So I took the plunge and graduated from P&S to DSLR. I bought the new Canon 450 Rebel, XSi, with the kit lens (18-55 IS) and the 70-300 IS lens. I've been practicing around my city and local parks.
I'll be going on a 6 week overland trip from Cape Town to Nairobi. This is not a photo tour, I am not a professional, there may not be time to spend hours getting each photo. I wanted a camera that won't need a constant supply of batteries, will focus reliably and quickly on far away objects manually and auto, and will work in all lighting conditions. I sometimes wonder if I made the right choice buying this camera while my S3 still works. Only the final results will tell.
I have some questions that maybe some of you can answer.
1) What settings should I use most often? Av with max aperture, or P? ISO? White balance? Landscape and moving objects basic shooting or P, Av, Tv, M?
2) Which colour space? Landscape or standard?
3) I'll shoot jpeg simply because I'll take >2000 photos, and I don't want to spend months converting each photo when I return - I have to return to my real job, but are there some conditions you say I must shoot RAW.
4) Should I use the polarizer on my 70-300?
5) Spot metering or something else? I sometime find that when I shoot with spot metering the whole photo is over-exposed.
6) Any safety tips? Camera security in and around camps?
7) Any other tips or advice you can offer would be most welcome.
I know that I'd never use the same settings throughout my trip, I've graduated beyond auto. But there are some usual settings for particular conditions.
Thanks
P.S.
I'll be sharing my photos here September