 1/2-stop increments for
shutter speeds, apertures, exposure compensation and other exposure set-
tings other than ISO.
2 ISO speed setting increments selects 0: 1/3-stop or 1: 1-stop increments for
ISO settings.
3 ISO expansion can be set to 0: Off and 1: On. When On you can select an
ISO of 3200 by selecting H (page 63).
4 Bracketing auto cancel specifies when AEB and white balance bracketing
are cancelled.
• When On, AEB (page 54) and WB-BKT (page 83) are cancelled when you
turn off the camera, clear camera settings, or when the flash is ready to
fire.
• When Off, AEB and WB-BKT settings are retained even when you turn
off the camera. When the flash is ready to fire, AEB is cancelled although
the AEB amount is retained in memory.
5 Bracket sequence can be set to 0: 0,-,+ or 1: -, 0, +. The 0, - and + mean dif-
ferent things depending on other autoexposure and white balance bracketing
settings as shown in the following table:

WB Bracketing
AEB
B/A Direction M/G Direction
0: Standard exposure 0: Standard white balance 0: Standard white balance
-: Decreased exposure -: More blue -: More magenta
+: Increased exposure +: More amber +: More green
6 Safety shift in AV or TV can be set to 0: Disable or 1: Enable (Tv/Av).

When enabled, exposure is automatically adjusted at the last possible mo-
ment if the lighting changes.
7 Flash sync speed in AV mode sets the shutter speed to 0: Auto or 1:
1/250sec. (fixed) when using flash in Av mode. When set to Auto, slower
shutter speeds are used to lighten the background just as they are in slow
sync photography (page 117). Fixing the shutter speed prevents a slow shutter
speed when photographing in dim light, so backgrounds will be darker.
C. Fn II: Image
1 Long exposure noise reduction sets the noise reduction mode.
Tips
• 0: Off turns off noise reduction for long exposures.
• The time it takes
to process an image • 1: Auto uses noise reduction only when noise is detected in an image.
to remove noise is
the same as the • 2: On reduces noise in all images taken at exposures of 1 second or more.
exposure time. You
can’t take another 2 High ISO speed noise reduction can be set to 0: Off or 1: On. When On
picture while the
previous one is being noise reduction is used at all ISO settings, but has the most effect at high
processed so longer ISOs. At low ISOs, noise in shadow areas is reduced. When On, the frame rate
exposures mean in continuous shooting drops dramatically.
there will be longer
between shots. 3 Highlight tone priority can be set to 0: Disable or 1: Enable. When en-
• An image, even abled, highlight details are improved although noise in shadow areas may be
in Live View, isn’t increased. The dynamic range is expanded between 18% middle gray and the
displayed on the
monitor until noise brightest highlights. As a result, the gradation between the grays and high-
reduction processing lights becomes smoother. This is a good setting for weddings and landscapes
is complete. since it captures more detail in white subjects such as wedding dresses,
clouds, and snow. Also, the ISO range is 200–1600, and to remind you it’s
on, zeros in the ISO are displayed in small type on the monitor and in the
viewfinder.
C.Fn III: Auto focus/Drive

1 Lens drive when AF impossible can be set to 0: Focus search on or 1: Focus
search off. When Off, if the camera can’t achieve focus, it stops trying instead
of going dramatically out of focus. This setting is especially useful with macro
and super telephoto lenses.
2 Lens AF stop button function has settings that control focus, exposure,
and image stabilization on super telephoto lenses with AF stop buttons. If
you have one of these lenses refer to the manual that came with the lens and
page 158 in the Canon 40D user manual. The choices include 0: AF stop, 1:
AF start, 2: AE lock, 3: AF point:M->Auto/Auto->center, 4: ONE SHOT-AI
SERVO and 5: IS start.
3 AF point selection method gives you three ways to manually select an AF
point (page 71):
• 0: Normal works by pressing the AF Point button and then the Multi-
controller.

