Canon EOS RP Body

The included folding-plug Battery Charger LC-E17 lights a STEADY AMBER LED while charging and a STEADY GREEN LED when done.

A FLASHING AMBER LED means the battery isn’t charging; take it out, unplug the charger, plug it all back in and try again.

 

USB Charging

Canon says you have to buy the optional $190 USB Power Adapter PD-E1, which only charges the battery.

A regular USB-C cord and any regular USB power source won’t charge anything.

Any USB C charger that meets the PD (“Power Delivery”) standard, typiclly used for laptop charging, should work just fine for $17 and up.

 

Power Saving

Leave the power switch OFF while walking around. The camera sees your body behind the finder as you walk around, and mistakenly prevents it from sleeping as it should, often thinking the camera is at your eye.

The Power saving and ECO mode doesn’t slow the camera down and extends battery life, so I use it:

ECO Mode: MENU > WRENCH page 2 > ECO mode > On.

The ECO mode cancels most of your choices at MENU > WRENCH page 2 > Power saving except for the Viewfinder time-out, which I set to the minimum of 1 minute.

Finder Frame Rate [FPS]: The finder’s frame (update) rate is fast enough that I can’t see any delay, even in the lower-frame-rate power-saving mode I prefer: MENU > WRENCH page 4 > Viewfinder performance > Power saving. This is a completely different setting from the High Speed Display option for high-speed continuous shooting.

The finder is a bit jerky in the slower frame rate mode, but I’d rather have the extra battery life. Chose whichever you prefer.

 

Format Card       top

I do this every and any time I put a card in my camera, presuming of course that I’ve downloaded everything from my card.

To format the card, MENU > WRENCH page 1 > Format Card > OK.

 

Menu System       top

NOTE: Many of the menu options I describe below are not available in the AUTO mode as set on the exposure mode dial. Be sure to use any of mode other than AUTO, movie or SCN to have access to all the settings.

Pressing MENU on a sleeping camera simply wakes it. Just press twice, slowly, if the camera is off to get to MENU.

Pressing the INFO button while in MENU jumps directly to the first page of each of the color-coded sets of main menus (CAMERA, PLAYBACK, WRENCH, CUSTOM and MY MENU (★)).

Use the right-left buttons or the front dial to move between the pages inside each colored category.

Use the up-down buttons or the rear dial to move up and down in each menu page.

 

My Menu       top

I add these items to MY MENU (★):

Cropping/aspect ratio: I use this for square and 4:3 shooting, which I love to use.

ISO speed settings: This is where you can unlock ISO 50, 51,200 and 102,400, and program the particulars of AUTO ISO.

Disp brightness: This sets either the LCD or the EVF depending on which is active. I set the EVF to max outdoors, and the middle setting indoors. Setting the LCD to max works very well in direct sunlight; give it a try.

Custom shooting mode (C1-C3): I use this to save and modify the C1, C2 and C3 settings selected with the MODE dial.

Lens aberration correction: I leave these all ON, except I may turn Distortion Correction OFF if I’m not shooting buildings, straight lines, or shooting with a fixed, distortion-free lens like the RF 50mm f/1.2L.

 

Exposure Mode Dial       top

Canon EOS RP. bigger.

Just turn the dial to set exposure modes.

By default the EOS RP calls up some colorful graphics (guides) on the LCD and in the finder to help newcomers understand all the modes, but these graphics get in the way when you just want to change the dial and mode quickly.

Once you learn these you can set the modes instantly by disabling the fancy graphics at:

MENU > WRENCH page 1 > Mode guide > Disable.

 

New Fv Exposure Mode       top

Try this new exposure mode, I really like it.

Fv mode is like Program mode, but lets you set individually any of Shutter, Aperture, Exposure Compensation or ISO, while the others continue to set themselves automatically. You can set more than one at a time, and those you don’t set will change automatically as needed. Cool, huh?

