Canon EOS 5D Mark II Short Course

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COVER
A SHORT COURSE IN
CANON EOS 5D
MARK II
PHOTOGRAPHY
DENNIS P. CURTIN
SHORTCOURSES.COM
H T T P :// W W W . S H O R T C O U R S E S . C O M
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SHORT COURSES BOOKS AND WEB SITE
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hort Courses is the leading publisher of digital photography books,
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PREFACE
A
great photograph begins when you recognize a great scene or
subject. But recognizing a great opportunity isn’t enough to capture
it; you also have to be prepared. A large part of being prepared in-
volves understanding your camera well enough to capture what you see. Get-
ting you prepared to see and capture great photographs is what this book is
all about. It doesn’t matter if you are taking pictures for business or pleasure,
there’s a lot here to help you get better results and more satisfaction from
your photography.
The Canon EOS 5D Mark
II is a very high-quality To get better, and possibly even great photographs, you need to understand
21.1 megapixel camera. both concepts and procedures; the “whys” and “hows” of photography.
• Concepts of photography are the underlying principles that apply regardless
of the camera you are using. They include such things as how sharpness and
exposure affect your images and the way they are perceived by viewers. Un-
derstanding concepts answers the “why” kinds of questions you might have
about photography.
• Procedures are those things specific to one kind of camera, and explain
step-by-step how you set your camera’s controls to capture an image just the
way you want to. Understanding procedures gives you the answers to the
“how” kinds of questions you might have.
This book is organized around the concepts of digital photography because
that’s how photographers think. You think about scenes and subjects, high-
The 5D Mark II accepts lights and shadows, softness and sharpness, color and tone. The procedures
the full line of Canon EF you use with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II are integrated throughout the con-
and EF-S lenses.
cepts, appearing in those places where they apply. This integrated approach
lets you first understand the concepts of photography and then see step by
step how to use the 5D Mark II in all kinds of photographic situations.
To get more effective, interesting, and creative photographs, you only need
to understand how and when to use a few simple features on your camera
such as focus, exposure controls, and flash. If you’ve previously avoided
understanding these features and the profound impact they can have on your
images, you’ll be pleased to know that you can learn them on a weekend.
You can then spend the rest of your life marveling at how the infinite variety
of combinations make it possible to convey your own personal view of the
world. You’ll be ready to keep everything in a scene sharp for maximum de-
tail or to blur it all for an impressionistic portrayal. You’ll be able to get dra-
The 5D Mark II can print matic close-ups, freeze fast action, create wonderful panoramas, and capture
directly to a printer
without a computer. the beauty and wonder of rainbows, sunsets, fireworks, and nighttime scenes.
As you explore your camera, be sure to have fun. There are no “rules” or
“best” way to make a picture. Great photographs come from using what you
know to experiment and try new approaches. Digital cameras make this espe-
PHOTOGRAPHY cially easy because there are no film costs or delays. Every experiment is free
ON-LINE and you see the results immediately so you can learn step by step.
• To learn more
about digital pho-
This book assumes you’ve mastered the mechanics of your camera. It’s about
tography, visit our getting great pictures, not about connecting your camera to computers and
ShortCourses Web using your software. That information is well presented in the user guide that
site at www.
shortcourses.com.
came with your camera. Be sure to visit our Web site at www.shortcourses.
com for even more digital photography information.
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CONTENTS
Cover...i When to Override Automatic Exposure...50

Short Courses Books and Web Site...ii Scenes Lighter than Middle Gray...50
Preface...iv Scenes Darker than Middle Gray...51
Contents...v Subject Against a Very Light Background...51
Subject Against a Very Dark Background...52
Scenes with High Contrast...52
CHAPTER 1 How Overriding Autoexposure Works...54
CAMERA CONTROLS AND CREATIVITY...7 How to Override Automatic Exposure...55
Exposure Compensation...55
The 5D Mark II Camera...8 Autoexposure (AE) Lock...55
Jump Start—Using Full Auto Mode...9 Autoexposure Bracketing (AEB)...57
Good Things to Know...10 Using Histograms...59
Using the Viewfinder...12 Displaying Histograms...59
Focus Screens...12 Evaluating Histograms ...59
Diopter Adjustment...12 Clipped Pixels...61
AF Points ...12 Sample Histograms...62
Information Display...12
Anatomy of the Camera...13
Top View ...13 CHAPTER 3
Rear View...14 CONTROLLING SHARPNESS...63
Changing Settings with Buttons and Dials...15
The Main Dial...15 Getting Sharper Pictures...64
The Quick Control Dial...15 Using the Self-timer/Remote Switch...64
The INFO Button...15 Supporting the Camera...64
Changing Settings on the Quick Control Adjusting the ISO...65
Screen...16 Sharpness Isn’t Everything...67
The Quick Control Screen...16 How to Photograph Motion Sharply...68
Dual Function Button Screens...16 Speed of Subject...68
Changing Settings with Menus...17 Direction of Movement...68
Playing Back & Managing Your Images...20 Distance to Subject and Focal Length of
Image Review...20 Lens...69
Image Playback...20 Focus and Depth of Field...70
INFO Display...20 Focus...70
Jumping in Playback...21 Depth of Field...70
Using the Playback Menu...22 Checking Depth of Field...71
Giving Slide Shows...23 Focusing Techniques...72
Selecting Image Quality and Size...24 Autofocus Modes...72
Number of Pixels...24 Selectable Focusing Points...73
How An Image is Captured...26 Displaying AF Points in Playback...74
The Exposure...26 Using Focus Lock...74
It’s All Black and White After All...26 Manual Focus...75
Choosing Image Size and Quality...27 Controlling Depth of Field...76
Using Deep Depth of Field...77
Using Shallow Depth of Field...78
CHAPTER 2 Conveying the Feeling of Motion...79
CONTROLLING EXPOSURE...30
Understanding Exposure...31 CHAPTER 4
The Shutter Controls Light and Motion...32 CAPTURING LIGHT & COLOR...80
The Aperture Controls Light and Depth of
Field...34 Where Does Color Come From?...81
Using Shutter Speed and Aperture Together...36 White Balance and Color...82
Exposure—Faucets & Buckets Analogy...37 Using Preset White Balance Settings...82
Exposure—Seesaw Analogy...38 Creating and Using a Custom White Balance
Retaining Highlight and Shadow Details ...39 Setting...83
Choosing Shooting Modes...40 Using a Specific Color Temperature...84
Using Creative Auto (CA) Mode...41 Selecting a Color Space...84
Using Program AE (P) & Program Shift...42 Using White Balance Correction & Bracketing...85
Using Shutter-Priority (Tv) Mode...43 Color and Time of Day...86
Using Aperture-Priority (Av) Mode...44 Sunsets and Sunrises...87
Using Manual (M) Mode...45 Weather...89
How Your Exposure System Works...46 Photographing at Night...91
Meter Averaging and Middle Gray...46 The Direction of Light...93
Types of Metering...48 The Quality of Light...95
When Automatic Exposure Works Well...49
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CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 7
UNDERSTANDING LENSES...96 OTHER FEATURES AND COMMANDS...136
Canon Lenses...97 Continuous Photography...137
Electronic Lens Mount...97 Remote Control Photography...138
Focusing Technology...97 Shooting Still Images in Live View...139
Ultrasonic Motors...98 Manual Focusing...140
Image Stabilization...98 Live View/Movie Function Settings...140
Information on a Canon Lens...99 Live View Function Settings...140
Lens Peripheral Illumination Correction...100 Screen Settings Type...141
Focal Length...101 Grid Display...141
Zoom Lenses...102 Silent Shooting...141
Normal Lenses...103 Metering Timer...142
Wide-Angle Lenses...104 AF Mode...142
Telephoto Lenses...106 General Tips in Live View...143
Macro Lenses and Accessories...108 Live View Focusing Tips...143
Tilt-Shift Lenses...110 Magnified View for Focusing...144
Lens Accessories...111 Live View Exposure Tips...144
Perspective in a Photograph...112 Shooting Movies in Live View...145
Basic Movie Tips...145
Camera settings...146
CHAPTER 6 Exposure Tips...147
USING FLASH AND STUDIO LIGHTING...113 Things to Avoid...147
Using a TV As the Monitor...147
How Flash Works...114 Playing Movies...148
Using a Canon Speedlite...115 Using Picture Styles...149
Controlling Flash Exposures...116 Selecting Picture Styles...149
What’s E-TTL II?...116 Adjusting Picture Styles...149
Flash Exposure Compensation...116 Registering a Picture Style...150
Flash Exposure (FE) Lock...117 Registering Your Own Settings...151
External Speedlite Control...118 Using Custom Functions...152
Flash Function Settings...118 C.Fn I: Exposure...153
Custom Functions...118 C. Fn II: Image...154
Flash Exposure Bracketing (FEB)...119 C.Fn III: Auto focus/Drive...155
High-speed Sync (FP)...119 C.Fn IV: Operation Others...156
Wireless Remote Flash...120 Using My Menu...158
Stroboscopic Flash...120 Changing Other Settings...159
Portraits with Flash...121 Shooting Without a CF Card...159
Positioning the Flash and Subjects...121 Setting the Date and Time...159
Red-eye...122 Changing the Review Time...159
Using Fill Flash...123 Reset File Numbers...160
Using Slow Sync Flash...124 Turning the Beep On and Off...160
Using Available Light...126 Adjusting Monitor Brightness...161
Using Flash in Close-ups...127 Traveling Options—Language and Video Set-
Studio Lighting...128 tings...161
Candidates for Studio Lighting...128 Setting the Auto Power Off Time...161
Lighting...128 Formatting CF Cards...161
Backgrounds...130 Turning Auto Rotate On and Off...162
Risers...130 Creating and Selecting Folders...162
Special Bulbs...130 Firmware Version...163
Portrait and Product Photography— Battery Info...163
Introduction...131 Resetting Camera Settings...164
The Main Light...132 Caring for Your Camera...165
The Fill Light...133 Cleaning the Image Sensor...165
The Background Light...134 Cleaning the Camera and Lens...167
The Rim Light...135 Protecting your Camera from the Ele-
ments...167
Protecting when Traveling...168
Storing a Camera...168
Caring for Yourself...168
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CHAPTER 1. CAMERA CONTROLS AND CREATIVITY
Chapter 1
Camera Controls and Creativity
S
erious digital cameras give you creative control over your images. They
CONTENTS do so by allowing you to control the light and motion in photographs
• The 5D Mark II as well as what’s sharp and what isn’t. Although most consumer digital
Camera • Jump cameras are fully automatic, some allow you to make minor adjustments that
Start: Using Full affect your images. The best ones such as the Canon 5D Mark II offer inter-
Auto Mode • Good
Things to Know • changeable lenses, external flash connections, and a wide range of controls—
Using the Viewfinder more than you’d find on a 35mm SLR. However, regardless of what controls
• Anatomy of the your camera has, the same basic principles are at work “under the hood.”
Camera • Changing
Settings with Buttons Your automatic exposure and focusing systems are having a profound affect
and Dials • Chang- on your images. Even with your camera set to Full Auto, you can indirectly
ing Settings with the control, or at least take advantage of the effects these systems have on your
Quick Control Screen
• Changing Settings images.
with Menus • Playing
Back & Managing In this chapter, we’ll first explore your camera and how you use it in Full Auto
Your Images • Using mode. We’ll also see how you use menus and buttons to operate the camera,
the Playback Menu • manage your images and control image quality. In the chapters that follow,
Giving Slide Shows
• Selecting Image we’ll explore in greater depth how you take control of these settings, and oth-
Quality and Size ers, to get the effects you want.
FOR MORE ON DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, VISIT HTTP://WWW.SHORTCOURSES.COM 7

THE 5D MARK II CAMERA
Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera features a full-frame (24 x

36mm) image sensor with 21.1 megapixels that can capture still images up
to 5616 x 3744 in size–large enough for 28 x 18 inch prints. Its high-speed
continuous mode captures up to 78 Large/Fine JPEGs or 13 RAW images at
3.9 frames-per-second (on a UDMA Compact Flash card) making it ideal for
photographing wildlife, sports and other action subjects.
The camera has a large three-inch 920,000-pixel LCD monitor on which you
can review your images. Using Live View, you can also use this monitor to
The Canon 5D Mark compose them, magnifying parts of the scene up to 10x for the precise man-
II is a single-lens
reflex (SLR) camera ual focus required in macro photography. Live View also has silent modes
so when you look in that avoid startling people and wildlife. Using Live View, along with software
the viewfinder you and a cable supplied with the camera, you can use a computer screen as the
are seeing the scene
through the lens. viewfinder to compose and focus images, using menu commands displayed
on the screen to change camera settings. Using an optional wireless transmit-
ter you can even eliminate the cable and work wirelessly over short distances.
Live View also makes it possible for the camera to capture full 16:9 HD video
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/SLR/
clips at 1920 x 1080 resolution and 30 frames per second. Camera settings
Click this button to play you make to adjust image sharpness, contrast, color saturation and white
an animation that shows balance, also apply to movies so you have extensive creative control. You also
how an SLR works when
you compose an image
have access to more than 60 Canon EF lenses from ultra-wide-angle and fish-
and press the shutter eye to macro and supertelephoto.
button.
The camera has a top shutter speed of 1/8000 sec and a 1/200 maximum
flash sync shutter speed setting. ISO settings range from 100–6400 but you
can expand the ISO up to 25,600.
The camera’s 14-bit Analog-to-Digital (A/D) conversion process captures
images with finer and more accurate gradations of tones and colors. High-
light Tone Priority is perfect for wedding and nature photographers trying
to capture details in wedding dresses, clouds, snow or other white subjects.
When you don’t plan on editing your images on a computer, Picture Styles let
you adjust them for printing right from the camera as you capture them, or
later in playback mode.
The camera captures images in the JPEG format but also offers the higher-
quality RAW format. You can select either a full-sized RAW image format, or
one of two smaller and more manageable sRAW formats that are identical to
full-size RAW images except for their pixel dimensions and file sizes.
The focusing system uses nine AF points from which you or the camera can
select the one used to focus. Its 35-zone metering sensor and evaluative me-
tering are linked to all AF points. Also available are centerweighted average
metering, partial metering and spot metering—the last two covering approxi-
mately 8 percent or 3.5 percent of the viewfinder at center, respectively.
The camera has E-TTL II autoflash and 7 shooting modes, plus three custom
The 5D Mark II camera modes you can use to store your own settings. As an added convenience, par-
body comes with an
eyecup and body cap, ticularly for wireless flash operations, you can adjust the flash settings of the
battery pack (LP-E6), Canon Speedlite 580EX II and 430EX II directly from the camera.
battery charger (LC-E6
or LC-E6E, strap (EW- The camera’s integrated sensor cleaning offers a number of ways to prevent
EOS5DMKII) interface dust from affecting your images, or remove it if it does.
cable (IFC-200U),
stereo video cable Finally, the camera has customization features including 25 Custom Func-
(STV-250N), EOS Digital
Solutions Disk, and tions, picture styles you can edit or define from scratch, and the ability to
manuals. create your own menu listing only those settings you use most frequently.
8 FOR MORE ON DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, VISIT HTTP://WWW.SHORTCOURSES.COM

JUMP START—USING FULL AUTO MODE
JUMP START—USING FULL AUTO MODE
The 5D Mark II’s Full Auto mode sets everything for you. All you have to do
is frame the image and push the shutter button. This is a good mode to use
in most situations because it lets you focus on the subject rather than on the
camera.
• Selecting the mode. Turn the Power Switch on the back of the camera to
ON and set the Mode Dial to Full Auto (the green rectangle icon).
• Framing the image. The viewfinder shows about 98% of the scene you
are going to capture. If the image in the viewfinder is fuzzy, turn the diopter
The Mode Dial with the
green Full Auto icon. adjustment knob at the upper right corner of the viewfinder to adjust it (page
12).
• Autofocus. The nine small rectangles displayed in the viewfinder are AF
points used for focusing. When the focus switch on the lens is set to AF, the
camera focuses on the closest part of the scene covered by one or more of
these points (page 72). When you press the shutter button halfway down, the
The Power Switch set AF point(s) being used to set focus momentarily flashes red, the round focus
to the white line above
ON.
confirmation light in the lowerright corner of the viewfinder glows green, and
the camera beeps. How close you can get to a subject depends on the mini-
mum focus distance of the lens you are using.
• Autoexposure. Evaluative metering divides the scene in the viewfinder
into 35 zones and separately meters each of them to determine the best
exposure for the scene (page 46). The shutter speed and aperture that will be
used to take the picture are displayed in the viewfinder when the display is
This icon is displayed
activated by pressing the shutter button halfway down (page 12).
when you turn the • Automatic white balance. The color cast in a photograph is affected by
camera on and off to
indicate the sensor is the color of the light illuminating the scene. The camera adjusts white bal-
being cleaned. ance so white objects in the scene look white in the photo (page 82).
TAKING A PICTURE IN AUTO MODE

TIPS
• If the camera
1. With the Power Switch on the back of the camera set to ON or the
doesn’t work as white line above it, set the Mode Dial to Full Auto (the green rect-
described here, you angle icon). Set the focus mode switch on the lens to AF (page 72).
may need to clear
previous settings as 2. Compose the image in the viewfinder, making sure the area that you
described on page
164.
want sharpest is covered by one of the nine AF points.
• If you don’t use 3. Press the shutter button halfway down and pause so the camera can
any controls for 60 automatically set focus and exposure. When it’s done so, it beeps, the
seconds, the camera
enters auto power
round green focus confirmation light in the viewfinder glows, and the
off mode (page 161). AF point(s) being used to set focus briefly flashes red.
To wake it up, press
the shutter button 4. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
halfway down and
release it. ! The shutter sounds, buSY may be briefly displayed in the viewfind-
• If you have at-
er, and the red access lamp on the back of the camera glows while the
tached a dedicated image is being saved. You can take another photo at any time.
Speedlite flash, its
AF-assist beam may ! The image is displayed on the monitor for 2 seconds so you can re-
light to assist focus view it, press Erase to delete it, or press INFO to change the display.
in dim light (page
118). 5. When finished, turn the Power Switch to OFF.

GOOD THINGS TO KNOW
When you first start taking photos with a new camera, it sometimes seems
that there is too much to learn all at once. To simplify your getting started,
here are some of the things you may want to know right off.
• The power switch has two positions, ON and the white line above it. The
only difference is that when set to the white line the Quick Control Dial works
(page 15).
The battery compart- • If your camera is right out of the box, you need to mount a lens (page 97)
ment cover is on the
bottom of the camera and set it to AF (autofocus), insert a charged battery pack, and insert a Com-
and accepts LP-E6 pactFlash (CF) card on which to store your images. No CF card is included
lithium battery packs. with the camera, and there may be no lens as part of the package.
• To insert a CF card, turn off the camera, slide the CF card slot cover on the
right side of the camera toward the back, and swing it open. Insert the CF
card with its front label facing the rear of the camera and the small holes
facing inward. Press the card down until the gray eject button pops out, then
close the cover. To remove a card, open the CF card slot cover and press the
gray eject button to pop up the card so you can grasp it and pull it out.
• The first time you use the camera, select a language (if necessary) and enter
Sections in the battery
icon on the LCD panel
the current date and time (page 159) so your images are accurately dated.
and in the viewfinder
are deleted as the
• One of the camera’s default settings lets you shoot pictures without a CF
battery charge falls. The card in the camera. Images are even displayed on the monitor so you think
last two blink to draw you are capturing them, but they are not saved. To ensure you don’t take
your attention when the
battery is almost dead.
unsaved pictures, turn off the Shoot w/o card setting on the Shooting 1 menu
tab (page 159).
• If you turn off the camera while an image is being saved, the message Re-
cording is displayed and the power remains on until all images are saved.
• Should you inadvertently open the compact flash card door while the cam-
era is writing to the card, a warning is displayed on the monitor and an open
door “alarm” sounds, but the image is saved without interruption as long as
you don’t remove the card.
• To take pictures, hold the camera in your right hand while supporting the
lens with your left. Brace the camera against your face as you look through
The CF card slot cover is the viewfinder and brace your elbows against your body. Press the shutter
on the right side of the button slowly and smoothly as you hold your breath after breathing in deeply
camera as seen from
the shooting position. and exhaling.
• The shutter button has two stages. When you press it halfway down and
briefly pause, the camera sets focus and exposure. When the green confirma-
tion light comes on in the viewfinder and the camera beeps, you press it the
rest of the way to take the picture. If you press the shutter button all of the
Pressing the shutter way down without pausing halfway, the camera pauses to focus before taking
button halfway down
locks focus and the picture.
exposure and pressing it
all the way down takes • If the camera can’t focus, it doesn’t beep when you press the shutter but-
the picture. ton halfway down, the round green focus confirmation light in the viewfinder
blinks, and you can’t take a picture. For help on focusing see page 72.
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%):,-,%):,-,'#12
• In P, Tv, Av, M and B modes pressing the AF-ON button does the same
Click to view a PDF
document on camera thing as pressing the shutter button halfway down.
straps and cases.

GOOD THINGS TO KNOW
• When you don’t use controls for a specified period, the camera shuts down
in two stages. After 4 seconds metering turns off, as do the viewfinder dis-
play and the aperture and/or shutter speed readouts on the LCD panel. After
one minute auto power off takes effect and the LCD panel and monitor turn
off. At this point dials, and many buttons including the three above the LCD
panel, won’t work. To turn on metering, and reactivate the displays and but-
tons, press the shutter button halfway down.
• You can illuminate the LCD panel by pressing the button marked with the
The Mode Dial with light bulb icon on top of the camera.
seven shooting modes
and 3 custom modes. • You can use the camera’s monitor to review images you’ve taken (page 20),
and in Live View (page 139) use it to compose, focus and capture them. You
can adjust the monitor’s brightness to match the light you’re viewing it in
(page 160).
• When you take a picture, it is displayed on the monitor for two seconds but
you can adjust this review time (page 159). While it’s displayed, you can press
the Erase button (page 20) to delete it, or INFO to change the display mode.
If the focus confirmation • While watching the monitor, press the INFO button to cycle through the
light in the viewfinder list-like Camera Settings screen, the grid-like Shooting Functions screen
blinks when you press (page 15), and turning off the monitor. Like the LCD panel, the Shooting
the shutter button
halfway down, the Functions screen reflects setting changes as you or the camera make them.
camera is having
trouble focusing (page • You can reset all camera settings to their factory defaults (page 164). This is
72). useful if you make changes and can’t remember how to undo them.
• When photographing in a studio-like setting, or using the camera to give
a slide show, you can use the optional AC Adapter Kit ACK-E6 to power the
camera instead of the battery pack. Instructions on how to attach the adapter
are included with it.
• Routinely check the shots remaining displayed on the LCD panel and Shoot-
Pressing the LCD Panel ing Functions screen. When the number in brackets gets to zero you can’t
Illumination button
lights the LCD panel take any more photos unless you delete some or change memory cards.
so it’s readable in the
dark. It turns off after • When you charge batteries with the LC-E6 or LC-E6E charger the orange
6 seconds of inactivity. charge lamp blinks more rapidly the more charged the battery is. It blinks
Turning the Mode once per second up to 50%, twice per second up to 75%, three times per sec-
Dial or pressing any
shooting related button ond after 75% and glows green when fully charged. Fully charging a depleted
extends it. battery takes about 2.5 hours.
• A fully charged battery should capture around 800 pictures depending on
the temperature and how often you use flash, the monitor, and Live View.
TIPS
• Recharge batteries immediately before using them because they gradually
• If you press the
INFO button once loose their charge over time.
or twice to display
the Shooting Func- • The battery pack cover can be attached in two directions. Align it so the blue
tions screen on the seal shows through the battery shaped opening to indicate a battery is fully
monitor (it’s grid- charged. Align it in the other direction on a battery that needs charging.
like) and then turn
the Mode Dial, you’ll • If you encounter an error message you can’t resolve, or if the camera con-
see the settings
for each shooting trols “freeze,” you might “reboot” it by turning it off, removing the battery
mode. Those that are for a few seconds, reinserting the battery and turning it back on. Sometimes
grayed out can’t be ensuring that the lens is locked into place also helps.
changed in the cur-
rent shooting mode.
• See the Battery
info command on
page 163.

USING THE VIEWFINDER
When taking photos with the 5D Mark II, you normally compose them in
the viewfinder. Since this is your center of interest, the camera also displays
focus and exposure information to guide you.
FOCUS SCREENS
The camera accepts three interchangeable focus screens. Should you switch
them, you have to set Custom Function IV-5 Focusing screen (page 152) to
tell the camera which one you have installed.
• The Eg-A focus screen comes with your camera. It displays a bright view of
the scene and makes it easy to manually focus.
The Eg-D optional focus
screen. • The Eg-D is the same as Eg-A but displays grid lines that are great for
studio and architectural photography where accurately aligning vertical and
horizontal lines is important.
• The Eg-S is a super-precision matte screen designed for lenses with a maxi-
mum aperture of f/2.8 or larger. This screen makes manual focusing easier
and more precise than the Eg-A, but when used with a lens slower than f/2.8,
the viewfinder image is darker.
DIOPTER ADJUSTMENT
The diopter adjustment
You can adjust the viewfinder display so you can read it without glasses.
knob. To do so, remove the lens cap and look through the viewfinder at an evenly
lit surface or fairly bright light source (not the sun!). If the viewfinder dis-
play isn’t sharp, try to bring the AF points into focus by turning the dioptric
adjustment knob at the upperright corner of the viewfinder. If this doesn’t
work, the camera also accepts the accessory E-series Dioptric Adjustment
Lenses in 10 types ranging from -4 to +3 diopters. These lenses slip into the
viewfinder’s eyepiece holder.
AF POINTS
When focus is achieved
the AF point or points The viewfinder displays nine small rectangles called AF points (AF stands
being used to set focus for autofocus). When the focus switch on the lens is set to AF (page 72), the
flash red and the green
confirmation light
camera focuses on the closest part of the scene covered by one or more of
glows steady in the these AF points. The one being used to set focus can be selected manually or
viewfinder. automatically (page 73). When you press the shutter button halfway down,
the focusing point or points being used to set focus flash red. The circle in the
center of the viewfinder indicates the spot metering area (page 48).
TIP
• To turn on meter-
ing and display expo-
INFORMATION DISPLAY
sure information on When you press the shutter button halfway down, the viewfinder displays the
the LCD panel and in
the viewfinder, press
current shutter speed and aperture, the ISO, the shots remaining in continu-
the shutter button ous mode, and the focus confirmation indicator. In P, Tv, Av, M and B modes
halfway down. it also displays an exposure level indicator that’s used for setting exposure
compensation (page 55) and Manual (M) exposure (page 45). A number of
other indicators are also displayed during various procedures.
The viewfinder display
stays on for 4 seconds
after you press the
shutter button halfway
down.

ANATOMY OF THE CAMERA
ANATOMY OF THE CAMERA
The 5D Mark II has a number of buttons and dials that quickly change im-
TIPS
portant settings without the time-consuming need to work your way through
• You can quickly menus.
reset all camera set-
tings to their original
factory defaults
(page 164).
• You can connect
the camera to a
computer and use
Live View (page 139)
so you and others
can immediately see
photos as you take
them. This is a great
way to take portraits
and close-ups.
The shutter button (top)

and Main Dial (bottom).
TIP
• Blue icons indi-
cate the function of
buttons in Playback
mode. TOP VIEW
1. Mode Dial selects any of the camera’s shooting modes (page 40).
2. Shutter button sets exposure and focus and turns on metering, the view-
finder, and LCD panel displays when pressed halfway down, and takes the
photo when pressed all the way.
3. Main Dial is used by itself and with buttons to change camera settings
in shooting modes (page 15). In playback mode, turning the dial jumps you
After pressing a button
that has two functions,
through pictures you’ve taken (page 20).
turning the Main Dial
changes the first setting
4. LCD Panel Illumination button lights the LCD panel.
and turning the Quick
Control Dial changes the
5. Metering/WB button selects the metering mode (page 48) in conjunc-
second. tion with the Main Dial and sets white balance (page 82) in conjunction with
the Quick Control Dial.
6. AF-DRIVE button specifies autofocus modes (page 72) in conjunction
with the Main Dial and cycles the camera among the drive modes single-shot,
continuous (page 137), and self-timer (page 64) in conjunction with the Quick
Control Dial.
7. ISO/Flash Exposure Compensation button, in conjunction with the
Main Dial changes the ISO (page 65), and sets flash exposure compensation
(page 116) in conjunction with the Quick Control Dial.

REAR VIEW
TIPS
• Throughout this
book when we tell
you to turn the Quick
Control Dial, in many
cases you can also
turn the Main Dial.
• You can quickly

reset camera settings
to their original fac-
tory defaults (page
164).
• In P, Tv, Av, M and
B modes (page 40),
pressing the AF-ON
button performs the
same function as
pressing the shutter
button halfway down.
1. Live View/Print/Share button, when pressed in shooting mode, turns

on Live View when it’s enabled. In playback mode, it lets you print or transfer
images when connected to a printer or computer.
2. MENU button displays and hides the menu on the monitor (page 17).
3. Picture Style selection button changes picture styles (page 149).
4. INFO button cycles you through information about camera settings in
shooting mode (page 15), or images in playback mode (page 20).
5. Playback button displays the last image you captured (page 20).
6. Erase button deletes the image displayed on the monitor (page 20).
7. AF-ON button autofocuses in P, Tv, Av, M and B modes (page 72).
8. AE/FE lock/Index/Reduce button (*) locks exposure (page 55) and
flash exposure (page 117). In playback mode, it unzooms a zoomed image and
TIP switches to index view (page 20).
• You can press 9. AF point selection/Magnify button, in conjunction with the Main or
the Multi-controller Quick Control Dial, manually selects which AF point is used to set focus (page
straight down and in
eight sideways direc-
73). In Playback and Live View modes it zooms images up to 10x (page 20).
tions. You use it to
select the AF point,
10. Multi-controller, a small joy stick, moves in 8 directions plus straight
correct the white down. It selects AF points (page 73), makes white balance corrections (page
balance, scroll the 85) and scrolls around an enlarged image in playback mode (page 20).
playback image dur-
ing magnified view, 11. SET button in the middle of the Quick Control Dial confirms settings
operate the Quick
Control screen, and
and starts and stops movie recording (page 145).
highlight and select
menu options except
12. Quick Control Dial adjusts exposure by itself, and works in conjunc-
Erase images on the tion with buttons to change settings in shooting mode (page 15). In playback
Playback 1 menu and mode it scrolls through images, and in menu mode it highlights menu com-
Format on the Set up
1 menu where you
mands.
have to press SET
instead.
13. Power switch turns the camera on and off, and when set to the white
line, activates the Quick Control Dial in shooting modes.

CHANGING SETTINGS WITH BUTTONS AND DIALS
CHANGING SETTINGS WITH BUTTONS AND DIALS
Buttons and dials are often used together. Pressing a button initiates a proce-
dure by activating metering and the exposure displays, in the viewfinder and
on the LCD panel and monitor, and then turning a dial highlights one of the
available options. Each time you press a button to initiate a procedure, you
only have about 6 seconds to turn the dial or the displays become inactive.
• Many buttons, including the three above the LCD panel, won’t work when
auto power off is in effect (page 161). To wake up the camera, press the shut-
ter button halfway down and release it.
When you press many • After pressing buttons that have two functions, such as AF-DRIVE, turn-
buttons, their function ing the Main Dial changes the setting listed first (AF) and turning the Quick
remains active for only
6 seconds. If you are Control Dial changes the one listed second (DRIVE).
slow, just press the
button again for another
6 seconds. THE MAIN DIAL
The Main Dial is used to change settings in shooting modes, highlight menu
tabs in menu mode (page 17), and jump through pictures in playback mode
(page 21).
• When changing metering, AF mode, ISO or selecting an AF point, you first
The Quick Control Dial press and release a button to select a setting before you turn the dial.
only adjusts exposure
settings when the • When changing shutter speeds and apertures in P, Tv, Av, M and B modes
Power Switch is set to you turn the dial without first pressing a button (pages 41–45).
the white line above
ON. Setting it to ON • After pressing MENU, turn the dial to select menu tabs listing commands
prevents inadvertent (page 17).
shifts in exposure by
turning the dial.
THE QUICK CONTROL DIAL
The Quick Control Dial works in shooting modes to change settings, in menu
mode to highlight menu commands, and in playback mode to scroll through
images.
• When changing the white balance, drive mode, flash exposure compensa-
tion or AF point selection, you first press and release a button to select a set-
TIPS ting before you turn the dial.
• Many buttons won’t • When changing exposure compensation (page 55) or selecting an aperture
work when auto
power off is in effect in Manual (M) mode (page 45), you turn the dial by itself. This only works
so press the shutter when the Power Switch is set past ON to the white line pointing to the Quick
button halfway down Control Dial
and release it to ac-
tivate metering and • After pressing MENU turn the dial to move the highlight up and down the
the camera’s LCD
panel displays. menu.
• If you turn the
camera off while the THE INFO BUTTON
Shooting Functions
screen is displayed, When the camera is ready to shoot, you can press the INFO button to cycle
the screen will be through the list-like Camera Settings, the grid-like Shooting Functions
displayed again the
next time you turn screens, and turning off the monitor. You can use the Set up 3 menu’s INFO
on the camera. To button setting to specify which screens are displayed.
avoid this, press
the INFO button to When the Shooting Functions screen is displayed, you can use it instead of
display a different the LCD panel as a guide when changing settings. It has the advantage of
screen before turning
off the camera. larger type and better illumination. You can also press the Multi-controller
straight down to activate it and change it into the Quick Control screen.

CHANGING SETTINGS ON THE QUICK CONTROL SCREEN
In addition to using menus to change or confirm settings, you can also use
the Quick Control screen and the three dual function buttons above the LCD
panel.
THE QUICK CONTROL SCREEN

You can use the Quick Control screen and Multi-controller to change set-
tings on the monitor. This is very convenient when you’re shooting from a
tripod or monopod, with the camera at eye level, where it’s hard to read the
LCD panel on top of the camera. This screen is almost identical to the Shoot-
ing Functions screen (page 15). In fact if you display the Shooting Functions
screen and then press the Multi-controller straight down, it changes into the
Quick Control screen.
The Quick Control
screen (top) and
a settings screen USING THE QUICK CONTROL SCREEN
(bottom).
1. Press the joystick-like Multi-controller straight down to activate the
Quick Control screen displaying the current camera settings on the
monitor. The currently selected setting is highlighted in green and
TIPS remains highlighted for only 10 seconds if you don’t use any camera
• You can’t display controls.
the Quick Control
screen when the 2. Press the Multi-controller in any direction to highlight the setting
camera is in auto you want to change and its function is indicated at the bottom of the
power off mode. screen.
Press the shutter
button halfway down 3. Press SET to display a settings screen (this is optional), then turn the
and release it to
wake up the camera. Main or Quick Control Dial to scroll through choices for the selected
setting. If you displayed a setting screen, press SET after selecting
• When Custom
Function III-3: your choice to return to the Quick Control screen.
AF point selection
method is set to
1: Multi-control- DUAL FUNCTION BUTTON SCREENS
ler direct, you can’t
display the Quick
The three buttons above the LCD panel each have two functions. When the
Control screen. Shooting Functions or Quick Control screen is displayed, you can press one of
• Settings remain
these buttons to display a two-part setting screen on the monitor.
selected for 10 sec-
onds if you don’t use
• Turning the Main Dial changes the upper setting.
any controls. Press
the Multi-control-
• Turning the Quick Control Dial changes the lower setting.
ler straight down to
reselect it.
The three buttons above

the LCD panel each
have two settings you
change with the Main
and Quick Control Dials.

CHANGING SETTINGS WITH MENUS
To change many settings, you press the MENU button to display a series of
menu tabs coded with colors, icons and dots. To charge settings from these
menus you use the Main Dial, the Quick Control Dial and the SET button.
• All of the camera’s menu commands and the pages on which they are
discussed in this book are listed in tables on pages 18–19. On those tables,
shaded menu items are not available in Full or Creative Auto modes (pages 9
and 41).
• Some menus are spread across two or three tabs. In these cases the tab
numbers (1, 2, 3) are indicated on the tabs with dots.
• You can use the Multi-controller as well as the Main and Quick Control
Icons, colors and Dials to change menu settings. To do so, you press it sideways to highlight
dots indicate (from menu items and press it straight down to select them. (To reduce the pos-
top down) Shooting, sibility of mistakes, you can’t use the Multi-controller to select Erase images
Playback, Set up,
Custom Functions and on the Playback 1 menu or Format on the Set up 1 menu.)
My Menu tabs.
• When menus are displayed on the monitor, you can press the shutter button
halfway down at any time to instantly return to shooting mode.
• You can place up to six frequently used menu commands on your own “My
Menu” and even have that menu displayed first when you press the MENU
button (page 158).
• The last menu you viewed is displayed the next time you press MENU.
USING MENUS
• To display the menu, press the MENU button.
Once you press MENU,
the Main Dial, the Quick • To select a tab, turn the Main Dial. Colors, dots, and icons help you
Control Dial (above) and identify which menu tab is displayed.
the SET button in its
center are all you need • To move the colored selection frame up and down the menu to high-
to change settings.
light settings, turn the Quick Control Dial.
• To display the options or settings screen for a highlighted command,
press the SET button in the center of the Quick Control Dial.
• To select a listed option (not all commands list options), turn the
Quick Control Dial to highlight it, then press SET to confirm the change.
• To backup without changing a setting, press MENU or the shutter
button before pressing SET.
The Shooting 1 menu.
• To hide the menu, press the MENU or shutter button.

In the tables on this SHOOTING 1 (RED)

page shaded commands
are not available in Full Command Settings Page
Auto and Creative auto Quality Sets image size, compression and format 27
modes.
Beep Turns camera beep Off/On 160
Shoot w/o card Specifies if the camera takes pictures without 159
a card inserted
Review time Specifies how long an image is displayed im- 159
mediately after capture
Peripheral illumin. Turns on and off for the selected lens. 100
correct.
SHOOTING 2 (RED)
Command Settings Page
Expo.comp./AEB Exposure compensation and autoexposure 55, 57

bracketing
White balance Prevents color casts 82
Custom WB Sets white balance in unique lighting situa- 83
tions
WB SHIFT/BKT Adjusts and brackets white balance 85
Color space Specifies the color space used to capture 84
images
Picture Style Lets you select predefined image settings, or 149
create your own
Dust Delete Data Locates dust on the sensor so its effects can 166
be removed from images using software.
PLAYBACK 1 (BLUE)
Protect images Protects images from being erased 22
Rotate Rotates images shot in portrait mode 22

Erase images Erases images from the memory card 22
Some settings are only Print order Specifies images to be printed —
displayed when you
are using an optional Transfer order Selects images to be sent to PC —
WFT-E4/E4A wireless External media Used with WFT-E4/E4A wireless transmitter —
transmitter. backup to save images
PLAYBACK 2 (BLUE)
Highlight alert Highlights overexposed areas in images 59
AF point disp. Specifies if AF points used to focus are dis- 74

played in review or playback modes
Histogram Selects type of histogram displayed 59
Slide show Plays back images automatically 23
Image jump Specifies how you jump in playback mode. 21

In the tables on this SET UP 1 (YELLOW)

page shaded commands
are not available in Full Command Settings Page
Auto and Creative auto Auto power off Specifies when camera turns off 161
modes.
Auto rotate Rotates images shot in portrait mode 162
Format Prepares card to store images 161
File numbering Specifies image file numbers 160
Select folder Create and select folders for images 162
WFT settings Used with WFT-E4/E4A wireless —
transmitter
Recording function+media Used with WFT-E4/E4A wireless —
select transmitter
SET UP 2 (YELLOW)
LCD brightness Adjusts monitor brightness 161
Date/Time Sets camera date and time 159

Language Specifies language used for menus 161
and messages
Video system Specifies PAL or NTSC video 161
Sensor cleaning Cleans dust from the sensor 165
Live View/Movie func. set. Customizes the Live View display 139
SET UP 3 (YELLOW)
Battery info. Manage your battery packs 163
INFO. button Specifies which INFO screens are 15

displayed
External Speedlite control Sets an external flash 118
Camera user setting Stores your own settings to C1, C2 151

and C3 on the Mode Dial
Clear settings Resets many camera settings to their 164
factory defaults
Firmware ver. Updates the camera’s firmware 163
CUSTOM FUNCTIONS (ORANGE)

C.Fn I: Exposure Exposure, ISO, bracketing, flash sync 153
C.Fn II: Image Noise reduction, highlight tone and 154

auto lighting optimizer
C.Fn III: Autofocus/Drive Autofocus and mirror lockup 155
C.Fn IV: Operation/Others Shutter button, AF-ON, SET dials, 156
focusing screen and Live View
Clear all Custom Func. (C.Fn) Resets Custom Functions to their 152
defaults
MY MENU (GREEN)
My Menu settings Stores frequently used commands 158

PLAYING BACK & MANAGING YOUR IMAGES
When taking photos, there are many times when you want to review the im-
TIPS ages you’ve taken, ideally before leaving the scene.
• After zooming an
image or displaying
information about IMAGE REVIEW
it, you can turn
the Main or Quick
When you take a photo, it’s displayed for 2 seconds (counting from when
Control Dials to scroll you release the shutter button) although you can change this with the Re-
through other im- view time command (page 159) on the Shooting 1 menu tab. With an image
ages using the same
settings.
displayed, press the Erase button to delete it, or the INFO button to change
the information display. Pressing either button also keeps the image on the
• To immediately
return to shooting
screen until you press the shutter button halfway down to take another photo
mode, press the or auto power off takes effect.
shutter button half-
way down.
IMAGE PLAYBACK
To review some or all of the images you have taken, press the Playback but-
ton to display the last photo you took. You can then scroll through images,
display small thumbnails so you can quickly locate a specific image, erase
the image, or zoom in to examine details. In playback mode, you can press
the shutter button halfway down at any time to instantly return to shooting
mode. You may not be able to playback photos on the card taken with an-
other camera.
Pressing INFO in
playback mode displays
information about the
image. INFO DISPLAY
To display or hide information about images in review or playback modes,
repeatedly press the INFO button to cycle through single image display,
single image display with recording quality, histogram display, and shoot-
ing information display. On two of the screens a small thumbnail and one or
The Playback icon.
more histograms are displayed (page 59). Once information is displayed for
one image in playback (but not review) mode, you can turn the Quick Control
Dial to scroll through other images with the same information displayed.
MANAGING IMAGES—USING BUTTONS

The Index/Reduce
icons. 1. Press the Playback button and use any of the following procedures:
! To display one image after another, turn the Quick Control Dial.
! To display 4 or 9 small thumbnails in index view, press the Index
button once or twice. Turn the Quick Control Dial to scroll the blue
frame to select a specific image. To return to single-image view, press
the Magnify button.
The Magnify icon.
! To jump by the specified method (page 21), turn the Main Dial.
! To magnify an image up to 10x, display it in single-image view and
press or hold down the Magnify button. When an image is magnified,
a small square on the screen indicates which part of the image you
are viewing as you press the Multi-controller to scroll around. To re-
duce the image and return to single-image view, press or hold down
the Index/Reduce button or press the Playback button.
The Erase icon.
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE ...

