Canon EOS50D - EOS 50D Digital Camera SLR Installation Roadmap Manual
Text of the manual
C H A P T E R
Roadmap to
the EOS 50D
T
hree words can describe Canon’s 50D dSLR — fast,
sleek, and fun. It fi ts easily and comfortably in the hand
with a compact yet substantial heft. It responds with the
speed of a gazelle delivering images at a rate of 6.3 frames
per second (fps) and at a stunning 15.1-megapixels. The EOS
50D is packed with Canon’s latest features and technologies
that collectively deliver speedy and reliable performance and
superior image quality. Whether you’re new to digital photog-
raphy or a veteran, the EOS 50D hits a sweet spot of high
image resolution, speed, and creative control.
This chapter puts some of the new features and technologies
of the EOS 50D into everyday perspective and off ers a road-
map to navigating the camera controls and menus. Where
possible, I off er paradigms for using the camera that help you
spend less time remembering what control to use and more
time shooting.
Key Technology
Before we begin, it’s worthwhile to look at key technology that
the 50D off ers. The fi rst, the15.1-megapixel image sensor at
4752 × 3168 pixels produces full-resolution prints at 15.5 × 10.7
inches at 300 ppi, or 19.4 × 13.4 inches at 240 ppi for inkjet
prints. The new CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semicon-
ductor) features Canon’s newest technology including:
✦ “Gapless” microlens technology and increased
ISO range. While the EOS 50D packs more and
smaller pixels on a sensor that’s the same size
as the EOS 40D (4.7 versus 5.7 micron pixels sizes,
✦
✦
✦
✦
In This Chapter
Key technology
Camera features
overview
Lens controls
✦
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✦
✦
COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
4 Part I ✦ Navigating and Setting Up the EOS 50D
Camera Features
Overview
If you’ve had your EOS 50D for any amount
of time, then you are likely familiar with most
of the controls on the camera. However, the
following sections are designed to provide a
paradigm for using the controls in logical and
effi cient ways because once you learn the
overall design, you can make camera adjust-
ments more effi ciently. And chances are that
there are some buttons and controls that you
haven’t fi gured out yet, so these sections
help you make full use of all the 50D has
to off er.
It’s important to become familiar
with the names of camera controls
now because I refer to these names
throughout this book.
There are three main controls that can be
used together or separately to control most
functions on the EOS 50D. Here is a quick
synopsis of the controls and when to use
them.
✦ Main dial and Quick Control dial.
You use the Main and Quick
Control dials to make changes for
the for dual-function buttons
located along the top LCD panel
such as the AF-Drive button
(Autofocus mode and Drive mode).
Use the Main dial to change the
fi rst named function. So for the
AF-Drive button, you turn the Main
dial to change the Autofocus mode.
For the second named function,
you make changes using the Quick
Control dial. So, you turn the Quick
Control dial to change the Drive
mode. This holds true for the
respectively), the new sensor is
engineered to increase each pixel’s
light sensitive area and to use a
larger microlens over each pixel.
The spaces between microlens on
the sensor array are now gapless so
that each microlens covers more of
the pixel surface than in previous
Canon digital SLR sensors. Thus the
EOS 50D provides approximately 1
to 1.5 f-stops better digital noise
performance at high ISO sensitivi-
ties than previous sensors. In every-
day shooting, this translates into
new opportunities for lowlight
shooting particularly when you’re
using an Image-Stabilized (IS) lens.
✦ DIGIC 4 processor. Every new iter-
ation of Canon’s DIGIC processor
improves the speed of image pro-
cessing, and that’s no less true with
the fourth generation of Canon’s
on-board processor. The 14-bit
DIGIC 4 processor off ers 30 percent
faster image processing than previ-
ous processors. It also off ers
increased functionality including
full and variable resolutions; High
ISO Noise Reduction options; Auto
Lighting Optimizer with three
selectable levels; and Peripheral
Illumination Correction, or vignette
control, for JPEG capture (and
vignette control for RAW fi les using
Canon’s Digital Photo Professional
program). And the faster processor
results in a faster and more respon-
sive autofocus system. Taken
together, DIGIC 4 performs more
processing with more selectable
options for image correction — all
with no appreciable loss of speed
and performance.
Chapter 1 ✦ Roadmap to the EOS 50D 5
✦ Set button. The Set button is
located in the center of the Quick
Control dial, and you use it to con-
fi rm changes you make to many
menu items and to open sub-
menus. When you’re using the
Quick Control screen, you can
select a setting, such as White
Balance, and then press the Set
button to display all the options for
the setting, in this case, the White
Balance screen showing all White
Balance options.
Metering mode-White Balance and
ISO-Flash Compensation buttons
on the camera as well. Some cam-
era menu screens such as the
Quality screen also use the Main
and Quick Control dials for select-
ing diff erent values on the screen.