Select Fv on the big top MODE dial and shoot; it’s all automatic unless you change something.

If you want to change something, turn the rear dial to select what you want to change and turn the top dial to change it. The finder or rear LCD shows an orange wheel to the left of what’s selected for adjustment. Once you set one item you can set other things by turning the rear dial to select them.

The front dial will change Exposure Compensation in this example below:

Canon EOS R electronic viewfinder (same for rear LCD). bigger. The orange dial is left of exposure compensation, which will change when you turn the front dial. Turn the rear dial to move the orange dial icon to select other items to set.

The display underlines whatever the camera is controlling automatically, and has no underline for what you’ve set manually. Simple.

Unlike Program mode which resets any Program Shift as soon as the meter turns off, Fv settings don’t reset even if you turn off the power. Your settings stay until you clear or reset them yourself.

Tap down on the rear 4-way controller to reset everything back to AUTO. You can reset individual items back to AUTO by selecting them and then pressing down, left or right on the four-way rear controller.

Even if you change something like Exposure Compensation by some other method like the lens’ control ring, a tap on the rear controller will reset it back to AUTO.

 

Autofocus       top

AF Modes

There are two main autofocus modes: ONE SHOT and SERVO.

ONE SHOT means the EOS RP focuses, and locks. Use this for still subjects.

SERVO means the EOS RP continuously autofocuses as subjects move.

You can set these by pressing the Q/SET button, or at MENU > CAMERA page 7 > AF operation.

 

AF Area Color

Blue boxes mean tracking SERVO AF.

Green boxes mean LOCKED ONE-SHOT autofocus.

Gray means unfocused.

 

Stop AF from running all the time

By default AF runs all the time. This means often you’ll already be in focus before you press the shutter, but it drives me nuts because the lens is focussing all the time while I’m composing or anytime the camera is ON and around my neck.

I turn this off at MENU > CAMERA page 7 > Continuous AF > Disable.

 

Setting the Touch Screen to select AF areas, especially when using the finder

There’s no 8-way nubbin; the LCD’s better because it’s both faster and more precise. You can use the 4-way rear controller if you insist, but do program the rear LCD like this:

MENU > CAMERA page 7 > Touch & drag AF settings > Touch & drag AF > Enable,

MENU > CAMERA page 7 > Touch & drag AF settings > Positioning method > Relative, and

MENU > CAMERA page 7 > Touch & drag AF settings > Active Touch Area > Right. Depending on which eye you use and what part of the screen is away from your nose you might prefer a different area. This prevents your nose from selecting the AF areas!

 

Swapping between Touch LCD selection and Auto AF Area Selection

This is easy: I prefer to use Auto Area, and only if my EOS RP isn’t selecting the correct area automatically I then will manually select an area with the touch LCD.

I leave the camera set to All Area/Face detect, and presuming the Touch Screen is active as set above, just touch the screen to move the AF area around, even if you’re looking through the finder.

To cancel your manual selection and pop back to Auto Select, just tap the TRASH button. Easy!

 

Selecting AF Area Modes Quickly

First I remove all the AF modes I don’t use at MENU > CUSTOM C.Fn.II: Autofocus > page 5 > Limit AF methods > and uncheck all that I don’t use (I only use the Face + Tracking and default single-area options).

There are many ways to select among these AF Area modes. I prefer to tap the rear AF-area selector ([ + ]) button (below the ✱ button) and now tapping the M-Fn button or front dial selects among the AF Area modes.

 

Eye Detection

Eye Detection means the EOS RP focuses on the nearest eyeball. It’s not eye-controlled AF-area selection like in the 35mm EOS 3.

I set EYE AF and leave it on: MENU > CAMERA page 7 > Eye Detection AF > Enable. You can’t enable it in any of the area-detect modes, so set this menu while the camera is in a single-point or similar mode, otherwise Eye Detection AF is grayed-out.

