Canon EOS 90D For Dummies. Robert Correll

Quick Control or Live View screen.If the monitor is asleep or the screen is showing menus or your existing photos, press the shutter button halfway and release it to redisplay the Quick Control or Live View screen. The left image in Figure 1-22 shows the default photography screen as it appears in the Scene Intelligent Auto exposure mode. The right image shows what the camera looks like in an advanced exposure mode using Live View.FIGURE 1-22: To activate Quick Control mode, tap the Q symbol or press the Q button.

      2  Press the Q button or tap the Q icon to enter Quick Control mode.If you’re using the viewfinder to take pictures, the display changes to look similar to the one shown on the left in Figure 1-23. In Live View mode, the display appears as shown on the left in Figure 1-24.

      3 Select the setting you want to adjust.The currently selected setting is highlighted; in the figures, the Drive mode is active, for example. To choose a different setting, tap it or press left/right using a multi-controller to highlight it.On the Quick Control screen, the name of the currently selected option for the setting appears at the bottom of the screen, as shown on the left in Figure 1-23. In Live View mode (refer to Figure 1-24), the text banner initially shows the name of the setting you’re changing, with icons at the bottom of the screen representing the available options. The one surrounded by the orange box is the currently selected option.FIGURE 1-23: After highlighting the setting you want to adjust, rotate the Quick Control dial or Main dial to cycle through the available options (left) or press the Set button (not the center Joystick button) to display all options on a single screen (right).FIGURE 1-24: In Live View mode, tap or use the up/down Multi-controller keys to highlight the setting you want to adjust, and then tap, use the left/right keys, or rotate the Quick Control or Main dial to choose your desired option.

      4 Rotate the Quick Control dial or Main dial to cycle through the available options for the setting.As soon as you rotate the dial, the text label on the Quick Control screen updates to reflect the name of the setting. And on the Live View screen, the name of the setting you’re adjusting is replaced by the name of the selected option. In the right screen in Figure 1-24, for example, you can see how things look when you change the Drive mode from Single Frame to the Self-Timer: 2 second/remote option. (Chapter 2 explains these and other Drive mode options.) During viewfinder photography, you can also tap the setting icon or press the Set or center Joystick button to display all the available options on a single screen, as shown on the right in Figure 1-23. Tap, use the left/right multi-controller keys, or rotate the Quick Control dial or Main dial to highlight the option you want to use, and then tap the exit arrow to exit the settings screen. (In Live View mode, tapping the icon on the sides of the screen simply selects the option represented by that symbol.)

      5 Repeat Steps 3 and 4 as needed to adjust other settings.

      6 To exit Quick Control mode, press the Q button.In Live View mode, you also can tap the return arrow in the upper-right corner of the screen, as shown on the left in Figure 1-24. When using the viewfinder, you can tap the Q symbol that has the return arrow, as shown on the left in Figure 1-23.

      

A couple of final tips about taking advantage of Quick Control mode:

       For some settings, the Live View preview updates to show the result of your choice. If you adjust the White Balance setting, which affects how colors are rendered, you see colors shift in the preview, for example.

       After you choose some options, additional touch-control icons appear on the options screen. For example, you may see an icon bearing an Info label. By tapping that icon or pressing the Info button, you can access settings that enable you to modify the characteristics of the currently selected option. Instructions throughout the book alert you to these hidden settings.

      

As with instructions for choosing menu items, the rest of this book assumes that you’re now cool with the basics of using Quick Control mode. So, instead of repeating all the preceding steps for each feature that you can modify by using Quick Control mode, instructions merely say something like “Shift to Quick Control mode to adjust this setting.” Just for good measure, though, the Q button symbol appears in the margin of paragraphs that discuss using Quick Control mode.

Familiarizing Yourself with the Lens

If you’ve never used a dSLR before, you may be unfamiliar with how to operate the lens. The following basics are applicable to either the 18–55mm or 18–135mm (shown in Figure 1-25) kit lenses sold with the 90D, but they also apply to many other lenses that support autofocusing with the camera. (You should explore the lens manual for specifics, of course.)

      Focusing

      Set the lens to automatic or manual focusing by moving the focus-method switch on the lens, labeled in Figure 1-25. Move the switch to the AF position for autofocusing and to MF for manual focusing. Then proceed as follows:

       Autofocusing: Press and hold the shutter button halfway. In Live View mode, you also have the option of tapping the touch screen to focus.

       Manual focusing: After setting the focus method to MF, rotate the focusing ring on the lens barrel until your subject appears sharp in the viewfinder or on the Live View screen. The position of the focusing ring varies depending on the lens; again, Figure 1-25 shows the ring as it appears on the 18–135mm kit lens.

      FIGURE 1-25: Here are a few features that may be found on your lens.

To save battery power, the focus motor in STM (stepping motor) lenses such as the 18–55mm kit lens automatically goes to sleep after a period of inactivity. This also applies to the larger 18–135mm USM (ultrasonic motor) kit lens. While the lens is napping, manual focusing isn’t possible (the focusing ring is free to turn, but the lens does not focus). The same is true if the camera itself goes into sleep mode, which is determined by the Auto Power Off feature on Setup Menu 2. Either way, wake up the camera and lens by pressing the shutter button halfway.

      See Chapter 5 for more help with both automatic and manual focusing.

      Zooming

      If you bought a zoom lens, it has a movable zoom ring. The location of the zoom ring on the 18–135mm kit lens is shown in Figure 1-25. To zoom in or out, rotate the ring.

      

Zooming changes the lens focal length. (If you’re new to that term, the sidebar “Focal length and the crop factor” explains the subject.) On the kit lenses, you can determine the focal length of the lens by looking at the number aligned with the bar labeled focal length indicator in Figure 1-25.

      Enabling Image Stabilization

      Many Canon lenses, including either kit lens, offer this feature, which compensates for small amounts of camera shake that can occur when you handhold the camera. Camera movement during the exposure can produce blurry images, so turning on Image Stabilization can help you get sharper handheld