• 1: Multi-controller direct lets you press the multi-controller to directly

select an AF point without first having to press the AF Point button. Press-
ing the AF Point button selects all AF points for automatic AF point selec-
tion.
• 2: Quick Control Dial direct lets you turn the Quick Control Dial to select
AF points without having to press the AF Point button first. In this mode,
AF points are not displayed on the LCD panel. Holding down the AF Point
button while turning the Main Dial sets exposure compensation.
Indicators in the 4 Superimposed display determines how AF points in the viewfinder react
viewfinder (top) and on when focus is achieved.
the LCD panel (bottom)
show which AF point is 0: On has the AF point(s) used to set focus flash red.
selected.
1: Off turns off the red flash, however, if you manually select an AF point
(page 71) the selected AF point still flashes red.
5 AF-assist beam specifies when and if the flash’s AF assist beam fires when
Tips using One-Shot autofocus. You may want to turn it off in some circumstances
• The AF-assist beam since it draws attention.
doesn’t just illumi-
nate the subject, ● 0: Enable enables the AF-assist beam.
it also projects a
striped pattern on it ● 1: Disable disables the AF-assist beam.
that the camera can
use for focusing. ● 2: Only external flash emits enables the AF-assist beam on external
• The AF-assist beam Speedlites and disables it on the built-in flash. For this to work, the Speed-
does not fire in AI lite’s custom function controlling its AF-assist beam must also be enabled.
Servo focus mode. (See the manual that came with your Speedlite.)
6 AF during Live View shooting can be set to 0: Disable or 1: Enable. When
enabled during Live View shooting, you can hold down the AF-ON button
for a moment to interrupt the Live View image display and autofocus. If you
Tip release the button before you hear the beep, focus won’t be achieved.
When using mirror
lockup: 7 Mirror lockup lets you 0: Disable or 1: Enable mirror lockup. When en-
abled, you can lock the mirror up so it doesn’t add any image-softening vibra-
• Don’t leave the
mirror up for long in tions when you take a photo. This is a very useful feature when taking macro
bright light, or point close-ups, or using very long lenses. When enabled, here is how it works:
the camera at the
sun. ● Pressing the shutter button all the way down raises the mirror (the view-
• Use the Remote finder goes dark), and pressing it again fires the shutter and lowers the
Switch RS-80N3, mirror. If you don’t press the shutter button within 30 seconds, the mirror
or the self-timer, to lowers automatically.
avoid blur caused by
camera movement as ● When using the self-timer (page 63), pressing the shutter button all the
you press the shutter
button. way down raises the mirror (the viewfinder goes dark) and then fires the
shutter 10 seconds or 2 seconds later. If you don’t have a remote control,
Doing so can damage
the shutter curtains. this is a great way to avoid camera shake from pressing the shutter button.
• In continuous ● When using bulb and the self-timer, press and hold down the shutter
mode, only one button until the photo is taken.
picture can be taken
at a time when using
mirror lockup.
C.Fn IV: Operation Others
1 Shutter button/AF-ON button specifies how the shutter button and AF-ON
buttons work together. When a slash (/) is used in a setting below, the part
before the slash refers to the function of the shutter button, and the part after
the slash refers to AF-ON:
0: Metering + AF start has either button start metering and autofocus.