Another well-hidden way to set or unset Eye AF is to:

Press the rear AF-area selector ([ + ]) button. It’s the button below the ✱ button.

Tap the M-Fn button near the shutter button or turn the front dial to select Face/All-Area AF, and now the INFO button will activate or deactivate Eye AF.

You also can set this from the Q screen: select FACE AF, and tap INFO to enable or disable Eye Detect.

 

Setting Tracking Autofocus and Exposure       top

Tracking AF in Continuous Advance Mode

Be sure to select SERVO AF at MENU > CAMERA page 7 > AF operation, or in the Quick Control or any other screen it appears.

It won’t track focus if you leave it in ONE SHOT.

 

Tracking Exposure in Continuous Advance Mode

Not only do you have to select SERVO AF to get tracking autofocus, you also have to select SERVO AF for exposure to track from frame to frame in Continuous advance mode!

Weird, but true. Leave AF in ONE SHOT and exposure locks at the first frame.

Exposure only tracks (changes) from frame-to-frame if you’re in SERVO autofocus.

 

How to Lock Focus and Exposure in Continuous Advance mode

Weird, but true, set ONE SHOT AF in the Quick Control or any other screen and the EOS RP will lock both focus and exposure at the first frame of any sequence shot in Continuous advance mode.

 

Face Detect and/or All-AF Area AF and Viewfinder Level       top

top

Auto AF Area Select and Face Detect only work together, and the Level and Face detect don’t work together — so you have to turn off Face Detect to get the level display, and turn on Face Detect to get All-Area Auto AF-Area Selection mode. These shouldn’t be linked together like this, but they are.

You have to use an AF area mode other than Face Detect to get the level display, and you have to select the Face Detect AF Mode to get Auto AF Area Select mode.

You set these at MENU > CAMERA page 7 > AF method.

 

Manual Focus Peaking       top

If you want this, set this at MENU > CAMERA page 8 > MF peaking settings > Peaking > ON. It’s OFF by default.

 

Focus Magnifier       top

By default tap the AF Area mode button [ + ] (below the ✱ button) and then tap INFO to magnify.

I set my AF ON button to be a focus magnifier at MENU > CUSTOM C.Fn.III: Operation/Others > page 5 Customize buttons > Camera Column > AF ON :> Magnify.

HINT: While using a focus magnifier in Live View, the top dial moves the selected magnified area left and right faster than clicking the rear controller.

 

Manual-Focus Override       top

By default, there is no always-responsive instant manual-focus override as we take for granted in our DSLRs.

You need to set:

MENU > CAMERA 8 > Lens electronic AF > to either “One‑Shot‑>enabled” or “One‑Shot‑>enabled (magnify)”

or otherwise the focus ring is always ignored in AF. Canon should have it set this way by default, but they don’t. No big deal now that I figured it out.

Now manual focus override works if you turn the ring while continuing to hold the shutter halfway, but only after focus locks in ONE SHOT.

 

Focus Bracketing, Stacking & Compositing: Infinite Depth-of-Field       top

This is a new trick in the EOS RP that lets us get unlimited depth of field through making many automated exposures at different focus distances, and then picking the sharpest parts of each image and compositing them together into one final ultrasharp image. (samples at that link).

This process has many names, including pan focus. First we make a series of many shots with slightly different focus in each (focus bracketing), and then composite them together later in our computer (stacking and compositing) using Canon’s free Digital Photo Professional software.

 

Shoot a set of focus-bracketed images

To make a series of focus-bracketed shots, go to:

1.) MENU > CAMERA page 5 > Focus bracketing:

And enable it. Leave Number of shots, Focus increment and Exposure smoothing at these defaults for now:

You might want to create a new folder for each series of images to help you select and process them later. This is suggested when you Enable Focus bracketing, and sharp eyes will notice a small New Folder icon on the lower right of the touch screen which you can tap to make a new folder.

