Looking Inside the Viewfinder

Much of the important shooting status information is shown inside the viewfinder of the Rebel XS. As with the displays shown on the color LCD, not all of this information will be shown at any one time. Figure 2.21 shows what you can expect to see. I’ll explain all of these readouts later in this book, with those pertaining to exposure in Chapter 4, and those relating to flash in Chapter 7. These readouts include:

• Autofocus zones. Shows the seven areas used by the XS to focus. The camera can select the appropriate focus zone for you, or you can manually select one or all of the zones, as described in Chapters 1 and 4.

• Auto exposure lock. Shows that exposure has been locked. This icon also appears when an automatic exposure bracketing sequence is in progress.

• Flash ready indicator. This icon appears when the flash is fully charged. It also shows when the flash exposure lock has been applied for an inappropriate exposure value.

• Flash status indicator. Appears along with the flash-ready indicator: The H is shown when high speed (focal plane) flash sync is being used. The * appears when flash exposure lock or a flash exposure bracketing sequence is underway.

• Flash exposure compensation. Appears when flash EV changes have been made.

• Shutter speed/aperture readouts. Most of the time, these readouts show the current shutter speed and aperture. This pair can also warn you of memory card conditions (full, error, or missing), ISO speed, flash exposure lock, and a buSY indicator when the camera is busy doing other things (including flash recycling).

• Exposure level indicator. This scale shows the current exposure level, with the bottom indicator centered when the exposure is correct as metered. The indicator may also move to the left or right to indicate under- or overexposure (respectively). The scale is also used to show the amount of EV and flash EV adjustments, the number of stops covered by the current automatic exposure bracketing range, and is used as a red-eye reduction lamp indicator.

• ISO Sensitivity. This useful indicator shows the current ISO setting value. Those who have accidentally taken dozens of shots under bright sunlight at ISO 1600 because they forgot to change the setting back after some indoor shooting will treasure this addition.

• B/W indicator. Illuminates when the Monochrome Picture Style is being used. There’s no way to restore color when you’re shooting JPEGs without RAW, so this indicator is another valuable warning.

• White balance correction. Shows that white balance has been tweaked.

• Maximum burst available. Changes to a number to indicate the number of frames that can be taken in Continuous mode using the current settings.

• Focus confirmation. This green dot appears when the subject covered by the active autofocus zone is in sharp focus.