Canon 7D User Guide

[FredP]

Hi all,

My birthday and inumerable Christmases arrived all at once and I am now the happy owner of a Canon 7D. I have spent many hours playing with the basic settings. At this point I am happy my understanding of the basics settings for the camera, however, I find the supplied manual to be inadequate when it comes to the miriad of options available.

The manual certainly describes how to change various settings but it is rather defective in that it does not adequately describe (for me at least) the affects of particular settings on the operation of the camera or the end image.

I am looking for a good user guide that will fill in the deficient details. I realize that I could experiment, but looking at the variety of options and permutations available, I suspect that I will be old and grey before I have covered them all. David Busch's name has been mentioned on other photography forums. Can anyone suggest a guide which could be useful for me.

I appreciate any help offered.

[ricktas]

The user-manual is what it is. A guide to the functions and features of the camera. What it is not, is a guide to taking photos. Which is the very reason AP and other sites exist.

Start joining in here on AP. Have a look at the LIBRARY..and NEW TO PHOTOGRAPHY section, it is there specifically to give you an understanding of how to use your camera, understand what changing each feature does, how they interact together, and how to improve your photography.

So pull up a chair, join in and learn!

[Art Vandelay]

Have a look at these Canon video tutorials. they explain some of the options clearer than the manual. particulalry the AF system. You can watch onsite or download to ipod etc.

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/galleries/galleries/tutorials/eos_7d_tutorials.shtml

or these at B & H are good too. Presented by the same Canon rep as the official ones. (part 1. 2 & 3)

http://www.video.bhphotovideo.com/?fr_story=a405075c1837a65dbee4f4d48db9a26a992d3ab2

Any other questions, fire away, as there are a number of 7D users on here. Have fun.

[Gollum]

There is also the “Magic Lantern Guides: Canon EOS 7D” available for less than 20USD on Amazon. These books are good because they are about the camera you have and also explain not just what the setting does, but how to use it.

Hope this helps

[Kym]

As Rick said, regardless of what gear you have the principals of photography are the same.
The UG is simply how to use that specific piece of gear.

Unless you have a solid grasp of the principals a UG is nearly useless;
once you understand what you want to shoot and how you want to shoot it, the UG is invaluable.
http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showlibrary.php?title=Indexes:New_To_Photography_Book

[davearnold]

I got the magic lantern book but then got Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guide available from Book Depositry ( postage free to Australia) for $16.09,which I think is much better book . link here (http://www.bookdepository.com/Canon-EOS-7D-Digital-Field-Guide-Charlotte-Lowrie/9780470521298)


Cheers Dave

[bricat]

Fishpond are a sponsor and sell the Magic Lantern Guide:th3:

[Speedway]

I have both a 400D and 7D and I got the Magic Lantern Guide for the 400D about 6 months after I got the camera. I found it so much more comprensive than the user guide that when I ordered the 7D 4 years later, I ordered this guide at the same time. That said you cannot beat actual practice and this is where the New To Photography section here comes in and working your way through this is the best way to learn your camera. Learning to use a camera properly takes time, lots of time.
Keith.

[wideangle]

No one resource is the answer, instead spending time looking through books, magazines, internet sites, forums, video tutorials etc etc is the way to learn. Your local library can be a good source too, they often have lots of books on photography. You need to find what works most effectively for you in terms of learning, as what one person finds a brilliant resource, another may find not so useful.

[Robbo7D]

I have the book by David Busch on the 7D. I make many references to it & find it very valuable. But I have learnt a lot from this site and its contributors.

You can't meet and discuss photography aspects with individuals in a book. :scrtch:

[piXelatedEmpire]

It really depends on what you are shooting as well.

For those of you interested in bird photography, this is a very nice link for setting up your 7D:

http://www.deepgreenphotography.com/2009/12/setting-up-your-new-canon-7d/

[FredP]

Many thanks for the comprehensive responses. Lots of reading and practising in coming months. Currently the majority of my shooting time relates to kids sport, mostly basketball played indoors under lights of variable intensity. For this I use the 7D with the EF 70-200 f2.8 lens. Still learning to get the results I want. This camera and lens combination produces great action shots from the footy field though.
Again, many thanks.

[ricktas]

Many thanks for the comprehensive responses. Lots of reading and practising in coming months. Currently the majority of my shooting time relates to kids sport, mostly basketball played indoors under lights of variable intensity. For this I use the 7D with the EF 70-200 f2.8 lens. Still learning to get the results I want. This camera and lens combination produces great action shots from the footy field though.
Again, many thanks.

Hope we get to see some of your photos soon then