2.) Use a tripod, and since you’re on a tripod, use the lowest ISO you can like ISO 100, even in the dark, for the sharpest results. You should turn off Image Stabilization, but I usually don’t bother and it works fine.

Canon suggests using one of the newest STM lenses, but I also used a USM Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro which came out in 1996 and it works flawlessly.

3.) Set a moderate aperture like f/8, although any aperture should work. Smaller apertures like f/22 soften the image due to diffraction, and wider apertures like f/2.8 require more shots and offline processing time to do the same thing.

4.) Use available, natural or continuous lighting. I don’t know that I’d use flash or studio strobes as 1.) you’d be using a lot of flash pops, and 2.) I don’t know if the EOS RP will wait or can be set to wait after each exposure for flash or strobes to recycle.

5.) Be sure your lens is set to AF and the camera is in either SERVO or ONE SHOT autofocus. Don’t set your lens to MF (Manual Focus) or this won’t work.

6.) Focus your camera on or slightly closer than the closest part of the scene, and press the shutter. The EOS RP will now make a silent series of many images from your near focus out to a long way away. It’s smart enough to make fewer than your preset Number of shots if it doesn’t need them all. The reason to set a lower Number of shots is to let it stop once it’s shot the longest distance, otherwise it tends to run all the way out to infinity even of you’re doing tabletop work. Experience may show you what’s a good number for your typical setups.

 

Composite these images into one final image

1.) Load all the images into your Mac or PC.

2.) Open Canon’s free Digital Photo Professional software, at least version 4.10.0 in which this feature was introduced.

3.) Find and select the group of images you want to process. Even if you shot a lot of images it helps to preview them and only include the ones that include the range of focus (depth of field) you want. Often you’ll have many images that focus too far away and past your subject. If you don’t include them it runs much faster. Ditto if any images are in-focus on distracting foreground elements; don’t select those images and the system won’t make the foreground in focus.

You can control the look of the background by including or excluding the images that have the background in focus. Select only the images with the desired subject in focus and that will give a super-sharp subject and nice, soft background. Choose all the images and it will make the background sharp, if there are shots with the background in focus. Obviously you get to choose this after you’ve shot, and can try it anyway you like until you get exactly the look you want.

4.) From your computer’s top menu bar select TOOLS > DEPTH COMPOSITING > Start Depth Compositing tool. Leave all on defaults.

5.) Your computer makes a new folder with data, and saves a new “Depth Composited” image called DC_IMGxxxxx in the originally folder. You’re done!

My 8-core 3GHz 32GB RAM Mac Pro (late 2013) on OS 10.14.3 Mojave draws about 160W from the wall and its fan spins at 1,030 RPM, up from its usual draw of 60~100W and 780 RPM fan for most other uses. You’d never notice it, but the computer does have to chew on all this math with running the program.

6.) I delete the folder with the extra data. I’m unsure why you’d want to save this, unless it helps you process the same image again.

The results aren’t always perfect; if I have a subject in front of a detailed background and let the camera focus-bracket all the way to include a very distant background, the composited result may look weird at the subject’s edges, especially if your lens changes image size as focus (breathes). No problem, run the software again but exclude the images that are focused on the background.

I’ve wondered if focus breathing (the image changing size as focused) would lead to distortion, but I haven’t looked for it.

 

ISO       top

There’s no marked ISO button but many ways to set it.

I change ISO from within the Fv mode or I use the M-Fn button. I also will use the Q-touch screen that can auto-appear when the EOS RP is pulled from your face or when you press the Q/SET button. Finally you can set ISO at MENU > CAMERA page 3 > ISO speed settings.

I almost always shoot in AUTO ISO unless I’m on a tripod. I set AUTO ISO so it can select anything from ISO 100~40,000 (MENU > CAMERA page 3 > ISO speed settings > Auto range).

For people I set Auto ISO Minimum Shutter Speed to 1/125.

