Canon R8 Mark II Setup: Menu Settings to Change First

To set up the Canon EOS R8 Mark II, charge the battery, format your card in the camera, then change a short list of menu items: Picture Style, white balance, lens corrections, noise reduction, subject detection, the display screens and the Quick Control menu. The settings below come from published reviews and a detailed public setup guide, with menu tab locations wherever the sources list them.

Before you touch the menus

Charge the battery, and plan for a spare

The R8 Mark II uses the small LP-E17 battery, rated at around 340 shots using the rear screen and 220 through the viewfinder. Digital Camera World notes that battery life is the same as on the original R8. Fstoppers' reviewer did report finishing a full-day trip of hybrid photo and video capture without needing a second charge. Charge the battery fully before setup, and if you plan long days or lots of video, buy a spare.

Format your card in the camera

The camera has a single SD card slot. The-Digital-Picture's setup guide says to always format a memory card in the camera before using it, from Tools Menu, Tab 1, and warns that all data on the card will be lost. The same guide suggests using the low level format option only occasionally, because of card wear. With one slot there is no automatic backup copy, so offload your photos often. The card door has also moved: Digital Camera World notes it is no longer in an awkward spot blocked by tripod plates.

Install Canon's software

The-Digital-Picture recommends downloading the latest versions of Canon Digital Photo Pro (DPP) and EOS Utility so your computer supports the new model. This matters more than it sounds, because several in-camera settings below only take effect in Canon's own software.

Want to shoot today? Start in A+ mode

The R8 Mark II has a fully automatic A+ mode, which Canon calls Scene Intelligent Auto. The-Digital-Picture's review says a complete beginner can charge and install the battery, insert a card, select the green A+ mode and let the camera handle everything. That is a fine way to spend your first afternoon. Come back to the settings below once you want more control.

Image settings to change first

The most detailed public source for this camera is The-Digital-Picture's "53 Steps to the Ultimate Canon EOS R8 Mark II Setup," which its author uses to prepare a factory-reset R8 II. In the site's earlier guide for the original R8, the author explains that copying the setup means shooting the same way, in RAW-only format. Treat the values below as a starting point for a RAW workflow, and adjust if you shoot JPEG.

Setting	Menu location	Value in the guide	Source
Picture Style	Shooting Menu, Tab 3 (Color mode)	Neutral, Sharpness Strength 1
White balance	Shooting Menu, Tab 5	AWB W (White)
Lens Aberration Correction	Shooting Menu, Tab 5	All off, with Chromatic aberration correction suggested as a minimum
High ISO speed NR	Shooting Menu, Tab 5	Low or Off
Shooting info. disp.	Shooting Menu, Tab 9	Screens 1, 2 and 3 enabled
Subject to detect	AF Menu, Tab 2	Auto, or match your subject
Format card	Tools Menu, Tab 1	Format before first use
Save/load cam settings on card	Tools Menu, Tab 6	Save to card

Picture Style

A Picture Style controls how contrasty and saturated your image looks on the screen. The guide sets Neutral with Sharpness Strength at 1, because the low-contrast Neutral style gives a histogram that best shows the available dynamic range. The author switches to Standard when processing in DPP, and notes that most other software ignores this setting. If you share JPEGs straight from the camera, try Standard instead, since Neutral is designed to look low in contrast.

White balance

The guide uses AWB W (White) on Shooting Menu, Tab 5, and points out that white balance does not change the RAW captured image. The author adjusts white balance modestly during editing instead. If you shoot RAW, auto white balance is a safe default you can fix later.

Lens corrections

Lens Aberration Correction covers Peripheral illumination correction, Distortion correction, Digital Lens Optimizer, Chromatic aberration correction and Diffraction correction. The guide's author turns them all off but suggests that photographers at least enable Chromatic aberration correction, and notes that non-Canon software ignores these settings. If you shoot JPEG, leaving the corrections on is a reasonable choice, because they are applied to the file you keep.

High ISO noise reduction

The guide sets High ISO speed NR to Low or Off, on the grounds that noise reduction destroys image detail and is better added sparingly during editing. The author expects non-Canon software to ignore this setting. JPEG shooters in dim light may prefer to leave it at the default.

Autofocus settings

The R8 Mark II uses Dual Pixel CMOS AF II with Deep Learning subject detection for people, animals and vehicles, including eye, face, head and body tracking. Canon quotes focusing in light as low as EV -7.5. If you want a deeper walkthrough of focus modes, the Canon EOS R8 autofocus modes guide covers the same family of controls.

Subject to detect

In AF Menu, Tab 2, the guide's author picks Auto most often, and switches to People, Animals, Vehicles or None to suit the scene. Camera Jabber's specification list says animal detection includes horses and vehicle detection includes aircraft and trains. Leave it on Auto for everyday shooting, and pick a specific subject when the camera keeps grabbing the wrong thing.

