Customer Reviews

Introduction to the Canon Digital Rebel XT / 350D DVD by Blue Crane Digital

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is sooooooo good Canon should include a copy when they sell the camera body or a kit. It's a great introduction to the features and functions of the camera plus it even has some basic photo composition tips. I also bought the written Field Guide book and have gone through it quickly but find this DVD much more helpful.

I recommend this DVD to anyone who has bought the camera because it covers all the features in a logical way. It also prevents you from using your Rebel XT as a very expensive point and shoot camera.

INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
The DVD is well organized and it parallels the camera system.
The training structure is pretty straightforward --
1. Concepts are explained with an actor reading a script and close-up pictures of the camera features are interspersed with a concise voiceover.
2. Photo samples or examples are used to illustrate concepts.
3. Practice is recommended at various intervals by the actor telling you to pause the DVD and go try it with your camera.

So explanation, illustration and practice is a very sound instructional strategy.

IS, IS NOT
This DVD is not a community college course in digital camera photography. It is, however, an excellent introduction to your camera, especially if you have been using a point and shoot camera and this is your first foray into a SLR. Or, if you already have a SLR, but always used it in automatic mode, this DVD shows you what you could be doing with a fairly sophisticated digital SLR camera.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
This next comment has nothing to do with the content of the DVD. I could not access the chapter menu on my component DVD player but I could with the DVD player on PC. So, if you buy this DVD I recommend you view on your PC or make sure your TV's DVD player can access the chapter menus so you can go to a particular chapter once you get started with the instruction and then stop to practice what you just learned.

HOW IT RELATES TO THE CANON PROVIDED INSTRUCTIONS
The instruction manual that comes with camera is OK and you should still pack it in your camera bag, but it lacks the why and how of the various features on the camera. So if you bought a Canon Digital Rebel XT and find yourself lost with all the controls you need this DVD.

WHAT COULD BE BETTER
The only complaint I have of this instructional DVD is the "talking head" actor (a very pleasant gentleman). He comes across a bit pedantic with a voice that's somewhat monotonic. So avoid watching this if you didn't get a full night of rest the night before. You might find your head bobbing.

To prevent this, the producers would have done everyone a favor if they had two actors such as a male and female. Switching back and forth between a male and female actor would have done wonders for livening up the presentation.

I liked this video but was left wanting more. The topics that were covered were very relevant but I only understood at high level. When trying to apply what was taught, I was left to trial and error.

For example, the video did a great job teaching about the importance of "depth of field" and how it affected your shots. However, when trying to put that into practice, there was no instruction on how to control it on the Rebel XT.

Maybe I am being picky but what I really need is more examples of photo situations and how to shoot them using the Rebel. Last night we were taking photos of our Son playing in the snow. We had the yard well lit (giant spot mounted on the side of the house). I was trying to take a reletively tame action shot but could not avoid the blur. From watching the video, I did not know which adjustments to make to correct.

This is a good video but it is not the only one you will need to understand how to put into practice good photo shooting on the Rebel.

I loved my new camera but I didn't understand all of the settings and capabilities. This DVD makes learning easy and fun. One of the things I really appreciated was the lesson telling me how to reset my settings after messing with them. You can learn at your own pace and review any chapter that you don't understand. I liked the DVD so much that I bought one for my son and my daughter, they have the same camera. There is no sense in having a camera like this if you are just going to use the "auto" settings.

This DVD makes learning how to use the Canon Rebel XT easy. I learned more by watching this DVD once then I have learned the whole time that I have had my Rebel XT.

I thought the product to be easy to understand and well organized. The speaker was very clear and made complicated material easier to understand. I particularly like the format, one being the movie format, and the other the chapter format. The video was entertaining also because of the use of examples.

I was very pleased with my purchase of this DVD. Very professionally done and covered the information I was looking for. I will be looking at all the titles available by this same company.

too much talk, not enough useful information. would not
buy from this company again. very poor presentation and useful presentation.

This DVD gos over all the parts of your Canon XT camera. It is easy to understand and gives examples for the different setting. I must if you are just learning your canon XT.

I learned a lot on first play. It is very helpful and I plan to watch it several times.

Great DVD. Very detailed in all of the available features of this camera. It was very easy to follow and had a great deal of information for the new SLR user such as myself. The only thing complaint that I have is that the video was created before the Xti model was released, so the video shows the features of the Xt instead of the Xti model. However, you can find the same features that coorespond to the Xti model very easily. The display on the Xti model is much better and easy to read then the Xt model.