For sports and action I set Auto ISO Minimum Shutter Speed to 1/500.

For everything else I set Auto ISO Minimum Shutter Speed to AUTO, which varies depending on focal length..

Auto ISO always sets ISO 400 with flash. I wish I could program this to be smarter, but it’s fixed at ISO 400 regardless of ambient light.

 

White Balance       top

I almost always shoot in Auto White Balance (AWB).

Exposure Compensation       top

Like every other EOS camera, the back (top) MODE dial adjusts exposure compensation at any time, unless you program it otherwise.

I prefer to use the Fv exposure mode which takes over the MODE dial, and program my extra lens control ring to become exposure compensation — or I use the M-Fn button.

 

M-Fn Button       top

Canon EOS RP. bigger.

The M-Fn button near the shutter button is one of many ways to set ISO, advance mode, SERVO/ONE-SHOT AF, White Balance and exposure compensation.

Tap the M-FN button, move the rear dial to select what you’re going to set, then turn the front dial to set it.

 

Advance Modes       top

The easiest way to select among Self Timer, Single, Continuous, Continuous High, etc. is to press the M-Fn button, turn the rear dial to select advance modes, and then turn the front dial to select which advance mode.

You also can press the rear Q/SET button and find the advance mode settings on the rear LCD.

 

Silent Mode       top

Silent shooting is now hidden in the Scene mode.

Select SCN on the mode dial, select Silent mode as your preferred Scene mode, and you’re in Silent shooting mode.

Unlike the EOS R where we can program just about everything in Silent mode, the silent mode of the EOS RP is fixed as a Scene mode and is not particularly adjustable.

 

Long Exposures: Bulb Timer       top

It’s easy to program your EOS RP to make precisely timed exposures of any length up to 100 hours, with no need for a remote cord or app!

You set the exposure time at “Bulb Timer” and then shoot a Bulb exposure. The EOS RP clocks off what you programmed, and closes the shutter itself without you having to babysit the camera all night.

1.) Set your advance mode to single. HINT: Set it to Self Timer and you won’t need to use a remote cord to eliminate camera shake!

2.) Set your exposure time as a “Bulb timer” at MENU > CAMERA page 6 > Bulb timer. In that menu set it to Enable and set the hours, minutes and seconds for your exposure.

3.) Select the Bulb mode and press the shutter.

4.) It will make an exposure while counting-up the elapsed time on the rear LCD and then close the shutter after your programed duration. If you want to end the exposure early, just tap the shutter again.

Since it closes the shutter early on a second press, you can reprogram BULB to TIME by setting a very long value for Bulb timer, but you do have to enable the Bulb timer each time you go into Bulb mode.

The EOS RP shows the elapsed time as MMM:SS on the rear LCD as it exposes.

 

Flash       top

The EOS RP works perfectly with all EX-series flash. It has the same flash system as Canon’s SLRs and DSLRs.

You can save money with old used flash that work as well as the newest flash; I use my 580EX II (about $125 used if you know  How to Win at eBay) when I want a lot of power, or my 320EX (about $80 used if you know How to Win at eBay and also available used at Amazon) when I’m traveling light.

 

Finder & LCD Displayed Item Options       top

You can select what gets displayed at MENU > WRENCH page 4.

You can program many different sets of preferred displays. You select among these sets by pressing the INFO button.

You can set quite a few different kinds of displays, you can set different ones for the LCD and for the finder, and even select the sizes of the image and more. If you’d rather just have one or two sets, you can disable the extra in these menus.

 

Display Brightnesses       top

MENU > WRENCH page 2 > Disp. brightness only applies to whichever display (finder or rear LCD) is active. Light up the other display if you want to change it, and if you go outside or work at night and use both displays, you’ll have to change each individually.

While there are no AUTO brightness settings, the C1, C2 and C3 presets save and recall your brightness preferences so you can use one for outdoors, one for indoors and one for outdoors at night. Easy.

