Canon EOS 90D For Dummies. Robert Correll
center button. It works like the larger multi-controller and Set button a bit further down on the back of the camera, except that it’s smaller and the center button is integrated into the controller. To use the Joystick, take your right thumb and gently press it in the direction you want to navigate. Press the center to activate the button. In almost all cases, the Joystick mirrors the functionality of the larger multi-controller. In this book, we refer to the small multi-controller as the Joystick when we need to identify it specifically. The camera manual identifies it as Multi-controller 1. Graphically, Canon identifies the joystick in the manual and on camera screens as an 8-pointed star with a center button. The larger multi-controller with the Set button in the center is officially called Multi-controller 2, and its icon looks like an 8-pointed star without a center button.
Q (Quick Control) button: Press this button to shift to Quick Control mode, which enables you to adjust major shooting settings quickly. See “Using Quick Control Mode,” later in this chapter, for help.
Set button and Multi-controller: The Set button and the surrounding eight-way directional key, which we call the Multi-controller, or large multicontroller in this book, team up to perform several functions, including choosing options from the camera menus. You use the Multi-controller to navigate through menus and then press the Set button to select a specific menu setting. You work the Multi-controller by pressing one of the eight directional marks pointing outwards around its perimeter. Canon refers to this multi-controller as Multi-controller 2. In this book, the instruction “Press right/left on the Multi-controller” means to press the left or right sides of the large multi-controller.
Quick Control dial: The Quick Control dial surrounds the Set button and Large Multi-controller. Rotating the dial offers a handy way to quickly scroll through options and settings. It’s a timesaver, so we point out when to use it as we provide instructions throughout the book.
Playback button: Press this button to switch the camera into picture and movie-review mode.
Erase button: Sporting a trash can icon, the universal symbol for delete, this button lets you erase pictures from your memory card during playback. Chapter 9 has specifics.
Multi Function Lock switch: You can rotate this switch up, in the direction of the arrow, to lock the Quick Control dial so that you don’t accidentally move the dial and change a camera setting that you aren’t intending to modify. If you want an even larger safety net, you can set things up so that the switch also locks the Main dial and the touch screen (when shooting). The section “Setup Menu 4,” toward the end of this chapter, has details.
Speaker: When you play a movie that contains audio, or are monitoring audio when recording video, the sound comes wafting through these little holes.
Info button: In Live View, Movie, and Playback modes, pressing this button changes the picture-display style.During viewfinder photography, you can press the Info button to toggle the display off or cycle between the Quick Control screen and electronic level. (These displays are explained later in this chapter.)
Menu button: Press this button to display camera menus; press a second time to exit the menus. See the upcoming section “Ordering from Camera Menus” for help navigating menus.
And the rest …
The remaining external features of note are shown in Figure 1-8 and described in the following list.
Wireless remote-control sensor: This sensor can pick up the signal from the optional Canon wireless remote-control unit. The part number is Canon RC-6, and sells for about $20.You also have two other wireless remote-control options: If you have a smartphone or tablet that can run the Canon Connect app, you can use that device as a wireless remote. The appendix provides more information. Alternatively, you can buy the Canon Wireless Remote Control BR-E1 (about $50), which connects to your camera via Bluetooth, also detailed in the appendix. We bring them up now because unlike the RC-6 unit, these two tools don’t need to be aimed at the camera’s remote-control sensor to work.
Lens-release button: Press this button to disengage the lens from the lens mount so that you can remove it from the camera. While pressing the button, rotate the lens toward the shutter-button side of the camera to dismount the lens.
Flash button: Press this button to raise the built-in flash.
Microphones: You can record movie audio via the built-in microphones, which picks up sound from the two clusters of holes, one of which is labeled in Figure 1-8.
Depth-of-Field Preview button: When you press this button (hidden by the lens because it is on the other side of the lens mount in this figure), the image in the viewfinder (or, in Live View mode, on the monitor) offers an approximation of the depth of field that will result from your selected aperture setting, or f-stop. Depth of field refers to the distance over which the scene appears to be in focus. Chapter 5 provides details.
Connection ports: Hidden under three covers on the left side of the camera, you find inputs for connecting the camera to various devices. Open the smaller cover to access the connections for a wired remote control. The door above that contains ports for connecting an external microphone and headphones. Under the largest door, you find a digital terminal for connecting the camera to your computer via USB and an HDMI out port that sends the signal from your camera to an HDMI TV. To use either digital feature, you need to purchase a cable to make the connection. For USB downloading, check the Canon website for the cables that will do the trick. For HDMI output, you can use any HD cable that has a Type-C connection on one end (the end that goes into the camera).FIGURE 1-8: Other important controls reside on the front and left side of the camera.See Chapter 8 for help with displaying images on an HD television; Chapter 9 explains how to connect the camera via USB in order to download pictures to your computer. (Spoiler alert: Downloading via USB is probably not your cheapest or easiest option; instead, consider using a memory-card reader or taking advantage of wireless transfer.)
If you turn the camera over, you find a tripod socket, which enables you to mount the camera on a tripod that uses a ¼-inch screw, plus the chamber that holds the battery, as well as a connection port for attaching a Canon power adapter. See the camera manual for specifics on running the camera on AC power.
Ordering from Camera Menus
Although you can adjust some settings by using external controls, you access the majority of options via camera menus. The next section provides the basics you need to know to navigate menus and select menu options. Following that, you can find out how to deal with a special category of menu screens, the Custom Functions.
Mastering menu basics
Here’s how to display menus and adjust the options on those menus:
Opening and closing menus: Press the Menu button to display the menus; press again to exit the menu system and return to shooting. You also can just press the shutter button halfway and release it to exit the menu and switch to shooting mode.
Understanding menu screens: Which menus and menu screens appear depends on the exposure mode, which you set by rotating the Mode dial on