How are you setting up your EOS R

RGF

How you relate to the issue, is the issue.
Jul 13, 2012
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Mar 25, 2011
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Mine is scheduled for Monday arrival.

I've learned to do a few things over the years.

1. Since I'll use a existing SD card for now, I'll format it im my computer first. If I just put a card thats been used in my other cameras, it will pickup the last used photo number and start at something like 7278 or whatever. After that, I'll dedicate two or more SD cards to that camera depending on the size I choose, likely 64 or 128GB.

2. I use the default settings and only change them if I find a need for a different setting. I've found that changing settings when I don't know all of the ramifications can produce a unexpected result. I'll need to make sure peripheral correction is off before using a 3rd party lens, for example.

3. I first attach a camera to a extremely stable mount, like my 100+ lb light table and take several photos to verify accurate autofocus, exposure, and other operational aspects.

4. Having proven in step 3 that the camera is capable of very sharp and properly exposed images, I start using it and learning the controls. If there appears to be a issue, I then know that the problem is me and not the camera. I use my SL2 and 5D MK IV in live mode whenever possible due to the touch to focus feature which gives very few OOF images, usually because I moved. I expect that feature to fit right in, and being able to use the viewfinder in bright sunlight is going to be great.

5. My SL2 is going to my Granddaughter for her birthday. She is very interested in photography and does great with her P&S, it will be her first DSLR.
 
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Talys

Canon R5
CR Pro
Feb 16, 2017
2,127
451
Vancouver, BC
Mine is scheduled for Monday arrival.

I've learned to do a few things over the years.

1. Since I'll use a existing SD card for now, I'll format it im my computer first. If I just put a card thats been used in my other cameras, it will pickup the last used photo number and start at something like 7278 or whatever. After that, I'll dedicate two or more SD cards to that camera depending on the size I choose, likely 64 or 128GB.

For those that don't have it, use the SD Card Formatter from the SD Association to do a low level format:

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

I have tried various benchmarks, and this tool makes a huge difference in performance, especially on older cards I've used for a while.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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For those that don't have it, use the SD Card Formatter from the SD Association to do a low level format:

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

I have tried various benchmarks, and this tool makes a huge difference in performance, especially on older cards I've used for a while.
Yes, the big drawback with SD cards is they slow down after being written to. Once a memory cell contains data, then the memory must be erased one block at a time before it can be written to, and that is a relatively slow process. A low level format can be done in a PC, the card recovery software I use has a low level format option, and Canon cameras also have a low level format option.

I do low level formats of my SD cards periodically to keep them running at their fastest.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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Why not ever time?
Low level formatting, at least true low level formatting writes zeros or 1's to every memory cell. You can wear out a card much more quickly by doing that.

The Canon in camera low level format takes advantage of a function in the card controller to quickly overwrite the card with all zeros or ones depending on the exact command sent.
 
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vaotix

EOS R, 80D
Sep 4, 2018
28
8
Boston, MA
I did all my initial setup already. I'm still trying to decide exactly how to set up all the dials and such. Ideally, I'd love to have the control ring do aperture control, the top wheel do shutter speed, the Fn bar do ISO, and the dial around the Mode button do exposure comp. But Canon won't let me assign anything except ISO/aperture/shutter speed to the mode dial. I don't want redundant controls so I may have to rework things a bit and figure out what I like.
 
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Nov 12, 2016
910
615
How are you guys setting up the touch and drag autofocus?

It seems like setting it to "relative" leaves the speed of movement in relation to your finger to be a little slow. So I went to "absolute."

Initially I landed on setting the active area to "bottom left" and used the thumb of my left finger to move the point around. Someone else suggested setting it to "top right" and using your right thumb to move the point around. However, I think setting it to both "top right" and "absolute" means it's very hard to reach my right thumb all the way over to the middle area of the screen. Therefore it's very hard to move the AF point all the way to the left side of the frame.
 
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vaotix

EOS R, 80D
Sep 4, 2018
28
8
Boston, MA
How are you guys setting up the touch and drag autofocus?

It seems like setting it to "relative" leaves the speed of movement in relation to your finger to be a little slow. So I went to "absolute."

Initially I landed on setting the active area to "bottom left" and used the thumb of my left finger to move the point around. Someone else suggested setting it to "top right" and using your right thumb to move the point around. However, I think setting it to both "top right" and "absolute" means it's very hard to reach my right thumb all the way over to the middle area of the screen. Therefore it's very hard to move the AF point all the way to the left side of the frame.