1: Metering + AF start/AF stop has the shutter button start metering and
Tip autofocus and the AF-ON button stop autofocus.
• Metering is the
same as pressing the 2: Metering start/Meter + AF start has the shutter button start metering,
shutter button down and the AF-ON button start metering and autofocus. This is used for sub-
to turn on metering jects that repeatedly move and stop. In AI Servo AF mode, you can press
and the exposure
displays in the view- AF-ON to repeatedly start and stop AI Servo AF focus. Exposure is set at
finder and on the the last possible moment.
LCD panel.
3: AE lock/Metering + AF start lets you set focus and exposure on dif-
• AF start in One-
Shot autofocus mode ferent parts of the scene. Pressing the shutter button halfway down locks
is the same as focus exposure, while pressing the AF-ON button starts metering and autofocus.
lock. In AI servo
mode its the same as 4: Metering +AF start/disable disables the AF-ON button.
pressing the shutter
button halfway down 2 AF-ON/AE lock button switch can be set to 0: Disable or 1: Enable. When
to start focusing. enabled, the functions of the AF-ON and AE lock/FE lock/Index/Reduce,
• Metering + AF button are switched.
start is the same as
pressing the shutter 3 SET button while shooting specifies how the SET button functions. (When
button halfway down using Live View, choices 1–4 are overridden.)
to set exposure and
focus. ● 0: Normal (no function) pressing SET makes choices when you highlight
• AF stop in One- commands on the menu.
Shot autofocus
mode, is the same as ● 1: Change quality changes image quality (page 26) when you press SET
pressing the shutter and then turn the Quick Control Dial.
button halfway down
to lock focus. In AI ● 2: Change Picture Style selects a style (page 138) when you press SET
servo more it’s the
same as pressing the and then turn the Quick Control Dial.
shutter button all
the way down to set ● 3: Menu display displays the menu when you press SET (page 16).
focus and exposure
just before the pic- ● 4: Image replay switches to playback mode when you press SET (page
ture is taken. 19).
4 Dial direction during Tv/Av can be set to 0: Normal or 1: Reverse Direc-
tion. When reversed:
• The effects of the Quick Control Dial and Main Dial are reversed when
selecting a shutter speed and aperture in manual (M) mode.
• In other shooting modes the Main Dial is reversed, but the direction of
the Quick Control Dial remains unchanged when setting exposure com-
pensation.
5 Focusing Screen is used to specify which focusing screen is installed in the
camera. The choices include 0: Ef-A (the standard screen that comes with the
When C.Fn IV-6 is On, camera), 1: Ef-D and 2: Ef-S. Your choice here is not affected by the com-
the verification icon is mands used to clear Custom Functions (page 142).
displayed.
6 Add original decision data, when on, appends data to the image file that
lets you verify if an image is original or not. When played back a padlock icon
is displayed. To verify if the image is an original you’ll need the Data Verifica-
tion Kit OSK-E3.
7 Live View exposure simulation can be set to 0: Disable (LCD auto adjust)
or 1: Enable (simulates exposure). When enabled during Live View shooting,
the image on the monitor previews the brightness of the captured image. In
bright and dim light the image on the screen may not accurately reflect the
brightness of the image you’ll capture.

Using My Menu
You can store up to six frequently used menu commands or custom functions
so you can access them more quickly. Normally the commands you add to the
menu are displayed when you select the My Menu tab. However, if you en-
able Display from My Menu they are displayed first when you press MENU,
regardless of which menu tab was displayed last.
The My Menu tab’s icon.
Registering My Menu settings
1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and display the My Menu
tab listing any menu settings you have already registered.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight My Menu settings and press
SET to display a submenu.
3. Highlight any of the following commands and press SET:
● Register let’s you turn the Quick Control Dial to select menu com-
mands and press SET to add them. When asked to confirm the addi-
tion, highlight OK and press SET.
● Sort changes the order of the registered items on the menu.
● Delete and Delete all items delete one or all of the previously listed
menu items.
● Display from My Menu, when enabled, displays My Menu first
when you display the menu.
4. When finished with any step, press the MENU or shutter button to
return to Step 3.
5. To hide the menu, press the shutter or MENU button.

Changing Other Settings
The 40D has a number of commands that change the basic settings of your
camera.
Shooting Without a CF Card

For some reason, one of the camera’s default settings lets you shoot pictures
without a CF card in the camera. They are even displayed on the monitor so
you think you are capturing them, but they are not saved. To ensure you don’t
take unsaved pictures, turn off the Shoot w/o card setting.
Shooting without a CF Card

1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and select the Shooting 1
menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Shoot w/o card and press
SET to display the choices On (the default) and Off.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight your choice, press SET, then
press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
Tip Setting the Date and Time

• The date and time When you first use the camera, or when the batteries have been removed or
clock is powered by
a CR2016 lithium run down for an extended period, you need to set the date and time so your
battery that should image files are correctly dated.
last 5 years. Should
you need to access
this battery, remove
the camera’s main
Setting the Date and Time
battery, then slide its
holder up and out.
1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and select the Set-up 2
menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Date/Time and press SET to
display the Set Date/Time screen.
● To change the setting in the yellow frame, press SET, turn the
Quick Control Dial, then press SET again.
● To move the yellow frame to the next setting, turn the Quick Con-
trol Dial.
3. When finished, highlight OK and press SET. Press the MENU or
shutter button to hide the menu.
Changing the Review Time

