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Canon EOS R, EF 70-300mm mk2 lens
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This post has been edited and expanded with more narrative on 31 October 2020
It may seem a bit late in this camera’s product cycle to be posting a setting up guide. However a succession of firmware updates have made this model more capable and more attractive to buyers who, like me, might have purchased an EOS R recently.
There appears to have been a resurgence of interest in the EOS R lately as it provides a very capable picture taking device and access to all Canon’s RF and EF lenses at a substantially lower price than the R5 and R6 glam-cams.
Carry bag
The EOS R with RF 24-105 f4 zoom mounted fits nicely into a LowePro Apex 140 AW with handle up for easy access. There are many alternatives available.
I carry the EOS R with EF 24-105mm L fitted, plus EF 70-300mm with adapter plus RF 35mm f1.8 plus various accessories, cards, cleaning cloth, puffer and batteries in a LowePro Urban Photo Sling 250. This is compact, light, comfortable to carry and the gear is reasonably easy to access without having to drop the bag onto the ground.
Neck strap/wrist strap
Some camera buyers dutifully unpack the neck strap which comes in the box and attach it to the camera. I have not done this for 15 years as I think neck straps are a nuisance.
I use cheap generic wrist straps for all my cameras. They work fine and streamline the process of using the camera.
Spare battery
A spare Canon LP-E6N batter is a worthwhile investment. This is a version of the battery used by the EOS5.x series DSLRs. Mirrorless cameras use more power than DSLRs so the number of shots per battery will be less.
Advanced user guide
Download this from a Canon website. The user guide is well written and well laid out with plenty of graphics and generally good explanations. However at 644 pages it is rather daunting, hence this post which covers setup in a concise form.
Firmware
Download and install FW 1.7.0 or later if any FW after 1.7.0 becomes available.
Memory card
With Servo AF operation and Continuous Drive Mode, performance is very influenced by card selection. I use a Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB 170MB/s UHS3 card.
The camera is compatible with the even faster UHSII cards.
The settings suggestions which follow are for stills photography. Video requires some different settings about which there are several posts and Youtube instruction tutorials available online from people who know a great deal more about video than me.
Dial and button functions
Custom Menu 4
These are my preferred settings. They are offered for interest and may be a useful starting point for users new to Canon. Operation of the camera is decently straightforward with these settings.
Customize buttons: Note, button functions can be customized for stills and video separately.
Shutter Button: Default, AF/AE-L with half press and shutter release with full press.
Movie (red) button: Default, Movie.
M-Fn button: Default, [Dial Function Settings]
LCD Illum: Default.
Mode: Default.
AF-ON: Default. Same as half press shutter button. Users who want to use the AF-ON button for back button focus can set the shutter button to [metering start only].
I have the AF ON button disabled as it is not optimally located and inclined to be pressed inadvertently.
Star button: Q Menu (Upper button on the thumb support) I want to use the Q/Set button in the center of the cross keys to re-center the AF area frame. So Q Menu goes up to the * button.
Magnify button: Menu (Lower button on the thumb support) The labelled Menu button is not easy to reach when the monitor screen is flipped out to the side. So I allocate Menu to the magnify button which is always easily reached. Menu can still be accessed via the Menu button if desired.
Cross keys: Move AF frame. The AF area frame can be moved using either the touch screen or the cross keys. I find it easier to reach the cross keys although these do not give 8-way movement and are a bit slow.
Set button: Center AF frame.
Customize dials:
Main (front) dial: Program shift in P Mode, Aperture in Av Mode, Shutter speed in Tv Mode, Shutter speed in M Mode (default)
Rear dial (Quick control/mode dial): Exposure compensation in P, Tv, Av. Aperture setting in M Mode (default)
Lens control ring: No function. Some users report they like to use the lens control ring for exposure compensation or another of the available options such as ISO. I prefer to access these elsewhere. One issue is that the lens control ring is easily bumped inadvertently.
Another is that the M-Fn button is easier to access for ISO setting. To change ISO with the M-Fn button I have only to move one finger 5mm but to change ISO with the lens control ring I have to move several fingers of the left hand over much greater distance. (more actions, each more complex)
Customize M-Fn bar: Not assigned. I could not figure out any useful function for this bar and from reading reviews it appears nobody else could either.
My Menu
On My Menu 1, I have
Format card. This needs to be readily accessible.
Expo.Comp./AEB. I rarely need or use exposure bracketing but if I do want this feature it needs to be reasonably accessible.
Silent shutter. This invokes the fully electronic shutter which is indeed silent. Canon helpfully flashes a white border around the frame to confirm that an exposure has been made.