Register People Priority

Register People Priority lets you store up to 10 faces in the camera, or 100 on a card, so the camera prioritizes those people in a busy scene. Fstoppers suggests this could help when you only want the camera to focus on your own kid in a crowd. Register family members before a school event or birthday, not during it.

The new joystick

The original R8 had no joystick, and the R8 Mark II adds Canon's 8-way multi-controller. The-Digital-Picture says it works well but still requires pressing or holding for larger AF area changes. Use it to move your focus point while your eye stays at the viewfinder.

Three settings from the original R8 guide

The-Digital-Picture's guide for the original R8 enables Touch & drag AF, which lets your thumb drag across the rear screen to move the AF point while you look through the viewfinder. It also sets Orientation linked AF point to Separate AF pts: Pt only, so the camera remembers separate AF points for vertical and horizontal framing. It turns MF peaking on as well. Focus peaking makes manual focus far easier. On the original R8 these sit in AF Menu, Tabs 4 and 5, but menu positions shift between models: Subject to detect moved from AF Menu, Tab 1 on the R8 to Tab 2 on the Mark II. Look for them by name on your camera.

Drive modes and shutter

The R8 Mark II does not offer a full mechanical shutter. You choose between an electronic first-curtain shutter and a fully electronic one.

Mode	Specification	Source
Electronic first-curtain	6 fps, 30 s to 1/4000 s
Electronic shutter	40 fps, up to 1/16,000 s
Pre-continuous shooting (H+)	20 fps, about half a second before full press
Buffer	Up to 73 RAW files

Pre-continuous shooting adds up to 20 frames from before your full press, which Camera Jabber points to as useful for wildlife, kids and unpredictable travel moments. Canon says the buffer improved 30 percent for RAW and 58 percent for JPEG over the original R8. For everyday shooting, 6 fps is plenty. Switch to the 40 fps mode for action, and expect your card to fill quickly.

Set focus to One Shot for subjects that stay put and Servo for anything moving. Both that toggle and Anti-flicker shoot appear in the guide's Quick Control list. Try Anti-flicker when you shoot under indoor lighting that causes uneven exposures.

In-body stabilization

The original R8 had no in-body stabilization and relied on lens IS and digital IS for video. The R8 Mark II adds 5-axis IBIS rated to 7.5 stops at the center and 7.0 stops at the periphery. Digital Camera World expects fewer blurry shots as a result. IBIS steadies your hands, not your subject, so keep shutter speeds fast for people and pets in motion.

Set up the screens and Quick Control menu

The guide enables info screens 1, 2 and 3 under Shooting info. disp. on Shooting Menu, Tab 9. It edits screen 2 to show only basic shooting info and the electronic level, and screen 3 to show basic shooting info, the histogram and the electronic level. That gives you a clean view, a level for horizons, and an exposure check, all one button press apart.

On the same tab, the guide customizes the Quick Control menu with AF, One Shot or Servo, Drive mode, Anti-flicker shoot, Subject to detect, Focus bracketing, Pre-continuous Shooting, AF-MF and Switch focus/control ring. Put the settings you change most often in that menu so you rarely open the full menus during a shoot. The rear screen is a fully articulating 3-inch LCD.

Video settings to check before you hit record

The R8 Mark II records 4K UHD up to 60p oversampled from 6K, and Full HD up to 180fps. It offers Canon Log 3, HLG and PQ, a Cinema View 2.35:1 mode, LUT support, frame grab and MP4 recording. Fstoppers notes Slow and Fast Mode for conforming slow motion in camera, with audio support at higher frame rates.

Canon Log 3 looks washed out until you grade it. A LUT lets you preview a corrected image while you record. If you are new to video, start without Log and add it once you are comfortable editing. The-Digital-Picture's author also makes extra setting changes for video beyond the initial list. For general video basics, see the beginner's guide to shooting video.

Save your setup so you never redo it

Once everything is set, the guide uses Save/load cam settings on card in Tools Menu, Tab 6, then copies the setup file from the card's root folder to a computer for an easy restore. The author also recommends keeping an up-to-date list of your settings, so a factory reset during service or a second body can be set up quickly. Do both. A written list also helps you remember why you changed something. For more on menu habits across models, see the Canon camera menu setup guide.

Body only, kit, or the original R8

The R8 Mark II was announced at $1,899 body-only and $2,099 with the RF24-50mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens. Digital Camera World lists UK prices of £1,729 for the body and £2,119 for the kit.

The original R8 is lighter, at 461 grams against the Mark II's 546 grams. It lacks IBIS and the joystick. Camera Jabber suggests the used original R8 becomes the value pick if the Mark II's price climbs. The Canon R8 vs R8 Mark II comparison covers the trade-off in detail, and the best first lens guide for the R8 applies to both bodies.