Top of Camera Controls: Left Side

The top of the camera will be familiar to anyone who has used an EOS-1V, control layout is virtually identical, there are only a few subtle styling differences.

On the left are three buttons which are used in combination with the main dial (just behind the shutter release). These buttons pressed either individually or combined with one other allow you to change the settings of up to six different camera settings. In the icons below the half dial is the main dial (top front of hand grip) and the full dial is the quick command dial (rear).

Button / combination

Select exposure mode: *1
 • P (Program AE - shiftable)
 • Av (Aperture Priority)
 • DEP (Depth of field AE)
 • M (Manual)
 • Tv (Shutter Priority)
 • Bulb
 (detailed below)

 No function
Select AF mode
 • AI Servo
 • One Shot
 (detailed below) 		No function
Select metering mode *2
 • Evaluative metering (21 zone)
 • Partial metering (13.5% of center)
 • Spot metering (3.8% of center)
 • Center-weighted average metering
 (detailed below) 		Select flash exposure compensation:
 • +/-3 EV in 0.3 EV steps

AF +
Mode		 Select exposure bracketing: *3
 • 0.3 - 3.0 EV steps (3 frames)

AF +
Meter mode		 Select ISO sensitivity: *4
 • L (ISO 100 equiv.)
 • ISO 200
 • ISO 250
 • ISO 320
 • ISO 400
 • ISO 500
 • ISO 640
 • ISO 800
 • ISO 1000
 • ISO 1250
 • ISO 1600
 • H (ISO 3200 equiv.)		 Select ISO bracketing:
 • 0.3 - 3.0 EV steps (3 frames)

Mode +
Meter mode		 Select drive mode: *5
 • Single
 • High-speed continuous; 8 fps
 • Low-speed continuous; 3 fps
 • 10 sec self timer
 • 2 sec self timer
 (detailed below)		  

*1 • P.Fn 1 allows you to disable any of the exposure modes.
*2 • C.Fn 13 allows you to lock metering to the currently selected AF point for Spot metering.
• P.Fn 2 allows you to disable any of the metering modes.
*3 • C.Fn 9 allows you to change the bracketing sequence / auto cancellation rule
• P.Fn 7 enables continuous bracketing
• P.Fn 8 can be used to set the number of bracket shots (2, 3, 5, 7)
• P.Fn 9 can be used to reverse the sequence of C.Fn 9-2,3 to +,0,-
*4 • C.Fn 3 must be enabled to use the 'expanded' ISO 100 (indicated as L) and ISO 3200 (indicated as H).
*5 • P.Fn 19 allows you to re-program continuous modes to 8,7,6,5,4 fps and 3,2,1 fps respectively.

As someone who doesn't have lots of experience of the 1V I was encouraged by how quick and easy this control system is to learn. However I do feel it would have been useful to include a custom function which can allow single handed control of these functions (a bit like the EOS-D30).

Exposure / Focus / Metering / Drive modes

Exposure modes

Mode Description
P

Program AE (Shiftable) *1

The Program AE on the EOS-1D is flexible, that means that with a metered exposure displayed you can select one of a variety of equal exposures by turning the main dial (top of camera) left or right.

Example:
     • 1/30 F4.5 (roll left a click)
     • 1/60 F3.2 (roll left a click)
     • 1/125 F2.2 (metered)
     • 1/250 F1.6 (roll right a click)
     • 1/320 F1.4 (roll right a click)

By default the EOS-1D only remembers the selected exposure until the exposure meter display timeout (6 seconds) - this behaviour can be changed via a personal function.
Av

Aperture Priority Auto *2

In this mode you select the aperture and the camera will calculate the correct shutter speed for the exposure (depending on metered value; metering mode, ISO). Aperture is displayed on the top LCD, roll the main dial (top) to select different apertures. A half-press of the shutter release causes the cameras exposure system to calculate the shutter speed, if it's outside of the cameras exposure range the nearest shutter speed will blink.

    • F1.0 - F91.0 (depending on lens) in 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV steps
DEP Depth-of-field AE

This unique Canon EOS feature allows you to select two focus points in a scene and the camera will then select the correct aperture and focus distance to ensure both subjects are in focus (within the focus field) in the final shot. On the EOS-1D this is carried out by focusing (half-press of the shutter release) on the first subject, then focusing on the second subject (again, another half-press) and then recompose the scene and fully depress the shutter release. The camera indicates which subject you're focusing on with a DEP-1 / DEP-2 display on the top LCD and viewfinder status bar.
M Manual Exposure *3

In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed from any available combination. Main dial (top) selects shutter speed, quick command dial (rear) selects aperture. A half-press of the shutter release will activate the cameras meter and the relative exposure difference (+/- 3 EV) will be indciated on the viewfinder meter (right of the viewfinder screen). A difference of exposure of more than 3 EV is indicated by either an up or down pointing arrow.
Tv

Shutter Priority Auto *4

In this mode you select the shutter speed and the camera will calculate the correct aperture for the exposure (depending on metered value; metering mode, ISO). Shutter speed is displayed on the top LCD, roll the main dial (top) to select different shutter speeds. A half-press of the shutter release causes the cameras exposure system to calculate the aperture, if it's outside of the cameras exposure range the nearest aperture will blink.

    • 30 seconds - 1/16,000 sec in 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV steps
Bulb Bulb Exposure

The EOS-1D has a dedicated Bulb exposure mode. In this mode you can select the aperture by rolling the main dial (top) then press and hold the shutter release for the length of exposure you require (normally in conjunction with a remote release). During the exposure the top display gives a readout of the exposure length in hours, minutes and seconds.

*1 • P.Fn 10 can be used to retain the program shift for multiple shots
*2 • Exposure steps can be set to 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV via C.Fn 6.
• P.Fn 5 allows you to limit the range of available apertures (for all exposure modes).
*3 • P.Fn 3 can be used to select the type of metering mode used in manual exposure mode.
• C.Fn 5 can be used to reverse the action of the main / sub dial for selection of aperture and shutter speed.
*4

• Exposure steps can be set to 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV via C.Fn 6.
• P.Fn 4 allows you to limit the range of available shutter speeds (for all exposure modes).
  • P.Fn 1 allows you to disable any of the exposure modes.
  • C.Fn 16 allows you to enable 'safety shift' for Av or Tv modes, when enabled the camera will automatically override the selected aperture or shutter speed to avoid overexposure.

Auto Focus modes

Mode Description
One
Shot

One Shot AF

In this mode a half-press of the shutter release activates AF and locks onto a single focus distance. The focus confirmation light (a dot on the viewfinder status bar) will be lit once a focus is achieved or blink of it can not be. You can, if you wish, recompose the shot while 'holding' the focus distance by keeping the shutter release half-pressed.
AI
Servo		 AI Servo AF

In this mode the camera constantly re-focuses on a moving subject. If the subject is moving at a constant rate towards or away from the camera the focus system will 'predict' the new focus distance. This is especially sucessful when AF point selection is set to auto (the camera can use all 45 focus points to track a moving subject). In this mode the focus confirmation light only indicates if focus can not be achieved (it blinks).

  • P.Fn 13 allows you to switch AI Servo auto focus between focus-priority (default) and shutter release-priority.
  • C.Fn 20 can be used to change the AI Servo tracking sensitivity (standard, slow, moderately slow, moderately fast, fast) so that focusing isn't thrown off if (example) something crosses the path of the lens.