Help me set my C1 C2 C3 on 7d

Heres the deal, I shoot a variety of subjects but I only have 3 spots to save my custom settings, who wants to help me set them up?

Subjects and scenarios & (Lens)

1: Birds in flight (100-400L)
2: Indoor baby photos (17-50 f2.8 non V Tamron) low light, usually after work
3: Macro (100mm f2.8 macro non IS) +/- 430ii Speedlite +/- Macro Rail/Tripod +/- 25mm tube
4: Landscape (10-22 on tripod)
5: Portrate (100mm f2.8 + 430ii Speedlite)
6: Field Sports (100-400L or 17-50 f2.8)
7: HDR Auto Shows (10-22 on tripod)

Obviously I can only use 3 at a time but It would be nice to get peoples ideas of what they think would work best, and I can then re visit this thread untill i'm fluent in the language of setup.

note: these are not in any order of preference.

what i'm after is the following

i) Mode (M AV TV)
ii) Iso
iii) Focus Mode (One Shot, AI Servo, AI Focus)
iv) Focus Points ( Auto 19, Manual Spot, Manual Single, Manual Point Expansion, Manual Zone
v) Picture Style
vi) Drive Mode (Single, Low Speed, High Speed, Timer)
vii) Metering Mode (EV, Partial, Spot, Centre Weighted

Im sure there will be an edit or two with this post but I think i've got most things covered.

Cheers, Jason

Well, only you know how frequently you are engaged in these different genres. It's either something you do frequently, or maybe something which implies a lot of changes to the camera's more normal setup that gains from a stored setup.

Also, only you know how you want to set up the camera to accomplish what you want to do.

So, one of the first things you should do is to re-arrange your list of applications in your order of preference. As long as you can't decide on that, it doesn't matter what you program to the C1-C3 positions, if anything.

The purpose of my three setups is action with automatic exposure, action with manual exposure and flash indoors. But that's me.

Yeah, it's a personal thing, entirely dependent on your needs and practices.

For me, I find they are not permanent settings, but actually on the fly settings I reprogram dependent on the situation.

So, I have my camera configured how I like it for general use, focus modes, button configurations etc. If I'm going to an event and primarily getting video, I might set up the default video settings based on the light conditions etc, store that in C1, and then set up for slow-motion, and put that on C2. Now, during the event I can flip between those modes at will without worrying too much about missing things while manually changing settings etc.

So I tend to set them according to my event needs to quickly change between setups - and on my own, casual shooting, tend not really to use them, instead reverting to the more usual Av/Manual modes.

So for me, they are more of a speed-change thing, rather than as a way to store permanent different setups - and that has evolved by my own needs.

Use the Cx settings for situations where you do not have enough time.
Guessing that working on a tripod will require time to set up anyway, so not for these situations.
Putting me in your situation I would use :
- 1 for outdoor sports and BIF (Tv, AI Focus, High ISO)
- 1 for baby and portrait (Av, Single Shot, low ISO, Bracketing??)
- 1 for flash (M, Single shot, medium ISO)
For the other situations, work with whatever setting most suitable for the moment.

Another way is to have three settings per situation, so you do not have to
tinker about during a shooting session, but that requires settin them up before each shoot.

For me I use the Cx settings for when there is not enoug time and/or light to find and use the controls on my camera on a per-shoot basis.

Hey guys, thanks for your replys, To choose my top 3 applications where time is limited I would have to go for what Hennie said because these are the 3 scenarios that are most likely to happen when I get home from a hard day at work and dont have much time to do anything more that change lens or throw on a speedlite


1: Birds in flight & Outdoor sport "ACTION" (100-400L)
2: Indoor baby photos "CUTENESS" (17-50 f2.8 non V Tamron) low light, usually after work
3: Portrate & Flash "FLASH" (100mm f2.8 + 430ii Speedlite)

With that said, I would still like some advice on how to perfect these Cx settings
maybe you would like to copy and paste and fill in the blanks (or maybe not)

"ACTION"
i) Mode (M AV TV) & Setting _______________
ii) Iso _______________
iii) Focus Mode (One Shot, AI Servo, AI Focus) _______________
iv) Focus Points ( Auto 19, Manual Spot, Manual Single, Manual Point Expansion, Manual Zone _______________
v) Picture Style _______________
vi) Drive Mode (Single, Low Speed, High Speed, Timer) _______________
vii) Metering Mode (EV, Partial, Spot, Centre Weighted _______________

"CUTENESS"
i) Mode (M AV TV) & Setting _______________
ii) Iso _______________
iii) Focus Mode (One Shot, AI Servo, AI Focus) _______________
iv) Focus Points ( Auto 19, Manual Spot, Manual Single, Manual Point Expansion, Manual Zone _______________
v) Picture Style _______________
vi) Drive Mode (Single, Low Speed, High Speed, Timer) _______________
vii) Metering Mode (EV, Partial, Spot, Centre Weighted _______________

"PEOPLE FLASHING"
i) Mode (M AV TV) & Setting _______________
ii) Iso _______________
iii) Focus Mode (One Shot, AI Servo, AI Focus) _______________
iv) Focus Points ( Auto 19, Manual Spot, Manual Single, Manual Point Expansion, Manual Zone _______________
v) Picture Style _______________
vi) Drive Mode (Single, Low Speed, High Speed, Timer) _______________
vii) Metering Mode (EV, Partial, Spot, Centre Weighted _______________
viii) Flash Settings (ettl, manual, sync speed) _______________


I don't expect many will want to put in the time to do this for me but It may serve as a good resource for others in my position


Cheers again Jason

For Action, I would go ISO500-640 TV at around 1/1250-1/2000. Center focus GROUP, AI Servo, high speed continuos, EV metering. Standard picture style as you can edit that in PP. I'd also either have AWB, or Daytime WB unless of course it's cloudy

No idea for cuteness as I don't shoot that, but I'd probably go M with a relatively high ISO and either Manual or single point focus on single shot.