When you take a picture, it is normally displayed on the monitor for two
seconds so you can review it. You can change this setting to Off so the image
isn’t displayed, or change the review time to 2, 4, or 8 seconds, or Hold. If
you select Hold, the image stays displayed on the monitor until you press the
shutter button halfway down to clear it, or the camera goes to sleep. While
the image is displayed, you can press the Erase button to delete it or press
INFO to change the display format.

Changing the Review Time

menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Review time and press SET
to display a list of times, Hold and Off.
Reset File Numbers

Tip By default, each photo you take is given a unique sequential number from
• All image filenames 0001 to 9999. The images, up to 9999, are stored in folders numbered from
begin with IMG_ 100 to 999. There are two ways to manage numbering when you change CF
except those taken
using the Adobe RGB cards:
color space. Those
begin with _MG_. • Continuous (the default) continues numbering in sequence so you don’t
have duplicate filenames.
• In Continuous and
Auto reset modes, if • Auto reset restarts numbering at 0001 when you change cards. This can
the new card already
has images on it, cause problems if you copy images into the same folder on the computer
numbering may because there can be duplicate file names.
begin for the highest
number. The only • Manual reset does what Auto reset does, but only when you use this com-
way to ensure the mand, which also creates a new folder on the card. This can be a useful way
first image is 0001
is to format the card to organize images. If you use the same card, you can use this command each
before using it. day and each day’s photos will be stored in their own folder. You can also use
the command when you change projects or assignments to the same effect.
Specifying File Number Sequences

menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight File numbering and press
SET.
Turning the Beep On and Off

You can turn off the camera’s beep in situations where it may draw attention,
as at a wedding or when photographing wildlife.
Turning the Beep on and Off

menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Beep and press SET to dis-
play the choices On (the default) and Off.

Adjusting Monitor Brightness

You can adjust the brightness level of the monitor so it better matches the
lighting under which you are viewing it.
Adjusting Monitor Brightness

menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight LCD Brightness and press
SET to display a thumbnail, the brightness adjustment scale and a
gray scale.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial so all segments of the gray scale can be
distinguished from one another and the thumbnail looks good, press
SET, then press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
Traveling Options—Language and Video Settings

At rare times you may need to specify a different language for the menus, or
change the video system (NTSC or PAL) to give a slide show on a TV.
Changing the language or Video Setting

1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU, select the Set-up 2 menu
tab, then do one of the following:
● To change the language, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight
Language and press SET to display the language choices.
● To change the video system, turn the Quick Control Dial to high-
light Video system and press SET to display the choices NTSC and
PAL.
Setting the Auto Power Off Time

Normally the camera will go into sleep mode if you don’t use any of the con-
trols for a minute. You can select a longer time or even turn this feature off
so the camera never goes to sleep. When it does turn off, pressing the shutter
button turns it back on.
All Is Not Lost Adjusting The Auto Power Off Time

This might be a good
point to introduce 1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and select the Set-up 1
some good news. If menu tab.
you ever delete files
or format a memory 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Auto power off and press
card by mistake, you SET to display a list of times and Off.
can recover your
images. The first 3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight your choice, press SET, then
step is to stop taking
pictures because new press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
ones can overwrite
the old and make
them impossible to Formatting CF Cards
recover. Next, get a
program that recov- When you get a new CF card, you often have to format it to work with the
ers the files. To find camera or reformat a card if you encounter problems. Just be aware the
one Google the term formatting a card erases all of the files on it, including any that have been
“image recovery.”
protected.