I haven't changed it from the default yet. But will likely play with it more next time I shoot. The default settings aren't terrible, but there is a noticeable lag.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
16,848
1,835
How are you guys setting up the touch and drag autofocus?

It seems like setting it to "relative" leaves the speed of movement in relation to your finger to be a little slow. So I went to "absolute."

Initially I landed on setting the active area to "bottom left" and used the thumb of my left finger to move the point around. Someone else suggested setting it to "top right" and using your right thumb to move the point around. However, I think setting it to both "top right" and "absolute" means it's very hard to reach my right thumb all the way over to the middle area of the screen. Therefore it's very hard to move the AF point all the way to the left side of the frame.
I tried it, but it seems difficult for me to operate, I prefer just the center point most of the time anyway.
 
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Nov 12, 2016
910
615
I got mine today and I set it to “top right” and it works quite okay(y) the way it just nails critical focus compared to my 1dx2 is beautiful. And anywhere in the frame, tack sharp, never any doubt. What a difference !Wow:love:
Do you have it as top right relative or top right absolute? And if it's top right absolute, then isn't it difficult to select focus points on the left side of the frame without having to move your whole right hand off of the main controls?

I'm thinking I might give top right relative a try, but the point seems to move so slowly when set to relative. Set to absolute you can get the point to jump right to where you want it with enough practice.
 
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Dec 13, 2010
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Do you have it as top right relative or top right absolute? And if it's top right absolute, then isn't it difficult to select focus points on the left side of the frame without having to move your whole right hand off of the main controls?

I'm thinking I might give top right relative a try, but the point seems to move so slowly when set to relative. Set to absolute you can get the point to jump right to where you want it with enough practice.
I switched and think I liked it better when I can use the whole screen, it responded faster also. I didn’t like the touchbar, it doesn’t respond good enough...
 
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I've set mine to "Right" and "Absolute" it feels the most accurate and easy to use for me.


I switched and think I liked it better when I can use the whole screen, it responded faster also. I didn’t like the touchbar, it doesn’t respond good enough...
How are you guys setting up the touch and drag autofocus?

It seems like setting it to "relative" leaves the speed of movement in relation to your finger to be a little slow. So I went to "absolute."

Initially I landed on setting the active area to "bottom left" and used the thumb of my left finger to move the point around. Someone else suggested setting it to "top right" and using your right thumb to move the point around. However, I think setting it to both "top right" and "absolute" means it's very hard to reach my right thumb all the way over to the middle area of the screen. Therefore it's very hard to move the AF point all the way to the left side of the frame.
 
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SereneSpeed

CR Pro
Feb 1, 2016
142
90
Am I doing something wrong? I don't have small hands, but I find that when using my right thumb, I have to release my right hand grip on the camera to get the AF point to the left side of the EVF. This is with either 'top right' or 'bottom right' selected.

I am used to having a solid grip on the camera, so this turns the shooting process into a two-step process. First, set the AF location, and then re-grip the camera and depress the shutter release.

I wish I could use a smaller area of the touch screen.
 
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For touch and drag focus I'm using the whole right side, relative. I tried absolute, and though it was faster, I found it harder to be as accurate, as when I released my finger from the screen, the point still moved slightly or so.

Otherwise, still waiting for the adapter with control ring. When I get it, I'll likely use it for ISO or exposure compensation, not sure yet. I shoot manual 95% of time, and shutter speed is on front dial, and aperture on back / thump dial. Multi function bar I find somewhat frustrating, but I set the 2-second lock function on it and assigned the left button the live histogram. No other functions there yet. AF ON button I'm using for exposure compensation (hold it down and scroll the front dial). If I end up using back-button focusing, I'll move that exposure compensation to the '*' button next to it.

On the arrow buttons around the 'Q', I set UP arrow to switch between single / continous focus, DOWN arrow to put camera to sleep, and LEFT / RIGHT I use for eye detection on / off and the other for something I don't remember right now... :)

So quite a bit configuration, but still feeling how it can be optimized even more. Waiting for the control ring adapter... Currently my biggest question is how to optimize changing between autofocus modes/methods. Right now I use the top Mfn-button to open the "dialogue", and use top dial to change the value. This requires that I make sure I always leave the "dialogue" to the state where it points to the auto focus options (using the back dial), and sometimes I forget to do that and it messes up my quick configuration changes...
 
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