As some of you know, I finally bought a DSLR camera this past year. I ended up taking advantage of a Christmas deal at Amazon and picked up a Canon T1i kit w/ an extra lens (a 55-200mm zoom) at a nice bundle price. So far, I love the camera. It’s been fun learning how to actually take photographs again.

One of the random extras I bought when I got the camera was the Canon EOS Rebel T1i/500D Guide by David Busch. I’m basically going through the book cover-to-cover, it’s been that interesting and helpful. While he covers the basics like explaining the various features of the camera, I’ve found that his explanations of a lot of basic photography technique has been a good refresher for me. While I didn’t necessarily need the reminder of what an f-stop is or whatever, getting everything in context with sample photographs helped me gain some insights and make connections I don’t think I understood before.

The book does dive into some depth and provides a lot of good background about the body itself. For example, the T1i has a cropped sensor (otherwise known as APS-C sensor), something I only understood at the very basic level (i.e. the sensor is “smaller” than a full 35mm frame). The guide explains the differences, but then takes the next step and explains the design choice by Canon (and other manufacturers), along with how it might impact your lens choices, your photography, etc. It’s good stuff.

There’s also a good chapter that explains Canon’s lens naming system, along with explanations of why different features are better or worse than others. So now, when I see a lens named “EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM,” I know it’s one of their full-frame professional (luxury) zoom lenses that’s image stabilized and has an ultrasonic motor to drive the autofocus. The book also explains what each of those things mean, why you might or might not want/need each feature, etc.

Overall, I really recommend this book if you have a T1i. Lots of good little tips and hints in the guide that you’ll be happy to read even if you’ve got some experience with the camera already.