# Post your custom shooting settings



## Sh1n1ng Forc3 (Jul 24, 2012)

Hi all,

Long time lurker recent poster. Just got my 1DX last week so my trifecta in complete (1DX, 5D3 and 7D) so I thought I would post my custom shooting modes and see what everyone else is using. I know we all have very different needs based on whether we are professionals or amateurs and what we primarily shoot but I still think this could be a useful thread.

I'll start by saying the custom shooting modes I use are the same across all 3 of my camera bodies so I can pick any one of them up and know exactly what I've got going on.

C1 - Portrait Settings
-Aperture Priority (aperture always starts wide open when I power on or change lenses)
-Spot AF (M.Fn2 on 1DX changes to Auto Select iTR)
-Evaluative Metering
-Auto ISO (up to 25,600 on 1DX/5D3)
-One Shot (depth of field changes to AI Servo)
-Single Shot 
-Auto WB
-ALO & D+ off
-RAW

C2 - Sports
-Manual (shutter 1/2000th, Aperture starts wide open with all lenses when powered on)
-8 point expansion AF (M.Fn2 on 1DX changes to Auto Select, DoF Preview on 5D3 changes to Auto Select)
-Evaluative Metering
-Auto ISO (up to 25,600 on 1DX and 5D3)
-Ai Servo (DoF preview on 1DX changes to One Shot)
-Hi Speed (12fps on 1DX, 6fps on 5D3 and 8fps on 7D)
-Auto WB
-ALO & D+ off
-RAW

C3 - Full Manual for all my other work
-Manual (Shutter 1/500, Aperture wide open on all lenses when camera powers on)
-Single Point AF (M.Fn2 on 1DX changes to Auto Select)
-Evaluative Metering
-Auto ISO (up to 25,600 on 1DX and 5D3)
-One Shot (DoF Preview changes to Ai Servo)
-Single Shot
-Auto WB
-ALO & D+ off
-RAW

I know there are many more settings to list but these are the settings that are most important to me for each of my shooting modes. Let us know what you use.


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## erwinrm (Jul 24, 2012)

Custom function settings are great, but I hardly ever use them anymore. I seem to always tweak a few settings on a shoot, and when the camera goes to sleep, it forgets all the tweaks I just made when it wakes up  Lighting doesn't change much during a shoot, so I prefer to adjust the settings beforehand and be done with it. Usually, all I adjust are ISO, aperture and shutter speed. All other settings remain the same from shoot to shoot.


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 24, 2012)

erwinrm said:


> Custom function settings are great, but I hardly ever use them anymore. I seem to always tweak a few settings on a shoot, and when the camera goes to sleep, it forgets all the tweaks I just made when it wakes up



The 1D X (and 5DIII) have a setting which allows those 'tweaks' to be saved to the same C# setting under which you make them, so they aren't forgotten at sleep/power off.


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## Northstar (Jul 25, 2012)

Sh1n1ng Forc3 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Long time lurker recent poster. Just got my 1DX last week so my trifecta in complete (1DX, 5D3 and 7D) so I thought I would post my custom shooting modes and see what everyone else is using. I know we all have very different needs based on whether we are professionals or amateurs and what we primarily shoot but I still think this could be a useful thread.
> 
> ...



Sh1n1ng...good post and info. 

You indicate evaluative metering in all three....I'm curious about that, do you only use eval, and if so, why? 

Also, alo and d+ off in each setting....again, your thoughts/reasons?

Thanks


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## funkboy (Jul 25, 2012)

Well, one rather generic technique that I do use a lot for indoor flash photography at events is:


Manual exposure
ISO as acceptably high as possible
Shutter speed around 1/40, or the minimum necessary to ensure no motion blur of subject
Aperture as acceptably close to wide-open as possible
External flash in full auto metering
Flash exposure compensation to taste, usually around +1 or so for ETTR
Flash set up for bounce, with an omnibounce or other diffuser, colored close to the ambient lighting (usually yellow/gold) (make sure the ceiling isn't a nasty color first!)
Auto white balance, with a sample greycard shot for reference in post (very important)

The automatic flash metering then acts as your "4th parameter", filling in whatever's necessary to get the exposure up to where it should be, whereas the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are all set up to maximize the use of available light while still maintaining image quality.

The shots look more natural as there's less reliance on the flash, and the flash is bounced off the ceiling so it's coming from a natural direction instead of head-on. This technique also uses less flash power than relying on the flash as the primary lightsource, so the batteries last longer & it recycles faster.

The drawbacks are that you need to get the flash color pretty close to the ambient or correcting the white balance is pretty rough (even if you use a greycard) as the two lightsources aren't the same color, and your aperture is close to wide-open so proper focus is critical (less so with a wider lens though).

I really like this setup with my 20mm Color Skopar set to hyperfocal at f/4; I don't even have to bother with focusing or zooming at all & can completely concentrate on framing & the environment around me.


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## bdunbar79 (Jul 25, 2012)

1D Mark IV
Indoor Basketball C1: 8)

Av Mode, f/6.3
ISO Safety Shift: ON
Minimum Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: Auto
Exposure Compensation: +1
Center AF point or Center + surrounding
Spot Metering (linked to active AF point)


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## Sh1n1ng Forc3 (Jul 25, 2012)

Northstar said:


> Sh1n1ng Forc3 said:
> 
> 
> > Hi all,
> ...



Northstar,

Thanks for the reply. I use evaluative metering in most of my sports, landscapes and portrait shots because it tends to give me a more even exposure which I prefer to begin working from. That is not to say that I won't change my metering mode as needed and I often do (typically to spot, linked to AF point in use) but these are the starting points for my work settings that I use more often than not. Because I use evaluative more than any other metering mode for the scenarios I typically work in it is my launching point. 

As for ALO and D+ off, I find that these settings can easily be achieved in LR4.1 in post should I need to pull that detail out and I would rather trust LR and an Intel Core i7 to crunch it with more fine control than Canon's Digic 5+ with unknown parameters. I do know some friends who shoot weddings and find D+ to be useful along with some buds who shoot air shows but for me its typically a no go. I'm too much of a control freak I guess


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## Sh1n1ng Forc3 (Jul 25, 2012)

bdunbar79 said:


> 1D Mark IV
> Indoor Basketball C1: 8)
> 
> Av Mode, f/6.3
> ...



Thanks for posting bdunbar. I have enjoyed reading some of your posts in other threads in the past. Curious what range you have set for your auto ISO and does the safety shift get used? If so under what circumstances and do you find the results acceptable?


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