Sir, you are a Godsent!!!!! This video is just absolutely fabulously brilliant, it will save me hours of time and frustration setting my camera up ( when it arrives, that is...) . I really can not thank you enough, again you are a Godsent, and kind enough to share your extensive knowledge and the fruits of your labours as with us...thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

I leave it completely on eye-detect auto focus servo if I know for sure I am photographing people or animals - and I leave AUTO for the initial point selected option. I then activate the upper right part of the screen so if I want the camera to focus on something else other than the eye or face or head, like somebody’s hands or something they’re holding, I put my finger on the screen in that particular area and move the focus point to where I want and let go and it will begin tracking it. It seems to work pretty darn good. I also have asterisk button to toggle from eye-detect to spot focus, which works well when I just want to take still life shots of objects. I also use back-button focusing all the time.

The button customization is the main reason why I love Canon...that's seriously awesome! God bless you Jan and your works!

Just bought the R5 I found the menu like a minefield, after watching this vid all problems have been solved thankyou so much your a genius

Just a HUGE thanks for the “2 Back Button” Tip... I had been using a multi-step method to switch back and forth with people/animal detection. Your tip I’m sure is gonna be great as I continue to become acquainted with my new R5.

Thank you, Jan. I have used my R6 enough to have been totally confused. And, I have watched cajillions of settings videos. I just bookmarked yours with this comment, "Use all of these settings!" Perfect mix. Amazing. Thank you. Thank you.

Jan, you probably know this but it wasn't in the video. When assigning custom functions for back button focusing you can assign additional functions to the AF-ON button by pressing INFO when you're in the list of choices for "Metering and AF start". If you press INFO before pressing SET-OK you get 3 additional settings to add - "AF Operations", "AF Method", and "Servo AF Characteristics". This allows you to have One Shot for AF-ON and Servo for "*", or visa versa. I just got my R5 so this video was very helpful.

For the Canon EOS R6, these settings have been really helpful, thanks a million! A few things that I struggled with that may help others with the R6 (and perhaps the R5): first, to switch to a custom mode (say C1) you turn the mode dial at the top of the camera to C1; that should have been obvious, but it took me a long time to figure out. (I made a custom mode, C1, for birds, and use C2 for people). Second, I found that the animal eye autofocus really only works when the eye of the bird is possible to see in the viewfinder; if the bird is too far away, the camera may recognize the bird, but won't be able to find its eye; this is probably not a problem with a 600mm lens as you use, but I don't have such a lens. (Still, it's great when it works!) Third, to put the autofocus point back in the center, you need to press the joystick straight in. (Is there a way to put that in the "My Menu"? I don't think so, or at least I couldn't find it.) Finally, it seems that the "My Menu" customization is quite helpful for storing commonly changed settings, but selecting "My Menu" doesn't actually change anything, you still need to select the item and change it, but it is helpful for finding hard-to-find settings that you change frequently.

It is so great to have this in a format that I can watch several times. I’ve had my R5 for about a week and it’s been great to go out and try the settings; then rewatch this and have a few a-ha moments and gain an even better understanding! Thank you for your thoughtful; easy to follow and beautiful videos! I’m so grateful to have found your channel!

Absolutely Fantastic Jan, sharing your insight, knowledge and thought process is absolutely invaluable for so many. Truly appreciate what you do.

I can't express how much I have found your video helpful to me. I just bought a R6 Canon and it basically has the same menus and settings that you described for the R5. The menu for the AF pink dropdown was the one that I found most helpful. I was having problems locking on the birds eyes with the way I had setup. The fact that you have two buttons to first locate exactly where you wanted to initially focus in and then the second button setup for the bird tracking on the eye really is excellent. Thanks so much for such a great and professional video!

This is something a real review of a camera by a person who really knows about camera. People stay with default settings and complain about the cameras without realizing the customization opportunities

Thank you so much, Jan. You've removed so much of the frustration of going from the old system to the new for me. This is excellent.

Excellent advice from somebody that knows what he's talking about

Jan… FANTASTIC! Just got my R5 and this is the best guide I’ve seen. Incredible job. Thank you very much.

