Custom Functions (Page 2): Sorry Dave, I have a Canon 7D. My question is not so much about equipment as to why someone would use custom functions. What would one save there and why...

Larz

Sorry Dave, I have a Canon 7D. My question is not so much about equipment as to why someone would use custom functions. What would one save there and why given the ever changing shooting conditions. Are they primarily for studio work or am I missing out by not understanding their usefulness?

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Larz wrote:

Sorry Dave, I have a Canon 7D. My question is not so much about equipment as to why someone would use custom functions. What would one save there and why given the ever changing shooting conditions. Are they primarily for studio work or am I missing out by not understanding their usefulness?

I understand where you are coming from. I was trying to have you see what your camera offered and that should make it easier to decide if they could be of any use to you.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E7D/E7DMODES.HTM and plenty more besides your manual.

Larz

I guess I'm being thick headed and I apologise. What I'm trying to understand is what info would be programmed in CF. Would it be lighting conditions, image size, white balance, shutter speed, iso, apeture, etc? If so, how would that be helpful. I can see, for example, if you were panning shots of a race care and you found a good shutter speed to save but I that scenario, what if your saved settings we're saved on a sunny day and the next time you shot race cars, it was cloudy? Would settings in CF still be helpful?

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Larz wrote:

Because I shoot almost exclusively in manual, I never really looked into custom functions. As virtually every scene is different, for what would one use custom functions?

I use custom function to:
Set focus release priority
Number of focus points
The CL mode shooting speed
To assign various functions to various buttons for example I have auto iso set to the Fn button so when I have the shutter speed and aperture set to where I want them and the lighting conditions are changing, I can switch to auto iso without going in the menu.
To set the slot empty release

Larz

Thanks Dave.

Larz

Thanks Mac, that's getting me closer to understanding.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Larz wrote:

Thanks Dave.

Enjoy and check out the capabilities your gear provides if you are really interested. Nothing wrong with what you're doing!

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Larz wrote:

Thanks Mac, that's getting me closer to understanding.

I just edited my response in an attempt to give a better explanation.

Larz

Thanks Dave. I stumbled across a helpful, basic tutorial about my camera by B&H earlier today and they only touched on CF. That caused my curiosity. Before that, I never even gave CF a thought.
Thanks to all who have responded and have helped me try to understand. You've all been great!

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Larz wrote:

Thanks Dave. I stumbled across a helpful, basic tutorial about my camera by B&H earlier today and they only touched on CF. That caused my curiosity. Before that, I never even gave CF a thought.
Thanks to all who have responded and have helped me try to understand. You've all been great!

Happy Holidays! This hobby never gets boring!!

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

Larz wrote:

Because I shoot almost exclusively in manual, I never really looked into custom functions. As virtually every scene is different, for what would one use custom functions?

On Canon you can custom colour space, noise reduction etc etc so whilst every landscape is different, you could make the green pop, or whatever other colour dominates the image or dictates your style - by being in manual you cannot do this in-camera. Yes changing the ISO will reduce noise - but will you get a better exposure by adding more noise reduction algorithum rather than lower ISO?

everyone is aware of the programme settings for landscape - v - portrait - v - macro etc But it is not considered professional enough to actually use them....Understanding custom settings allows you to 'Manualy' set your camera up to achieve what the programme settings also do.

It is a bit like actually shooting 'Manual'!!!

PhotoKurtz Loc: Carterville, IL

On my Canon's (7d and now %d) I always have three custom settings in place. I think about what I am shooting for the day and set C1 to something basic. Will be different if it's a landscape day or an action day. Then I set C2 to something requiring twice the speed. Maybe twice the iso so I can jump with one finger to that setting. Then I set C3 to way off the scale for something extreme.

When I know my presets for the day I can make adjustments as opportunities arise. The 5D is set to update my settings on the fly. Very handy.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

John, my experience with WB is that no matter what it's set to, I needed to do an image specific WB with each photo I process. If one photographs a landscape in the woods, there will be a green bias to the image. If shot in an area wherein there is a lot of red brick buildings, there will be a brownish red tint to the image. In my case, I'll go out and photograph a road with little surrounding but desert. The image will have a blue bias due to the amount of sky.

Now, with the setting I use, there is a noticeable green tint to the image.
http://static.uglyhedgehog.com/upload/2015/10/11/1444601010698-d700_2015091301_012_sooc.jpg

This is due to the use of G2 pixels from the initial exposure.

I expect that and deal with it in processing. The processed image will take care of that.
http://static.uglyhedgehog.com/upload/2015/10/11/1444601010978-d700_2015091301_012.jpg

I've yet to see any of the standard settings render an image that is not biased by the most prominant color of the scene. I do an initial WB in ACR, then WB each image in PS as the first step in any processing I do.

--Bob

John_F wrote:

I do wish there was a critical review site that reports the effectiveness of auto WB. You can set sunny WB and just as you click a cloud intrudes an the incident wavelength distribution changes and you can't. I leave my Sony a6300 on auto WB, but have no idea how effective it is. WB is a technical matter that resolves only by laboratory testing.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Larz wrote:

Sorry Dave, I have a Canon 7D. My question is not so much about equipment as to why someone would use custom functions. What would one save there and why given the ever changing shooting conditions. Are they primarily for studio work or am I missing out by not understanding their usefulness?

One CF on my 7D is action.
1/8000 sec priority with variable aperture until that runs out then shutter can slow down with high speed motor drive with some other parameters etc.
B&W has similar parameters like the color of "filter" etc.
Much easier than setting those parameters each time.
Yes I also set up different things but if some action appears quickly just spin to the CF for action and shoot nearly instantly with high speed motor drive and fast shutter with no fuss.