Chapter Ten: The Playback Menu
First off, I don’t have much use for the great majority of the options available on the Playback menu. I would rather sit down at my computer and perform these tasks. However, if you have a specific need, it’s nice to know that this camera can provide a great deal of image management for the images on the memory card.
PLAY1
Protect Images
If you plan to do a lot of work in the Playback menu, you may want to protect certain high-value images from inadvertent deletion. While protected, an image cannot be erased, but it will be lost if you format the memory card.
As seen in the middle panel of figure 10-1, you can select one or more specific images, all images in a specific folder, or even all images on a card. When you select individual images, you will notice that a small black rectangle containing the silhouette of a white key is superimposed just to the right of center at the top of the image. (The black rectangle containing a silhouette of a white key, adjacent to the word SET, on the left side of the image is simply a reminder of the procedure for selecting an image for protection.) You may not see the change as it occurs, but if you select a folder or an entire memory card for protection, that same little icon is displayed at the top center of each image in the selected group to indicate that it is protected from erasure.
To remove protection from an entire folder or memory card, select the respective Unprotect All Images . . . option. If you wish to protect all but a few images in a folder or memory card, select the appropriate All Images . . . option to protect all those images, then use the Select Images option to select those few you do not want to protect, pressing the SET button in each to turn off the image-protected icon at the top-center of each of those few images. Similarly, if you have used the Select Images option to select several images in a folder or memory card for protection, but are now ready to remove that protection, rather than scrolling through that folder or memory card and resetting each image, simply select the appropriate Unprotect All Images . . . option to unprotect any and all images in that folder or memory card.
Rotate Images
When shooting in portrait mode, you may find that you want to view the rotated image in playback mode. With the Rotate Image option, you can select individual images and use the SET button to rotate the image 90 degrees to the right, 90 degrees to the left, and back to zero degrees. Whichever you choose here will dictate how that image is displayed in playback.
Erase Images
In short, don’t. Unless you have run out of space on your memory cards, I encourage you to wait until you get back to the computer to delete images; it’s just too easy to accidentally delete images you really wanted to keep while using an awkward “keyboard” and a relatively small screen. And there’s no “recycle bin” from which you can recover accidentally deleted images.
However, if conditions dictate that you must use the camera to delete images from the memory cards, this option can streamline the process if you have several images to delete. If you only have a few, you may want to simply scroll the playback to one of those images, press the erase button (the garbage can icon), use the Quick Control Dial to select the Erase option, and press the SET button. Repeat for the next image to be deleted.
The Erase Images option allows you to select specific images, or all images in a specific folder, or all images on the memory card identified in the top right-hand corner of the Erase Images screen (shown in the middle panel of figure 10-3) for deletion. If you need to access the other memory card, use the second option (identified as Record/Play or as Playback, depending on how the Recording function is set) in the Record Func+Card / Folder Sel. screen of the SET UP1 menu.
Before you erase the contents of an entire folder or memory card, I recommend that you quickly view every image on it, just to make sure that you haven’t forgotten that one outstanding image among all those disposable turkeys. When selecting individual images for deletion, you’ll see a superimposed graphic in the upper-left quadrant that shows a garbage can icon followed by a black rectangle; that black rectangle will change to include a white check mark after you press the SET button to select the image for deletion. At the same time, you’ll see an integer value displayed at the far right of this graphic, which is the number of images you now have selected for erasure. When you have finished selecting images for erasure, press the erase button on the lower-left of the camera body (the erase icon on the screen is not an active function and serves only to indicate that the physical erase button is the device to use). Now select the OK option on the screen and press the SET button.
This Erase operation will not erase images that have been marked as Protected. If your intent is simply to remove everything from the memory card, consider using the Format Card option on the SET UP1 menu; it’s quite fast, and ensures that the card is optimized for efficient use.
Print Order
This function follows a standard known as Digital Print Order Format, or DPOF. It provides a means of identifying a group of images (individually selected, all in a folder, or all on the memory card identified for Playback), and then providing for specific setup options. There is a lot of variability in just what some printers can support. If you wish to use this option, I encourage you to carefully study the subject as covered on pages 305–308 of the Instruction Manual.