Once again, excellent presentation of vitally useful information. Your delivery style is spot on, as is the content, much better than many others I have viewed. This is the real deal. You are doing us all a great service, Jan, and saving us heaps of time, thank you.

This video is awesome and very helpful. There's nothing worse than trying to set your camera to 8K only to realize it's grayed out because Digital IS is on, and you can't use 8K with Digital IS on. So it's definitely better to set this type of thing up in advance so you can easily get to it with the custom modes.

Great video. I've ordered my R5, that switching between photos and video custom button is exactly what I wanted to know 👍

after viewing this, I got my first R5. Thank you Jan

This is by far the BEST video on autofocus settings on the R5. Thankyou so much for this - including an explenation on why you have chosen these settings, what happens and tips & trick for using them.

Used the settings you recommended.. and it works for me. Especially using the thumb to move the focus point while seeing through the VF. Thank you.

Adobe Camera RAW has just been updated to include the R5 & R6.... Happy now!

Very helpful guide, thank you for posting it. One thing I would add is to put the camera into airplane mode in the wireless settings to conserve the battery when you are not using the Wifi. For the dual back button AF, it still wasn't quite intuitive for me coming from the 5DIV so I set the AF mode to expanded area AF, set the AF-ON button to Metering and AF start, and I set the AE Lock button to Switch to Registered AF func, I then registered "Tracking" as the AF function. After all of that I can now press the AF on button for normal expanded AF or press the AE Lock button for tracking. It is a little clunky because for the tracking to focus I have to hold down the AE button then half press the shutter, but it works in a more intuitive way for me. I can fall back on Expand AF, or spot AF, or Zone AF, or quickly switch to tracking with the press of a button.

Genius tip on the flexibility between spot AF & Eye Detection AF. Thank you!

Your AF settings are perfect!!!

Well done Jan on the video, I have now order my camera and will have to wait until the shop can get hold of one for me, I will definitely set it to the two back button focusing technique you showed that will help me a-lot. One quick question did you have to calibrate this camera to your lens? Have not had a mirror less camera before.

This helped me so much! Thank you for your clear directions. It’s exactly what I needed for shooting birds. I too, have struggled with the animal eye detection jumping around. Also, I love being able to use my thumb to move the focus point! So much better!

Brilliant. I've just bought an R5 and gone through all your settings.

I feel like you just upgraded my R5 from "nice" to "holy sh*t!! wow!!"

question: if you set up 3 custom modes for video, how do you quickly switch in between them? can you assign a button to switch through modes? ... and do you see which mode you select without taking the eye away from the viewfinder?

I recently bought the Canon R5, and I found your guide very useful. One of the things I value in this and other demonstrations of yours is the professionalism of the compilation. Many KZfaq demonstrations lack clarity. Quite often inset videos are almost unreadable because the KZfaqr has not paid sufficient attention to the needs of the audience. Yours are exceptionally clear, and well-paced

Great video Jan. My R5 was delivered today and watching your video was the first thing i did!

Thank you! Great information

Would I be right in thinking that you’ve been sleeping with your new camera since you bought it 😅

This was a tremendous help!!! I can’t wait to see your other videos and books.

Great video, thank you, even if I'm not into birds photography, a great guide to set my new R5. Thank you!

Now i'm enjoying my R5 because of your video! Thank you very much!

Just switched my autofocus case based on this video and I'm very happy with it now. I always felt like it was jumping around too much with birds in flight. Thanks for this helpful video

Thank you for the wonderful tips! I bought my R5 in the last week, and I’m anxious to get out and find some wildlife.

Just waiting on my R5 being delivered and i`ll be returning to this when I start to set mine up! Thanks

Just bought my first R5, thanks to you!! I can't believe how amazing it is. All my EF lenses are working well. This has been very helpful, thank you - it has saved me hours. I have set one for landscape and one for wildlife. When I went to test out my new RF 100-500, I got so caught up in the BBF buttons that I forgot to check my SS. So I have added a minimum shutter speed to the custom mode as well as I'm still using AV, haven't quite progressed to manual for wildlife yet. I'm having a bit of trouble with the eye detection but assume that is just practice. I have also just had a play around with the Canon app which allows you to use it as a remote which will be helpful in Landscape, astro etc as you can change most of the settings as well as take the picture or movie. I didn't want to lose the M-Fn button, so found that you can change to movie by pressing the mode button, then the info button, the info button lets you toggle between stills and movies, then you could select your custom mode then press the red dot button to record. Another great improvement is the dial on the mode wheel that allows me to alter the ISO

Thank you so much for this video, I am thinking of upgrading my camera and getting a eos R5 and this will really help me

Just got my R6 yesterday and customized all the options according to your video...now the fun part begins! Thanks you so much for this!!

