Canon Rebel Camera Tips, Tricks, & Settings

[EmeraldHike]

I have tons of experience using the Canon Rebel line of cameras. I've been using the various models (T2i, T3i, T4i, T5i, T6i, T7i, and T8i) for well over a decade and have changed just about every setting option available. In this thread, I'll be sharing instructions for how to set your own camera. If you have any questions or would like to add something, please log in and use the space below. Thanks!

 

[EmeraldHike]

How to Turn the Canon Rebel T7i On & Off​

While turning your Canon T7i on and off probably seems simple enough, there are actually a few areas of the process that I’d like to discuss with you. First is the actual switch itself that’s located on the top of the camera. If you take a look at the round knob that’s sitting on the top right portion of your T7i, you’ll see all the mode symbols that are available to you. They’re printed on the knob itself. If you look just to the right of the knob, you’ll see the words Off, On and a small image of a video camera. These are exactly what you think they are. When the switch is located over the word Off, the camera is off. When the switch is moved to the On position, the camera is on and when the switch is moved to the video camera setting, the camera will be in video mode. More on that later.

When you first turn your camera on, you’ll see some time and date settings. In later posts, I’ll explain how to change the time and date for the T7i.

Okay, to operate your camera, turn it on. When you aren’t going to use it for a long time, turn the switch to off. If you plan on using the camera, taking a short break and then using it again, leave the camera on and let it go to “sleep” by itself. Going to sleep will essentially turn the camera off until the shutter button is pressed. Once that happens, the camera will turn back on and will be ready for use. This is a battery power saving feature that’s fully adjustable. I’ll explain how to adjust that in a later post as well. Also, when pressing the shutter button to turn the camera back on, you’ll only need to press it half way. That’s all that’s necessary.

It’s important to understand that when you switch your camera to the off position, it won’t always turn off immediately. If it’s in the process of performing an operation, it’ll first complete the operation before turning off. A good example of this is when someone turns their camera off just after snapping a photo. If the image hasn’t been recorded to the memory card yet, the camera will complete doing that and then turn off. In the meantime, the camera will display a “Recording…” alert on the LCD screen at the rear of the camera.

Finally, when you turn your T7i on and off, the camera will automatically clean its sensor. You’ll know this is happening by looking at the rear LCD screen and seeing a small cleaning symbol. When you turn the camera on, look to the lower right corner. You’ll see the symbol blinking. When you turn the camera off, you can’t miss the symbol. It’s dead center on the screen. The camera cleans its sensor by vibrating it for a second or two. If you listen closely, you’ll be able to hear it. Also, if you turn the camera on and then quickly press the shutter button, you’ll stop the cleaning process and will be able to shoot immediately.

 

[EmeraldHike]

Accessing Quick Controls on Your Canon Rebel T7i​

There are tons of settings on the Canon Rebel T7i camera and some of those settings aren’t too easy to access. I mean, they are easy to get to, but discovering that access route can sometimes be a challenge. While the Menu button is fairly obvious, turning the mode dial and then choosing some alternate way in isn’t intuitive. In this post today, I’m going to show you an area that’ll give you control over so many things, it’ll make your head spin. It all has to do with the Q button. This button stands for Quick Control.

Turn your camera on and then press the Q button that’s located on the rear of the camera, to the right of the LCD screen. Now, depending on what mode you’re in, the screen will contain certain settings. If you’re in one of the creative modes, you won’t see nearly as many settings as if you were in one of the priority modes. For this post, I’ll be in Aperture Priority mode.

Once you’re in the Quick Control screen, you should see a box that’s highlighted in orange. This is the active settings box. To choose a different box, simply press the up, down, left, and right cross keys. Then, once you’re in the area you’d like to adjust, turn the dial that’s located on the top of the camera.

Again, if you’re set to one of the basic functions, like Landscape, Close Up, Action, or the like, you won’t see many available settings at all. If you’re in Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or full Manual mode though, you’ll see quite a few available settings to alter.

Also, if you’ve got your camera set to one of the Guided display levels, you’ll see fewer options, or I should rather say, more explained options that are larger and more easily understood. If you’ve got your camera set to Standard display levels, you’ll see the plain options that are able to be quickly set. Down below, I’ll give you the options you’ll have the opportunity to set while in the Standard display level.

– Aperture
– Shutter Speed
– ISO
– Exposure Compensation/AEB Setting
– Flash Exposure Compensation
– Picture Style
– White Balance
– White Balance Correction
– White Balance Bracketing
– Auto Lighting Optimizer
– Built-In Flash Settings
– Auto-Focus Operation
– AF Area Selection Mode
– Metering Mode
– Drive Mode
– Image Recording Quality

You’ll also see the Return button down at the bottom of the screen. You can press this to return to shooting mode or you can simply press the Q button again. You may even press the shutter button half way down to accomplish the same thing.

