Canon EOS R6 V

Introduction

This is a beginner’s tutorial for the Canon EOS R6 V camera kit used in the multimedia program.

The Canon R6 V is a full-frame mirrorless camera built for video. “Full-frame” means it has a large image sensor, which produces high image quality and works well in dim light. “Mirrorless” means there is no optical viewfinder to hold to your eye; you compose everything on the flip-out screen.

An advanced tutorial will cover more manual control later. This tutorial covers

Before every shoot, check the settings. Check the Recommended Settings section at the bottom of this page. A previous student may have changed something. Scroll through the tables and confirm the camera matches before you leave the building.

What is in the Kit

Your kit comes in a Pelican case. Check that everything is there when you pick it up and again before you return it.

• Canon EOS R6 V camera body, permanently mounted in a SmallRig HawkLock cage with a small side handle attached
• Canon RF 20-50mm f/4 L IS USM PZ lens, a power zoom lens (explained in Zooming)
• SmallRig top handle, which you attach yourself
• RODE VideoMic Pro+ shotgun microphone with its shock mount, foam windscreen and 3.5mm cable
• Sony MDR-7506 headphones
• Delkin 512GB CFexpress Type B memory card, usually already in the camera
• Two Canon batteries and a charger
• USB-C cable for transferring footage
• Allen wrench and slot tool, stored inside the cage (see Attaching the Top Handle)

Camera Overview

Take a minute to learn the names of the controls. The rest of this tutorial refers to them by name.

• Lens: the RF 20-50mm power zoom. “20-50mm” is the zoom range, from wide angle (20mm) to a mild telephoto (50mm).
• Zoom lever: a rocker on the front of the body marked W (wide) and T (telephoto). It zooms the lens for you.
• Front record button: a second record button on the front, handy when the camera is on a tripod and you are standing beside it.
• Tally lamp: a small red light on the front. It glows while you are recording so your subject (and you) can see the camera is rolling.

• Power switch: turns the camera on and off.
• Photo/video switch: chooses still photos or movie recording. It must be on the video position for everything in this tutorial.
• Mode dial: chooses how the camera sets brightness. We use Fv.
• Record button (red dot): starts and stops recording.
• Shutter button: takes still photos. In video mode, pressing it halfway makes the camera focus. Otherwise ignore it.
• Main dial: the ridged wheel near the shutter button. Used to change values.
• Color button: opens the color profile menu. Leave the color profile alone in this class.
• Hot shoe: the metal slot on top for accessories. We do not use it; the microphone mounts on the cage instead.

• Screen: a 3-inch touchscreen that flips out and rotates. There is no eyepiece viewfinder on this camera; the screen is your only view.
• MENU button: opens the menu system.
• INFO button: changes what information is shown over the picture.
• Q button: opens the Quick Control screen, a shortcut menu for common settings.
• Rear control dial with SET button: a wheel you turn to move through menus and change values. It also works as a four-way pad; pressing its top, bottom, left or right edge opens a shortcut (zebras, focus peaking, focus point, audio). The button in its center is SET, which confirms a choice.
• Buttons 1, 2 and 3: three small numbered buttons. Out of the box they are AF-ON (button 1, forces the camera to focus), exposure lock (button 2), and magnify (button 3).
• Playback button: reviews footage.
• Delete button: do not use it. Never delete clips in the camera.

• MIC jack: where the microphone plugs in (3.5mm).
• Headphone jack: where the headphones plug in (3.5mm). It looks just like the MIC jack. Check the label.
• USB-C port: for transferring footage and for charging.
• HDMI port: for an external monitor. Not used in this class.

• Card slot 1: takes the CFexpress Type B card.
• Card slot 2: takes an SD card. Leave it empty.
• Battery door: on the bottom of the camera.

How to use this camera

Attaching the Top Handle

The side handle stays on the camera permanently. The top handle comes off for storage, so you attach it each time you check out the kit.

Finding the tools

SmallRig hides two tools in the rig. Both are held in place by magnets.