Tip Formatting a CF Card

• If you going to 1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and select the Set-up 1
share or dispose of
a CF card, keep in menu tab.
mind that formatting
it does not actually 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Format and press SET to
delete the data. display the prompt Format CF card and the choices Cancel and OK.
press the MENU or shutter button when the menu reappears.
Turning Auto Rotate On and Off

Tip
When you rotate the camera into a vertical position to take a photo and then
• If you turn Auto play it back on the computer screen or TV, you have to tilt your head to see it.
Rotate off, you can
still rotate images for To avoid this, the 40D’s orientation sensor senses the position of the camera
playback using the and automatically rotates pictures you take vertically so they are displayed
Rotate command in vertically when played back. Images are not rotated in review mode and if the
playback mode (page
19). camera is pointed up or down, the orientation sensor may be confused and
not automatically rotate an image.
Setting Auto Rotate

Icons for rotating
menu tab.
images on both the
camera and computer
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Auto rotate and press SET.
(left) and just on the
computer (right).
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight the icon for On for camera
and computer (the default), On for computer only, or Off, press SET,
then press the MENU or shutter button when the menu reappears.

Resetting Camera Settings

As you change settings, it is sometimes easy to forget what you’ve done or it’s
time consuming to reset them to their original values. In these situations you
can quickly reset all of the settings to their original factory default settings.
This command does not affect:
• Custom Functions (page 141).
• The Set-up 3 menu’s Camera user setting (page 140) that registered set-
tings to C1, C2, and C3 modes.
Shooting Settings Image-recording Settings

AF mode One-Shot AF Quality Large/Fine
AF point selection Automatic ISO speed Auto
Metering mode Evaluative Color space sRGB
Drive mode Single White balance Auto
Exposure comp 0 WB correction Cancelled
AEB Cancelled WB bracketing Cancelled
Flash comp 0 Picture Style Standard
Resetting Camera Settings

MENU and select the Set-up 3 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Clear all camera settings
and press SET.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight OK and press SET to clear
the settings and return to the menu.
Firmware Version
If Canon releases updated software for the camera you use this command to
install it. Follow the directions that come with it. If you want to see what ver-
sion is currently loaded, this command lists it.
Checking/Updating Your Firmware Version

1. With the camera in any mode, press the MENU button and select the
Set-up 3 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Firmware Ver and the ver-
sion number.

Entering a Print Order
If you have a DPOF (Digital Print Order Form) compatible printer with a
CompactFlash card slot, or if your photofinisher has one, you can create a
print order right on the same CompactFlash card storing your images. The
same procedure can be used to make prints on a printer capable of direct
printing. When creating a print order, there are three basic steps:
• Set up specifies print types (standard, index, or both) and lets you specify if
the date an image was taken and its file number are printed on each photo.
• Sel. Image selects the images to be printed and specifies how many copies
of each are to be made.
• All image is used to select all pictures for printing, or to clear all previously
specified print quantities.
Tips Entering a Print Order

• It’s faster to scroll 1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and display the Playback
through images dis-
played in index mode 1 menu tab.
(page 19).
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Print order and press SET
• RAW images to display the Print Order menu with three commands—Set up, Sel.
(page 22) cannot be
marked for printing, Image and All image. (Print is also displayed when connected to a
even when you select printer.)
All image nor can
images captured by 3. Do one of the following:
some other cameras.
● To specify the print type, highlight Set up and press SET. Turn the
• Even when you
turn on printing Date Quick Control Dial to highlight Print Type, press SET, then turn the
and File No., some same dial to select Standard, Index, or Both and press SET again.
printers may not (You can also specify if the date and file number is printed on the
print them.
image by turning those features on.) When finished, press MENU to
• When printing an return to the Print order menu.
index, both Date
and File No. can’t ● To select individual images to be printed, highlight Sel. Image and
be turned on at the
same time. press SET to display the last image taken. Use the Quick Control Dial
to scroll through the images, pressing the Index/Reduce button for a
• Print orders are
stored on the CF card 3-image view, or the Enlarge button for single image view. To print
so when images are an image, press SET, turn the Quick Control Dial to specify the quan-
transferred to a com- tity, and press SET again to resume scrolling. (If ordering just index
puter the settings
are lost. prints, a check mark is displayed instead of a number.) The number
of copies of that image, and (if you are not printing just an index)
• Some printers,
even if marked DPOF the running total of all images to be printed are displayed at the top
compatible may not of the monitor. When finished, press MENU to return to the Print
print your order cor- Order menu.
rectly.
● To print all images, highlight All image and press SET. Turn the
Quick Control Dial to highlight Mark all on card, or Clear all on card
and press SET again to return to the Print Order menu.
4. Do one of the following:
● If printing from the CF card after removing it from the camera,
● If directly connected to a printer, highlight Print (it only appears
when connected), and press SET. Select paper settings and print
styles, then OK to begin printing.

