EOS R5 Clearing settings & how to save camera settings externally

[pedz]

On the Canon R5:

1. In C.Fn5, there is “Clear all Custom Func. (C.Fn).
2. In Set Up5, there is “Reset Camera”
3. Also in Set Up5, there is “Custom shooting mode (C1-C3)”.  If I pick this menu item, there is “Clear settings”.  If I pick that I can clear one of the C1-C3 group of settings.

One of the things I do to get my camera “back to level ground” is I clear one of the custom settings (C1-C3), then switch to it, then switch to program mode.  My assumption is that many of the settings are now back to how the camera was shipped but there is definitely some settings which have not been cleared.  One that comes to mind is the customizable menus “MY MENU”.  I would guess there are others.

My question / quest: I’d like to have what I’ll call a “flat list” of all of the menu settings.  A “flat list” is something where I could copy and paste it, a .txt file, or a plan ole flat ASCII file.  Utopia would be such a list with indicators of which settings are saved in the custom settings and which are reset by each of the first two items above.

I do all sorts of photography.  Macro and astro photography in particular end up getting my settings in a state that is generally so specialized that it isn’t useful for other forms like landscape.  So I “reset” the camera with the process I just mentioned.

What I want to start doing (eh… like this is ever going to happen) is to save these specialized settings to a card and then also save them to my computer.  I generally do not use C1-C3 because I can’t remember how I set them up.  I guess, I’m never 100% sure how I left them.

Ultimately I’d like to figure out a way to use C1-C3 in a manner that works for me and I think the first step is to understand what settings are saved and which ones are not.

[Waddizzle]

Clearing or resetting the Custom Shooting Modes (C1, C2, C3) does nothing to reset the camera.  Look at Custom Shooting Modes as a “saved preset” of camera settings.  When you reset your Custom Shooting Modes all you are really doing is erasing your presets.  Camera settings remain unaffected.

This is the screeen that you want to use to completely reset the camera back its factory defaults.  You would want to select both menu selections and perform reset(s).

[pedz]

I think you didn’t understand my full process.  Yes, the first few steps clears the settings of C2.  But then I selected that profile after which I selected “P” (or some other non-custom mode).  The thought is that if C2 is “cleared”, switching to C2 will clear the settings that the custom settings affect.  I could just stay there but I mentioned switching to another mode to emphasis that the switching to C2 was simply to clear the settings.

I’m not 100% sure this works.  I will likely tinker with all this today.  I am curious about all this.  I also wonder (hope) that the saved settings to a card can somehow be viewed or decoded.

[Waddizzle]

“ Ultimately I’d like to figure out a way to use C1-C3 in a manner that works for me and I think the first step is to understand what settings are saved and which ones are not. “

I don’t know if there is a list somewhere.  It would probably be a rather lengthy list.  I would think a list of what is NOT saved would be significantly shorter.  The only settings that I believe are not retained are the settings that define which memory card slot to use.

BTW, if you remove a memory card and then close the door, the above mentioned settings will be cleared.  You can avoid this issue by either not closing the door, or inserting a temporary card before you close the door.

[EDIT]

” I generally do not use C1-C3 because I can’t remember how I set them up.  I guess, I’m never 100% sure how I left them. “

This is not an insurmountable obstacle.  Not being able to remember each and every last adjustment for a given shooting scenario is one reason they are available.  You do not have to remember each and every setting.  The cameras does it for you.

When you have the camera set up they way you need save the settings to a Custom Shooting mode.  Be sure to leave automatic updates disabled, which is the default setting.  

If you find that you need to tweak the settings for a Custom Mode, then enable Automatic Update while you are using that mode.  Make the change(s) to your settings and then disable Automatic Update again.

[p4pictures]

Your camera can save its configuration to a memory card, you can save multiple camera configuration files on the same card. 

You could save the current configuration as a starting point, then go to the reset camera menus, do all the resets, plus the custom functions, custom shooting modes, clear the my menus and clear the communication settings. Then save that as a second configuration file on the memory card, maybe call it R5_CLEAR as you can choose the filename when saving camera configurations. 

[pedz]

I went looking to see if the format of this file is known.  I found a thread that said that the settings are camera dependent and also firmware level dependent.  To rephrase, settings saved on a R5 with firmware 1.2 may or may not load on an R5 with firmware 1.3.  The file is definitely a binary file and I have two examples from my own R5 that are slightly different sizes.

[pedz]

This is a list I just created.  I've been poking around trying to find settings that are not saved in the C1-C3 settings.  So far, the only one that I have found is Airplane Mode.  I suspect many of the network settings are not saved.

[p4pictures]

There are quite a few settings I know that are not saved as part of the save to C1/C2/C3 modes, here's a few examples

SET UP1

• Rec func+card/folder set
• File name

SET UP2

• Language
• Video system
• Headphone volume

My Menus