31 Steps to the Perfect Canon EOS M5 Setup

I have a Canon EOS M5 in my hands and it is time to set up the camera for use. Following are the 31 steps I took to make an out-of-the-box Canon EOS M5 ready to use (please note that these steps may change slightly as I continue to dial in this camera for my uses).

1. Open the box, find the battery, place it in the charger and plug it in.
2. While the battery is charging, unpack the other items you want from the box.
3. Download and install the Canon Solution Disk software on your computer to get support for the latest camera(s). Canon Digital Photo Pro (DPP), EOS Utility, Photostitch and Lens Registration Utility are the options I manually include in the install.
4. Attach the neck strap.
5. Insert the battery (after charging completes) and power the camera on.
6. The date, time and time zone setup screen will show at the first startup. Use the Rear Control dial and the Set button to update this information.
7. Insert a memory card (don't forget to format the card via the tools menu option before taking pictures).
8. Set the camera's mode to Av, Tv or M (some modes provide only a small subset of available menu options).
9. Scroll through all of the menu tabs to configure the camera as follows:
10. Shooting Menu, Tab 1: Image quality: Use top dial to set RAW to "RAW" and Rear Control dial to set JPEG to "-"
11. Shooting Menu, Tab 1: Shooting information display: Screen info/toggle settings: Update #1 to select only Grid display and Electronic level (all options selected for #2), uncheck #3 and #4 (I may alter these settings later)
12. Shooting Menu, Tab 1: Shooting information display: VF info/toggle settings: Uncheck #1, update #2 to select only Grid display and Electronic level, check all options for #3 (again, I may alter these settings later)
13. Shooting Menu, Tab 1: Shooting information display: Histogram dispay: RGB
14. Shooting Menu, Tab 2: Image review: 4 sec.
15. Shooting Menu, Tab 3: Continuous AF: Off
16. Shooting Menu, Tab 4: MF Peaking Settings: Peaking: On
17. Shooting Menu, Tab 4: Lens aberration correction: disable all (I correct lens aberrations during post processing if warranted)
18. Shooting Menu, Tab 5: Auto Lighting Optimizer: Off
19. Shooting Menu, Tab 6: Picture Style: Neutral with Sharpness = 1 (Note: the low contrast "Neutral" picture style provides a histogram on the back of the camera that most-accurately shows me blown highlights and blocked shadows on the camera LCD. I usually change the Picture Style to "Standard" in DPP after capture.)
20. Shooting Menu, Tab 6: Long exp. noise reduction: Auto
21. Shooting Menu, Tab 6: High speed NR: Off (or Low) (noise reduction is destructive to images details - I prefer to add NR sparingly in post)
22. Tools Menu, Tab 3: Beep: Off
23. Tools Menu, Tab 3: Hints & Tips: Off
24. Tools Menu, Tab 4: Custom shooting mode (C1, C2): Auto update set: Enable (see also: Configuring Custom Shooting Modes)
25. Custom Functions Menu, Tab 1: C.Fn II: Others: Set M.Fn button to ISO (I may make more changes here after acclimating to this camera)
26. My Menu: Add the first tab; Register the following options for Tab 1: Long exposure noise reduction, Format card, Date/Time/Zone (great for monitoring what time it is), Expo.comp./AEB (found back up near the top of the list)
27. To get to the Playback Menu, take a picture, playback the picture and while it is displayed, press the Menu button.
28. Playback Menu, Tab 4: Highlight Alert: Enable
29. Playback Menu, Tab 4: Auto Rotate: Off
30. Playback Menu, Tab 5: * resize: Enable
31. Playback Menu, Tab 5: Magnify (approx.): Actual size

To copy this configuration would mean that you intend to shoot similar to how I shoot - including shooting in RAW-only format. While this setup works great for me, your best use of this list may be for tweaking your own setup.

Unless you are certain that you can remember your own menu setup parameters, keeping an up-to-date list such as this one is a good idea. Anytime your camera goes in for a service visit, the camera will be returned in a reset-to-factory state (unless you request otherwise). Your list will ensure that you do not miss an important setting when putting the camera back into service.

More Information: Canon EOS M5