Always at the end of the video you leave me with no doubts in my mind! When R5 got released some issues like heating and all prevented me to get it, but after your video now I’m getting it soon! Thanks a lot for Sharing your wisdom and it’s invaluable Jan. #Inspiration 🙏🏻😊

Thank you. You are the first youtube video person to really explain how to set up the camera and why. I'm still struggling on the video custom settings and how to use them but I am so excited about the focus mode now for photos!

Thanks Jan, my new R5 is on the way. This video will be a great start.

I just got my R5 this month. While first playing with it with a friend I tried taking a picture of a bird deep in a tree. I really fought the focusing points trying to get between the leaves and branches. I ended up calling Canon Tech Support to see how to select an individual focusing point. (Exact same issues you described.) The agent I spoke with was clueless, which surprised me since this camera has been out for nearly three years! I'm so glad I came across your setup video! I'm a pretty advanced user, having progressed through various Canon models over the years and also having a 1DX Mark iii. But the R5 is a little different beast to setup but I think I'll really like it. Thanks

Jan, Thanks I used this as you suggested to setup my R7, with my Canon 100-500RF together with some input from Duade Patons recent video. Now to try it in the field. Thanks very very comprehensive.

I have been a Canon man since 2004 and now have an R6 to go with all my "L" glass. Thank you for showing me how to set up double back button focus for normal focus and also eye focus on the star button. Jan you are very clever! I might buy an RF mount 800mm f11 tele lens for birding so I can get the fastest fps. I have my wildlife and nature settings set on C1 and my events and weddings settings set on C3. I just kept the settings the same except for animals on C1 and people on C3 I cannot believe that the sensor is so usable up to 25,500 ISO it's amazing!

Wow! I don't use Canon but, if I did, this video would be a revelation as to how to manipulate the menus. 👏🏻

I just got my R5 today. Thanks so much for the set-up help!

Hola Jan :) Tus videos son muy buenos. Se agradece la claridad y detalles. Tengo la R5 con el RF 100-500 hace 4 meses, es una cámara fantástica. Ver tus videos me ayuda bastante. Me suscribo y continuaré viendo. Saludos desde Talca, Chile.

Yes, we do set up the two back focus buttons differently. Interesting to know how you set up yours. Looking forward to your upcoming videos on bird photography. :-)

I get my R5 in 2 days and you video helped very much. Thank you!

Hi Jan! Thank you very much for your very informative instruction video! It was very helpful for the initial setup. I am not sure whether you are aware, but I have noticed recently that it is also possible to use normal autofocus and eye detection auto focus at the same time if you set the shutter button half press to the standard setting (Metering and AF start) and only the AF-On button (or any other button respectively) for "Eye detection AF". The advantage of this setup, you save one button (in your case, the * button) for any other customization you might want to make and still have the choice between normal AF and eye detection AF at any time. The Eye detection AF overrides the "normal AF" of the shutter button half press, so no interference there. Greetings from Vienna, Thomas

Thank you for this. I have just got my R5 - invaluble information here.

This video was so helpful for me to both understand and setup my new R5. Thank you!

Jan - Thanks for showing how to setup both the AF and the Animal tracking buttons, it really helps. certain features we miss out but the intrinsic details is worth listening and using on the hardware

Thanks so much for doing this video. I have transitioned from the 5D Mk4 to the EOS R and now the EOS R5, I mainly shoot weddings, portraits, events, fashion/runway, studio, and some video work. I plan to create a KZfaq video soon (hopefully ready in September) to show my setup for the EOS R and how it would be different for someone coming from the 5D Mk4 compared to someone coming from the EOS R (because I've basically done both). I really appreciate your point about the single button to get into video mode, that will help me a lot! Thanks, and I subscribed so I can see more of your videos!