• The allen wrench (an L-shaped hex key) is tucked into the bottom of the side handle. It can be stubborn. Use a fingernail to pry it out.
• The slot tool (a flat blade for tightening screws) is in the bottom of the cage.

Always put the tools back when you are done. The next student needs them.

Mounting the handle

• Affix the top handle to the top of the camera cage. Two tabs should line up with the holes in the cage. Hand-screw the silver ring to initially tighten.
• Use the alllen wrench in the bottom of the SmallRig to tighten further, but do not overtighten. You want it snug, but overtightening can damage the rig.
• Give the handle a firm tug upward. The camera will hang from this handle, so do not skip this check.

The top handle lets you carry the rig by the middle and shoot from a low angle. The side handle is for regular handheld shooting.

Battery

The camera uses a Canon LP-E6P battery. Your kit has two. A full battery lasts roughly one to two hours of shooting, depending on screen brightness and how much the lens is focusing and zooming. Keep the spare charged.

Charging the battery

• Slide the battery into the charger with the metal contacts going in first.
• The lamp on the charger blinks while charging and turns solid green when the battery is full. A full charge takes about two hours.

You can also charge a battery inside the camera by plugging a USB-C power adapter (the kind that charges a laptop) into the camera’s USB-C port. The adapter is not in the kit.

Inserting the battery

• Turn the camera off.
• The battery compartment is on the bottom of the camera. Slide the latch to open the door.
• Insert the battery with the contacts going in first. The battery only fits one way. If it resists, do not force it; turn it around.
• Push until it clicks. Close the door.

Warning: never force the battery. It slides in with almost no resistance when it is oriented correctly.

Removing the battery

• Open the battery door.
• Push the small colored lever inside the compartment to the side. The battery pops loose.
• Slide it out.

Checking the battery level

The battery icon in the corner of the screen shows how much charge is left. When it turns red, swap in the spare.

Memory Card

The camera records to a CFexpress Type B card, a fast memory card about the size of a large postage stamp. The Delkin 512GB card in your kit holds many hours of footage at our recommended settings. In most cases the card is already in the camera when you check it out.

The camera has a second slot for an SD card. Leave it empty. If you ever fill the card on a shoot, you can buy an SD card (look for “UHS-II” on the label) and use it in slot 2 in a pinch.

Inserting the memory card

• Turn the camera off.
• The card door is on the grip side of the camera. Slide it toward the back and swing it open.
• Slot 1 is the larger slot, for the CFexpress card. Hold the card with the label facing the back of the camera (toward the screen) and slide it in until it clicks.
• Close the door.

Warning: the card slides in easily when it is oriented correctly. If it resists, stop and check the orientation.

Removing the memory card

• Turn the camera off. Make sure the small access lamp near the card door is not lit. Removing a card while the camera is writing to it can destroy your footage.
• Open the door and push the card in gently. It springs out a little. Pull it the rest of the way.

Turning On the Camera

• Remove the lens cap. Put it in your pocket or the case, not on a table you will walk away from.
• Flip the power switch to ON.
• Set the photo/video switch to the video position. If the screen shows photo settings (a frame counter instead of a time counter), this switch is in the wrong position.
• Open the screen (see The Screen).

The first time a camera is turned on it asks for a language, date, time and time zone. The equipment room has already done this. If you ever see that screen, set the time zone to Los Angeles (Pacific time) and enter the correct date and time. Every clip is stamped with this date, and in journalism that stamp matters.

You may hear a faint whir from inside the body. That is the cooling fan and the stabilizer. It is normal.

Formatting the Memory Card

Format the card every time you start a shoot. Formatting erases everything on the card and prepares it for recording. If you skip this step, the previous student’s footage stays on the card and eats up your recording time.

Our policy is that every student transfers their footage before returning the kit, so anything already on the card is fair game to erase.

• Press MENU.
• Go to the Set-up tab (the yellow wrench icon), page 1.
• Select Format card.
• Select the CFexpress card (card 1).
• Select OK. Wait for the progress bar to finish.

Do not turn the camera off while it is formatting.