 

Vertical Finder Display       top

I set my finder data to rotate when held vertically! Set this at MENU > WRENCH page 4 > Shooting info. disp. > VF vertical display > ON:

Actual view through Canon EOS R Electronic viewfinder. (The EOS RP is similar and it’s much sharper in actual use than in this special photograph.)

I’ve turned on almost every display option here; just press the INFO button a couple of times to get a clear window through which to compose if you prefer.

 

Quick Control Screen       top

Press the INFO button a few times while using the LCD to get this. This is one of my favorite ways to make a lot of shot-to-shot settings.

Once the Q screen is up, you either have to tap the “Q” on the touch screen to use the touch screen, or press the Q/SET button and use the rear 4-way controller to navigate around it.

 

Customizing Controls       top

Ring & Dial rotation directions: MENU CUSTOM page 3.

 

Buttons: MENU > CUSTOM C.Fn.III: Operation/Others > page 5: Customize buttons. I prefer to set my left rear clicker to MENU, so I can set my MENU without having to reach all the way over to the real MENU button on the left side of the camera. I also program my red MOVIE button to be a depth-of-field preview.

Trick: You can set the ✱ button to control your choice of up to five different dial settings if you select MENU > CUSTOM C.Fn.III: Operation/Others > page 5 Customize Buttons > click down to ✱ button > Dial function settings > INFO > (select your choice of up to five things this button can now control). Now when you press ✱ you rotates the rear dial to select the function set by the front dial. Cool!

 

LOCK lever (for rear dial): MENU > WRENCH page 6 > Multi function lock (Controls what the LOCK lever locks; we can’t otherwise reprogram the LOCK lever).

 

Dials: MENU > CUSTOM C.Fn.III: Operation/Others > page 6: Customize dials.

 

Program the Extra Lens Control Ring       top

MENU > CUSTOM C.Fn.III: Operation/Others > page 6: Customize dials > Control Ring (bottom choice of three).

The options that also show a down arrow mean that the ring is only active during a half-press of the shutter to prevent accidental adjustment.

 

Limit the ISO Range       top

 

You can limit the ISO range at MENU > CAMERA page 3 > ISO speed settings > ISO speed range, which is also where you can enable the extreme high and and low ISO settings.

 

Picture Styles       top

“Picture Styles” are where we program sharpening, color saturation, contrast and etc.

Set these at MENU > CAMERA 4 > Picture Style, among other places.

I photograph places and things in the STANDARD [*S] Picture Style setting. I change the saturation to +4 and peg sharpening at their maximum settings of 7, 5 and 5.

For pictures of people I use the same sharpening, but leave saturation at 0 or +1.

More Image Tweaks       top

I always leave the shadow optimizer (Automatic Lighting Optimizer) ON, which is its default (MENU > CAMERA page 3 > Auto Lighting Optimizer > Standard).

I don’t use highlight recovery (Highlight Tone Priority), since it deactivates the shadow optimizer above.

 

HDR Mode       top

Set the HDR mode at MENU > CAMERA page 5 > HDR Mode.

File Formats       top

I shoot at LARGE JPG, and set it to NORMAL (the stair-step icon) instead of the default of FINE (quarter-circle icon). The pictures look the same, but take up half the file space and twice as many fit on a card and they download twice as fast.

For people and event photos I don’t need 26MP LARGE, so I’ll shoot at MEDIUM or S1.

I never shoot raw, but you may do whatever you like.

 

Getting 5 FPS       top

The EOS RP only runs at 5 FPS in ONE SHOT AF or MANUAL focus modes, making 5 FPS only useful for a subject that stays in the same place — which makes it not that useful. If you’re in SERVO AF so you can track something that’s moving, then Continuous Hi runs at 4 FPS instead and also tracks exposure from frame to frame.