Your video and channel are so information. Many thanks for taking the time to do it. I really appreciate it.

Just got my R5. Thank goodness I found this video! Auto focus was giving me FITS! Now I’ve set my camera with all your setting and can’t wait to try them out. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

Your video is, without a doubt, a teriffic asset to anyone aquiring an R5. Thanks very much. When the current issue subsides, I will probably visit Australia and thank you in person..

Thanks for the video Jan, had the R5 for 3 weeks now and am really loving it. I have taken your advice and gone to back button focusing. I too had that issue with camera getting confused when more than one bird was in frame. I have moved the EYE-AF to the AF point selection button (easier to find for me). This is a whole new way of shooting but I think it will pay off once muscle memory kicks in to new system. Thanks for this invaluable tip...and all the others!

now thats really a decent setup. Thanks so much for sharing

The photo to video with one button was helpful!

Excellent video. Thanks for that, very helpful. I’m waiting delivery of my R5, but will certainly be using some, if not all of the settings you highlight. 👍

I have watch your R5 wildlife settings 5 times already. It is so helpful. Thanks

Many thanks Jan for this great video on setting up the R5. My new R5 came today, can't wait to try it out, you saved me so much time. I have been using a 1DX Mk2 with dual back button focus for a while now and wondered how I could set it up to quickly change from spot to animal eye for my wildlife shooting. The single button press to change from photo to video also helps a lot. Stay safe

I just received my R5 today and with the assistance of your video I made the suggested changes to the settings. Can’t wait to try them out. Great video. Thank you Jan!

Incredibly helpful - picked up my R5 today and followed your video from start to finish. Many thanks

Thanks, Jan - another excellent video!

The two back-button-focus tip is brilliant! Thank you for saving me a ton of frustration.

One of the most useful videos about the R5 I have seen. I am going to have to force myself to use back button AF. My brain just doesn’t like it 😂

Fantastic video and very educational. Just got my R6 and set up my AF as recommended. Agree totally that prefocusing before using eye AF makes sense.

I've been using double bbf but I also set the the 3rd back button (af point select) to mode so I can quickly access my custom modes which are preset for hummingbirds or larger birds in flight. I've also changed the front depth of field button to cropping ratio in case I want quickly access the 1.6x crop to get extra reach

Thanks again Jan. The place I buy most gear at finally got the adapter w/ring in so I ordered and received an R5 and a mess of accessories to replace my 5D. After reading the 1,000 page manual and making some adjustments (some of which I remembered from this and your other videos, but most I did not) I watched this video again and made most of the photo adjustments your suggested and is where I will start. Reading the whole manual was a bit time consuming (and very frustrating when it came to reading that Canon PDF manual... more on that at the end) but as expected, that effort AND your video saved a ton of experimenting and reading so that you very much for all that. The Canon manual adventure was... as I said... frustrating and I had to dig deep down in my back street vocabulary to express myself accordingly. I generally read manuals pretty thoroughly and bookmark, highlight and make notes on pages / items I know I'll have to come back to and not try to memorize anything other than what and where things are in a manual (I suppose that may be left over from my dinosaur age computer career with miles high stacks of reference manuals to deal with). Anyway, one can not do that with the Canon PDF manual as it has security that will only allow printing; no highlighting, copying, adding notes, editing and other functions that would make it easier to read and find info appropriate to one's self. A call to Canon got the response 'It is copyrighted so you can't do that'. So... anyone in the world can download it for free and read it, pass it on to others for free, but... Seems there may be a market for a hybrid Canon R5 manual that one COULD adapt to one's own use.

Wow, I’m at the “it’s all rather daunting” stage and this video will definitely help me to get to where I want to be at least to begin with. Thanks Jan 👍🏻

Revisiting this today Jan. Fantastic thank you. Had lost my way for a while now back on track.

Nice and clear Jan. Our set ups are very similar. A couple difference/add-ons include: I prefer the RGB histogram to ensure I'm not blowing highlights in a channel - especially red, I have manual focus peaking on and manual focus guide on for when I do macro (both settings are very helpful!), and I've updated my custom menus with frequent things like format, sensor cleaning, etc so I don't have to dig for them when I want them quickly. My biggest problem with the R5 is now I have an even higher percentage of keepers that are so sharp that it takes me longer to go through the images! Enjoy your R5!