 

[EmeraldHike]

Taking a Photo with the Canon Rebel T7i​

After you set your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, along with whatever else you need configured on your Canon T7i, it’s time to take some photos. Luckily, the process is very simple. All you’ll need to do is adjust the viewfinder’s diopter to ensure you’re seeing your scene as clearly as possible and then position your camera and press the shutter button. Once those steps are complete, you’ll have captured your photo(s). While there are a few steps involved with this process, they’ll quickly become second nature. And really, you’ll only need to adjust the diopter once a year, if that.

Adjusting the diopter is simple. I’ve actually already written a few posts on the topic, so instead of beating a dead horse, I’ll just link to those posts:

Wear Glasses? How to Easily Calibrate Your Camera’s Diopter

How To Adjust the Diopter of Your Camera

I think you’ll find that the entire process takes just a few minutes.

Next, you’ll need to situate your camera in such a way as for it to avoid shaking. Whether you hold the camera in your hands, use a tripod, or lean it up against something, you’ll need to keep it steady. Please read through these two posts to learn a few techniques for taking care of this step.

I Hand Hold My Camera a Lot. How Can I Avoid Camera Shake Blur?

Simple Tips & Tools That Can Help Stabilize Your Camera

If you’re new to photography, this part may seem a bit strange. It has to do with the shutter button located on the top right corner of the camera. While many of us have been led to believe that this shutter button only has one purpose, we’ve been led astray. It actually has quite a few purposes. First, it’s used to meter the scene you’d like to take a photograph of. What I mean by meter is it’s used to measure the light within the scene so the camera can adjust itself accordingly to take the most well exposed shot it can. While this seems wonderful, you’ll need to remember that even though the camera can measure the light in an area, it can’t measure your intent. So if you’d like to take shots with motion blur in them or engage in some other type of custom photography, you’ll need to take additional steps. For now though, let’s stick with the basics.

Before taking any photograph, set your camera up and then press and hold the shutter button half way down. You should hear very faint sounds coming from within the camera while you do this. The camera meters the scene and focuses (if you’re using auto-focus) at the same time. If you’re in Auto mode, the camera automatically sets the ISO, aperture and shutter speed. If you’re in a priority mode, the camera will automatically set everything but that priority.

After the scene has been metered and placed in focus, go ahead and continue pressing the shutter button down all the way. This will release the shutter and complete taking the shot.

If you forget to press and hold the shutter button half way for a moment or two, don’t worry. The camera will do it for you. If you simply press the shutter button down all the way at once, the camera will pause while it makes these settings and then when it does, it’ll capture the scene.

Also, the shutter button has other purposes besides taking photos. If you’re reviewing previously captured photos on the rear LCD screen and you’d like to return to regular shooting mode, press the shutter button half way down. You can do the same thing if you’d like to return to regular shooting mode while working in the menu system. So, as you can see, the shutter button does quite a bit.

 

[EmeraldHike]

How to Set the Drive Mode on Your Canon Camera (6D, T7i)​

If you aren’t sure what Drive Mode is, let me fill you in. It’s not actually a “mode,” per se. It’s more of which type of shooting mode you’d like to set your camera to. Single shooting, high speed continuous, low speed continuous, 10 second timer, 2 second timer or self timer continuous.

Since I work with Canon cameras a lot, I’ll tell you how to access these settings for a few of those cameras. On my Canon 6D, while in Live View, I can push the button that’s on top of the camera that says AF-Drive. When I do that, a new menu will appear not only in the small screen on top of the camera, but also on the LCD screen on the back of the camera. To change which type of shooting I’d like, I can use the dial that’s on the top of the camera or the wheel that’s on the back of the camera to flip through the different settings. When I’ve settled on one, I’ll press the SET button to accept the changes.

For the Canon T7i (and T2i, T3i, T4i, T5i and T6i), things are pretty much the same. The only difference is that I’ll press the left arrow button that’s on the back of the camera while in regular viewing mode or the Q button if in Live View mode to access those same options. Again, I’ll use the dial or the arrow buttons to find the drive mode I like and I’ll go ahead and press the SET button to accept the changes.

Now, you may be asking yourself why anyone would want to use a shooting mode other than Single Shooting. So much photography revolves around landscape, people, night photography and the like. Why would we need to change our drive mode to either High Speed Continuous or, say, a 2 second timer? The answer has to do with the conditions of the scene as well as the clarity of your photos.