PLAYING BACK & MANAGING YOUR IMAGES
TIP MANAGING IMAGES—USING BUTTONS, CON’T.

• One way to delete ! To erase the image displayed in single-image view or the one high-
all images on a card lighted in index view, press the Erase button (marked with a trash
(and all folders but
the current one), is can icon). To confirm the erasure, turn the Quick Control Dial to
to format the card highlight Erase and press SET.
(page 161).
! To change the information displayed, press INFO.
2. To resume shooting, press the Playback button or press the shutter
JUMPING IN PLAYBACK
The Playback icon.
In playback mode, it takes time to navigate through images when there are
many of them on a card. To speed things up you can turn the Main Dial to
jump in single-image, magnified, and index modes. The jump methods from
which you can choose include the following:
• 1 image displays all of the images and movies in the order they were cap-
tured.
• 10 images (the default) jumps you forward and back 10 images at a time.
• 100 images jumps you forward and back 100 images at a time.
• Screen, designed for use in index mode, jumps you forward and back a
screen, or page of thumbnails, at a time.
• Date jumps you forward or back to the first picture taken on the next or
previous date.
• Folder jumps folder by folder.
• Movies jumps you to the first movie and then to other movies.
• Stills jumps you to the first still image, then through other stills.
In all modes other than 1 image, as you turn the Main Dial to jump, a position
bar on the screen indicates where the currently displayed images fall within
the total collection of images on the card. Also turning the Quick Control Dial
continues to scroll through images one at a time.
SELECTING A JUMP METHOD

1. Press MENU and display the Playback 2 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Image jump, and press SET
to display a list jump methods.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight your choice, and press SET
to select it.
4. When finished, press MENU and turn the Main Dial in playback
mode to jump by the specified method. The current jump method
and location are displayed in the lowerright corner of the monitor.
IMAGE RECOVERY SOFTWARE

• If you delete images by mistake, don’t despair. There is software that will let
you recover them provided you don’t first save other photos on the same card.
One such program is PhotoRescue at (http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/)
but you can find others by Googling “digital image recovery.”

USING THE PLAYBACK MENU
The Playback menu tabs list a variety of commands. Although only Protect
TIPS
images, Rotate, and Erase images from the Playback 1 menu tab are dis-
• When looking for cussed here, the other playback commands are discussed elsewhere in this
pictures to erase,
protect, or rotate, book (page 18).
it’s often faster if
you press the In-
dex/Reduce button MANAGING YOUR IMAGES—USING MENUS
to switch to index
display. 1. Press MENU and display the Playback 1 menu tab.
• You can rotate im- ! To protect selected images so they won’t be inadvertently erased,
ages automatically
with the Set up 1 or to unprotect previously protected images, turn the Quick Control
menu’s Auto rotate Dial to highlight Protect images and press SET. Turn the Quick Con-
command (page trol Dial to scroll through images and press SET to protect or unpro-
162).
tect selected images. (When you select a protected image, the protect
• Print order is used icon is displayed at the top of the screen.)
to specify which
images are to be ! To rotate selected images, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight
printed.
Rotate, and press SET. Turn the Quick Control Dial to scroll through
• Transfer Order your images and press SET one or more times to rotate an image.
is used to select
which photos are ! To erase selected images, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight
transferred to your
computer. Erase images and press SET. Turn the Quick Control Dial to high-
light Select and erase images and press SET. Turn the Quick Control
Dial to scroll through images and press SET to check those to be
deleted. (Press Index and Magnify to toggle between 1 or 3 images.)
When finished selecting images, press the Erase button to delete
them and select OK when asked to confirm.
The protect icon.
! To erase all images in a folder, turn the Quick Control Dial to
highlight Erase images and press SET. Turn the Quick Control Dial
TIP to highlight All images in folder, and press SET to display a list of
The best way to de- folders. Turn the Quick Control Dial again to select a folder and press
lete images depends SET, then turn it again to select OK and press SET.
on how many you
are deleting. ! To erase all images on the card, turn the Quick Control Dial to
• When deleting highlight Erase images and press SET. Turn the Quick Control Dial
100% of the images, to highlight All images on card, and press SET, then turn it again to
use the All images on
card choice. select OK and press SET.
• When deleting less 2. When finished, press MENU.
than 50%, use the
Select and erase im-
ages choice.
• When deleting
more than 50%, pro-
tect the images you
want to save, and
then use the All im-
ages on card choice
to delete the rest.

GIVING SLIDE SHOWS
GIVING SLIDE SHOWS
You can display your images as a slide show on the camera’s monitor or on a
connected TV.
• To show your images on a non-HD TV, turn both the TV and the camera off
while you connect the supplied video cable (don’t use any other) to the A/V
OUT terminal on the camera. On the TV connect the red plug to the audio
right channel, the white to the audio left channel, and the yellow to video in.
Turn on the TV and set it for video input.
• To show your images on a High Definition HD TV connect the camera and
The optional HDMI
TV using the camera’s built-in HDMI OUT terminal and an optional HDMI
Cable HTC-100 used to Cable HTC-100. Output resolution is automatically set to match the model
display images on HD of HDTV you are using and photos are displayed in their original 3:2 aspect
TVs.
ratio.
Once the camera and TV are connected, turn on the camera and set it to Slide
show as described below. Shows can include all of the still images and movies
on the memory card, just movies or still images, or specific photos selected by
their date or folder. For added convenience you can control the playback rate
(from one to five seconds per image) and set the show to end or loop when
finished. Auto power off does not operate in slide show mode so you have
to remember to turn it off. If you are traveling and need to switch between
NTSC and PAL video systems see page 161.
The camera’s HDMI
terminal.
GIVING SLIDE SHOWS
TIPS 1. Press MENU and select the Playback 2 menu tab.
• Canon’s optional 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Slide show, and press SET
AC adapter kit (ACK-
E6) lets you give
to display the slide show settings screen.
slide shows without
draining your battery
3. Do one of the following:
pack.
! Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight All images and press SET.
• When giving a slide Turn it again to select All images, Folder, Date, Movies or Stills and
show, due to differ-
ences in the aspect
press SET. If you select Folder or Date, before pressing SET press
ratio of the screen INFO to display a list of folders or dates from which to choose. Use
and image, im- the Quick Control Dial and SET to select a folder or date and press
ages may not fill the
screen, or if they do,
MENU to return to the slide show screen.
parts may be cut off.
! Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Set up and press SET.
• You can’t use the Turn it again to select Play time or Repeat and press SET. Use the
camera’s A/V OUT
and HDMI OUT ter-
Quick Control Dial and SET to select a setting and press MENU to
minals at the same return to the slide show screen.
time.
4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Start and press SET to begin
the show.
! To pause and restart the show, press SET. When paused, a pause
icon is displayed in the upper left corner of the monitor.
! To manually scroll through images, turn the Main or Quick Control
Dial.
When paused, a pause
icon is displayed in the ! To specify what information is displayed, press INFO.
upper left corner of the
monitor. 5. To stop the show at any point, press the MENU or shutter button.

SELECTING IMAGE QUALITY AND SIZE
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/dots/
Digital photographs are made up of millions of tiny squares called picture el-
ements—or just pixels. Like the impressionists who painted wonderful scenes
Click to see how dots with small dabs of paint, your computer and printer can use these tiny pixels
are used in printing.
to display or print photographs. To do so, the computer divides the screen or
printed page into a grid of pixels. It then uses the values stored in the digital
photograph to specify the brightness and color of each pixel in this grid—a
form of painting by number.
Any image that looks

sharp and has smooth
transitions in tones
(top) is actually made
up of millions of
individual square pixels
(bottom). Each pixel is
a solid, uniform color.
TIP
• The term “resolu-
tion” has two mean-
ings in photography.
Originally it referred
to the ability of a
camera system to
resolve pairs of fine
lines such as those
found on a test
chart. In this usage
it’s an indicator of
sharpness, not im-
age size. With the
introduction of digital
cameras it began be-
ing used to indicate
the number of pixels
a camera could cap-
ture.
NUMBER OF PIXELS
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/resolution/
Click to explore the
The quality of a digital image depends in part on the number of pixels used to
original meaning of create the image (sometimes referred to as resolution). At a given size, more
“resolution”. pixels add detail and sharpen edges. However, there are always size limits.
When you enlarge any digital image enough, the pixels begin to show—an
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/pixelzoom/
effect called pixelization. This is not unlike traditional silver-based prints
Click to see the effects where grain begins to show when prints are enlarged past a certain point.
of pixelization as an
image is enlarged.

SELECTING IMAGE QUALITY AND SIZE
When a digital image

is displayed or printed
at the correct size for
the number of pixels it
contains, it looks like
a normal photograph.
When enlarged too
much (as is the eye
here), its square pixels
begin to show. Each
pixel is a small square
made up of a single
color.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/imagesize/
Click to see how
the output device
determines image sizes.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/pixelresolution/
Click to explore how
more pixels give
sharper images.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/excel/math-imagesize.xls
The size of a photograph is specified in one of two ways—by its dimensions in
pixels or by the total number of pixels it contains. For example, the same im-
Click for Excel work
sheet on image sizes.
age can be said to have 5616 " 3744 pixels (where “"” is pronounced “by” as
in “5616 by 3744”), or to contain a little over 21 million pixels or megapixels
(5616 multiplied by 3744).
Image sizes are

expressed as
dimensions in pixels
(5616 ! 3744) or by
the total number of
pixels (21 megapixels).
5D MARK II
IMAGE SIZES
• The 5D Mark II
gives you a choice
of three image
sizes: 5616 ! 3744
(large), 4080 x 2720
(medium), and 2353
! 1856 (small) plus
small RAW images.

HOW AN IMAGE IS CAPTURED

Digital cameras are very much like the rapidly disappearing 35mm film
cameras. Both types contain a lens, an aperture, and a shutter. The lens
brings light from the scene into focus inside the camera so it can expose an
image. The aperture is a hole that can be made smaller or larger to control
the amount of light entering the camera. The shutter is a device that can be
opened or closed to control the length of time the light is allowed to enter.
The big difference between traditional film cameras and digital cameras
is how they capture the image. Instead of film, digital cameras use a solid-
state device called an image sensor. In the 5D Mark II, the image sensor is a
CMOS chip. On the surface of this full-frame silicon chip is a grid containing
over 21 million photosensitive diodes called photosites, photoelements, or
pixels. Each photosite captures a single pixel in the photograph to be.
THE EXPOSURE
When you press the shutter button of a digital camera, an exposure system
measures the light coming through the lens and sets the aperture and shutter
speed for the correct exposure. When the shutter opens briefly, each pixel on
the image sensor records the brightness of the light that falls on it by accu-
mulating an electrical charge. The more light that hits a pixel, the higher the
charge it records. Pixels capturing light from highlights in the scene will have
high charges. Those capturing light from shadows will have low charges.
An image sensor When the shutter closes to end the exposure, the charge from each pixel is
against a background
enlargement of its measured and converted into a digital number. This series of numbers is then
square pixels, each used to reconstruct the image by setting the color and brightness of matching
capable of capturing pixels on the screen or printed page.
one pixel in the final
image.
IT’S ALL BLACK AND WHITE AFTER ALL
It may be surprising, but pixels on an image sensor can only capture bright-
ness, not color. They record only the gray scale—a series of 256 increasingly
darker tones ranging from pure white to pure black. How the camera creates
a color image from the brightness recorded by each pixel is an interesting
story.
The gray scale contains
a range of tones from
pure white to pure
black.
When photography was first invented, it could only record black and white
TIPS
images. The search for color was a long and arduous process, and a lot of
• You can change hand coloring went on in the interim (causing one photographer to comment
contrast, sharpness, “so you have to know how to paint after all!”). One major breakthrough was
saturation, and color
tone settings using James Clerk Maxwell’s 1860 discovery that color photographs could be cre-
Picture Styles (page ated using black and white film and red, blue, and green filters. He had the
149). photographer Thomas Sutton photograph a tartan ribbon three times, each
• When you change time with a different color filter over the lens. The three black and white im-
image quality, the ages were then projected onto a screen with three different projectors, each
LCD panel always equipped with the same color filter used to take the image being projected.
indicates the number
of new shots that will When brought into alignment, the three images formed a full-color photo-
fit on the current CF graph. Over a century later, image sensors work much the same way.
card.

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Colors in a photographic image are usually based on the three primary colors
red, green, and blue (RGB). This is called the additive color system because
when the three colors are combined or added in equal quantities, they form
white. This RGB system is used whenever light is projected to form colors as
it is on the display monitor (or in your eye).
Since daylight is made up of red, green, and blue light; placing red, green,
and blue filters over individual pixels on the image sensor can create color
images just as they did for Maxwell in 1860. Using a process called interpola-
RGB uses additive tion, the camera computes the full color of each pixel by combining the color
colors. When all three it captured directly with the other two colors captured by the pixels around it.
are mixed in equal
amounts they form How well it does this is affected in part by the image size, quality and format
white. When red and you select.
green overlap they form
yellow, and so on. The 5D Mark II allows you to have up to four image size/quality/format set-
tings in use at the same time.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/RGB/
• Full auto, Creative auto (CA), P, Tv, Av, M, and B (page 40) are treated as a
Click to explore how group. A change in any of these modes changes all of them.
three colors are used to
create full-color images • Camera user settings C1 through C3 (page 151) can each be set indepen-
on the screen.
dently to it’s own image quality.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/CMYK/
CHOOSING IMAGE SIZE AND QUALITY
three colors are used toThe size of an image file and the quality of the picture it contains depends
in part on the image’s size (the number of pixels), quality (the amount of
create full-color prints.
compression), and format (JPEG or RAW). The 5D Mark II lets you select
any of the combinations listed in the table below that describes each setting’s
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/compression/
approximate file size, pixel dimensions, and the number that will fit on a 2
Click here to see the Gigabyte memory card. (Your file sizes will vary somewhat depending on the
effects of compression. subject matter and camera settings you use.)
MENU FILE SIZE IMAGE SIZE # ON 2GB

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/RAW/
(IN MB) (IN PIXELS) CARD
Click here to explore Large/Fine 6.1 5616 x 3744 310
the differences between
Large/Normal 3.0 5616 x 3744 610
JPEG and RAW formats.
Medium/Fine 3.6 4080 x 2720 510
Medium/Normal 1.9 4080 x 2720 990
Small/Fine 2.1 2784 x 1856 910
Small/Normal 1.0 2784 x 1856 1680
RAW 25.8 5616 x 3744 72
RAW+Large/Fine 25.8+6.1 5616 x 3744 57
sRAW1 14.8 3861 x 2574 120
sRAW1+Large/Fine 14.8+6.1 3861 x 2574 89
sRAW2 10.8 2784 x 1856 170
sRAW2+Large/Fine 10.8+6.1 2784 x 1856 110
A high capacity UDMA Since good prints can be made using 200 pixels per inch you can calculate
CF card lets you store that a 5616 x 3744 pixel image will make a good 28 x 19 inch (71 x 48 cm)
the largest possible
images without
print. Although you may not want to make many prints this large, large image
worrying as much about sizes also let you crop more while preserving image quality.
running out of storage
space. Fast cards are • JPEG images are stored in a format named after its developer, the Joint
needed for the large Photographic Experts Group and pronounced “jay-peg.” This file format
image sizes and movies
the camera generates.
not only compresses images, it also allows you to specify how much they are
Courtesy of SanDisk. compressed—Fine mode uses less compression than Normal mode. This is a

useful feature because there is a trade-off between compression and image

quality. Less compression gives you better images so you can make larger
prints. The only downside is that you can’t store as many images because file
sizes are larger.
• RAW images are often better than JPEGs because they are not processed in
the camera, but on your more powerful desktop computer. In fact, the only
camera settings that affect a RAW image are the shutter speed, aperture,
focus, ISO and Custom Function II-2: High ISO speed noise reduction. Their
big advantage is that RAW files contain every bit of the captured image data,
unlike JPEGs which are processed in the camera with some of their data
being permanently discarded. Full-sized RAW images are 5616 x 3744 pixels
in size and can be viewed, edited, and converted to other formats using most
Image sizes are
photo-editing software such as Photoshop or Lightroom or Canon’s own Digi-
indicated by letters tal Photo Professional program included on a CD that comes with the camera.
L, M, and S (large,
medium, and small). When you want to capture high-quality RAW images but don’t need as many
Compression modes are pixels or want large file sizes the 5D Mark II offers two smaller RAW formats.
indicated with pie-slice-
like icons. Fine mode
sRAW1 captures 10 megapixel images (3861 x 2574) with a file size that is
has a smooth edge and about 40% of a standard 21 megapixel RAW image. sRAW2 captures 5.2
Normal mode has a megapixel images (2784 x 1856) with a file size of only 20% of a standard
rough stair-step edge.
RAW image.
RAW images can be captured by themselves or with a companion JPEG im-
age of any size. This gives you a high quality RAW file and an identical but
TIP more easily distributable file. The two images have the same name but differ-
ent extensions—.CR2 and .JPG.
• When you capture
a RAW image plus a When choosing between JPEG and RAW formats, you’ll find there are a num-
JPEG, settings such
as Picture Styles,
ber of advantages to using the RAW format:
Highlight tone prior-
ity, white balance
• RAW images used to require an extra processing step but since the latest
and so on affect the programs such as Aperture and Lightroom were designed from the ground up
JPEG images and after RAW formats were introduced they handle them as easily as they handle
the thumbnail and
preview for the RAW
JPEGs.
image. They do not
affect the actual RAW
• RAW lets you decide on most camera settings after you’ve taken the picture,
image. not before. For example, when you shoot a JPEG image under fluorescent
lights, the camera permanently adjusts the image to remove the yellow-green
tint. Any changes you make later are on top of this initial change. If you shoot
the image in RAW format, the camera just captures it as is and you decide
later what white balance setting to use. You can even create different versions
of an image, each with its own white balance.
• RAW images can be processed again at a later date when new and improved
applications become available. Your original image isn’t permanently altered
by today’s generation of photo-editing applications.
• You can generate alternate versions of the same RAW image. For example,
you can adjust highlight and shadow areas and save these versions sepa-
rately. Using a photo-editing program, you can then combine the two images
as layers and by selectively erasing parts of the top image layer let areas of the
lower image layer show through so all areas have a perfect exposure.
Admittedly, there are drawbacks to using RAW images.
• You can’t print RAW images directly from the camera or add them to a digi-
tal print order form.

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• RAW files are quite large. If you use this format a great deal you will need
more storage space in the camera and on the computer, and computer pro-
cessing times may be slightly longer.
• You can’t shoot as many images in a continuous burst. The buffer gets filled
more quickly and the camera is tied up longer processing the images you
take, and moving them from the buffer to the memory card.
• Since RAW images aren’t converted to a viewable format in the camera, you
have to process them on the computer and export them in a usable format
when you want to e-mail them, post them on a Web site, print them, or im-
port them into another program to create a slide show or publication. When
you are done shooting for the day, there is still work to do.
• RAW images can only be viewed and edited on a computer using a program
such as Adobe’s Photoshop or Lightroom that supports the format. Since
each camera company has defined its own proprietary RAW format, many
operating systems and even photo-editing programs are unable to recognize
some or all of these files. For this reason camera manufacturers always sup-
ply a program to process RAW images along with their cameras—in the case
of the 5D Mark II it’s the Digital Photo Professional program.
TIP SELECTING IMAGE SIZE & QUALITY

• As you highlight
an image quality, 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode, press MENU and display the
the image’s size in Shooting 1 menu tab.
megapixels, dimen-
sions in pixels, and in 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Quality and press SET to
brackets, the number display a list of quality choices.
of shots that will fit
on the card—999 ! Turn the Main Dial to select a RAW format or select – if you don’t
means “999 or
more.” want to capture RAW images.
! Turn the Quick Control Dial to select a JPEG size and quality or
select – if you don’t want to capture JPEG images.
3. Press SET to confirm your setting and return to the Shooting 1 menu.
4. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
TIP
• Because you can’t add pixels later without reducing image quality, or remove
The image quality the effects of compression after the fact, it’s usually best to use the RAW format
setting screen. As you or at least the largest available JPEG size (L) with the highest quality (Fine).
select a format, its file This ensures your photos will have the highest quality the camera can produce.
size, pixel dimensions, If you have to reduce the size of an image later, perhaps to e-mail it or post it
and the number that on the Web, you can do so with a photo-editing program. Unfortunately it’s a
will fit on the current one-way street and you can’t go the other way—enlarging a small file—without a
card are displayed. loss of quality. If you shoot images with lower quality setting, you can never re-
ally improve them much or get larger, sharper prints if you want them. The only
problem with this approach is that higher quality images have larger file sizes so
you’re not able to store as many images on your memory card. Sometimes when
there is no storage space left, you can switch to a smaller size and lower quality
to squeeze a few more images onto the card.

CHAPTER 2. CONTROLLING EXPOSURE
Chapter 2
Controlling Exposure
A
utomatic exposure control is one of the most useful features of your
CONTENTS camera. It’s great to have the camera automatically deal with the
• Understanding exposure while you concentrate on the image. This is especially helpful
Exposure • Choos-
ing Shooting Modes
when photographing action scenes where there isn’t time to evaluate the situ-
• Using Creative ation and set the controls manually.
Auto (CA) mode •
Using Program AE You shouldn’t, however, always leave the exposure to the automatic system.
and Program Shift • At times the lighting can fool any automatic exposure system into producing
Using Shutter-Prior-
ity (Tv) Mode • Using
an underexposed (too dark) or overexposed (too light) image. Although you
Aperture Priority can make adjustments to a poorly exposed image in a photo-editing program,
(Av) Mode • Using you’ve lost image information in the shadows or highlights that can’t be
Manual (M) Mode
• How Your Expo-
recovered. You will find it better in some situations to override the automatic
sure System Works exposure system at the time you take the picture. Using the camera’s his-
• When Automatic togram feature discussed in this chapter is the surest route to perfect expo-
Exposure Works Well
• When to Override
sures.
Automatic Exposure
• How Overriding
Typical situations in which you might want to override automatic exposure
Auto-exposure Works include scenes with interesting and unusual lighting. For example, you need
• How to Override to take control when photographing a variety of scenes including a light
Automatic Exposure
• Using Histograms
subject against a dark background, a dark subject against a light background,
into the sun, a colorful sunset, a snow-covered landscape, or a dark forest.

UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE
UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE
The most creative controls you have with any camera are the shutter speed
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and aperture settings. Both affect the exposure, the total amount of light
Click here to explore reaching the image sensor, and thus control how light or dark a picture is.
how changes in the
exposure make pictures • The shutter opens to begin an exposure and closes to end it. The shutter
lighter or darker. speed setting specifies how long the shutter is open and the image sensor is
exposed to light.
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• The aperture is the hole through which light enters the camera. The size of
Click here to watch the hole can be changed to control the brightness of the light that enters.
a focal plane shutter
expose an image. When you press the shutter button, a metering cell measures the light com-
ing through the lens and sets the aperture and shutter speed for the correct
exposure.
In the early days of photography, plates called waterhouse stops, were inserted into
a slot in the lens to control the amount of light entering the camera. These stops
had holes of various sizes drilled in them and they acted just like the adjustable iris
apertures used today. A lens cap was removed from the lens to begin the exposure
and replaced to end it—a primitive version of a shutter. This old wooden camera
The 5D Mark II’s focal is surrounded by a number of waterhouse stops (apertures) and a lens cap (the
plane shutter uses two shutter) leans against it. Photo by Ake Borgstrom at www.photographica.nu.
curtains—one opens to
begin the exposure and
the second closes to end
it. At shutter speeds
faster than 1/200 the
two curtains form a slit
traveling across the
image sensor.

THE SHUTTER CONTROLS LIGHT AND MOTION
The shutter keeps light out of the camera except during an exposure, when it
opens to let light strike the image sensor. In respect to just exposure, faster
shutter speeds let less strike the image sensor so the image is darker. Slower
speeds let in more so it’s lighter.
As the shutter speed

gets slower, the image
gets lighter. The reason
you don’t usually see
this effect in your
images is because when
you or the camera
change the shutter
speed, the camera
changes the aperture
to keep the exposure
constant.
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various types of
shutters used in digital
cameras.
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%,#--1,-+/-,%
effect of shutter speed
on exposure.
In addition to controlling exposure, the shutter speed is the most important

control you have over how motion is captured in a photograph. The longer
Katie turned a little just the shutter is open, the more a moving subject will be blurred in the picture
as the shutter opened Also, the longer it’s open the more likely you are to cause blur by moving the
causing unwanted blur
in the image.
camera slightly. Although you normally want to avoid blur in your images
there are times when you may want to use it creatively.

THE SHUTTER CONTROLS LIGHT AND MOTION
A fast shutter speed

(left) opens and closes
the shutter so quickly a
moving subject doesn’t
move very far during
the exposure. A slow
speed (right) can allow
moving objects to move
sufficiently to blur their
image on the image
sensor.
TIP
• To get faster shut-
ter speeds, increase
the ISO (page 65).
To get slower shut-
ter speeds, use a
neutral density filter
(page 111).
Although digital cameras can select any fraction of a second for an exposure,
SHUTTER there are a series of settings that have traditionally been used when you set it
1/8000 1/125 0”5 yourself (which you can’t do in many shooting modes). These shutter speed
1/6400 1/100 0”6
settings, shown in bold to the left, are arranged in a sequence so that each
1/5000 1/80 0”8
1/4000 1/60 1” setting lets in half as much light as the next slowest setting and twice as much
1/3200 1/50 1”3 as the next fastest. The 5D Mark II’s shutter speeds are listed in the table to
1/2500 1/40 1”6
the left. The camera adds two stops between each of the traditional ones—
1/2000 1/30 2”
1/1600 1/25 2”5 shown in the table without boldfacing. This allows you to adjust exposure in
1/1250 1/20 3”2 one-third stop increments for finer exposure control.
1/1000 1/15 4”
1/800 1/13 5” • Speeds of 1/4 of a second and faster are fractions of a second. On the moni-
1/640 1/10 6”
tor they are displayed as fractions. However, the LCD panel and viewfinder
1/500 1/8 8”
1/400 1/6 10” display only the denominator, sometimes with a quotation mark (”) indicat-
1/320 1/5 13” ing a decimal point. For example 1/3 second is displayed as 0”3. At shut-
1/250 1/4 15”
ter speeds of 1/4 second and faster, no quote marks are used. For example,
1/200 0”3 20”
1/160 0”4 25” 1/4000 is shown as 4000.
30”
• Speeds of 1 second or slower are whole seconds and are shown on the moni-
tor and in the viewfinder as numbers with quotation marks (“). For example,
2 seconds is displayed as 2”.
THE WAY IT WAS: EARLY SHUTTER DESIGNS

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• The shutter, used to control the amount of time that light exposes the image
sensor, has changed considerably over the years. The earliest cameras, us-
Click to explore how the
ing imaging materials that might take minutes to be properly exposed, came
shutter speed affects
with a lens cap that the photographer removed to begin the exposure and then
the capture of moving
replaced to end it. As film became more sensitive to light and exposure times
subjects.
became shorter, faster shutters were needed. One kind used a swinging plate
while another design used a guillotine-like blade. As the blade moved past the
lens opening, a hole in the blade allowed light to briefly reach the film.

THE APERTURE CONTROLS LIGHT AND DEPTH OF FIELD
The aperture adjusts the size of the opening through which light passes to the
image sensor. The aperture can be opened up to let in more light or closed
(stopped down) to let in less. In respect to just exposure, smaller apertures let
less light strike the image sensor so the image is darker. Larger apertures let
in more so it’s lighter.
As the aperture
number gets smaller
(for example, from f/8
to f/5.6) the aperture
opening gets larger and
the image gets lighter.
The reason you don’t
usually see this effect in
your images is because
when you or the camera
change the aperture,
the camera changes the
shutter speed to keep
the exposure constant.
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Click here to explore
the standard series
of apertures and the
aperture’s effects on
exposure.
As with the shutter speed, the aperture also affects the sharpness of your
picture, but in a different way. Changing the aperture changes the depth of
field, the depth in a scene from foreground to background that will be sharp
in a photograph. Smaller apertures increase depth of field while larger ones
decrease it. For some pictures—for example, a landscape—you may want a
The aperture is a series smaller aperture for maximum depth of field so that everything from near
of overlapping leaves foreground to distant background is sharp. But perhaps in a portrait you will
located between the
glass elements in the want a larger aperture to decrease the depth of field so your subject is sharp
lens. but the background is soft and out of focus.

THE APERTURE CONTROLS LIGHT AND DEPTH OF FIELD
A small aperture
increases depth of
field so foreground
and background are
sharp (top) and a large
aperture decreases
depth of field so the
background is soft
(bottom).
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how the aperture affects
depth of field.
TIP
• As you change the
aperture you don’t
see the image get
lighter and darker
because in all
modes, other than
manual, the camera
offsets the change
by selecting a new
shutter speed to
keep the exposure
constant.
• To get smaller
apertures, increase
the ISO (page 65).
To get larger aper-
tures, use a neutral
density filter (page
111).
Aperture settings are called f/stops and indicate the size of the aperture
opening. From the largest possible opening to increasingly smaller ones, the
f/stops have traditionally been those shown in boldface to the left but the
F/STOPS range of stops varies from lens to lens. Each of these bold f/stops lets in half
f/11
as much light as the next larger opening and twice as much light as the next
f/1.4 f/4.0
f/1.6 f/4.5 f/13 smaller opening. Notice that as the f/stop number gets larger (f/4 to f/5.6, for
f/1.8 f/5.0 f/14 example), the aperture size gets smaller. This may be easier to remember if
f/2.0 f/5.6 f/16
f/18
you think of the f/number as a fraction: 1/8 is less than 1/4, just as the size of
f/2.2 f/6.3
f/2.6 f/7.1 f/20 the f/8 lens opening is smaller that the size of the f/4 opening. Many high-
f/2.8 f/8 f/22 end digital cameras like the 5D Mark II add two stops between each of the
f/3.2 f/9
traditional ones. This allows you to adjust exposure in one-third stop incre-
f/3.6 f/10
ments for finer exposure control.
How wide you can open the aperture depends on the len’s maximum aper-
ture—its widest opening. The term “fast lens” applies to lenses that can be
opened to a wide maximum aperture. For example, a lens with a maximum
aperture of f/2.8 opens wider, and is faster, than a lens with a maximum
aperture of f/5.6. Faster lenses are better when photographing in dim light
or photographing fast moving subjects. With most, but not all, zoom lenses
the maximum aperture changes as you zoom the lens. It will be larger when
zoomed out to a wide angle, and smaller when zoomed in to enlarge a subject.
The EF 85mm f/1.2 L
II USM lens is currently
one of Canon’s fastest
lenses.

USING SHUTTER SPEED AND APERTURE TOGETHER
When taking photos, one of the first decisions you make is which shooting
mode to use. Your choice determines if you control the aperture or shutter
speed. If your shooting mode lets you select them, you can pair a fast shutter
speed (to let in light for a short time) with a large aperture (to let in bright
light) or a slow shutter speed (long time) with a small aperture (dim light).
In this book and the
animations apertures Speaking of exposure only, it doesn’t make any difference which combination
are represented by you use. But in other ways, it does, and it is just this difference that gives you
these realistic icons with creative opportunities. Whether you know it or not, you’re always balancing
a small aperture (left)
and a large one (right). camera or subject movement against depth of field because a change in one
causes a change in the other. Let’s see why.
As you’ve seen, shutter speeds and apertures each have a standard series of
settings called “stops.” The stops are arranged so that a change of 1 stop lets
in half or twice the light of the next setting.
• With shutter speeds, each stop is a second or more, or a fraction of a second
In this book and the indicating how long the shutter is open. A shutter speed of 1/60 second lets in
animations, shutter half the light that 1/30 second does, and twice the light of 1/125 second.
speeds are represented
by these symbolic icons • With apertures they are f/stops indicating the size of the opening through
with a fast shutter
speed (left) and a slow which light enters. An aperture of f/5.6 lets in half the light that f/4 does, and
one (right). The cut out twice the light of f/8.
“pie slice” indicates how
far an imaginary second If you make the shutter speed 1 stop slower (letting in 1 stop more light),
hand would sweep. and an aperture 1 full stop smaller (letting in 1 stop less light), the exposure
doesn’t change. However, although the exposure is the same, the slower shut-
ter speed increases the possibility of blur from camera or subject movement
and the smaller aperture increases depth of field slightly. A one-stop change
like this has only a small effect, but a 3 or 4 stop change can be dramatic. For
example with a three stop change the shutter speed might drop from 1/125 to
1/15 and the aperture might stop-down from f/2.8 to f/11. The effects of those
changes on blur and depth of field would be very noticeable.
• For fast-moving subjects you need a fast shutter speed such as 1/500 to
freeze the action, or a slow one such as 1/15 to seriously blur it (although the
focal length of the lens you are using, the closeness of the subject, and the
direction in which it’s moving also affect how motion is portrayed). When
photographing moving subjects shutter-priority (Tv) mode (page 43) is fa-
vored because it gives you direct control over the shutter speed.
When you press • For maximum depth of field, with the entire scene sharp from near to far,
the shutter button
halfway down, check you need a small aperture, and for shallow depth of field you need a large one
the readouts in the (although the focal length of the lens and the distance to the subject also af-
viewfinder. If the fects depth of field—page 70). When photographing landscapes and portraits
aperture or shutter
speed are blinking, aperture-priority (Av) mode (page 44) is favored because it gives you direct
you have exceeded the control over the aperture and depth of field.
camera’s ability to get a
good exposure. In low To be sure you are using the fastest possible shutter speed in changing light,
light you may have to use aperture-priority mode and select the largest aperture, or the one that
pick a larger aperture,
slower shutter speed, gives you the depth of field you need. The camera will then always select the
higher ISO or use flash. fastest matching shutter speed. The same principle works when you want the
In bright light, you may smallest possible aperture. Use shutter-priority mode and select the slowest
have to use a smaller
aperture, faster shutter shutter speed you need for sharpness. The camera will then always select the
speed or lower ISO. smallest possible aperture.

USING SHUTTER SPEED AND APERTURE TOGETHER
EXPOSURE—FAUCETS & BUCKETS ANALOGY

TIPS
One way to think of how apertures and shutter speeds relate is to use the
• To be sure you
are always using
analogy of a faucet for the aperture and a timer for the shutter speed.
the fastest pos-
sible shutter speed,
• When you open a faucet all the way, water gushes out so you fill a bucket in
set the camera to a very short time. This is the same as pairing a large aperture and fast shutter
aperture-priority (Av) speed to let in bright light for a short time.
mode and select the
aperture you need • When you open a faucet just a little, water trickles out and so it takes a
for depth of field.
The camera then
much longer time to fill a bucket. This is the same as pairing a small aperture
always selects the and slow shutter speed to let in dim light for a longer time.
fastest possible shut-
ter speed. No matter which combination you choose, the bucket is filled the same
• To be sure you are
amount. Likewise, an image in a camera can be exposed the same amount by
always using the various aperture and shutter speed combinations while also controlling mo-
largest possible aper- tion and depth of field.
ture, set the camera
to shutter-priority
(Tv) mode and pick
the shutter speed
you need to freeze
or blur motion. The
camera then always
selects the largest
possible aperture.
For larger apertures or

slower shutter speeds,
you can use a screw
on neutral density
filter that cuts the light
entering the lens (page
111).
1. We start with the 2. When you open the 3. When you open the
aperture set to f/16 and aperture one stop to f/11 aperture another stop to
the shutter speed to the shutter speed has to f/8 the shutter speed has
1/30. decrease to 1/60 to keep to decrease another stop
the exposure the same. to 1/125. This change
This change decreases decreases depth of field
depth of field slightly and even more and freezes
freezes action better. action even better.
ISO SPEEDS
6400 3200 1600
THE WAY IT WAS: EARLY APERTURES
1250 1000 800
• A variety of designs in the past century and a half have enabled photographers
640 500 400 to change the size of the lens opening. A form of the iris diaphragm, used in
320 250 200 today’s cameras, was used as early as the 1820s by Joseph Nicephore Niepce,
one of the inventors of photography. Waterhouse stops, used in the 1850s were
150 125 100 a series of blackened metal plates with holes of different sizes cut in them. To
change apertures the photographer chose the appropriate plate and slid it into a
For smaller apertures or
slot in the lens barrel. With wheel stops, different size apertures were cut into a
faster shutter speeds,
revolving plate. The photographer changed the size of the aperture by rotating
you can increase the
the plate to align the desired opening with the lens.
ISO (page 65).

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EXPOSURE—SEESAW ANALOGY
Another way to think of exposure is as a seesaw. As one child rises a given
relationship between distance, the other falls by the same amount but their average distance from
the aperture and the ground is always the same. In photography, when you or the camera
shutter speed.
changes the aperture or shutter speed to let in more or less light, you or the
camera must also change the other setting in the opposite direction to keep
the exposure constant.
The illustrations below show how a change in the aperture setting must be
matched by a change in the shutter speed and vice versa. As these offsetting
changes are made, the exposure stays constant but depth of field changes
slightly and subjects are more or less likely to be frozen.
1. Here the aperture is

f/4 and the shutter
speed is 1/125.
2. If you reduce the

aperture one stop to
f/5.6 the shutter speed
has to decrease one
stop to 1/60 to keep
the exposure the same.
3. If you reduce the

aperture one more stop
to f/8 the shutter speed
has to decrease one
more stop to 1/30 to
keep the exposure the
same.

RETAINING HIGHLIGHT AND SHADOW DETAILS
RETAINING HIGHLIGHT AND SHADOW DETAILS
Knowing how to control exposure is one of the most important aspects of

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photography. When a scene has both very light and very dark areas, getting
Click here to explore the perfect exposure is a lot like parking a large car in a small garage—there
how changes in the isn’t a great deal of room for error. The goal is to hold details in both the
exposure make pictures
lighter or darker. darkest and lightest areas so pure white is used only for spectral highlights
such as reflections and pure black is used only for small areas of the scene
that are black with no details.
In this scene there

are details in all of the
whites that give them
texture and form. The
small white square has
been added to give you
a reference to what
pure white would look
like.
One of the things that

makes an Ansel Adams
print so stunning was
his ability to hold details
in both the brightest
and darkest parts of
a scene. To do this
with film he developed
the Zone System
that guided him in
adjusting exposure and
development times for
the best results. Today
the adjustments are
made with Photoshop.
In this scene there are

details in the darkest
shadows. The small
black square has been
added to give you a
reference to what pure
black would look like.

