How to Use a Canon T50 35mm Camera
Change the batteries., Be paranoid and check your batteries even if they are new., Mount the lens., Make sure your aperture ring is set to "A".
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Change the batteries.
Even if your camera has batteries in it, change them with fresh ones, because you don't want to run out of battery power while you're out shooting.
Push the latch to open the battery door.
Unlatch the battery door and open it.
Do this gently because these are horribly flimsy and really easy to break.
Drop out any batteries that were in there.
Check the battery terminals for corrosion if you just bought the camera.
If they are covered in a white residue, spray on some electrical contact cleaner and carefully scrape away any residue with a sharp implement.
Drop in a couple of alkaline or carbon-zinc batteries.
Drop in a couple of AA batteries.
Never use rechargeable batteries--Canon warns against this (which either means that the metering will be wrong or your camera will explode).
Do your part to destroy the environment by dropping in a pair of disposable batteries ("heavy duty" carbon-zinc or alkalines).
Close the battery door; again, be as gentle as you can, to avoid breaking it. -
Step 2: Be paranoid and check your batteries even if they are new.
It's good to get in the habit of doing this regularly.
Spin the main dial around to "B.C" (for "Battery Check"); if the camera beeps at you, the batteries are good., The lens will be of one of two styles of Canon FD lenses, both of which mount slightly differently:
Old-school FD lenses have a chrome locking ring which you tighten to keep the lens in place.
Lenses with chrome locking rings, which is everything before about 1979
- Line up the red dots on the camera body and lens, then twist the chrome locking ring clockwise (looking from the front of the camera), until it's comfortably tight. "New FD" lenses, like this 28mm f/2.8, mount just like the bayonet lenses they pretend to be.
New FD lenses
- These don't have a locking ring.
Again, line up the two red dots.
Then, rotate the body of the lens until it clicks into place, just like the bayonet-mount lenses for other cameras which these lenses pretend to be. , Press the button to the right of the "A" in order to slide it so that the "A" is just below the vertical orange line.
Taking it off "A" will lock the shutter speed to 1/60 second.
This is only useful for shooting either manual flashes (if you must nuke subjects with direct flash, use Canon's Speedlite 244T, which works fine in "A") or for use with strobes in a studio.
For everything else, you'll want to keep it on "A".
Of course, for the serious headbangers out there, this works as a very crude, limiting, unmetered fully-manual mode. -
Step 3: Mount the lens.
-
Step 4: Make sure your aperture ring is set to "A".
Detailed Guide
Even if your camera has batteries in it, change them with fresh ones, because you don't want to run out of battery power while you're out shooting.
Push the latch to open the battery door.
Unlatch the battery door and open it.
Do this gently because these are horribly flimsy and really easy to break.
Drop out any batteries that were in there.
Check the battery terminals for corrosion if you just bought the camera.
If they are covered in a white residue, spray on some electrical contact cleaner and carefully scrape away any residue with a sharp implement.
Drop in a couple of alkaline or carbon-zinc batteries.
Drop in a couple of AA batteries.
Never use rechargeable batteries--Canon warns against this (which either means that the metering will be wrong or your camera will explode).
Do your part to destroy the environment by dropping in a pair of disposable batteries ("heavy duty" carbon-zinc or alkalines).
Close the battery door; again, be as gentle as you can, to avoid breaking it.
It's good to get in the habit of doing this regularly.
Spin the main dial around to "B.C" (for "Battery Check"); if the camera beeps at you, the batteries are good., The lens will be of one of two styles of Canon FD lenses, both of which mount slightly differently:
Old-school FD lenses have a chrome locking ring which you tighten to keep the lens in place.
Lenses with chrome locking rings, which is everything before about 1979
- Line up the red dots on the camera body and lens, then twist the chrome locking ring clockwise (looking from the front of the camera), until it's comfortably tight. "New FD" lenses, like this 28mm f/2.8, mount just like the bayonet lenses they pretend to be.
New FD lenses
- These don't have a locking ring.
Again, line up the two red dots.
Then, rotate the body of the lens until it clicks into place, just like the bayonet-mount lenses for other cameras which these lenses pretend to be. , Press the button to the right of the "A" in order to slide it so that the "A" is just below the vertical orange line.
Taking it off "A" will lock the shutter speed to 1/60 second.
This is only useful for shooting either manual flashes (if you must nuke subjects with direct flash, use Canon's Speedlite 244T, which works fine in "A") or for use with strobes in a studio.
For everything else, you'll want to keep it on "A".
Of course, for the serious headbangers out there, this works as a very crude, limiting, unmetered fully-manual mode.
About the Author
Kelly Edwards
Specializes in breaking down complex practical skills topics into simple steps.
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