Canon R8 Custom Buttons: Photo and Video Setup Guide

To set up the Canon EOS R8 custom buttons, open the Custom Functions menu, go to tab 3, and choose Customize buttons or Customize dials. Start by loading the Multi-function button with the few settings you change most, like drive mode, focus mode, exposure compensation and ISO, so they sit under your fingers instead of deep in a menu.

Think of your camera like a kitchen. The things you grab every day should sit on the counter. The rest can live in a drawer. Custom buttons are how you choose what goes on the counter.

Why the R8 needs a good button setup

The R8 is a small body, and some controls were left off to keep it small. Digital Camera World points out that it has no joystick and no thumb dial on the back. PetaPixel adds that it also lacks the image rating buttons found on the R6 Mark II.

Fewer buttons means each one has to work harder. A PetaPixel reviewer who moved from the R6 Mark II wrote that the main thing to get used to was the missing joystick. That is not a flaw you have to live with. It is a puzzle you solve once, with the settings below.

If you have not done the basic setup yet (date, card format, beep), start with the Canon EOS R8 first-time setup guide. For the picture and focus settings themselves, see the best Canon R8 settings for photo and video.

A quick map of the controls you can change

Control	Where you set it	What it helps with
Multi-function button	Custom Functions menu, tab 3: Customize buttons	Fast access to up to two rows of settings
Control ring	Custom Functions menu, tab 3: Customize dials	One setting you turn often
Quick Control button and screen	Q button on the body; Quick Control screen is one of the display options	A one-screen list of common settings you can tap
Touch & drag AF	AF menu, tab 4: Touch & drag AF settings	Moving the focus point while your eye is at the viewfinder
Custom shooting modes	C1 and C2 on the mode dial	Saving a whole setup you can return to
Shooting info display	Shooting menu, tab 9: Shooting info. disp.	Choosing what the screen shows you

Customize buttons: the Multi-function button

The menu path

The Digital Picture's 44-step R8 setup gives this path: Custom Functions menu, tab 3, Customize buttons, Multi-function button, then choose Dial function and press INFO to set the details. In that details screen you fill a top row and a bottom row.

Here is how it works in plain words. You press the button once. Then you turn a dial to change the setting it points at. Each row is a short list, and you pick what goes in each spot.

The layout The Digital Picture uses

The Digital Picture fills the top row with drive mode, One Shot or Servo, and exposure compensation, then leaves the last two spots off. The bottom row gets ISO, AF area, and flash exposure compensation, with the last two spots off.

Here is what each of those does, with a simple example:

• Drive mode: one photo per press for a still portrait, or a fast burst for a kid running.
• One Shot or Servo: One Shot is like taking a single snapshot of a sleeping cat. Servo is like your eyes following a ball as it rolls.
• Exposure compensation: if snow looks gray, nudge it brighter.
• ISO: like turning up the volume on a quiet song. It gets louder, and a little hiss can creep in.
• AF area: a tiny box for one eye, or the whole frame when you want the camera to find the subject. The R8 offers options from Spot AF to Whole Area AF.
• Flash exposure compensation: useful only when a flash is on the camera.

Having One Shot and Servo one press away is a simple fix for a lot of blurry photos. If your subject moves and you are in One Shot, the camera locks focus and the subject walks out of it. That is not a mistake on your part. It is a sign to flip to Servo.

Customize dials: the control ring

Many RF lenses have a control ring near the front. The Digital Picture sets it to OFF in the Custom Functions menu, tab 3, under Customize dials, and suggests using it for a function that makes sense for your needs.

Leaving it off at first is a calm way to start. An unused ring can't change a setting by accident when you bump it. Once you know which setting you reach for most, give the ring that one job. If the list on your camera includes exposure compensation or ISO, either one is a good first pick.

The Quick Control screen

The R8 has a Quick Control button, and the Quick Control screen is one of the display options listed in its specifications. The touch screen can be used for Quick Control, so you can tap a setting instead of scrolling to it.

Use the Quick Control screen for things you change now and then, not every minute. White balance and picture style are good examples. Keep the Multi-function button for the settings you touch on every shoot.

Touch & drag AF: the stand-in for a joystick

The Digital Picture turns on Touch & drag AF in the AF menu, tab 4. With it on, you slide your thumb across the rear screen to move the focus point while you look through the viewfinder.

