Canon R5 Mark II Settings for Underwater Photography

Are you looking for the best way to configure your Canon R5 Mark II for underwater photography? When I first got this camera, I spent half a day going through every menu item, changing the settings I thought would matter when shooting stills underwater (I’ve done that for every mirrorless camera I used). Then, I spent over 60 hours diving this camera for my DivePhotoGuide review, which led me to further improve on settings several times, based on in-water experience.

In this article, I’ll share exactly how I’ve customised my R5 II — from menu tweaks to button shortcuts and custom shooting modes, and I’ve explained my reasons, so you can decide if these apply to your own style & subjects, or whether you want to do things differently.

I expect most these recommendations are vastly applicable to the Canon R1, and most likely to the Canon R5 / Canon R6 / Canon R6 Mark II / Canon R7, except for a few functions that may be missing on the older bodies.

An important disclaimer: I am primarily a stills shooter. I’ve done some basic setup to suit my preferences (4K only, relying on subject tracking, etc.), but I haven’t fine-tuned every video setting or mode (hence the short section at the very end). A full-time videographer would likely configure the R5 II quite differently for filmmaking.

Index

• How to apply those settings to your camera
• My settings in Photo mode:
  • Shooting menu (red tab)
  • Autofocus menu (pink tab)
  • Playback menu (blue tab)
  • Communication functions menu (purple tab)
  • Set-up menu (yellow tab)
  • Control customization menu (green tab) + how I’ve configured 7 camera buttons as shortcuts
  • Custom functions menu (orange tab) + my 3 custom shooting modes
• My settings in Video mode
• Download my camera settings

How to apply those settings to your camera

I’m only mentioning those settings I changed from the defaults (with a few exceptions worth discussing), so the simplest way to configure your Canon R5II like mine is to reset your camera to factory defaults, then scroll through this article and apply the changes as described.

If you’re a member of The Underwater Club, you can simply download my saved settings onto your memory card, and your R5II will be automatically configured like mine.

Shooting menu (red tab)

Sub menu: Image Quality/Size

• Image Type/Size → RAW only (Default: RAW+JPEG/HEIF available). I want the best image quality and editing latitude, so I always shoot RAW. Take our underwater camera settings course, if you’re unsure why this is important.

Sub menu: Exposure

• ISO Speed Range → 100–6400 (Auto ISO) (Default: 100–12,800). With Auto ISO enabled, I don’t want the camera noise creeping up too much. ISO 6400 is my personal ceiling on the R5II, and if you were applying my recommendations on a cropped-sensor camera (such as the Canon R7), I wouldn’t go past ISO 1600.
• External Speedlite control: this line includes sub-menus “Flash C.Fn Settings” and “Flash Function Settings“, which can only be accessed if your flash trigger is recognised as a Speedlite. If it is, that’s where you’ll choose some power consumption settings (e.g. “Auto power off” -> refer to your flash trigger’s manual) and whether the flash should fire at the beginning or at the end of the exposure (first vs second curtain synchronisation).

Sub menu: White Balance/Quality Correction

• White Balance → Auto (Default: Auto). I usually keep my WB on Auto since I always colour-correct my RAWs in post, unless I use a wet lens that brings a colour cast (e.g. the Nauticam EMWL), in which case I like taking a manual WB measurement and using that instead.

Sub menu: Shutter Control

• Drive Mode → Single Shot (Default: High Speed Continuous +). Single-shooting is go-to setting, but I’ll change to burst shooting it via the Q menu, when needed.
• Shutter Mode → Electronic 1st Curtain (Default: Electronic ES). This is the mode you need to use to reach the highest flash synchro speed (1/250th). Note: the name can cause confusion, but this setting doesn’t impact whether the flash will fire at the beginning or end of the exposure (this sits in the Flash Function Settings menu item).

Sub menu: Assist Shooting

• Customise Quick controls → This is where you decide which settings are accessible in the Quick Control screen (when pressing the “Q” button). I’ve chosen controls which I use frequently but for which I ran out of camera buttons/dials to re-assign. I suggest you configure this to your liking, or just use my Q menu, if you’re uploading my settings to your camera.
• Image review / viewfinder display → Enable (Default: Disable). I want the photo to quickly show up in the viewfinder so can check that my strobes did their job.
• Display simulation → Disable (Default: ExpSIM). When using strobes (which is most the time), I don’t want the display to try and simulate what the exposure will look like, since it can’t predict the effect of my strobes. When shooting ambient light or with only continuous artificial lights, I will toggle back to ExpSIM.
• Shooting info. disp. → I’ve drastically reduced the number of screens to cycle through when pressing the INFO button. By default, I always want to have the detailed shooting infos (“Mission control”). I like to have the histogram displayed in a different view (available only in ExpSIM mode)I’ve keft the EVF vertical display ON (it is nice that it rotates shooting data when shooting verticals).
• Display frame rate set. → Kept default (Power saving): to save power, the viewfinder will refresh only 60 times per second, which I find more than adequate, and I like conserving battery life.
• VF display format → Display 2 (zoomed out) (Default: Display 1 – full screen). With my Nauticam 40° angled viewfinder, I cansee the R5 II’s display edges fully, but I still prefer the display to be smaller, so I can still see my composition from some distance away.

