Chapter 12: The Custom Functions Menu
C.Fn1: Exposure
Exposure Level Increments
When setting shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, flash exposure compensation, or auto exposure bracketing, the adjustments are made in fractional increments of a stop. The choice of one over the other is a personal one, influenced by the degree of control you wish to exert.
As an example of the difference, if this option is set to 1/3 stop, then available shutter speeds might be 1/15, 1/20, 1/25, 1/30, 1/40, 1/50, 1/60, 1/80, and 1/100. Compare with the shutter speeds available when the option is set to ½ stop: 1/15, 1/20, 1/30, 1/45, 1/60, 1/90.
ISO Speed Setting Increments
Select the ISO Speed Setting Increments option if you would like to reduce the number of increments available for selecting ISO speed; the range of speeds is not diminished, just the increments.
In figure 12-3, the left-hand panel shows in bright white all the ISO speeds available when the 1/3-stop setting is selected (assuming you have enabled the expanded range of settings available in the SHOOT2 menu) and the right-hand panel shows in bright white the ISO setting available when the 1-stop setting is selected.
Bracketing Auto Cancel
Auto exposure bracketing and white balance bracketing can be extremely valuable tools—until they become a major problem. However, they only become a problem when they do “their thing” when you don’t want bracketing. Too often, we get caught up in the moment and lose track of what we need to undo. With Bracketing Auto Cancel set to Disable, the camera will remember the bracketing settings until you change them, even though you may not have used the camera for several hours, days, or weeks. By then, you may be working on an entirely different task, and forgotten that bracketing was set when you last powered off the camera. By selecting the Enable setting (which is the default), the camera will automatically release the bracketing settings when you power off the camera.
Bracketing Sequence
The Bracketing Sequence option allows you to instruct the camera regarding the order in which these incremental pictures will be captured. If you are bracketing exposure in preparation for working with one of the HDR software packages, you will probably need to select the “-, 0, +” setting. (The built-in HDR feature has its own bracketing sequence, and always captures three images, using exposure bracketing that you specify as a part of that HDR set up.) Other than that, be sure to select a setting consistent with how you expect a series to be presented. The minus sign represents the underexposed segment of the bracketed series, and the plus sign represents the overexposed segment. The zero represents the “normal” exposure.
Number of Bracketed Shots
Heretofore, bracketing has been thought of as one “correct” exposure, one underexposure, and one overexposure. With the advent of some pretty sophisticated HDR software, the desire for more incremental images has led to the introduction of even more under- and overexposed images. With the Number Of Bracketed Shots option, you can choose to capture five or seven images, in addition to the standard three images, and there’s even a strange two-image setting. For auto exposure bracketing, you would normally use the Main Dial to establish the magnitude of variance on each side of the normal exposure, but with the two-image setting in this menu option, you would use the Main Dial to determine not only the magnitude, but the direction of variance from the normal exposure.
Safety Shift
The Safety Shift option is of little (if any) value to the knees-and-elbows wildflower photographer, and to most photographers who enjoy the luxury of being able to pre-plan their shoots and have significant control of the environment in which they work. However, photojournalists, sports photographers, and possibly even wedding photographers on occasion, will appreciate this “when all else fails” menu option. You can select the Disable option to ensure the camera will never override your well-considered settings. But if you need the security this option offers, you have two choices:
1. Shutter Speed/Aperture. If the subject’s brightness changes and a good exposure can’t be determined based on the current autoexposure settings, the camera will override the manually set shutter speed or aperture in order to obtain a good exposure.
2. ISO Speed. If the subject’s brightness changes and a good exposure can’t be determined based on the current autoexposure settings, the camera will override the manually set ISO speed in order to obtain a good exposure.
C.Fn2: Disp./Operation
Warnings in Viewfinder
The EOS 5D Mk III provides many situation-specific tools, some being essentially one-shot applications, while others may serve for a much longer time. Most of these are sufficiently different from the norm Canon has provided as a visual reminder that such a specific tool is currently active. Select the Warnings in Viewfinder option, and then for each condition that you would like to see a warning icon in the viewfinder, select the condition and press SET. When you have completed your selections, select OK and press SET.
LV Shooting Area Display
When you configure Live Shooting, you can select an aspect ratio other than the standard 3:2 that the camera captures. Any aspect ratio other than 3:2 results in cropping the 3:2 image in order to create the new image size that will be recorded. This option, LV Shooting Area Display, lets you select how the cropping will appear on the LCD monitor: with a black mask to screen out the portion of the image that will not be recorded, or as a bordered rectangle, with the rectangle identifying the portion of the total visible image to be recorded while letting you see the portion that will not be recorded.