CHOOSING SHOOTING MODES
The Mode Dial lists seven shooting modes, each of which has unique ad-
vantages in specific situations. These modes, and three custom modes are
selected by turning the Mode Dial.
• Full Auto, which we’ve already discussed (page 9), lets you change only a
few settings so you are less likely to make mistakes.
• Creative Auto (page 41) is like Full Auto but let’s you change settings using
the Creative Auto setting screen (page 42).
The Mode Dial lists icons • P (Program AE) is like Full Auto, but you can easily select different pairs of
for seven shooting and
three custom modes. aperture/shutter speed settings that give you the same exposure but let you
control how depth of field or motion is captured (page 42).
• Tv (shutter-priority AE), called time value by Canon, lets you choose the
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shutter speed, while the camera automatically sets the aperture to give you
a good exposure. You select this mode when the portrayal of motion is most
Click to see why you
change exposure important. It lets you set your shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action
modes. or slow enough to blur it (page 43).
• Av (aperture-priority AE), called aperture value by Canon, lets you select
TIPS the aperture (lens opening) while the camera automatically sets the shutter
speed to give you a good exposure. You select this mode whenever depth of
• In some situations,
your pictures can
field is most important. To be sure everything is sharp, as in a landscape, se-
be too light or too lect a small aperture. To throw the background out of focus so a main subject
dark in any shoot- such as a portrait stands out more, select a large aperture (page 44).
ing mode. To darken
or lighten them, use • M (manual) lets you choose both the shutter speed and aperture so you can
exposure compensa-
tion (page 55).
get just the setting you want. Most photographers select this mode only when
other modes won’t give them the results they want (page 45).
• Check the shutter
speed and aperture • B (Bulb) keeps the shutter open as long as you continue to hold down the
in the viewfinder
when you press
shutter button. You use this mode to capture light trails at night or multiple
the shutter button flashes from fireworks (page 92).
halfway down. If
either is blinking, the • Camera user settings C1, C2 and C3 are used to store your own personal
camera doesn’t have combinations of settings (page 151).
the right exposure
setting. To see how Knowing how to use these various modes gives you amazing creative control
to adjust it, read the
sections that follow.
over your images. Because these are the most important controls in your cre-
ative arsenal, we’ll look at them in depth in the pages that follow.
• In automatic
modes, the Auto
Lighting Optimizer CHANGING SHOOTING MODES
automatically adjusts
an image’s bright-
ness and contrast. • Set the Power Switch to ON, or the white line above it, and turn
You can also turn the Mode Dial to any shooting mode so it aligns with the small silver
it on and off (the marker.
default) in P, Tv, Av,
M or B modes using
Custom Function
II-4 Auto Lighting
Optimizer (page
152). Even when on,
it doesn’t work in
Manual (M) mode or
with the RAW image
format.

USING CREATIVE AUTO (CA) MODE
Creative Auto (CA) mode offers automatic exposure and focus just as Full
TIPS Auto does, in fact the default settings are the same. However, CA mode let’s
• In CA mode you you change some settings for creative control—somewhat of a cross between
can use program the Full Auto and Program modes. When you set the Mode Dial to this mode,
shift (page 42). the Creative Auto settings screen is displayed on the monitor so you can make
• In some situations, adjustments based on simple descriptions without having to fully understand
your pictures can technical terms such as aperture and shutter speed. For example you can se-
be too light or too
dark in any shoot- lect and adjust sliders that display descriptions such as “blur the background”
ing mode. To darken or “lighten or darken the image.” The settings you can change on this screen
or lighten them, use include the following:
exposure compensa-
tion (page 55). • Background: Blurred<->Sharp activates a slider you use to adjust depth of
• Check the shutter field (page 70). Move the index mark toward the left and the background will
speed and aperture look more blurred. Move it to the right, and the background will be sharper.
in the viewfinder
when you press This setting can’t be adjusted when an external flash is attached.
the shutter button
halfway down. If • Exposure:Darker<->Lighter activates a slider you use to adjust exposure or
either is blinking, the image brightness (page 55). Move the index mark toward the left to make the
camera doesn’t have picture darker. Move it toward the right to make the picture lighter.
the right exposure
setting. To see how • Picture Style lets you select one of four Picture Styles. (More styles are
to adjust it, read the
sections that follow. available in other modes—page 149.)
• Image quality lets you specify image size, quality and format (page 27).
When you highlight this setting you can optionally press SET to display a set-
tings screen where turning the Main and Quick Control Dials change differ-
ent aspects of the setting (page 15). Press SET again when finished.
• Single, continuous (page 137), and self-timer (page 64) settings let you
change the drive mode.
Other settings you can adjust in Creative Auto mode are listed on the menus.
If you press a button that doesn’t work in this mode the message “This func-
tion is not selectable in the current shooting mode” is displayed on the moni-
tor

1. With the Mode Dial set to Creative Auto (CA) press the Multi-con-
troller straight down to activate the settings screen with the selected
setting highlighted in green. (If the setting screen isn’t displayed,
press the INFO button one or more times.)
The Creative Auto 2. Press the Multi-controller in any direction to highlight any setting
settings screen. in green and display a description of the setting at the bottom of the
monitor.
3. Turn the Main or Quick Control Dials to change the selected set-
ting. (If selecting image quality, press SET first to display a settings
Auto modes include Full screen.)
Auto (left) and Creative
Auto (right). 4. When finished, take photos with the changed settings. When you
change the shooting mode or turn off the camera, the Creative Auto
settings revert to their defaults although image quality, self-timer/
remote control settings are retained.

USING PROGRAM AE (P) & PROGRAM SHIFT
In Full and Creative Auto modes (page 41), your camera is automatically set
to produce the best possible exposure. Program AE (P) mode is also fully
automatic, but only the aperture and shutter speed are set automatically. You
can change other settings including all of those you can change in Tv, Av, M
and B modes.
TIPS
USING PROGRAM AE (P) MODE
• If the 30” shutter
speed is blinking in ! With the Power Switch to ON or the white line above it, set the Mode
the viewfinder, the Dial to P (for Program AE).
image will be too
dark. Use flash or
a higher ISO (page One feature of Program AE mode (and Creative Auto), called program shift,
65). let’s you cycle through pairs of aperture/shutter speed settings that offer
• If 8000 is blinking identical exposures. By choosing the right combination you can choose to
in the viewfinder, emphasize depth of field (page 70) or motion capture (page 68). When using
the image will be too
light. Decrease the flash, you cannot shift the program.
ISO or use a neutral
density filter (page USING PROGRAM SHIFT
111).
1. Set the Power Switch to the white line above ON and turn off the
flash if one is attached.
2. With the Mode Dial set to P or CA, press the shutter button halfway
down, and then release it to activate metering and the exposure read-
outs in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
3. Turn the Main Dial to scroll through pairs of aperture/shutter speed
settings and select the pair you want to use.
4. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the photo. The
shifted program setting is cancelled automatically if you pause a few
seconds after the picture is taken before taking another one. If you
take another picture before metering turns off, the shifted settings
are used. You can also hold the shutter button halfway down to keep
the shifted setting from changing. When ready, press it all the way
down to take the picture.
One reason to use program shift mode is that it prevents you from choosing
Program AE mode is so
flexible it gives you the settings that exceed your camera’s exposure limits. In shutter-priority (Tv)
control you need for and aperture-priority (Av) mode it’s possible to select a setting that can’t be
creative images. matched. For example, you may pick an aperture that’s so large the camera
doesn’t have a shutter speed that’s fast enough to prevent overexposure.
Although aperture-priority and shutter-priority modes warn you when this
happens (page 43–44), you may not notice the warning. Following are some
of the situations you avoid when using programmed mode:
When you select a... There may be... Result
Large aperture No shutter speed that’s Overexposure

fast enough
Small aperture No shutter speed that’s Underexposure
slow enough
Slow shutter speed No aperture that’s small Overexposure
enough
Fast shutter speed No aperture that’s large Underexposure
enough

USING SHUTTER-PRIORITY (TV) MODE
USING SHUTTER-PRIORITY (TV) MODE
When controlling motion is the most important goal, you use shutter-prior-
ity, what Canon calls time-value (Tv) mode, so you can set the shutter speed
directly. Although digital cameras can select any fraction of a second for an
exposure, there are a series of settings that have traditionally been used when
you set it yourself (shown boldfaced in the table on page 33). The 5D Mark
II has two additional shutter speeds between each pair of traditional ones so
you can change the shutter speed in one-third stops. When choosing a shutter
speed, here are some things to be aware of:
• Pressing the shutter button halfway down activates metering which then
remains activated as long as you are changing the shutter speed, and for four
seconds after you stop.
• When metering is on, both the shutter speed and aperture are displayed
in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel and monitor. When you change the
shutter speed, the matching aperture also changes on the displays.
• The range of selectable shutter speeds is from a slow 30 seconds to a fast
1/8000 in one-third stop increments.
• In Bulb (B) mode the shutter remains open as long as you hold down the
A fast shutter speed
(top) opens and closes
shutter button (page 92).
the shutter so quickly a
moving subject doesn’t
• If you can’t get a fast enough shutter speed, increase the camera’s ISO (page
move very far during 65). If you can’t get a slow enough one, use a neutral density filter (page 111).
the exposure. A slow
speed (bottom) can • Custom Function I-1 Exposure level increments (page 152) changes expo-
allow moving objects to sure increments from 1/3rd to 1/2 stops.
move sufficiently to blur
in the image. • When using an external flash, the fastest shutter speed you can select is
1/200 (page 115).
• If the light changes suddenly, the camera automatically overrides your set-
tings in Tv and Av modes for a good exposure if you enable Custom Function
I-6 Safety shift (page 152).
Shooting down from USING SHUTTER-PRIORITY (Tv) MODE

an upper level at the
Guggenheim Museum, 1. With the Mode Dial set to Tv (time value) press the shutter button
a very slow shutter halfway down and then release it to activate metering and the expo-
speed froze the people sure readouts in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
standing, and blurred
those who were 2. Turn the Main Dial to select a shutter speed and if the aperture value
walking.
isn’t blinking, the exposure is OK. However;
TIP ! If the lens’ largest aperture (smallest f/number) blinks, the image
may be underexposed and too dark, so turn the Main Dial to select a
• When using flash
in Av mode, you can
slower shutter speed.
set Custom Func-
tion I-7 Flash sync
! If the lens’ smallest aperture value (largest f/number) blinks, the
speed in Av mode image may be overexposed and too light so turn the Main Dial to
(page 152) to fix select a faster shutter speed.
the shutter speed at
1/200 and prevent a 3. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
slow shutter speed
when photographing
in dim light. This will
help you avoid blur
caused by camera or
subject movement.

USING APERTURE-PRIORITY (AV) MODE
When controlling depth of field is the most important goal, you use aperture-
priority (Av), which Canon calls aperture value, mode so you can set the
f/2 f/3.5 aperture directly. Aperture settings, called f/stops, indicate the size of the
aperture opening inside the lens. In the traditional series of f/stops (shown
boldfaced in the table on page 35), each full stop lets in half as much light
As the aperture number
gets smaller, the lens as the next larger opening and twice as much light as the next smaller open-
opening gets larger. ing. The camera has two additional apertures between the traditional f/stops
so you can adjust exposure in one-third stops. The range of apertures you
have to choose from, including the maximum aperture (the widest opening),
depends on the lens you are using. Lenses with large maximum apertures are
better when the light is dim, or you are photographing fast moving subjects
because they let you use faster shutter speeds. Their only disadvantages
are that they are generally heavier and cost more than slower lenses. When
choosing an aperture, here are some things to be aware of:
• Pressing the shutter button halfway down activates metering which then
remains activated as long as you are changing the aperture, and for four sec-
Great depth of field onds after you stop.
keeps everything sharp
from the foreground to • When metering is on, both the aperture and shutter speed are displayed
the background. in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel and monitor. When you change the
aperture the matching shutter speed also changes on the displays.
• To check depth-of-field in the viewfinder when using P, Tv, Av, M or B
mode, press the depth-of-field preview button (page 71).
• If you can’t get a small enough aperture, increase the ISO (page 65). If you
can’t get a large enough one, use a neutral density filter (page 111).
• Custom Function I-1 Exposure level increments (page 152) changes expo-
sure increments from 1/3rd to 1/2 stops.
• If the light changes suddenly, the camera automatically overrides your set-
The EF 85mm f/1.2
L II USM lens has a tings in Av and Tv modes for a good exposure if you enable Custom Function
maximum aperture of I-6 Safety shift (page 152).
f/1.2.
USING APERTURE-PRIORITY (Av) MODE

1. With the Mode Dial set to Av (aperture value), press the shutter but-
ton halfway down and then release it to activate metering and the
exposure readouts in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
2. Turn the Main Dial to select an aperture and if the shutter speed isn’t
blinking, the exposure is OK. However;
A shallow depth of ! If the 30” shutter speed blinks, the image may be underexposed
field can make part and too dark so turn the Main Dial to select a larger aperture.
of an image stand
out sharply against ! If the 8000 shutter speed blinks, the image may be overexposed
a softer background. and too light so turn the Main Dial to select a smaller aperture.
This emphasizes the
sharpest part of the 3. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
image.

USING MANUAL (M) MODE
When you want total and absolute control over exposures, you can switch
TIPS to manual (M) shooting mode. In this mode, you manually select both the
• The exposure level shutter speed and aperture setting. Since automatic exposure combined with
indicator doesn’t exposure compensation (page 55) is so easy to use, most photographer’s
indicate how far
under or over the
only resort to manual mode in those rare situations where other modes can’t
recommended expo- give them the results they want. For example, you may use this mode when
sure you are unless photographing a series of images for a panorama or animated GIF where you
metering is on. To
turn it on, press and
don’t want the exposure to change at all from one shot to the next.
release the shutter
button.
When you press the shutter button halfway down, an exposure level indicator
shows you how much you are under (-) or over (+) exposed. If the bar under
• In M (Manual
mode, the Auto
the indicator flashes at the -2 or +2 end of the scale it means you are off by
Lighting Optimizer more than two stops.
(page 152) doesn’t
work.
• You can’t use ex-
posure compensation
in M mode, and don’t
need to. Just change
the shutter speed or
aperture to increase
or decrease the
exposure from that
recommended by the
camera.
Manual mode is often

used when doing studio-
like shots where you
know the right exposure
for the main subject but
want to try variations
on the background
lighting.

1. With the Mode Dial set to M (Manual), press the shutter button half-
The exposure level way down and then release it to activate the exposure level indica-
indicator. tor that shows how much you are over or under the recommended
exposure.
2. With the Power Switch set to the white line above ON, turn the Main
Dial to select a shutter speed and the Quick Control Dial to select an
aperture as you watch the viewfinder, LCD panel or monitor.
TIP
! If the bar below the exposure level indicator is centered (0), you’re
• You can also use
the Quick Control set to the exposure recommended by the camera.
screen to select and
change the shutter ! If the bar below the exposure level indicator is on the minus (-) side
speed and aperture of the scale, you may be underexposing and darkening the image. To
in Manual (M) mode. lighten it, select a slower shutter speed or larger aperture.
! If the bar below the exposure level indicator is on the plus side (+)
you may be overexposing and lightening the image. To darken it,
select a faster shutter speed or smaller aperture.
3. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.

HOW YOUR EXPOSURE SYSTEM WORKS
All exposure systems, including the one built into your 5D Mark II, oper-
ate on the same general principles. A light-sensitive photocell regulates the
amount of electricity flowing in the exposure system. As the intensity of the
light reflected from the subject changes, the amount of electricity flowing
through the photocell’s circuits changes. These changes are then used by the
autoexposure system to calculate and set the shutter speed and aperture.
Your camera’s meter measures light reflecting from the part of the scene
shown in the viewfinder. The coverage of the meter (the amount of the scene
that it includes in its reading) changes, just as your viewfinder image chang-
es, when you change your distance relative to the scene or when you change
the focal length of the lens. Suppose you move close or zoom in and see in
your viewfinder only a detail in the scene, one that is darker or lighter than
other objects nearby. The suggested aperture and shutter speed settings will
be different for the detail than they are for the overall scene.
METER AVERAGING AND MIDDLE GRAY

Your exposure meter doesn’t “see” a scene the same way you see it. Its view is
much like yours would be if you were looking through a piece of frosted glass.
Your meter sees scenes

as if it were looking at
them through a piece
of frosted glass. It
doesn’t see details, just
averages.
Every scene you photograph contains a range of tones like the scene (top left).
Portions of it are pure black, pure white, and every possible tone in between.
The exposure system in your camera can’t think about the scene or make
decisions about it. Regardless of the scene’s subject matter, color, brightness,
or composition, the system just measures the overall brightness—how light
Where you see a or dark it is. It then sets the aperture and the shutter speed needed to render
checkerboard-like
pattern (top), your
this average level of brightness as “middle gray” in the photograph. Most of
camera sees only an the time this works very well because most scenes have an overall reflectance
average gray (bottom). that averages out to middle gray. But some scenes and situations don’t and
that’s when autoexposure will lead you astray. So what is middle gray?

HOW YOUR EXPOSURE SYSTEM WORKS
Most scenes contain a continuous spectrum of tones, ranging from pure black
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Click to see how your
at one end to pure white at the other. In a photograph an approximation of
exposure system sees a this continuous scale is made up of a series of discrete tones—the gray scale.
scene. When shooting JPEGs there are 256 tones in the scale (28) and when shoot-
ing RAW images there are 16,384 (214). The tone in the middle of these ranges
is middle gray and reflects exactly 18% of the light falling on it.
The gray scale captured
in an image is a range
of tones from pure black
to pure white.
When you photograph a subject, your camera’s autoexposure system sets

an exposure so that the subject appears in the final image as middle gray
regardless of its actual brightness. When you photograph subjects that have
an overall tone lighter or darker than middle gray, they will be middle gray
in the final image and therefore look too light or dark. For example, if you
photograph a white card, a gray card, and a black card, and each completely
fills the viewfinder when the exposure is calculated, each of the cards will be
middle gray in the captured image.
White, gray, and black

cards (top) will all
photograph as gray
cards (bottom).
When you fill the screen

with a gray card and
press the shutter button
halfway down, your
camera will indicate
the best exposure
regardless of how light
or dark the scene is.

To make scenes that don’t average out to middle gray appear in an image the
way they appear in real life, you have to use exposure compensation (page 55)
or some other form of exposure control to lighten or darken the picture.
TYPES OF METERING
All parts of a scene are usually not equally important when determining
the best exposure to use. In a landscape, for instance, the exposure of the
foreground is usually more important than the exposure of the sky. For this
reason, P, Tv, Av, M and B modes offer various metering methods.
• Evaluative metering divides the scene as seen through the viewfinder
into 35 zones, each of which is linked to the AF points. Each of the 35 zones
is the same size and they are laid out in a 7 x 5 matrix. When using autofo-
cus, the metering system gives special emphasis to the subject you’re focused
on at the active AF point (page 73). This mode is the default in all shooting
modes because it’s ideal for general shooting conditions and backlit scenes.
This is the only mode available in auto modes. When used with manual focus
(page 75), metering is based on the center AF point.
This mode differs from the three that follow in one other respect. When using
evaluative metering with One-Shot AF (the default), pressing the shutter but-
ton halfway down locks both exposure and focus. When using AI Servo AF,
neither is locked and both are set when you take the picture. Any other com-
bination of metering (page 48) and focus modes (page 72) locks just focus.
• Partial metering meters the part of the scene falling within the circle of
AF points in the center of the viewfinder. This zone covers only 8% of view-
finder area so you can meter just a specific part of the scene instead of relying
on an overall reading. This mode is ideal when photographing a subject
against a very dark or very light background. You can also meter any part of
the scene and use AE Lock (page 55) to use that reading for the overall photo.
• Spot metering meters 3.5% of the viewfinder area—the area within the
viewfinder’s spot metering circle. This mode is similar to partial metering but
is better when you want to base your exposure on an even smaller part of the
scene.
• Center-weighted average metering meters the entire scene but assigns
the most importance to the center of the frame where the most important
The areas metered subjects are usually located.
(from top to bottom)
include evaluative, Metering can cause problems if the camera isn’t metering the main subject
partial, spot, and or when the main subject is very dark or light. For instance, a dark object lo-
center-weighted.
cated off center against a very light background may not be exposed properly
if it is not located in the area the meter is emphasizing. These occasions are
uncommon, but when they occur you can ensure accurate exposures us-
ing exposure compensation (page 55), AE Lock (page 55) and autoexposure
bracketing (page 57).
CHANGING THE METERING MODE
Metering mode icons ! With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B, press the Metering button
displayed on the LCD on top of the camera and then turn the Main Dial to cycle from evalu-
panel include (left to ative (the default) through center-weighted, spot, partial, and back to
right, top to bottom)
evaluative, center evaluative metering.
weighted, partial and
spot.

WHEN AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE WORKS WELL
WHEN AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE WORKS WELL
Most scenes that you photograph have an overall brightness of middle gray.
Some areas of the scene may reflect 90% of the light and other parts may
reflect 5%, but overall the average amount of light reflecting from the scene
is 18%, the amount reflected by a middle gray subject. Whenever you photo-
graph a normal scene with this average brightness, your automatic exposure
system exposes it correctly. Typical middle gray scenes include the following:
• Scenes in bright sunlight where the subject is front-lit by a sun that is be-
hind you when you face the scene.
• Scenes on overcast days or under diffused light, such as in the shade or in
evenly-lit scenes indoors.
This image has detail in

the lightest (highlight)
and darkest (shadow)
areas. If just a little
darker or a little lighter,
details would be lost
in the shadows or
highlights.
Portraits in indirect
light generally have the
tones needed to get
a good image without
additional exposure
adjustment.

WHEN TO OVERRIDE AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE
Let’s take a look at some of the most common situations where your automat-
ic exposure system will have problems. It’s in these situations where you’ll
need to override the suggested exposure settings.
SCENES LIGHTER THAN MIDDLE GRAY

Scenes lighter than middle gray, such as beach scenes, or bright sand or
snow covered landscapes, reflect more than 18% of the light falling on them.
The autoexposure system doesn’t know the scene should look bright so it
calculates an exposure that produces an image that is too dark. To lighten
the image so it matches the original scene, you must override the camera’s
automatic exposure system to add exposure.
The snow scene here

is typical of scenes
that are lighter than
middle gray. Most of the
important tones in the
scene are at the lighter
end of the gray scale.
The overall “average”
tone would be about
one stop brighter than
middle gray. For a good
picture you have to
increase the exposure
by one stop (+1) to
lighten it. If you didn’t
do this, the snow in the
scene would appear too
gray (bottom).

SCENES DARKER THAN MIDDLE GRAY

Scenes that are darker than middle gray, such as deep shadows, dark foliage,
and black cloth, reflect less than 18% of the light falling on them. If you pho-
tograph such scenes using automatic exposure, they will appear too light. The
meter cannot tell if the scene is dark or just an ordinary scene with less light
falling on it. In either case it increases the exposure to make a photograph of
the scene lighter. To photograph a scene that has an overall tone darker than
middle gray, you need to override the autoexposure system to decrease the
exposure to make the picture darker.
The black cat is be-
tween one and two
stops darker than
middle gray. To darken
the scene so the cat’s
not middle gray, expo-
sure must be decreased
by one (-1) or two (-2)
stops.
SUBJECT AGAINST A VERY LIGHT BACKGROUND

Subjects against a very light background such as a portrait against a bright
sky or light sand or snow, can confuse an automatic exposure system, par-
ticularly if the subject occupies a relatively small part of the scene. The
brightness of the background is so predominant that the automatic exposure
system reduces the exposure to render the overall brightness as a middle
gray. The result is an underexposed and too-dark main subject.
Here the scenes were

underexposed to
silhouette the people
in the foreground.
To show detail in the
people, exposure would
have had to have been
increased two stops
(+2).

SUBJECT AGAINST A VERY DARK BACKGROUND

When a small bright subject appears against a large dark background, your
autoexposure system increases the exposure to produce a middle gray tone.
The result is an overexposed and too light main subject.
The rising sun
illuminated only one
boat in this harbor
scene. If the exposure
hadn’t been reduced
by two stops (-2), the
background would be
too light and the white
boat would have been
burned out and too
white. A scene like this
is a great place to use
partial or spot metering
(page 48).
SCENES WITH HIGH CONTRAST

TIP
Many scenes, especially those with brightly lit highlights and deep shadows,
• When photograph- have a brightness range that cannot be completely captured by an image
ing high contrast
scenes, you can sensor. When confronted with such scenes, you have to decide whether the
decrease contrast at highlight or shadow area is most important, then set the exposure so that
the time you take the area is shown accurately in the final picture. In high contrast situations
picture (page 149).
such as these, use AE Lock (page 55) or exposure compensation (page 55)
to adjust the exposure. Another way to deal with high contrast is to lighten
the shadows. A portrait, for example, lit from the back or side is often more
effective and interesting than one lit from the front. But when the light falls
directly on one side of a subject, the other side may be in dark shadow. In
this case use fill flash (page 123) or a white reflector card to fill and lighten
the shadows.
The archway was in
the shadows and dark
while the cathedral
was brightly lit by the
sun. Both couldn’t be
exposed properly, so
the archway was left as
a solid black.

HARD TO METER SCENES

Occasionally it’s not convenient or even possible to meter a scene. Neon
street signs, spotlit circus acts, fireworks, moonlit scenes, and many similar
situations are all difficult and sometimes impossible to meter. In these cases,
it’s easiest simply to experiment using spot metering (page 48), exposure
compensation (page 55), or autoexposure bracketing (page 57) so you have
more than one exposure to select from.
This scene has a bright

sky and one brightly
illuminated fisherman
against a dark
background. A scene
such as this is hard to
meter because of the
variety of lighting.
TIP
• When photograph-
ing a TV or computer
monitor, use a shut-
ter speed of 1/30
second or slower.
A relatively small
subject against a
wide expanse of sky
will almost always be
underexposed unless
you use exposure
compensation.

HOW OVERRIDING AUTOEXPOSURE WORKS
When a scene is lighter or darker than middle gray you need to change the
exposure to capture it the way it looks or it will be too light or dark. To light-
en or darken an image many cameras let you increase or decrease exposure
by two stops or more. Here are some typical settings where you’d make these
changes.
• +2 is used when the light is extremely contrasty and important shadow
This lighthouse in the
fog on Cape Cod would areas are much darker than brightly lit areas.
have looked too dark if
exposure compensation • +1 is best for sidelit or backlit scenes, beach or snow scenes, sunsets and
hadn’t been used to other scenes that include a bright light source, or very light objects, such as a
lighten it. white china on a white tablecloth.
• 0 (the default) is best for scenes that are evenly lit and when important
shadow areas are not too much darker than brightly lit areas.
• -1 is for scenes where the background is much darker than the subject, such
as a portrait in front of a very dark wall. Also good for very dark objects, such
as black china on a black tablecloth.
• -2 is for scenes of unusual contrast, as when an extremely dark background
occupies a very large part of the image and you want to retain detail in the
brighter parts of the scene.
1. Here are three cards

that you photograph
with each filling the
screen at the time you
take the picture.
2. The camera’s
exposure system
makes all three cards
appear gray in the
photographs. Only the
middle gray card in
the center is exposed
correctly.
3. Increasing the
exposure for the white
card and decreasing
it for the black card
captures them as they
really appear. Only the
+2 0 -2
middle gray card in the
center doesn’t need
the exposure adjusted
manually.

HOW OVERRIDING AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE WORKS
HOW TO OVERRIDE AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE
Most digital cameras, including the 5D Mark II, provide one or more ways to
TIPS override the automatic exposure system to get the exposure you want.
• You can also set
exposure compensa-
tion using CA mode’s EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
Exposure:Darker<-
>Brighter setting
Exposure compensation in P, Tv and Av modes lets you lighten or darken the
(page 41), the Quick photograph that the camera would produce if autoexposure were used. To
Control screen (page lighten a picture, you increase the exposure; to darken one, you decrease the
16), or the com-
mands on the Shoot-
exposure. The amount you increase or decrease the exposure is specified in
ing 2 menu. “stops.” For example, to increase the exposure 1 stop, you specify +1 to open
• You can specify
the aperture or slow down the shutter speed. It’s easy to use exposure com-
exposure compen- pensation because you can immediately see the effects when you review or
sation in one-half playback an image.
stop increments with
Custom Function I-1
Exposure level incre-
ments (page 152).
When you adjust exposure compensation you can do so in full stops and even finer
An exposure level one-third stop increments. When you use the command, an exposure compensation
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indicator shows you how scale is displayed. The “0” indicates the exposure suggested by the camera. As you
much you are under (-) adjust the exposure toward the plus (+) side of the scale the image gets lighter. As
or over (+) exposed. If you adjust it toward the minus (-) side it gets darker. Here you see the results as
the indicator flashes at it’s adjusted from +2 (left) to -2 (right). The effect of the changes on the image are
the -2 or +2 ends of the dramatic.
scale it means you are
off by more than two
stops. USING EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
1. With the Power Switch set to the white line above ON, and the Mode
Click to explore Dial set to CA, P, Tv or Av, press the shutter button halfway down to
exposure compensation. activate the readout, and then turn the Quick Control Dial to move
the marker on the exposure level indicator displayed in the viewfind-
er and on the LCD panel.
TIP
• When Custom
! To darken the image, move the marker toward the minus (-) end of
Function II-4 Auto the scale.
Lighting Optimizer is
enabled (the de- ! To lighten the image, move the marker toward the plus (+) end of
fault—page 152), ex- the scale.
posure compensation
and auto exposure 2. When done, reset exposure compensation to 0 otherwise it will be
bracketing may not
work as expected.
remembered even when you turn off the camera.
AUTOEXPOSURE (AE) LOCK

When you want to base your exposure on a specific part of a scene, you can
do so in P, Tv, Av, M and B modes.
• When the autofocus mode is set to One-Shot AF (the default), it’s as easy as
pressing the shutter button halfway down to lock exposure and focus.

• In any autofocus mode, focus the camera and press the AE/FE Lock button
(marked with an asterisk) to lock exposure but not focus. This allows you to
lock exposure and then move closer to or farther from the subject.
Pressing the shutter
button halfway down After locking focus recompose the image and take the picture.
locks exposure and
pressing it all the way • AE Lock works best when you use spot or partial metering and lock it on the
down takes the picture.
part of the scene that’s most important for the exposure.
• When used with evaluative metering (page 48), exposure is based on the
automatically or manually selected AF point (page 73). However, if the lens
focus switch is set to M or MF the center point is used.
• When used with center-weighted, partial or spot metering, or when manu-
ally focusing, exposure is based on the central AF point.
• When using evaluative metering with One-Shot AF, pressing the shutter
button halfway down to lock exposure also locks focus. When using AI Servo
AF neither is locked. Any other combination of metering (page 48) and focus
(page 72) modes locks just focus.
• When using an external Speedlight, the AE/FE Lock button acts as a FE
Lock button (page 117).
Point the camera so you
are metering the area
on which you want to
base the exposure (top
left). Press the shutter
button halfway down to
lock exposure and press
the AE/FE Lock button.
Release the shutter
button, compose the
image the way you want
it (bottom right) and
press the shutter button
to lock focus and take
the photo.
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Click to explore
exposure lock.
If you took the picture

without first locking
exposure, it would be
too dark because the
background influenced
the exposure.

HOW TO OVERRIDE AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE
USING AUTOEXPOSURE (AE) LOCK

1. With the flash closed, the Mode Dial set to P, Tv or Av and metering
When you press the AE/ set to partial or spot (page 48), select the AF point you want to use
FE Lock button with this (page 73) and focus on the part of the scene on which you want to
icon, exposure is locked lock exposure.
and the same AE/FE
Lock icon flashes in the 2. Press the shutter button halfway down to lock exposure and focus,
viewfinder.
then press the AE/FE Lock button. An asterisk to the left of the shut-
ter speed in the viewfinder indicates that exposure is locked as long
as metering is on, or until you release the shutter or AE/FE Lock but-
ton.
3. Release the shutter button and recompose the scene. Press the shut-
ter button halfway down to refocus and take your photo. AE lock
TIP turns off automatically.
• After locking expo- ! To cancel AE lock without taking a picture, release the shutter but-
sure in P, Tv, and Av
modes, you can turn
ton and wait a few seconds for the * icon to disappear.
the Main Dial to use
program shift (page
! To keep it locked for other photos keep the shutter button pressed
42). halfway down, or continue holding down the AE/FE Lock button.
AUTOEXPOSURE BRACKETING (AEB)

TIPS
Instead of using exposure compensation, or in conjunction with it, you can
• If you use the con- use autoexposure bracketing (AEB) to run off a series of three images, each at
tinuous mode (page
137) for autoexpo- a slightly different exposure—correctly exposed, underexposed, and overex-
sure bracketing, the posed. The difference from one shot to the next can be set at up to 2 stops in
series of three shots 1/3rd stop increments.
is taken when you
hold down the shut- • AEB stays in effect until you reset it to 0, turn the camera off, change lenses,
ter button.
or turn on the flash. If you don’t do one of these things, the camera remains
• If you use the self- set to this mode so subsequent pictures are captured at different exposure
timer in AEB mode,
all three photos are levels.
taken automatically.
• You can’t use flash or B (Bulb) mode (page 92) with AEB. If a flash is at-
tached and ready to fire, AEB is cancelled.
• You can use exposure compensation with AEB to shift all three exposures
up or down the exposure level indicator.
• AEB may not work as expected when Custom Function II-4 Auto Lighting
Optimizer is enabled (page 152).

USING AUTOEXPOSURE BRACKETING (AEB)

1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av or M, press the Multi-controller
straight down to display the Quick Control screen.
The AEB icon.
2. Press the Multi-controller to select the exposure level indicator then
turn the Main Dial to expand or contract the exposure increment
between shots (you can optionally press SET at this point). Three
small markers under the indicator indicate what the exposure will be
for each of the three shots. The middle bar is at the exposure recom-
The exposure level
indicator used to specify mended by the camera (or shifted with exposure compensation—
the exposure increment page 55) and the left and right markers indicate by how many stops
between shots. Here the the other images will be underexposed (-) and overexposed (+).
dots indicate it’s one
stop. 3. Take each of the three photos just as you normally would.
! While AEB is in effect, the AEB icon is displayed on the LCD panel
TIPS
and the three markers are displayed on the exposure level indicator
• While turning the in the viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
Main Dial to set AEB,
you can also turn the ! After you take the first shot, the markers under the indicator and
Quick Control Dial to
set exposure com- the AE/FE lock icon in the viewfinder flash as do the markers and
pensation—shifting AEB icon on the LCD panel. When you press the shutter button
the three photos up halfway down, the marker on the exposure level indicator indicates
and down the expo-
sure level indicator. which of the three images is being captured. When the series is com-
plete, the flashing stops.
AEB using the Expo. 4. When finished, repeat Steps 1–2 to reset AEB to 0.
comp/AEB setting
on the Shooting 2
menu.
Autoexposure
bracketing captures a
series of three shots
at different exposures.
Here the sequence is +1
(left), 0 (center), and -1
(right).
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Click to explore
autoexposure
bracketing.

USING HISTOGRAMS
USING HISTOGRAMS
Most serious photo-editing programs such as Photoshop, Lightroom and

TIPS Photoshop Elements let you use a histogram as a guide when editing your
• If you enable images. However, since most image corrections can be diagnosed by looking
Highlight alert on the at a histogram, it helps to look at it while still in a position to reshoot the im-
Playback 2 menu,
when a histogram age. It’s for this reason that an image’s histogram can be displayed on the 5D
is displayed areas Mark II’s monitor. As you’ve seen, each pixel in an image can be set to any of
in the small image 256 levels of brightness from pure black (0) to pure white (255) and a histo-
next to it that are
overexposed blink. gram graphs the number of pixels at each level of brightness.
To darken these
areas in subsequent
images, you can use DISPLAYING HISTOGRAMS
minus (-) exposure
compensation. You can check histograms in playback mode or while reviewing an image you
have just taken. Just press the INFO button until the histogram and a small
• In Live View (page
139) you can display thumbnail of the selected image are displayed. Once displayed in playback
a live histogram on mode, you can scroll through other images to see their histograms.
the monitor to guide
you when setting ex-
posure before taking DISPLAYING HISTOGRAMS
a photo.
! In playback mode with an image displayed in single image view, or when
reviewing an image you just shot, press the INFO button until the desired
histogram for the current image is displayed.
Pressing INFO repeatedly displays two histograms, one after the other—
Brightness graphs the overall brightness of the composite image and RGB
displays the levels of brightness of each color—red, green and blue. You
can use the Playback 2 menu’s Histogram command to change the order in
which they are displayed. Also, when the histogram is displayed, so is a small
thumbnail of the current image. If you set the Playback 2 menu’s Highlight
alert setting to Enable (the default is Disable), any overexposed areas in the
image without details blink.
SELECTING THE HISTOGRAM AND HIGHLIGHTS

1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode, press MENU and select the
Histograms are Playback 2 menu tab.
displayed when you
press INFO. 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Histogram or Highlight
alert and press SET to display the choices Brightness and RGB or
Enable and Disable. Select one and press SET.
EVALUATING HISTOGRAMS
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The horizontal axis of a histogram represents the range of brightness from 0
overexposed highlights (shadows) on the left to 255 (highlights) on the right. Think of it as a line with
blink. 256 spaces on which to stack pixels of the same brightness. Since these are
the only values that can be captured by the camera, the horizontal line also
represents the camera’s maximum potential tonal range or contrast.
The vertical axis represents the number of pixels that have each of the 256
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brightness values. The higher the line coming up from the horizontal axis, the
Click to explore more pixels there are at that level of brightness.
histograms.
To read the histogram, you look at the distribution of pixels. Here are some
things to look for.

EVALUATING
HISTOGRAMS
! If the histogram
shows most pixels
toward the left
(darker) side of the
graph, use expo-
sure compensation
to add exposure
(page 55).
• Many photos look best when there are some pixels at every position because
! If the histogram these images are using the entire tonal range.
shows most pixels
• In most images, pixels are grouped together and occupy only a part of the
toward the right
available tonal range. These images lack contrast because the difference
(lighter) side of the
between the brightest and darkest areas isn’t as great as it could be. However,
graph, use expo-
this can be fixed in a photo-editing program using commands that spread the
sure compensation
pixels over the entire available tonal range. These controls allow you to adjust
to reduce exposure
the shadow, midtone, and highlight areas independently without affecting
(page 55).
the other areas of the image. This lets you lighten or darken selected areas of
your images without loosing detail. The only pixels that can’t be fixed in this
way are those that have been “clipped” to pure white or black (page 61).
• In a color RGB histogram, too many pixels to the left indicate that colors
may be weak. If there are too many to the right, the colors may be too satu-
rated and lack details.
The original image (top)
is flat and its histogram
indicates only part of
the tonal range is being
used. Photoshop’s
Levels command was
then used to expand the
tonal range (bottom).
You can see the change
in both the image and in
the histogram.

USING HISTOGRAMS
CLIPPED PIXELS
When a histogram shows pixels at the extreme ends of the range, in the 0
and 255 positions, it means details in those tones are being lost or “clipped”
in your image. These extremes should be reserved for specular highlights
(reflections) and small dark shadows. When large areas lack detail an image
suffers.
In the top image
you can tell from the
histogram that some
of the highlight pixels
are pure white and
hence clipped. There is
nothing you can do later
to display details in the
area of these pixels.
However, if you reshoot
the scene at a different
exposure you can shift
the pixels to the left
and avoid the clipping
(bottom).
TIP
• If highlights are
being clipped in
wedding dresses,
clouds, snow and
other bright sub-
jects, you can enable
Custom Function
II-3 Highlight tone
priority gives priority
to highlights (page
152). This preserves
details in these To avoid clipping and better place the tonal values in subsequent shots, you
bright areas of the use exposure compensation (page 55). Increasing exposure shifts pixels to
image and prevents
them from being the highlight, or right end of the histogram. Decreasing exposure shifts them
clipped. the other way. Unless you are deliberately trying to get pure whites or pure
blacks, you should shift the pixels if any are being clipped. This then gives
you a chance to correct the image in a photo-editing program.
This series of photos was taken one stop apart using exposure compensation. As the
exposure increased pixels on the histogram shifted right. You can tell from the way
the fan blades blur that the shutter speed was changed to change the exposure. In
the image where it was faster, the image is darker and the blades are frozen. As
slower speeds were used to increase the exposure, the images get lighter and the
blades more blurred.

SAMPLE HISTOGRAMS
The way a histogram looks depends on the scene you’re shooting and how
you expose it. There’s no such thing as a good or bad histogram. Whether a
particular histogram is good or bad depends on what you are trying to accom-
plish. If fact, you may prefer to trust your visual reaction to the image more
than the very numeric image data provided by a histogram. However, even if
you never use a histogram, you can learn about digital images by understand-
ing what a histogram can show about an image. Following are some histo-
grams from good images along with a brief summary of what the histogram
reveals.
In this well exposed

portrait there is a
fairly even distribution
of values in both the
shadow and highlight
areas of the image.
There are no pure
blacks in the image as
shown by the gap at the
far left end of the scale.
This brown moth on

a gray card has most
of its values in the
midrange. That’s why
there are a number
of high vertical lines
grouped in the middle of
the horizontal axis.
This high-key fog scene

has most of its values
toward the highlight end
of the scale. There are
no really dark values in
the image. The image
uses only a little more
than half the camera’s
dynamic range. The distinct vertical line to the left of
middle gray shows how many pixels
there are in the uniformly gray frame
border added in Photoshop.
This low-key scene

has the majority of its
values in the shadow
area with another large
grouping around middle
gray. There are wide
levels of brightness that
have only a few pixels.