Autofocus Menu (Pink Tab)

Sub menu: AF operation/area

• AF Operation → Kept default (Servo AF). The AI Focus mode just chooses automatically between One Shot and Servo. I prefer knowing what the camera is doing, so I keep it on Servo (continuous tracking), which I found quite dependable on the Canon R5II.

Sub menu: Subject detection

• Subject to detect → Animals (Default: People). Works well with a range of marine life, though it gets confused at times.

Sub menu: Customize AF operation

• Servo 1st image priority → Release Priority (Default: Equal priority). I want the camera to take a photo, even if it thinks it hasn’t nailed the focus yet.
• AF assist beam firing → OFF (Default: ON). Useless underwater, and may consume battery.

Sub menu: Customized controls

• Limit AF areas → Kept only Spot AF/Expand AF area: Around/Whole Area AF. I’ve disabled AF areas I’m not interested in, so I can toggle quickly between the useful ones (dedicated button assigned for this – see below).
• Limit subject to detect → Kept only “Animals” and “Disabled”. I want to toggle between animal detection and no detection at all, in case the camera picks the wrong subject. Again, I’ve assigned a dedicated button for this.

Playback Menu (Blue Tab)

Sub menu: Various settings

• Playback information display → I have drastically reduced the number of screens to toggle through when reviewing an image. Essentially, I am only interested in seeing the image in full, with the histogram, and see the exposure parameters that were used.
• AF point display → Kept default (Disable) (Default: Disable). I initially had it enabled, but I found it distracting, so I left it off.

Communication Functions Menu (Purple Tab)

Sub menu: Network settings

• Airplane mode → On (Default: Off). Useless underwater. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi disabled are both disabled, to save battery.

Set-up Menu (Yellow Tab)

Sub menu: File/card setting

• Auto rotate → On Computer (Default: On Camera/Computer). I don’t want verticals to be auto-rotated when reviewing images in-camera; but I like having this done automatically in editing software.

Sub menu: Country/Area/Guidance/Audio settings

• System frequency → 59.94 Hz NTSC (Default: 50 Hz PAL). Changed because I live in Australia, pick one that matches your region. Attention: if you restore camera settings from a previous copy, the R5II will default to 50 Hz, even if you had saved 60 Hz.
• Volume (for beeps) → Disabled all except Shutter volume + Self timer volume. The shutter volume is only useful when using the electronic shutter. Otherwise, I find camera beeps distracting.

Sub menu: Customize display

• Screen brightness → 2 (Default: 4). I will only increase the brightness if I am working with a model under lots of ambient light, and need to show them photos on a regular basis.
• Viewfinder brightness → 2 by day; 1 or 2 by night (Default: Auto). Adjusting the brightness of the display where you review photos is key, to avoid under-exposing your images.
• Screen/viewfinder color tone → To pick underwater (Default: Standard). During the dive, I choose whichever of the four EVF tones that makes it easiest to see subjects in the current conditions (water clarity and water colour). You can further adjust the colour balance with the “Fine-tune VF color tone” setting.
• Screen/viewfinder display → Kept default (Auto 1). I’m letting the camera use it’s eye sensor to auto-swtich between EVF and Rear Screen, because my Nauticam NA-R5II housing has a LCD/EVF lever that simulates the presence of an eye, making use of that feature. Depending on the layout of your housing, you might have to pick another mode, whereby you need to press a button to toggle between LCD and EVF.
• Power saving / Screen dimmer → Kept default (5 sec)
• Power saving / Screen off → 15 sec (Default: Disable). Changed to conserve battery.
• Power saving / Auto Power off → 15 sec (Default: 30 sec). Changed to conserve battery.
• Power saving / Viewfinder off → Kept default (1 min)

Sub menu: Various settings

• Auto power off → 15 sec (Default: 30 sec)Changed to consume less battery.
• Copyright information → Nicolas REMY & Lena REMY – All Rights Reserved. Set yours so your personal data is embedded in the RAW files by the camera.

Sub menu: Reset/All settings

• Custom shooting mode (C1–C3) auto update → Enable (Default: Disable). With this enabled, whenever I am in a custom shooting mode (scroll down to see the ones I’ve setup), any changes I make are saved automatically to that mode.