✦ Multi-controller. This eight-way
control functions as a button when
it’s pressed, and as a joystick when
it’s tilted in any direction. With the
new Quick Control screen, the
Multi-controller is the primary con-
trol. Ironically, the Quick Control
dial would seem to be the logical
choice to activate the Quick Control
screen, but, such is not the case. To
activate the Quick Control menu,
press the center of the Multi-
controller, and then tilt the Multi-
controller to move around the
screen. Once an option is selected
on the Quick Control screen, you
can turn the Quick Control dial or
Main dial to make changes.
Main dial
Quick Control dial
1.1 The Main and Quick Control dials
1.2 The Multi-
controller
6 Part I ✦ Navigating and Setting Up the EOS 50D
High-Speed or Low-Speed
Continuous drive mode, pressing
and holding the Shutter button
starts burst shooting at either 3
frames per second (fps) or 6.3 fps,
respectively. In Self-timer modes,
pressing the Shutter button com-
pletely initiates the 2- or 10-second
timer, and after the timer delay, the
shutter fi res to make the picture.
✦ Red-eye Reduction/Self-timer
lamp. When using the built-in fl ash
with the Red-eye reduction option
turned on, this lamp lights to help
reduce pupil size to reduce the
appearance of red in the subject’s
eyes if the subject looks at the
lamp. In the two Self-timer modes,
this lamp fl ashes to count down
the seconds, either 2 or 10 sec-
onds, to shutter release.
Front of the camera
While you, as the photographer, don’t often
see the front of the camera, it includes the
nicely sculpted grip that increases control
and balance when handling the camera,
and it includes controls that you use often.
The front-of-the-camera features include,
from left to right side, the following:
✦ Shutter button. The Shutter button
is a two-step control. When you
press the Shutter button halfway,
the 50D meters the light in the
scene and focuses on the subject
using either the autofocus (AF)
point that you’ve selected or at the
AF point(s) that the camera’s
selected automatically. Completely
pressing the Shutter button fi res
the shutter to make the picture. In
Grip
DC coupler
card hole
Mirror
Contacts
Lens mount
Lens lock pin
EF lens mount index
Red-eye Reduction/
Self-timer lamp
Shutter button
EF-S lens mount index
Flash button
Lens Release
button
Depth of Field
Preview button
1.3 EOS 50D camera front
Chapter 1 ✦ Roadmap to the EOS 50D 7
✦ Flash button. In P, Tv, Av, M, A-DEP,
and C shooting modes, press this
button to pop up and use the built-
in fl ash. In automatic modes such as
CA, Portrait, Landscape, and so on,
pressing the Flash button has no
eff ect because the camera automati-
cally determines when to use the
built-in fl ash.
Top of the camera
Dials and controls on the top of the camera
provide access to frequently accessed shoot-
ing functions in addition to the hot shoe and
diopter control. Here is a look at the top of
the 50D.
✦ Mode dial. Turning this dial selects
the shooting mode, which deter-
mines how much control you have
over image exposures. Shooting
modes are grouped into three
zones including the Image, or auto-
matic, Creative, and Camera User
Settings zones. Automatic shooting
modes are CA (Creative Auto), Full
Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close-up,
Sports, Night Portrait, and Flash Off .
Creative Zone shooting modes are
P (Program AE), Tv (Shutter-priority
AE), Av (Aperture-priority AE), M
(Manual exposure), and A-DEP
(Automatic depth-of-fi eld AE)
modes. The third zone, Camera
User Settings, encompasses C1 and
C2, shooting modes that you can
program with your favorite settings.
Just turn the dial to line up the
shooting mode that you want to
use with the white mark to the
right of the dial.
Shooting modes are detailed in
Chapter 3, including the noncus-
tomizable shooting modes. Chapter
5 explains how to set up the cus-
tomizable C1 and C2 modes.
✦ Mirror. As you compose an image,
the refl ex mirror refl ects light from
the lens to the pentaprism so that
you can see in the eyepiece of the
viewfi nder what will be captured by
the imaging sensor. The viewfi nder
off ers 95 percent frame coverage.
In Live View shooting the mirror is
fl ipped up to allow a live view of
the scene. If you are using Live
mode focusing, the mirror fl ips
down to focus, thereby suspending
Live View momentarily.
✦ Lens mount and contacts. The lens
mount is compatible with Canon’s
EF and EF-S lenses. EF-S lenses are
compatible with only the cropped
image sensor size of the 50D and
other Canon EOS digital SLR cam-
eras. EF lenses are compatible with
all EOS digital SLRs. The lens mount
includes a red index marker that’s
used to line up EF-mount lenses
and a white index mount marker
that’s used to line up EF-S lenses.
✦ Depth of fi eld preview button.