Caring For Your Camera
Caring for Your Camera
Some of the best opportunities for interesting photographs occur during bad
weather or in hostile environments. You can take advantage of these opportu-
nities as long as you take a few precautions to protect your camera.
Cleaning the Image Sensor

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/dust/
Click to see the effects If you change lens a lot, or even once in a windy or dusty environment, dust
of dust on your images. can enter the camera and stick to the low-pass filter covering the image sen-
sor. This dust creates dark spots on the images. One way to check if this has
happened is to take a few photos of a clear sky or white card. Open the im-
ages in your photo-editing program and flip through them. (On a PC running
Photoshop, zoom the pictures to the same size then Ctrl-Tab through them
Tip quickly and the dust spots jump out at you.) If all of the images have dark
spots in the same place, that’s dust on the sensor. The 40D uses state-of-the-
• Change lenses in
a dust free environ-
art technology, called the EOS Integrated Cleaning System, to automatically
ment and out of the eliminate this problem. It has the following stages:
wind.
Reduce. Canon minimizes the dust and particles created by the camera it-
• Store the camera
with a lens or the
self, by using materials in the body cap and shutter that don’t create dust and
body cap attached. other particles during normal wear and tear.
• Remove dust from Repel. Canon treats the camera’s low pass filter with an anti-static charge to
the body cap and
lens mounts before
prevent static-charged dust from adhering to it.
attaching them.
Remove. The low pass filter in front of the CMOS image sensor, designed
to eliminate moiré patterns and give accurate color under all conditions, is
attached to an ultrasonic vibrating unit that literally shakes the loose dust
particles off of the surface. The newly liberated dust is then captured by an
adhesive material that keeps the particles from becoming airborne again once
the camera moves. The low-pass filter, normally a single unit, is also divided
into two components, a front and a rear. The front component, where any
dust would accumulate, is positioned far enough out from the sensor so it’s
The sensor cleaning out of focus on the image and any dust is less likely to show.
icon that is displayed
on the monitor during The self cleaning sensor unit’s ultrasonic anti-dust shake activates automati-
automatic sensor cally for one second whenever the camera is powered on or off, ensuring that
cleaning. the camera will be as relatively dust free as possible, and can be activated at
other times through a simple menu selection. If you want to manually clean
the camera or disable this function, you can do so as follows:
Tip Cleaning the Sensor

• When cleaning 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode, press MENU, display the Set-up
the sensor set the 2 menu tab, highlight Sensor cleaning and press SET.
camera down on a
flat surface. For best ● To turn auto cleaning on or off, highlight Auto cleaning and select
results, don’t tip it
forward or back. Enable or Disable.
• Repeat cleaning ● To clean now, highlight Clean now and press SET.
doesn’t have much, if
any effect. ● To manually clean the sensor, highlight Clean manually and press
SET. See the next page and follow the instructions on pages 131–132
of the user guide that came with your camera.