For almost complete operational silence (the lens aperture diaphragm and focus motor may be audible in quiet settings) beeps must be disabled at Wrench Menu3>Beep>Disable.
I copy beep control to MyMenu for easier access.
[Camera] ISO speed settings. This accesses the menu for setting a range of ISO sensitivity options including Min.shutter spd. Which tells the camera how to relate minimum shutter speed to lens focal length.
This is the optimal implementation of Auto ISO as it enables the user to link the slowest shutter speed to lens focal length and desired use.
On My Menu 2, I have
Sensor clean, Touch and drag AF settings, Touch control.
Touch screen operation
Touch functions appear in several different places in the menus, some not entirely expected.
Canon needs to better group these settings for improved coherence and logical access.
In Wrench Menu 3, Touch Control: Standard.
In Camera Menu 5, Touch shutter: Disable. Enable if you want the shutter to fire when you touch the screen.
In AF 1, Touch and drag AF settings: set Enable/ Relative/ Top Right.
This is the setting for moving the active AF frame while looking through the viewfinder. It is well implemented on the Canon. With the suggested settings the AF frame can be nudged anywhere with the right thumb while just using the top right quarter of the screen which is easy enough to reach.
Custom Shooting Modes
Wrench menu 6: Custom shooting mode {C1-C3)
The EOS R offers three Custom Shooting Modes. Each of these can memorise and recall many camera settings in a group. This is extremely useful in Prepare Phase of use for quickly re-configuring the camera to a new capture situation.
Instructions are on page 417 of the Advanced User Guide.
You will notice that none of the dials and other controls on the EOS R body have a function fixed by markings. Most of the marked buttons can have alternate functions by allocation. There is no aperture ring on the lens, no marked exposure compensation dial, no marked drive mode or shutter speed or ISO dial.
The exceptions to this are the AF/MF and Stabiliser ON/OFF sliders on lenses so equipped.
This means all current settings except AF/MF and Stabiliser can and will be allocated to a Custom Shooting Mode.
The exception to that is utility lenses which have no AF/MF switch so with those lenses AF/MF must be set in a menu.
So be sure all menu, button and dial function, exposure, drive and all other functions are exactly as you want them before assigning them to a Custom Shooting Mode.
My recommendation is to Disable Auto Update Set.
If you enable this any change you make to a setting while using a Custom Shooting Mode will be saved. I tried this and found it confusing.
I find the Custom Mode concept works best if the same settings always appear when the Custom Mode is selected. That is the baseline from which changes can be made while shooting but which will not be remembered when the camera is powered off or shooting mode changed.
Here are my selections for information.
C1: Camera on tripod. (Stabiliser OFF at slider on lens or in menu). ISO 100, AF Method 1 -Point AF, Aperture Priority f8, One Shot AF operation, Drive Mode Self timer 2s, CRaw, AWB, Metering evaluative.
C2: Hand held panorama for later stitching in Photoshop. (MF at slider on lens or in menu) . ISO400, M mode 1/60s f8, Drive Mode single.
C3 Sport/action. P Mode, AF Method Expand AF area-Around or Zone AF, AF Operation Servo, Drive Mode High speed continuous. Auto ISO Speed settings ISO speed Auto, Min. shutter spd. Auto, +3 Faster.
Alternatively use Tv mode with a high shutter speed chosen by lens focal length and experience.
Menus
Canon menus are generally easy enough to understand with fewer complexities than some other brands.
I leave menu items at default unless indicated below.
If you get in a muddle, go to Wrench 6 Clear all camera settings then Custom 6 Clear all custom func.(C.Fn).
Setup (Wrench, yellow)
Wrench 1
Auto rotate On. If a photo is made in portrait orientation it will be displayed upright in Playback with the camera held in landscape orientation. Some users prefer to leave this off.
Wrench 2
Eco mode Off. Eco mode lowers screen brightness after 2 seconds inactivity which I find annoying.
Wrench 3
Touch control. I use Standard which works just fine.
Sensor cleaning Auto at power off This vibrates the sensor to shake off dust. I am finding that the combination of sensor shake and closed shutter when powered off keep the sensor of the EOS R significantly cleaner than some other ILCs without these features.
I also allocate Sensor cleaning to My menu 2 so I can perform manual cleaning on occasion.
Wrench 4
Shooting Info.disp. Follow the prompts. Some users like lots of info on the screen other like an uncluttered view.
I use VF vertical display Off and Grid display off and I never have a histogram parked all over my image preview.