Let’s say you’re taking photos of your sleeping cat. Okay, you probably don’t need to set your camera to the High Speed Continuous drive mode for that. You don’t need to burst through eight photos of something that’s not really moving. Let’s now say that you’re taking photos of a surfer who’s surfing a huge wave. Yeah, I’d say you want to capture photos rapidly of something like that. There’s tons of change in these types of scenes and it’s rare that you’ll get the money shot by taking just one. That’s what burst mode is all about. Taking many, many photos and then sifting through all the bad ones to find the golden nugget.

Now, why would you want to use a timer setting? Most of the time, photographers use a 2 second timer to reduce camera shake. They can use a remote shutter button for this, but if they don’t have one on them, they’ll simply set the timer, press the shutter button, remove their hand from the camera, wait two seconds for the camera to take the picture and that’s it. By removing their hand from the camera, they’ll be drastically reducing the shake that’s caused by touching a camera while it’s taking a photo.

As for the 10 second timer, I think we all know what that’s for. It’s so you, as the photographer, can press the shutter button and then run over to be in the picture. That’s pretty easy. It’s really all about control and flexibility. Control of your camera and the scene as well as the flexibility to do what you want.

Here’s a quick tip for you. If you don’t know what type of scene you’ll encounter, whether it be a high speed action scene or a sleepy slow scene, you can always keep your camera set to High Speed Continuous shooting mode, just to be sure you’ll get the shot you’re after. By keeping this setting active, you’ll have the ability to take just one single photo by pressing and letting go of the shutter button or to take multiple photos by pressing and holding down the shutter button. Continuous doesn’t mean continuous all the time. By pressing and letting go of the shutter button, the camera will only take one single photo. But, you’ll also have the option of taking more if you want.

I hope this information helped you in some way. If you have any questions for me or about the topic I wrote about above, please let me know down below. Thank you!

 

[EmeraldHike]

How Can I Give a Photo a Star Rating on Canon Rebel T7i (800D)?​

Question: I have heard that I’m able to rate photos right inside of my Canon Rebel T7i (800D) and that those star ratings will appear and be searchable and sortable inside of Adobe Bridge and Lightroom. Is this true? If so, how would I go about rating a photo that I took?

Answer: I didn’t even know the T7i had an image rating feature. I had to look this one up. You are correct, you can rate your photos right inside the camera and the system is robust. You can rate an individual photo as well as a range of them.

To rate a photo, review it in Live View mode. Then, press the Q button on the back of the camera. This will bring up a bunch of options. The one you’re interested in is the star icon. Either use the up and down arrow buttons on the back of your camera to navigate to it or just touch it with your finger to activate it. Then, either use the left and right arrow buttons to navigate to the star rating you would like to assign to the image and press the SET button on the back of the camera to select it. Or, you can just touch the star you’d like to assign to the photo with your finger. It is touch screen after all.

With higher end Canon cameras, the rating button is actually a physical button on the left side of the rear of the camera, so it’s much easier to assign a rating to your photos, but this way isn’t too terribly difficult to manage.

 

[EmeraldHike]

How Can I Turn On & Off the Highlight Alerts For Canon Rebel T7i?​

Question: I’ve been looking all over for this answer. I’ve seen many videos out there that talk about what’s known as “blinkies” for Canon cameras. These are the highlight alerts or highlight warnings to blink when you review your photos. If one area of a picture is overexposed, the area that’s pure white will blink and if it’s underexposed, the pure black area will blink. I took a few demo shots and can see areas that are blinking when I’m in the review mode, but I can’t see where to turn this feature on and off. Does anyone know where I can do this on my Canon Rebel T7i (800D)?

Answer: If memory serves, I don’t think you can turn the highlight alerts (blinkies) on and off with your camera. On the Canon Rebel T7i, they’re always on while in a specific review mode. After you have taken a photo, click the review play button down at the bottom of the back of your camera. The right side, down at the bottom. By default, you should see the entire image in large format. If you click on the INFO button up at the top left area of the rear of your camera, you’ll see some information pertaining to the photo you’ve taken. If you push that same INFO button a second time, the photo image will shrink and make room for a histogram as well as some more information that pertains to the image. It’s in this mode that you’ll see the overexposed and underexposed areas of your shot blinking. I have searched around and I think this feature is on all the time by default. I don’t think you can turn it off. I know that on other more expensive models, you can turn it on and off in the menu settings, but not yours. Please correct me anyone if I am mistaken.

The reason these highlight warnings are so important is because, upon review, you can see which areas of your shot are overexposed. Then, you can set your exposure compensation to let in less light and take your shot again. Keep checking your photos to make sure there are no overexposed areas in them after taking your shots. If there are and if they’re persistent, you may need to bracket your photos. This means that you’ll need to capture multiple image at different exposures and then merge them together in post processing.