Image Copy
This option allows you to place a backup copy of images on the “other” memory card in the camera. The right-hand panel in figure 10-5 shows the Record Func+Card/Folder Sel. option for the SET UP1 menu that is used to identify which card is the defined Record/Play (or Playback) memory card; this is the card that will be the Source for the Image Copy operation. You can select specific images, an entire folder, or an entire memory card for copying. Just before the copy operation begins, you will be shown a summary screen. Ensure that the Freespace value shown for the target memory card is equal to or greater than the value shown for the Source entry. This is a copy operation, not a move. Therefore, you have no more space available on the Source memory card than when you began.
RAW Image Processing
The RAW Image Processing option allows you to work with a RAW image (but not with an M-RAW or S-RAW image), applying several adjustments, and saving the results as one or more JPEG images. These adjustments are not applied to, or stored with, the RAW image. As shown in the middle panel of figure 10-6, if there are no RAW images in the selected folder or memory card, the operation cannot proceed.
The left-hand panel of figure 10-7 shows the icons for the various adjustments that can be applied.
PLAY2
Resize
The Resize option does not apply to RAW, M-RAW, S-RAW, or S3 JPEG images. For other JPEG images, you can select a smaller size to save a copy of the image to the same folder. The copy will have the next available image number, and the original image will remain unchanged.
Rating
Rating an image allows even more granular sorting of images. Even Windows (as of Windows Vista) gives you the opportunity to select images according to any rating applied to them.
In the PLAY2 menu, select the Rating option and press the SET button. Use the Quick Control Dial to scroll though the recorded images. When you find an image you would like to rate, you will see a star at the left end of the superimposed graphic, as shown in the right-hand panel in figure 10-9. The star represents the metric used in the ratings. When you first open this menu option, the star is followed by the word OFF, which is followed by the word SET. You can choose one of two methods for setting a specific rating:
1. Press the Multi-controller joystick straight in, then press it upwards to change the word OFF to a collection of stars, ranging from one to five; after five stars, it cycles back to OFF. You can either hold the joystick in the up position and let the stars scroll by, or you can toggle the joystick to incrementally add stars. Press either the joystick button or the SET button to register the image’s rating.
2. Press the SET button, and use the Quick Control Dial to scroll through the range of ratings, then press the SET button to register the image’s rating.
With the image’s rating registered, you should find an integer to the right of the bracketed star group for the rating you applied. The integer indicates the number of images that have the same star rating. For example, if the image you’re rating is the first you’re giving five stars, the integer will be 1. You can see this at the far right of the superimposed graphic in the right-hand panel of figure 10-9. Once the rating is registered, you can scan for another image to be rated. With each rating, you will see the integer go up for the respective star group.
Slide Show
When you select the Slide Show option in the PLAY2 menu, it offers the Start function as preselected and awaiting a press of the SET button. Be careful; unless you’ve previously set up the slide show parameters, you’re not really ready to start the slide show. Instead, choose Set Up and press SET. Now you can determine which, and how many, images will be displayed, how long each should be displayed, and whether the slide show should automatically restart when it runs the course.
In the center panel of figure 10-10, you can see a line reading “All images.” Use the Quick Control Dial to select that line and press SET. Now you will see a pair of arrow heads at the right end of the line that indicate there is a scrollable list of items for review and selection. You can use either the Multi-controller’s joystick or the Quick Control Dial to scroll through that list. The list represents the myriad ways to refine the selection of images to be shown. Many of these filtering items have sub-lists to refine the selection even further.
Image Transfer
First, let’s be sure that we agree on the definition of “transfer.” Contrary to the definition I grew up with, Canon (which, in this book, is the de facto authority) uses the term to mean “placing a copy of an image elsewhere.” Be aware that, in this menu, transferring an image does not delete the original from the memory card.
Now, with that said...The Image Transfer option in the PLAY2 menu is designed to allow you to select specific images, folders, or an entire memory card for copying to an attached computer. The Canon software product EOS Utility (part of the software package that accompanies the camera) must be installed on the computer you are copying these images to.
The sequence for transferring images is:
1. Shut off the camera.
2. Connect the camera to the computer with the Interface Cable (Canon’s USB cable).
3. Power on the camera (with the Interface Cable attached, there will be no display on the LCD monitor until the EOS Utility is started).
4. Watch for either a DSLR icon on the Windows taskbar or the Control PanelAll Control Panel ItemsDevices and PrintersCanon EOS 5D Mark III window. If you see only the DSLR icon on the taskbar, click that icon to open the Control Panel window for the camera.
