Why You Need to use the Canon G10's Custom Settings (C1 & C2)

I started out this post thinking I need to write an entry describing how to use the G10's Custom Settings (C1 or C2 on the Mode dial). After I looked over the manual, however, it was so straightforward that I changed my mind. Canon has given G10 users a custom settings feature that is so straightforward to use that everyone, except the point-it-and-shoot-at-it crowd, should be using C1 and C2.

I suspect a large number of G10 users will ignore the little C1 and C2 settings on their mode dial, but they shouldn't. Even casual users could take advantage of it. "Why?", you ask. Well, two reasons.

Reason No. 1: It is Faster, A Lot Faster!

Let's just say you have been using the G10 in Landscape Scene mode and decide you would like to customize a few things. So you go into Aperture mode, tweak a number of things (some of which are buried in hard to find nooks and crannies). Now you have it perfect, just the way you like it.

The trouble is, the next time you shoot a landscape may be months later. All your settings have been change 10-times over. Are you really going to stand there for the next 30 minutes fiddling with the camera while your bored kids are jumping up and down on your last nerve, or the wonderful shadows and bright colors have been flattened by incoming clouds? Of course not. You are going to save your settings to C1 or C2, turn your Mode dial to C1 or C2 and shoot.

Reason No. 2: You'll Make Less Mistakes!

I have a hard drive full of rejected images that would be fantastic, except one or two little settings. In the vast majority of those cases I wasn't using a custom setting to configure the camera. Instead, I did it the old fashion way, setting each parameter manually.

Chances are, you are going to forget one or two little settings if you try to set everything from memory every time. Don't! Save your most commonly used settings to C1 or C2 and simply spin that little mode dial.

A Note to Canon

I really wish there were more custom settings, perhaps C1 to C10. No, I don't want a bigger dial, but I do wish I could save some of the settings by name and recall them. Perhaps a way to name them and copy them to C1 or C2. Once you start using the custom settings, it is really hard to narrow things down to 2 sets. Please don't make us wait for a G11.