CHAPTER 3. CONTROLLING SHARPNESS
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O
ne of the first things you notice about a photograph is whether or
CONTENTS
not it is sharp. Extremely sharp photographs reveal a richness of
• Getting Sharper detail, even more than you would normally notice in the original
Pictures • Sharpness
Isn’t Everything • How scene. If the entire image isn’t sharp, your eye is immediately drawn to the
to Photograph Mo- part that is. When learning to control sharpness, the first goal is to get pic-
tion Sharply • Focus tures sharp when you want them sharp. If your photos aren’t as sharp as you
and Depth of Field •
Focusing Techniques want them to be, you can analyze them to see what went wrong.
• Controlling Depth
of Field • Using Deep • Focus. If nothing in your image is sharp or if your central subject is not
Depth Of Field • Us- sharp but other parts of the photograph are, your camera was improperly
ing Shallow Depth of focused.
Field • Conveying the
Feeling of Motion • Depth of Field. If your central subject is sharp but the background or fore-
ground is less so, you may not have used a small enough aperture to get the
depth of field you wanted.
• Camera Movement. If the image is blurred all over, with no part sharp, the
camera moved during the exposure. Some dots appear as lines and edges are
blurred because the image was “painted” onto the moving image sensor.
• Subject Movement. When some of the picture is sharp but a moving subject
appears blurred, your shutter speed was too slow.

GETTING SHARPER PICTURES
Unwanted camera movement when the shutter is open is one of the major
TIP causes of unsharp photographs. You can reduce this problem in bright light
• When using a and when using flash simply by holding the camera steady and depressing the
tripod or other sup- shutter button smoothly. At slow shutter speeds, such as those you get in dim
port, you can use
a remote control light, particularly with a long focal length lens, you need a camera support.
device (page 138) to
trigger the shutter
so you don’t move SUPPORTING THE CAMERA
the camera when
you press the shutter As the focal length of your lens changes, so does the minimum shutter speed
button. at which you can hand-hold the camera without getting blur from camera
• Custom Function shake. The rule of thumb is never to hand-hold the camera at a shutter speed
III-6 Mirror lockup lower than the reciprocal of your lens’ focal length. For example, a 100mm
(page 152) lets you lens can be handheld at a shutter speed of 1/100 or faster. (The camera dis-
lock up the mirror so
it doesn’t introduce plays the current shutter speed on the LCD panel, and in the viewfinder when
vibrations when you you press the shutter button halfway down.)
take a picture.
To hand hold the camera as steady as possible, brace the camera against
• Canon makes
image stabilization your face and brace your elbows against your sides. Just before taking a shot,
(IS) lenses that get inhale deeply, then exhale and hold your breath while smoothly depressing
you sharper pictures the shutter button. When holding the camera for both horizontal and vertical
when you handhold
the camera (page photographs use your right finger to press the shutter button and your left
98). hand to support the camera.
• In critical situations When the shutter speed is too slow to handhold the camera, you need to sup-
you can use continu-
ous mode to run off port it. One way to do this is to lean against a wall or tree and brace yourself
a series of photos with your elbows tight to your body. You can also find a branch or railing to
and select the sharp- rest the camera on. For real stability, anywhere, anytime, you need a tripod
est later.
or an even easier to carry monopod.
The camera was steady

for the left picture and
moved for the right one.
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Click to view a PDF
document on tripods.
USING THE SELF-TIMER/REMOTE SWITCH

The 5D Mark II has a self-timer that gives you a delay of 2 seconds (in P,
Tv, Av, M and B modes) or 10 seconds (in all modes) between the time you
press the shutter button and the picture is taken. Although often used to
give you time to get into a picture, the self-timer is also a great way to reduce
blur caused by camera movement. Just place the camera on a stable surface,
compose the image, and use the timer to take the picture without any camera
Placing the eyepiece shake. The 2-second timer is especially useful when using a tripod in macro
cover over the photography since it takes pictures without camera shake caused by press-
viewfinder blocks light
from entering and ing the shutter button. Don’t stand in front of the camera when you press the
affecting the exposure shutter button to start the timer. If you do so, you’ll prevent the camera from
when using the self- focusing correctly. When using the timer to photograph yourself, focus it on
timer or remote.
something at the same distance at which you will be positioned.

GETTING SHARPER PICTURES
The 5D Mark II has an N3 type remote control socket into which you can plug
a remote switch that works much like a shutter button (page 138).
The 10 second (left) and USING THE SELF-TIMER

2 second (right) self-
timer icons. 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode for the 10-second timer, or to
P, Tv, Av, M or B mode for the 2 second timer, press and release the
AF-DRIVE button and turn the Quick Control Dial until one of the
self-timer icons is displayed on the LCD panel.
2. With the camera on a stable surface or tripod, and pointed at the
subject you want to focus on, press the shutter button halfway down
to set focus, then all the way down to take the picture. The self-timer
lamp on the front of the camera flashes, the camera beeps, and the
LCD panel displays a countdown timer. Two seconds before the pic-
ture is taken, the lamp glows steady and the beep rate increases. (To
cancel the timer, press the AF-DRIVE button.)
3. When finished, repeat Step 1 to return to single-frame mode.
ADJUSTING THE ISO

Increasing the camera’s ISO means less light is need to expose a picture. This
lets you use a faster shutter speed to reduce blur caused by camera or subject
movement, use a smaller aperture for more depth of field, or add range to
your flash. Increasing sensitivity is also a good way to get pictures without us-
ing flash in places such as concerts and museums where flash is prohibited.
When the ISO is set
to Auto this icon is • In auto modes, the ISO is set to Auto and varies between 100–3200.
displayed on the LCD
panel. The actual ISO • In P, Tv, Av, M and B modes, you can set the ISO to Auto (the default), or
speed to be used is manually set it between 100–6400 in one-third stop increments. When ISO
displayed when you
press the shutter button is set to Auto in P, Tv, Av, M and B modes it varies between 100–3200 with
halfway down. the exception of Manual (M) and Bulb (B) modes where it’s fixed at 400. (The
ISO to be used is displayed when you press the shutter button halfway down.)
L H1 H2 Settings of 50 (L), 12800 (H1) and 25600 (H2) are available if you turn on
Custom Function I-3 ISO expansion (page 152).
When changing ISO,
L represents 50 and • When Auto ISO is used with flash in any shooting mode, it is normally set to
the H1 and H2 icons 400. However, if this will cause overexposure it will be set as low as 100.
represent ISOs of
12800 and 25600. The only down side to increasing the ISO is that it adds noise to images. At
high ISO settings, and with long exposures times, images may have irregular
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%<(/,-%
colors and horizontal stripes may appear as noise. Noise occurs because in-
Click here to explore creasing sensitivity amplifies the captured signal, but also amplifies the back-
the effect of noise in an ground noise captured along with it. The noise then appears in the image as
image.
randomly distributed colored pixels. Generally, the higher the ISO the more
noise you’ll get, although the 5D Mark II is exceptionally good at keeping it
to a minimum. To reduce noise you can turn on Custom Function II-2 High
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%DE?%
ISO speed noise reduction (page 152). When on, noise reduction is performed
Click to see the effects at all ISO settings, but has the greatest effect on those shot at high ISOs. At
of increasing ISO. low ISOs, noise in shadow areas is reduced. When on, the frame rate drops
dramatically in continuous shooting (page 137) and white balance bracketing
(page 85) is disabled.

The situations in which various ISO settings are best include those in the fol-
TIPS
lowing table.
• When using the
self-timer to photo- ISO Setting Good For
graph yourself, use
focus lock (page 74) L, 100–200 Bright daylight outdoors
to focus on some- 400–800 Dark overcast, dawn and dusk
thing at the same
distance as where 1600–6400, H1, H2 Night or dark indoors, fast action
you’ll be.
• You can turn off

the self-timer beep if
it’s distracting (page
160).
• Using Custom
Function III-6 Mirror
lockup (page 152)
to lock up the mirror
while using a two
second self-timer
delay is the perfect
combination to elimi-
nate blur caused by
camera movement.
• If you enable
Custom Function
II-3 Highlight tone
priority (page 152),
the ISO range is
200–6400.
• Using a high ISO
speed or shooting
in high-temperature
conditions can cause
noisy images. Long
exposures can also
cause irregular colors
in the image.
Noise appears in images

as random color pixels
especially when you use
long shutter speeds or
high ISO settings.
CHANGING THE ISO

! With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press and release
the ISO button on top of the camera and then turn the Main Dial to
scroll through the available ISO settings displayed on the LCD panel
and monitor and in the viewfinder.

SHARPNESS ISN’T EVERYTHING
SHARPNESS ISN’T EVERYTHING
Your photos don’t have to be sharp to be effective. In many cases, it’s better
to have part of the scene sharper than the rest. Your pictures can be sharp or
unsharp in different ways. The first way concerns motion. Several factors af-
fect the way motion is captured in images. These include your shutter speed,
lens focal length, and subject speed, direction, and distance. Another kind of
sharpness concerns depth of field, how much of the scene will be sharp in the
image from foreground to background. Even if you are photographing a static
scene, your picture may not be sharp if you do not have enough depth of field.
However, a shallow depth of field can be used to make a busy background less
distracting by having it out of focus in the picture. Several factors affect depth
of field, including lens aperture, lens focal length, and subject distance.
Motion in a scene can
be frozen or blurred
depending on the
shutter speed and other
factors. Blur can be
used creatively to evoke
a feeling of motion as in
this shot of a waterfall
in Yosemite National
Park.
Shallow depth of field

can focus attention on
a foreground subject by
making the background
less sharp.

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH MOTION SHARPLY
The sharpness of different parts of an image helps direct the viewer who
TIP tends to look first at the most sharply focused part of the picture. In addition,
sharpness itself can be part of the message of the photograph. The immobility
• To capture action,
point the camera of a frozen figure can be made more apparent by blurring people moving in
toward where you other parts of the scene.
expect the action
to occur and press Blur in an image is caused when all or part of a subject focused onto the im-
the shutter button age sensor moves when the shutter is open. To show a moving subject sharp-
halfway down to set
and lock focus and ly, the shutter needs to open and close before the image on the sensor moves
exposure. Hold the a significant amount. In other words, you need to use a fast shutter speed.
button down until the But just how fast is fast enough? The answer depends on several factors. Be-
action happens and
you’ll be able to get cause several variables are involved, you can’t always predict how motion will
a shot off a lot faster. be portrayed in the final photograph. So use different settings and take more
than one shot if possible. Try shooting from a different angle or perhaps wait
for a pause in the action. You are much more likely to get a good shot if you
have several to choose from. Just be aware that sharpness and blur are hard
to evaluate on the camera’s monitor.
SPEED OF SUBJECT
The faster a subject is moving, the faster the shutter speed you need for a
sharp image. However, it’s not the speed of the subject in the real world that
determines blur. It’s how far the subject moves on the image sensor while the
exposure is being made. This depends not just on the subject’s actual speed,
but also on the direction of its movement, its distance from the camera, and
the focal length of the lens.
The shutter speed froze
the central dancer but
was slow enough to blur
the others. This makes
the central dancer the
most important person
in the photograph.
DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT
When the shutter is open, a subject moving parallel to the image sensor
crosses more of the pixels on the sensor and is more blurred than a subject
moving directly toward or away from the camera. This is why you can use a
slower shutter speed to sharply photograph a subject moving toward, or away
from you, and not the same subject moving from one side of the scene to the
other.

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH MOTION SHARPLY
DISTANCE TO SUBJECT AND FOCAL LENGTH OF LENS

!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%1/,":<)-%
Click to explore how If a subject is close to the camera, even slight movement is enough to cause
blur. A subject—or part of one—far from the camera can move a considerable
camera-subject distance
affects shutter speeds.
distance before its image on the image sensor moves very much. The focal
length of the lens can also affect the apparent distance to the subject. Increas-
ing the focal length of your lens—for example, zooming in on a subject—has
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the same effect as moving closer to your subject. The longer the focal length
shutter speed affects
of the lens, the less a subject has to move for its image to move on the image
sharpness. sensor and become blurred.
The shutter speed

needed to control the
SHUTTER FASTER SLOWER
sharpness of a moving SPEED
object is determined NEEDED
by the subject’s speed,
direction of movement,
and distance.
SPEED OF
SUBJECT
On this speeding train,

the part closest to
the camera looks the DIRECTION OF
most blurred while MOVEMENT
the farthest part looks
sharper. Since all parts
of the train are moving
at the same speed, this
shows how distance
affects blur.
AMOUNT OF
ZOOM AND
DISTANCE TO
SUBJECT
TIP INCREASING THE SHARPNESS OF MOVING OB-

• To visualize the JECTS
effects of distance
on blur, look out the ! Photograph fast-moving subjects heading toward or away from you
side window of a and not from side to side.
speeding car (but not
when you’re driv- ! Move farther away from the subject or use a shorter focal length lens.
ing). The objects in
the foreground seem ! Switch to Tv (shutter-priority) mode (page 43) or use program shift
to fly by while those
on the horizon don’t (page 42) and select a fast shutter speed such as 1/500.
seem to move at all.
! Increase the ISO so you can use a faster shutter speed although this
adds some noise to the image (page 65).

FOCUS AND DEPTH OF FIELD
If you look around you—the book in your hand, the chair across the room,
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the far wall—everything seems to be sharp. That is because your eyes refocus
focusing shifts the plane every time you look at an object at a different distance. But the sharpness you
of critical focus. see when you glance at a scene is not always what you get in a photograph of
that scene. To understand why not, you have to understand focus and depth
of field.
FOCUS
A lens can only bring one part of a scene into the sharpest possible focus. This
part of the scene falls on what is called the plane of critical focus. Subjects
falling on this plane will be the sharpest part of the picture. You move this
plane toward and way from the camera as you focus. The plane of critical
focus in your image will be the area that falls on the active AF point in the
viewfinder—the one that flashes red.
The shutter button Imagine the part of the scene on which you focus as a flat plane (much like a pane
has two stages. When of glass) superimposed from one side to the other of a scene, so that the plane is
pressed halfway down, parallel to the back of the camera or the image sensor. Objects falling exactly on
the camera locks focus this imaginary plane will be in critical focus, the sharpest part of your picture. This
and establishes the plane of critical focus is a very shallow band and includes only those parts of the
plane of critical focus. scene located at identical distances from the camera. As you point an autofocus
camera at objects nearer or farther away in the scene, the plane of critical focus
moves closer to or farther away from the camera. As the plane moves, objects at
different distances from the camera come into or go out of critical focus.
DEPTH OF FIELD
If you look at photographs, you can see a considerable area of the scene from
TIP near to far that appears sharp. Even though theoretically only one narrow
• To control depth
plane is critically sharp, other parts of the scene in front of and behind the
of field, switch to Av most sharply focused plane appear acceptably sharp. This area in which
(aperture-priority) everything looks acceptably sharp is called depth of field. Objects within the
mode and select a
small aperture for
depth of field become less and less sharp the farther they are from the plane
great depth of field, of critical focus. Eventually they become so out of focus that they no longer
or a large aperture appear sharp.
for shallow depth of
field (page 78). Often it doesn’t matter so much exactly what you are focused on. What does
matter is whether or not all of the objects you want to be sharp are within the

FOCUS AND DEPTH OF FIELD
depth of field so they appear sharp. If you want a large part of the scene to be
sharp, you can increase the depth of field. You can decrease it if you want less
of the scene sharp. In some scenes, you can significantly increase or decrease
the depth of field simply by shifting the point on which you are focused or by
changing the aperture setting.
B A C
This photo of a book

page shows how shallow
depth of field can be
when you get close to a
subject.
The near and far limits of depth of field are shown here as two planes (B and C),
parallel to the plane of critical focus (A). Actually, they are usually not visible as
exactly defined boundaries. Nor can you usually find the plane of critical focus by
looking at a picture. Instead, sharp areas imperceptibly merge into unsharp ones.
In most situations depth of field is not evenly divided. At normal shooting distances,
about one-third of the depth of field is in front of the plane of critical focus (toward
the camera), and two-thirds is behind it (away from the camera). When the camera
is focused very close to an object, the depth of field becomes more evenly divided.
In both of these images

the plane of critical
focus has been placed
on the middle face. In
the left image a large
aperture was used to
give shallow depth of
field. In the right image
a small aperture was
use to give great depth
of field.
CHECKING DEPTH OF FIELD

To check depth-of-field in the viewfinder in P, Tv, Av, M and B modes, or
on the monitor while using Live View (page 139), press the depth-of-field
preview button on the lower left side of the lens mount. Pressing this button
locks exposure and closes the lens aperture down to the f/stop you’ve selected
so the viewfinder gives you an idea of what’s sharp and what isn’t. However,
when using small apertures, the viewfinder image is very dark, except in Live
View (page 139), where it remains bright. When the maximum aperture is
To check depth-of- selected, as it often is in dim light, you’ll see no change at all. One trick is to
field in the viewfinder
press the depth-of-field
hold down the depth-of-field preview button as you turn the Main Dial to
preview button. scroll through a range of aperture.

FOCUSING TECHNIQUES
The 5D Mark II’s autofocus system uses contrast to set the focus. In dim light,
an attached flash may strobe an AF-assist beam when you press the shutter
button halfway down. If the assist beam is drawing attention, you can turn it
off using Custom Function III-5 AF-assist beam firing (page 152).
As good as the autofocus system is, there are times when it has trouble focus-
ing. In these situations the focus confirmation light in the viewfinder flashes
instead of glowing a steady green. This happens with:
• Subjects such as a blank wall or clear blue sky or other subjects with very
Lens focus switch set to low contrast and evenly lit expanses of a single color.
autofocus (AF).
• Subjects that are backlit or have reflective surfaces.
TIPS • Subjects in low light or very dark settings.

• When using an • Overlapping subjects at different distances or with repetitive patterns.
USM (Ultrasonic
Motor) lens with a In these situations you might want to try selecting the AF point manually
distance scale in (the center point is the most accurate), use focus lock, or manually focus the
One-Shot AF mode,
you can turn the lens. Let’s see how these techniques work, but first, let’s look at the autofocus
focusing ring on the modes you have to choose from.
lens to fine tune
focus after focus is
achieved (called full- AUTOFOCUS MODES
time manual focus-
ing). The 5D Mark II has two autofocus modes—One-Shot AF and AI Servo AF,
• When using an and a third—AI Focus AF—that automatically switches between the first two.
extender on a lens (AI stands for artificial intelligence.) In auto modes, the camera specifies
with a maximum one of these modes for you and you can’t change it, but in P, Tv, Av, M and
aperture of f/5.6 or
smaller, you can’t B modes you can choose any of the three modes depending on whether a
use autofocus. subject is moving or not.
• Zoom before focus- • One-Shot AF mode works best for still subjects including portraits and
ing since zooming
can through off landscapes. In this mode when you press the shutter button halfway down,
focus. focus locks on the part of the scene closest to the camera covered by one of
• In auto modes the the AF points.
AF mode, AF point
selection, and drive The AF point or points used to set focus briefly flash red when you press the
mode are set auto- shutter button halfway down and focus is achieved. (You can turn this off
matically. with Custom Function III-4 Superimposed display—page 152.)
• One of the main
reasons the cam- The plane of critical focus in your image will be the area that falls on the
era won’t focus is active AF point in the viewfinder—the one that flashes red. As you point the
because you are too camera at various subjects and press the shutter button halfway down, you’ll
close.
see them pop into focus.
Focus remains locked as long as you continue to hold down the button. In
this mode, the camera won’t take a picture until focus is locked and the focus
confirmation glows a steady green. When using evaluative metering (the
default) when focus locks in this mode, so does exposure. To change focus
once it’s locked, you must release the shutter button and then press it halfway
down again. One-Shot AF is selectable in P, Tv, Av, M and B modes.
• AI Servo AF mode continually adjusts the focus (and exposure) as long as
When autofocus is you hold the shutter button halfway down. This mode is one of your choices
locked, the focus
confirmation lights in P, Tv, Av, M and B modes. It’s designed to help you keep a moving subject
green and the active AF in focus and is great for sports and nature photography, or any other situ-
point flashes red in the ations where you are photographing moving subjects. If the subject moves
viewfinder.

FOCUSING TECHNIQUES
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after you have focused on it, it remains in focus as long as it’s covered by one
of the nine AF points although the one being used doesn’t flash red. When
Click to explore the way
focus zones work. focus is achieved in this mode neither it or exposure is locked and the focus
confirmation light doesn’t glow a steady green. However, if you have selected
a specific AF point (see below), that point flashes red when focus is achieved.
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%,-+F(2()*,%
While focusing on a moving subject the camera beeps softly.
effects of servo focus.
• When the AF point is being selected automatically the camera initially
uses the center AF point to focus. If the subject then moves away from this
point, focus tracking continues as long as it is covered by one of the other
AF points.
TIPS • If you have selected the AF point manually, the camera uses that point to
track focus until the subject moves so it’s covered by another AF point.
• Custom Function
III-3 AF point selec- • AI Focus AF mode initially focuses on the subject using One-Shot AF
tion method lets you
change the way you
mode, but if the subject’s distance from the camera changes, the camera au-
manually select AF tomatically switches to AI Servo AF mode so it can keep it in focus. AI Focus
points (page 152). AF mode is automatically selected for you in Full and Creative Auto modes
• When using the and is one of the three you can select in P, Tv, Av, M and B modes. If focus is
Multi-controller to achieved in this mode using AI Servo AF, the focus confirmation light doesn’t
select a AF point,
repeatedly pressing
light, and the beeper beeps softly.
it in the same direc-
tion toggles between
selecting one AF SELECTING AN AUTOFOCUS MODE
point and selecting
them all. 1. With the camera in P, Tv, Av, M or B mode and the focus switch on
the lens set to AF, press and release the AF-DRIVE button.
2. Turn the Main Dial to cycle through ONE SHOT, AI FOCUS, or AI
SERVO on the LCD panel.
SELECTABLE FOCUSING POINTS

The 5D Mark II has nine AF points and the one being used to set focus can be
selected automatically or manually. To see which AF point is being used to set
focus, press the shutter button halfway down, or press the AF point selector
The AF-Drive button. button, to see which flashes red.
• Auto AF point selection is the only setting available in Full and Creative
Auto modes, but is selectable in other modes. When used with One-shot
AF the camera focuses on that part of the scene closest to the camera and
covered by one of the AF points. When used with AI Servo AF the camera first
uses the center AF point and then uses other points if the subject moves.
• In P, Tv, Av, M and B modes you can easily switch from automatic to man-
ual selection. When manually selecting an AF point the one currently being
used, called the active AF point, is indicated on the LCD panel and is shown
The selected AF point in red in the viewfinder immediately after selecting it, or anytime you press
briefly flashes red in the the shutter button halfway down. Manually selecting an AF point lets you
viewfinder. choose which part of the scene is used to focus the camera and also lets you
get shots off more quickly since the camera doesn’t have to take time calculat-
ing where to focus.
The selected AF point

is displayed on the LCD
panel. When all nine AF
points are displayed,
the camera selects the
one to use.

SELECTING AN AF POINT
1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode in P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press
the AF point selector button (five dot icon) on the back of the camera
to display the active AF point(s) in red in the viewfinder and the AF
The AF point selector
button icon. point indicator on the LCD panel.
2. Turn the Main or Quick Control Dial to select an AF point or press
the Multi-controller to select a point directly. (When all nine points
are selected, the camera is in auto mode and will pick the AF point
for you.) When using the Multi-controller to select AF points, there
are shortcuts.
• Pressing it straight down once selects the center AF point and
pressing it again selects all of them.
• Repeatedly pressing it in the same direction toggles between select-
ing one AF point and selecting them all.
TIPS
3. When finished taking photos, repeat Steps 1 and 2 to reset AF point
• You can use AE
Lock (page 55) to selection to auto (all nine AF points). If you don’t do so, the setting
lock exposure on one remains in affect even when you turn the camera off.
part of a scene and
use focus lock to lock
focus on another. DISPLAYING AF POINTS IN PLAYBACK
You can then take
the picture, or even When you play back images or view them in review mode, you can display
recompose the scene the AF point or points used to set focus. This lets you confirm that the camera
first.
focused where you wanted it to.
• The center AF point
is the best AF point
to use because it’s DISPLAYING AF POINTS
more sensitive and
accurate. Also, with 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode, press MENU and select the
a fast lens from f/1.0
to f/2.8, high-pre- Playback 2 menu tab.
cision focusing is
based on the center 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight AF point disp. and press
AF point. SET to display the choices Enable and Disable (the default).
• Custom Function 3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight your choice and press SET.
IV-1 Shutter button/
AF-ON button (page
152) lets you change
the way you lock USING FOCUS LOCK
focus and exposure.
To change the position of the plane of critical focus in One-Shot AF mode
• AI Servo AF and
automatic AF point (page 72), you can use focus lock. The 5D Mark II has a two-stage shutter
selection is a great button. When you press it halfway down, the camera sets focus, and also ex-
combination to use posure if you are using evaluative metering (page 48). When the focus confir-
with moving sub-
jects. mation light in the viewfinder glows a steady green, these readings are locked
in. If you don’t release the shutter button, you can then point the camera
anywhere else and the settings remain unchanged. This lets you set the focus
at any distance from the camera to control both focus and depth of field.
• When using evaluative metering with One-Shot AF (the default), press-
ing AF-ON or pressing the shutter button halfway down locks exposure and
focus.
• When using AI Servo AF in P, Tv, Av, M and B modes, neither focus nor
exposure is locked and both are set when you take the picture.
• Any other combination of metering (page 48) and focus (page 72) modes
locks just focus.

FOCUSING TECHNIQUES
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USING FOCUS LOCK
Click to explore focus 1. With autofocus set to One-Shot AF (page 72), compose the image
lock.
so the subject you want to lock focus on is covered by one of the AF
points in the viewfinder. (It works best if you use the more accurate
center AF point.)
2. Press the shutter button halfway down and hold it there to lock in
focus. The green focus confirmation light lights up and the AF point
being used to set focus briefly flashes red in the viewfinder.
3. Without releasing the shutter button, recompose the scene and press
the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
MANUAL FOCUS
To manually focus, set the lens’ focus switch to M or MF (for Manual) and
turn the lens’ focus ring. If you are using an USM (Ultrasonic Motor) lens
that has a distance scale in One-Shot AF mode, you can turn the focusing ring
on the lens to fine tune focus after focus is achieved (called full-time manual
The lens focus switch.
focusing). Manual focus is extremely useful when autofocus has problems,
when you want to quickly focus on an off-center subject or a subject that is in
a busy setting where the camera has trouble isolating the subject you want, or
TIP when you want focus fixed no matter how the subject moves.
• In Live View you Hold the shutter button halfway down as you manually focus. When the sub-
can enlarge part
of the image up to ject covered by the active AF point comes into focus, the AF point flashes red
10x for very precise and the focus confirmation light glows a steady green.
manual focusing
(page 140). After focusing, you can recompose the scene at will without focus changing or
having to use focus lock.
USING MANUAL FOCUS

1. Set the focus switch on the lens to M or MF.
In addition to the 9
2. Position one of the active AF points over the part of the scene you
visible AF points, there want critically sharp.
are 6 others you can’t
see, all within the spot 3. Hold the shutter button halfway down and turn the focus ring on the
metering circle. Those lens. When focus is achieved, the AF point used to set focus flashes
on the corners are
horizontal-line sensitive
red and the focus confirmation light glows a steady green.
with f/5.6 lenses. The
other two are vertical-
line sensitive with f/2.8
and f/5.6 lenses.
Manual focus is useful

when the main subject
doesn’t fall on one of
the AF points, or when
you want to focus on
a very specific spot
such as the wing of a
butterfly.

CONTROLLING DEPTH OF FIELD
Sharpness—or the lack of it—is immediately noticeable when you look at

a photograph. If you are making a portrait, you want only the person to be
sharply focused, but not a distracting background. In a landscape, on the
other hand, often you will want everything sharp from close-up rock to far
away mountain. Once you understand how to control depth of field, you will
feel much more confident when you want to make sure something is—or
isn’t—sharp.
To control depth of field, you have three factors to work with.
• Aperture size. The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field. The
Here the camera’s
depth of field was just larger the aperture, the shallower the depth of field.
deep enough to keep
the bird in focus. Parts • Camera-to-subject distance. As you move father from the subject you are
of the image closer focused on, you increase depth of field. As you move closer, you decrease it.
to the camera and
further away become • Lens focal length. A shorter focal length lens increases depth of field and a
increasingly less sharp. longer one decreases it.
Each of these three factors affects depth of field by itself, but even more so in
combination. You can get the shallowest depth of field with a lens zoomed in
on a nearby subject using a large aperture. You get the greatest depth of field
when you are far from a subject, with a wide-angle lens, using a small aper-
ture.
EFFECT DEEPER SHALLOWER

ON DEPTH
OF FIELD
APERTURE
SIZE
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Click to explore how the
aperture affects depth
of field.
CAMERA TO
SUBJECT
DISTANCE
AMOUNT AND
DIRECTION OF
ZOOM
To check depth-of-
preview button (page
71).

USING DEEP DEPTH OF FIELD
USING DEEP DEPTH OF FIELD
Often you will want to get as much depth of field as possible because impor-
tant parts of a scene that you want sharp are both near to and far from the
camera. Maximum depth of field seems particularly important for photo-
graphs of landscapes and other scenes where a distant horizon is a part of the
picture.
When a subject extends to the far distance, many photographers unthinkingly
focus on that part of the scene. When you are focused on that distant point,
everything beyond it will be sharp. But since one-third of the available depth
Zooming out and
using a small aperture of field falls in front of the point on which you are focused and two-thirds
keeps everything in behind it, you are wasting two-thirds of your depth of field. That may mean
the foreground and that some other part of the scene in the foreground will not be included in the
background in focus.
one-third remaining depth of field and consequently will not be sharp.
Instead of focusing on infinity, if you focus on some object one-third of the
way between you and the horizon, you bring forward the point on which you
are focused and increase the depth of field in the foreground of your picture.
This new point of focus is called the hyperfocal distance. You can use this
procedure not just for landscapes, but whenever you want to shift depth of
field toward and away from the camera.
When you focus on the

most distant part of
the scene, here it’s the
mountains, all available
depth of field to the
right of that point is
wasted. As a result, the
middle and foreground
are not sharp because
they don’t fall within the
range of available depth
of field.
By focusing on the
hyperfocal distance,
the most distant part
of the scene remains in
focus but the near point
of depth of field moves
closer to the camera.
The entire scene is
sharp.

USING SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD
Shallow depth of field, sometimes called selective focus, is a great way to

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isolate a subject from a distracting foreground or background. When every-
Click to explore thing in a picture is equally sharp, the viewer gives equal attention to all parts
selective focus.
of the scene. But if some parts of an image are sharp and others are not, the
viewer is drawn to the sharpest part. You can selectively focus the camera and
your viewer’s attention on the most important part of the scene by limiting
depth of field so the significant elements are sharp while the foreground and
background are less so.
Only the bubble
gum blower is sharp
while figures in the
foreground and
background aren’t.
Here attention is drawn

to the sharp monarch
butterfly caterpillar and
the boy’s face is soft
and less distracting, but
sharp enough that you
can see the expression.
DECREASING DEPTH OF FIELD

! Use a neutral density filter for a larger aperture.
! Zoom the lens in or move closer to enlarge the subject.
! Use aperture-priority mode or program shift to select a large aper-
ture such as f/2.8.

CONVEYING THE FELLING OF MOTION
CONVEYING THE FEELING OF MOTION
Although sharpness is a laudable goal, it isn’t the only one. The creative use
of blur can lead to some interesting photos—especially when conveying the
feeling of motion. The shutter speed can be selected to blur some or all of an
image. Many times you don’t do anything but benefit from a happy accident.
Anything that moves day or night is a candidate for creative blurring. Your
only limitation is getting a slow enough shutter speed in bright light.
Panning the camera in the same direction as a moving subject produces an
image where the subject is relatively sharp against a blurred background.
Your movement should be smooth and controlled to get a good pan, so begin
to pan the camera before the subject enters your viewfinder. Smoothly de-
press the shutter button as you follow the motion of the subject, keeping it in
Panning with this
barred owl blurred the the same position in the viewfinder. Follow through as you would in golf or
background and created tennis. Panning takes practice so take as many images as you can. Results are
an impressionistic quite unpredictable because your body motion adds yet another variable to
image.
the final picture.
Here a fast shutter

speed froze everything
but the ball.
CONVEYING
MOTION
! Try blurring
images in low-
light situations. In
bright light, the
shutter will open
and close too fast.
! Use shutter-pri-
ority mode pro-
gram shift to select
a slow shutter
speed.
! Use a neutral
density filter to get
a slower shutter
speed.
! When panning
with a moving sub-
ject, use AI Servo
AF mode (page 72)
to keep the image
focused as long as
you hold the shut-
ter button halfway
down.

CHAPTER 4. CAPTURING LIGHT & COLOR
Chapter 4
Capturing Light & Color
I
mage sensors in digital cameras are designed to produce colors that
CONTENTS match those in the original scene. However, there is a lot of variation
• Where Does Color among sensors and among the circuits and software that process raw
Come From? • White images into final photographs. The results you get depend, in part, on the ac-
Balance and Color •
Using White Balance
curacy with which you expose the image and how the camera handles colors.
Correction & Bracket-
ing • Color and Time
With film cameras, photographers usually explored a wide variety of films be-
of Day • Sunsets and fore settling on the one or two they liked best. This is because each film type
Sunrises • Weather had it’s own unique characteristics. In some the grain was small, in others it
• Photographing at
Night • The Direction
was larger. A film may have had colors that were warmer than other films, or
of Light • The Quality slightly colder. These subtle variations among films were what made photog-
of Light raphers gravitate to one or the other. With digital cameras, you don’t have
the same choice offered by film cameras. The “film” in the form of an image
sensor is built into your camera. Whatever its characteristics are, they are the
characteristics you have to live with until you buy another camera.
In this chapter, we explore the world of light and color and how you manage
it in your photos.

WHERE DOES COLOR COME FROM?
WHERE DOES COLOR COME FROM?
Why do we see colors? Light from the sun or from a lamp seems to have no
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/color/
particular color of its own. It appears simply to be “white” light. However, if
Click here to explore you pass the light through a prism, you can see that it actually contains all
color and prisms. colors, the same effect that occurs when water droplets in the atmosphere
separate light into a rainbow. A colorful object such as a leaf appears green
because when white light strikes it, the leaf reflects only the green wave-
lengths of light and absorbs the others. A white object such as a white flower
appears white because it reflects most of the wavelengths that strike it,
absorbing relatively few. Ink dyes or pigments in color prints also selectively
absorb and reflect certain wavelengths of light and so produce the effect of
color.
Although light from the
sun appears colorless
or “white,” it actually
contains a range of
colors similar to a
rainbow. You can see
these colors using a
prism to separate them
out.
White objects
reflect most of the
wavelengths of light
that strike them. When
all of these wavelengths
are combined, we see
white. On the other
hand, when all of them
are absorbed, and none
reflected, we see black.
A green object such

as a leaf reflects only
those wavelengths that
create the visual effect
of green. Other colors in
the light are absorbed
by the leaf.
“White” light actually

contains light of
different colors. The
overall color cast of the
light changes as the
proportions of the colors
change.

WHITE BALANCE AND COLOR
Although light from the sun or from a light bulb looks white to us, it not only
TIPS contains a mixture of all colors, it contains these colors in varying propor-
• Color temperature tions. Light from the midday sun, for example, is much bluer than light from
ranges from high a sunrise or a tungsten lamp. To produce what appears to us to be normal or
temperature blues accurate color balance, the image we capture must contain the colors in the
to low temperature
reds. As color tem- original scene. One problem is that these colors are affected by the color of
perature increases it the light source.
moves through the
colors red, orange, One way to describe the color of a light source is by its color temperature,
yellow, white, and specified in degrees Kelvin. This is similar to a thermometer that calibrates
blue white in that
order. heat temperatures in degrees centigrade. The color temperature scale ranges
from the lower color temperatures of reddish light to the higher color tem-
• If you capture
images in the RAW peratures of bluish light.
format (page 28),
you can adjust white Daylight has a color temperature of about 5,000–5,500 K and adds no color
balance on your cast to pictures. Light sources with a lower color temperature, such as incan-
computer instead of descent or fluorescent, add a red or yellow cast. Those with a higher color
having the camera
do it. temperature, such as open shade, add a blue cast. To adjust colors so photos
have no color cast and look like they were shot outdoors at midday, we use a
system built into the camera called white balance.
You can check white balance by looking at a captured image on the camera’s
monitor. If you examine it closely, you may notice that white areas in particu-
lar have some color cast to them. If so, you may want to adjust white balance
for subsequent shots taken under the same light source.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/whitebalance/
USING PRESET WHITE BALANCE SETTINGS
Click here to explore The 5D Mark II offers a variety of white balance settings, each for a different
how the white balance
setting affects the way
lighting situation. In auto modes Auto white balance (AWB) is automatically
images are captured. selected. In P, Tv, Av, M or B mode you can select Auto, one of the six presets,
or use the Custom or Kelvin settings for even greater control. The numbers
in parentheses following each mode below indicate the setting’s approximate
color temperature in degrees Kelvin.
• Auto (AWB) automatically selects the white balance to match the current
light source. Select another mode if this mode doesn’t give you the results you
want. (3000–7000 K)
• Daylight is best when photographing outdoors in sunlight. (5200 K)
• Shade is best when photographing in open shade. (7000 K)
• Cloudy is best when photographing outdoors in cloudy or overcast condi-
tions, in twilight or at sunset. (6000 K)
• Tungsten is best when photographing indoors under incandescent lights.
(3200 K)
• White Fluorescent is best when photographing indoors under white
fluorescent lights. (4000 K)
• Flash is best photographing with an external flash. (6000 K)
Clockwise from top,
auto (AWB), daylight, • Custom (page 83) is best when other settings don’t give you the results you
shade, cloudy,
tungsten, florescent,
want. (2000–10000 K)
flash, custom, and
Kelvin icons.
• Kelvin (page 84) is best when setting a specific color temperature. (2500–
10000 K)

WHITE BALANCE AND COLOR
TIPS SELECTING A WHITE BALANCE MODE

• If you like the
warm glow of incan-
1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press the WB but-
descent lights, you ton and then turn the Quick Control Dial to select a white balance
can capture it by icon displayed on the LCD panel and monitor (AWB is the default).
setting white balance
to daylight. 2. Take photos using the changed setting.
• You can save three
user defined Pic-
3. When finished, repeat Step 1 to reset white balance to AWB (Auto) or
ture Styles for color the mode will be remembered even when you turn off the camera.
saturation and tone
and then select any
one of them for a
specific situation CREATING AND USING A CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE SETTING
(page 149). You can If none of the preset white balance settings give you the results you want, you
also select the wide-
gamut Adobe RGB can create your own. To do so, you first photograph a sheet of plain white
color space to attach paper or a commercially available 18% gray card under the same light you’ll
to your images (page be photographing in. You then use the captured image to set and save a cus-
84).
tom white balance. Once saved you can access the custom setting at any time
• You can also use by selecting the custom white balance icon just as you select any other white
the White balance
command on the balance setting.
Shooting 2 menu tab
to set white balance. • A gray card requires no exposure adjustment and gives you a more accurate
white balance.
• If you photograph a white paper, you may want to try using +1 or +2 expo-
sure compensation to lighten the image.
• When photographing a white or gray card, you may want to use manual
focus to ensure it’s in focus.
• If you take pictures of a standard white paper or gray card under the light-
ing you frequently photograph in, and keep the images on your CF card, you
can select one at any time with the Custom WB menu command. It’s like hav-
The spot metering circle ing a library of custom white balance settings to choose from.
in the viewfinder.
• If you take a photo with Picture Style set to Monochrome (page 149), it can-
not be used to set white balance.
SETTING A CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE

1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B modes, and white bal-
ance set to any setting, photograph a white subject or gray card while
it fills the spot metering circle in the viewfinder.
The custom white
balance icon. 2. Press MENU, select the Shooting 2 menu tab, turn the Quick Control
Dial to highlight Custom WB, and press SET to display the image
you took in Step 1.
3. Press SET to use the image to set white balance, or turn the Main
or Quick Control Dial to display another picture first and then press
SET. When asked to confirm using the image to set white balance,
select OK and press SET. When reminded to set white balance to
Custom, press SET.
4. Press the MENU or shutter button to exit the menu.
5. Press the WB button and turn the Quick Control Dial to select the
icon for custom white balance on the LCD panel and monitor.
A gray card.