Dial Direction During Tv/Av
The Main Dial is used to set the aperture when in Av (aperture-priority) mode, or the shutter speed when in Tv (shutter-priority) mode. The “normal” setting lets you increase the setting when the Main Dial is rotated clockwise (as viewed from the back of the camera), and decrease the setting by rotating the Main Dial counterclockwise. Some camera manufacturers use the opposite convention, and if you happen to be using one of those cameras as well as an EOS 5D Mk III, you may want to select the Reverse Direction setting to reduce the potential for confusion.
Multi Function Lock
If some of the controls on the camera seem to have a mind of their own and just automatically change to new values (surely, swinging along on your shoulder, rubbing against your body couldn’t cause that . . .), you can eliminate a good portion of those accidents by disabling one or more of these three controls. Select the Multi Function Lock option and press SET. For each of the controls that you want to be able to temporarily disable, use the Quick Control Dial or the Multi-controller’s joystick to select the control, and then press the SET button or the Multi-controller’s button. Repeat as necessary to select all that you wish to enable. Finally, select OK and press the SET button.
Now, when you press the LOCK switch (just below the Quick Control Dial) to the right, the functions of the selected controls have been disabled, but the control will still rotate or move. There won’t be any unexpected changes to settings caused by accidental movement of those controls. When you need the function of the control, simply slide the switch to the left, restoring all the controls’ operations.
Custom Controls
There are a total of 76 settings available under this menu option, allowing you extreme flexibility in developing the most efficient system based on how you choose to work.
After selecting the Custom Controls menu option, press SET and the icons to display the full spectrum of customizable buttons, dials, and other controls, as shown in the center panel of figure 12-12. Use either the Quick Control Dial or the Multi-controller’s joystick to select an icon for customization, and then use either the Quick Control Dial or the Multi-controller’s joystick to select a setting to associate with that icon and press SET. Repeat for customizing additional icons. When finished, press MENU to return to the C.Fn2 menu.
As you’re scrolling through the functions available for some of these icons, keep an eye out for instructions on how to use a function with its new customization. For example, if you choose to customize the SET button to set ISO speed, the text above the display of available settings reads “Set ISO speed (hold btn, turn 
),” in which, in this case, “btn” refers to the SET button.
Canon has provided a dynamic visual aide to help make sure that you’ve chosen the correct control’s icon: Notice the camera-body graphic on the left side of the center panel in figure 12-12. The location of the chosen control is displayed in a bright color on the camera-body graphic. Notice in the left-hand panel of figure 12-12, there is an em-dash in the right margin, indicating that all of these icons are in their default state. When any one of them is set to another state, the em-dash becomes a bright blue check mark.
C.Fn3: Others
Add Cropping Information
This option applies only when shooting in Live Mode, and then only if the Aspect Ratio option in the SHOOT4 menu is set to 3:2. Within those constraints, though, you can specify a cropping value that reflects the aspect ratio of some major medium- and large-format cameras, such as a 4” x 5” Speed Graphic (which is, in reality, the same aspect ratio as an 8” x 10” view camera) or a 6cm x 7cm medium-format camera. The cropping is only marked on the recorded image; to effect the cropping requires that the image be processed with the Digital Photo Professional software included with the camera.
Default Erase Option
This is a strange little option, but it can keep you from badly stubbing your toe. When you are viewing an image in playback mode (or through any function that also allows you to erase an image), and decide to delete that image, you can press the erase button (the button with the trash-can icon). You are presented with a choice between Cancel and Erase. By default, the Cancel setting will be in blue text and surrounded by a blue border; the blue text and blue border identify the current selection. If that is what you want, then simply press the SET button, but if you want the Erase setting, you must intentionally select it and then press the SET button. By default, Cancel is the current selection, requiring you to add the additional step of selecting Erase before you can press SET and delete the image. Some people are so adept they are able to bypass this step and have Erase become the selected setting when they press the erase button. To have Erase become the selected setting, select the Default Erase Option on the C.Fn3 menu, then choose the [Erase] Selected setting, and press SET.
C.Fn4: Clear
Clear All Custom Func. (C.Fn)
If there seems to be confusion over how custom functions relate to other custom functions, it may be time to clear all of the custom functions and recreate the set, watching closely to determine when the apparent incompatibility is introduced. The Clear All Custom Func. (C.Fn) option will clear all of the custom functions except for the Custom Controls on the C.Fn2 menu. (The Custom Controls can be reset to their default values by pressing the erase button while in the Custom Controls screen, selecting OK, and pressing the SET button.)
