EOS R5 Mark II -Help with memorizing where various menu functions / features are located...

[pedz]

This is just a general vent.  I'm frustrated.  I know that the R5M2 has a feature that sets the shutter speed in P mode to be twice as fast (or some multiple faster) than the focal length of the lens.  So... in my mind, it is setting shutter speed based on the focal length.  So I searched the menus for 20+ minutes easily looking for something like that.  I have set it before so I was positive it existed.

As all of you probably have already figured out, it is in Camera tab 2 (Exposure), second item "ISO speed settings".  What???  I had glanced in that menu before but the last item says "Min. shutter spd. -- Auto".  Turns out that is what I was looking for.  From the manual's perspective, it is adjusting the ISO so that the camera can set the speed and still get proper exposure.  Anyhow... I have problems finding where features are located within the menu system a lot with this camera.  The custom menus help a little but not much.

I guess / hope that with time, the settings I use often will sink into my head but right now, it is frustrating.

[shadowsports · Accepted solution]

Greetings,

I say this to people all the time.  🙂 Read your manual and spend time in your camera's menus. The more time you spend there, the less daunting and more familiar they become.  

No one should fear or be reluctant to perform a settings reset when or if needed.  A camera like mine that has 13 customizable buttons can be a little more daunting but It's not something to be afraid of. 

In time you will become familiar with the menu options, and will appreciate the familiarity.  Also becoming one with your camera.  🙏

It just takes time, you'll get there.  

[Waddizzle]

This is what custom are made for. I have set up separate custom menus for Exposure, Autofocus, Card Slots and Battery Status, and one for Communications.

You can also press the [Q] button to jump from one menu group to the next.  Each group can remember which settings page you last visited. 

[stevet1]

pedz,

Another thing that might help, if you haven't done so already, is to download a copy of your manual in pdf format. Then, using the search functions of a pdf reader like Adobe Acrobat, you can search for answers to specific questions or search terms.

Steve Thomas

[pedz]

I've actually have read all the way through the manual a few months ago.  And I agree with your ideas... I just need to spend more time with the camera.  This particular time it was frustrating because I just wasn't thinking of it in terms of ISO.

[pedz]

Yeah.  I have done that.  I also search the web.  But it was under "ISO" and not shutter speed so it was in a rather obscure place in this instance.

[p4pictures]

The minimum shutter speed setting is used in both P and Av modes, but only works when the ISO AUTO is used.  

How to build your own knowledge of the camera, settings and menu

One idea to help your learning is to save you camera's current configuration to a memory card. Then you can play with any settings you like to see where they are and what they do. At the end of the day "playing with settings" session you can reload the original settings back to where you were before the playing around session. 

I do a lot of training for photographers, most of the people who come to me are surprised that I know my way round the cameras so much - this simply comes down to devoting time to practicing and making experiments with finding functions and working out how to use them. I do this both at my desk and out in the field, but not on a client shoot or an important photo trip. 

The manuals are big, but don't cover the same depth as they used to

Even though the manuals for the cameras have too many pages to make them readable, they actually don't go far enough to even show or explain the depth of some settings. 

As an example:- when you look at control customisation, you can see a long list of functions that can be assigned to the camera buttons, and the small note that "You can configure advanced settings for functions labeled with [INFO] in the lower left of the screen by pressing the INFO button."

https://cam.start.canon/en/C017/manual/html/UG-08_Customize_0030.html#Customize_0030_1-1

Take the AF + metering start function which is assigned to the AF-ON button and shutter button by default. For the AF-ON button the INFO for advanced settings appears, but not for the shutter button. The manual does not say which buttons has the INFO for advanced settings, and the advanced settings themselves are not in the manual either.

Every photographer is unique

A challenge for many photographers is trying to configure the camera at day one, often they take settings that were the "best" in an internet video or article. Often this is simply another persons view of what they think is the best, and in my experience photographers are individuals with different ways of working and different needs from a camera. I did a training session for six professional photographers each using both EOS R5 Mark II and EOS R1. Amongst the group some preferred to use back button AF, others saw it as unnecessary. They all did the same work for the same company. 

[pcfam]

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@pedz wrote:

...it was under "ISO" and not shutter speed so it was in a rather obscure place in this instance.

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...and of course, you can't put "ISO speed settings" in the [Q] screen, only in a custom menu.  And you can't put "Min. shutter spd." by itself even there.

That makes a lot of button presses if you want to toggle it or adjust it:  MENU + N button presses to get to the right custom menu + N down presses to select "ISO speed settings" + SET + down + down + down to get to Min. shutter spd. + SET before you can even select auto/manual or make adjustments.

I would love a single button-press that sets a fixed minimum shutter speed until I toggle it back off.  Right now I can approximate that by switching to Tv or a custom mode, but that takes multiple fingers.

And of course I'd love to be able to select an arbitrary minimum shutter speed, since I often want at least 1/160 or 1/200, and my nearest options are 1/125 and 1/250.

[pedz]

I agree about the level of detail.  Focus bracketing for a quick example has options that I have no idea what they might do and I don’t even have a good idea of how to test to deduce what they do do.  BUT… on the flip side, these are incredibly complicated machines so it isn’t surprising that the details get left out.

[normadel]

You've answered your own question. DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras are computers, with many functions, options, settings, etc. You cannot understand it all unless you spend LOTS of time looking at and using different things. And you may well NEVER use or understand what everything is and how you do it. You just learn what you need.

I have an EOS 7D, with many autofocus options on it. The manual explanations are confusing.  It's bewildering trying to understand it all. Too complicated.