Canon Ios Rebel T3 Settings?

If you have a laptop, set everything up as SsuperDdave says AND tether your camera to the laptop with a USB cable. (You may need to install the software that came with the camera if you haven't already)

Connect the two, THEN turn on the camera and the software will autolaunch.

Select LIVE VIEW and use the controls there to preview and shoot.

Avoids your finger pressing the button and making everything vibrate ruining the shot.

I think you will love the results, although you will probably want to run out and buy the macro lens Cannon makes.

Only thing I'd add is that you might try Aperture Priority Mode (Av) instead of full Manual. In Av mode you can fix the aperture to the f8 and ISO to 200 as SuperDave suggests, and the camera will adjust the shutter speed to give correct exposure. I suggest using "partial metering" for the exposure meter mode but "evaluative metering" works OK as well. In any of the auto exposure modes, the camera will push the brightest areas it looks at to full exposure saturation, so you can change the exposure compensation to -1/3 or -1/2 EV to keep the highlights from being over-exposed.

"Macro Mode" on the T3i emasculates the camera's capabilities, forcing you to accept the camera's opinion of how to shoot and negating all the advice you've been given because it makes those adjustments impossible - it turns your $600 dSLR into a cheap point and shoot. Of course, if you get good results, who really cares?

Ray's suggestions, of course, are all valid. I would add Center metering as an option - both it and Partial metering force the camera to take its' exposure info from the center of the frame - the coin - whereas Evaluative uses the whole frame and leaves room for error.

Ray prefers Aperture Priority; I prefer full Manual. Either works well and it's just about the personal habits you form. He's comfortable playing with Exposure Compensation and I prefer making that adjustment with the exposure setting itself. Exposure Compensation normally allows you finer control over the changes made, which is why Ray prefers it.

And he's better at this than me, so keep that in mind if we ever disagree.

Now, for the pic posting. First, grab yourself a free account at Photobucket. Our tutorial for posting pics from there:

https://goccf.com/t/53146

You'll be able to load your images full-size there and not have to downsize to post here. As big as you can make them, although if your images are sharp enough you don't need them larger than 800 pixels in diameter.

I have a standard Rebel T3 like the OP with the same, standard, 18-55mm lens and no macro. I didn't see the point in starting a new thread so I hope it is ok to share this one.

How can I best setup simple lighting to properly photo Morgans? Most of my dads collection is in Morgans and I'd like to get decent photos of them to share here and for insurance purposes.

Least of my worries, I have multiple sources to host at/link from. My first digital camera took 3.5" floppies, been editing photos and posting online ever since. Thanks, I'll start shooting soon.

Thanks for all the feedback thus far. I did manage to get a small lightbox built but focus has now shifted towards building a closet system I got my wife for Christmas 😐. I hope to practice taking some pics in the next week or so when I have some more time.