Introduction to the Canon 40D

I recently bought the Canon 40D after spending several years with a Sony Cyber shot 5MP camera and missing shots due to shutter lag and blurry photos. My primary subjects are my Angora Goats and I use the photos for my website and our group's calendar. I have a pretty basic understanding of photographic principles.I was a bit disappointed with the results of my first few sessions with the packaged zoom lens that came with the 40D. I decided to pop for the 70-200 L series lens and was wowed with some of the shots but quickly found out this combination didn't guarantee great photos everytime. So I figured some of the problem must be me. Turns out I was correct.The video starts by giving you a framework or structure to get yourself and you camera prepared beofre the shot. The first camera specifc thing I learned was what the color coding on the back of the 40D buttons meant. I bought the camera from Camera/Video store with what seem to be knowledgeable sales guys but they didn't tell this. This video does a tremendous job of covering ALL of the features of the 40D with some ideas and actual photos demonstrating the features like low contrast, backlite subjects and many more topics and when you might want to use them. This is a lot easier to understand watching the than trying to read about it.During this video I discovered several of the focusing issues I was having and how easy it will be to adjust how I use the excellent tools to realize the results I have invested in. If you are a Pro and new to Canon or the 40D this video could be useful to in 90 minutes to get the soup to nuts information on the 40D. If DSLR is kind of new for you or you are coming from a point and shoot world this could be the perfect tool to in 90 minutes to open the 40D world for you. An earlier review wished he could have worked with the camera during the video. The video at the end of several sessions recoomends that you turn off the video and practice with the camera and there is always the pause button on the DVD.As it turns out the 40D has lots of customzation capability and options and this video introduces them and gives you enough of an idea of how you can make your 40D truely yours. The 180 minutes (watched it twice) I spent watching this will more than be made up for by getting it right in the camera and spending a lot less time trying to save photos on the computer and I am betting I will see a lot more of the stunning shots from that 70-200mm F2.8 L series lens. Recoomended without reservation.

This educational video was easy to follow and gave good feeling with cameras many options.Mastering the 40D got quite easy after looking at the video twice.Highly recommended

Nicely done video. High quality, good topics, etc. Shows you basic and more advanced functions of 40D. Looking forward to buy more products from this publisher.

I like the content of this CD a lot. It is just the quality of the CD itself that is horrible. There are permanent fingerprints on the play side and it takes a bit to find a way to make it play.

Well, let me first say that the item arrived fairly quickly (2 weeks to Australia) and arrived in pristine condition. The DVD cover itself looks well presented. The DVD looks like it was mass printed with only the name of the disk on it. From there it really went downhill. I'm new to DSLR photography and have had my 40D for 3 months. However, I'm not a noob to photography principals and really wanted a hands on 40D specific walkthrough. The presentation and the graphics and audio is all top quality and that was fine. The presenter looked a bit like a robot and sounded a lot like Troy McClure which was VERY annoying. The presentation is much more an intro photography rather than the 40D, they only just touch on the simple and rather obvious features of the 40D. There's no real in depth tutorials on how to employ the 40D in different environments or situations. Like I said they talk a lot about the important issues of very basic photography but I didn't learn anything novel that I didn't pick from the manual and after a week or two of mucking with my 40D or searching for 40D on YouTube. For this reason I was VERY disappointed and feel a bit ripped off. This would be more suited for someone who has never picked up a digital camera and happens to be learning on a 40D.

Excellent reference that you can go back to, from time to time. Especially helpful with the Custom Functions.

Product received on time and in excellent condition...a great instructional video. Thank you!

Anyone that has this camera should buy this video. It explains all of the functions of the camera in easy to understand terms while it shows you how to use it. I highly recommend this video if you are a visual learner.