In addition to the EOS Integrated Cleaning System, the 40D lets you clean
the sensor with sensor swabs and cleaning fluid. NEVER used compressed
air, or other cleaning products, on the sensor. Cleaning supplies are available
from B&H and Calumet. The most popular products seem to be those from
Photographic Solutions (http://www.photosol.com). For more information
Google “cleaning image sensor” but proceed at your own risk. One of the best
Web sites I’ve found on this topic is Cleaning Digital Cameras at http://
www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/howto.html.
To clean a sensor you use the camera’s Set-up 2 menu’s Sensor cleaning
command to access Clean manually. This locks the mirror up and out of the
way and opens the shutter so you can get to the surface of the image sensor.
This is a high-risk procedure and we recommend extreme caution. It’s more
prudent to have it done by you camera company’s service center.
In addition to removing dust, the 40D will also work around it if it can’t be
removed. You just photograph a white wall or sheet of paper (or, in a pinch,
removing the lens from the camera) and the camera’s Dust Delete Data func-
tion maps the size and position of the dust particles remaining on the low
pass filter. Once the dust is “mapped”, that information is attached as meta-
data to all subsequently shot images regardless of recording format, RAW
or JPEG. When the images and appended dust data map are transferred to
a computer using the 40D’s Digital Photo Professional software, the dust
information can be subtracted from the images simply by selecting the “apply
dust delete data” option. You can update the Dust Delete Data at any time as
follows:
Obtaining Dust Delete Data

1. Get ready:
Here are the five steps ● Find a solid white surface.
recommended by
Photographic Solutions ● Set the lens focal length to 50mm or more.
for cleaning your image
sensor with their sensor ● Set the lens focus switch to MF and set focus to infinity. (If the lens
swabs and Eclipse
cleaning fluid. http://
has no focus scale, face the front of the lens and turn it all the way
www.photosol.com. counter-clockwise as viewed from the back of the camera.
MENU, select the Shooting 2 menu tab, highlight Dust Delete Data
and press SET to display a confirmation screen.
3. Highlight OK to display an instructional screen.
4. At a distance of 0.7–1.0 feet (20–30cm) completely fill the viewfinder
with the white surface and press the shutter button all the way down.
● If successful, you see the message Data obtained. (The image data
is stored internally and is not saved to the CF card.) OK is highlighted
so press SET.
● If unsuccessful, you’ll be asked if you want to try again. If so, repeat
Step 3–4.

Caring For Your Camera
Cleaning the Camera and Lens

Clean the outside of the camera with a slightly damp, soft, lint-free cloth.
Open the “flaps” to the memory and battery compartments occasionally and
use a soft brush or blower to remove dust. Clean the LCD monitor by brush-
ing or blowing off dirt and wiping with a soft cloth, but don’t press hard and
be sure there is no grit on the cloth that can scratch the surface. Cleaning kits
are available at most office supply stores.
The first rule is to clean the lens only when absolutely necessary. A little dust
on the lens won’t affect the image, so don’t be compulsive. Keep the lens
covered when not in use to reduce the amount of cleaning required. When
cleaning is necessary, use a soft brush, such as a sable artist’s brush, and a
blower (an ear syringe makes a good one) to remove dust. Fingerprints can be
very harmful to the lens coating and should be removed as soon as possible.
Use a lens cleaning cloth (or roll up a piece of photographic lens cleaning tis-
sue and tear the end off to leave a brush like surface). Put a small drop of lens
cleaning fluid on the end of the tissue. (Your condensed breath on the lens
also works well.) Never put cleaning fluid directly on the lens; it might run
between the lens elements. Using a circular motion, clean the lens surface
with the cloth or tissue, then use the cloth or a tissue rolled and torn the same
way to dry. Never reuse tissues and don’t press hard when cleaning because
the front element of the lens is covered with a relatively delicate lens coating.
Protecting your Camera from the Elements

Your camera should never be exposed to excessively high temperatures. If
at all possible, don’t leave the camera in a car on a hot day, especially if the
sun is shining on the car (or if it will later in the day). If the camera has to be
exposed to the sun, such as when you are at the beach, cover it with a light
colored and sand free towel or piece of tinfoil to shade it from the sun. Dark
materials will only absorb the heat and possibly make things worse. Indoors,
avoid storage near radiators or in other places likely to get hot or humid.
When it’s cold out, keep the camera as warm as possible by keeping it under
your coat. Always carry extra batteries. Those in your camera may weaken at
low temperatures just as your car battery weakens in winter. Prevent con-
densation when taking the camera from a cold area to a warm one by wrap-
ping the camera in a plastic bag or newspaper until its temperature climbs
to match that of its environment. If some condensation does occur, do not
use the camera or take it back out in the cold with condensation still on it or
it can freeze up camera operation. Remove any batteries or flash cards and
leave the compartments covers open until everything dries out.
Never place the camera near electric motors or other devices that have strong
magnetic fields. These fields can corrupt the image data stored in the camera.
Always protect equipment from water, especially salt water, and from dust,
dirt, and sand. A camera case helps but at the beach a plastic bag is even bet-
ter. When shooting in the mist, fog, or rain, cover the camera with a plastic
bag into which you’ve cut a hole for the lens to stick out. Use a rubber band
to seal the bag around the lens. You can reach through the normal opening in
the bag to operate the controls. Screwing a skylight filter over the lens allows
you to wipe off spray and condensation without damaging the delicate lens
surface.