Pressing this button stops down
the lens diaphragm to the currently
selected aperture so that you can
preview the depth of fi eld in the
viewfi nder. The larger the area of
darkness, the more extensive the
depth of fi eld will be. The button
can be used in regular and Live
View shooting. If the lens is set to
the maximum aperture, the Depth-
of-fi eld preview button can’t be
depressed because the diaphragm
is already fully open.
✦ Lens Release button. This button
releases the lens from the lens
mount. To disengage the lens,
depress and hold down the Lens
Release button as you turn the lens
so that the red or white index mark
moves toward the top of the camera.
8 Part I ✦ Navigating and Setting Up the EOS 50D
✦ Dioptric adjustment knob. Turn
this control forward or backward to
adjust the sharpness for your vision
by -3 to +1 diopters. If you wear
eyeglasses or contact lenses for
shooting, be sure to wear them as
you turn the dioptric adjustment
control. To make the adjustment,
point the lens to a light-colored
surface such as a piece of white
paper or a white wall, and then
turn the control until the AF points
are perfectly sharp and crisp for
your vision.
✦ Hot shoe. The hot shoe mounting
plate with fl ash sync contacts is
where you mount an accessory
fl ash unit. The 50D hot shoe is
compatible with E-TTL II auto fl ash
with accessory Canon EX-series
Speedlites and supports wireless
multi-fl ash support. When using a
580 EX II Speedlite, the 50D off ers
fl ash confi guration from the camera
using the Set-up 3 (yellow) menu.
The camera also provides Flash
Exposure Compensation to
decrease or increase the fl ash out-
put by up to plus/minus 2 stops in
1/3- or 1/2-stop increments.
LCD Panel Illumination button
Main dial
LCD panel
ISO/Flash Exposure Compensation button
AF mode/Drive mode button
Metering mode/White Balance button
Focal plane mark
Dioptric adjustment knob
Flash sync contacts/Hot shoe
Mode dial
1.4 EOS 50D top of the camera
Chapter 1 ✦ Roadmap to the EOS 50D 9
• Metering modes. The choices
include Evaluative (35-zone TTL
full-aperture metering), Partial
(9 percent at center frame),
Spot (3.8 percent at center
frame), and Center-weighted
Average.
• White Balance. Choices include
Auto (3000-7000 degrees
Kelvin (K)), Daylight (5200 K),
Shade (7000 K), Cloudy (6000
K), Tungsten (3200 K), White
Fluorescent (4000 K), Flash
(6000 K), Custom (2000-10000
K), and K (Kelvin Temperature,
2500-10000 K).
✦ AF mode/Drive mode button.
Pressing this button enables you
to change the Autofocus mode
using the Main dial, or to change
the Drive mode using the the Quick
Control dial. The options for each
are listed here:
• AF modes. The choices are
One-shot AF, AI Focus AF, and
AI Servo AF.
• Drive modes. The Drive modes
you can choose from are Single-
shot, High-speed Continuous
(6.3 frames per second, or fps),
Low-speed Continuous (3 fps),
and Self-timer (10- and 2-sec.
delays).
✦ ISO/Flash Exposure
Compensation button. Pressing
this button enables you to change
the ISO sensitivity setting using the
Main dial or the Flash Exposure
Compensation using the Quick
Control dial. The options for each
are as follows:
✦ Focal plane mark. The mark indi-
cates the equivalent of the fi lm
plane and is useful in macro pho-
tography when you need to know
the exact distance from the front
of the image sensor plane to the
subject.
✦ LCD Panel Illumination button.
This button is tucked to the far left
of the buttons above the LCD
panel. Pushing the LCD Panel
Illumination button turns on an
amber light to illuminate the LCD
panel for approximately 6 seconds.
This is a handy option for making
LCD panel adjustments in lowlight
or in the dark.
✦ Main dial. The Main dial selects a
variety of options. Turn the Main
dial to change fi rst named option
on the dual-function buttons, cycle
through camera Menu tabs, cycle
through autofocus (AF) points
when selecting an AF point manu-
ally, set the aperture in Av and C
modes, set the shutter speed in Tv
and Manual (M) modes, and shift
the exposure in Program (P) mode.
Although the features are discussed
with the dials, you can check out
Table 1.1 for a quick reference for
using the Main dial and Quick
Control dial with the LCD Panel
buttons.
✦ Metering mode/White Balance
button. Press this button to change
the Metering mode and/or the
White Balance settings. To change
the Metering mode, turn the Main
dial, or to change the White
Balance, turn the Quick Control
dial. The options for each are as
follows:
10 Part I ✦ Navigating and Setting Up the EOS 50D
• Flash Exposure Compensation.
You can choose to adjust this
plus or minus 2 stops (EV) in
1/3-stop increments. Or you
can make changes in 1/2-stop
increments by setting C.Fn I-1 to
Option 1.
• ISO. You can choose from Auto,
100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320,
400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250,
1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, and
with C.Fn I-3 turned on, you can
also choose H1: 6400, and H2:
12800.
