5D niggle - "C" on mode dial.

When I first discovered this feature I thought it was great. I set it up so that it will activate mirror lock-up and the self timer. This way I can shoot landscapes and select these settings without having to go through the menus.

The only downside is: each time the camera is powered off, or it goes into sleep mode, the aperture and S/S return to their default values at the time the settings were registered (1/250's f/16).

Is there a solution to this? It becomes a bit of a pain if you're waiting for the right moment and you go to shoot, only to find the exposure is way off because the S/S or Av have changed.

Just set EC and use AV mode? Then it'll keep it.

You've lost me

Doesn't going back to Av defeat the object of this mode. I'll have to keep going into the menus every time I want to select mirror lock-up. By registering this setting in the C mode, I can do it with one click of the mode dial.

If you're suggesting I should register Av as the mode, then surely I'm going to have the same problem. Each time I change the aperture and the camera is powered off or goes into sleep mode, it will default back to the registered value .

The purpose of "C" is to let the camera revert completely to a known state. This includes, in addition to MLU, ISO, file type and parameters, the shooting mode and settings you registered. For instance, I might set it up so ISO is 200 and it's in "P" mode. That way, even if I have to shoot at 1600 or 3200 for some situation, the next time I start up, the camera will be at 200. You generally set it for your preferred settings for your primary shooting conditions; you may not have what you want for every situation, but you'll have what you most commonly use. And you can always set M to a different shutter speed/aperture combo; that will also be remembered.

totalbeginner wrote in post #3910344
... If you're suggesting I should register Av as the mode, then surely I'm going to have the same problem. Each time I change the aperture and the camera is powered off or goes into sleep mode, it will default back to the registered value .

My solution for this was to set the camera to never auto-sleep when it's in C mode. Sure, this may be somewhat harder on the batteries, but I find that a lot less annoying than the alternative.

Bingo! Excellent idea, thanks very much!!

Glad to help!