Picture the screen as a trackpad on a laptop. Your thumb moves the box, and your eye stays on the subject.

One warning from real use, and it belongs to the reviewer who wrote it. The PetaPixel reviewer is left-eye dominant and could not use the screen as a touchpad because their nose moved the focus point. If that happens to you, it is normal. Try the eye you use and see how it feels.

A recommended photo layout

This layout builds on The Digital Picture's button setup and adds advice for the parts it leaves open.

Control	Suggested job	Why
Multi-function button, top row	Drive mode, One Shot or Servo, exposure compensation	The three settings that change when your subject changes
Multi-function button, bottom row	ISO, AF area, flash exposure compensation	Light and focus area in one place
Control ring	Off at first, then one setting you change often	Avoids accidental changes while you learn
Touch & drag AF	Enabled	Moves focus without a joystick
Quick Control screen	White balance, picture style and other less frequent settings	Keeps the button for daily changes

If you never use a flash, swap the flash exposure compensation slot for something you do use. A button only helps when it holds something you reach for.

A recommended video layout

The R8 has a photo and video switch on the top plate, taking the spot of the old power switch. That makes moving between stills and video a single flick.

The R8 can record 4K 60p, with C-Log3 and 10-bit 4:2:2 recording. PetaPixel lists 4K UHD 60p recording for up to 30 minutes internally. With that much to manage, the button you press most while filming should hold the settings that change between scenes.

For video, try this:

• Keep ISO and AF area on the Multi-function button. Light changes from room to room, and you may want the camera to track a face in one shot and hold a small box in the next.
• Keep exposure compensation there too, for scenes you film in an auto exposure mode.
• Swap flash exposure compensation and drive mode for settings you use while filming. A flash slot does nothing for video.
• Leave Touch & drag AF on, or tap to focus on the flip-out screen when you film from a tripod.

For the video menus themselves, the R8 Mark II video settings guide covers the newer body.

Custom modes and a personal menu tab

The R8 mode dial includes Custom Shooting Modes C1 and C2. Think of them as two saved recipes. You might save a sports setup on C1 and a portrait setup on C2, then turn the dial instead of changing ten settings.

The sources used for this guide do not print the steps for saving a custom mode, building a personal menu tab, or rearranging the Quick Control screen. Canon's user manual for your camera covers those, so follow it rather than guessing. Once you know which five or six menu items you visit every week, a personal tab is the place to collect them.

Display and power settings that help

The Digital Picture sets Shooting menu, tab 9, Shooting info. disp., to enable screens 1 to 4, with screen 2 showing only basic info and the electronic level, and screen 3 showing basic info, histogram and level. A level keeps horizons straight. A histogram is a hill chart of brightness: a hill stacked against the right wall means bright parts may be lost.

Battery is tight on this body. Digital Camera World notes Canon rates the R8 at 220 shots using the viewfinder. The Digital Picture disables the screen dimmer in Set-up menu, tab 3. Carrying a spare battery is the simplest fix.

R8 or R8 Mark II: what changes for button setup

Feature	Canon EOS R8	Canon EOS R8 Mark II
AF joystick	No	Yes
In-body stabilization	No	Yes
Custom shooting modes	C1, C2	Three for stills, three for movies
Rear screen	2.95 in. vari-angle touch screen	2.95 in. vari-angle touch screen
Low-light AF range	EV -6.5	EV -7.5
Price in PetaPixel's R8 II review	$1,349	$1,899

On the Mark II, the joystick takes over the job that Touch & drag AF does on the original. A PetaPixel reviewer wrote that the R8 II has the dials and controls in the places they expected. If you own the Mark II, the best Canon R8 Mark II settings guide covers its buttons and quick menu.

Because the R8 shares its sensor, processor and AF system with the R6 Mark II, the same thinking carries over to that body. The Canon R6 Mark II custom buttons guide covers its extra controls.

Write your layout down

The Digital Picture suggests keeping an up-to-date list of your menu setup, so you can rebuild it fast after a service reset or when you add a second camera. A note on your phone works fine.

Then give your new layout a week. Your fingers learn a button the way they learn a light switch in a new home. The first few days you reach for the wrong spot. After that, you stop thinking about it, and your attention goes back where it belongs: on the picture.