USING A SPECIFIC COLOR TEMPERATURE

As you’ve seen, one way to describe the color of a light source is by its color
temperature in degrees Kelvin. Lower color temperatures will make the im-
age bluer and higher ones will make it redder. If you know the color tem-
The Color temp icon. perature of your lights or have a color meter to measure them you can set the
camera to an exact match.
• When using color temperature under artificial light, you may need to use
white balance correction to adjust magenta or green bias (page 85).
• If you use a color temperature meter to determine the color temperature
of the light, you should take test shots and use white balance correction to
ensure the best possible results.
SETTING COLOR TEMPERATURE IN KELVINS

The effects of color
balance are most
1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press MENU and
obvious in the early select the Shooting 2 menu tab.
morning and late
evening when the 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight White balance and press
sunrise or sunset often SET, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight K which is displaying
changes the color of
everything you see.
the current color temperature setting.
3. Turn the Main Dial to change the setting to any temperature between
2500–10000K in 100K increments (5200 K is the default) and press
SET to select it.
TIPS
4. Press MENU to exit the menu, and white balance is set to Kelvin with
• All image filenames
begin with IMG_
the letter “K” displayed on the LCD panel.
except for those shot
using the Adobe RGB
5. When finished, reset white balance to AWB (Auto) as described on
color space which page 82 or the selected color temperature will be used even when you
begin with _MG_. turn the camera off and back on.
• High temperatures,
high ISOs, and long
shutter speeds can SELECTING A COLOR SPACE
all have adverse af-
fects on the colors in You can switch between the default sRGB and the wider gamut (range of col-
your images. ors) Adobe RGB color space. sRGB, which has a narrower gamut, is the color
• In Adobe RGB an space used in auto modes and is suitable for images that will be displayed on
ICC profile is not at- a monitor. However, if you plan on editing your images and making high-
tached to image files. quality prints, the wider gamut Adobe RGB is a better choice. The only draw-
back is that Adobe RGB images look subdued on a sRGB personal computer
monitor and when printed on a printer that’s not compatible with Design rule
for Camera File System 2.0 (Exif 2.21). However, you can always use a pro-
gram such as Photoshop or Lightroom to convert images from Adobe RGB to
sRGB without any loss in quality.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/colorspace/
SELECTING A COLOR SPACE
sRGB and Adobe RGB 1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press MENU and
color spaces compare select the Shooting 2 menu tab.
when it comes to the
range of colors they can 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Color space and press SET
capture. to display the choices sRGB and Adobe RGB.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight your choice and press SET.

USING WHITE BALANCE CORRECTION & BRACKETING
USING WHITE BALANCE CORRECTION & BRACKETING
When you want to fine-tune white balance you can do so by correcting or

TIPS bracketing it.
• When white bal-
ance bracketing is • You can correct the color temperature used for white balance much as you
in effect the cur- would on film cameras with color filters. To do so, you move a dot around the
rent white balance WB correction/WB bracketing screen with the Multi-controller, selecting any
icon on the LCD
panel blinks and the one of nine levels.
remaining pictures
readout shows only • You can bracket white balance by having a single image processed into
one-third the number three pictures with different color adjustments using the Main Dial to specify
of images it would the degree of change between images. The image is bracketed with up to +
normally show.
or – 3 levels of a blue/amber (B/A) bias, or magenta/green (M/G) bias. The
• Much of what you first version is processed at the set white balance and the other two are made
do to adjust white
balance at the time more blue/amber or magenta/green. You cannot bracket white balance when
of shooting is done using the RAW format, but there is no need to do so because you can change
more easily after white balance later on your computer. You can combine white balance brack-
taking pictures when
you use the RAW eting with autoexposure bracketing (page 57), but you will get 9 images in
format (page 28). each series. While an image is being processed into a series you cannot take
• Each level of blue/ another picture so continuous mode (page 137) slows down.
amber is equivalent
to 5 mireds of a color
conversion filter. USING WHITE BALANCE CORRECTION/
• Custom Functions BRACKETING
I-4 and I-5 specify
when bracketing is 1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press MENU,
cancelled and the select the Shooting 2 menu tab, highlight WB SHIFT/BKT and press
order of the bracket
sequence (page SET to display the WB correction/WB bracketing screen.
152).
2. Do one or both of the following:
! To make color corrections use the Multi-controller to move the
dot towards B (blue), G (green), A (amber), and M (magenta). In the
upperright corner of the screen SHIFT shows the bias direction and
correction amount. When the shift is 0,0 there is no correction.
! To set the bracketing direction and level turn the Quick Control
Dial. This expands the single dot to three dots that indicate what the
white balance will be for each of the three shots. The middle dot is
at the white balance recommended by the camera and the left and
right dots indicate how much white balance is decreased (bluish) and
increased (reddish). Turning the dial clockwise sets B/A bracketing
The WB correction/ and counterclockwise sets M/G bracketing. The BKT indicator to the
WB bracketing screen
showing white balance
right of the grid shows the bracketing direction and level. (Pressing
bracketing in the Blue/ INFO undoes all changes.)
Amber (B/A) direction.
3. Press SET to return to the menu and then press the MENU or shutter
button to exit the menu.
! If you have made color corrections, a WB +/- icon is displayed in
the viewfinder and on the LCD panel.
! If you have set bracketing, the current white balance icon on the
The white balance LCD panel flashes.
correction (left) and
bracketing (right) icons 4. Take your photos and when finished, repeat Steps 1–3 to reset BKT
are displayed on the and SHIFT to 0. If you don’t every shot you take will be corrected or
monitor when they are bracketed.
in effect.

COLOR AND TIME OF DAY
In photography, there is a color of light called “daylight” that occurs between

10 A.M. and 2 P.M on a clear day. During these hours, colors appear clear,
bright, and accurately rendered in a photo. Before and after this period,
the light can change from a warm red at sunrise to a warm red or orange at
sunset. This is because before and after midday, light from the sun is modi-
fied by the extra distance it travels through the Earth’s atmosphere. Some of
the blue light is filtered out, leaving the light with a more reddish cast than at
midday. This is easily seen very early or late in the day when the light is often
quite red-orange in tone. The change in color has a significant affect on your
pictures, but this reddish cast is a wonderful light to photograph in.
When clouds cover the sky, the light also changes, this time to a more bluish
light, much like that found in open shade.
Just before dawn and

at dusk, colors often
appear muted or mono-
chromatic. During these
hours when light is
relatively dim, you often
have to use an extra-
long exposure time.
Midday light on a sunny

day will produce colors
that appear natural and
accurately rendered.
Early morning and late

afternoon light produce
a more reddish color
balance than you get at
midday.

SUNSETS AND SUNRISES
SUNSETS AND SUNRISES
Sunsets and sunrises are relatively easy to photograph because the exposure
is not as critical as it is with some other scenes. If you underexpose the scene
slightly, the colors will simply be a bit richer and darker. Slight overexposure
will make the same scene slightly lighter.
The sun often takes on

a flattened appearance
as it rises above the
horizon. When partially
obscured and softened
by a haze, its warm,
red glow illuminates the
foreground.
Sunrises and sunsets by

themselves aren’t very
interesting. It’s objects The colors in the sky are often richest in the half hour before the sun rises
in the foreground, such and the half hour after it sets. It pays to be patient as you watch the sky
as a skyline, or unusual
atmospheric effects
change during these periods. For one thing, when the sun is below the hori-
such as this dark cloud zon and not in the image exposure problems are reduced. Also, clouds in the
that give them some sky often light up dramatically and in some cases, reflect the light to other
punch.
clouds until you find yourself under a wonderful canopy of reflected color.
With the bright disk

of the sun included in
a sunset or sunrise,
your picture may
come out somewhat
underexposed and
darker than you expect
it to be. Add 1 or 2
stops of exposure to a
sunset or sunrise that
includes the disk of the
sun.
WARNING!
• Never look at the
bright sun through
the viewfinder. You
can seriously dam-
age your eyes.

Every sunrise and sunset is unique and the variations can be truly amazing.
It’s certainly not true that “if you’ve seen one sunrise or sunset, you’ve seen
them all.” If you want the sun in the photo, it’s best if it is softened and partly
obscured by a mist or haze. If it rises as a hot white or yellow ball, find an-
other subject or turn around and photograph the scene it’s illuminating. The
rich, warm light changes the colors of everything it hits. This is a magic time
to capture images that will really stand out. Colors take on a warm, soft glow
that can’t be found at any other time of the day.
Instead of shooting into

the sun at sunrise or
sunset, shoot with it
behind you to capture
rich, warm colors of
scenes bathed in the
sun’s light.
A long-focal-length lens
enlarges the disk of the
sun so that it becomes a
more important part of
the picture. Foreground
objects silhouetted
against the bright sky,
can also add interest.
Here the camera was

positioned so the rising
sun was behind one
ANTICIPATING THE SUN AND MOON
of the grain elevators When planning to integrate the sun or moon into an image it helps to know when
where it wouldn’t burn it rises or sets and what phase the moon is. This information is available in alma-
out the image with its nacs and on the Web at the U.S. Naval Observatory (http://www.usno.navy.mil).
glare.

WEATHER
WEATHER
There’s no need to leave your camera home just because the sun hasn’t come
out. In fact, rain, snow, fog, and mist can add interest to your pictures. Ob-
jects at a distance often appear diffused and gray in such weather, with fore-
ground objects brighter than normal because they are seen against a muted
background. Remember to take a little extra care in bad weather to protect
your camera against excessive exposure to dampness.
Snow covered scenes

are not only beautiful
to look at, they make
great photographs.
TIP
• Canon L series
lenses are sealed and
weather resistant
as are the 580EX II
Speedlight and the
5D Mark II.
A light fog subdues

colors and softens
objects in the
background.
A very light mist can

dim the sun enough
to include it in a
photograph. If it weren’t Rainbows always make good pictures. The problem is, you rarely find them
partially obscured by
the fog, it would appear where you want them, when you want them. To get better at capturing them,
as a white dot against a you should know how they form so you can anticipate them. Rainbows are
very dark background. formed when sunlight is refracted by raindrops. You’ll usually find the combi-
nation of rain and sun at the leading or trailing edge of a summer storm. You

can’t see rainbows at all times of the day. To understand why, visualize the
CAMERA CARE way the rainbow works.
• In the cold, bat-
teries run down a
lot faster. To pre-
vent this, keep the
camera or battery
under your coat or
in an inside pocket
so the battery stays
warmer.
If you stand with your back to the sun while looking at a rainbow, imagine a line
from the sun passing through your eye, through the Earth, and out into space.
(This is called the antisolar point.) The rainbow forms a complete circle around this
imaginary line, however from ground level part of it is always below the horizon. A
line drawn from your eye to the top of the rainbow forms a 42-degree angle with
the imaginary line from the sun through your eye. (If there is a secondary rainbow,
it forms an angle of 51-degrees.) Because these angles determine the position of
the rainbow in the sky, it will sink as the sun rises and rise as the sun sinks. At
some points, the entire rainbow, not just the bottom half, will be below the horizon
where you can’t see it. That’s why you’ll never see a summer rainbow at midday
when the sun is directly overhead.
From a plane you can

sometimes see all 360-
degrees of a rainbow.
Here you see a section
of one shot through an
airliner window. To the
right of the brighter
primary rainbow is a
dimmer secondary one.
Here a rainbow
dramatically appears
in a New England
seascape.

PHOTOGRAPHING AT NIGHT
PHOTOGRAPHING AT NIGHT
You can photograph many different things outdoors at night, so don’t put
your camera away just because the sun is gone for the day. Light sources
(street lights, automobile lights, neon signs, or fires) or brightly lit areas (il-
luminated buildings or areas under street lights) will dominate pictures at
night because they stand out strongly against darker backgrounds. Plan to
use these bright areas as the dominant part of your picture. A tripod or solid
surface will support your camera during long exposures and prevent blur
caused by camera motion during the time the shutter is open.
This scene of Faneuil
Hall in Boston was
shot at night with just
illumination from street
lights.
Fireworks can be
dramatic, but are To capture interesting images of fireworks, put people or water in the fore-
difficult to capture. You ground. It also helps if there are identifiable objects in the image such as
need to experiment
and a digital camera is
an illuminated building or monument to give the viewer a sense of place.
perfect for that because Get upwind from the show since fireworks generate a lot of smoke that can
you can instantly review become a problem if you are downwind. If you are upwind, the smoke will
your results.
become part of the image, illuminated by the fireworks. Set your exposure for
fireworks by switching to Av (aperture-priority) or Tv (shutter-priority) mode
and try for a setting of f/2.8 at 1/30 second. Try a series of exposures of dif-
ferent bursts because there is a certain amount of luck involved. If there are
foreground figures you might try fill flash (page 123).
You can try increasing the ISO, use exposure compensation, and try differ-
TIP ent combinations of aperture and shutter speed. Finally, for really interest-
• If the camera has ing effects, you might switch to Bulb (B) mode (page 92) and select a small
trouble focusing, aperture so you can keep the shutter open long enough to capture multiple
switch to manual bursts. You might also explore using Program AE and program shift to get
focus, or attach an
EX-series flash so it the slowest possible shutter speed (page 42).
can strobe to assist
focus. The moon, especially when full, adds a lot to an image. The best time to cap-
ture the moon is when it’s near the horizon. Because it is close to foreground
objects at that time, it looks much larger than when it’s higher in the sky.

Keep in mind that the moon is relatively dim and usually requires long ex-
TIPS
posures. Since it’s moving relative to the Earth, longer exposures can actu-
• You might want to ally blur it, giving it a slightly oblong shape. To reduce the chances of this
switch to Tv (shut-
ter-priority) mode so happening, shoot just before sunrise or just after sunset when there is still
you can use shutter some light in the atmosphere from the recently set sun. (It bends around the
speeds as slow as 30 Earth’s curvature due to refraction in the atmosphere.)
seconds (page 44),
or use the Bulb (B) Try using flash when photographing people at twilight, night, or dawn. It
mode (page 92).
illuminates foreground subjects and a slow shutter speed lightens the back-
• Turn on Custom ground. This is especially good for outdoor shots with foreground subjects in
Function II-1 to
reduce the effects of front of an illuminated background such as a cityscape. Since a slow shutter
noise on long expo- speed may work best in this mode, you may need to support the camera (page
sures (page 151). 65).
• If you combine
Bulb (B) mode, the At night you can use the Bulb (B) mode to capture light trails from moving
self-timer, and mirror cars and star trails as the Earth rotates under a canopy of stars. When in this
lockup, hold down mode, the timer goes to 999 seconds (over 16 minutes) as long as you hold
the shutter button
during the entire down the shutter button and moving lights paint lines in the image. To avoid
self-timer delay time blur from camera shake, you must use a tripod or other secure support. It can
and bulb exposure be tiring to hold the shutter button down, and hard to keep from moving the
time). If you release
it before the timer camera. It is much easier to use a remote control to lock the shutter open for
ends, there will be long exposures (page 138). Keep in mind that when using Bulb (B) mode, you
a shutter-release can’t see through the viewfinder while the exposure is being made. Also long
sound but no picture
is taken. exposures add noise to an image but you can turn on Custom Function II-1
Long exposure noise reduction (page 152) to reduce it.
USING BULB EXPOSURES

1. Set the Mode Dial to B (Bulb) and the Power Switch to the white line
above ON.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to select an aperture.
3. Press and hold down the shutter button for as long as you wish. A
timer is displayed on the LCD panel to guide you and counts up to
To check depth-of- 999 seconds.
71).
Pressing the LCD Panel

Illumination button
lights the LCD panel
so it’s readable in the
dark. It turns off after
6 seconds of inactivity.
Turning the Mode
Dial or pressing any
shooting related button
extends it.

THE DIRECTION OF LIGHT
THE DIRECTION OF LIGHT
The direction that light comes from relative to your camera’s position is im-
portant because it determines where shadows will be visible in your picture.
It can also affect your exposure. Backlighting, for example, can have your
subject silhouetted against a background so bright that your automatic ex-
posure system will underexpose the scene and make the subject even darker.
This is fine, if you want a silhouette. If you don’t, you should use exposure
compensation to lighten the image.
Four main types of lighting are illustrated here: front-lighting, side-lighting,
backlighting, and top-lighting. Notice the position of the shadows in these
photographs and how they affect the subjects.
Side-lighting, increases
the sense of texture
and volume because it
casts shadows visible
from the camera’s
position. Landscape
photographers often
prefer to work early
in the morning or late
in the day because
the low sun sidelights
scenes and adds
interesting surface
textures.
Front-lighting decreases
visible shadows and
minimizes surface
details as well as the
apparent depth or
volume of the subject.

Backlighting puts the

side of the subject that
is facing the camera
in shade. Automatic
exposure tends to make
backlit scenes too dark.
You can add exposure
to lighten the picture,
especially those parts
that are in shade.
Top-lighting can occur

outdoors at midday or
indoors where ceiling
lights predominate. If
you are photographing
a person, you will notice
that top-lighting tends
to cast shadows in eye-
sockets and illuminate
the top of the nose
brightly. To avoid this
effect, you might try
moving the person into
the shade.
Top-lighting, such
as that found at
midday, can selectively
illuminate things, such
as this flag in the man’s
back pocket, that would
be in shadow with light
coming from a lower
angle.

THE QUALITY OF LIGHT
THE QUALITY OF LIGHT
Light not only has direction, it can be direct or diffused. Direct light that
comes mainly from one direction produces relatively high contrast between
bright highlights and dark shadows. Diffused light bounces onto the sub-
ject from several directions, lowering contrast. Contrast, in turn, affects the
brilliance of colors, the amount of visible texture and detail, and other visual
characteristics.
In direct light you may have to choose whether you want highlights or shad-
ows to be correctly rendered because image sensors can accurately record
only a limited range of contrast between light and dark areas. If this creates a
problem because both highlights and shadowed areas are important, you can
sometimes add fill light to lighten shadows and decrease contrast or adjust
the camera’s contrast setting (page 149). In diffused light, colors tend to be
softer than in direct light and textures are also softened because shadow
edges are indistinct.
Direct light comes from
a point source, such as
the sun on a clear day.
It produces dark, hard-
edged shadows that
crisply outline details.
Here the light and
shadows almost form an
abstraction.
Diffused light comes

from a light source
that is so large rela-
tive to the subject that
it illuminates from
several directions. On
a hazy or overcast day,
illumination comes
from the entire dome
of the sky, not from the
brighter, but smaller,
sun. Indoors, light
bounced into an um-
brella reflector or onto
a wall or ceiling creates
a broad source of light
that wraps around the
subject.

CHAPTER 5. UNDERSTANDING LENSES
Chapter 5
Understanding Lenses
T
he 5D Mark II is one of the latest affordable digital cameras that lets
CONTENTS you draw from a vast array of interchangeable lenses. These range from
• Canon Lenses • fish-eye lenses for extreme wide-angle shots, to lenses that will capture
Lens Peripheral Illu- an athlete’s expression across the width of a football field. If you’re new to
mination Correction •
Focal Length • Zoom
photography, you’ll be amazed at the difference high-quality interchangeable
Lenses • Normal lenses can make.
Lenses • Wide-Angle
Lenses • Telephoto A favorite lens of many photographers is a high quality zoom lens that lets
Lenses • Macro you quickly zoom in or out to meet different photographic opportunities.
Lenses and Acces- Zoom in on a subject and you can capture distant action at sporting events or
sories • Tilt-Shift in the field. Zoom out and you can capture a wide-angle view of a large group,
Lenses • Lens Acces-
sories • Perspective a roomy interior, or of an expansive landscape. The ability to change your
in a Photograph angle of view as you frame your image is one of your most powerful creative
controls. But there are many more lenses to choose from. They include macro
lenses, tilt-shift lenses, and even soft focus lenses for misty, romantic por-
traits and landscapes.

CANON LENSES
CANON LENSES
One of the best things about the 5D Mark II is that it can use any one of the
60 or so lenses from the Canon line. Even better, if you have a 35mm EOS
camera you can switch your lenses between film and digital cameras. Let’s
take a look at some of the things that Canon lenses have in common.
ELECTRONIC LENS MOUNT

The Canon family of EF (Electronic Focus) lenses was introduced with the
If you have the money,
Canon has the lens.
first EOS camera in 1987. Instead of mechanical linkages, all communications
between the lens and the camera pass through electrical contacts. These con-
nections provide the power needed by a small motor in the lens that controls
autofocus and the electromagnetic diaphragm (EMD) that controls aperture
TIP settings. This electronic system is much more accurate, reliable, and flexible
• The mount on an than older mechanical linkages. Until recently all Canon’s lenses were de-
EF-S lens doesn’t signed to work with all EOS film and digital cameras. With the introduction
work with the 5D
Mark II. These lenses of EF-S lenses (the “S” stands for short back focus), this has changed. These
are designed for use lenses work only with EOS digital cameras having an APS-C sized image sen-
with EOS digital cam- sor such as the 50D. They can’t be used with cameras such as the 5D Mark
era models that use
a smaller APS-C sen- II because their smaller image circle (page 101) isn’t large enough to cover a
sor. They won’t work larger full frame sensor and they use a different mount. These lenses have a
with cameras such as white index mark in addition to the traditional red marking, and a rear rub-
the 5D Mark II using
full-frame sensors. ber ring that prevents any damage should you mistakenly try to mount the
EF-S lens on a camera it’s not designed for.
When you change lenses, be careful that dust or other debris doesn’t enter
the camera through the lens opening. In fact, keep this opening covered with
a lens or the body cap as much as possible. Don’t change lenses or remove
the body cap in a dusty or windy environment, and when you do remove the
cap or lens, keep the opening pointed down. Should foreign matter find its
way onto the image sensor it will show up as dark specks or blotches in your
photographs. If you notice this in your images, see page 165.
MOUNTING AND UNMOUNTING A LENS

1. In a dust and wind free environment, twist the rear lens cap counter-
clockwise until it stops, then lift it up to remove it. Remove any body
cap from the camera the same way.
2. Align the red dot on the lens, with the red dot on the camera body’s
lens mount.
The lens release button.
3. Insert the lens into the mount and turn it clockwise (as you face the
lens) until it clicks into place. Gently try to turn the lens in the other
direction to ensure that it’s securely locked in place. Set the focus
switch to AF or MF (M on some lenses).
4. To remove the lens, press the lens release button and turn the lens
counterclockwise so the red or white index mark is at the top, then
remove it.
FOCUSING TECHNOLOGY
Canon EF lenses have a focus switch that let’s you select autofocus (AF) or
manual focus (M on older lenses and MF on newer ones). When set to M or
MF you focus by turning the focus ring on the lens. When using an USM (Ul-
The lens focus switch. trasonic Motor) lens with a distance scale in One-Shot AF mode, you can turn

the focusing ring on the lens to fine tune focus after focus is achieved (called
full-time manual focusing). This let’s you override the autofocus system to
“fine-tune” the focus without having to look up from the viewfinder to find
the focus switch to change modes. Full-time manual focus comes in two ver-
sions. Electronic manual focusing detects how much you’ve turned the focus
ring and then uses the focusing motor to focus the lens by the same amount.
Mechanical manual focusing adjusts the focus manually as you turn the focus
On some zoom lenses,
setting the Distance ring.
Limiter Switch to FULL
lets the lens try to focus As the lens focuses, it uses one of five different focusing methods that include
over it’s entire range. the following:
When set to LIMIT, it
will only try a specific • Overall extension where the entire optical system moves forward or back-
range of distances. ward.
• Front group extension where only the front-most lens group moves forward
or backward.
• Front group rotation extension, used only in zoom lenses, where the front-
most lens group rotates as it moves forward or backward.
• Inner focusing where only the lens group between the front lens and the
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/canonlenses/canoneflenses.pdf
aperture diaphragm is moved.
Click for a PDF listing
Canon lenses. • Rear focusing when only the lens group behind the aperture diaphragm is
moved.
Some lenses have a focus preset feature so you can store the desired focusing
distance in memory and later instantly focus the lens at that distance. This
lets you focus elsewhere and then instantly return to the preset focus distance
if necessary. This is ideal in sports and nature photography where you are
monitoring action at a specific point such as a nest or goal, but where you
also want to capture other action.
A few lenses have an AF stop feature that prevents focus from shifting when
something passes between you and the subject you’re focused on. You turn
this feature on by pressing an AF Stop button on the lens. You can control the
effect with Custom Function III-2 Lens AF stop button function (page 152).
ULTRASONIC MOTORS
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/antishake/
Since electronically coupled lenses need to move lens groups to focus the
image stabilization image, Canon developed small, light, and powerful motors that fit inside the
reduces but doesn’t lens. One of their most impressive is the Ultrasonic Motor (USM). Unlike
eliminate blur caused by
camera movement.
traditional motors that use a magnetic field to rotate an armature, these
motors use ultrasonic vibrational forces to rotate a ring. The motor contains
two rings; one that is fixed and one that rotates. As electricity is applied to
piezoelectric ceramic elements on the fixed ring, the ring generates ultrasonic
vibrations that rotate the movable ring with significant force. The result is a
motor that is fast, reliable, accurate and almost silent.
IMAGE STABILIZATION
If you’ve ever photographed in dim light, or tried to hand-hold a long tele-
photo lens, you know how easy it is to get blur in your images from camera
shake. In most cases, we resort to tripods or other camera supports. Howev-
To turn image
stabilization on, you er, Canon has another way; image stabilization (IS). Lenses with this feature
set the switch to the contain gyro sensors that sense movement of the lens and micro-motors that
vertical line. To turn it instantly shift a special image stabilization lens group to compensate for the
off you set the switch to
the “o”. motion and keep the image steady on the sensor. These lenses break the old

CANON LENSES
rule that you should never hand hold a lens using a shutter speed slower than
the reciprocal of the lens focal length (page 101). For example, when using a
100mm lens, you normally shouldn’t use a shutter speed slower that 1/100.
Image stabilized lenses let you add two or three stops to that calculation so
you can handhold an image stabilized version of the same lens at 1/30 of a
second shutter speed.
The Canon EF 400mm Note that when using an image stabilized lens on a tripod, you should turn off
f/4 DO uses the
technology called Multi- image stabilization to save power. Some Canon lenses have two IS modes. IS
Layer Diffractive Optical Mode-1 works for normal shooting and IS Mode-2 stabilizes the image as you
Element that makes it pan the camera to follow a moving subject.
smaller and lighter than
it would otherwise be. • The Image Stabilizer is not effective for moving subjects or when there is
excessive shaking such as on a rocking boat.
• If you use the EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens for panned shots, correction
of camera shake might not be so effective.
• The Image Stabilizer can operate with the focus mode switch set to either
AF or MF and when the camera is mounted on a monopod.
INFORMATION ON A CANON LENS

The Canon Tripod
Collar B supplied with
When you look at Canon lenses, or read about them, you may be confused at
some lenses provides first by all of the information cryptically provided. Here is what each of the
a tripod mount so you terms or abbreviations refers to.
can mount the lens,
rather than the camera, • EF—The lens is one of the EF (electronic focus) family of lenses that works
to a tripod. With longer
lenses in particular, this
with the 5D Mark II and with any EOS SLR, Advanced Photo System EOS
provides a much better SLR, and any camcorder with a VL mount.
balance point for the
combined weight of the • EF-S—These lenses work only with Canon digital cameras, like the 50D, us-
camera body and lens. ing a smaller APS-C sized image sensor.
• 28–105mm—The lens’s focal length or zoom range in millimeters.
• f/2.8—The maximum aperture that you can use with the lens. On many
lenses it’s listed on the lens as a ratio such as 1:2.4 or 1:3.5–5.6. On zoom
lenses, two maximum apertures are given because the aperture changes as
you zoom the lens in and out. Canon makes a series of f/4L lenses that don’t
change the aperture as you zoom the lens. This lets you set exposure and
zoom all the way through the lens’s zoom range without the aperture or shut-
ter speed varying.
• L—An indication that the quality of the lens is especially high (or Luxury).
Lenses with larger
maximum apertures let • USM—The lens features an ultrasonic motor and the lens is marked UL-
you use faster shutter
speeds and are often TRASONIC.
called “faster” lenses.
• II—The Roman numeral indicates that the lens has been revised or im-
proved upon from an earlier version.
• IS—The lens has image stabilization built in.
• TE-S—The lens is a tilt-shift lens used for perspective and depth of field
control.
• Macro—The lens is designed for close-up photography.
• DO—Diffractive Optical Element technology makes the lens smaller and
lighter than it would otherwise be.
The EF 85mm f/1.2L II
USM lens.

LENS PERIPHERAL ILLUMINATION CORRECTION
When photographing evenly toned subjects such as a blue sky, lenses often
TIPS capture the image with darker corners and sometime dark edges. This effect
• Since fall-off is is called vignetting and is caused by light fall-off; the lens projecting less light
most obvious in as the distance from the center of the image increases. Lens peripheral illu-
photos taken at
large apertures, you
mination correction evens out this fall-off of light so brightness is even across
can select a smaller the image. This correction can be applied automatically in the camera as you
aperture that uses capture JPEG images, and on the computer using Digital Photo Professional
the center portion of
the lens.
(included software) when using the RAW format.
• Light fall-off in- Since light fall-off varies from one lens type to another, correction data for 25
creases when the lenses is registered in the camera. Using the EOS Utility (included software),
lens is focused at
infinity. It decreases
you can check which lenses have their correction data registered, and reg-
when focused at ister data for unregistered lenses that you use. For details, see the Software
closer distances Instruction Manual (CD-ROM) for the EOS Utility.
because the lens
projects a larger • In auto modes, peripheral illumination correction is automatically applied
image circle so the
corners and edges of
to JPEG images and can’t be disabled.
the captured image
are not at the edges
• In P, Tv, Av, M or B modes peripheral illumination correction is enabled by
of the circle. default, but you can disable it should you choose to do so.
• Noise might affect the corners and edges of some corrected images.
• When using a non-Canon lens, set correction to Disable even if Correction
data available is displayed.
•Lens peripheral light correction is applied when a lens extender is attached.
• The amount of in-camera correction is somewhat less than what’s obtain-
able with Digital Photo Professional.
• If the lens does not have distance information, the degree of correction is
lower.
•If the correction data for the attached lens is not registered to the camera,
the result is the same as when the correction is set to Disable.
• At higher ISO speeds, less correction is used.
• Correction might not be noticeable when using a lens with minimal light
falloff in the corners and edges.
TURNING LENS PERIPHERAL ILLUMINATION COR-

RECTION ON AND OFF
1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode, press MENU and select the
Shooting 1 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Peripheral illumin. correct.
and press SET to display a description of the attached lens and a
notice that correction data is or isn’t available.
3. If correction data is available, turn the Quick Control Dial to high-
light Enable or Disable and press SET.
4. Take the picture and it will be displayed with the corrected peripheral
light.

FOCAL LENGTH
FOCAL LENGTH
A fixed focal length lens, has a single focal length. A zoom lens lets you
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/sensor/
choose any focal length within the range the lens is designed for. When you
Click to explore sensor change focal lengths by changing or zooming lenses, two important effects
sizes.
are immediately obvious in the lens’ angle of view and its magnifying power.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/imagecircle/
• Angle of view refers to how much of a scene the lens covers. A short focal
Click to explore how the length lens, also called a wide-angle, captures a wide expanse of a scene. A
size of an image sensor longer focal length narrows the field of view so you can isolate small portions
determines the focal
length of a lens. of the scene without moving closer to the subject.
• Magnification is related to the lens’ angle of view. Since a wide-angle lens
includes a wide sweep of the scene, all of the objects in the scene are reduced
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/focallength/
to fit into the image. A longer focal length lens, with its narrower angle of
Click here to explore view, captures a smaller area of the scene, making objects in that area appear
how the focal length of larger.
a lens determines its
angle of view. Canon has a wide variety of zoom lenses covering various focal length ranges
between 10mm and 600mm.
The focal length of a lens is based on its physical attributes, so it’s an absolute
value. However, a given focal length lens may have a different “effective” focal
length on different cameras. This is because the effective focal length depends
on the size of the image sensor the camera uses. On a camera with a smaller
image sensor, a given focal length lens appears to magnify more because it’s
capturing a smaller area of the image circle.
The 5D Mark II uses a full frame sensor, the same size as a frame of 35 mm
film. But most SLRs, including many from Canon, use sensors that are small-
er so they essentially capture only the central area of the image circle project-
ed by the lens. As a result, the effective focal length increases by a factor of 1.6
times compared to the indicated focal length of the lens. For example, on one
of these cameras a 35 mm lens is equivalent to 56mm. This multiple works
across the entire range of focal lengths, making wide-angle lens less so on the
digital SLR than on a film or full-frame digital SLR, and making telephoto
lenses more so.
The longer a lens’ focal

length, the narrower its
angle of view.
A lens projects a circle

of light and the size
of the image sensor
determines how large
an area of the circle
is captured. The
50D (smaller frame)
captures a smaller area
than the 5D Mark II
(larger frame).

ZOOM LENSES
A zoom lens lets you choose any focal length within the range the lens is
designed for.
Zooming a lens is like

walking toward or away
from the scene but
without changing the
perspective (page 112).
Here, a lighthouse in
Maine is photographed
a number of times from
the same spot. The
images vary from wide-
angle to telephoto.
ZOOMING A
LENS
! To zoom a Canon
EF lens, turn the
zoom ring on the
lens one way to
zoom in and the
other way to zoom
out.
The zoom indicator on

a lens.
TIP
• Zoom before focus-
ing since zooming
can throw off focus.
The lens was zoomed

during a long exposure.

NORMAL LENSES
NORMAL LENSES
A “normal lens” for a 35mm camera usually refers to a lens with a 50 mm fo-
cal length (35 mm equivalent). When you zoom your lens to this focal length
and look at the image on the screen, the scene looks about the same as it does
to the unaided eye. With the lens zoomed all the way out things appear closer
than they actually are. With it zoomed out to a wide-angle, everything looks
farther away.
A normal-focal-length zoom isn’t necessarily the one photographers nor-
mally use. Many urban or street photographers prefer the wider angle of
view and greater depth of field provided by a shorter focal length. Portrait,
event, sports and nature photographers often prefer a lens with a longer focal
length.
It’s hard to look at a

photo and tell what
focal-length lens
was used to take it.
However, objects in
an image taken with
a normal lens look
normal in their spatial
relationships.
SEE FOR YOURSELF

• A lens is called normal because it captures a scene just as the human eye does
even though the eye’s angle of view is much wider than any normal lens. Howev-
er, you can demonstrate for yourself why a specific focal length is normal for your
camera. When a passenger in a car, try zooming the lens or change focal lengths
as you watch the traffic ahead through the viewfinder. A longer focal length
makes distant cars appear right on top of you. A shorter focal length makes cars
look far ahead, even when relatively close. A normal focal-length makes the cars
appear in the same distance relationship as you perceive them ordinarily.
Another demonstration is to take two photographs of greatly different size and
Canon’s EF 50mm tape them to a wall. Look at them one at a time through the viewfinder with the
f/1.0L USM lens, lens zoomed to a normal focal-length. Move close enough so each fills the moni-
although not made tor. You’ll discover you are at the correct distance for viewing the prints. With
anymore, has a a longer focal-length you would feel too far away, and with a shorter one, too
maximum aperture of close.
f/1.0–extremely fast!

WIDE-ANGLE LENSES
Wide-angle (short focal length) lenses capture a wide expanse of a scene.

This wide angle of view is ideal for use in tight spaces, when photographing
landscapes, and in small rooms where you can’t position the camera a great
distance from the subject.
If you don’t get too
close to your subjects,
a wide-angle lens is
good for indoor portraits
where including the
setting is important.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/panorama/
Click to see how
extreme wide-angle
lenses can be used
to create 360 degree
interactive panoramas.
A wide-angle lens also has great depth of field that makes it ideal for street
or action photographs. When out to capture quickly unfolding scenes, you’ll
have maximum depth of field when you respond quickly to a photo opportu-
nity.
Wide-angle lenses are

ideal when you need
great depth of field
because part of the
scene is close to the
camera and part farther
away. It also makes
focusing less critical so
you can capture those
fleeting moments you
might otherwise miss.
TIP
• Avoid using small
apertures with wide
angle lenses. They
can create diffraction
patterns that de-
grade image sharp-
ness.

WIDE-ANGLE LENSES
Short lenses also let you focus very close to your subject, and the effect this
can have on the perspective in your images can be dramatic. Objects very
close to the camera loom much larger than those farther away. This distor-
tion in the apparent size of objects can deliberately give emphasis and when
carried to an extreme will give an unrealistic appearance to a scene.
Wide-angle lenses have
tremendous depth of
field. Here one was
used to shoot through
a toy space station and
make Quinlan look like
a giant.
Canon’s 15mm fisheye

lens gives a circular
“fisheye” look to
images.
Canon’s 14mm
wide-angle lens is a
rectilinear lens so its
images don’t have the
distorted look of some
fisheye lenses.

TELEPHOTO LENSES
A telephoto (long focal length) lens acts somewhat like a telescope: It mag-
nifies the image of your subject. This is especially useful when you can’t get
close to your subject—or don’t want to. These lenses are ideal for wildlife,
portrait, and candid photography, whenever getting close to a subject might
disturb or distort it.
As the focal length increases, depth of field gets shallower so you must focus
more carefully. Also, a long lens visually compresses space, making objects in
the scene appear closer together than they actually are.
The primary drawback of longer lenses is that they often have smaller maxi-
mum apertures that require longer shutter speeds. Also, since a long lens
magnifies movement, just as it magnifies the subject, you may have to sup-
port the camera better to get maximum sharpness.
Telephoto lenses come

in fixed focal lengths
and as zooms. This is a
10x 35–350mm zoom.
Zooming in makes
distant objects appear
compressed. Here a
long lens has been used
to “compress” a street
scene at the foot of
the Rocky Mountains in
Colorado.
A long lens makes

the sun look larger in
relation to foreground
objects.
When the lineup of cement trucks (bottom) is shot head-on with a long lens (top)
they appear much closer together then they really are. This is actually due to the
distance from the subject, not the focal length of the lens, but the effect is easy to
get with a long lens.

TELEPHOTO LENSES
A telephoto lens is an excellent portrait lens, especially for head-and-shoul-

ders portraits. It lets you keep your distance and still fill the viewfinder frame
with the subject. Keeping at a distance eliminates the exaggerated perspective
caused by working very close to a subject with a shorter focal length lens. It
also helps relax your subjects if they get uneasy, as many people do, when a
camera comes close.
A long lens lets you
get portraits without
crowding in on the
subject. This let’s you
capture more natural
expressions.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/distortion/
how a wide angle lens
can distort a subject.
Using a wide-angle lens

close to the subject
adds some distortion
to the portrait but it
still works as an image.
Perhaps not as flattering
as it might be, the
image is probably more
interesting to others
than to the subject.
You can extend the focal length of a fixed focal length lens (without affect-
Extenders fit between
the lens and camera ing the minimum focus distance) using an extender, an optical device that
body to increase focal mounts between the lens and camera body. With the 5D Mark II, you can use
lengths by 1.4x or 2x. both 1.4x and 2.4x extenders. The 1.4x extender requires you to open up one
The II series works
with both EF and EF-S stop and the 2x requires 2 stops. If a lens’ maximum aperture is smaller than
lenses. f/4 for the 1.4x extender or f/2.8 for the 2x, you have to use manual focus.

MACRO LENSES AND ACCESSORIES
When photographing small objects from coins to insects, your lens’ focal
length and minimum focusing distance affect how small objects are captured
in photos. For example, if you’re photographing a small coin, you probably
don’t want it to appear as a tiny coin surrounded by a large background.
More likely you’d like a photo showing a large coin surrounded by a small
The camera body has background. For many pictures, just zooming your lens in on the subject will
a symbol that indicates
the position of the
suffice. However, macro lenses allows you to get closer to the subject, making
image plane should smaller subjects much larger in the final image. If you can’t get close enough
you ever need to know to an object to fill the image area, you can always crop out the unwanted ar-
where it is.
eas later. However, the more you crop, the smaller the image becomes.
This small, but very

colorful Tussock moth
caterpillar was captured
with a macro lens.
TIP
• For maximum
magnification, zoom
all the way in, set
the lens focus mode
to M or MF (manual),
and turn the focus
ring to the minimum
focus distance. Look
through the viewfind-
er as you focus the
subject by moving in
and out.
Canon offers a wide range of macro lenses that are compatible with Canon’s
extension tubes and macro flash units (page 127).
• The EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro focuses up to 9.1 inches (231mm) for
1:2 (half life-size) magnification. At 9.1 inches and f/11, depth of field is 0.24
inches (6mm). The EF Life Size Converter for the lens extends its range to
The 50mm macro lens. between 1:4 and 1:1 magnification and also compensates for spherical aberra-
tions.
• The EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens focuses over the full range from
infinity down to life size (1:1 reproduction ratio). The lens allows full-time
manual focusing so you can override autofocus to fine tune it. When shooting
at life size (1x) magnification, the minimum working distance between the
lens and the subject is approximately 6 inches (152mm), providing enough
The 180mm macro room for a flash or other light source to illuminate the subject.
lens gives you plenty
of working distance • The EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM Telephoto Lens shoots throughout the
when doing close-up
photography.
focusing distance range from 1x to infinity. The lens has full-time mechanical
manual focusing and focuses as close as 1.5ft (0.48m).