Great video, thx so much... One thing: you do not need to remove AF from the shutter. Pressing any button assigned to eye focus will override focus from the shutter button. Consider using mfn button to change between the different focus mode, and you will have the very best flexibility the universe 🙂

Thank you very much for sharing Jan. Much appreciated even though I never shoot birds ;-) I have a small comment on the back button focus. I have the AF-ON button set for face/eye tracking as you recommend. But I have my single point AF on the shutter release button. When pressing the AF-ON button, it overrules the shutter release button, which is then only used for taking the picture - not focusing. In that way, I don't need two back buttons for different kinds of focusing, only one. Take care, Klaus

Moving my 7D Mk ii to my backup and waiting for my new R5. Your videos will immensely help me set up my new body (when it arrives) for bird and wildlife photography. Keep up the good work.

I just got my R5 and tried playing with the animal eye detection with my dog. Your suggestion of using the AF-ON button to initially lock a focus point is something I'll try!

Great Video Jan, only just received my R5 so you've saved me a tonne of time for setting it up. Thank you, I'm sure others like myself really appreciate the time and effort you've put into making this video.

Thank you. I just received my R5 and am so happy to be able to use your settings as a starting point.

I just got my R5 and I LOVE IT. As you have said at the beginning of your video I was having trouble as to how to set up my camera. This video helped greatly. Thanks for the great information. I subscribed to your channel and am looking forward to watching your other videos.

Very useful setting for birding. Especially the one point AF work together with auto eye AF. Thank you for sharing.

I've been using the back button auto focus from 1DX and totally forgot about it. Now I'm back to the game with your great detailed explanation. Thank you for making this video :)

Hi ... just wanted to add that your settings work just as well for the R 6. Thanks. REALLY useful

Again great video jan this will be my go too video when I take the big leap from my 80d to the r5.

Well done, Jan! I'm so glad I found your videos! My Canon EOS R5 is schedule to arrive today. Using your video, I created a 6 page document, explaining each setting to select. Assuming that it's easy to switch between custom modes, like it is on my 7D Mark II, I think that I'll likely use Photo C1 for birding photography and Photo C2 for people. Now I guess I need to read though your 430 other comments! Thanks!

I have found that remapping C.Fn3 AF ON to "switch to registered AF func." and "Spot AF" while keeping AF5 "Initial servo AF pt" on AUTO works quite well for me. When face/eye detection doesn't work, I can simply override it by pressing AF ON and it focuses to the middle.

This video has helped me so much! Thank you for taking the time to make it.

I have just got the R6 having come from a 5D mk3, wondering how to set and use eye AF in conjunction with back button focus, or if BB focus was required anymore. I realised I still needed to be able to choose a manual point if there was an issue locking on to an eye or for shots without eyes. This video helped me greatly to get a feel for how it all worked together and I pretty much had it, just nice to have my mind put at rest that i was set up correctly. Using the top right of the screen to select a focus point is a nice feature so thanks for that tip too :) This is a big jump from the 5D mk3 so your video is most appreciated and very helpful. Thank you

I just got my R5 and RF 100-500 this afternoon. Watched your video and was out shooting in less than an hour. Awesome setup tips! This is my first experience with a Canon. Been shooting a Nikon D500 with a Tamron 150-600 for the past 6 years. Processed my first set of photos and can clearly see an improvement in the quality. Thanks for the advice!

Just what I needed Jan, traded in my 5D Mk IV for a R5 soon to be delivered. Very useful tips, thank you!

I was getting a bit frustrated over the last month with my R5 with the animal eye focus with birds, as it would at times struggle to find the bird and get lost on leaves and branches. Since switching to your dual back button AF systems my hit rate has gone way up, thanks Jan.

amazingly helpful. Saved me many hours of frustrating trial and error. You rock.

Thank you so much! Whenever my R5 arrives I'll have a head start!

This video helped me complete the process of setting up my R5 the way I want it to function. I had already made alot of changes to the settings, but your suggestions were great and I used them all. Thanks -