Table 1.1
Using the Main and Quick Control Dials with
the LCD Panel Buttons
Main Dial
Quick Control Dial
LCD Panel Button: Metering Mode-WB (White Balance)
Metering Modes:
Evaluative (35-zone TTL full-aperture
metering)
Partial (9 percent at center frame)
Spot (3.8 percent at center frame)
Center-weighted Average
White Balance Options:
Auto (3000-7000 K)
Daylight (5200 K)
Shade (7000 K)
Cloudy (6000 K)
Tungsten (3200 K)
White Fluorescent (4000 K)
Flash (6000 K)
Custom (2000-10000 K)
K (Kelvin Temperature, 2500-10000 K)
LCD Panel Button: AF-Drive (Autofocus mode/Drive mode)
Autofocus Modes:
One-shot AF (locks focus with a half-press
of the Shutter button)
AI Focus AF (half-pressing the shutter initi-
ates AF subject movement tracking using
the center AF point)
AI Servo AF (monitors subject movement
and switches to AI Servo if the camera
detects subject movement)
Drive Modes:
Single-shot
High-speed Continuous (6.3 fps)
Low-speed Continuous (3 fps)
Self-Timer (10- and 2-sec. delays)
Chapter 1 ✦ Roadmap to the EOS 50D 11
✦ Menu button. Pressing the Menu
button displays the most recently
accessed camera menu and menu
option. To move among diff erent
menu tabs, turn the Main dial or tilt
the Multi-controller. The nine
menus are detailed later in this
chapter.
✦ Live View shooting/Print/Share
button. When Live View shooting is
enabled (using the Set-up 2
menu), pressing this button raises
the camera’s refl ex mirror to display
a live view of the scene on the LCD
monitor. Or when the camera is
connected to a printer and all print
options are set, pressing this button
starts image printing. The button
blinks a blue light to indicate the
See Chapter 5 to learn about set-
ting Custom Functions (C.Fn’s),
Chapter 4 for details on setting the
White Balance, and Chapter 3 for
detailed information on the ISO
settings.
Back of the camera
The back of the camera includes the 3-inch,
920,000 dots (VGA) LCD monitor that pro-
vides a very smooth display of multicolored
menus and shooting information. The LCD
includes a new multi-coating that reduces
glare, reduces smudges, and protects against
scratches. The coating is visible with the
blue refl ection on the monitor. Here is a
look at the back of the 50D.
Main Dial
Quick Control Dial
LCD Panel Button: ISO-Flash Exposure Compensation
ISO Options:
Auto
100
125
160
200
250
320
400
500
640
800
1000
1250
1600
2000
2500
3200
H1: 6400 (with C.Fn I-3 Expansion
turned on)
H2: 12800 (with C.Fn I-3: ISO Expansion
set turned on)
Flash Compensation:
Plus/minus 2 stops (EV) in 1/3- or 1/2-stop
increments (chosen using C.Fn I-1)
12 Part I ✦ Navigating and Setting Up the EOS 50D
✦ Viewfi nder eyepiece and Eyecup.
The EOS 50D viewfi nder is an eye-
level pentaprism with approxi-
mately 95 percent vertical and
horizontal coverage, and that
means that you see 5 percent less
of the scene than the sensor cap-
tures. The viewfi nder uses the Ef-A
focusing screen. With the Eyecup
pressed against your eye, the fl exi-
ble rubber cup helps prevent stray
light from entering the viewfi nder.
print is being made. When the
camera is connected to a com-
puter, pressing this button displays
the Direct transfer screen from
which you can select which images
to transfer to the computer and in
what order. During image transfer,
the button blinks a blue light. When
the transfer is fi nished, the button
is lit continuously in blue.
Downloading images to a computer
is detailed in Chapter 2. Live View
shooting is detailed in Chapter 6.
Menu button
Live View shooting/
Print/Share button
Eyecup
View finder eyepiece
Multi-controller
AF-On/AF start button
AE Lock/FE Lock/Index/
Reduce button
AF-Point Selection/
Magnify button
Access lamp
Set button
Quick Control dial
Power/Quick Control dial switch
Function
button
Picture Style button
Info button
Erase button
Playback button
LCD monitor
1.5 Back of the EOS 50D
Chapter 1 ✦ Roadmap to the EOS 50D 13
(Automatic AF-point selection is
indicated when all the AF points
are lit in red.) You can also turn the
Quick Control dial or tilt the Multi-
controller to select AF points. The
selected AF point or points are dis-
played in red in the viewfi nder and
by marks on the LCD panel. As you
turn the Main dial, the camera
cycles through the AF points in the
direction you turn the dial. When
playing back images on the CF
card, pressing this button magnifi es
the image by 1.5 to 10x on the LCD
monitor so that you can check
focus or details in the image. To
move around a magnifi ed image,
tilt the Multi-controller.
