❯❯ 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.
The remaining external features of note are shown in Figure 1-8 and described in the following list.
FIGURE 1-8: Other important controls reside on the front and left side of the camera.
❯❯ 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 in the advanced exposure modes (P, Tv, Av, and M).
❯❯ Microphone: You can record movie audio via the built-in microphone, which picks up sound from the two clusters of holes, one of which is labeled Microphone in Figure 1-8.
❯❯ Depth-of-Field Preview button: When you press this button, 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.
❯❯ Speaker: When you play a movie that contains audio, the sound comes wafting through these little holes.
❯❯ Connection ports: Hidden under two 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 or external microphone. Under the larger 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 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).
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.
Changing from Standard to Guided Display Mode
By default, your camera is set to Standard Display Mode. Alternatively, you can set the camera to provide information to you in a Guided Display Mode. In this mode, designed for novices, camera screens are simplified and offer explanations and feedback when you adjust certain settings.
For example, the left side of Figure 1-9 shows the display when Tv exposure mode (shutter-priority auto-exposure) is selected. Likewise, the right side shows the guided menu with the Shooting settings menu selected.
FIGURE 1-9: In Guided Display and Menu modes, the camera offers simplified details about the feature you’re currently using.
Guided mode is fine for users who need more of a helping hand than the standard screens provide. But assuming that you bought this book because you want to learn more about your camera and master the ins and outs of photography, you don’t fall into that category. Standard mode is a better choice, for several reasons:
❯❯ Although the Guided screens make understanding some options easier, in many cases, they can be just as baffling as the Standard screens.
❯❯ The Guided screens often focus on one particular aspect of a camera setting without explaining how that setting affects other characteristics of your picture. When you change the shutter speed, for example, the camera has to make adjustments to one or two other critical settings – aperture and/or ISO – in order to properly expose the picture. Those settings, detailed along with shutter speed in Chapter 4, have their own impact on the look of your picture.
❯❯ Standard mode also saves you some steps as you make certain camera adjustments.
❯❯ The Guided screens limit your access to many shooting settings. In addition, when you use Guided mode, you can’t access the My Menu feature, which enables you to create a custom menu that contains the menu options you use most.
❯❯ Most other Canon dSLRs don’t offer Guided mode, so if you’re moving to the 77D from a previous Canon model that used standard displays, using Guided mode requires you to do unnecessary retraining. If you step up to a more advanced Canon model in the future, you also likely won’t have the option to use Guided mode.
For these reasons, figures and instructions from this point forward relate to using the camera in the Standard mode instead of Guided mode.
If you want to experiment, navigate to the Display Level menu and play around with different settings. The Shooting screen and Menu display are set to Standard by default, as shown on the left in Figure 1-10. The Mode and Feature guides are enabled by default, as shown in the figure. To change settings, select the setting you want to change, tap OK or press the Set button, and then highlight a new option, as shown on the right in Figure 1-10. Tap OK or press Set to make the change.
FIGURE 1-10: Choose the Display Mode Settings menu tab to turn the Guided mode features on or off.
We leave it up to you whether to disable these features. After you’re familiar with the various exposure modes and camera settings, they simply slow you down, so we keep them off. But if you find them helpful, by all means leave them set to Enable. Just remember that instructions from here on out won’t mention