Questions about 5d MII settings / buttons

[Leftyplayer]

Hope I'm phrasing my questions clearly and with the right language/ lingo. Either way, here goes ...

1. In the store, when playing with the 5D MKII, it was set so that as I shifted shutter or aperture, I could see the change on the scene through the viewfinder. But once home I'm not seeing that and I'm wondering if it's a setting that I have to set up. The Canon manual's not that helpful. P.S. I don't think it was the Depth of Field Preview button, it was something more ongoing.

2. Please explain "ISO boost" - my previous camera didn't have that and I don't understand what it is or how it works or how to set it. Currently, all I'm seeing are options for up to 6400 ISO (which is very nice). Just wondering where's that 25600 they talked about?

3. I'm interested in separating the AF from shutter press, and understand there's a way to set either the AE lock button or the "set" button as the AF button - what is the way?

4. Is there any way to "magnify" the view, NOT in live view mode? (... p.s. I don't mean 'magnify to see playback pics', I can do that, I mean magnify to see closer into one part of the scene right through the viewfinder).

5. AF-ON - I still don't really get what this button does. If my lense is set to AF, then AF is on - so what's this button for? (yes, read the manual, still didn't get it)

6. Is there a way to keep exposure information in the viewfinder visible longer? For example, I often find myself making adjustments while looking through the viewfinder, but unless I keep re-pressing the shutter button half-way, the info disappears fairly quickly - can I change how long it displays for?

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll have years of questions ahead of me :mrgreen:

 

[Dao]

Sorry, I do not think I have the answer for your questions since I do not own that camera. However, for my 40D, I was able to find the answer for the same questions (Q2, Q3, Q5) you had from my camera manual.

As for Q1, may is focus related. One shot or AI-Servo.

 

[penfolderoldo]

1. No idea, not something I was aware could be done on the 5d mk 2;
2. Adjust the ISO as normal, after 6400 you get H1 (12800) and then H2 (25600). At the other end there's L (50);
3. the 'set' button can't be set to activate the AF only (as far as i'm aware), but the AF-ON button will activate the AF seperately from the shutter;
4. No there's not (sadly);
5. See 3. above;
6. There's no way to change either the time the viewfinder info displays for or to change the brightness, which given you're spending a couple of grand on a camera is piss poor from Canon (tho sadly no great surprise!)

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Hope I'm phrasing my questions clearly and with the right language/ lingo. Either way, here goes ...

1. In the store, when playing with the 5D MKII, it was set so that as I shifted shutter or aperture, I could see the change on the scene through the viewfinder. But once home I'm not seeing that and I'm wondering if it's a setting that I have to set up. The Canon manual's not that helpful. P.S. I don't think it was the Depth of Field Preview button, it was something more ongoing.

It would be DoF Preview button. As you look through the viewfinder the aperture is always wide open, and stops down when you actuate the shutter.

2. Please explain "ISO boost" - my previous camera didn't have that and I don't understand what it is or how it works or how to set it. Currently, all I'm seeing are options for up to 6400 ISO (which is very nice). Just wondering where's that 25600 they talked about?

It's in the manual. There is a setting to enable the high ISO. Read your manual.

3. I'm interested in separating the AF from shutter press, and understand there's a way to set either the AE lock button or the "set" button as the AF button - what is the way?

Again, it is in your manual. There are several ways you can set that up. The manual will tell you about all your options.

4. Is there any way to "magnify" the view, NOT in live view mode? (... p.s. I don't mean 'magnify to see playback pics', I can do that, I mean magnify to see closer into one part of the scene right through the viewfinder).

No. You are looking through a mirror and the lens, not an LCD screen.

5. AF-ON - I still don't really get what this button does. If my lense is set to AF, then AF is on - so what's this button for? (yes, read the manual, still didn't get it)

IV-1: Shutter button / AF-ON button
0: Metering + AF start
1: Metering + AF start / AF stop
2: Metering start / Meter+AF start
3: AE lock / Metering + AF start
4: Metering + AF start / disable
​

This controls what the "half-press shutter button" does as well as
what the back "AF-ON" button does when you press it. The / in the
above descriptions seporates the two buttons. Allows you to seporate
the "Focusing" and "Metering" actions which can be very useful as you
can lock focus and exposure independantly before you finaly shoot.
0: Both half-press shutter & AF-ON do the same things, i.e. meter the
current view AND start the auto-focus.
1: The half-press shutter still does the same BUT you can temporarily
stop the camera from focusing if you HOLD the AF-ON button in.
(Useful if you are using AI-Servo and you don't want to change the
focus whilst you track, think of this as a temporary Manual focus
setting mid shot).
2: Half-shutter ONLY meters it does not focus. Focusing is only done
whilst you hold down the back AF-ON button (which also does metering).
3: Half-shutter doesn't focus and FREEZES, i.e. locks in the current
metering (that was started by the AF-ON button) ready for the shot.
Focusing and metering is started by using the back AF-ON button.
4: Same as 0 but with the AF-ON button doing nothing.


6. Is there a way to keep exposure information in the viewfinder visible longer? For example, I often find myself making adjustments while looking through the viewfinder, but unless I keep re-pressing the shutter button half-way, the info disappears fairly quickly - can I change how long it displays for?
Hmmm...I don't recall.

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll have years of questions ahead of me :mrgreen:

There is also a book, and it's available for e-readers, by David Bush, all about your 5Dmkii. It goes far more in depth and in friendly terms than the manual. I highly recommend it.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

6. There's no way to change either the time the viewfinder info displays for or to change the brightness, which given you're spending a couple of grand on a camera is piss poor from Canon (tho sadly no great surprise!)

How would you change the brightness of your view through the lens?

 

[Village Idiot]

4. No there's not (sadly);
6. There's no way to change either the time the viewfinder info displays for or to change the brightness, which given you're spending a couple of grand on a camera is piss poor from Canon (tho sadly no great surprise!)

To 4, it's an optical view finder and not electronic, what did you expect and what other cameras allow you to change the brightness of the viewfinder with an in camera option?

 

[Leftyplayer]

Thank you all! (especially Bitter Jeweler). Much appreciated. I ordered the Busch book : )

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Your welcome!

 

[penfolderoldo]

4. No there's not (sadly);
6. There's no way to change either the time the viewfinder info displays for or to change the brightness, which given you're spending a couple of grand on a camera is piss poor from Canon (tho sadly no great surprise!)

To 4, it's an optical view finder and not electronic, what did you expect and what other cameras allow you to change the brightness of the viewfinder with an in camera option?

Was referring to the brightness of the INFO within the viewfinder - obviously there's sod all you can do to increase the brightness of the actual image! And I stand absolutely by my original comment in that context - I don't believe its unreasonable to be able to increase or decrease it on a £££ pro camera...

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Ooooh. I see now. I've never had an issue with how it's lit, or how long it stays lit. *shrug*

 

[Overread]

Generally a halfpress of the shutter helps to keep the viewfinder details awake, I know what its like to have then vanish when waiting for ages to get the right shot of something. That of course relies upon using backbutton AF control or manual focusing mode otherwise you'll always be engaging the AF over and over.