Canontst

Canon EOS 750D (Rebel T6i) The Makerspace Quick-Start Guide & Cheat Sheet

🚀 The "Just Let Me Shoot" Quick Start

If you don't want a lecture and just need a working photo right now, follow these steps:

**Power Up:** Turn the switch on top to ⟳ ON. (The step past ON is for Video mode 📹).
**Go Full Auto:** Turn the top mode dial to the green **Ⓐ⁺** symbol (Scene Intelligent Auto). The camera will handle focus, exposure, and flash for you.
**Frame & Focus:** Look through the viewfinder (or press the 📋 button to use the screen). Lightly press the shutter button halfway down until it beeps and a green dot lights up. This means it has locked focus.
**Shoot:** Press the button the rest of the way down.

💡 Makerspace Rule: When you are done, please put the battery back in the charging station, wipe down the lens with microfiber cloth only, and clear your photos from the SD card.

🎨 The Esthetician's Guide to Manual Settings

To control the actual look and mood of your shot, flip the mode dial to **mathbf{M}** (Manual). You need to balance three things (The Exposure Triangle):

1. Aperture (Depth of Field)

Controls how blurry your background is.

**Low F-number (e.g., f/1.8, f/3.5):** Blurry background ("bokeh"), sharp subject. Perfect for macros or portraits.
**High F-number (e.g., f/8, f/16):** Everything is sharp from foreground to background. Perfect for scanning or documenting flat work.

🌐 Visualizing Aperture:** Click here to see how aperture physically changes depth of field (via r/Filmmakers).

2. Shutter Speed ($\mathbf{Tv}$)

Controls time. Measured in fractions of a second.

**Fast (e.g., 1/500s, 1/1000s):** Freezes fast motion (pyrotechnics, moving parts).
**Slow (e.g., 1/2s, 30s):** Blurs motion. *Note: Anything slower than 1/60s needs a tripod or your hands will shake and blur the whole image.*

3. ISO (Sensor Sensitivity)

**ISO 100 - 400:** Use this for bright studio lights or outdoors. Cleanest images.
**ISO 1600 - 6400:** Use this if it's dark inside the workshop. Warning: Higher ISO adds "grain/noise" to your images.

🛠️ Technical Data

📐 Sensor & Crop Factor

**Sensor Size:** APS-C CMOS (approx. 22.3 x 14.9 mm)
**Resolution:** 24.2 Megapixels
**Crop Factor:** 1.6x
What this means for makers: If you put a 50mm lens on this body, it behaves like an 80mm lens due to the smaller sensor footprint.

🌐 Visualizing Crop Factor & Field of View:** See how changing your focal length impacts your Field of View (via r/photography).

🔌 Inputs & Mounts

**Lens Mount:** Canon EF / EF-S
**Storage:** SD / SDHC / SDXC (UHS-I supported)
**Video Max:** 1080p Full HD at 30fps
**Ports:** ** Mini-USB (for PC data transfer)
- Mini-HDMI (Type-C)
- 3.5mm Microphone Jack
- Remote Control Terminal

🔋 Battery & Power

**Battery Type:** LP-E17 Lithium-ion
**Live View Battery Life:** ~180 shots
**Viewfinder Battery Life:** ~440 shots

🎛️ Manual Modes & Dial Symbols

Look at the top wheel. These are the symbols you need to know:

**mathbf{M} (Manual):** You have absolute control. You change the shutter speed with the main dial, and change aperture by holding down the **𝄥/🦿** (Av) button while turning the main dial.
**mathbf{Av} (Aperture Priority):** You pick the background blur (F-stop); the camera figures out the shutter speed automatically. Great for quick macro shots.
**mathbf{Tv} (Shutter Priority):** You pick the speed to freeze or blur motion; the camera figures out the F-stop.
**mathbf{P} (Program AE):** Advanced auto. The camera guesses the exposure, but lets you change things like flash and ISO manually.

🔍 Focus Modes for Prototyping

Switch this on the side of the physical lens body (**AF / MF**):

**AF (Autofocus):** Press shutter halfway to let the camera do the work.
**MF (Manual Focus):** Turn the ring on the very tip of the lens yourself. Use this if you are shooting inside a laser cutter/vacuum chamber where glass reflections confuse the automatic sensor.