To get to 5 FPS, first select the high-speed continuous advance mode (Q/SET > find advance mode on rear LCD > High Speed Continuous or use the M-Fn button), and then select ONE SHOT as the AF mode on the rear screen, or move the lens’ AF/MF switch to MF. Also turn off Flicker reduction and oddly Canon says to turn off lens Image Stabilization.

Exposure only tracks (changes) from frame-to-frame if you’re in SERVO autofocus, so exposure is also locked at 5 FPS.

 

Faster Finder Update Rate for Continuous High Shooting       top

There’s a hidden menu option at MENU > CAMERA page 6 > High Speed display > ON which lets the finder update faster than the 4 FPS rate at which the EOS RP shoots in Continuous Hi mode in SERVO AF. It is set to OFF by default. To set it to ON:

1.) Use a native RF lens (doesn’t work with EF lenses on adapters).

2.) Set Continuous Hi advance mode (Doesn’t work in low speed Continuous advance mode).

3.) Set SERVO AF mode (doesn’t work in ONE SHOT or MANUAL AF modes).

Once you’ve set this you can make other settings and High Speed display will activate and deactivate as it can, but you can’t set it to ON the first time unless you meet these three requirements at first.

C1, C2 and C3 Modes       top

I live by these. I set C1 for photos of places and things, C2 for people, and C3 for sports and action. Everything about the camera: EVF and LCD brightness, Saturation, frame rates, AF modes, resolution, and everything magically recall with the click of a dial.

Each time you turn the dial to one of the C1, C1 or C3 positions, everything is reset to what was stored in that position.

Feel free to change any settings as you shoot in the C1, C2 or C3 positions. You won’t erase what you saved. These changes will stay until the camera times-out, usually one minute (you can change that duration in the menus), and the next time you go to shoot, even if you had changed something, you’re back at your saved settings.

If you want to return to the saved settings more quickly, just move the dial to any other position and return.

To Save a Suite of Settings

To save a complete camera-state setting of your EOS RP:

1.) Set the camera as you like. Everything is saved.

2.) Press:

MENU > WRENCH page 6 > Custom shooting mode (C1-C3) > Register settings > choose a C1, C2 or C3 position > SET > OK.

Permanently Change a Stored Setting

To change a stored setting:

1.) Set the dial to the setting you want to change (C1, C2 or C3). This recalls that setting.

2.) Change something.

3.) Save the camera’s current state back into that dial position:

MENU > WRENCH page 6 > Custom shooting mode (C1-C3) > Register settings > choose a C1, C2 or C3 position > SET > OK.

If you select the wrong C1, C2 or C3, you will have overwritten the settings at that position.

Copy a Stored Setting

To copy a stored setting into another location:

1.) Set the dial to the setting you want to copy. This recalls that setting.

2.) Save the just-recalled camera state into another dial position:

MENU > WRENCH page 6 > Custom shooting mode (C1-C3) > Register settings > choose a C1, C2 or C3 position > SET > OK.

If you select the wrong C1, C2 or C3, you will have overwritten the settings at that position.

Make a Temporary Change to a Stored Setting

Just change something as you would anywhere else. By default, the next time the camera wakes up or you re-select that setting, it will be back as it was saved. The C settings are not altered unless you deliberately save something into them as described above, or if you set:

Have C1, C2 & C3 Settings Update Automatically

The EOS RP resets the C1, C2 and C3 settings each time it turns on or you reselect C1, C2 or C3, unless you set:

MENU > WRENCH page 6 > Custom shooting mode (C1-C3) > Auto update set > Enable.

Now each setting updates as you change it. If you select another mode and come back to that mode it will be as you last left it.

New-Camera Setup

When I get a new camera I start in the Fv mode (or your favorite) and set everything as I want it.

I then save it to C1.

I change what I want about it for C2, and save it to C2.

I change what I want about it again for C3 and save it to C3.

