Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT or UNIX in a Nutshell

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT: Guide to Digital SLR Photography

Author: David D Busch

If you own a Digital Rebel XT, then you're planning to do more than just take the occasional snapshot. You're serious about photography. As an avid photographer, you owe it to yourself to make the most out of your cutting-edge equipment. You want to conquer the features of your Digital Rebel XT and you also want to take amazing photographs-and you want to do both now! Welcome to the guide that can lead you to each of these goals. Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT Guide to Digital SLR Photography provides you with a concise guide to the most important features specific to your Digital Rebel XT, explaining not only how to use them but also why and when. Filled with full-color images to illustrate results at various settings, this book also helps you enhance your digital photography skills with techniques specific to the EOS Digital Rebel XT.

Table of Contents:

Preface     xi
Introduction     xiii
Shooting Your First Canon Digital Rebel XT Picture     1
Getting Ready to Shoot     2
Selecting a Shooting Mode     6
Choosing a Metering Mode     8
Choosing a Focus Mode     9
Selecting a Focus Point     10
Other Settings     11
Adjusting White Balance and ISO     11
Using the Self-Timer     12
Reviewing the Images You've Taken     12
Transferring Photos to Your Computer     14
Canon Digital Rebel XT Roadmap     15
The Canon Digital Rebel XT's Public Face     16
The Canon Digital Rebel XT's Business End     20
Going Topside     24
LCD Panel Readouts     25
Lens Components     26
Looking Inside the Viewfinder     28
Underneath Your Digital Rebel XT     29
Setting Up Your Canon Digital Rebel XT     31
Anatomy of the Digital Rebel XT's Menus     32
Shooting Menu 1/2 Options     33
Quality Settings     34
Red-Eye Reduction     38
Beep     40
Autofocus Mode     40
Metering Mode     41
ISO Speed     42
Automatic Exposure Bracketing     42
Flash Exposure Compensation     43
White Balance     43
White Balance Shift and Bracketing     45
Custom White Balance     46
Color Space     46
Parameters     48
Playback Menu Options     52
Protect     53
Rotate     53
Print Order     54
Auto Play     54
Review Time     54
Set-up Menu Options     55
Auto Power Off     56
Auto Rotate     57
LCD Brightness     57
Date/Time     58
File Numbering     58
Format     59
Shoot Without Card     60
Language     60
Video System     60
Communication     60
Custom Functions     61
Clear Settings     70
Sensor Cleaning     71
Firmware Version     71
Getting the Right Exposure     73
Getting a Handle on Exposure     73
How the Digital Rebel XT Calculates Exposure     77
Choosing a Metering Method     78
Choosing a Creative Zone Exposure Method     81
A-DEP     81
Aperture Priority     83
Shutter Priority     84
Program Mode     84
Manual Exposure     85
Selecting an Autofocus/Exposure Zone Manually     86
Adjusting Exposure with ISO Settings     87
Bracketing     87
Dealing with Noise     89
Fixing Exposures with Histograms     91
Basic Zone Modes     94
Advanced Shooting with Your Canon Digital Rebel XT     97
More Exposure Options     97
Very Short Exposures     98
Working with Short Exposures     100
Long Exposures     102
Three Ways to Take Long Exposures     102
Working with Long Exposures     104
Delayed Exposures     108
Self-Timer     108
Getting into Focus     108
Focus Pocus     110
Adding Circles of Confusion     111
Making Sense of Sensors     113
Your Autofocus Mode Options     114
Setting AF Point     116
Continuous Shooting     117
Setting Image Paramaters      120
Customizing White Balance     120
Image Processing Parameters     124
Working with Lenses     127
But First, a Word from Our Sensor     127
Your First Lens     128
Buy Now, Expand Later     130
What Lenses Can You Use?     132
EF vs. EF-S     134
Ingredients of Canon's Alphanumeric Soup     135
Your Second (and Third) Lens     137
What Lenses Can Do for You     138
Zoom or Prime?     141
Categories of Lenses     143
Using Wide-Angle and Wide-Zoom Lenses     144
Avoiding Potential Wide-Angle Problems     147
Using Telephoto and Tele-Zoom Lenses     149
Avoiding Telephoto Lens Problems     151
Telephotos and Bokeh     152
Add-ons and Special Features     154
Lens Hoods     154
Telephoto Extenders     155
Macro Focusing     155
Image Stabilization     156
Working with Light     159
Continuous Illumination versus Electronic Flash     159
Continuous Lighting Basics     163
Daylight     164
Incandescent/Tungsten Light      165
Fluorescent Light/Other Light Sources     166
Adjusting White Balance     167
Electronic Flash Basics     167
How Electronic Flash Works     168
Using the Built-in Flash     172
Basic Zone Flash     172
Creative Zone Flash     172
Using FE Lock and Flash Exposure Compensation     173
Using External Electronic Flash     174
Speedlite 580EX     174
Speedlite 430EX     175
Speedlite 220EX     175
More Advanced Lighting Techniques     175
Diffusing and Softening the Light     175
Using Multiple Light Sources     176
Other Lighting Accessories     180
Downloading and Editing Your Images     183
What's in the Box?     183
EOS Utility     183
ZoomBrowser/ImageBrowser     184
RAW Image Task     185
PhotoStitch     185
Digital Photo Professional     186
Transferring Your Photos     187
Direct Transfer     187
Using a Card Reader and Software     188
Dragging and Dropping     190
Editing Your Photos     191
Image Editors      191
RAW Utilities     192
Photoshop CS 2     197
Canon Digital Rebel XT: Troubleshooting and Prevention     201
Update Your Firmware     202
Official Firmware     203
Upgrading Your Firmware     204
Protect Your LCD     208
Troubleshooting Memory Cards     209
All Your Eggs in One Basket?     210
What Can Go Wrong?     211
What Can You Do?     213
Replacing Your Clock Battery     214
Clean Your Sensor     215
Dust the FAQs, Ma'am     216
Identifying and Dealing with Dust     217
Avoiding Dust     219
Sensor Cleaning     220
Glossary     227
Index     239

Interesting textbook: The Complete Idiots Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista or Visual Basic 2008 For Dummies

UNIX in a Nutshell

Author: Arnold Robbins

As an open operating system, Unix can be improved on by anyone and everyone: individuals, companies, universities, and more. As a result, the very nature of Unix has been altered over the years by numerous extensions formulated in an assortment of versions. Today, Unix encompasses everything from Sun's Solaris to Apple's Mac OS X and more varieties of Linux than you can easily name.

The latest edition of this bestselling reference brings Unix into the 21st century. It's been reworked to keep current with the broader state of Unix in today's world and highlight the strengths of this operating system in all its various flavors.

Detailing all Unix commands and options, the informative guide provides generous descriptions and examples that put those commands in context. Here are some of the new features you'll find in "Unix in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition":

Solaris 10, the latest version of the SVR4-based operating system, GNU/Linux, and Mac OS X

Bash shell (along with the 1988 and 1993 versions of ksh)

tsch shell (instead of the original Berkeley csh)

Package management programs, used for program installation on popular GNU/Linux systems, Solaris and Mac OS X

GNU Emacs Version 21

Introduction to source code management systems

Concurrent versions system

Subversion version control system

GDB debugger

As Unix has progressed, certain commands that were once critical have fallen into disuse. To that end, the book has also dropped material that is no longer relevant, keeping it taut and current.

If you're a Unix user or programmer, you'll recognize the value of this complete, up-to-date Unix reference. With chapter overviews,specificexamples, and detailed command.