✦ Multi-controller. The eight-way
Multi-controller functions as a but-
ton when pushed and as a joystick
when tilted in any direction. During
shooting, you can use it to select
an AF point after pressing the
AF-point Selection button. Or you
can press the Multi-controller at the
center to display the Quick Control
screen — a screen that provides
access to primary shooting and
exposure options. Then tilt the
Multi-controller to move through
the functions on the screen. To
change a setting, turn the Quick
Control or Main dial, or press the
Set button to access the function’s
setting screen. When working with
camera menus, the Multi-controller
is used to set White Balance shift
settings and to select menu
options.
✦ AF-On/AF start button. Canon also
labels this button as the AF start
button. Pressing the AF-On button
initiates autofocusing in P, Tv, Av,
M, and the C shooting modes in
the same way as half-pressing the
Shutter button. In automatic shoot-
ing modes such as Portrait and
Landscape, pressing this button has
no eff ect. When you’re shooting in
Live View, pressing this button
focuses on the subject in any of the
three Live View focusing modes.
✦ AE Lock/FE Lock/Index/Reduce
button. When you’re shooting,
pressing this button sets and locks
exposure at the selected AF point.
When you’re using the built-in or
an accessory Speedlite fl ash, press-
ing this button sets and locks fl ash
exposure at the selected AF point.
When you’re playing back images,
pressing this button displays four
images at a time, and pressing the
button a second time displays an
index of nine images on the LCD
monitor. In Playback mode with an
image magnifi ed, pressing, or
pressing and holding this button
reduces the image magnifi cation.
When you’re printing images, press-
ing this button reduces the size of
the trimming frame.
✦ AF-Point Selection/Magnify but-
ton. During shooting, pressing this
button and turning the Main dial
enables you to select a single
AF point or to have the camera
automatically select AF point.
14 Part I ✦ Navigating and Setting Up the EOS 50D
Control counterclockwise to view
images from last to fi rst, or turn the
dial clockwise to view images from
fi rst taken to last.
✦ Erase button. Pressing the Erase
button during image playback dis-
plays options to Cancel or Erase the
currently displayed image as long
as it has not had protection applied
to it. Batches of images can be
erased together by selecting and
check marking images.
✦ Info button. During shooting,
pressing the Info button displays
the Info screen that details the cur-
rent camera settings including the
shooting mode registered for C1
and C2, color space, White Balance
shift and bracketing settings, color
temperature, auto power off set-
ting, auto image rotation, Red-eye
reduction status, image transfer sta-
tus, free space on the CF card, and
the date and time. When playing
back images, pressing the Info but-
ton one or more times cycles
through four diff erent playback dis-
play modes.
Chapter 2 covers reviewing and
erasing images as well as the diff er-
ent playback and display modes.
✦ Picture Style button. Pressing this
button displays the Picture Style
screen where you can choose one
of six preset Picture Styles or three
customizable styles that you can
create and register. A Picture Style
determines how an image is ren-
dered in terms of color, saturation,
and contrast. The Picture Style
screen shows the currently selected
If you set C.Fn III-3 AF-point selec-
tion method to use the Multi-
controller, then you cannot display
the Quick Control screen.
✦ Quick Control dial. The Quick
Control dial selects a variety of set-
tings if the power switch is set to
the topmost position (the position
above On). The Quick Control dial
selects the second named function
for the buttons above the LCD
panel. When the camera menus are
displayed, turning the Quick Control
dial cycles through the options on
each menu. When shooting, you can
use the Quick Control dial to manu-
ally select an AF point after pressing
the AF-point Selection button.
✦ Setting (Set) button. Pressing this
button confi rms menu selections,
opens submenu screens, and, on
the Quick Control screen, it opens
function screens from which you
can change settings such as the
ISO, Exposure Compensation, and
Exposure Bracketing.
✦ Access lamp. This light, located to
the lower right of the Quick Control
dial, lights or blinks red when any
action related to taking, recording,
reading, erasing, or transferring
images is in progress. Anytime that
the light is lit or blinking, do not
open the CF card slot door, turn off
the camera, remove the battery, or
jostle the camera.
✦ Playback button. Pressing this but-
ton when images are stored on the
CF card displays the last captured or
viewed image. To cycle through
images on the card, turn the Quick
Chapter 1 ✦ Roadmap to the EOS 50D 15
Picture Style along with the sharp-
ness, contrast, saturation, and color
tone settings that are in eff ect. You
can press the Info button to access
the Detail Set. (settings) screen to
adjust the settings.
Picture Styles and customizing
them are covered in Chapter 5.
✦ FUNC. (Function) button. Pressing
the Function button displays a
screen where the LCD monitor
brightness can be adjusted. This
screen includes a thumbnail image
stored on the CF card, as well as a
gray scale chart on the right. To
change the brightness, turn the
Quick Control dial to the left to
darken or to the right to brighten
the screen, and then press the Set
button to confi rm the change. As
you adjust the brightness, you
should be able to clearly distin-
guish diff erences between each of
the grayscale bars on the right.