MACRO LENSES AND ACCESSORIES
• The manual focus MP-E65mm f/2.8 Macro Photo Lens extends the capa-
bilities of conventional macro lenses and is designed exclusively for high-
magnification close-ups from 1x to 5x. Working distances (from the front of
the lens to the subject) range from 4 inches at 1x (life size) to 1.6 inches at 5x.
The lens is equipped with a detachable tripod collar.
• Extension tubes EF 12 II and EF 25 II fit between the lens and the camera
body and allow the lens to focus much closer than normal, giving increased
magnification. The larger the amount of extension and the shorter the focal
length of the lens used, the greater the increase in magnification. (The newer
The Canon MP-E65mm
f2.8 1–5x Macro lens.
series II extension tubes work with both EF and EF-S lenses. Older extension
tubes work only with EF lenses.)
• Canon’s Angle Finder C attaches to the viewfinder eyepiece so you can
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/macromag/
photograph from a low angle without kneeling or lying down. It’s also great
Click here to explore when doing copy work and macro photography. It features a rubber eyecup,
macro lens enlargement
factors.
a built-in adjustable diopter, and a roof prism that keeps the image correctly
oriented. The viewfinder has switchable magnification (1.25x or 2.5x). The
1.25x setting shows the entire frame including exposure data outside the
picture area, while the 2.5x setting provides a magnified view of the center of
the image area—excellent for critical focusing with macro lenses and other
specialty optics.
A monarch butterfly
captured with a macro
lens.
Angle Finder C.
INCREASING DEPTH OF FIELD IN CLOSE-UPS

! Increase the illumination of the subject to stop down the aperture.
The Canon Life-size
Converter EF is an ! Don’t get any closer to the subject than you have to.
extension tube.
! Focus on the most important part of the subject keeping in mind that in
close-ups, depth of field is half in front and half behind the plane of critical
focus.
! Use aperture-priority (Av) or program shift to select a small aperture
(pages 44 and 42).

TILT-SHIFT LENSES
Tilt-shift lenses serve two very important purposes. The tilt controls depth of
field and the shift controls the way vertical lines appear in the image. Until
Canon developed these kinds of lenses, their effects could only be achieved
on a large format camera. The lenses charge a small penalty for all of their
flexibility. They can cause metering errors and require you to focus manually
and open up one or two stops.
• Tilting the lens allows you to control depth of field in an image without
changing the aperture. Normally, the glass elements in a lens are parallel to
the image sensor. To change the depth of field for a given subject and camera
position you have to open or close the aperture. With a lens that tilts from
side to side or top to bottom, the plane of critical focus can be tilted one
way to dramatically increase depth of field or the other way to dramatically
A Canon TS-E lens.
decrease it. This makes it possible to use a large aperture and still get great
depth of field. The larger aperture allows faster shutter speeds so you can
capture scenes you might have missed before, such as a field with flowers
blowing in the wind.
• Shifting the lens helps you correct for converging vertical lines that occur
when you tilt the camera to capture trees, buildings, or other tall subjects.
These lines converge in the image whenever the camera is tilted and the im-
age sensor is no longer parallel to the subject. Using the lens’ shift function,
the lens can be shifted upward to eliminate the foreground while keeping the
A bubble level that image sensor parallel to the subject.
slips into the hot shoe
assures you that the • You can create panoramic images, or even stereo pairs, by taking two pho-
camera is perfectly
level when using the tos with the lens shifted in opposite directions.
camera’s shift control.
This is the Bl2 from • When photographing reflective subjects, you can eliminate your reflection
Kaiden. by moving the camera to a position where the reflection doesn’t show, and
then shifting the lens to center the subject in the picture area. The same tech-
nique can be used to eliminate unwanted subjects in the foreground.
Canon has three Tilt-Shift (TS-E) lens in different focal lengths. All three
can rotate 90 degrees, tilted +/-8 degrees, and shifted +/-11 mm. On the 24
mm lens, some of the shift and tilt ranges are marked in red because images
may be vignetted if shifted or tilted into these zones on a 35mm or full frame
digital camera. Vignetting occurs because the lens focuses a circle of light on
the image plane and as you tilt and shift, the image sensor captures different
parts of the circle.
The house on the left,

shot by pointing the
camera up to get in
the entire house, has
converging vertical
lines and looks tilted.
In the photo on the
right taken with the
lens shifted, the house
looks rectangular and
all vertical lines are
parallel.
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%"/;",!/2"%"/;",!/2"'6/2
Click to see these
images animated.

LENS ACCESSORIES
LENS ACCESSORIES
All but the largest Canon lenses have threads into which you can screw filters
TIP and other accessories. However, keep in mind that many of the effects cre-
• If you use more ated by traditional screw on filters can now be done with software filters in
than one filter at a programs such as Adobe Photoshop. Applying the effects after capturing
time you may get
vignetting (dark cor- an image not only lets you experiment with effects and see what they do in
ners in your images). real-time, it also allows you to have an unaffected version of the image. Also,
if you are using the Picture Styles Monochrome setting, there are a number
of software filters built into the camera (page 149). If you do want to use lens
attachments, here are some to consider.
• Lens hoods protect the front element from bumps and keep stray light from
striking the front of the lens and causing flare or ghost images.
• Caps protect the front and rear of the lens when it’s not in use. A body cap
prevents dust from entering the camera when no lens is attached.
• Protect filters keep the front element of your lens from getting scratched or
dirty.
• Circular polarizing filters remove reflections from glass, water, and other
Lens hoods protect
the front element and reflective surfaces, darken blue skies, and improve color saturation. If you use
reduce lens flare. a linear polarizing filter, you can’t use autofocus.
A polarizing filter (top)

darkens the sky and
removes reflections
from foliage so it has
more color. A shot
without a filter is shown
at the bottom.
For larger apertures or

slower shutter speeds,
you can use a screw
on neutral density
filter that cuts the light
entering the lens.
• Skylight filters reduce the blue casts you often get when photographing
subjects in the shade on sunny days.
• UV filters absorb ultraviolet light and cut the haze when photographing
landscapes or from airplanes.
• Neutral density filters cut the light entering the camera so you can use
slower shutter speeds or wider apertures in bright light.
• Soft focus filters soften the focus to make portraits more flattering and to
make hazy, romantic landscapes.
Cases protect lenses
from shocks and other • Close-up lenses magnify the subject without affecting aperture settings.
abuse. Courtesy of
Kenesis. • Color conversion filters let you fine-tune the way you capture colors.

PERSPECTIVE IN A PHOTOGRAPH
A photograph can appear to compress space so that objects appear closer

together than you expect. Another photograph of the same scene can seem to
expand space so that objects appear farther apart than normal. These appar-
ent distortions in perspective—the appearance of depth in a photograph—are
often attributed to the focal length of the lens being used but are actually
caused by your distance from the subject.
As the camera is moved

closer to the foreground
subject and zoomed
out to keep it the
same size (top), the
background diminishes
in size relative to the
foreground. When you
move back and zoom
in, the background
looms over the
foreground subject
(bottom). This changing
relationship between
the size of objects in
the foreground and
background creates
the difference in
perspective.
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/perspective/
Click to explore
perspective.
As you move closer and

select a focal length
that keeps the subject
the same size, the angle
of view widens and the
background diminishes
in size.

8/,.+&#$B7$93)'*$!-,3/$,'($3+9()"$-)*/+)'*
Chapter 6
Using Flash and Studio Lighting
A
utomatic electronic flash is so convenient and easy to use that you are
CONTENTS usually unaware it even fires. With an external EX-series Speedlite
• How Flash Works attached, it’s always ready when your autoexposure system decides it’s
• Using an Exter- needed. Speedlites let you swivel or rotate the flash head so you can bounce
nal Flash • External
Speedlite Control
light off walls and ceilings. This lets you get softer light on the subject so
• Controlling Flash contrast is reduced and hard shadows are minimized. Other flash units are
Exposures • Portraits designed for macro photography so you can capture stunning close-ups in
with Flash • Using Fill bad light and even in windy conditions. Regardless of which flash you choose,
Flash • Using Slow
Sync Flash • Using
it can be set to operate automatically or you can make a number of manual
Available Light • Us- settings.
ing Flash in Close-ups
• Studio Lighting • As important as flash is, it isn’t your only source of controlled lighting. You
Portrait and Product can also use the camera in a home studio setting, perhaps taking formal por-
Lighting—Introduc- traits, or photographing smaller items for your records, insurance, sharing,
tion • The Main Light or even selling on eBay.
• The Fill Light • The
Background Light • In this chapter we explore all of these forms of lighting including an exter-
The Rim Light
nal flash and studio lighting. In the process you’ll learn what makes lighting
more effective and when, where, and how to use and control it.

CHAPTER 6. USING AUTOMATIC FLASH
HOW FLASH WORKS
The 5D Mark II has a hot shoe into which you can slip any Canon EX-series
Speedlite. Every flash has a maximum useful range—indicated by its guide
number. The higher the number, the more powerful the flash and the greater
its range. How bright the light from a flash is when it reaches a subject de-
pends on the flash’s power and on how far the light has to travel. The further
the subject is from the flash, the less light will reach it and so the less light
will be reflected from the subject back toward the camera.
Flash light falls off When the flash fires, the beam of light expands as it moves father from the
(becomes dimmer)
the farther it travels.
camera so the light becomes weaker the farther it travels. The rate at which
Objects near the flash the light falls off is described by the inverse square law. If the distance be-
will be lighter in a tween the flash and subject is doubled, only one quarter the amount of light
picture than objects
farther away. You can
will reach the subject because the same amount of light is spread over four
use this to advantage; times the area. Conversely, when the distance is halved, four times as much
for example, at night light falls on a given area.
you can isolate a main
subject against a dark When subjects in an image are located at different distances from the camera,
background.
the flash exposure will only be correct for those at one distance—normally
those closest to the camera or in the middle of the area metered by the auto-
exposure system. Subjects located farther from the flash will be increasingly
darker the farther they are from the flash.
When you take a flash photo, the first shutter curtain opens to begin the
exposure, then the second curtain closes to end it (page 31). At shutter speeds
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%,7<)%
above 1/200 the second curtain starts to close before the first curtain is fully
open. As a result, a “slit” formed by the two curtains moves across the image
Click here to explore the
flash sync speed.
sensor and normally only a part of the image can be captured by the brief
burst of flash. The rest of the sensor is blocked by one or both curtains. The
fastest shutter speed at which the image sensor is fully uncovered at some
point is called the flash sync speed, and on the 5D Mark II this is 1/120 sec-
ond. If you select a faster shutter speed directly or indirectly, the camera will
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override you and lower it.
inverse square law. • In Tv (shutter-priority) mode, you select a shutter speed of 1/200 second or
slower, and the camera selects the aperture. The exposure of the main subject
is determined by the flash and the exposure of the background is determined
by the shutter speed.
• In Av (aperture-priority) you set the aperture and the shutter speed is au-
tomatically set to 1/200 seconds (the fastest shutter speed you can use with
flash, or slower. Using Custom Function I-7 Flash sync. speed in Av mode
(page 135) you can set the shutter speed to vary automatically or remain fixed
at 1/200 when using flash in Av mode. Auto (the default) correctly exposes
the main subject but prevents shutter speed slow enough to lighten the back-
ground when photographing in dim light.
As the distance doubles,
the amount of light • In M (manual) mode, you set the shutter speed to 1/200 or slower, and se-
illuminating the subject
is only one-quarter of lect a matching aperture. The exposure of the main subject is determined by
the original amount. the flash and the exposure of the background is determined by the aperture
and shutter speed settings.
• In Bulb (B) mode you select the aperture and the shutter stays open as long
as you hold down the shutter button.

USING A CANON SPEEDLITE
USING A CANON SPEEDLITE
Since the 5D Mark II has no built-in flash, you need a Canon EX-series
Speedlite such as the 580EX II or 430EX II mounted on the camera’s hot
shoe or attached by a hot shoe cord (OC-E3) for off-camera use. At the time
this book was written these were the only Canon Speedlites that were fully
compatible with the 5D Mark II. By the time you read this there may be oth-
ers. One of the biggest advantages of these Speedlites is that you can tilt and
swivel the flash head to bounce light off ceilings and walls. This illuminates
the subject with softer light that reduces contrast and opens up shadow areas
to reveal details.
The power and range of a flash is specified by it’s Guide Number and both of
these Speedlites are quite powerful. When using a 105mm lens and with the
ISO set to 100, the 580EX II has a maximum Guide Number of 58 (in meters)
and 190 (in feet). Under the same conditions, the 430EX II is slightly less
powerful, with a maximum Guide Number of 43 (in meters) and 141 (in feet).
The 580EX II is The Guide Number is not fixed, but is directly related to the lens focal length
compatible with all
digital EOS cameras as and ISO. As you increase or decrease either of these, you also increase or
well as G-series and decrease the guide number.
other cameras in the
Canon line. It’s range is These Speedlites zoom the flash head automatically to match the focal length
98.4 feet with a 50mm of the attached lens, or you can select from a list of focal lengths between
f/1.4 lens at ISO 100.
24–105mm. This maximizes the efficiency of light distribution and produces
more flashes from a set of batteries. When used with the EOS 5D Mark II,
these Speedlites also communicate with the camera to adjust auto white bal-
ance based on the charge level of the batteries and the duration of each flash
burst, resulting in consistently accurate color for every shot.
Both Speedlites have a built-in AF-assist beam that assists focusing in dim
light up to 2–32.8 feet (0.6–10m), a swiveling flash head that turns a full 180
You can connect the degrees in both directions, while a single release lock controls tilt and swivel
flash to the camera with
a hot shoe cord instead
adjustments. The flash normally covers wide-angle lenses down to 24mm
of directly mounting it but it has a wide-angle diffuser you can use to cover focal lengths as short as
on the hot shoe. 14mm. The flash also features a new catchlight reflector for optimal lighting
quality during bounce-flash photography.
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Click here for an Excel
Both the 580EX II and 430EX II are dedicated flash units, designed to work
worksheet you can with the 5D Mark II (and a few other Canon cameras). This means they are
use to explore Guide fully integrated and can be set from either the camera or the flash (page 118).
Numbers.
For example, on the 580EX II you can set flash exposure compensation from
either the camera of flash, while flash bracketing is set only on the flash, and
FE lock is set only on the camera.
The 5D Mark II has a PC (Prontor-Compur) terminal so you can use cables to
connect the camera to a studio flash. When you take a picture, a signal is sent
from the camera along the cable to fire the studio flash. To access the termi-
nal you open the rubber cover on the left side of the camera marked with a
lightening bolt icon. The PC terminal under the cover is also marked with the
same icon. When using this terminal don’t connect any flash unit to it that
Canon off camera shoe
requires 250 volts or more. Also, you can’t use the hot shoe and PC terminal
cord. at the same time.
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Both Speedlites are powered by four AA batteries. There is also an optional
Compact Battery Pack (CP-E4) that reduces recycling time and increases the
how a flash head can
number of flashes per charge.
pivot up and down and
rotate for bounce flash.

CONTROLLING FLASH EXPOSURES
When using flash there are times when the main subject is too dark or light.
In these situations, you can adjust the flash power to lighten or darken the
part of the scene illuminated by the flash. As you’ve seen, you can use expo-
sure compensation, exposure lock and autoexposure bracketing to control
daylight exposures (pages 55). You have access to similar controls when using
flash—although flash bracketing (page 119) is only available on the flash, not
Flash usually gives you the camera.
very good exposures
but if you block a
sensor, you can get odd WHAT’S E-TTL II?
results like this gross
overexposure of the The 5D Mark II features an E-TTL II autoflash (evaluative; through the lens)
foreground subject. that gives outstanding natural-looking flash pictures. For example, when
used for fill flash outdoors, E-TTL II balances the light so well that it isn’t
even obvious that flash was used. E-TTL II uses subject distance and other
information to automatically modify flash power, so exposures are better
regardless of the subject’s size, reflectance, or photographic composition.
E-TTL II flash works by firing a preflash in the brief instant after you press
the shutter button and before the camera’s reflex mirror goes up. The camera
uses the preflash to set focus and exposure.
TIP
• When Custom • The exposure of the main subject to be illuminated by the flash is deter-
Function II-4 Auto mined by evaluative metering based on all AF points with special empha-
Lighting Optimizer is sis given to the one that’s active and used to set focus. If an object with an
enabled (the de-
fault—page 152), unusually strong reflection, such as a mirror or window, is detected in any of
flash exposure com- these metering zones, the reading from that zone is factored out or adjusted
pensation may not to prevent an incorrect exposure.
work as expected.
Change the setting • The exposure of the background illuminated by available light is also deter-
to Disable for best
effects. mined using evaluative metering.
• Speedlite is These two readings are used to calculate and set the flash output for the best
Canon’s name for possible exposure of the main subject, while maintaining a subtle balance
their flash units.
Nikon uses the term between flash and natural lighting. The flash output determines the exposure
Speedlight, and both of the main subject and the camera’s aperture and shutter speed determine
terms have the same the exposure of the background.
pronunciation.
FLASH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION

Flash exposure compensation lets you manually adjust the output of the flash
and hence the exposure of the main subject without changing the camera’s
aperture or shutter speed. This is an ideal way to balance flash and natural
light when using fill flash and to correctly expose scenes or subjects that are
darker or lighter than normal (middle-gray). The 5D Mark II’s flash exposure
compensation function lets you vary flash exposures plus or minus 2 stops in
one-third stop increments for any attached EX-series Speedlite. (If you set
flash exposure compensation on both the camera and the external flash, the
external flash setting takes precedence.)
You can use flash exposure compensation in conjunction with regular expo-
sure compensation. Doing so lets you use regular exposure compensation to
lighten or darken the background that’s illuminated by natural light, and use
flash exposure compensation to lighten or darken the main subject illuminat-
ed by the flash. This is a powerful combination of exposure controls that let’s
you capture images just the way you want them.

CONTROLLING FLASH EXPOSURES
USING FLASH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION

1. With a supported flash attached and on, set the Mode Dial set to P,
Tv, Av, M or B.
The flash exposure
compensation icon
2. Press and release the Flash Exposure Compensation button and then
marks the Flash turn the Quick Control Dial to move the marker on the flash exposure
Exposure Compensation level indicator displayed on the LCD panel and monitor and in the
button and is displayed
on the LCD panel and
viewfinder.
monitor and in the
viewfinder when flash
! To underexpose and darken the flash illuminated part of the image,
compensation is set to move the marker toward the minus (-) end of the scale.
anything but 0.
! To overexpose and lighten it, move the marker toward the plus (+)
end of the scale.
When flash exposure compensation is set to anything but 0, the flash
exposure compensation icon is displayed in the viewfinder, and on
the LCD panel and monitor.
An exposure level 3. Take your picture, and when finished reset flash exposure compensa-
indicator shows you how tion to 0 otherwise it will be remembered even when you turn off the
much you have adjusted
flash output in stops. camera.
FLASH EXPOSURE (FE) LOCK

Flash exposure lock (FE Lock) acts much like AE Lock (page 55), but is used
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when an external flash is attached. When you use this feature, which you
can’t do in Live View (page 139), a preflash is fired so the camera can calcu-
flash exposure
late the exposure. This captured reading is stored for about 16 seconds so you
compensation. have time to recompose the scene or make exposure or focus adjustments be-
fore taking the picture without losing your flash exposure information. (If you
don’t do anything for 16 seconds, FE Lock is cancelled.) FE lock is extremely
TIP useful when you wish to place the main subject in a part of the picture area
that is not covered by one of the AF points.
flash exposure
compensation from
the Flash function USING FLASH EXPOSURE (FE) LOCK
settings menu (page
118). 1. With a supported flash attached and on, set the Mode Dial set to P,
Tv, Av, M or B.
2. Press the shutter button halfway down and hold it there to focus on
the subject on which you want to lock flash exposure, then press the
AE/FE Lock button (marked with an asterisk icon). A preflash fires,
FEL is displayed briefly in the viewfinder, and the AE/FE Lock icon
is displayed in the viewfinder to indicate flash exposure is locked. (If
the flash icon in the viewfinder blinks, you are too far away so move
closer and repeat this step or the image will be underexposed.
3. Release the shutter button, recompose the scene and press the shut-
ter button halfway down to set focus before taking the picture.
The AE/FE Lock icon ! To cancel FE Lock, release the shutter button and wait for the *
marks the flash icon to disappear or close the flash.
exposure lock button
and is displayed in the ! To keep flash exposure locked, continue to hold the shutter button
viewfinder when flash halfway down or hold down the AE/FE Lock button.
exposure is locked.

EXTERNAL SPEEDLITE CONTROL
When you attach the 580EX II or 430EX II you can change their settings
from the camera using External Speedlite settings listed on the Set up 3
menu’s tab. One big advantage of being able to change flash settings from the
camera is that you can set the flash when it’s connected to the camera wire-
lessly.

1. With a supported flash attached and on and the Mode Dial set to P,
Tv, Av, M or B modes, press MENU and select the Set up 3 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight External Speedlite control
and press SET to display a submenu.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight one of the following settings
and press SET.
• Flash function settings displays the settings listed and described in
the section that follows. Press INFO to return all of these settings to
their defaults.
CUSTOM FUNC- • Flash C.Fn settings displays a screen you use to select and set flash
TIONS functions on the attached flash unit (see box to left).
C.Fn-00: Distance
indicator display • Clear all Speedlite C.Fn’s resets all Custom Functions on the flash
to their defaults.
C.Fn-01: Auto
power off
C.Fn-02: Modeling FLASH FUNCTION SETTINGS
flash
When you select Flash function settings, a submenu is displayed. From this
C.Fn-03: FEB auto menu you can control the flash settings listed in the table that follows. When
cancel
you use an EX Speedlite that’s not settable from the camera you can still set
C.Fn-04: FEB se- Flash exp. comp, E-TTL II, and Flash firing.
quence
C.Fn-05: Flash Me- Setting Choices Page
tering mode
Flash mode E-TTL II (default), Manual flash, MULTI 116,
C.Fn-06: Quickflash flash, TTL, AutoExtFlash, Man.ExtFlash 120
w/continuous shot
Shutter sync. 1st curtain (default), 2nd curtain, Hi-speed 124
C.Fn-07: Test firing
with autoflash FEB Scale from -3 to +3 119
Flash exp. comp Scale from -2 and +2 116
C.Fn-08: AF-assist
beam firing E-TTL II Evaluative (default), Average 116
C.Fn-09: Auto Zoom Auto (default), various focal lengths—24, 115
zoom for sensor 28, 35, 50, 70, 80 and 105
size
Wireless set. Wireless settings submenu –
C.Fn-10: Slave
Flash firing Enable, Disable –
auto power off
timer
C.Fn-11: Slave CUSTOM FUNCTIONS
auto power off
cancel Flash C.Fn settings, available only when an 580EX II or 430EX II Speedlite
is attached, lets you set the Speedlite’s Custom Function settings (C.Fn-0 to
C.Fn-12: Flash re-
cycle w/exter. power 13) from the camera. The Custom Functions on the 580EX II include those
shown in the box to the left. Those functions also available on the 430EX II
C.Fn-13: Flash expo-
sure meter set. are shown in bold. The 430 has one function the 580 doesn’t have—C.fn-14:
Flash range/aperture info.

TIP FLASH EXPOSURE BRACKETING (FEB)

• You can press INFO
Flash exposure bracketing (FEB), not available on the 430EX II, takes three
to return the and ex- consecutive pictures exposed at slightly different settings. One is taken at the
ternal flash settings exposure recommended by the camera and the other two at up to three stops
to their defaults.
above or below that exposure. The flash output changes with each image
while the background exposure level controlled by the aperture and shutter
speed remains the same.
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HIGH-SPEED SYNC (FP)
Click to explore high Although the camera’s flash sync speed (page 114) is only 1/200, faster shut-
speed sync. ter speeds are possible when using a flash that supports high-speed sync
flash (also called FP or focal plane sync). High-speed sync can capture a fully
exposed image at shutter speeds faster than 1/200 because the flash fires
repeatedly as the “slit” formed by the shutter curtains moves across the image
sensor during the exposure. The only drawback is that the flash power is re-
duced so you can’t be positioned as far from a subject. The higher the shutter
speed you use, the closer you have to be. There are at least three situations
TIPS where you might find this technique useful:
• When using an
external flash in dim • When using fill flash out of doors, you can use a fast shutter speed to freeze
light, its AF-assist action, or a wide aperture to throw the foreground or background out of
beam may strobe
before the exposure
focus.
to assist focusing.
You can turn this
• When doing a portrait and want catchlights in the subject’s eyes.
beam on and off with
the flash’s Custom
• When using fill flash outdoors to lighten shadows.
Function C.Fn-08
AF-Assist beam firing
(page 118). USING HIGH-SPEED SYNC
• If you have trouble
focusing, try using 1. With a supported flash attached and on, and the Mode Dial set to
the center AF point. P, Tv, Av, M or B modes, press MENU and select the Set up 3 menu
tab.
and press SET.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Flash function settings and
press SET.
4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Shutter sync and press SET.
5. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Hi-speed (page 119) and
press SET.
6. Press MENU or the shutter button to hide the menu and take your
High speed sync icon
displayed on flash’s LCD
photos. When finished using hi-speed sync, repeat Steps 1–5 but
panel when it’s enabled. select 1st curtain.

WIRELESS REMOTE FLASH

Wireless flash lets you mount a master flash such as the 580EX II, or a trans-
mitter (ST-E2) on the camera’s hot shoe and trigger other remote flash units.
This allows you to get lighting effects you couldn’t possibly get with a single
flash unit. The on-camera flash or transmitter (the master unit) transmits
wireless signals to the units (the slaves) telling them when to fire. When us-
The wireless transmitter
ST-E2 fits in the ing a master flash you can set it to flash or not as it transmits signals to the
camera’s hot shoe and remote units. When using wireless remote flash, you can use a modeling light
triggers other flash that illuminates the subject for a full second so you can preview flash effects
units.
such as shadows and light balance before taking a picture. (You can’t use the
modeling light in Live View.) If you are using more than one flash, the model-
ing light uses the flash ratios you have chosen.
STROBOSCOPIC FLASH
Stroboscopic flash, called MULTI flash on the Flash mode menu, fires the
flash a number of times at high speed to capture multiple images of the same
subject in the same photograph. You’ve probably seen examples of this mode
in sports photography where it can be used to demonstrate or analyze a swing
of a bat or club. When you select MULTIflash on the menu, you have the fol-
lowing settings:
Flash output 1/128..1/64..1/32 Sets flash power for each burst

Frequency Specifies how often the flash fires
Flash count Specifies the number of flashes
Zoom Can be set to Auto or a variety of focal
lengths
Wireless set. Displays a submenu for wireless flash
Flash firing Enables or Disables the flash.
A dipping bird exposed

four times in the
same picture using
stroboscopic flash.

PORTRAITS WITH FLASH
PORTRAITS WITH FLASH
Flash is a good source of light when you want to make portraits, particularly
of children. The light from the flash is so fast that you rarely have to worry
about your subject moving during the exposure and blurring the picture. For
the same reason you don’t have to be quite as careful about camera motion
blurring the image; you can hand-hold the camera and shoot as rapidly as the
flash will recharge.
POSITIONING THE FLASH AND SUBJECTS

You may want to choose carefully the position of the flash. Direct light from
a flash often produces less attractive results than if you tilt or rotate the
flash head to bounce the light onto the subject off a wall, ceiling, or umbrella
reflector.
When photographing
more than one subject,
each is given the same
importance when
lined up parallel to
the camera because
each receives the
same amount of
flash illumination. If
subjects are at different
distances from the
flash, they will be
illuminated differently.
This is a good way to
make one subject more
visually dominant than
others in the image.
When a subject is
placed close to a wall,
there will almost always
be a distracting shadow
in the image cast by
the light from the flash.
By moving the subject
away from a wall, these
shadows disappear.

RED-EYE
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When photographing people, you’ll often see images with what’s called “red
red-eye. eye.” The light from a flash has entered through the subject’s pupil, reflected
off the back of the eye (the retina), and bounced back out to the camera. Since
the retina is full of thin blood vessels, the eyes take on a red color. Red-eye is
not much of a problem when using an external flash because the flash is posi-
tioned farther away from the axis of the camera lens and you can also bounce
flash off a wall or ceiling. You are most likely to encounter red-eye when
using a long lens to photograph people at a distance, such as photographing
someone on stage from a seat in the audience. This is because as the flash-
subject distance increases, the angle between the lens and flash decreases. If
you do experience red-eye, you can use a flash shoe cord to hold or mount the
In black & white, red- camera farther from the lens axis. You can remove red-eye with photo-editing
eye can look eerie. In
color it’s even more so.
software, but it’s a lot easier to avoid it to begin with.
There is no way to
illustrate red-eye in
a book that’s printed
in black and white.
However, for your
entertainment, Eric
shows one way it can be
avoided.

USING FILL FLASH
USING FILL FLASH
When photographing people or other subjects in bright sun, shadow areas

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can be so dark in the image that they show little or no detail. If the shadows
Click here to explore fill cover a large part of the subject, as they do when it’s backlit, the effect can be
flash. distracting and unattractive. You can lighten such shadows by using flash to
“fill” the shadows to lighten them. Using fill flash is also a good way to get ac-
curate color balance under unusual lighting. With the 5D Mark II, you do so
by turning on an attached flash so it fires even when there is enough available
light to take the picture.
With no fill flash (left)

the bright background
has caused the
main subject to be
underexposed. Using fill
flash (right), the subject
is properly exposed.
Photo courtesy of Tim
Connor.
One reason to use fill

flash outdoors is to add
catch lights to eyes—hot
spots that make the
eyes sparkle.

USING SLOW SYNC FLASH
In very dim light, flash pictures often show a well exposed foreground subject
against a black or almost black background. The slow sync mode is designed
to minimize this problem by leaving the shutter open longer than usual to
lighten the background. In many cases, the slow shutter speed used in this
mode allows blur from camera shake or moving subjects to appear as blur in
images. To avoid blur from camera shake, use a tripod and photograph static
Show sync flash was subjects. Or use this effect creatively. A short flash burst combined with a
used to create this long shutter speed gives interesting effects. The flash freezes nearby objects
photo showing both
sharpness and blur. sharply, and the long shutter speed lets moving objects blur and moving
lights appear as streaks. There are a number of ways to use slow sync:
USING SLOW SYNC FLASH

! To use slow sync automatically, attach a flash and set the Mode Dial
to Av.
! To better control slow sync effects, set the Mode Dial to Tv mode and
control the amount of blur by varying the shutter speed. In a fairly dim
room try 1/20 or so to start.
Normally, when you combine a slow shutter speed with flash, the flash fires at
the very beginning of the exposure when the first shutter curtain is fully open
and the second hasn’t started to close. This is known as 1st curtain sync. If
the scene you are photographing contains bright lights that are moving, such
as automobile head or tail lights, they’ll create streaks in your image. These
Combining flash with a can be interesting elements and used creatively.
slow shutter speed can
give you unusual effects To give you even more creative control, in P, Tv, Av, M or B modes you can
in dim light. also use 2nd curtain sync. In this mode, the flash fires just before the second
shutter curtain closes rather than just after the first has fully opened.
The differences between first and second curtain sync can be quite signifi-
TIPS cant, as when using flash to photograph a moving car or other moving lights
at night:
• When using slow
sync flash, long • First curtain sync captures the car with the streaks from the head or tail
exposure times may
create unwanted lights streaming out in front of the car, making the car appear to be mov-
blur in the image. ing backward. (The flash fires to freeze the car, but the car then continues to
At times like this, move forward with it’s lights painting trails in the image in front of the car
you may want to use
a camera support until the shutter closes.)
(page 64).
• Second curtain sync captures the streaks flowing behind the car. (The shut-
• When using a high ter opens to capture the light trails in the image as the car moves forward,
ISO with slow sync
the chances of over- then the flash fires to freeze the car with the trails behind it.)
exposure increase as
you get closer to the When using a fast shutter speed, the effects of first curtain and second
subject. curtain sync are often identical and not much different from those taken
with slow sync off. However, as you slow shutter speeds, the effects get more
pronounced. You’ll find that you have to experiment to find what works with
subjects at different distances and moving at different speeds. In general, the
closer you get to the main subject illuminated by the flash, the more pro-
nounced the effect. When too far away the flash and ambient light are more
balanced so the subject isn’t frozen as much by the flash.

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USING 2ND CURTAIN SYNC

first and second curtain 1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B modes, press MENU and
sync. select the Set up 3 menu tab.
TIP and press SET.
• When using 2nd- 3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Flash function settings and
curtain flash, a pre- press SET.
flash is fired for flash
metering as soon as 4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Shutter sync and press SET.
you press the shutter
button. The main 5. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight 2nd curtain and press SET.
flash fires just before
the shutter closes. 6. Press MENU or the shutter button to hide the menu and take your
photos. When finished using 2nd Curtain sync, repeat Steps 1–5 but
select 1st curtain.
1st curtain sync (top)

fires the flash at
the beginning of the
exposure, then records
ambient light. As a
result, light streaks
from the moving
subject appear in front
of it. 2nd curtain sync
(bottom) fires the
flash at the end of the
exposure, after the
ambient light has been
recorded so the streaks
trail behind the subject.
Show sync flash lets

you use blur creatively
as shown here with
the streaked lights
highlighting the
champaign glass.

USING AVAILABLE LIGHT
There are times when the light is dim but you want to capture the unique
colors of the available light, or you want to photograph in places where
flash isn’t allowed. In these circumstances you need to prevent the built-in
flash from firing and support the camera for a long exposure. If the flash
fires, foreground subjects will appear as if photographed in daylight and the
background is likely to be very dark. Using available light will often even out
the lighting, however if you don’t support the camera you will likely have blur
from camera movement.
Available light can add
beautiful colors to a
photograph.
TIP PREVENTING THE FLASH FROM FIRING

• You can also use ! Detach the flash from the camera or turn it off.
slow sync flash to
lighten the back-
ground (page 124).
When photographing in dim light there are things you can do to get better
results without using the flash. Try the following procedures described on
pages 64–66:
• Increase the camera’s ISO although it will add noise to the image.
• Use the camera’s self-timer to trigger the shutter so you don’t introduce
camera motion when pressing it with your finger.
• Support the camera or use a tripod and a remote control.

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USING FLASH IN CLOSE-UPS
There are two important reasons to use flash in close-up or tabletop photog-
raphy. With flash, you can use smaller apertures for greater depth of field,
and extremely short bursts of light at close distances prevent camera or sub-
ject movement from causing blur.
Using electronic flash with predictable results takes a little effort and you
may need to practice and experiment. For example, direct on-camera flash
doesn’t give a picture the feeling of texture and depth that you can get from
side-lighting. If you use an external flash, you can bounce the flash off a
reflector, or use an off-camera flash cord to illuminate the subject from an
angle for a better lighting effect.
A special kind of flash is the ring flash. These units fit around the lens and fire
a circle of light on the subject. They are ideal for shadowless close-up photog-
raphy such as that used in medical, dental, and nature photography. Because
ring flash is so flat (shadowless), the unit can be set to fire just one side of the
ring, or one side of the ring can be fired with more intensity than the other so
the flash casts shadows that show surface modeling in the subject.
Canon’s Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX provides you with full E-TTL II flash
capability when used with the 5D Mark II. With a Guide Number of 46 (ISO
100/ft.), the MR-14EX mounts directly to Canon macro lenses. It offers flash
exposure lock, FP high-speed sync, and a number of other features. The flash
The Macro Ring Lite
MR-14EX (top) and
has two flash tubes that can be used together or independently. When used
the Macro Twin Lite together, lighting ratios between the two tubes can be set in one-half stop
MT-24X (bottom) are increments up to +/- 3 stops.
designed for close-up
photography. The Macro Ring Lite is also equipped with twin focusing lamps and a set of 7
Custom Functions that allow you to modify flash operation for specific shoot-
ing conditions. The MR-14EX requires 4 AA-size batteries and is equipped
with a socket for optional external power supplies such as the Canon Com-
pact Battery Pack CP-E4 to reduce recycling time and increase the number of
flashes per set of batteries.
The Macro Twin Lite, designed for serious close-up, nature, and macro pho-
tography, gives a directional quality of light, rather than the flat light char-
acteristic of the ring flash. Two separate flash heads can be swiveled around
the lens, can be aimed separately, and even removed from their holder and
mounted off-camera. Like the MR-14EX, the new Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX
is fully E-TTL II compatible with all EOS bodies, including digital SLRs, and
Flash was used to
freeze the katydid and
even allows Wireless E-TTL II flash control with one or more EX-series “slave
stinkbug. units.” It also provides easy ratio control of each flash head’s output, over a
six-stop range.
When photographed
without flash, the
background can be light
and distracting (left).
Photographed with flash
and using exposure
compensation to darken
the background, sets
off the main subject
(right).

STUDIO LIGHTING
There are two important reasons to use artificial lighting in studio photog-
raphy. First, increasing the level of light lets you use smaller apertures for
greater depth of field, and faster shutter speeds to reduce blur from camera
or subject movement. Second, you can better control the illumination of the
subject, placing highlights and shadows to reduce or emphasize modeling.
CANDIDATES FOR STUDIO LIGHTING

There are a number of subjects that lend themselves to being photographed
under controlled lighting. Here are just some of them.
• Portraits can be either candid or more formal. Candid portraits are usually
captured during the flow of action. It’s the more formal ones that give you the
time needed to arrange lighting.
• Small three-dimensional objects need to be illuminated properly to bring
out shapes, details and colors. You can light a subject in several ways, de-
pending on your objectives. For example, an object with low relief, such as a
coin needs to be cross-lit to bring out surface details. A translucent or trans-
parent object needs to be backlit to bring out colors. As you’ll see, many of
these subjects photograph better with the diffuse lighting provided by a light
When lighting flat
objects you want the tent.
light even over the
entire surface. To do • Flat copy such as posters, stamps, prints, or pages from books require soft,
this you need two lights even light over their surface and the camera’s image sensor must be exactly
set at 45 degree angles parallel to the subject to prevent “keystoning.” Even then, most lenses will
so there are no hot
spots or reflections. curve otherwise straight lines at the periphery of the image because they
Lights courtesy of are not designed for copying and are not perfectly rectilinear. (This is called
tabletop studios— curvilinear distortion.) There are other lens aberrations that make it difficult
http://www.ezcube.com
to keep the entire image in focus at the same time. One suggestion is to use a
small aperture that increases depth of field and uses the center portion of the
lens where aberrations are least likely to affect the image.
LIGHTING
For good portraits or product shots, you’ll find that direct on-camera flash
creates hard shadows and doesn’t give a picture the feeling of texture and
depth that you can get from side-lighting. When you use an external flash, try
using an off-camera flash cord so you can handhold it to the side to light the
subject from an angle.
Light tent with red • Light tents bathe a subject in soft, even lighting and are particularly useful
goblet—
for complex subjects such as bouquets, highly reflective subjects such as jew-
elry, and translucent subjects such as glassware. A subject placed in the light
tent is surrounded by a translucent material which is lit from the outside. If
the subject is small enough, you can use a plastic gallon milk bottle with the
bottom cut out and the top enlarged for the camera lens. When positioned
over the subject and illuminated by a pair of floodlights, the light inside the
bottle is diffused by the translucent sides of the bottle. The result is a very
even lighting of the subject.
5000k compact
• Studio lights use reflectors mounted on adjustable stands. Keep in mind
fluorescent bulb highly that the color of the light you use to illuminate an object affects the colors in
recommended for the final image. For best results you need bulbs that are daylight balanced.
product photography.—
The best of these are daylight fluorescents because they don’t give off any
heat and last a very long time. The quality of the stands and reflectors is also

STUDIO LIGHTING
important because they should be easy to work with and lock in position.
• Reflectors. When the light illuminating a small subject casts hard, dark
shadows, you can lighten the shadows by arranging reflectors around the
subject to bounce part of the light back onto the shadowed area. You can use
almost any relatively large, flat reflective object, including cardboard, cloth,
or aluminum foil (crumpling the foil to wrinkle it, then opening it out again
works best). Position the reflector so that it points toward the shadowed side
of the subject. As you adjust the angle of the reflector, you will be able to
observe its effects on the shadows. Use a neutral-toned reflector so the color
of the reflector doesn’t add a color cast to the image.
A light tent can make
an amazing difference
in table-top photos—
This very complex

subject was shot in a
lite tent. The soft diffuse
light reached every
part allowing it to be
captured without dark
shadows and burned
out highlights. • Light panels are an ideal source of light because they have so many uses.
http://www.ezcube.com When you place an object on the illuminated panel and shoot from above, the
area surrounding the object is captured as pure white. If you cut a hole in a
sheet of background paper and arrange it as a sweep above the panel, a glass
placed on the hole appears to glow from within as light streams through the
hole and through the glass. Finally, by tipping a panel on its side, it can be
used as a background or like any other light source.
A medallion placed on
a light panel and shot
from above has a pure
white background. A
small lamp is used to
side light the coin to
bring out its relief.
• Flash. There is definitely a role for on camera flash in studio photography.

It doesn’t hurt to see what results you get from an external flash. You might
even want to try the Macro Twin Lite MT-24X because you can rotate the two
flash heads to bounce light off reflectors or off the walls of a light tent.