Same with 'people flashing although I'd have a smaller ISO, like 200-400.

Have a look at these pictures.
Some samples linked in here.

Anders, great photos. I would love to know your settings.
geoflore (Geoff)

Milutiche wrote in post #14782233
Hey guys, thanks for your replys, To choose my top 3 applications where time is limited I would have to go for what Hennie said because these are the 3 scenarios that are most likely to happen when I get home from a hard day at work and dont have much time to do anything more that change lens or throw on a speedlite


1: Birds in flight & Outdoor sport "ACTION" (100-400L)
2: Indoor baby photos "CUTENESS" (17-50 f2.8 non V Tamron) low light, usually after work
3: Portrate & Flash "FLASH" (100mm f2.8 + 430ii Speedlite)

With that said, I would still like some advice on how to perfect these Cx settings
maybe you would like to copy and paste and fill in the blanks (or maybe not)

"ACTION"
i) Mode (M AV TV) & Setting _______________
ii) Iso _______________
iii) Focus Mode (One Shot, AI Servo, AI Focus) _______________
iv) Focus Points ( Auto 19, Manual Spot, Manual Single, Manual Point Expansion, Manual Zone _______________
v) Picture Style _______________
vi) Drive Mode (Single, Low Speed, High Speed, Timer) _______________
vii) Metering Mode (EV, Partial, Spot, Centre Weighted _______________

"CUTENESS"
i) Mode (M AV TV) & Setting _______________
ii) Iso _______________
iii) Focus Mode (One Shot, AI Servo, AI Focus) _______________
iv) Focus Points ( Auto 19, Manual Spot, Manual Single, Manual Point Expansion, Manual Zone _______________
v) Picture Style _______________
vi) Drive Mode (Single, Low Speed, High Speed, Timer) _______________
vii) Metering Mode (EV, Partial, Spot, Centre Weighted _______________

"PEOPLE FLASHING"
i) Mode (M AV TV) & Setting _______________
ii) Iso _______________
iii) Focus Mode (One Shot, AI Servo, AI Focus) _______________
iv) Focus Points ( Auto 19, Manual Spot, Manual Single, Manual Point Expansion, Manual Zone _______________
v) Picture Style _______________
vi) Drive Mode (Single, Low Speed, High Speed, Timer) _______________
vii) Metering Mode (EV, Partial, Spot, Centre Weighted _______________
viii) Flash Settings (ettl, manual, sync speed) _______________


I don't expect many will want to put in the time to do this for me but It may serve as a good resource for others in my position


Cheers again Jason

Each of those settings will depend on how YOU like to shoot. I almost always shoot in manual, but you might not be comfortable with that. I almost always use spot metering, but again you might not be comfortable with that. For focusing mode, I usually use center or center with expansion, but that may not be what you'd like. For ISO, I'd suggest either 200 or 400 as your starting setting, but what you end up using will depend on the available light and the aperture and shutter speed you need/want for what you're shooting. For flash, I usually use E-TTL but many people prefer manual. There are so many variables and personal preferences affecting these settings that the best advice I can give you is to take note of what you generally use for any particular shooting situation and use those settings as your initial defaults.

I use C1 and C2 for action. C1 with Tv as the base mode, C2 with M as the base. This is because sometimes I have pretty constant light but different colors of competitor's clothes, other times I have sunshine with shadow here and there, and need to adjust exposure more often than I have time to do manually.

So C1 is as follows:
AWB, 1/2000 s, large jpeg, center-weighted average metering, AI servo, Auto ISO, high speed drive.
2 s review time (often don't have time to look anyway), peripheral correction on, ALO standard (or highlight priority - experimenting a bit there), sRGB, Standard picture style (4,0,1,1), RAW/Sjpeg (RAW/JPEG button), max ISO 3200, auto off 4 min, auto rotate screen only, auto LCD brightness, no grid in viewfinder, INFO button showing shooting info only, [C.Fn listed for those not at default only] exposure setting 1/2 step, ISO setting full step, ISO HI enabled, safety shift enabled, AI Servo medium slow, release/focus priority, cont. tracking priority, AF pattern all, expanded and single selectable, AF point selection continuous, illuminated viewfinder info, orientation dependent AF setting, trigger button meter only, AF-ON focus with selected point, * focus with Home point (HP, home points set high up, where a face is likely to be, in all orientations), DOF button selectes zone AF, AI servo standard speed, release/release priority, cont. tracking priority, M-Fn exposure lock, SET image review, joystick selects AF point directly and goes to center when pressed.

I'll not go into the differences I have for C2 now. There may not even be a point in the summary above, since it's all a question about finding a setup which suits your own way to work, and that varies from one photographer to another.

Also a new 7D owner and this page has helped me with the C settings. Will try them out. Thanks to the contributors.

Thank you for this information.

7D newbie.