Sony a6700 Custom Buttons: Fn Menu, C1 to C3 and Dials

To set up Sony a6700 custom buttons, press MENU, open the Setup tab, choose Operation Customize, then Custom Key/Dial Set.. The Fn menu sits on that same screen under Fn Menu Settings, and it holds 12 functions for photos and a separate 12 for video.

Why custom buttons make manual shooting easier

When you first leave auto mode, the hard part is often not the idea. It is finding the setting fast enough, before the moment is gone.

Think of your camera like a kitchen. If the spoon you use every day sits in a box in the garage, cooking feels slow and annoying. Custom buttons move that spoon into the drawer right next to the stove.

Sony's manual says the custom key function lets you put the functions you use most onto buttons and dials that are easy to reach. The manual also recommends assigning frequently used functions to easily operable buttons, so a single press calls them up. You can change the jobs of the buttons, including the Custom Buttons C1 to C3, to suit the way you shoot.

Nothing you do on these screens can harm the camera. If a button ends up doing something strange, you go back and give it a new job. Every odd result is just a clue about what you want next time.

Where each setup screen lives

The menu screen opens when you press the MENU button, and from there you can change settings for shooting, playback and more. The menu tabs are grouped by what you are doing, such as shooting, playback and network settings. Almost everything in this guide lives in one place: MENU, then Setup, then Operation Customize.

What you want to change	Menu path from Sony's manual	Source
Fn menu (12 photo slots, 12 video slots)	MENU → Setup → Operation Customize → Fn Menu Settings
C1 to C3 and other keys	MENU → Setup → Operation Customize → Custom Key/Dial Set. or Custom Key Setting
Front dial, rear dial, control wheel	Custom Key/Dial Set., also reachable from MENU → Setup → Dial Customize
Saved dial setups 1 to 3	Custom Key/Dial Set., then select the key that will recall them
Held shooting settings (Recall Custom hold 1 to 3)	Custom Key/Dial Set., select a key, then choose Recall Custom hold 1, 2 or 3

The manual lists Custom Key/Dial Set. twice in this path, next to Custom Key Setting. The camera keeps photo and video settings apart in places like the Fn menu. So when you see two entries with the same name, pick the one that matches what you are shooting right now, photos or video.

Set up the Fn menu

The Fn menu is your camera's home screen. Press the Fn button while shooting and a menu of frequently used functions, such as Drive Mode and Focus Mode, appears on the screen. It shows 12 functions along the bottom of the screen.

Picture the 12 apps you keep on the first page of your phone. You put the ones you open every day there, and you hide the rest in folders. The Fn menu works the same way.

Steps

1. Press MENU to open the menu screen.
2. Go to Setup → Operation Customize → Fn Menu Settings.
3. Choose whether you are editing the photo list or the video list, since each holds its own 12 functions.
4. Work through the slots one at a time, giving each one a setting you reach for often.
5. Press Fn on the shooting screen to check your new layout.

Touch shortcuts

When Touch Operation is On and Shooting Screen under Touch Panel Settings is On, you can tap your way around the function menu. With those same settings, holding your finger on an icon in the function menu opens Fn Menu Settings directly. If you set Swipe Up under Shooting Screen to Open the Fn Menu, a quick upward swipe on the shooting screen opens the function menu. Touch also works on the main menu screen when Menu Screen under Touch Panel Settings is set to On.

Touch is handy for slow, careful work. Buttons are often easier when you are wearing gloves or looking through the viewfinder, so it helps to learn both.

Assign C1, C2 and C3

A custom button is like speed dial on a phone. You save a number once, then one press calls it. If you assign functions to C1 to C3 ahead of time, one press calls them up while you are shooting or playing back pictures. Sony assigns recommended functions to these buttons by default.

Steps

1. Go to MENU → Setup → Operation Customize → Custom Key/Dial Set. (or Custom Key Setting).
2. Select the custom button you want to change.
3. Press the center of the control wheel, and the functions that button can hold will appear.
4. Select the function you want.

Before you change anything, press each C button once and watch the screen. The default jobs might already suit you. If you change a button and later miss its old job, you can always go back and put it there again.

Change what the dials do

The front dial and rear dial let you change setting values quickly. The manual lists changing camera settings during shooting as one of the times to use them. You can assign the functions you want to each dial through Custom Key/Dial Set.. The same screens are also reachable from MENU → Setup → Dial Customize.

Think of the dials as volume knobs. One knob turning up the brightness by letting light in for longer, another turning it up by opening the lens wider. A simple plan for manual mode is one dial for shutter speed, one dial for aperture, and the control wheel for ISO. That way the three settings that control brightness each get their own knob, and you never have to dig for them.

Save up to three dial setups

Sony also lets you save up to three different dial setups, numbered 1 to 3, using the front dial, rear dial and control wheel. You switch to a saved setup by pressing a custom key you picked in advance. To pick that key, go to Custom Key/Dial Set. and select the key you want to use for recalling the saved dial setups. In the manual's example, C1 does this job, and pressing it again steps to setup number 3.

