Canon EOS mag

Questions and answers

A selection of photographic questions submitted by our subscribers As a subscriber you can access technical support by letter, phone or email. Ask a question and one of our EOS experts will answer your query. Q & A

How to get published in EOS magazine

LEE BEEL

Above The Magnify button on the back of the EOS 1100D.

Zoom button I recently bought an EOS 1100D. I have

tried zooming with the zoom button on the camera, but when I shoot the picture is taken unzoomed. How do I set the camera so that the zoom stays zoomed? The EOS 1100D does not have a zoom feature. Neither does any other EOS camera. If you have a zoom lens fitted, you zoom by turning the zoom ring on the lens. You are probably using the Magnify button (top right of camera back). When you are shooting in Live View mode, the magnify button enlarges the image on the camera LCD monitor by 1.5x to 10x. However, this magnified image only allows you to check the detail and focus. It does not affect the size of the image recorded by the camera. Once you have downloaded an image file to a computer you can use an imaging program to crop and trim an image, giving the effect of an extended zoom. Lens choice If you could only own one lens, which would it be? Ask 20 photographers and you will receive 20 different answers. Here at EOS magazine one of the most-used lenses is the EF 100mm f2.8 Macro – the latest version is the EF 100mm f2.8 Macro USM. It is a true macro lens, which means it focuses down to give life-size (1:1) magnification. It also focuses out to infinity, making it suitable for a wide range of outdoor subjects. As a short telephoto lens it is perfect for traditional portraiture. The wide f2.8 maximum aperture gives a narrow depth-of- field, but you can stop down to f32 for a wide depth-of-field. A good all-round lens.

Disk versions The EOS 60D was introduced in autumn 2010 whereas EOS 7D was introduced a year earlier in autumn 2009. I purchased an EOS 60D in November 2010 – it came with EOS Digital Solutions Disk version 23. I purchased an EOS 7D in February 2012 – it came with EOS Digital Solutions Disk version 22.4. Are versions of the solution disks different for different models? Should I use version 23 or version 22.4 for the EOS 7D? If version 23 is the latest, why was version 22.4 provided with EOS 7D in 2012?  The EOS 7D is the earlier camera, so it has the earlier EOS Digital Solutions Disk. The disks are packed with the camera as it leaves the factory, not as it is sold. The Canon software on the disks is compatible with the EOS camera it is supplied with, plus all preceding EOS models. So install the disk supplied with the EOS 60D and the software will be compatible with the EOS 7D as well. If you buy a later model, it might not be compatible with previous software – new features of the camera might require updated software. However, there is no need to install the software from the new disc. You can download the latest updates from: http://software.canon-europe.com/ These updates might be later versions than the software on the disc supplied with the camera. Discs packed with the camera can be many months old by the time they reach you. It is worth checking the latest versions on the Canon site from time to time. Software is often updated with new features (see Software Review, page 64). Yes. Our office scanner is an Canoscan 9950F and this stopped working when we updated our Macintosh operating system to OS X 10.6. Canon no longer supports this scanner, but we got it working again with VueScan. See: http://www. hamrick.com/ Scanner driver I am trying to get a Windows 7 driver for the Canoscan 9950F. I have phoned Canon and they tell me they don’t do one. Is this correct?

Left and above These two photographs show the effect of shooting with and without flash. The images are technically good, have a subject which fills the frame and the background is not distracting. They are just the type of comparison photographs we publish in EOS magazine.

NINA BAILEY

Have you noticed how the same names keep appearing alongside photographs published in EOS magazine? Lee Beel, Trevor Payne and Billy Stock come to mind, but there are others. Do we have a special arrangement with them for supplying images? No, they submit work for our picture library just like any other photographer. The difference is that they have taken the time to study EOS magazine and worked out the type of photographs we use. It is quite simple, really. We like to see comparisons. Take a look through this issue and you will find them all over the place. How do you demonstrate the effect of a filter? By showing one photograph taken without the filter and one with the filter. With and without comparisons work with close-up lenses, flash, lens hoods and much more. Then there are the comparisons between different shutter speeds, apertures and white balance. Recent EOS models allow you to add creative filter effects in-camera, but we have received very few images showing the before and after results. The actual subject of a photograph is less important to us than the lens, accessory or technique use to create the image. You don’t need to travel the world to impress us with your images. Many of the shots we use could have been taken locally to the photographer – and probably were. Take a look at our current photo requirements posted on the forum at: www.eos-magazine-forum.com

LEE BEEL

Copyright practice How do I register copyright in the photographs I shoot?

If you live in the UK, no action is needed. You automatically own the copyright to your images from the moment you shoot them. Some photographers use the copyright symbol © to reinforce their ownership when images are printed or published, but this is not a legal requirement. If you upload images to websites or social media pages there is always a risk that someone will steal the pictures for their own sites, or even for commercial use. Some photographers place a ‘watermark’ across the image to deter thieves. We use a program called iWatermark Pro which, despite the name, is available for Mac OS X and Windows. iWatermark Pro works as a standalone application or within iPhoto and We have used a strong effect in the example above to make it stand out, but the results can be much more subtle, discouraging unauthorised use of the photograph without completely ruining the image. You have control over the wording, the size of the type, the style, transparency and the position. You can also batch process folders of images with watermarks, saving a lot of time. Watermarking is not for everyone, but it is a quick and simple way to provide some protection for your images in vulnerable situations. Aperture using plug-ins. Find out more at: http://plumamazing.com/mac/iwatermark/

Above Lee Beel appreciates that magazines might be looking for an image which will fill a particular space – sometimes horizontal format, sometimes vertical. So he often submits the same subject in both formats. It takes very little time to shoot the extra image, and it can result in another sale.

TREVOR PAYNE

Above An image shot with the EF 100mm f2.8 Macro lens

52 Reproduced from EOS magazine July-September 2012

Reproduced from EOS magazine July-September 2012 53