BACKGROUNDS
Some thought should be given to the background you use. It should be one
that makes your subject jump out, and not overwhelm it. The safest back-
ground is a white or neutral curved sweep like the one that comes with an
EZcube light tent. It can be lit so it disappears in the photo or so it provides
a smooth gradation of light behind the subject. It’s safe, because most things
photograph well against it. Other options include black, colored or graduated
backgrounds, and these should be selected to support and not clash with the
colors in the subject. The texture of the background is also a consideration.
For example, black velvet has no reflections at all while black poster board
might show them.
Here a crystal glass

was shot in a light
cube against a black
background to set it off.
There are times when you don’t want a background in a photo so the subject
is silhouetted against a pure white background. You’ll often see this tech-
nique used in catalog photos but it’s also a great way to make it easy to select
an object in a photo-editing program so you can cut it out and paste it into
another image. To get this effect you need to overexpose the background. In
some cases this is as easy as pointing lights at it. In the case of small objects,
a light panel makes it very easy.
RISERS
A hole was cut in a
A white, black, colored or clear high gloss acrylic platform, called a riser,
piece of black paper provides a soft reflection of the subject placed on top. The elevation of the
and placed on a light platform on a clear riser also eliminates any shadow beneath the subject
panel. The glass was
then placed over the
because raising it throws the background out of focus. This helps the back-
hole and looks like it’s ground “disappear.” If you position the subject in the middle of the riser,
illuminated from within. you can then crop out the edges with a photo-editing program so the subject
seems to float in space.
SPECIAL BULBS
You can experiment with different kinds of lights. For example, TabletopStu-
dio.com introduced their Diamond Dazzler bulb with 18 daylight color LEDs
to bring out the brilliance in faceted gemstones.
The Diamond Dazzler

light brings out the
brilliance of diamonds.
Courtesy of tabletop
studios—
http://www.ezcube.
com.
A riser creates
attractive reflections
and softens the
background. Courtesy of
tabletop studios—
http://www.ezcube.

PORTRAIT AND PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY—INTRODUCTION
PORTRAIT AND PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY—INTRODUCTION
In the studio, you usually use more than one light to illuminate a portrait or
product. The goal is often to create light that looks like that found outdoors.
The lights can be hot lights, strobes, or slave flash units–or even fill cards.
Sometimes you can get away with only one or two lights but the use of main,
fill, background and rim lights is a classic studio lighting setup for portraits
that can be adapted to other subjects.
• The main light is positioned somewhat to one side of the subject and some-
what above it.
• A fill light is placed opposite the main light, but more nearly at the subject’s
level.
• A background light is used to control the lighting on the background be-
hind the main subject.
Most photographers
without studios use • A rim light is placed quite high and behind the subject to highlight edges
continuous lights
that usually have
and separate the subject from the background.
three parts—stands,
reflectors, and bulbs.
For most purposes you can get by with just the main light and a fill light. In
fact, you can often get along with just the main light by replacing the fill light
with reflectors to bounce light into the shadows. The way you position a light
relative to the subject is very important.
• As you move a light farther away from the subject you reduce the light fall-
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%;/6!"I*:;/"7%
ing on it. Because there is less light you may have to use a larger aperture
Click to explore hard
and soft light. which gives less depth of field.
• Moving a light back hardens its light, while moving it closer softens it. By
moving a light farther away, you also reduce the light it illuminates the sub-
ject with. On strobes, you do it by adjusting the light’s intensity. On continu-
ous lights you can do the same with a dimmer switch. You can have one light
illuminate the subject with more intensity than another light. The difference
between the two lights is called the lighting ratio.
• Positioning the light at an angle to the subject will make the light uneven
over the subject. The part of the subject closest to the light source will receive
more light. The exposure will only be correct at one distance—normally the
part metered by the autoexposure system. Parts of the setup located farther
from the light source will be increasingly darker the farther away they are.

THE MAIN LIGHT
Outdoors the brightest source of light is usually the sun. In the studio, the
sun’s role is filled by the main light. Like the sun it’s the brightest source of
light and casts the darkest shadows.
Like the sun, the main

light is often positioned
above and slightly to
the side of the subject.
Placing the light above
the subject creates
light on the subject that
is familiar, as are the
shadows it creates.
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%.:/<%
main light.
Here the main light is

set to the left, above,
and right of the subject.

THE FILL LIGHT
THE FILL LIGHT
A fill light represents the light that falls on an outdoor subject from the broad
expanse of an open sky, or reflecting from surfaces in the landscape. The fill
light is almost always less bright than the main light, in fact about half as
bright. Its relative brightness can be controlled in a number of ways. For ex-
ample, it can be placed farther away from the subject, you can add a diffuser,
or you can use a less powerful light.
The fill light, placed
opposite the main light,
opens shadows by
lighting the dark side of
the subject facing away
from the main light.
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%455%
Click to explore the fill
light.
The fill light on the

right of the subject is
moved from close to
the subject (left) to
farther away (middle
and right). The closer it
is, the more it lightens
shadows created by the
main light.

THE BACKGROUND LIGHT
A background light controls how light or dark the background behind the
subject is. A lighter or darker background can help visually separate the sub-
ject from the background. It can also lighten shadows cast on the background
by other lights. In fact, if made bright enough, it can silhouette the subject.
The background light is

off to the side and lights
the background behind
the subject without
lighting the subject
itself.
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%H:)@6+(*<1%
background light.
The background light can be varied for different effects. When only spillover light
illuminates the background (far left) it’s a uniform gray. When not illuminated at all
(second from left) it’s black. When the background is lit by a spot it is graduated
(second from right). When illuminated with a bright light it is burned out to pure
white (far right).

THE RIM LIGHT
THE RIM LIGHT
A rim light positioned behind the subject and facing toward the camera il-
luminates the edges of the subject from behind so they glow and are visually
separated from the darker background. In portrait photography a rim light is
often used to back light the hair.
The rim light is often set
up behind the subject
and slightly higher
than the other lights.
Because this light is
facing the camera, it’s
important that it be
completely blocked by
the subject or out of the
field of view. If not you
may get lens flare and
lowered contrast. One
way to block the light
is to position a piece
of cardboard (called a
gobo) between the light
and subject.
!""#$%%&&&'#!("()(*+,-')(.%/"-0"%+/.%
Click to explore the rim
light.
The final image is

beautifully lit and
well separated from
the background. It’s
a visually interesting
image.

CHAPTER 7. OTHER FEATURES AND COMMANDS
Chapter 7
Other Features and Commands
A
s you’ve seen by now, the 5D Mark II has many settings that control
CONTENTS how your camera operates. In this chapter we discuss those features
• Continuous Photog- not covered elsewhere in the book. You’ll see how to shoot up to 3.9
raphy • Remote Con- images per second in continuous mode, shoot remotely, use the monitor to
trol Photography •
Shooting Still Images compose, focus and capture still images and movies in Live View, use and
in Live View • Shoot- customize picture styles, save your own settings and menus, set Custom
ing Movies in Live Functions, and make many other useful settings. You should find a great deal
View • Using Picture
Styles • Registering of information here that you’ll be glad to know. Finally you’ll see how to care
Your Own Settings for your camera and remove the dust that tends to accumulate on the surface
• Using Custom of the image sensor.
Functions • Using
My Menu • Changing
Other Settings • Car-
ing for Your Camera

CONTINUOUS PHOTOGRAPHY
CONTINUOUS PHOTOGRAPHY
To be sure you catch those fleeting moments so common in people, sports

and wildlife photography, you can use continuous mode to capture up to 3.9
images per second as long as you hold down the shutter button.
As you use these modes to capture images, they are first stored in a buffer,
basically internal memory, because this can be done faster than storing them
to a CF card. The buffer can store and process up to 310 Large/Fine JPEGs
when you’re using an UDMA CF card, 78 when using a non-UDMA card, or
13 or 14 RAW images when using either kind of card. To capture more images
in a single burst, reduce the image size, quality or format (page 27). Obvi-
ously there isn’t much of an advantage for RAW shooters, especially given the
higher cost of UDMA cards. However, you can also use these faster cards for
capturing high definition movies (page 145).
When the buffer becomes full, buSY is displayed in the viewfinder and the
camera starts capturing images much more slowly as it frees up room in the
buffer by moving more images to the CF card. After an image is moved and
room is again available in the buffer, the camera captures another image.
When the viewfinder display is active, a readout to the left of the focus indi-
cator shows how many more images will fit in the buffer. The readout doesn’t
go above 99, so when 99 is displayed it means you can capture 99 or more.
In One-Shot AF, focus doesn’t change after the first picture. In AI Servo AF
it does. When Custom Function II-2 High ISO speed noise reduction is set to
Strong, the maximum continuous rate falls dramatically. Some other settings
may slow down the capture rate. For example, a low battery, a slow shutter
speed, or using flash or AI Servo AF, takes photos more slowly as does taking
repeated short bursts instead of one long one.
Once you capture a sequence of pictures you can then choose the best image
from the sequence or use all of them to create an animation on your comput-
er as an animated GIF or Flash movie. When viewed with a Web browser, the
images are quickly displayed one after the other like frames in a movie.
Continuous mode
can capture a series
of positions in sports
photography. SELECTING A CONTINUOUS MODE
1. With the Mode Dial set to CA, P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press the AF-
http://www.photocourse.com/itext/continuous/
DRIVE button and then turn the Quick Control Dial until the con-
Click to see how
tinuous mode icon is displayed on the LCD panel and monitor.
continuous mode can be
used creatively.
2. To run off photos, hold down the shutter button until you or the
camera decides enough is enough. When you release the shutter
button, the shots remaining count is displayed at the bottom of the
viewfinder next to the focus confirmation indicator. The last photo in
the burst is briefly displayed on the monitor.
3. When finished, repeat Step 1 but select a different drive mode.
The low speed

continuous (left) and
high speed continuous
(right) icons.

REMOTE CONTROL PHOTOGRAPHY
To get the sharpest possible images, the camera has to be perfectly still and
free from even slight vibrations created when you press the shutter button or
the mirror swings up. To reduce or eliminate vibrations when you take a pic-
ture, especially when using a long lens, taking close-ups, using mirror lockup
or Bulb (B) mode, you can use one of the 2.6 foot (80 cm) cable releases that
connect to the camera’s N-3 type remote control connector.
• The Remote Switch RS-80N3 replicates all of the functions of the camera’s
Slipping the eyepiece shutter button. You can press the shutter button halfway down, all the way
cover over the down, and even lock it down for long bulb exposures (page 92).
viewfinder blocks light
from entering and • The Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3 has a remote shutter button but
affecting the exposure.
also has additional features including a self-timer, interval timer, long-expo-
sure timer, and exposure-count setting feature. You can set the timer any-
where from 1 second to 99 hours, 59 min., 59 sec. To make settings easier you
use a dial to quickly enter numeric settings and the device’s LCD panel can
also be illuminated.
• Canon makes two wireless controllers that communicate with the camera
using its remote control sensor. Using either you can trigger the shutter from
to about 5 meters/16.4 feet from the camera. RC-1 lets you shoot immediately
or with a 2-second delay, and RC-5 has a 2-second delay.
When taking pictures with a remote control, light can leak in through the
viewfinder and affect the exposure. To prevent this, remove the eyecup from
the viewfinder and slip the eyepiece cover, carried on the camera strap, over
the eyepiece. To remove the eyecup cover, grasp both sides and slide it up
and away from the camera.
The RS-80N3 (top) and
TC-80N3 (bottom). The 5D Mark II includes EOS Utility software you can use to remotely oper-
ate the camera while viewing the computer screen instead of the camera’s
viewfinder. Using this program you can change camera settings and specify
a start time and interval time for a series of photos. This lets you set up the
camera and get pictures like the one of the squirrel below.
The EOS Utility

program.

SHOOTING STILL IMAGES IN LIVE VIEW
In any shooting mode other than Full or Creative Auto, you can use the
TIPS monitor, or even a connected computer, to compose and focus still images—a
• A side benefit of procedure called Live View. (You can do stills in auto modes, using the
Live View is that Stills+movie setting discussed in the next section.) In most ways using Live
it reduces vibra-
tion by lifting the View is just like using the viewfinder. The difference is that in Live View the
reflex mirror out of camera lifts the mirror up and out of the way (the viewfinder blacks out) and
the way long before opens the shutter so the image sensor can capture the scene in real time and
the exposure takes
place. In this respect display it on the monitor. You’ll find this mode especially useful when using
it is much like mirror a tripod and macro lens to capture close-ups requiring very precise manual
lockup (page 152). focusing. It’s also useful in a studio setting because the EOS Utility software
• For more on using and the USB cable supplied with the camera let you use a computer’s screen
Live View with your to compose, focus and capture images. You can even download captured
computer, check the
software instruction images directly to the computer’s hard drive. Although Live View is not de-
manual covering EOS signed specifically for hand-held photography or moving subjects, there’s no
Utility. reason you shouldn’t give it a try.
Live View has two levels of on and off. You begin by enabling it, which is
like switching it to standby mode. When finished, you disable it. When it’s
enabled and you want to actually use it, you just press the Live View button to
turn it on and off.
USING LIVE VIEW FOR STILLS ONLY

1. With the camera in P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, set the lens focus mode
switch to MF or AF, press MENU and select the Set up 2 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Live View/Movie func set.
Using an optional and press SET.
wireless transmitter
WFT-E4/WFT-E4A you 3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight LV func. setting and press
can make the camera/
computer connection SET to display the Live View function settings screen with three
wirelessly at distances choices:
up to almost 500 feet
(150m). • To turn off Live View select Disable.
• To capture still images with Live View select Stills only then select
Stills display or Exposure simulation (page 141) and press SET.
• To capture movies and stills, select Stills+movie (page 145)
4. Press the Live View button to raise the mirror and open the shutter
so the scene is displayed on the monitor and the viewfinder blacks
out.
5. Manually focus the image by turning the focus ring on the lens, or
press AF-ON to focus it automatically using the current AF mode
(page 142), and if necessary:
• To adjust exposure, turn the Quick Control Dial.
The Live View button on • To magnify the image on the monitor for very precise manual focus-
the back of the camera. ing, press the Magnify button repeatedly to cycle through 5x, 10x and
back to full view.
6. Take the picture and after image review ends, the camera automati-
cally returns to Live View shooting.
7. When done using Live View for the moment, press the Live View but-
ton. When finished, repeat Steps 1–3 but select Disable.

MANUAL FOCUSING
Manual focus is much more accurate than autofocus, especially when you
press the Magnify button to enlarge the area within the magnify frame
(except in Live Face View). To begin, press the Multi-controller to move the
rectangular focusing frame over an important area of the scene (press it
straight down to center the frame), and press the Magnify button to enlarge
In direct sunlight, or the area within the frame. Each time you press it you cycle through Full view
other situations that
might heat the camera, > 5x > 10x and then back to Full view. When magnified, turn the focus ring
the high temperature on the lens to focus the subject before taking the picture. For tips on focusing
icon (above) may be see page 143.
displayed to indicate
that image quality may
be degraded by noise or
irregular colors. If you LIVE VIEW/MOVIE FUNCTION SETTINGS
continue shooting, Live The Live View/Movie func set command on the Set up 2 menu displays a
View may discontinue
automatically and submenu with the choices in the following table. Those grayed out are not
not resume until the available in Full or Creative Auto modes. All choices are discussed on the
camera’s temperature pages that follow.
falls.
COMMAND DESCRIPTION PAGE

Movie recording Enables movie recording in Full and Cre- 145
ative (CA) auto modes.
In this table movie
LV func. setting. Turns Live View mode on and off and lets 139
recording is only
you set the Live View function settings
displayed in Full and
and Screen settings type.
Creative Auto modes
and grayed out settings Grid display Turns on and off a grid on the monitor. 141
are not available in
those modes. Silent shoot. Selects one of three modes to make Live 141
View camera operation quieter.
Metering time Specifies how long metering stays on and 142
AF Lock measurements are retained.
AF mode Specifies one of three autofocus modes— 142
Quick, Live, or Live face.
Movie rec. size Specifies movie frame size 145
Sound recording Turns sound recording with movie on or 145
off
The Live View function
settings menu.
USING LIVE VIEW FUNCTION SETTINGS
1. With the camera in any shooting mode press MENU and select the
Set up 2 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Live View/Movie func set.
and press SET.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight your choice and press SET
to display options. Highlight your choice, and press SET again.
4. Press MENU twice to hide the menu.
Clicking this button on LIVE VIEW FUNCTION SETTINGS

EOS Utility displays
the scene the camera • Disable turns off Live View.
sees on your computer
screen. You can then • Stills only enables the capture of still images.
remotely adjust white
balance and focus, • Stills+movie enables the capture of stills and movies (page 145). You can
check histograms and even capture stills during a movie, although during playback the movie will
depth of field, and take
pictures.
briefly pause at the place you took them and you’ll hear the shutter in the
movie sound track.

SCREEN SETTINGS TYPE

• Stills display displays stills at the standard brightness to make them easy to
see.
• Exposure simulation, when enabled, displays the Exp.SIM icon and the
The Exp.SIM icon on the brightness of the image on the monitor adjusts to roughly match the bright-
monitor indicates the
following: ness of the image you will capture. When disabled (the default), the image
• Displayed in white, is displayed normally to make it easier to compose the shot. When enabled,
the Live View image’s pressing INFO displays a histogram to guide you in getting the best possible
brightness is close
to what the captured exposure (page 59). If you use flash or Bulb (B) mode (page 92) the histo-
image will look like. gram is grayed out but still works, although it may not be accurate.
• When blinking, the
lighting is too dim or • Movie display displays still images at the standard brightness and the
bright and the Live aspect ratio is based on the movie recording size you’ve selected (page 145).
View image doesn’t
accurately reflect (The semi-transparent mask framing the image area is not included in the re-
image brightness on corded movie.) In this mode you can take still photos by pressing the shutter
the monitor. However, button. The shutter speed, aperture, and ISO speed are set automatically.
the captured image will
reflect the exposure
setting.
• When gray, an GRID DISPLAY
external flash is on or Grid display turns coarse or fine grid lines off (the default) and on. When on,
the Mode Dial is set to
B (Bulb). The histogram it’s easier to align horizontals and verticals in an image.
is also grayed out and
may not be properly
displayed in low light or SILENT SHOOTING
bright light conditions.
You can set Silent shoot to Mode 1, Mode 2, or Disable to avoid alarming
people or wildlife.
• Mode 1 (the default) is quieter than normal camera operation. Normally,
Screen settings type when you press the shutter button to take a picture in Live View, the sec-
icons include Stills
display (left) Exposure ond shutter curtain closes, and the image sensor is cleared. The first shutter
simulation (middle) and curtain then opens to begin the exposure, and the second closes again to end
Movie display (right). it. In silent modes, the camera leaves the second curtain open and simulates
its opening by activating the sensor one row of pixels at a time just as if the
curtain were sliding over it to uncover the rows. The second curtain then
closes to end the exposure. At shutter speeds faster than 1/200 this combina-
tion of an electronic first curtain and mechanical second curtain creates a slit
moving across the sensor. In continuous mode you can shoot up to 3 images
per second with only the sound of the second shutter closing once for each
picture. Also, since the first curtain is an electronic shutter in this mode the
release time is infinitesimal so you can capture instantaneous actions.
• Mode 2 takes a shot and then suspends camera operations if you continue
to hold the shutter button down. When you release the shutter button back to
the halfway position the camera sounds softly as the shutter cocks. Delaying
the shooting sound can minimize the disturbance in some situations. In con-
tinuous mode you can only take single shots, and if you use a remote control-
ler this mode operates just like Mode 1.
• Disable is used for more accurate exposures when making vertical shifts
with a TS-E tilt-shift lens (page 110), extension tubes (page 108) and non-
Canon external flash units. When you release the shutter button in this mode
TIP it sounds as if two pictures are taken although only one is.
• When Silent shoot • If you use flash, Disable takes effect even when you have selected Mode 1
is set to Mode 1 or
2 and flash is used, or Mode 2.
the camera operates
as if it were set to • When using a non-Canon flash unit, select Disable since the flash won’t
Disable. fire if Mode 1 or Mode 2 is selected.

METERING TIMER
TIPS
You can change Metering timer to specify how long the metered exposure
• In Live View you
can’t initiate autofo- setting and AE lock setting is retained. The default is 16 seconds and the
cus using the shutter available range is 4 seconds to 30 minutes.
release button on
the Remote Switch
RS-80N3 or Timer AF MODE
Remote Controller
TC-80N3. Although not as precise as magnified manual focus, you can autofocus by
• During autofocus- switching the lens focus switch to AF and pressing the AF-ON button. The
ing no AF points camera then focuses using the AF mode you have selected.
are displayed on
the screen but they 1: Quick mode (the default) is the fastest way to autofocus in Live View but
are still operational. the screen briefly goes black. In this mode, the small AF point or points that
Canon recommends
that you position the will be used to set focus and a larger magnifying frame are displayed on the
focusing frame at the monitor. To select a different AF point, press the AF-DRIVE button and use
center and select the the Multi-controller. You can also use the Multi-controller by itself to move
center AF point for
autofocusing. the magnifying frame, and then press the Magnify button to enlarge the area
within the frame.
• You can select an
AF mode by pressing When you press AF-ON and hold it down to focus, the reflex mirror lowers
AF-DRIVE and turn-
ing the Main Dial. and the monitor goes black while focus is performed by the camera’s dedi-
cated AF sensor in One-Shot AF mode just as though you were using the
viewfinder. When focus is achieved, the camera beeps and the mirror goes
back up so the Live View image reappears with the AF point or points used to
focus briefly flash red. At this point you can refocus or press the shutter but-
ton to take the picture.
Although you can set the autofocus mode to AI Servo AF or AI Focus AF
(page 72), autofocus ends when the camera returns to the Live View image
display, so you can’t keep a moving subject in focus.
2: Live mode uses the image sensor to focus and is less likely to achieve focus
AF mode icons. quickly, if at all. Its only advantage is that the screen doesn’t go black as the
camera autofocuses.
In this mode a large AF point that looks just like the magnifying frame in
Quick mode is displayed in the center of the monitor. You can move it any-
where but near the frame edges with the Multi-controller, and magnify the
Focus frames when area it frames with the Magnify button. When you then press and hold down
there is more than on
face (left) and the most the AF-ON button, the camera focuses on the area within the frame without
important face (right) lowering the mirror. When focus is achieved, the camera beeps and the large
AF point turns green. At this point, release the AF-ON button and use the
shutter button to take the picture. If focus can’t be achieved, the large AF
point turns red, so release the AF-ON button and try focusing on another part
of the scene.
3: Live Face mode can locate and frame forward facing faces in a scene.
If only one is found it is indicated with frame corners. If more than one is
framed, one has sideway pointing arrowheads. When these are displayed you
can accept the selected face or use the Multi-selector or Quick Control Dial
to select another. When you press AF-ON, if focus is achieved the AF point
turns green and the camera beeps. If focus is not achieved, the AF point turns
red.
• If a face isn’t detected, you can press the Multi-controller straight down
The camera indicates to switch to Live mode and display a focus frame in the center of the scene,
which face it thinks move it with the Multi-controller to any part of the scene, and press AF-ON
is most important by
adding a pair of arrow to focus on the selected area. (You can’t use it to magnify in this mode.) When
heads to it. finished, press the Multi-controller straight down to return to face focus.

• If a face is detected near the edge of the frame where autofocus won’t work,
the focus frame is grayed out. When you then press the AF-ON, the center AF
point is used for focus.
• When the scene is way out of focus faces aren’t detected so turn the focusing
ring on the lens to focus, even approximately and try again.
• Focus detect isn’t perfect. Objects that aren’t faces are sometimes detected
by mistake. Faces that are very small or large in the picture, too bright or too
dark, titled horizontally or diagonally, or partially hidden are not detected.
The face detect icon.
The focusing frame might cover only part of a face.
GENERAL TIPS IN LIVE VIEW

TIPS • The monitor displays 100% of the area that will be captured in the photo.
• Face detection • Live View ends automatically at the specified Auto power off time (page 161)
takes a great deal of
control out of your . When Auto power off is set to Off, the Live View shooting stops automati-
hands but the se- cally after 30 minutes although the camera’s power remains on.
lected face isn’t used
just to set focus but • Live View is cancelled if you select Dust Delete Data (Shooting 2 menu),
also exposure and Sensor cleaning (Set up 2 menu), or Clear settings or Firmware Ver (Set up
white balance.
3 menu).
• The camera may
sometimes misiden- • Using the supplied video cable or an optional HDMI cable you can display
tify objects as faces. the Live View screen on a TV set.
• Faces may not be
detected when too • Don’t point the camera at the sun or you can damage the image sensor.
small, too large, too
bright or dark, tilted, • Live View consumes more power than normal operation. You can shoot up
or partially hidden. to 200 pictures in a warm setting, and as few as 180 when the temperature
• Movie Recording falls toward freezing. Autofocus reduces the number of shots you can take.
Size and Sound Re- Continuous Live View shooting is possible for up to 2 hours; somewhat less
cording are discussed when it’s cold.
in the next section.
• You use buttons and menus to change settings and playback images in Live
View just as you do when using the viewfinder.
• When you press the AF-DRIVE or ISO-Flash Exposure Compensation but-
ton, a setting screen appears on the monitor so you can change the settings.
• Live View shooting disables some Custom Function settings (page 152).
LIVE VIEW FOCUSING TIPS

• To check depth of field, press the depth of field preview button (page 71).
The brightness of the display is close to the captured image even at small ap-
ertures. You can’t do this with Screen setting set to Movie display (page 141).
• You can’t use the focus preset feature on super telephoto lenses.
• There are many things that affect the camera’s ability to autofocus in Live
View. If you encounter problems, switch to Quick mode or use manual focus-
To check depth-of- ing.
press the depth-of-field • The image brightness may change during and after autofocusing.
71). • If the image flickers to the extent it makes focusing difficult, press the
Live View button to suspend Live View, adjust the lighting, and press the
Live View button again to resume Live View. Check that the flickering has
stopped, then autofocus.
• When autofocusing the AF-assist beam on an external flash is not emitted.

MAGNIFIED VIEW FOR FOCUSING

• You can’t magnify the image in Live Face mode.
• When the scene is magnified on the monitor, the camera enhances image
sharpness from what it will on the captured image to help you better evaluate
focus and sharpness on the screen.
The magnifying frame • When an image is magnified the shutter speed and aperture settings are
can be moved about
the screen. displayed in orange on the monitor.
• Pressing the AE lock button won’t lock exposure when the image is magni-
fied.
• The speed of autofocusing may be different during the full view and magni-
fied view.
• If you can’t achieve autofocus in magnified view, return to full view and try
again.
• If you autofocus in Live mode’s full view and then magnify the image, focus
may be off.
• While the image is magnified, the exposure might not come out as desired.
To remind you of this the shutter speed and aperture are displayed in red.
LIVE VIEW EXPOSURE TIPS

• Press the INFO button to change the information displayed including a live
histogram and exposure level indicator.
• If a light source within the scene varies, the image on the screen may flicker.
If this happens press the Live View button once to suspend Live View shoot-
ing, adjust the lighting and then press the Live View button again to continue.
• Extremely bright sources in the scene, such as the sun, might be black on
the screen but will be captured correctly.
• Under low light or bright light conditions, the Live View image on the moni-
tor might not reflect the brightness of the captured image.
• If you set the LCD brightness to a bright setting (page 161), you may see
chrominance noise in the Live View image on the monitor but it won’t be
captured in the image.
• If you recompose the scene, the brightness of the image on the monitor may
briefly change. Wait until it readjusts or your photo’s exposure may be off.
• You can use flash, and when it fires the mirror drops down briefly so the
camera can measure the preflash used to set the flash exposure. There are
two shutter sounds but only one photo is taken. You can’t use FE lock, model-
ing flash, or test flash in Live View.
• During Live View shooting, metering is set to evaluative regardless of the
menu setting.
• During continuous shooting (page 137) exposure is locked in with the first
image.
• When Custom Function II-4 Auto Lighting Optimizer (page 152) is set to
any setting other than Disabled, the image on the monitor looks bright even
when you select a minus (-) exposure compensation.
• Before taking a long exposure, stop Live View shooting temporarily and wait
several minutes before shooting. This is to prevent image degradation.

SHOOTING MOVIES IN LIVE VIEW
You can shoot movies in all shooting modes including Full and Creative Auto.
Just by pressing the SET button in Live View you can capture HD movies at
1920 x 1080 pixels or standard 4:3 TV quality (SD) movies at 640 x 480 pix-
els—both formats at 30 frames per second (fps). While doing so you can press
the shutter button to interrupt the movie and capture a still image. Picture
Styles (page 149) and other settings you make to adjust image characteristics
apply to movies so you have a significant amount of creative control over the
quality of your movies. You can also use any of 60 or more Canon EF lenses
When shooting movies from ultra-wide-angle and fish-eye to macro and super telephoto.
at the 1920 x 1080
size (Full HD quality),
use a large-capacity USING LIVE VIEW FOR STILLS+MOVIES
card having an actual
reading/writing speed 1. With the Mode Dial set to any shooting mode, press MENU, display
of at least 8 MB/sec.
Recording and playing the Set up 2 menu, highlight Live View/Movie func. set. press SET
back from slower and then do one of the following:
cards may not work
as expected. To check • In auto modes highlight Movie recording and set it to Enable.
a card’s read/write
speed, refer to the card • In P, Tv, Av, M or B mode select LV func. setting, select
manufacturer’s Web Stills+movie, then select Movie display (page 141).
site.
2. To set the movie recording size select Movie rec. size and set the size
to 1920x1080 (Full High-Definition) quality or 640x480 (standard
quality).
3. To display the Live View image press the Live View button.
4. Focus the subject using AF or manual focus (page 142).
TIP
5. To begin recording the movie, press SET and while it’s being record-
You can use Custom ed, a recording indicator (a red dot) is displayed on the upper right of
Function IV-3 Assign
SET button to use the screen.
the SET button to
turn on Live View 6. To stop recording the movie press SET again.
and start and stop
movie recording with
a single button. BASIC MOVIE TIPS
• Movies can range up to 4GB or 30 minutes, whichever comes first.
• A 4GB card will store about 12 minutes of 1920 x 1080 video and 24 min-
utes of 640 x 480. When you run out of room on the card, the movie record-
ing size and remaining shooting time are displayed in red on the monitor.
• If you use a card having a slow writing speed, a five-level indicator on the
right side of the monitor may appear during movie shooting. It indicates how
much data has not yet been written to the card (remaining capacity of the in-
ternal buffer memory). The slower the card, the faster the indicator will climb
upward. If the indicator becomes full, movie shooting will stop automatically.
If the card has a fast writing speed, the indicator will either not appear or the
level will not increase much. Before using a card for movies, record a few test
movies to see if the card can write fast enough.
• A fully charged battery pack will capture about 90 minutes of video at
23°C/73°F and about 80 minutes total at 0°C/32°F.
• The camera’s built-in microphone records sounds the camera makes. To re-
duce or eliminate these noises you need an external microphone. The built-in
microphone records in monaural but external stereo microphones equipped

with a stereo mini plug (3.5mm diameter) can be plugged into the camera’s
external microphone IN terminal. Sound levels are adjusted automatically.
• Movies are recorded in the MOV format using an MPEG-4 video compres-
sion and sound is recorded in PCM2 format without compression. They are
recorded in the sRGB-equivalent color space optimized for movies.
• When you take a still image while recording a movie, it’s stored separately
but also displayed for one second during movie playback and then the movie
resumes. The shutter speed and aperture are set automatically and the ISO
speed is set automatically between 100–3200. The shutter speed and aper-
ture displayed in the Live View screen when the shutter button is pressed
halfway are for shooting still photos.
• Since movie aspect ratios are different from still images, a semi-transparent
mask on the monitor indicates the captured area.
• External flash won’t fire for still photos taken during movie shooting.
• When you take still photos during movie shooting with the drive mode set
to the 10 second or 2 second self-timer, single-image shooting takes effect
automatically.
• You can use Remote Controller RC-1/RC-5 to start and stop the movie
shooting. With RC-1, set the timing switch to 2 (2-sec. delay), then press the
transmit button. If the switch is set to immediate shooting, still photo shoot-
ing takes effect.
• Under low light or bright light conditions, or when their is a bright light
source in the scene, the Live View image might not accurately reflect the
brightness of the captured image. The movie is recorded much as it is dis-
played.
• Under low light, the Live View image on the monitor might show chromi-
nance noise and in movies this noise is recorded much like it is displayed on
the monitor.
CAMERA SETTINGS
• In P, Tv, Av, M and B modes, if LV func. setting is set to Stills+movie, you
can still shoot movies by pressing SET even if Screen settings has been set to
Stills display or Exposure simulation.
• For movie shooting, the ISO speed is set automatically. ISO 100 is set as
standard, then it can increase up to ISO 6400 (expandable to H1: 12800) for
low-light conditions.
• When Screen settings (page 141) is set to Stills display or Exposure simu-
lation, the start of a movie may momentarily record a substantial exposure
change.
• When Screen settings (page 141) is set to Movie display, the depth-of-field
preview button doesn’t work.
• When Custom function II-4 Auto Lighting Optimizer is set to anything
other than 3 Disable, the image may look bright even if a decreased exposure
compensation has been set.
LENSES AND FOCUS
• When the attached lens has an Image Stabilizer it operates at all times even
if you do not press the shutter button halfway down. This may reduce the

shooting time or number of stills. When using a tripod or when the Image
Stabilizer isn’t necessary, set the IS switch on the lens to OFF.
• Autofocusing during movie shooting is not recommended since it might
momentarily throw the focus way off or change the exposure. If the AF mode
has been set to Quick mode, autofocus is not possible even if you press the
AF-ON button during movie shooting.
• The focus preset feature on super telephoto lenses cannot be used.
To turn image
stabilization on, you
set the switch to the
vertical line. To turn it EXPOSURE TIPS
off you set the switch to • With Screen settings set to Movie display or during movie recording, you
the “o”.
can adjust the image brightness (exposure compensation) by setting the
power switch to the white line above ON and turning the Quick Control Dial
(except in auto modes).
• During movie shooting, you can lock the exposure (AE lock) by pressing the
AE Lock button. To cancel the AE lock, press the AF point selector button.
(The metering timer doesn’t operate when recording movies.)
• Center-weighted average metering is used for movie shooting. If the AF
mode is set to Face detection mode, the exposure control is evaluative meter-
ing linked to the detected face.
THINGS TO AVOID
• When you use Live View for a long time, the camera’s internal temperature
may increase and it can degrade image quality. Terminate Live View shooting
when not shooting images.
• Before recording a movie, stop Live View shooting temporarily and wait
several minutes before shooting. This is to prevent image degradation.
• Live View shooting in high temperatures and at high ISO speeds may cause
noise or irregular colors.
• If you shoot still photos at a high ISO speed or shoot a movie in low light,
horizontal stripes may become noticeable as noise.
USING A TV AS THE MONITOR

• While shooting a 1920 x 1080 movie with the camera connected to a TV us-
ing an HDMI cable, the image on the TV is small. However, the movie itself is
recorded at 1920 x 1080.
• While shooting a movie with the camera connected to a TV, the TV doesn’t
output the sound although it is recorded.

PLAYING MOVIES
You can playback movies on the camera’s monitor or a connected TV (page

23).
PLAYING BACK MOVIES

1. Press the Playback button and turn the Quick Control Dial to select
Icon that indicates a a movie. Press the INFO button to switch to the information display
movie in playback’s
single-image view. you want to use.
• In single-image display, a movie icon is displayed in the upper left
corner of the monitor when a movie is displayed.
•In index display, the perforations on the left edge of the image
indicates that it is a movie. Movies cannot be played from the index
display so press the Magnify button to switch to the single-image
display.
2. With the movie displayed in single-image view, press SET to display
the movie playback panel at the bottom of the monitor.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight the Play icon on the play-
back panel and press SET to start the movie.
• To pause and restart the movie at any point, press SET.
• To adjust the sound volume on the camera turn the Main Dial. If
the camera is connected to a TV set, adjust the sound volume on the
set.
• To cancel playback, press the Playback button or press the shutter
Movie Playback volume
indicator.
• Still photos embedded in a movie are displayed for about 1 second in play-
back.
• You can’t edit movies in the camera, however once you download them
to your computer you can use ZoomBrowser EX/ ImageBrowser to delete
frames at the beginning or end of the movie.
• If the brightness suddenly changes greatly during movie shooting, that part
might look momentarily still when you playback the movie.
• Movie filenames start with MVI_ and have the extension .MOV.
Movie icons on the

playback panel include
(from left to right) Exit,
Play, Slow Motion, First
Frame, Previous Frame,
Next Frame, Last
Frame.

USING PICTURE STYLES
USING PICTURE STYLES
Picture Styles store settings for still images and movies. The settings have
TIPS been chosen by Canon, but you can change them in P, Tv, Av, M and B modes
• Style settings, in- to better suit your own tastes.
cluding monochrome,
affect RAW image
thumbnails and pre- SELECTING PICTURE STYLES
views, but make no
changes to the actual The styles from which you can choose include the following (only Standard,
images. Portrait, Landscape and Monochrome are available in Creative Auto mode.)
• The Neutral and
Faithful styles as- • Standard images are sharpened to look crisp, and the color tone and satura-
sume you will adjust tion are set to render vivid colors. This is the Full Auto mode’s setting.
the images using a
photo-editing pro- • Portrait images have color tone and saturation set to obtain natural skin
gram. These settings tones. Sharpness is set so the image is softer and kinder to skin.
are not for images
you will print directly • Landscape has color tone and saturation set for deep, vivid blues and
from the camera or
at a kiosk. greens for skies and foliage. Sharpness is set one step more than Standard so
that the outlines of mountains, trees and buildings look crisp.
• Using Canon’s
Picture Style Editor • Neutral captures natural color and no sharpness is applied. This is the set-
you can design the
look of your photo- ting preferred by professionals who edit their images in a program such as
graphs by inputting Photoshop because it has the least effect on the images.
your own preferred
style, color and tone • Faithful applies no sharpening and renders colors as faithfully as it can to
curves. the original subject.
• Monochrome lets you shoot in black and white, or another tone of your
choice. When you select this setting B/W is displayed on the LCD panel and
in the viewfinder.
• User defined 1–3 can be set to any settings you prefer (page 150). The initial
settings are the same as Standard.
SELECTING PICTURE STYLES

1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press the Picture
Style selection button to display choices on the monitor. (You can
also select Picture Style from the Shooting 2 menu tab.)
2. To select a style, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight the Picture
Style you want to use and press SET.
3. Take your photos and when finished repeat Steps 1–2, then highlight
The Picture Styles Editor Standard style (the default) and press SET.
tool palette.
TIPS
• For additional ADJUSTING PICTURE STYLES
pictures styles and
more informa- For each of the styles, you can adjust sharpness, contrast, saturation and
tion visit Canon at: color tone. In Monochrome the color saturation and tone choices in the other
http://web.canon. styles are replaced by choices for filter and toning effects. Toning effects add
jp/imaging/pictur-
estyle/index.html an overall tint to the image, and filters act like the glass filters that can be at-
tached to lenses.
• To see the effects
of Picture Styles, • Yellow makes clouds crisper while leaving the blue sky unaffected.
select them one after
another while watch- • Orange darkens a blue sky and makes sunrises and sunsets more brilliant.
ing the scene on the
monitor in Live View. • Red is like orange, only more so, and also brightens fall foliage.

• Green improves skin tones in portraits and makes green foliage crisper and
brighter.
There are three unspecified styles (User defined 1–3) that you can set up for
your own situations. Initially the first three Picture Styles, Standard, Portrait
On the Picture Styles and Landscape, include sharpness levels 3, 2 and 4, respectively, settings that
screen, the icons refer
to (from left to right)
are best for images that won’t be edited in a program such as Photoshop.
sharpness, contrast,
saturation, and color ADJUSTING PICTURE STYLES
tone. When you select
the Monochrome style, 1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press the Picture
the last two icons are
replaced with ones for Style selection button. (You can also select Picture Style from the
filter effects and color Shooting 2 menu tab.)
toning.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight the style you want to edit
and press INFO to display the Detail set screen for that style.
TIP
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight a setting you want to adjust,
• Sharpness can
be set from 0 and press SET to activate its scale or display a list of choices.
(less sharp) to +7
(sharper). 4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to adjust the setting or select a choice
from the list, and press SET to return to the Detail set screen. (You
• Contrast can be set
from -4 (low) to +4 can return a style to it’s default values by highlighting Default set and
(high) pressing SET.)
• Saturation can be 5. Adjust other settings or press MENU to return to the Picture Style
set from -4 (low) to
+4 (high) Screen. Any setting for the selected style that’s been changed is dis-
played in blue.
• Color tone can be
set to -4 (reddish 6. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
skin tone) to +4
(yellowish skin tone)
• Filter can be set REGISTERING A PICTURE STYLE
to None, Yellow, Or-
ange, Red or Green. You can adjust any existing Picture style, and save those changes in one of the
• Toning effect can
three user definitions. This allows you to reuse the settings at some point in
be set to None, Se- the future without having to readjust them.
pia, Blue, Purple or
Green.
REGISTERING PICTURE STYLES
1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press the Picture
Style selection button. (You can also select Picture Style from the
Shooting 2 menu tab.)
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight one of the three User Def
settings and press INFO to display the Detail set screen.
3. Highlight Picture Style, press SET, turn the Quick Control Dial to
highlight the style you want to base your user definition on, and press
SET again to return to the Detail set screen.
TIP
4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight a setting you want to adjust,
• Initially the first and press SET to activate its scale.
three Picture Styles,
Standard, Portrait 5. Turn the Quick Control Dial to adjust the setting or select a choice
and Landscape,
include sharpness from a list, and press SET to return to the Detail set screen.
levels 3, 2 and 4,
respectively, settings 6. Repeat Steps 4–5 to adjust other settings or press MENU to return to
that are best for im- the Picture Style Screen. Any setting for the selected style that’s been
ages that won’t be changed is displayed in blue.
edited in a program
such as Photoshop. 7. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.

