Live View Quick Mode Settings on a Canon EOS 60D

The Canon 60D’s Quick mode sounds great, and it certainly sounds quicker, but it has some quirks that you have to get used to. The monitor is blacked out when the camera is focusing. You can’t see what’s in the frame during this time. This can be disconcerting. Selecting an AF point (the same used by viewfinder AF modes) requires you to enter Quick Control mode. This takes more time than selecting AF points via the viewfinder. The good news is that it’s not that different than selecting AF points in Quick Control mode normally.

To use Quick mode, follow these steps:

1. Set the AF mode to Quick mode:

   1. Press Menu, navigate to Shooting Menu 4, highlight AF mode, and press Set.

   2. Use the Quick Control dial or press up or down with the multicontroller to highlight an AF mode, and then press Set again to lock in your choice.

2. Select a shooting mode.

   This is a bit tricky. If you want to use the Quick mode in the simple no-frills way (described in Step 4), you can use any exposure mode the camera has, from Landscape to Portrait and up through M, P, Tv, and so forth.

   If you want to be able to control AF points, you must be in a Creative Zone mode (P, Tv, Av, M, B, or C). Right.

3. Press the Live View button.

   If the AF mode is set to Quick mode (as in Step 1), you see the familiar white AF box appear on the LCD monitor, only it’s not an AF box anymore. It’s a magnifying frame that you can move around later (there's not much point to it now) and check the focus with.

   When you want to confirm focus using whatever method you choose in Step 4, press the Magnify button once or twice to zoom in and use the multicontroller to move the frame around. It can take a bit of effort to work this into your routine unless you have the camera mounted firmly on a tripod.

   Also present are the nine AF points, which are dark gray and seemingly don’t do anything. At the moment, they don’t.

4. Focus by using one of two methods:

   Automatic AF Point selection: This is the “Take what the camera gives you” method, which is where the term Quick mode comes from. It’s pretty fast, but the camera doesn’t always focus on what you want. This path requires nothing more from you other than this:

   1. Press the shutter button halfway to initiate autofocus and meter.

      The camera makes a lot more noise than normal as the mirror clunks in and out of the way as the camera autofocuses.

      As you press the shutter button halfway, the LCD screen will go black as the camera autofocuses. Try to stay motionless. When the picture comes back, and not before, you’re ready to take the picture.

      

      Don’t be fooled. The camera sounds like you’re taking a photo, but you’re not. Don’t stop after this step, thinking you’ve taken the photo. Wait until you see the photo being reviewed before moving on.

   2. Check focus if desired, and proceed to Step 5.

   Manual AF Point selection: The second path requires more work from you, but you get to control the focus points. Remember that you must be in a Creative Zone mode to be able to manually select AF points. Here’s how:

   1. Press Q to activate the Quick Control screen.

      By entering Quick Control, you have the ability to select the AF point just like you were using the viewfinder. It's a bit tricky until you get used to it.

   2. Enter AF point selection mode by pressing and holding down the multicontroller until none of the options on the left side of the screen are highlighted in blue.

      When this happens, one or more AF points become highlighted.

   3. Select an AF point by using the Quick Control or Main dial to scroll through the available AF points.

   4. Focus and then put the AF point over the subject and press the shutter button halfway.

   5. Check focus, if desired, and proceed to Step 5.

5. Press the shutter button completely to take the photo.