I then select MENU > WRENCH page 6 > Custom shooting mode (C1-C3) > Auto update set > Enable so that everything updates as I use and get familiar with my new camera. After I’m confident that my camera’s presets are all as I want them, I then set MENU > WRENCH page 6 > Custom shooting mode (C1-C3) > Auto update set > Disable so my preferred settings are fixed.

My Personal C1, C2 and C3 Settings       top

Everything about the camera is saved into each of these C1, C2 and C3 memories. This is what I save that changes for me from setting to setting:

	C1	C2	C3
Used for	General Scenics	People & Family	Sports & Action
Exposure Mode	P or Fv	P or Fv	P or Fv
Resolution	L	M	S1
Picture Style	Standard with +4 Saturation and 7, 5, 5 sharpening	Standard with 0 or +1 Saturation and 7, 5, 5 sharpening	Standard with 0 or +1 Saturation and 7, 5, 5 sharpening
ISO	Auto	Auto	Auto
Max Auto ISO	40,000	40,000	40,000
Minimum Auto ISO Shutter Speed	AUTO for the slowest possible hand-held speed that lets the camera use the slowest possible ISO for the sharpest pictures	1/125 to stop people talking	1/500 to stop sports action
AF Mode	ONE SHOT	SERVO AF	SERVO AF
AF Area Select*	Wide Area	Face & Eye Detect/All-Area	Face & Eye Detect/All-Area
Finder Level**	ON	Off	Off
Advance	Continuous Low	Continuous Low	Continuous High (4 FPS)

* All-Area AF only works with Face Detect, and Face Detect doesn’t work with the level, so I use Wide Area when I need the level.

** You can’t use the level and Face Detect at the same time.

 

Lens Corrections       top

Corner darkening, distortion and more are corrected by default.

You can switch any of these three corrections off at MENU > CAMERA page 2 > Lens aberration correction.

If you turn off the Digital Lens Optimizer (DLO), you’re offered à la carte options of reactivating lateral color fringe correction and/or diffraction correction without the rest of the DLO.

The only reason to turn off the DLO or others if if for some reason these are using too much processor power and slowing down the camera. I’ve never seen this happen, but if it concerns you, you probably don’t need distortion correction when shooting portraits.

 

Non-EF Manual-Focus Lenses on Adapters       top

The EOS RP works flawlessly with Canon EF Lenses on Canon EF Lens Adapters because all the electronics talk to each other properly.

However, with Canon FD and other random manual-focus lenses on random adapters there are no electronic contacts so the EOS RP thinks there is no lens attached and won’t take pictures.

To get the EOS RP to shoot with randomly adapted lenses, set MENU > CUSTOM C.Fn.III: Operation/Others > page 7: Release shutter w/o lens > 1: Enable. This is OFF (0. Disable) by default.

Use Av or M exposure modes. Exposure will be poor in P or Tv modes because the EOS RP can’t control the aperture of an adapted lens.

 

Video       top

In the most basic setup, tap the top red (movie) button to start and stop video recording.

Most video settings are at MENU > CAMERA page 9.

Strange but true, movies by default use the C3 Picture Control settings unless you change that in a menu.

 

4K

To shoot movies in 4K you have to have the mode dial set to the movie icon, otherwise you can shoot HD movies from any mode by pressing the red button near the shutter.

No one really needs 4K. Unless you sit a foot away from your big screen, the added detail is invisible — but the data and energy required to deal with it is four times what HD requires, so don’t do it. If you shoot for YouTube and want YouTube’s 4K light to be on, just upconvert your HD videos when you’re all done with them — no one will see the difference!

You also need a high-performance card (UHS-I, UHS speed class 3 or higher) to record 4K It uses a lot of data and a lot of in-camera processing. Canon warns to watch out that your EOS RP or card doesn’t overheat while shooting 4K; you’ll see a thermometer icon if it does.

4K movies can’t use phase detection autofocus, only contrast detection, so autofocus will be slower when shooting 4K.

 

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