Custom Function IV-7: Assign
FUNC. button, enables you to reset
the Function button so that it dis-
plays the Image Quality, Exposure
Compensation/Bracketing, Image
Jump, or Live View Function set-
tings screen instead.
✦ Power/Quick Control dial switch.
The power switch off ers three set-
tings. Off does just what you expect
it to do. The On setting turns on the
power but limits the use of the
Quick Control dial to make direct
adjustments to some LCD panel
functions. The topmost setting
denoted by a hockey stick-type sym-
bol enables direct use of the Quick
Control dial for setting the Flash
Exposure Compensation amount,
drive mode, and so on, on the LCD
panel and in the viewfi nder.
Side of the camera
On one side of the EOS 50D is the
CompactFlash (CF) card slot door. Opening
the door reveals the slot for the CF card and
the card eject button. The opposite side of
the camera houses two sets of camera termi-
nals under individual rubber covers. The rub-
ber covers are embossed with descriptive
icons and text to identify the terminals.
Here is an overview of each camera terminal.
✦ Digital terminal. This terminal
enables you to connect the camera
directly to a computer to download
images from the camera to the
computer, or to a PictBridge-
compatible printer to print images
from the CF card.
✦ PC terminal. This threaded, no-
polarity terminal enables connec-
tion between the camera and
studio fl ash units that have a sync
cord. While Canon recommends
using a sync speed of 1/30 to 1/60
sec., I’ve found that the camera
syncs with my studio strobes at
1/125 sec. with no problem,
although you should test your sys-
tem fi rst. With corded non-Canon
fl ash units, the synch speed is
1/250 sec.
16 Part I ✦ Navigating and Setting Up the EOS 50D
✦ Remote Control terminal. This
N3-type terminal connects with the
accessory Remote Switch RS-80N3
or other N3-type EOS accessory.
✦ HDMI mini Out terminal. This ter-
minal, coupled with the accessory
HDMI Cable HTC-100, enables you
to connect the camera to an HD TV.
You cannot use the HDMI mini Out
terminal simultaneously with the
Video Out terminal.
Displaying images on a TV is cov-
ered in Chapter 2.
Bottom of the camera
The bottom of the camera houses the bat-
tery compartment cover, tripod socket, and
the Extension system terminal for connec-
tion with the Wireless File Transmitter WFT-
E3/WFT-E3A.
Transferring images is detailed in
Chapter 2 while Chapter 7 covers
working with fl ash units.
✦ Video Out terminal. Use this termi-
nal when you want to connect the
camera to a non-HD TV. Be sure to
use only the supplied video cable
to make the connection.
Battery compartment cover
Tripod socket
Extension system terminal
1.7 EOS 50D bottom-of-the-camera components shown with the
BP-511A battery pack
Digital terminal
Video out terminal
HDMI mini
out terminal
PC terminal
Remote control terminal
1.6 EOS 50D terminals
Chapter 1 ✦ Roadmap to the EOS 50D 17
light in the lower right side of the viewfi nder
lights steadily and the camera sounds a focus
confi rmation beep when sharp focus is
achieved.
While lenses are covered fully in Chapter 8,
navigating the camera includes the lens, so I
include lens controls here. Additional lens
controls may include the following depend-
ing on the lens.
Lens Controls
Lens controls diff er according to the lens that
you’re using. One aspect that all Canon
lenses have in common is full-time manual
focusing. You can switch to manual focusing
by setting the switch on the side of the lens
to MF, or Manual Focusing. Manual focusing
includes focus assist. As you adjust the focus-
ing ring on the lens, the focus confi rmation
Filter mounting thread
Focusing ring
Distance scale
Focusing distance range selection switch
Zoom ring
Lens mounting index
Orientation locking
knob
Tripod
mount
Image stabilizer mode switch
Image stabilizer switch
Focus mode switch
1.8 Lens controls, as shown on an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens
18 Part I ✦ Navigating and Setting Up the EOS 50D
✦ Distance scale and infi nity com-
pensation mark. The distance
scale shows the lens’s minimum
focusing distance through infi nity.
The scale includes an infi nity com-
pensation mark that can be used to
compensate for shifting the infi nity
focus point that results from tem-
perature changes.
Viewfi nder display
The eye-level pentaprism viewfi nder shows
you 95 percent of the scene that the camera
captures. The viewfi nder includes nine AF
points superimposed on the focusing screen,
as well as key exposure and camera setting
information.
