Moving on to the General Options menu, the first option you’ll see determines how the 5D Mark III will handle multiple memory cards. It can fill one up and then roll over to the other, mirror the images on both cards, or write RAW to one and jpg to the other. These are valuable options to have available, depending upon your exact needs. I’ve got some more thoughts as to the ins and outs, as well as the gotchas, of utilizing this feature, but I’ll reserve those for an upcoming article since we’re just covering the menu basics right now.
Below that you’ll find a menu setting that allows you to
change the prefix for the images you capture. However, this is another area
that Canon left a useful option on the drawing board in my opinion. If you’ve
ever shot both single and bracketed images in a single outing, it can be a
little time consuming to go through them when post processing and pick the two
types apart. Sure I can snap a photo of
my fingers or the ground before and after the bracketed series, but Lightroom
can’t automatically find the shots between those and place them into a
collection of their own. It would be nice to have an easier way to automate the
process of pulling out the bracketed images.
When I first started using the camera and noticed the
prefix could be changed, I was excited thinking I could utilize this to
delineate between the two types of images using a Custom Mode and having the
prefix set differently. Thus giving me a method to do exactly what I just
described. Unfortunately, the image prefix is set for the entire camera, and
you can’t assign an image prefix to a single Custom Mode, leaving the rest of
the camera untouched. How nice would it have been to have Custom Mode C1 throw
a prefix of AEB on all the bracketed images on a card, while images shot in Av,
Tv, Or Manual use a different prefix?
So, with my tail between my legs, and excitement
deflated, I set my prefix to be 5D3_, to help distinguish the 5D Mark III shots
from those taken by my Canon 40D. At least that provides some benefit to being
able to change the prefix. I’d previously being using Lightroom to change the
40D prefix to 40D_ upon importing those images.
You’ll also find “Format Card” in this section. I would always
recommend formatting a card after downloading the images and before reusing it.
It’ll set the card structure up, and prepare it for capturing more images.
Swapping memory cards in and out of the camera, into card readers, and deleting
images using the computer can sometimes mess up the card’s file structure. Formatting
the card is a quick operation, and I’ve seen more than a few cards with
corrupted photos from owners that don’t follow through with this simple step
before reusing the card again.
In the second section of the General Options tab, you’ll
find an option entitled “VF Grid Display”. This setting toggles the viewfinder
grid on and off. I set it to on, as it is off by default, as I find it helps me
keep my horizons straight. It also helps me with my composition of elements
within the scene. I should point out that the 5D Mark III does have a built in
viewfinder level that utilizes the auto focus points, but I find that the
viewfinder grid eliminates the need to use the leveling function most of the
time.
Skipping on to the third section you’ll find two other
noteworthy items, “Battery Info” and “Sensor Cleaning”. Battery info is just
what it sounds like, but provides you a great deal of more information than the
viewfinder or top LCD battery indicator provide.
You’ll first register the battery’s serial number with
the camera, so that it can track the historical performance of the battery.
Then, as you are using the camera, you can reference the battery info to see
remaining charge, shots taken with this battery, and recharge performance.
Recharge performance is pretty slick, helping you to identify a battery nearing
the end of its lifespan before you go out shooting a long session with it. For
cameras equipped with a battery grip, such as mine, you’ll see this information
provided for both of the installed batteries.
Sensor cleaning options have been around for quite some
time now, as sensor dust is a common issue with a DSLR camera. In the film
days, the film would slide across the backplate, exposing a new ‘sensor’ with
every shot. Not with a DSLR. That sensor sits there from the day the camera is
manufactured until the day the camera is no longer used. That will likely be
tens of thousands of photos taken. It used to be that getting rid of the dust
required a trip to a camera repair shop, or a camera owner with the nerve to
perform the cleaning on their own.
So a few years ago manufacturers tried to address this
problem. They created a way for the sensor’s backplate to shake itself, which
would hopefully knock the dust off. This technique does work, although stubborn
dust may require a more complete cleaning by a repair shop. The 5D Mark III
offers you the ability to have the camera automatically perform a sensor clean
when the camera is turned on or off, as well as the ability to perform an
on-demand cleaning cycle. The on-demand cycle is labeled “Clean Now” in the
menu.
I have the on/off cleaning enabled, it’s already on by
default, and I use the on-demand cleaning right after I change lenses as a
precaution. There is also a manual cleaning mode, which would be used if you
wanted to use something like a bulb blower or swab the sensor. Note that sensor
is a loose term here, as you’re not actually touching or blowing off the
sensor. There is a low pass filter placed in front of the sensor. The result of
messing up the filter would be the same as messing up the sensor however, as it
would result in a very costly repair. I should also mention that I’m not
encouraging or condoning either activity. You’re on your own if you use a
blower or swab the sensor. I will stress that you should never use compressed
air to clean the sensor. You’d think it would be common sense, but I’ve heard
of it being done more than one with disastrous results.
Custom Shooting Modes
Moving on to section 4 of the General Options tab you’ll
find yet another of one of my favorite tools, Custom Shooting Modes. These have
been around for a while now, but are another item that many people tend to
overlook. Using this section of the menu, you can set the camera for a certain
style of photography by making your own mode, clear all the modes, and have the
ability to choose whether the setting reset, or not, each time you leave the
mode. I’ll be discussing the Custom Shooting Modes further in an upcoming
article, when I discuss some of the HDR benefits of the 5D Mark III. I have a
Custom Shooting Mode on my 5D Mark III set up specifically for shooting
bracketed images to be merged into HDR photos.
The last noteworthy item on this tab is “Firmware”. At
first glance, it would appear that the camera is just telling you the firmware
version of the camera. Well it is, but if you select it you’ll find a menu that
allows you to update the firmware on the camera as well. This is how you would
update the camera to use the newest firmware that allows focusing with f/8 lens
combinations, if you didn’t have that firmware previously installed on the
camera. As of the time of this writing, the most current firmware for the Canon
5D Mark III is version 1.2.1.
That wraps up the General Options tab. Next time we’ll
dive into the Custom Functions on the 5D Mark III…
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