Official 5D Mark II Settings Thread

I thought it might be fun to have an official 5D Mark II Settings thread. If you've changed some of the settings, share with us what they are (and perhaps why). I mostly mean the custom functions and some of the other common stuff, but list whatever you like...

I'll start.

• Quality: RAW only
  
• Color Space: Adobe RGB (because I like it more within Aperture - every JPG is converted over)
  
• Picture Style: Faithful (just affects the built-in JPG in RAW only mode, so eh, whatever)
  
• Histogram: RGB
  
• LV Movie Mode: Stills+movie (haven't played with this much at all, might never get around to it really - didn't buy the camera for movies)
  
• My Menu Items (for now): Mirror Lockup, Format
  

• C.Fn I-3: ISO Expansion: ON
  
• C.Fn I-5: Bracketing sequence: 1 (-, 0, +)
  
• C.Fn II-3: Highlight Tone priority: OFF
  
• C.Fn III-3: AF point selection method: 1 Multi-controller direct
  
• C.Fn III-7: AF point area expansion: 1 Enable
  
• C.Fn III-8: AF Microadjustment: 2 Adjust by lens
  
• C.Fn IV-1: Shutter button/AF-ON button: 2 Metering start/Meter+AF Start
  
• C.FnIV-3: Assign SET Button: 5 Quick Control screen
  
• C.FnIV-5: 2 Eg-S
  

I thought colour space did not really matter when shooting RAW???

It doesn't affect the RAW file. It will affect the embedded JPG (or the one time per year I might shoot RAW + JPEG).

Besides, that's not the topic.

Does anybody know a reason NOT to enable C.Fn III-7 (AF point area expansion)?

It'll be great if people share what they set for their 3 custom modes - as well as provide some insight into why they picked them

I haven't set mine yet. Hell, I don't even know how to shoot video with it yet

Mine's barely out of the box. I wanted to shoot high-ISO...why...because I can!! But out of the box the settings wouldn't allow H1 or H2 and it some checking as to why ISO expansion was enabled but not able to. I really need to sit down and play with all the settings.

center auto-focus expanded...

Yes. Why not use the expanded focus area? When should and shouldn't one use it, and why? Any professionals that can help me with this? Thanks.

Dan

I just got my 5D2 yesterday and found this tread by searching for custom settings. It is the best one so far, but there were not very many responses, so I would like to resurrect it now. What settings have you enabled/disabled/whate​ver on your 5D Mark II?

pietzcker wrote in post #7057733
Does anybody know a reason NOT to enable C.Fn III-7 (AF point area expansion)?

I would also like to know the answer to this.

I would also like to know what people are putting on "My Menu".

I haven't set my C1, C2 and C3 yet, but I'll probably have them set for different types of shooting circumstances while shooting weddings (indoor, outdoor, etc).

I have the video function on (live view, blah blah) and the extended ISO turned on.

My Menu is set to:
Quality
White balance
Custom White balance
Format
Speedlight control (or whatever it's called)

My Menu is set to:
Format
White Balance (I might remove this one)
Custom WB
Highlight Tone Priority
Mirror lockup
Long exp. noise reduction

Here are the changes I've made to my Custom Settings:

Custom Setting 1.3 > Exposure ISO expansion ON

Custom Setting 1.6 > Safety Shift
Only works when shooting in Tv/Av. If the lighting on the subject changes after you have pressed the shutter button half-way down, the camera will adjust the exposure to compensate.

Custom Setting 2.1 > Long exp. noise reduction
I left this set to off. Turn it on for night photography

Custom Setting 2.2 > High ISO speed noise reduction
I left this set to standard. Try using this when shooting at night with high ISO settings. WARNING: It will slow the camera down, so don't use it when shooting exposure bursts

Custom Setting 2.3 > Highlight tone priority
Works great when shooting people wearing white clothing or other bright scenes
Adds noise to the blacks when shooting dark scenes

Custom Setting 3.3 > AF point selection method
I changed this to Multi-controller direct. With this enabled, you can just press the multi-controller and instantly choose the focus point. Press the Zoom + button to switch back to all points.

Custom Setting 3.6 > Mirror Lockup
First shutter press locks mirror up before taking photo.
Second shutter press takes photo (you won't be able to see through viewfinder after first press) Turn this on for shooting night shots on a tripod.

Custom Setting 3.7 > AF point area expansion
Set this to Enable. Overrides the manual focus point when the subject moves.

Custom Setting 4.3 > Assign SET button
Set to Quick Control screen (Takes you to the Quick Control screen and all items are active - you can move between and select them)

If shooting macro or portrait I set the expansion to disable as I want to focuson a specific point due to narrow dof shooting macro or wide open portraits. Everything else expanded usually stays on.

The single most useful thing to do is use My Menu for Mirror Lockup. I only have this one item in "my" My Menu.

Now if I want to select mirror lockup, for tripod use, it is just two presses away - brilliant. I only wish Canon would have a direct control for this, or allow re-mapping of another button.

My second suggestion is to set image rotation to "off" on camera, but "on" on computer. That way, a vertical image is displayed full screen on the LCD, and just as importantly, remains in the correct orientation when you have your camera mounted vertically on a tripod. But the orientation is corrected when you download the image.

For you landscape enthusiasts, these two settings will really enhance the 5D2. I have also selected the quick control screen, but I'm not yet sure whether I like it - it's a useful display but too easy to change settings inadvertently with the wheel.

Nigel

As far as I know on the 5D2 C.Fn III.7 > AF point area expansion only works in AI-Servo mode. It doesn't work in One-Shot mode. I have mine off.
Also, the C.Fn IV-1: I use option 3, for AE lock using half-pressed shutter button, option 2 means you can't do AE-lock.