Julie Adair King is a veteran educator and bestselling author in the field of digital photography. Through her books including Digital Photography For Dummies and several For Dummies guides to dSLR cameras, she has helped readers around the world explore the joy of photography.

Introduction 1

How This Book Is Organized 2

Part 1: Fast Track to Super Snaps 2

Part 2: Taking Creative Control 2

Part 3: After the Shot 3

Part 4: The Part of Tens 3

Beyond the Book 3

Icons Used in This Book 4

Where to Go From Here 4

Part 1: Fast Track to Super Snaps 5

Chapter 1: Getting Up and Running 7

Preparing the Camera for Initial Use 7

Exploring External Camera Features 10

Topside controls 10

Back-of-the-body controls 12

Front-left features 15

Ordering from Camera Menus 17

Understanding menu basics 17

Navigating Custom Functions screens 18

Displaying the Camera Settings screen 19

Using the Monitor as Viewfinder: Live View Shooting 21

Monitoring Critical Picture Settings 23

Using the Shooting Settings display 24

Reading viewfinder data 25

Customizing the Live View display 25

Changing Settings via the Quick Control Screen 27

Familiarizing Yourself with the Lens 29

Switching from auto to manual focusing 29

Working with a zoom lens 30

Enabling image stabilization 31

Removing a lens 31

Working with Memory Cards 33

Reviewing Basic Setup Options 35

Setup Menu 1 35

Setup Menu 2 37

Setup Menu 3 38

Chapter 2: Choosing Basic Picture Settings 41

Selecting an Exposure Mode 42

Basic Zone modes 42

Creative Zone modes 43

Choosing a Shutter-Release (Drive) Mode 44

Understanding the Drive mode options 44

Checking and adjusting the Drive mode 46

Setting Resolution and File Type (The Image Quality Setting) 48

Adjusting the Image Quality setting 49

Considering resolution: Large, Medium, or Small? 51

Understanding file type (JPEG or Raw) 55

Adding Flash 61

Enabling and disabling flash 64

Using Red-Eye Reduction flash 66

Exploring advanced flash features (P, Tv, Av, and M modes) 67

Chapter 3: Taking Great Pictures, Automatically 75

Shooting in Auto and Flash Off Modes 75

Viewfinder photography in Scene Intelligent Auto and Flash Off modes 76

Live View photography in Scene Intelligent Auto and Flash Off modes 79

Exploring Image Zone (Scene) Modes 80

Taking pictures in scene modes 83

Modifying scene mode results 84

Gaining More Control with Creative Auto 91

Part 2: Taking Creative Control 93

Chapter 4: Taking Charge of Exposure 95

Introducing the Exposure Trio: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 96

Aperture affects depth of field 98

Shutter speed affects motion blur 99

ISO affects image noise 101

Doing the exposure balancing act 103

Stepping Up to Advanced Exposure Modes (P, Tv, Av, and M) 104

Monitoring Exposure Settings 105

Choosing an Exposure Metering Mode 108

Setting ISO, F-stop, and Shutter Speed 110

Controlling ISO 111

Adjusting aperture and shutter speed 115

Sorting Through Your Camera's Exposure-Correction Tools 117

Overriding autoexposure results with Exposure Compensation 117

Improving high-contrast shots with Highlight Tone Priority 121

Experimenting with Auto Lighting Optimizer 123

Correcting lens vignetting with Peripheral Illumination Correction 126

Locking Autoexposure Settings 128

Bracketing Exposures Automatically 130

Turning auto bracketing on and off 131

Shooting a bracketed series 133

Chapter 5: Controlling Focus and Depth of Field 135

Setting the Lens Focus Mode 136

Exploring Viewfinder Focusing Options 137

Adjusting autofocus performance 138

AF Point Selection: One focus point or many? 139

Changing the AF Operation mode 141

Choosing the right autofocus combo 143

Focusing During Live View and Movie Shooting 144

Choosing the AF Method 144

Manual focusing in Live View and Movie modes 151

Zooming in for a focus check 151

Manipulating Depth of Field 152

Chapter 6: Mastering Color Controls 157

Understanding the White Balance Setting 157

Adjusting the White Balance setting 159

Changing the Auto "priority" setting 161

Creating a custom White Balance setting 163

Using White Balance Correction to fine-tune settings 165

Bracketing shots with White Balance 167

Taking a Quick Look at Picture Styles 170

Chapter 7: Putting It All Together 175

Recapping Basic Picture Settings 176

Shooting Still Portraits 177

Capturing Action 182

Capturing Scenic Vistas 186

Capturing Dynamic Close-Ups 189

Coping with Special Situations 191

Chapter 8: Shooting and Viewing Movies 195

Recording Your First Movie Using the Default Settings 195

Customizing Movie Recording Settings 198

Movie Menu 1 200

Movie Menu 2 201

Movie Menu 3 205

Playing Movies 206

Part 3: After the Shot 209

Chapter 9: Picture Playback 211

Disabling and Adjusting Image Review 211

Viewing Pictures in Playback Mode 212

Jumping through images 214

Rotating pictures 217

Zooming in for a closer view 220

Viewing Picture Data 221

Basic Information display mode 222

Basic Information plus Image Quality/Frame Number display mode 223

Shooting Information display mode 224

Understanding Histogram display mode 227

Chapter 10: Working with Picture and Movie Files 231

Deleting Files 232

Protecting Photos and Movies 234

Rating Photos and Movies 236

Using Canon's Computer Software 238

Sending Pictures to the Computer 240

Downloading directly from the camera 241

Downloading from a card reader 245

Processing Raw (CR2) Files 247

Preparing Pictures for Online Sharing 250

Transferring Files to a Smartphone or Tablet 253

Setting up the camera for Wi-Fi functions 254

Transferring images to your smart device 255

Reconnecting your devices 260

Part 4: The Part of Tens 261

Chapter 11: Ten More Ways to Customize Your Camera 263

Changing the Function of the Set Button 264

Customizing the AE Lock and Shutter Buttons 264

Disabling the AF-Assist Beam 266

Silencing the Camera 266

Preventing Shutter Release without a Memory Card 267

Reducing the Number of Exposure Stops 267

Creating Your Own Camera Menu 268

Creating Custom Folders 270

Turning Off the Shooting Settings Screen 270

Changing the Color Space from sRGB to Adobe RGB 271

Chapter 12: Ten More Cool Features to Explore 273

Adding Cleaning Instructions to Images 273

Tagging Files with Your Copyright Claim 275

Exploring Two Special Printing Options 277

Adding Special Effects to Your Photos 277

Tagging Pictures for a Photo Book 280

Presenting a Slide Show 280

Creating Video Snapshots 283

Trimming Movies 285

Viewing Your Photos and Movies on an HDTV 286

Exploring More Wi-Fi Functions 286

Appendix: Glossary of Digital Photography Terms 289

Index 297