Protecting when Traveling

Use lens caps or covers to protect lenses. Store all small items and other ac-
cessories in cases and pack everything carefully so bangs and bumps won’t
cause them to hit each other. Be careful packing photographic equipment
in soft luggage where it can be easily damaged. When flying, carry-on metal
detectors are less damaging than the ones used to examine checked baggage.
If in doubt, ask for hand inspection to reduce the possibility of X-ray induced
damage.
Storing a Camera
Store cameras in a cool, dry, well ventilated area, and remove the batteries if
they are to be stored for some time. A camera bag or case makes an excellent
storage container to protect them from dust.
Digital cameras have lots of components including batteries, chargers, cables,
lens cleaners, and what not. It helps if you have some kind of storage con-
tainer in which to keep them all together.
Caring for Yourself

When hiking outdoors, don’t wear the camera strap around your neck, it
could strangle you. Don’t aim the camera directly at the sun, it can burn the
eye.
Now that you know how

to use your camera,
you can fit right in with
everyone else who is
taking photos.

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Short Courses Books and Web Site

Note on the ShortCourses.com Web Site

ii For more on digital photography, visit http://www.shortcourses.com

• Digital Photography Workflow covers everything from getting ready to

This is the home page

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Getting Sharper Pictures...62

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How To Sections Quick Lookup

Taking a Picture in Full Auto Mode 9 Using White Balance

Managing Images—Using Buttons 19 Using Bulb Exposures 90

Jumping in Playback 20 Mounting and Unmounting a Lens 95

Managing your Images—Using Menus 21 Zooming a Lens 99

Giving Slide Shows 21 Increasing Depth of Field in Close-ups 106

Selecting Image Quality 26 Using Autoflash 113

Changing Shooting Modes 37 Turning Red-eye Mode On and Off 115

Using Image Zone Modes 38 Using Fill Flash 116

Using Program AE (P) Mode 39 Using Slow Sync Flash 117

Using Program Shift 39 Preventing the Flash from Firing 118

Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode 40 Using Flash Exposure Compensation 120

Using Manual (M) Mode 42 Using Flash Control 121

Changing the Metering Mode 45 Selecting a Continuous Mode 134

Using Exposure Compensation 52 Using Live View 135

Using Autoexposure (AE) Lock 53 Autofocusing in Live View 136

Using Autoexposure Bracketing (AEB) 54 Selecting Picture Styles 138

Displaying Histograms 55 Changing Picture Styles 139

Selecting the Histogram and Highlights 55 Registering Picture Styles 139

Using the Self-timer 63 Changing Custom Functions 142

Changing the ISO 63 Clearing Custom Functions 142

Increasing the Sharpness Registering My Menu Settings 146

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The 40D Camera

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Jump Start—Using Full Auto Mode

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Good Things to Know

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Using the Viewfinder

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Operating the Camera

The shutter button (top)

• You can quickly

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Changing Settings with Buttons and Dials

The four buttons above

The Quick Control Dial

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Using Menus to Change Settings

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In the tables on this Shooting 1 (Red)

AEB Autoexposure bracketing 54

White balance Prevents color casts 81

Protect images Protects images from being erased 21

Rotate Rotates images shot in portrait mode 21

Highlight alert Highlights overexposed areas in images 55

AF point disp. Specifies if AF points used to focus are dis- 71

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In the tables on this

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