Canon 600D User guide

Canon 600D – DSLR Basic Guide.
Insert the SD Card - under the flap on the side.
Turn the mode dial to ‘movie mode’ and power on the camera.
Switch the Lens to Manual Focus

Mount the lens, take care to not get finger prints on the back of the lens or
dust inside the camera body. The lens should click into place when you turn it
clock-wise.
To remove the lens, push the button on the front.
Set the Exposure
First put the camera in Manuel Exposure mode
Push the Menu Button first then use the arrow keys to navigate to the first
menu tab. Use the Set button to select manual.

SET the ISO
ISO – refers to the brightness sensitivity of the camera, it’s a bit like gain. The
higher the ISO number the less light you need for correct exposure, the lower
the ISO the more light you need.
The standard setting for the Cannon 600D is 400 ISO. If you go to 800 ISO it
requires half as much light for the same exposure – so the equivalent of
adding 3db’s of gain. High ISO’s (like gain) will result in more nose and grain
and as a rule try not to set the ISO higher then 1600. The camera will go up to
6400 ISO, but this should only be used in extreme circumstances in very low
light. On sunny days set the ISO to 100.
ISO is set by pushing the ISO button and scrolling the adjacent thumb wheel –
the screen on the back of the camera will show you what the ISO is set too.
Don’t use ‘Auto’ ISO mode.

SET the IRIS (f-Stop)
You use the same thumbwheel on the top of the camera to adjust the IRIS as
the ISO. But you need HOLD DOWN the AV button at the same time to set the
IRIS.
The F-Stop readout is on the bottom of the Screen.
If you don’t have the same readout as above – push the INFO button (next to
the menu) – to add the icons to the display.
It’s better to set the ISO to 400 and use the F-stop/IRIS setting to get the
correct brightness for your shot.
SET the SHUTTER SPEED
The Standard shutter speed should be 1/50 of a sec for shooting at 25fps
Higher shutter speeds will result in darker images and more motion judder
and strobing.
To set the shutter speed use the thumb wheel on the top of the camera – the
same as the one used for IRIS and ISO.

On the screen it will display your shutter speed, next to the F-Stop – for
1/50sec it should read 50 – as below.
SET the WHITE BALANCE
Push the “Q” key (next to AV) – the use the arrow and select keys below to
select the white balance symbol on the screen. It may be currently defaulted
to AWB rather then the bow tie symbol.
(You may need to press the INFO button to see all the icons on the screen)
It should open this menu:

Select the white balance setting that best suits your shooting condition.
For Manual white balance use the bow tie symbol – then take a photograph of
a white piece of paper. The camera will use this as a reference but you need
to select the photograph in the camera menu settings.
To do this push the menu key on the back of the camera and navigate to this
menu:
This menu will allow you to select the photo you took of the white paper and
will now set the white balance. For most situations the pre-set white balances
are fine – only use the full manual white balance, if your unhappy with the
colours.
LAST MENU CHECKS
Go into the menu and format the SD card (making sure you have backed up
any important work)
More information about the menus is in the camera manual
Check you are recording in the correct format

1920 by 1080 at 25fps – as below:
AUDIO
Although the camera can be used to record audio – the sound quality and the
metering isn’t great – its best to record separate sound on a Zoom or Merantz
recorder and sync in post.
Go filming.
The record button is on the back of the camera – push once to start and again
to stop.