I have the focus distance displayed in MF.
Disp. Performance Smooth (faster refresh rate}.
VF Display format Large.(spectacles wearers may prefer the small option)
Display settings>Display control >Auto
Custom settings (orange)
Custom settings 1
Exposure level increments 1/3,
ISO speed setting increments 1 EV. There is no need for 1/3 stop increments in this parameter as aperture and shutter speed have 1/3 stop increments.
Bracketing auto cancel On. If you leave this Off the camera will surprise by firing three shots when bracketing was not wanted.
Bracketing sequence. Take your pick. I have the underexposed frame(s) first.
Number of bracketed shots. I find 3 is plenty even for difficult subjects.
Safety shift Off. This is a longtime Canon feature which tries to ensure correct exposure even when the user makes a mistake with manual settings.
Custom 3
I leave dial directions at default, which has them rotate the way my brain and fingers expect them to.
Camera 1
Image quality CRAW. My tests and those reported by others show no photographically significant difference in quality between uncompressed Raw and CRaw which is smaller and therefore preferred in both Capture and Review Phases of use.
Dual pixel raw disable. See page 78 of the Advanced User Guide.
Image review Off. Leaving this on slows down shot-to-shot times.
Camera 2
Lens aberration correction. See Pages 110-114 of the Guide.
Corrections are applied to JPG files. The Guide does not clarify whether any of these corrections are applied to Raw files but from the appearance of downloaded images I think not. Raw files need to be corrected in a Raw converter with the appropriate lens profile.
It seems to me reasonable to set the corrections On for JPG capture unless this slows the maximum frame rate.
Camera 3
Expo.comp./AEB. I allocate this to My Menu.
Camera, ISO speed settings. Also allocated to My Menu.
Auto Lighting Optimiser. Page 104 of the Guide. This works on JPGs. I set this Off.
Highlight tone priority. Page 109 of the Guide. Another JPG feature. I set this Off.
Metering timer 8 sec.
Expo. Simulation. Enable. This allows the viewfinder to display the effect of exposure variation on image lightness. This capability is one of the advantages of an EVF over an optical viewfinder.
Disable this if shooting with external flashes in a studio or similar environment.
Camera 4
White balance. Page 97 (et seq) of the Guide has an extensive discussion of this. My preference is to set auto white balance with white priority and sort out any issues post capture. But if the user is making many shots in the same light it could be useful to set white balance pre-capture.
Color space. I leave this at default which is sRGB.
Picture Style. This controls the appearance of JPGs. See pages 88-96 of the Guide. Extensive adjustment of sharpness, contrast, saturation and color are available. The further division of sharpness into strength, fineness and threshold are derived from Canon Digital Photo Professional. I think this level of adjustment risks being more confusing than helpful. If in doubt leave settings at default.
I use Fine detail 4,1,1,0,0,0.
Camera 5
Long exp noise reduction. I set Auto. This could be inconvenient if a series of long exposures is planned as exposure times are effectively doubled. In this case set Off.
High ISO speed Noise Reduction. I set this Off. The problem with high ISO NR is that more noise reduction produces less sharpness.
Touch shutter. I disable this. Enable if you want the shutter to fire when you touch the screen.
Multiple exposure. See page 166 of the Guide.
HDR. Page 161.
Camera 6
Bulb timer. Pages 158-160. Note that Bulb is a separate Shooting Mode. With Bulb the shutter stays open as long as the shutter button is depressed, either directly or via the RS-60E3 remote switch.
Bulb timer is equivalent to Time exposure on old style manual cameras. The time can be pre-set. The menu item for Bulb timer is greyed out until Bulb shooting mode is set. If I were contemplating exposures longer than the 30 seconds available in Tv or M Mode I would put this item on My Menu 2.
Anti-flicker shoot. Page 115. I have not experimented with this.
Silent shutter. Allocate to My Menu1. Note silent shutter cannot be set if long exposure noise reduction is On.
Silent LV shoot. Page 150. Most camera makers inflict something incomprehensible on their long suffering users. This item is one of Canon’s contributions to the strange menu items competition.
I suspect the nomenclature might be a carry over from a DSLR menu with the reference to live view (LV). A mirrorless camera is always in live view.
The EOS R has a mechanical focal plane shutter and also a fully electronic shutter.
There are three operating modalities for the shutter system.
1. The camera can use the fully mechanical shutter with mechanical first and second curtain operation.
2. The default mode of operation is electronic first curtain (EFCS), mechanical second curtain. The advantage of this mode is that it effectively eliminates shutter shock.
