Custom functions: Custom functions
CF explained
Most EOS digital cameras offer custom functions. These allow you to alter the way the camera operates to suit your own personal needs. Exposure, focusing and flash are just some of the areas covered by the functions. Each function has a factory-defined default setting, plus one or more alternative settings.
Custom functions are set through the camera menu system. Find and select ‘Custom Functions’ and you will bring up a screen with each custom function number displayed. Select the appropriate number and you will be taken to a screen where you can select from the various options for that custom function.
The display will usually indicate which functions are no longer at their default setting. You can either go to each function to change the setting, or go to the ‘Clear Setting: menu option’ to reset all the custom functions to the default settings.
On some models, it is possible to register up to three groups of custom function settings. This means you can change a number of different custom functions and save all these change under one group registration. This saves you the time and trouble of going through and changing each custom setting individually the next time you want to use the same set. You could, for example, have one group of settings for landscape photography, and another for sports shooting.
The number of custom functions varies from camera to camera, as does the reference number for a particular function. However, the list below, for the EOS-1D Mark III and EOS-1Ds Mark III, gives a guide to the type of camera functions that can be changed.
For previous generation cameras, a specific custom function is usually written as C.Fn.-XX-Y, where the first number (XX) is the custom function reference, and the second number (Y) is the selected option within that function. The default setting for each custom function is usually ‘0’. So custom function 12 (mirror lockup) is written as either C.Fn.-12-0 (lockup disabled) or C.Fn.-12-1 (lockup enabled). On the EOS-1D/Ds Mark III models as well as the latest generation of consumer level cameras like the EOS 40D, EOS 50D and EOS 5D Mark II, custom functions have been separated into four groups: Group I for Exposure, Group II for Image/Flash exp/Display, Group III for Auto focus/Drive and Group IV for Operation/Others.
These new settings are written as C.Fn XX-Y-Z where XX is the group, Y is the Custom Function and Z is the setting, for example C.Fn IV-3-1.
Popular professional CF settings
| IV-11 | Focusing Screen |
Adjust to suit the type of focusing screen fitted.
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| II-7 | Viewfinder info. during exposure |
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| IV-1 | Shutter button/AF-ON button |
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| IV-5 | Tv/Av setting for Manual exposure |
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| I-1 | Exposure Level Increments |
Adjusts level of exposure and exposure compensation increments.
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| III-1 | USM lens electronic MF |
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| I-4 | Bracketing Auto Cancel |
Determines whether the sequence is repeated for the next shot, or cancelled.
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| III-12 | AF point display during focus |
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| III-9 | Selectable AF point |
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| III-8 | AF expansion with selected point |
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| I-7 | Spot meter link to AF point |
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| II-4 | E-TTL II flash metering |
Changes the metering pattern used for flash metering.
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| II-5 | Shutter Curtain Synchronisation |
Set the flash to fire just after the shutter opens (first curtain), or just before the shutter closes (second curtain).
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| I-8 | Safety Shift Setting |
In Tv and Av modes, the safety shift setting allows the pre-selected aperture or shutter speed to be changed by the camera if a sudden change in subject brightness renders the exposure unsuitable.
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| II-9 | INFO button when shooting |
Allows the rear LCD screen to replicate the top LCD when set to option 1.
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| III-10 | Switch to the Registered AF Point |
Assigns button(s) to activate the pre-selected (registered) AF point.
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| III-6 | Lens AF Stop Button Function |
Changes the function of the AF stop buttons (only available on IS super-telephoto lenses.
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| III-2 | AI Servo Tracking Sensitivity |
Slow sensitivities prevent the autofocus being changed by anything passing between the lens and the subject. The fast sensitivities are effective when you want to shoot quickly with subjects at different distances.
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