Looking through the viewfi nder during shoot-
ing allows you to verify that camera settings
are as you want, or to alert you if they need
to be changed. In addition, you are alerted
when any exposure element you’ve chosen
is beyond the exposure capability of the light
in the scene. For example, if you see the
aperture blinking in the viewfi nder, it means
that the image will be underexposed (too
dark) and that you need to set a slower shut-
ter speed or a higher ISO. Or if you were
using Exposure Compensation for previous
shots and don’t need it for the current shot,
the viewfi nder is a reminder to reset the
compensation.
The following diagram shows the view-
fi nder information and what each element
represents.
✦ Focusing distance range selection
switch. This switch limits the range
that the lens uses when seeking
focus. For example, if you choose
the 2.5m to infi nity focusing dis-
tance option on the EF 70-200mm,
f/2.8L IS USM lens, then the lens
does not seek focus at 2.5m and
closer. Choosing the appropriate
focusing range speeds up autofo-
cus speed. The focusing distance
range options vary by lens.
✦ Image stabilizer switch. This
switch turns on or off optical image
stabilization. Optical Image
Stabilization (IS) corrects vibrations
at any angle or at only right angles
when handholding the camera and
lens.
✦ Image stabilizer mode switch. On
some telephoto lenses, this switch
enables image stabilization for
standard shooting and for stabiliza-
tion when you’re panning with the
subject movement at right angles
to the camera.
✦ Focusing ring. Turning the focusing
ring enables manual focusing or
focus tweaking at any time even if
you’re using autofocusing. If the
lens switch is set to MF, turn this
ring to focus on the subject.
✦ Zoom ring. Turning this ring zooms
the lens to the focal length marked
on the ring. On some older lenses
such as the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-
5.6L IS USM lens, zooming is
accomplished by fi rst releasing a
zoom ring, and then pushing or
pulling the lens to zoom out or in.
Chapter 1 ✦ Roadmap to the EOS 50D 19
The fi rst thing that’s important to under-
stand about the camera menus is that the
menus and options change based on the
shooting mode you select. In the automatic,
or Basic Zone, shooting modes such as CA,
Full Auto, Portrait, Landscape, and so on, the
menus are abbreviated because you can
Camera menus
The EOS 50D off ers nine menus grouped as
tabs in the categories of Shooting, Playback,
Setup, Custom Functions, and a customiz-
able My Menu. Accessing the menus is as
easy as pressing the Menu button on the
back of the camera.
Focusing screen
AE lock/
AEB in-progress
Spot metering circle
AF points
(Superimposed
display)
H
-2
1
2 ISO
WB
B/W
D+
1
Flash-ready
Improper FE
lock warning
High-speed sync
(FP flash)
FE lock/
FEB in-progress
Flash exposure
compensation
Shutter speed
FE lock (FEL)
Busy (buSY)
Built-in flash recycling
( buSY)
Aperture
Exposure level indicator
Exposure compensation amount
Flash exposure compensation amount
AEB range
Red-eye reduction lamp-on indicator
Card full warning (FuLL CF)
Card error warning (Err CF)
No card warning (no CF)
Highlight tone priority
ISO speed
Monochrome shooting
Max. Burst
Focus confirmation
light
ISO
speed
White
balance
correction
1.9 EOS 50D viewfi nder display
20 Part I ✦ Navigating and Setting Up the EOS 50D
sure to check which shooting mode you’ve
set on the camera. By changing to a semiau-
tomatic or manual mode, the option you
need will be displayed.
Table 1.2 shows the camera menus and
options.
make only limited changes to the exposure
and camera settings. But in semiautomatic
and manual modes such as Tv, Av, M, A-DEP,
and the C modes, the full menus and options
are available. If you fi nd a technique
described in this book, but you can’t fi nd the
menu option mentioned on the menu, be
Table 1.2
Camera Menus
Commands
Options
Shooting 1 menu
Quality
Large/Fine, Large/Normal, Medium/Fine, Medium/Normal,
Small/Fine, Small/Normal, RAW, sRAW 1, sRAW 2, or RAW or
sRAW and any of the JPEG image quality settings
Red-eye On/Off
Off /On
Beep
On/Off
Shoot without a card
On/Off
Review time
Off , 2 sec., 4 sec., 8 sec., Hold
Peripheral illumin.
Correct.