Control Customization Menu (Green Tab)

Sub menu: Customized controls when shooting

This is the menu where you can give most camera buttons/dials another function, so that you can quickly access those features which you need most frequently. Here’s a recap of what I’ve done:

Camera control	Where it is on my NA-R5II housing	Allocated Function	Rationale
DOF preview button	right pimkie lever	Disables flash (toggle on/off)	I regularly take test shots without strobes, to gauge how the water background looks, with my current settings.
AF-ON	right thumb lever	kept default (enables AF & metering)	99% of the time I focus with the shutter buttonl, and will only switch to back-button focus when I see the camera is struggling.
AF Point button	right thumb button	Toggles AF modes	Pressing this button lets me quickly swap between the few AF modes that I use.
AE lock button	right thumb button	Toggles subject detection ON/OFF	Lets me quickly disable animal detection, in case I see the camera is getting confused.
Movie recording button	right thumb lever	Registers focus preset	If my lens is hunting for focus (supermacro), I’ll register the subject distance with this lever.
M-Fn button	right thumb lever	Recalls focus preset	Then, once the subject is back in position, I’ll push this other lever so the camera prefocuses at the right distance (only if it lost the subject).
SET	right thumb button (I need to take off my hand of the handle)	Displays the White balance options	Lets me swap between auto WB, specific colour temperatures, custom white balances, etc.
Rate	Left thumb button	Protects image	By default this button adds a rating and lets you record a memo for an image, I’d rather be able to protect a photo that I really like.

I’ve also tweaked the role of the 3 dials:

• Customize dials/control ring: I changed to 1: Shutter speed / 2: Aperture / 3: ISO (Default order was 1: Shutter speed / 2: ISO / 3: Aperture) This is a matter of personal preference. I am more used to my index finger controlling the shutter speed, and my thumb the aperture.

Sub menu: Customized controls when playbackB

• Customize buttons for playback → Changed “Rate button” from Rating/Voice memo to Protect. I won’t be recording a memo underwater! But I like a quick way to protect images.

Sub menu: Customized controls/reset

• Eye control → Kept default (Off): Alas, Canon’s unique Eye control AF doesn’t work with a scuba mask.

Custom Functions (Orange Menu)

Sub menu: Shooting mode/exposure

• Restrict shooting modes → I’ve disabled all the shooting modes which I know I won’t need in the water, so it’s quicker to toggle between those shooting modes that I use, including my custom C1/C2/C3 modes.

Custom Shooting Modes

Finally, the 4 shooting modes I use underwater serve the following purposes:

• M (Manual) mode: my default for strobe-lit underwater photography
• C1: my backup, when the autofocus struggles
• C2: adjusts my exposure parameters when I want to be creative with slow shutter speed / intentional camera movement techniques (watch masterclass on this technique)
• C3: suitable to shoot fast swimming subjects with ambient light only (e.g. seals or dolphins close to the surface)

And here how I have configured them:

Key settings changed	M mode	C1	C2	C3
Shutter speed	Variable, but min. 1/30	Variable, but min. 1/30	Low, e.g. 1/2	1/500 or faster
Aperture	variable	variable	high, e.g. 1/16	variable
ISO	variable	variable	low, e.g. ISO 100	variable (auto ISO)
Flash	enabled	enabled	enabled	disabled
Autofocus control	Front button	Back button	Front button	Front button
AF mode	Servo	One shot	Servo	Servo
Subject detection	Animal	Off	Animal	Animal
Shutter mode	Electronic First Curtain	Electronic First Curtain	Electronic First Curtain	Electronic ES
Drive mode	Single (may swap to 12 FPS for super macro)	Single	Single	10 to 30 FPS
Auto ISO	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Enabled
Display simulation	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled	Exposure ExpSIM

My Settings In Video Mode

As mentioned above, I haven’t gone through every video setting like I did with the settings which apply to shooting stills. Below is a brief recap of what I have changed.

System frequency (yellow menu): picked 60Hz (59.94 actually) because I live in Australia and 30 / 60 FPS works for me in general.

Image quality/size (red menu):

• when image quality is my priority, I shoot 4K-D Fine (which is 8K oversampled) 29.97p LGOP, in YCC 422 10bits. In this case, I my shutter speed is 1/60th and my aperture/ISO adjusted according to the scene. This has been assigned to my C1 custom shooting mode for videos.
• when capturing action or slow-motion is my priority, I shoot 4K-D (which is 4K subsampled) 119.9p LGOP in YCC 422 10bits (with “High Frame Rate” enabled). In this scenario, my shutter speed is 1/240th. This is my C2 custom shooting mode.

Last but not least, I did minor tweaks to the AF (pink menu), just like I did for stills, so that subject detection only works for animals, and can be easily disabled.

Download My Camera Settings

About The Author

Nicolas Remy is an Australia-based pro shooter and founder of online underwater photography school and community, The Underwater Club, with members in 18 countries. He serves as an ambassador for Mares and Nauticam, and chairs the jury of the prestigious DPG Masters photo competition. Nicolas’ images have been widely published in print and digital media, and have won over 40 international photo awards. To see more images by Nicolas and his wife Léna, visit their website, www.nicolaslenaremy.com.