One catch: a saved setup where every dial and wheel is set to Not set gets skipped when you press the key. If pressing the key seems to jump over a setup, that empty setup is the reason, and it is an easy fix.

This feature works like the presets on a car radio. Setup 1 could be your everyday photo dials, and setup 2 could give the dials different jobs for a specific kind of shoot.

Hold a button for a second set of settings

This is the most powerful trick on the list, so take it slowly. Sony calls it Reg. Custom Shoot Set, and you reach it through MENU → Setup → Operation Customize → Custom Key/Dial Set., where you select a key and choose one of Recall Custom hold 1 to 3.

On the shooting screen, you hold down that key and press the shutter button, and the saved settings work only while you keep holding the key. You can change the saved settings after you assign the registration number to the key.

It works like a walkie-talkie button. Hold it and you are using the second set of settings. Let go and the camera goes back to normal. For example, your normal setup could be for calm portraits, while the held key carries a faster shutter speed for a child who suddenly runs past.

Depending on the lens attached and what the camera is doing at that moment, the saved settings may not take effect. Try your held settings at home before you rely on them somewhere important.

A recommended photo layout

These are suggestions to start from, not rules. Setting names in your menu may read a little differently, so pick the closest match. If a function you want is not offered for a slot or button, choose the next item on your list.

Fn slot	Photo function	Why it earns a spot
1	Drive Mode	Switch between one shot and a burst for moving subjects
2	Focus Mode	Pick focus once for still subjects or keep focusing on moving ones
3	Focus Area	Choose how much of the frame the camera searches for focus
4	Subject recognition	Help the camera find eyes and faces
5	ISO	Brighten dark scenes when you cannot slow the shutter
6	White Balance	Fix pictures that look too orange or too blue
7	Exposure Compensation	Make the whole picture a little brighter or darker
8	Metering Mode	Tell the camera which part of the scene to measure light from
9	File Format	Choose JPEG, RAW or both
10	SteadyShot	Turn stabilization on handheld, off on a tripod
11	Self-timer or silent shutter	Group photos or quiet places
12	Your choice	The setting you find yourself hunting for most

For the C buttons in photo work, a good start is focus area on C1, ISO on C2, and one held set of settings on C3 for fast action. The dials handle shutter speed and aperture, so your thumb covers the whole exposure triangle without opening a menu.

A recommended video layout

Remember that the video Fn menu is its own list of 12, separate from the photo list. Set it up while you are in movie shooting so you edit the right one.

Fn slot	Video function	Why it earns a spot
1	Recording format and frame rate	Pick smooth normal motion or slow motion
2	Picture profile or look	Choose the color style of your footage
3	ISO	Adjust brightness while keeping shutter speed steady
4	White Balance	Keep skin tones even from clip to clip
5	Focus Mode	Switch between automatic and manual focus
6	Focus Area	Control where the camera looks for focus
7	Subject recognition	Keep focus on a person's face
8	SteadyShot	Smoother handheld footage
9	Audio recording level	Stop loud voices from crackling
10	Zebra display	Stripes that warn you when bright areas are too bright
11	Exposure Compensation	Quick brightness nudges in auto exposure
12	Your choice	The setting you change most between clips

For video, a simple button plan is subject recognition on C1, SteadyShot on C2, and zebras on C3. Let the dials handle aperture and ISO, since shutter speed usually stays put in video once you set it for your frame rate.

Small mistakes that are easy to fix

• Editing the wrong list. Photo and video each have their own Fn list. If your change seems missing, check whether you set up the other one.
• A dial setup gets skipped. Setups where every dial is Not set are skipped. Give at least one dial a job.
• Held settings do nothing. The saved settings may not take effect depending on the lens and camera status. Try a different lens or check the camera is on the shooting screen.
• Lost track of your settings. The Main tab in the menu shows a list of your current shooting settings, and selecting one opens its menu item so you can change it.
• A red badge on the Setup tab. On firmware Ver.2.00 or later, a red notification badge on the Setup tab, Setup Option and Version means newer camera software is available.

Each of these is a normal part of learning a new camera. Once you fix one, you understand the camera a little better than before.

Where to go next

Sony's manual describes many customization features, including saving shooting settings to custom keys, and suggests combining them to make the camera easier to use. Start with the Fn menu, live with it for a week, then add one custom button at a time. Small steps stick.

If you are still setting up a new camera, the Sony A6700 setup guide for photo and video beginners covers the first menu changes. For exposure and focus choices, read the best Sony A6700 settings for beginner photographers. Video shooters can continue with a6700 video settings and fast photo and video switching, and night shooters with a6700 low light settings.

For more setup guides like this one, sign up for the thecamera.school newsletter.