Enable/Disable
Shooting 2 menu
Expo. comp/AEB
(Exposure Compensation/
Auto Exposure
Bracketing)
1/3-stop increments by default, up to plus/minus 2 stops of
Exposure Compensation and up to plus/minus 4 stops of AEB
White Balance
Auto (AWB), Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, White
Fluorescent, Flash, Custom (2500 to 10000K), Color
Temperature (2500 to 10000K)
Custom WB
Set a manual White Balance
WB SHIFT/BKT (White
Balance shift/bracketing)
White Balance correction using Blue/Amber (B/A) or
Magenta/Green (M/G) color bias; White Balance Bracketing
using B/A and M/G bias, available at plus/minus 3 levels in
one-level increments
Color space
sRGB, Adobe RGB
Picture Style
Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful, Monochrome,
User Defi ned 1, 2, and 3
Chapter 1 ✦ Roadmap to the EOS 50D 21
Commands
Options
Shooting 2 menu
Dust Delete Data
Locates and records dust on the image sensor so you can use
the data in Canon’s Digital Photo Professional program to
erase dust spots on images
Playback 1 menu
Protect images
Marks and protects selected images from being deleted
Rotate
Rotate the selected vertical image clockwise at 90, 270, or 0
degrees
Erase images
Select and erase images, All images in folder, All images on
[CF] card
Print Order
Select images to be printed (Digital Print Order Format or
DPOF)
Transfer order
Select images to download to a computer
External media backup
Available when the accessory Wireless Transmitter (WFT-E3/
E3A) is used along with external media such as a storage
device or computer
Playback 2 menu
Highlight alert
Disabled, Enable. When enabled, overexposed highlights blink
in all image-playback displays
AF-point disp.
Disabled, Enable. Superimposes the AF point that achieved
focus on the image during playback
Histogram
Brightness, RGB. Brightness displays a tonal distribution histo-
gram. RGB displays separate Red, Green, and Blue color chan-
nel histograms
Slide show
Setup (Play time and Repeat (On/Off )), Start a slide show of
all images on the CF card
Image jump with Main
dial
Move through images by: 1, 10, 100 [images at a time],
Screen, Date, or Folder
Set-up 1 menu
Auto power off
1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30 minutes, Off
Auto Rotate
On for camera and computer, On for camera only, Off (Turns
vertical images to upright orientation for the camera’s LCD
and computer display, or only for the camera’s LCD display)
Format
Format and erase images on the CF card
File numbering
Continuous, Auto reset, Manual reset
Select folder
Create and select a folder
WFT Settings
Displays the wireless fi le transfer settings when an accessory
Canon WFT-E3/E3A is in use
Recording func.+media
select
Displayed when an accessory Canon WFT-E3/e3A is in use
continued
22 Part I ✦ Navigating and Setting Up the EOS 50D
Table 1.2 (continued)
Commands
Options
Set-up 2 menu
LCD brightness
Seven adjustable levels of brightness
Date/Time
Set the date (year/month/day) and time (hour/minute/
second)
Language
Choose from 25 language options
Video system
NTSC, PAL
Sensor Cleaning
Auto cleaning (Enable, Disable), Clean now, Clean manually
Live View function
settings
Live View shoot—Options: Enable, Disable
Expo. simulation—Options: Disable, Enable
Grid display—Options: On, Off
Silent shoot—Options: Mode 1, Mode 2, Disable
Metering timer—Options: 4, 16, 30 sec., 1, 10, 30 min.
AF mode—Options: Quick mode, Live mode, Live “L” mode
referred to as face detection
Set-up 3 menu
Info button
Normal disp., Camera set. (Camera Settings), Shoot func.
(Shooting function); Normal display displays the Camera
Settings screen when you press the INFO. button once, and
the Shooting function screen when you press the INFO. but-
ton again; Selecting Camera set. option toggles only the
Camera Settings screen when you press the INFO. button; the
same behavior applies if you select the Shooting func. option
Flash control
Flash fi ring, Built-in fl ash func. setting, External fl ash func. set-
ting, External fl ash C.Fn setting, Clear ext. fl ash C.Fn set
Camera user setting
Register or clear camera settings to C1 or C2
Clear settings
Restores the camera’s default settings, Delete copyright infor-
mation; Does not restore Custom Function to their original
default settings
Firmware Ver. (Firmware
Version)
Displays the existing fi rmware version number, and enables
you to update the fi rmware
Chapter 1 ✦ Roadmap to the EOS 50D 23
Custom Functions menu
C.Fn I: Exposure
Displays Custom Functions related to exposure such as expo-
sure level increments, ISO increments, ISO expansion, brack-
eting auto cancel, bracketing sequence, safety shift, and fl ash
sync speed in Av mode
C.Fn II: Image
Displays Custom Functions related to the image noise and
tone including long exposure noise reduction, high ISO speed
noise reduction, highlight tone priority, and Auto Lighting
Optimizer
C.Fn III: Autofocus/Drive
Displays Custom Functions related to autofocus and drive
operation including lens drive when AF is impossible, lens AF
stop button function, AF-point selection method, superim-
posed display, AF-assist beam fi ring, mirror lockup, AF
Microadjustment
C.FN IV: Operation/Others
Displays Custom Functions related to camera controls includ-
ing Shutter button/AF-ON button, AF-ON/AE lock button
switch, assign Set button during shooting, dial direction dur-
ing Tv and Av modes, changing to a diff erent focusing screen,
adding original data decision data, and assign FUNC. button
Clear all Custom Func.
(C.Fn)
Restores all of the camera’s default Custom Function settings
My Menu
My Menu settings
Save frequently used menus and Custom Functions