Admittedly, I haven't spent much time looking at or playing with these. I used Mirror Lock Up (MLU) a little bit a few weeks ago, but not much other than that.

Then a couple of weeks ago I was at and in my brother's wedding and brought my 30D. Another guy was there who also had his 40D and I gave him my body to shoot with, as well. When he would take pics with my camera with the external flash, I kept seeing the (pre-?)flash firing a few times before he took the shot. It turns out he programmed his Auto-Focus (AF) to the "*" button. I thought it was really bizzare, especially since he was shooting in Av rather than M the whole time. Then a few days ago I saw a a thread on POTN that talked about it and is seemed to be fairly typical and worth looking into more.

Anyway - which, if any, Custom Functions do you use/recommend?

 

I think the two that you've mentioned are by far and away the most popular. The other common one that comes to mind is second curtain sync for the flash.

 

i do that as well on my XT. and leave the shutter button just for the shutter. I like it cause it seems like it is faster to readjust the focal point if I want to change it quickly or if it focuses on the wrong object. but I usually just have the auto focus use just the center, and recompose from there.

I never really played with the other custom fuctions either though.

 

Awesome subject of conversation!

Likewise, what does everyone have their C1,2,3 programmed to?

 

I use the custom function that lets you access the pseudo ISO 3200, and also the safety shift function. MLU is set to the menu that allows you to access it without drilling into the custom functions of the menu. I can't remember the name of it right now. This for the 40D.

It would be nice if Canon bagged the direct print button on its SLR's and let the user assign a CF to that button, like MLU.

I use other CF from time to time also.

 

I have C2 and C2 programmed to settings that are good for sports shooting (high burst rate, ISO 400, and Av) and portrait shooting (low burst rate and wide open Av and ISO 100). Those custom modes are pretty handy.

 

Yeah, they don't have the MLU direct access on the 30D.
You mean you don't use that button all the time? I read a "review" of a dSLR (maybe the Nikon D300) that listed lack of Direct Print as a Con. At that point, I vowed never to read that magazine again.

 

Keep them coming.

Looks like I have more research to do.

 

Lol. I can' think of a more useless function. You go to all the trouble of investing in an SLR system to maximize image quality and control, then you're just going to plug the camera into a printer and go for it, without any post processing? Yeah.

Me thinks Canon is just using that feature to try to draw in more buyers. Never used it, never will.

 

That menu is called the My Menu Settings. It lets you assign often used functions to it so you don't have to drill too far to get to one custom function. It's one of the nice upgrades on the 40D, but I'd still like to see a customizable button on the back of the camera.

 

I also have long exposure noise reduction enabled, AF point selection set to the multi controller, and AF during live view enabled. That's it for custom functions.

 

i have C.FnIV-1 set to 3 and C.FnIV-2 set to 1

it just makes sense to me to use the * to focus and the shutter for AE lock.

It lets you focus in one part of the picture and AE lock (only when shutter is half pressed) for another part and then recompose.

and then for sports it works great for tracking.

 

and it works fine in both AV and M mode

 

i also have the AF assist lamp set to external flash only emitting it.

i hate canons onboard AF assist lamp, just strobing the flash like crazy is lame.

 

i bout an xti used, and under manual, it says C.Fn in the lower right hand corner. Is that what this is referring to? HOw do i find out what is going on? (i may want to turn it off i guess?)

 

If you have a users manual, all the custom functions are explained (yes, C.Fn = custom function. If C.Fn appears on your top LCD, it indicates that one or more of them is enabled on your camera). If you don't have a manual, I believe you can download model-specific use manuals from Canon's website.

 

Great topic! I confess that I have yet to use any CF's on my 40D. The only one I ever used on the XT was MLU. I'm sure, though, that I will use more as I learn more about flash photography.

 

so you have ISO expansion off and cant AF under live view?

 

Yes, and I'll be surprised if I ever use live view. Haven't needed to shoot at high ISO's since I got the camera. I've done disappointingly little shooting since I upgraded, though. But spring's here, & the mountain's are thawing. It's only a matter of time.

 

yea, i have yet to use live view other than messing around with it.