REGISTERING YOUR OWN SETTINGS
REGISTERING YOUR OWN SETTINGS
If you use the same settings over and over again it may be worthwhile saving
TIPS them for future use. The 5D Mark II allows you to save three sets and then
• Picture Styles (page instantly access one of them at any time just by turning the Mode Dial to C1,
149) provide another C2 or C3. Storing your own settings is as simple as setting the camera the
way to store settings
for future use. way you want it and then selecting the Set up 3 menu’s Camera user setting.
Most settings can be registered but some, such as date/time, language, com-
• A great thing about
registering settings munication setting, video output and others cannot be.
is that they are not
affected when you • Changes you make to settings when using C1–C3 modes are reset to the
clear all camera registered settings when Auto power off takes effect or you turn off the cam-
settings (page 164) era. The default settings are the same as Program AE (P) mode, but changes
or clear all Custom
Functions (page won‘t be remembered from one session to the next.
152).
• When revising custom settings you’ve already registered, start with the
Mode Dial set to C1–C3 so your original settings are used as the starting
point. (You can’t do this if one of the changes you want to make is the shoot-
ing mode.)
• You cannot register My Menu settings (page 158).
• When the Mode Dial is set to C1–C3, the Set up 3 menu’s Clear settings
(page 164) and the Custom Function menu’s Clear all Custom Func (C.Fn.)
(page 152) commands don’t work. To clear settings use the Clear settings
command described in the QuickSteps box that follows.
• To check the settings in any C mode, select the mode and press INFO.
TIP
REGISTERING CAMERA SETTINGS
The following menu
settings can be regis- 1. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, and the settings
tered:
• Shooting 1: Qual-
you want to save already made in that mode, press MENU and select
ity, Beep, Shoot w/o the Set up 3 menu tab.
card, Review time,
Peripheral illumina- 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Camera user setting and
tion correction press SET to display two choices.
• Shooting 2:
Exposure compen- 3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Register and press SET to
sation/AEB, White
balance, Custom WB,
display a list of the custom modes.
WB SHIFT/BKT, Color
space, Picture Style
4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Mode Dial:C1, C2 or C3 and
• Playback 2: High- press SET. When asked to confirm, highlight OK and press SET.
light alert, AF point
display, Histogram, 5. Press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
Slide show, Image
jump 6. Do any of the following:
• Set up 1: Auto
power off, Auto ro- • To use the stored settings, turn the Mode Dial to C1, C2 or C3.
tate, File numbering
• Set up 2: LCD • To change the stored settings, select C1, C2 or C3, change settings
brightness, Sensor and then repeat Steps 1–5 to store them in place of the current set-
cleaning (Auto clean-
ing), Live View/Movie
tings.
function setting
• Set up 3: INFO.
• To reset the settings to their defaults which are the same as P (Pro-
button, External grammed) mode, repeat Steps 1–3 but select Clear settings. Select
Speedlite control the mode you want to clear and press SET. Highlight OK and press
• Custom Functions:
All
SET again.

USING CUSTOM FUNCTIONS
The 5D Mark II has twenty-five Custom Functions you can use in P, Tv, Av, M
and B modes to control camera operations. Since there are so many Cus-
tom Functions they are grouped into four categories numbered with Roman
numerals—I: exposure, II: Image, III: Auto focus/Drive, and IV: Operation/
Others. Within each category are Custom Functions numbered with Arabic
numbers. To identify a specific function, we use both numbers. For example,
to identify the function AF-assist beam firing, we refer to it as III-5.
The Custom Functions
menu tab icon.
C.FN I: EXPOSURE
In these tables, Number Settings Page
the shaded Custom
Functions are not I-1 Exposure level increments 153
available in Live View.
I-2 ISO speed setting increments 153
• I-1, I-3, II-3, II-4,
III-1 and IV-2 all work I-3 ISO expansion 153
in both still and movie I-4 Bracketing auto cancel 153
Live View.
I-5 Bracketing sequence 154
• I-2, I-4, I-7, II-1,
II-2, IV-3, IV-4, and I-6 Safety shift 154
IV-6 work only with Live I-7 Flash sync. speed in Av mode 154
View stills
• III-2, III-4, III-5,
III-8, IV-1 and IV-3 C.FN II: IMAGE
partially work with Live Number Settings Page
View stills or movies
II-1 Long exposure noise reduction 154
II-2 High ISO speed noise reduction 154
II-3 Highlight tone priority 154
II-4 Auto Lighting Optimizer 155
C.FN III: AUTO FOCUS/DRIVE
Number Settings Page
III-1 Lens drive when AF impossible 155
III-2 Lens AF stop button function 155

III-3 AF point selection method 155
III-4 Superimposed display 155
III-5 AF-assist beam firing 155
III-6 Mirror lockup 155
III-7 AF point area expansion 156
III-8 AF Microadjustment 156
C.FN IV: OPERATION/OTHERS

Number Settings Page
IV-1 Shutter button/AF-ON button 156
IV-2 AF-ON/AE lock button switch 157

IV-3 Assign SET button 157
The AE/FE Lock icon.
IV-4 Dial direction during Tv/Av 157
IV-5 Focusing screen 157
IV-6 Add original decision data 157

TIP CHANGING CUSTOM FUNCTIONS

• When you clear all
Custom Functions, it
has no effect on the select the Custom Functions menu tab.
setting for Custom
Function IV-5 Focus- 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight one of the Custom Function
ing screen or Custom groups C. Fn I–C. Fn IV and press SET to display the Custom Func-
Function III-8 AF
Microadjustment.
tions in the selected group. The current setting for each function is
listed below its number. The default settings are all 0.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to select one of the Custom Functions
and press SET to display the available choices.
4. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight one of the choices and press
SET to select it and display it in blue.
5. Change other functions in the group, or press MENU to return to the
main Custom Functions menu.
6. Select another group or press the MENU or shutter button to hide
the menu.
CLEARING CUSTOM FUNCTIONS

select the Custom Functions menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Clear all Custom Func. (C.
Fn) and press SET.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight OK and press SET to clear
the functions (except IV-5 Focusing Screen and III-8 AF Microad-
justment) and return to the menu.
TIP C.FN I: EXPOSURE

• The default setting
I-1 Exposure level increments selects 0: 1/3-stop or 1: 1/2-stop increments
for each Custom for shutter speeds, apertures, exposure compensation and other exposure
Function is the first settings other than ISO.
one listed, which is
always numbered 0. I-2 ISO speed setting increments selects 0: 1/3-stop or 1: 1-stop increments
for ISO settings.
I-3 ISO expansion can be set to 0: Off and 1: On. When On you can select an
ISO of 50 by selecting L, 12800 by selecting H1 and 25600 by selecting H2
(page 65).
I-4 Bracketing auto cancel specifies when AEB and white balance bracketing
are cancelled.
• When On, AEB (page 57) and WB-BKT (page 85) are cancelled when you
turn off the camera, clear camera settings, or when an external flash is
ready to fire.
• When Off, AEB and WB-BKT settings are retained when you turn off the
camera. When an external flash is ready to fire, AEB is cancelled although
the AEB amount is retained in memory.

I-5 Bracketing sequence can be set to 0: 0, -, + or 1: -, 0, +. The 0, - and +

mean different things depending on other autoexposure and white balance
bracketing settings as shown in the following table:
WB Bracketing
AEB
B/A Direction M/G Direction
0: Standard exposure 0: Standard white balance 0: Standard white balance
-: Decreased exposure -: More blue -: More magenta
+: Increased exposure +: More amber +: More green
I-6 Safety shift can be set to 0: Disable or 1: Enable (Tv/Av). When enabled
in Av or Tv modes, exposure is automatically adjusted at the last possible mo-
ment if the lighting changes.
I-7 Flash sync speed in Av mode sets the shutter speed or range of shutter
speeds used with an external flash in Av mode. Settings other than Auto may
use such fast shutter speeds that night scenes and dark backgrounds will be
dark in the image.
• 0: Auto allows the camera to select any shutter speed up to 1/200.
TIPS
• The time it takes to • 1: 1/200-1/60 sec. auto ensures that the shutter speed never falls below
process an image to 1/60 so you won’t get as much camera shake.
remove noise is the
same as the expo- • 2: 1/200 sec. (fixed) keeps the shutter speed as high as possible to avoid
sure time. camera or subject blur and is especially useful when using telephoto lens-
• Noise reduction es. (Night scenes and dark backgrounds will be darker than for setting 1.)
isn’t reflected in the
image displayed on
the camera’s moni- C. FN II: IMAGE
tor.
II-1 Long exposure noise reduction sets the noise reduction mode.
• An image, even
in Live View, isn’t • 0: Off turns off noise reduction for long exposures.
displayed on the
monitor until noise • 1: Auto uses noise reduction for photos taken with shutter speeds of 1
reduction processing
is complete. second or slower but only when noise is detected in an image.
• 2: On reduces noise in all images taken at exposures of 1 second or more.
With this setting, if a long exposure is made during Live View shooting,
BUSY is displayed on the monitor while noise reduction is applied. With
this setting, the maximum burst for continuous shooting will decrease.
II-2 High ISO speed noise reduction can be set to 0: Standard, 1: Low, 2:
Strong, and 3: Disable. When not disabled, noise reduction is applied at all
ISO speeds, and has the greatest effect at high ISO speeds. At low ISO speeds,
the noise in the shadow areas is reduced. Change the setting to suit the noise
level. When on, after the picture is taken the noise reduction process may
take the same amount of time as the exposure. Continuous shooting rate
drops because a new photo can’t be taken until the noise reduction process
for the previous one is completed. The effects of noise reduction are not
shown on the monitor.
II-3 Highlight tone priority can be set to 0: Disable or 1: Enable. When
enabled, highlight details are improved although noise in shadow areas may
increase. The dynamic range between 18% middle gray and the brightest
The dynamic range highlights is expanded so the gradation between the grays and highlights
icon is displayed on becomes smoother. When shooting JPEGs this is a good setting for weddings
the monitor and in the
viewfinder when II-3
and landscapes since it captures more detail in white subjects such as wed-
Highlight tone priority is ding dresses, clouds, and snow. Also, the ISO range is 200–6400, and to re-
set to 1: Enable. mind you it’s on, a D+ icon is displayed on the monitor and in the viewfinder.

II-4 Auto Lighting Optimizer adjusts image brightness and contrast automat-
ically if an image would otherwise be too dark or have contrast that’s too low.
Your setting choices include 0: Standard, 1: Low, 2: Strong, and 3: Disable.
(Depending on the shooting conditions, image noise may increase.) In auto
modes, Standard is used, in Manual (M) and Bulb (B) modes it’s disabled,
and in P, Tv and Av Standard is used but you can change it or turn it off.
C.FN III: AUTO FOCUS/DRIVE

Indicators in the III-1 Lens drive when AF impossible can be set to 0: Focus search on or 1:
viewfinder (top) and on Focus search off. When Off, if the camera can’t achieve focus, it stops trying
the LCD panel (bottom) instead of going dramatically out of focus. This setting is especially useful
show which AF point is
selected. with macro and super telephoto lenses.
III-2 Lens AF stop button function has settings that control focus, exposure,
and image stabilization on super telephoto lenses with AF stop buttons. If
you have one of these lenses refer to the manual that came with the lens
TIPS and page 178 in the Canon 5D Mark II user manual. The choices include 0:
• The AF-assist beam AF stop, 1: AF start, 2: AE lock, 3: AF point:M->Auto/Auto->Ctr, 4: ONE
doesn’t just illumi- SHOT-AI SERVO and 5: IS start.
nate the subject,
it also projects a III-3 AF point selection method gives you three ways to manually select an
striped pattern on it AF point (page 73):
that the camera can
use for focusing. • 0: Normal works by pressing the AF Point Selection button and then us-
• The AF-assist beam ing the Multi-controller, Main or Quick Control Dial.
does not fire in AI
Servo focus mode. • 1: Multi-controller direct lets you press the Multi-controller to directly
select an AF point without first having to press the AF Point Selection
button. Pressing the AF Point Selection button in this mode selects all AF
points for automatic AF point selection.
• 2: Quick Control Dial direct lets you turn the Quick Control Dial to select
TIP AF points without having to first press the AF Point Selection button. In
When using mirror this mode, AF points are not displayed on the LCD panel. Holding down
lockup: the AF Point Selection button while turning the Main Dial sets exposure
• Don’t leave the compensation.
mirror up for long in
bright light, or point III-4 Superimposed display determines how AF points in the viewfinder
the camera at the react when focus is achieved.
sun. Doing so can
damage the shutter 0: On has the AF point(s) used to set focus flash red.
curtains.
• Use a remote
1: Off turns off the red flash, however, if you manually select an AF point
switch (page 138), or (page 73) the selected AF point still flashes red.
the self-timer (page
64), to avoid blur III-5 AF-assist beam specifies if an external flash’s AF-assist beam comes on
caused by camera in dim light. You may want to turn it off in some circumstances since it draws
movement as you
press the shutter
attention.
button.
! 0: Enable enables the AF-assist beam. For this to work, the Speedlite’s
• In continuous Custom Function controlling its AF-assist beam must also be enabled. (See
mode, only one
picture can be taken
the manual that came with your Speedlite.)
at a time when using
mirror lockup.
! 1: Disable disables the AF-assist beam.
• When you raise the III-6 Mirror lockup lets you 0: Disable or 1: Enable mirror lockup. When
mirror in bright light, enabled, the mirror locks up before the shutter opens so vibrations caused by
take the picture as
soon as possible.
its swinging up don’t soften the captured image. This is a very useful feature
when taking macro close-ups, or using very long lenses, and its effects are
enhanced if you use a remote switch. When enabled, here is how it works:

! Pressing the shutter button all the way down raises the mirror (the view-
finder goes dark), and pressing it again fires the shutter and lowers the
mirror. If you don’t press the shutter button within 30 seconds, the mirror
lowers automatically.
! When using the self-timer (page 64), pressing the shutter button all the
way down raises the mirror (the viewfinder goes dark) and then the shut-
ter opens 10 seconds or 2 seconds later.
! When using Bulb (B) mode and the self-timer, press and hold down the
shutter button until the photo is taken.
III-7 AF point area expansion, when enabled while using AI Servo AF and
the center AF point, activates the six Assist AF points so seven AF points
track the subject. This is effective for subjects that move erratically, making it
difficult for only the center AF point to track it.
III-8 AF Microadjustment is used to correct a lens’s focus. It’s normally not
required and adjustments may even prevent correct focusing from being
achieved. If you do adjust focus, you can do so individually for up to 20 spe-
cific lenses, or use the same adjustment for all of your lenses. You can adjust
focus in ±20 steps (- adjusts forward and + adjusts backward) but the degree
of adjustment made in each step depends on the maximum aperture of the
lens. Whenever you attach a lens that has been adjusted, its point of focus is
shifted accordingly. To be sure you get the correct adjustment, take some test
shots—preferably at the spot where you will be photographing—and readjust
TIP as necessary.
• Metering is the • With setting 1 or 2 highlighted, press the INFO button to view the register
same as pressing the
shutter button down
screen.
to turn on metering
and the exposure
• To cancel all the registered adjustments, press the Erase button.
displays in the view-
finder and on the
0: Disable turns off any adjustments.
LCD panel.
1: Adjust all by same amount applies the same adjustment to all lenses.
• AF start in One-
Shot AF mode is the 2: Adjust by lens registers adjustments for up to 20 different lenses. If adjust-
same as focus lock. ments for 20 lenses have already been registered and you want to register an
In AI servo mode its
the same as pressing
adjustment for another lens, select a lens whose adjustment can be overwrit-
the shutter button ten or deleted. If you use a lens extender, the adjustment is registered for the
halfway down to lens and Extender combination.
start focusing.
• Metering + AF
• The registered AF microadjustments will be retained even if you use the
start is the same as Custom Function menu’s Clear all Custom Func (C.fn) command to clear all
pressing the shutter settings (page 152). However, the setting itself will be set to Disable.
button halfway down
to set exposure and
focus.
C.FN IV: OPERATION OTHERS
• AF stop in One-
Shot autofocus
IV-1 Shutter button/AF-ON button specifies how the shutter button and AF-
mode, is the same as ON buttons work together. When a slash (/) is used in a setting below, the
pressing the shutter part before the slash refers to the function of the shutter button, and the part
button halfway down
to lock focus. In AI
after the slash refers to AF-ON (see tips box to the left for additional defini-
servo more it’s the tions):
same as pressing the
shutter button all 0: Metering + AF start has either button start metering and autofocus.
the way down to set
focus and exposure 1: Metering + AF start/AF stop has the shutter button start metering and
just before the pic- autofocus and the AF-ON button stop autofocus.
ture is taken.
2: Metering start/Meter + AF start has the shutter button start metering,

and the AF-ON button start metering and autofocus. This is used for sub-
jects that repeatedly move and stop. In AI Servo AF mode, you can press
AF-ON to repeatedly start and stop AI Servo AF. Exposure is set at the last
possible moment.
3: AE lock/Metering + AF start lets you set focus and exposure on dif-
ferent parts of the scene. Pressing the shutter button halfway down locks
exposure, while pressing the AF-ON button starts metering and autofocus.
4: Metering +AF start/Disable disables the AF-ON button.
IV-2 AF-ON/AE lock button switch can be set to 0: Disable or 1: Enable.
When enabled, the functions of the AF-ON and AE lock/FE lock/Index/
Reduce button are switched. In playback mode, press AF-ON to reduce a
zoomed image or switch to index view.
IV-3 Assign SET button specifies how the SET button functions. (When using
Live View, choices 1–4 are overridden.)
! 0: Normal (disabled) pressing SET makes choices when you highlight
commands on the menu.
! 1: Image quality changes image quality (page 27) when you press SET
and then turn the Quick Control Dial.
! 2: Picture Style selects a style (page 149) when you press SET and then
turn the Quick Control Dial.
! 3: Menu display displays the menu when you press SET (page 17).
! 4: Image replay switches to playback mode when you press SET (page
20).
! 5: Quick Control screen (page 16) is displayed when you press SET.
! 6: Record movie (Live View) starts movie recording (page 145).
IV-4 Dial direction during Tv/Av can be set to 0: Normal or 1: Reverse Di-
rection. When reversed:
• The effects of the Quick Control Dial and Main Dial are reversed when
selecting a shutter speed and aperture in Manual (M) mode.
• In other shooting modes the Main Dial is reversed, but the direction of
the Quick Control Dial remains unchanged in Manual (M) mode when set-
ting exposure compensation.
IV-5 Focusing Screen is used to specify which focusing screen is installed
in the camera (page 12). The choices include 0: Eg-A (the standard screen
that comes with the camera), 1: Eg-D (has a grid to help align horizontals
and verticals), and 2: Eg-S (best for precise manual focusing of lenses with
maximum apertures of f/2.8 or more). Your choice here is not affected by
the commands used to clear Custom Functions (page 152). Instructions on
changing screens are included in the package.
IV-6 Add original decision data, when turned on, appends data to the image
file that lets you verify if an image is original or not. When played back a pad-
When C.Fn IV-6 is On,
the verification icon is lock icon is displayed. To verify if the image is an original you’ll need the Data
displayed. Verification Kit OSK-E3.

USING MY MENU
You can store up to six frequently used menu commands or Custom Func-
tions so you can access them more quickly. Normally the commands you add
to the menu are displayed when you select the My Menu tab. However, if
you enable Display from My Menu they are displayed first when you press
MENU, regardless of which menu tab was last displayed.
REGISTERING MY MENU SETTINGS

The My Menu tab’s icon.
1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and display the My Menu
tab listing any menu settings you have already registered, if any.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight My Menu settings and press
SET to display a submenu.
3. Highlight any of the following commands and press SET:
! Register let’s you turn the Quick Control Dial to select menu com-
mands and press SET to add them. When asked to confirm the addi-
tion, highlight OK and press SET.
! Sort changes the order of the registered items on the menu.
! Delete and Delete all items deletes one or all of the previously listed
menu items.
! Display from My Menu, when enabled, displays My Menu first
when you press MENU.
4. When finished with any step, press the MENU or shutter button to
return to Step 3.
5. To hide the menu, press the shutter or MENU button.

CHANGING OTHER SETTINGS
The 5D Mark II has a number of commands that change the basic settings of
your camera.
SHOOTING WITHOUT A CF CARD

One of the camera’s default settings lets you shoot pictures without a CF card
in the camera. They are even displayed on the monitor so you think you are
capturing them, but they are not saved. To ensure you don’t take unsaved
pictures, turn off the Shoot w/o card setting.
SHOOTING WITHOUT A CF CARD

1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and select the Shooting 1
menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Shoot w/o card and press
SET to display the choices On (the default) and Off.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight your choice, press SET, then
press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
SETTING THE DATE AND TIME

When you first use the camera, or when the batteries have been removed or
run down for an extended period, you need to set the date and time so your
image files are correctly dated.
SETTING THE DATE AND TIME

1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and select the Set up 2
menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Date/Time and press SET to
display the Date/Time screen.
! To change the setting in the yellow frame, press SET, turn the
Quick Control Dial, then press SET again.
! To move the yellow frame to the next setting, turn the Quick Con-
trol Dial.
3. When finished, highlight OK and press SET. Press the MENU or
shutter button to hide the menu.
CHANGING THE REVIEW TIME

When you take a picture, it is normally displayed on the monitor for two
seconds so you can review it. You can change this setting to Off so the image
isn’t displayed, or change the review time to 2, 4, or 8 seconds, or Hold. If
you select Hold, the image stays displayed on the monitor until you press the
shutter button halfway down to clear it, or auto power off takes effect. While
the image is displayed, you can press the Erase button to delete it or press
INFO to change the display format.

CHANGING THE REVIEW TIME

menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Review time and press SET
to display a list of times, Hold and Off.
RESET FILE NUMBERS

TIP By default, each photo you take is given a unique sequential number from
• All image filenames 0001 to 9999. The images, up to 9999, are stored in folders numbered from
begin with IMG_ 100 to 999. There are two ways to manage numbering when you change CF
except those taken
using the Adobe RGB cards:
color space. Those
begin with _MG_. • Continuous (the default) continues numbering in sequence so you don’t
have duplicate filenames.
• In Continuous and
Auto reset modes, if • Auto reset restarts numbering at 0001 when you change cards. This can
the new card already
has images on it, cause problems if you copy images into the same folder on the computer
numbering may because there can be duplicate file names.
begin at the highest
number. The only • Manual reset does what Auto reset does, but only when you use this com-
way to ensure the mand, which also creates a new folder on the card. This can be a useful way
first image is 0001
is to format the card to organize images. If you use the same card, you can use this command each
before using it. day and each day’s photos will be stored in their own folder. You can also use
the command when you change projects or assignments to the same effect.
You can also use the Set up menu’s Select folder command (page 162) to cre-
ate and select folders.
SPECIFYING FILE NUMBER SEQUENCES

menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight File numbering and press
SET to display choices.
TURNING THE BEEP ON AND OFF

You can turn off the camera’s beep in situations where it may draw attention,
as at a wedding or when photographing wildlife.
TURNING THE BEEP ON AND OFF

menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Beep and press SET to dis-
play the choices On (the default) and Off.

ADJUSTING MONITOR BRIGHTNESS

You can adjust the brightness level of the monitor so it better matches the
lighting under which you are viewing it.
ADJUSTING MONITOR BRIGHTNESS

menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight LCD brightness and press
SET to display a menu listing Auto and Manual. Turn the Main Dial
to select one to display a thumbnail, the brightness adjustment scale
and a gray scale.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial so all segments of the gray scale can be
distinguished from one another and the thumbnail looks good, press
SET, then press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
TRAVELING OPTIONS—LANGUAGE AND VIDEO SETTINGS

At rare times you may need to specify a different language for the menus, or
change the video system (NTSC or PAL) to give a slide show on a TV.
CHANGING THE LANGUAGE OR VIDEO SETTING

1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU, select the Set up 2 menu
tab, then do one of the following:
! To change the language, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight
Language and press SET to display the language choices.
! To change the video system, turn the Quick Control Dial to high-
light Video system and press SET to display the choices NTSC and
PAL.
SETTING THE AUTO POWER OFF TIME

Normally the camera will turn off if you don’t use any of the controls for a
minute. You can select a longer time or even turn this feature off. When the
camera does turn off, pressing the shutter button turns it back on. No mat-
ter which setting you use, the monitor turns off after 30 minutes to conserve
ALL IS NOT LOST
power.
• This might be a
good point to in-
troduce some good ADJUSTING THE AUTO POWER OFF TIME
news. If you ever
delete files or format 1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and select the Set up 1
a memory card by menu tab.
mistake, you can
recover your im- 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Auto power off and press
ages. The first step
is to stop taking
SET to display a list of times and Off.
pictures because new
ones can overwrite
the old and make press the MENU or shutter button to hide the menu.
them impossible to
recover. Next, get a
program that recov- FORMATTING CF CARDS
ers the files. To find It’s always advisable to format new CF cards to work with the camera, or re-
one Google the term
“image recovery.” format a card if you encounter problems. Just be aware the formatting a card
erases all of the files on it, including any that have been protected.

TIP FORMATTING A CF CARD

• If you going to 1. With the camera in any mode, press MENU and select the Set up 1
share or dispose of
a CF card, keep in menu tab.
mind that formatting
it does not actu- 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Format and press SET to
ally delete the data display the prompt Format card and the choices Cancel and OK.
stored on it.
press the MENU or shutter button when the menu reappears.
TURNING AUTO ROTATE ON AND OFF

TIP
When you rotate the camera into a portrait mode (the vertical position) to
• If you turn Auto take a photo and then play it back on the computer screen or TV, you have
Rotate off, you can
still rotate images for to tilt your head to see it. To avoid this, the 5D Mark II’s orientation sensor
playback using the senses the position of the camera and automatically rotates pictures you take
Rotate command in vertically so they are displayed vertically when played back. Images are not
playback mode (page
22). rotated in review mode and when the camera is pointed up or down the ori-
entation sensor may be confused and not automatically rotate an image. Not
all computer software supports this feature.
SETTING AUTO ROTATE

menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Auto rotate and press SET.
The Auto rotate menu 3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight the icon for On for camera
choices include—both
camera and computer, and computer (the default), On for computer only, or Off, press SET,
computer only, and off. then press the MENU or shutter button when the menu reappears.
CREATING AND SELECTING FOLDERS

The 5D Mark II starts by creating one folder on the CF card named
100EOS5D It then creates a new folder automatically (up to 999EOS5D)
when the current folder contains 9999 images. However, you can also create
a folder and then select it to store your photos.
CREATING AND SELECTING FOLDERS

menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Select folder and press SET.
! To select a folder when there is more than one, turn the Quick Con-
trol Dial to highlight it and then press SET to select it.
! To create a new folder, turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Cre-
ate folder and press SET to select it. Turn the Quick Control Dial to
highlight OK and press SET to create the folder.

FIRMWARE VERSION
TIP
If Canon releases updated firmware for the camera you use this command to
• You can use EOS install it. Follow the directions that come with it. If you want to see what ver-
Utility that comes
with your camera to sion is currently loaded, this command lists it.
add copyright infor-
mation to your pho-
to’s Exif information CHECKING/UPDATING YOUR FIRMWARE VERSION
as you capture them.
When you then select 1. With the camera in any mode, press the MENU button and select the
Clear settings on Set up 3 menu tab.
the Set up 3 menu,
one of the choices 2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Firmware Ver and the ver-
is Delete copyright
information used to sion number. If you download an updated version from the Canon
delete the copyright Web site to a memory card, inserting the card and selecting this set-
information. If you ting installs it in the camera. Follow the instructions that come with
haven’t added copy-
right information, the the upgrade.
command is grayed
out on the screen. 3. Press MENU to hide the menu when it reappears.
BATTERY INFO
You can check the battery’s condition on the monitor. The Battery Pack LP-
E6 has a unique serial No., and you can register multiple battery packs to
the camera. When you use this feature, you can check the registered battery
pack’s remaining capacity and operation history. On the Set up 2 menu, select
Battery info.

RESETTING CAMERA SETTINGS
As you change settings, it is sometimes easy to forget what you’ve done or it’s
time consuming to reset them to their original values. In these situations you
can quickly reset all of the settings to their original factory default settings as
shown in the table that follows. This command does not affect Custom Func-
tions (page 152) or the Set up 3 menu’s Camera user setting (page 151) that
registered settings to C1, C2 and C3 modes.
Shooting Settings Image-recording Settings

AF mode One-Shot AF Quality Large/Fine
AF point selection Automatic ISO speed Auto
Metering mode Evaluative Picture Style Standard
Drive mode Single Color space sRGB
Exposure comp 0 While balance AWB
AEB Cancelled WB correction Cancelled
Flash exp comp 0 WB-BKT Cancelled
Live View shooting Disable Peripheral illumi- Enable/Correction
nation correction data retained
Custom Functions No changes File numbering Continuous
Auto cleaning Enable
Dust delete data Erased
Shooting Settings Camera Settings

Auto power off 1 minute Image jump 10 images
Beep On Auto rotate On
Shoot w/o card On LCD brightness Auto: Standard
Review time 2 seconds Date/Time No changes
Highlight alert Disable Language No changes
AF point display Disable Video system No changes
Histogram Brightness Camera user set- No changes
tings
My Menu settings No changes
RESETTING CAMERA SETTINGS

select the Set up 3 menu tab.
2. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight Clear settings and press
SET, the highlight Clear all camera settings and press SET.
3. Turn the Quick Control Dial to highlight OK and press SET to clear
the settings and return to the menu.

CARING FOR YOUR CAMERA
Some of the best opportunities for interesting photographs occur during bad
weather or in hostile environments. You can take advantage of these opportu-
nities as long as you take a few precautions to protect your camera.
CLEANING THE IMAGE SENSOR

http://www.photocourse.com/itext/dust/
Click to see the effects If you change lens a lot, or even once in a windy or dusty environment, dust
of dust on your images. can enter the camera and stick to the low-pass filter covering the image
sensor. This dust creates dark spots on the images. One way to check if this
has happened is to take a few photos of a clear sky or white card. Open the
images in your photo-editing program and flip through them. (On a PC run-
ning Photoshop, zoom the pictures to the same size then Ctrl-Tab through
TIP them quickly and the dust spots jump out at you.) If all of the images have
dark spots in the same place, that’s dust on the sensor. The 5D Mark II uses
• Change lenses in
a dust free environ-
state-of-the-art technology, called the EOS Integrated Cleaning System, to
ment and out of the automatically eliminate this problem. It has the following stages:
wind.
• Reduce. Canon minimizes the dust and particles created by the camera it-
• Store the camera
with a lens or the
self, by using materials in the body cap and shutter that don’t create dust and
body cap attached. other particles during normal wear and tear.
• Remove dust from • Repel. Canon treats the camera’s low pass filter with an anti-static fluorine
the body cap and
lens mounts before
coating to prevent static-charged dust from adhering to it.
attaching them.
• Remove. The low pass filter in front of the CMOS image sensor, designed
to eliminate moiré patterns and give accurate color under all conditions, is
attached to an ultrasonic vibrating unit that literally shakes the loose dust
particles off of the surface. The newly liberated dust is then captured by an
adhesive material that keeps the particles from becoming airborne again once
the camera moves. The low-pass filter, normally a single unit, is also divided
into two components, a front and a rear. The front component, where any
dust would accumulate, is positioned far enough out from the sensor so it’s
The sensor cleaning out of focus on the image and any dust is less likely to show.
icon that is displayed
on the monitor during The self cleaning sensor unit’s ultrasonic anti-dust shake activates automati-
automatic sensor cally for one second whenever you turn the camera on or off, ensuring that
cleaning. the camera will be as relatively dust free as possible, and can be activated at
other times through a simple menu selection. If you want to manually clean
the camera or disable this function, you can do so as follows:
TIPS CLEANING THE SENSOR

• During cleaning 1. With the Mode Dial set to any mode, press MENU, display the Set up
you can press the
shutter button half- 2 menu tab, highlight Sensor cleaning and press SET.
way down to cancel
cleaning and focus ! To turn auto cleaning on or off, highlight Auto cleaning and select
for a picture. Enable or Disable.
• When cleaning ! To clean now, highlight Clean now and press SET. When prompted
the sensor, set the to confirm, highlight OK and press SET
camera down on a
flat surface. For best ! To manually clean the sensor, highlight Clean manually and press
results, don’t tip it
forward or back. SET. See the next page and follow the instructions on pages 152–152
of the user guide that came with your camera.

In addition to the EOS Integrated Cleaning System, the 5D Mark II lets

you clean the sensor with sensor swabs and cleaning fluid. NEVER used
compressed air, or other cleaning products, on the sensor. Cleaning supplies
are available from B&H and Calumet. The most popular products seem to
be those from Photographic Solutions (http://www.photosol.com). For
more information Google “cleaning image sensor” but proceed at your own
risk. One of the best Web sites I’ve found on this topic is Cleaning Digital
Cameras at http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/howto.html.
To clean a sensor you use the camera’s Set up 2 menu’s Sensor cleaning
command to access Clean manually. This locks the mirror up and out of the
way and opens the shutter so you can get to the surface of the image sensor.
This is a high-risk procedure and we recommend extreme caution. It’s more
prudent to have it done by you camera company’s service center.
In addition to removing dust, the 5D Mark II will also work around it if it
can’t be removed. You just photograph a white wall or sheet of paper (or, in
a pinch, removing the lens from the camera) and the camera’s Dust Delete
Data function maps the size and position of the dust particles remaining
on the low pass filter. Once the dust is “mapped”, that information is at-
tached as metadata to all subsequently shot images regardless of recording
format, RAW or JPEG. (It’s a good idea to periodically update this informa-
tion to keep it accurate.) When the images and appended dust data map are
transferred to a computer using the 5D Mark II’s Digital Photo Professional
software, the dust information can be subtracted from the images simply by
selecting the “apply dust delete data” option. You can update the Dust Delete
Data at any time as follows:
OBTAINING DUST DELETE DATA

1. Get ready:
Here are the five steps
recommended by ! Find a solid white surface without texture or pattern.
Photographic Solutions
for cleaning your image ! Set the lens focal length to 50mm or more.
sensor with their sensor
swabs and Eclipse ! Set the lens focus switch to MF and set focus to infinity. (If the lens
cleaning fluid. http://
www.photosol.com. has no focus scale, face the front of the lens and turn it all the way
counter-clockwise as viewed from the back of the camera.
2. With the Mode Dial set to P, Tv, Av, M or B mode, press MENU,
select the Shooting 2 menu tab, highlight Dust Delete Data and press
SET to display a confirmation screen.
3. Highlight OK to display an instructional screen.
4. At a distance of 0.7–1.0 feet (20–30cm) completely fill the viewfinder
with the white surface and press the shutter button all the way down.
! If successful, you see the message Data obtained. (The image data
is stored internally and is not saved to the CF card.) OK is highlighted
so press SET.
! If unsuccessful, you’ll be asked if you want to try again. If so, select
Cancel and then repeat Step 3–4.

CLEANING THE CAMERA AND LENS

Clean the outside of the camera with a slightly damp, soft, lint-free cloth.
Open the “flaps” to the memory and battery compartments occasionally and
use a soft brush or blower to remove dust. Clean the LCD monitor by brush-
ing or blowing off dirt and wiping with a soft cloth, but don’t press hard and
be sure there is no grit on the cloth that can scratch the surface. Cleaning kits
are available at most office supply stores.
The first rule is to clean the lens only when absolutely necessary. A little dust
on the lens won’t affect the image, so don’t be compulsive. Keep the lens
covered when not in use to reduce the amount of cleaning required. When
cleaning is necessary, use a soft brush, such as a sable artist’s brush, and a
blower (an ear syringe makes a good one) to remove dust. Fingerprints can be
very harmful to the lens coating and should be removed as soon as possible.
Use a lens cleaning cloth (or roll up a piece of photographic lens cleaning tis-
sue and tear the end off to leave a brush like surface). Put a small drop of lens
cleaning fluid on the end of the tissue. (Your condensed breath on the lens
also works well.) Never put cleaning fluid directly on the lens; it might run
between the lens elements. Using a circular motion, clean the lens surface
with the cloth or tissue, then use the cloth or a tissue rolled and torn the same
way to dry. Never reuse tissues and don’t press hard when cleaning because
the front element of the lens is covered with a relatively delicate lens coating.
PROTECTING YOUR CAMERA FROM THE ELEMENTS

Your camera should never be exposed to excessively high temperatures. If
at all possible, don’t leave the camera in a car on a hot day, especially if the
sun is shining on the car (or if it will later in the day). If the camera has to be
exposed to the sun, such as when you are at the beach, cover it with a light
colored and sand free towel or piece of tinfoil to shade it from the sun. Dark
materials will only absorb the heat and possibly make things worse. Indoors,
avoid storage near radiators or in other places likely to get hot or humid.
When it’s cold out, keep the camera as warm as possible by keeping it under
your coat. Always carry extra batteries. Those in your camera may weaken at
low temperatures just as your car battery weakens in winter. Prevent con-
densation when taking the camera from a cold area to a warm one by wrap-
ping the camera in a plastic bag or newspaper until its temperature climbs
to match that of its environment. If some condensation does occur, do not
use the camera or take it back out in the cold with condensation still on it or
it can freeze up camera operation. Remove any batteries or flash cards and
leave the compartments covers open until everything dries out.
Never place the camera near electric motors or other devices that have strong
magnetic fields. These fields can corrupt the image data stored in the camera.
Always protect equipment from water, especially salt water, and from dust,
dirt, and sand. A camera case helps but at the beach a plastic bag is even bet-
ter. When shooting in the mist, fog, or rain, cover the camera with a plastic
bag into which you’ve cut a hole for the lens to stick out. Use a rubber band
to seal the bag around the lens. You can reach through the normal opening in
the bag to operate the controls. Screwing a skylight filter over the lens allows
you to wipe off spray and condensation without damaging the delicate lens
surface.

PROTECTING WHEN TRAVELING

Use lens caps or covers to protect lenses. Store all small items and other ac-
cessories in cases and pack everything carefully so bangs and bumps won’t
cause them to hit each other. Be careful packing photographic equipment
in soft luggage where it can be easily damaged. When flying, carry-on metal
detectors are less damaging than the ones used to examine checked baggage.
If in doubt, ask for hand inspection to reduce the possibility of X-ray induced
damage.
STORING A CAMERA
Store cameras in a cool, dry, well ventilated area, and remove the batteries if
they are to be stored for some time. A camera bag or case makes an excellent
storage container to protect them from dust.
Digital cameras have lots of components including batteries, chargers, cables,
lens cleaners, and what not. It helps if you have some kind of storage con-
tainer in which to keep them all together.
CARING FOR YOURSELF

When hiking outdoors, don’t wear the camera strap around your neck, it
could strangle you. Don’t aim the camera directly at the sun, it can burn the
eye.
Now that you know how

to use your camera,
you can fit right in with
everyone else who is
taking photos.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Short Course

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SHORT COURSES BOOKS AND WEB SITE

• Digital Photography Workflow covers everything from getting ready to

This is the home page

Cover...i When to Override Automatic Exposure...50

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THE 5D MARK II CAMERA

Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera features a full-frame (24 x

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JUMP START—USING FULL AUTO MODE

TAKING A PICTURE IN AUTO MODE

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GOOD THINGS TO KNOW

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USING THE VIEWFINDER

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ANATOMY OF THE CAMERA

The shutter button (top)

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• You can quickly

1. Live View/Print/Share button, when pressed in shooting mode, turns

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CHANGING SETTINGS WITH BUTTONS AND DIALS

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CHANGING SETTINGS ON THE QUICK CONTROL SCREEN

THE QUICK CONTROL SCREEN

The three buttons above

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CHANGING SETTINGS WITH MENUS

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In the tables on this SHOOTING 1 (RED)

Expo.comp./AEB Exposure compensation and autoexposure 55, 57

Protect images Protects images from being erased 22

Rotate Rotates images shot in portrait mode 22

Highlight alert Highlights overexposed areas in images 59

AF point disp. Specifies if AF points used to focus are dis- 74

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In the tables on this SET UP 1 (YELLOW)

LCD brightness Adjusts monitor brightness 161

Date/Time Sets camera date and time 159

Battery info. Manage your battery packs 163

INFO. button Specifies which INFO screens are 15

Camera user setting Stores your own settings to C1, C2 151

CUSTOM FUNCTIONS (ORANGE)

C.Fn I: Exposure Exposure, ISO, bracketing, flash sync 153

C.Fn II: Image Noise reduction, highlight tone and 154

My Menu settings Stores frequently used commands 158

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PLAYING BACK & MANAGING YOUR IMAGES

MANAGING IMAGES—USING BUTTONS

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TIP MANAGING IMAGES—USING BUTTONS, CON’T.

SELECTING A JUMP METHOD

IMAGE RECOVERY SOFTWARE

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USING THE PLAYBACK MENU

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GIVING SLIDE SHOWS

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SELECTING IMAGE QUALITY AND SIZE

Any image that looks

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