Canon EOS 60D For Dummies
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Before you begin shooting a movie with a Canon 60D, review the basic recording settings. You adjust some settings from the Movie menus; for others, you can either visit menus or, for faster results, use the Quick Control method.

The Movie menus contain several recording options, including the one that enables or disables sound. Before you can access the Movie menus, you must set the camera’s Mode dial to the Movie setting. After your image appears on the monitor, press the Menu button and then find your way to the two Movie menus.

Here’s a rundown of the menu options in Movie Menu 1:

  • Movie Exposure: Normal recording is with autoexposure, but you can select Manual to have full control over your movie exposures.

  • AF Mode: If you decide to try autofocusing, you can choose from three autofocus methods: Live mode, Face Detection, and Quick mode. (Again, though, manual focusing is recommended.)

  • AF w/ Shutter Button During Movie: Use this option to have the camera autofocus during movie recording when you press the shutter button. Remember that this setting can be distracting during playback — the image can drift in and out of focus — and the sound of the lens focusing mechanism might be recorded (and it ain’t a pretty sound).

  • AD and Metering Button for Movies: This setting works like a Custom Function. You can swap button functions for metering, AF start, AF stop, and AE lock between the shutter, AF-ON, and AE lock buttons.

  • ISO Speed Setting Increments: Switch between 1/3 and full stop ISO increments when shooting movies.

  • Highlight Tone Priority: Disables or enables Highlight Tone Priority, which works just like the still function; namely, the camera tries to protect highlights and keep them from blowing out.

There are also options under Movie Menu 2:

  • Movie Recording Size: Use this option to specify the movie quality setting.

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  • Sound Recording:

    • Auto: You want the camera to record sound with either the built-in microphone or an optional external stereo mic, and you don’t want to mess with any settings.

    • Manual: You want to set the recording level (microphone sensitivity) and wind filter option yourself. (This option tells the camera to try to minimize the effects of wind noise as if the microphone were protected by a wind barrier.)

    • Disable: Turn off sound recording.

    The bottom of the screen has an audio meter that shows you how strong the sound is as it is being monitored by the microphone. Audio levels are measured in decibels (dB), and the scale runs from -40 (very, very soft) to 0 (as much as can be measured digitally without running out of room).

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  • Silent Shooting: Choose from between two modes (plus disabling it) that sound and behave differently:

    • Mode 1: This mode is quieter than normal but does not prohibit continuous or high-speed continuous shooting.

    • Mode 2: Shooting noise is minimized at the expense of shooting speed.

    • Disabled: Turns off Silent Shooting.

  • Metering Timer: When you press the shutter button halfway, the exposure meter comes to life, and the camera then establishes the autoexposure settings needed to produce a good exposure.

  • Grid Display: As with Live View shooting, you can display two different styles of grids to help keep your shots aligned properly.

Movie Menu 3 has even more options:

  • Exposure Compensation: You can apply exposure compensation for movies just like still photos although you have only three stops to work with instead of five.

  • Auto Lighting Optimizer: This works just like still photos.

  • Picture Style: Likewise, you can assign a Picture Style to movies.

  • White Balance: Set the white balance for movies.

  • Custom White Balance: As with stills, you can customize the white balance.

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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