canon rebel xsi - a few questions

[br.avery]

so i just got mine today and have been playing around with it and shooting random things.

i have a few questions..
i'll probably sound like a total idiot/noob.

when on a-dep mode, i adjust the zoom and focus to where i want it and take the picture but sometimes it will automatically set the shutter speed to about 1/13 which is really slow and it blurs the image. i know i have to have a tripod but is there any other way to set the shutter speed to faster while in a-dep?

on M (manual) mode, everything is super dark indoors, sometimes i dont want to use a flash cause it'll ruin my picture, ill have normal settings like 1/125 f/5.0 ISO 400... any way to fix that?

thanks for the help

 

[Phrasikleia]

No, the point of A-DEP is to have everything covered by the focus points be within the depth of field. The camera then selects the aperture that will provide that depth of field. So the shutter speed becomes whatever is necessary for the amount of light present at that aperture. The only thing you can do is up the ISO.

I don't quite understand your question about Manual Mode. Could you rephrase it?

 

[pogochamp113]

Depending on how much light is in the room... you normally need about a shutter speed of 1/20-1/40, possibly lower. Outdoors, depending on the time... is normally about 1/100-1/2000. A shutter speed of 1/100+ should only be for outdoors, unless you have a VERY well lit room (With a ton of windows...etc. I'd suggest going into Aperture or Shutter speed mode. The camera will adjust the other options.

Hope this helps!

P.S. Depending on how far the subject is... you should have a shutter speed WITH flash at about 1/80-1/40 indoors.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

See if you can find a Canon EOS SLR Digital Photography Guide for the XSi. The name of these guides' author is David D. Bush. The reason why I mentioned such a book is because it will save you a lot of time learning how to use your camera. I found the one written for the 40D invaluable to me. It has helped me quite a lot.