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Originally Posted by georgeyw
I honestly know next to nothing about SLR's - how long do you think it would take for me to get relatively competent with a 20D?
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That is really a loaded question. The answer could be 1 day or never.
The good news is that, as with most good DSLR's, you can always set the thing to program mode and let the camera decide what to do.
The thing about SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras is that they are designed for people who want to be able to control how the image looks.
You need to learn how to change the shutter speed, the aperture, the film speed, focal length, the white balance, etc.
AND you need to know what will happen when you make those changes, and the relationship between them.
If you are shooting something with the camera set to a shutter speed of 1/125 second, an aperture of f5.6 and an ISO of 200 and it is properly exposed, what would happen if you changed the aperture to f2.8? The pic would overexpose by 2 stops. But what if you wanted the f2.8 setting so the depth of field was shorter? Well, you can change the shuuter speed by two stops. These are things that you must learn.
A photo class at a local community college might be useful, or find someone local that will help you learn to use it. Most bigger cities have camera clubs, etc. You can go to photo seminars or training camps.
here's a pic I took that demonstrates the shallow depth of field. See how the background is out of focus. This was accomplished by using a long lens (focal length)