3. The third mode is fully electronic shutter.
Unscrambling Canon-speak in this menu item:
Silent LV shoot:
Mode 1: This is the default, EFCS. Electronic first curtain, mechanical second curtain.
I use this mode routinely. There are some minor technical issues affecting highlight exposure and out of focus rendition with EFCS at high shutter speeds. But for all general photography this is the best mode to use.
Mode 2: This is an odd little mode which uses EFCS but keeps the shutter closed until the shutter button is released. This works for single shot only.
Disable: This activates mechanical first and second curtain shutter. This could potentially lead to shutter shock with some lenses at some shutter speeds. I have not investigated this.
Memo to Canon: For goodness sake please say what you mean in menu items. A simple menu heading “Shutter operation modes” would be appropriate.
High speed continuous display. Page 149. Set this On. The item will be greyed out until you set Servo AF and High speed continuous drive.
AF1
AF Operation, AF Method, AF Frame size and Eye detection AF are all accessed via the Q Menu.
Continuous AF has the camera constantly hunting for focus. It is not the same as ServoAF.
Set this Off to conserve battery.
Touch and drag AF settings. I set Enable, Relative, Top right.
AF2
MF peaking settings. In manual focus I prefer Canon’s very nice “moving signals” manual focus aid which is very precise and easy to use. So I no longer use peaking at all.
Focus guide. On
AF3
For the present I leave Tracking sensitivity and the two options below this at default, mainly because
I have not done sufficient research to make alternative settings. There is a narrative for each on screen but I haven’t found that helpful in practice.
AF4
AF assist beam firing. Canon’s DPAF works very well in low light without any need for the assist beam. Off
One shot AF release/Focus priority. I set this all the way to Focus. I can’t see the point to making out of focus pictures.
AF5
Lens drive when AF impossible. I set this On.
Limit AF methods. I enable all.
Orientation linked AF point. This is a handy feature. With many subjects such as people, animals and birds, focus is required on the face/head which is in the upper half of the frame. With this feature On, the AF area will be in the upper part of the picture frame in both landscape and portrait camera orientations.
Initial Servo AF pt for Face/eye Tracking. .
I have found Face/eye detect tracking appears to work best when the topmost of the three options is set.
I can set the desired target to be tracked by touching the screen. In monitor view this is confirmed by a small green box. In EVF view the indicator is a little orange broken circle.
Playback3
Highlight alert. Enable.
AF point display. Enable.
Magnification (apx). Actual size. Press the magnify button in Playback and the review image jumps to 100% centered on the focus point. Display size can be varied with the front dial.
Best setup for sport/action
The EOS R is not the world’s premier device for sport/action but with FW 1.7 is better than any of the early reviews would have you believe.
It will run at a steady 5 frames per second in high speed continuous drive with the settings below.
The buffer is big enough for long bursts and buffer clearing is quite fast. This is memory card dependent, use a UHSII card for best results.
* Install the latest firmware.
Wrench 2, Eco mode off.
Wrench 4, Display performance > smooth, Display settings > clear. Uncluttered screen.
AF 1,
AF Operation > Servo, AF Method > [Expand AF area around or Zone], Continuous AF > Disable.
* AF 3,
I set these three items to default (middle of range) as I have no better idea what to do with them. See Page 288 and following of the Guide.
* AF 5. Lens drive when AF impossible > On.
* Orientation linked AF point >On
* Initial Servo AF point for Face/eye detect and tracking > I set this to the topmost of the three options available. Some practice and experiment is required to make best use of this option.
Camera 1.
* Image quality > CRaw or JPG max (quarter round shape plus L).
* Dual pixel Raw > Disable.
* Image review > Off.
* Camera 2.
* Lens aberration correction. There are 5 options here , the last two linked to the third. Drive speed may be slowed by some combinations of settings. I recommend experiment with the camera/lens combination in use to determine whether setting any of these options On causes slowing of the maximum available frame rate with AF and live view (5 fps with FW 1.7).
Camera 3.
* ISO speed settings > If you use P Mode for action, start with Min.shutter spd Auto at +2 and see what shutter speeds are generated.
* Auto lighting optimiser and Highlight tone priority Off.
Camera 6.
* Anti flicker shoot Off.
* Silent shutter Off.
* Silent LV shoot, Mode 1. This enables EFCS and on my tests gives a faster frame rate than [disable], which is Canon mumbo-jumbo-speak for mechanical first and second curtain shutter.
* High speed display On. This is greyed out until Drive mode is on one of the continuous modes and AF Servo selected.
And that I think, is enough for this post.