5. Double-click the EOS Utility icon. Do not select or click any other options on the EOS Utility window.
6. Press the MENU button on the camera.
7. Start the PLAY2 menu.
8. Select the Image Transfer option and press SET.
9. Select the RAW+JPEG Transfer item and press SET.
10. Choose the file type or types to be transferred and press SET twice or press MENU.
11. Select the Image Sel./Transfer item and press SET.
12. On the top line of this new screen, confirm that the correct card has been chosen.
13. Below the summary portion of the screen, use the selection functions to identify the images to be copied.
14. After selecting the images to be copied to the computer, select Direct Transfer at the bottom of the screen (it will be in the lower-left corner of the screen, but is not shown in the right-hand panel of figure 10-12). Press SET.
15. Under the Start Transfer prompt, select OK and press SET.
16. You should be able to see evidence of transfer on both the LCD monitor and the EOS Utility window, with the summary portion of the display on the LCD monitor updated to show the images as “Transferred.”
Image Jump w/ 
(Main-Dial Icon)
If you frequently have dozens or even hundreds of images on a memory card, you can use this Image Jump with Main Dial option to speed your way through while searching a large group of images. If you’re looking for one unique image that has nothing in common with any adjacent images, this option probably won’t be of much value to you. There are some filters, such as image rating, date, and folder that can help, but I’m not sure that I’m ready to take a glance at a picture and say “no, not this one,” and then have this option set to show me the next picture 100, or even 10, images away. However, when I choose Display By Date, it is kind of nice to be able to use the Main Dial while in playback to display the first image on a date as I scroll through the dates represented on the memory card. When I find an image that seems to be part of a group I want to further explore, now I can use the Quick Control Dial to scroll through the images one by one.
PLAY3
Highlight Alert
This can be one of the quickest ways to improve your photography if you are often faced with blown-out highlights. With Highlight Alert set to Enable, blown-out highlights will become immediately apparent as slowly blinking black patches on the image review screen or on the playback screen at zero magnification. That’s your hint to dial down one of the exposure factors.
AF Point Disp.
Setting the AF Point Display option to Enable will result in the focus point being displayed on the image as a bright red-bordered box, unless you’re using automatic AF point selection, in which case you will see red-bordered boxes representing the several focus points that were used for the image.
Playback Grid
I feel that the availability of these grids during the shooting phase is nice, but I see little purpose for them during playback and image review, other than to possibly confirm that the alignment intended was captured.
Histogram Disp
In playback, when you press the INFO. button repeatedly, you cycle through a four-step series of displays. One of those displays shows the image in one quarter of the screen, a histogram in the quarter to the right of the image, and various data in the lower half of the screen. By default, the histogram displayed on this screen is the Brightness histogram, and that serves most people quite well. However, some sophisticated color aficionados actually spend more time exploring the RGB histogram and, for them, this Histogram Display option can be used to select the RGB item, which will result in the RGB histogram being displayed on that INFO. screen.
This is essentially a moot point from my perspective, as pressing the INFO. button one more time gives me both histograms, albeit with the loss of some textual data. Interestingly, the arrangement of histograms on the two-histogram screen is constant, with the RGB histogram on top and the Brightness histogram on the bottom, regardless of the setting of this option.
Movie Play Count
The Movie Play Count option provides two settings that will be reflected during movie playback on the LCD monitor: Rec Time (recording time) and Time Code.
This same option is available in the Time Code setting of the SHOOT5: Movie menu, which is accessible when the Live View shooting/movie shooting switch is set to movie shooting. Any changes made in one place are also made in the other. I recommend that you ignore this option in the PLAY3 menu, and keep as many movie-related settings together as possible.
Magnificatn (apx)
The Magnification option allows you to specify the magnification at which you want to start when you press the magnify button. The Main Dial can then be used to switch to the next magnification power. However, the Main Dial cannot be used to go to a magnification lower than 1x or higher than 10x.
Ctrl over HDMI
If your TV has an HDMI CEC connection, you can connect the camera to the TV with an HDMI cable, then use the TV’s remote to control the camera during playback. If you have such a TV and wish to display pictures directly from the camera while controlling the camera with the TV’s remote control, set the Ctrl over HDMI option to Enable.
If an HDMI cable is currently plugged into the camera, this command is displayed in gray, indicating that the command cannot be executed at the moment. Therefore, you will want to enable this option before attaching the HDMI cable to the camera.