Canon EOS 60D For Dummies
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One of the many advantages of investing in the Canon EOS 60D is that you can customize its performance to suit the way you like to shoot. Setup menus help you accomplish such things as setting the date and time, setting up the camera’s file-numbering system, and adjusting monitor brightness.

At the risk of being conventional, start your camera customization by opening Setup Menu 1.

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Here’s a quick rundown of each menu item:

  • Auto Power Off: To help save battery power, your camera automatically powers down after a certain period of inactivity. By default, the shutdown happens after 30 seconds, but you can change the shutdown delay to 1, 2, 4, 8, or 15 minutes. Or you can disable auto shutdown altogether by selecting the Off setting.

  • Auto Rotate: If you enable this feature, your picture files include a piece of data that indicates whether the camera was oriented in the vertical or horizontal position when you shot the frame. Then, when you view the picture on the camera monitor or on your computer, the image is automatically rotated to the correct orientation.

    To automatically rotate images both in the camera monitor and on your computer monitor, stick with the default setting. In the menu, this setting is represented by On followed by a camera icon and a monitor icon. If you want the rotation to occur just on your computer and not on the camera, select the second On setting, which is marked with the computer monitor symbol but not the camera symbol. To disable rotation for both devices, choose the Off setting.

    Note, though, that the camera may record the wrong orientation data for pictures that you take with the camera pointing directly up or down. Also, whether your computer can read the rotation data in the picture file depends on the software you use; the programs bundled with the camera can perform the auto rotation.

  • Format: The first time you insert a new memory card, use this option to format the card, a maintenance function that wipes out any existing data on the card and prepares it for use by the camera.

    If you used your card in another device, such as a digital music player, be sure to copy those files to your computer before you format the card. You lose all data on the card when you format it, not just picture files.

    When you choose the Format option from the menu, you can opt to perform a normal card formatting process or a low-level formatting. The latter gives your memory card a deeper level of cleansing than ordinary formatting and thus takes longer to perform. Normally, a regular formatting will do.

  • File Numbering: This option controls how the camera names your picture files.

    • Continuous: This is the default; the camera numbers your files sequentially, from 0001 to 9999, and places all images in the same folder. The initial folder name is 100Canon; when you reach image 9999, the camera creates a new folder, named 101Canon, for your next 9,999 photos. This numbering sequence is retained even if you change memory cards, which helps to ensure that you don’t wind up with multiple images that have the same filename.

    • Auto Reset: If you switch to this option, the camera restarts file numbering at 0001 each time you put in a different memory card. This isn’t a good idea.

      Whichever option you choose, beware of one gotcha: If you swap memory cards and the new card already contains images, the camera may pick up numbering from the last image on the new card, which throws a monkey wrench into things. To avoid this problem, format the new card before putting it into the camera.

      Manual Reset: Select this setting if you want the camera to begin a new numbering sequence, starting at 0001, for your next shot. The camera then returns to whichever mode you previously used (Continuous or Auto Reset).

  • Select Folder: Press this to select a new folder on your memory card.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Julie Adair King has written numerous books on Nikon and Canon cameras as well as digital photography. She also conducts digital photography classes at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre. Robert Correll is a creative professional and the author of High Dynamic Range Digital Photography For Dummies.

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