The Screen

The R6 V has no eyepiece viewfinder. The flip-out touchscreen is how you see everything.

Opening the screen

• Hook a fingertip into the notch on the edge of the screen and swing it out to the left, away from the body.
• Rotate it to face forward or backward. It does not spin all the way around; do not force it past its stops.
• For normal shooting, rotate it so the screen faces you and fold it flat against the back of the camera. In this position it does not stick out and the cage protects it.

Odd angles

Swing the screen out only when you need it. For a low shot near the ground, tilt the screen up so you can look down at it. For a high shot over a crowd, tilt it down. Fold it back flat when you are done so it does not catch on things.

Storing the screen

When you pack up, rotate the screen so the glass faces the camera body and close it. That protects the glass in the case.

Touch controls

The screen is a touchscreen. You can tap menu items, tap a subject to focus on it, and tap the on-screen record icon. Tapping is often faster than the buttons.

Video Mode and the Mode Dial

The mode dial on top of the camera decides how much the camera does for you. Set it to Fv for this class.

Here is what each position does in video mode. You only need Fv and A+. The rest are listed so you know what they are if the dial gets bumped.

Dial position	What it does in video mode
Fv	Use this mode for this class. Movie auto exposure. The camera sets brightness for you (shutter speed, aperture and ISO). You keep control of everything else: framing, focus, zoom, audio and exposure compensation.
A+	Full auto. The camera makes every decision and hides most settings. Use it as a panic button if something has gone wrong and you need footage right now.
P	Program auto. In video mode this is identical to Fv for our purposes.
Tv	Shutter-priority. You set the shutter speed; the camera sets the rest. Covered briefly below and in the intermediate tutorial.
Av	Aperture-priority. You set the aperture; the camera sets the rest. Intermediate tutorial.
M	Manual. You set everything. Advanced tutorial.
C1, C2, C3	Custom modes that store saved settings. Not used yet.
SCN	Special scene modes (smooth skin, extra stabilization, HDR). Not used.
Close-up demo icon	A mode for product demos. It focuses on objects held up to the lens instead of your face.
S&F	Slow and fast motion. Records without sound. Not used.

Why are we using Fv?

In Fv the camera continuously adjusts brightness as you move from a bright room to a dark hallway. For a beginner that means fewer ruined shots. You are still responsible for the things the camera cannot judge: what to point at, what to focus on, how to hold steady, and whether the sound is good.

This mode allows you also to change the main exposure using the back dial, but the camera will pick the shutter and aperture for you at all times.

The panic button: A+

If the picture looks wrong and you cannot figure out why, turn the dial to A+. The camera resets nearly everything to automatic. You lose exposure compensation and a few other controls, but you will get a usable picture. Switch back to Fv when you have time to sort it out.

Getting advanced? Graduate to Tv mode

Once you are comfortable, the next step is Tv (shutter-priority). In Fv the camera chooses the shutter speed, and in bright light it picks a fast one. A fast shutter speed makes motion look choppy and stuttery, especially when you pan or when people walk through the frame. Video looks most natural when the shutter speed is about double the frame rate. We record 29.97 frames per second, so the natural shutter speed is 1/60 of a second. In Tv you lock the shutter at 1/60 and let the camera handle the rest.

The catch: on a sunny day at 1/60 the camera cannot close the lens enough to keep the picture from washing out. Professionals fix this with an ND filter, a piece of dark glass that screws onto the front of the lens. We do not have those yet. Until then, if you are in Tv mode in bright sun and the picture is blown out, raise the shutter speed (1/125, 1/250, and so on) until the picture looks right, and accept slightly stuttery motion. Indoors, 1/60 is nearly always correct. The intermediate tutorial covers Tv in detail.

Recording

Starting and stopping

• Frame your shot.
• Press the red record button on top of the camera. A red REC indicator appears on the screen, the time counter starts, and the tally lamp on the front glows red.
• Press the button again to stop.

You can also start and stop with the front record button or by tapping the record icon on the screen. All three do the same thing.

Recording habits

• Hold every shot for at least 10 seconds. Editors need room to cut. Start recording, wait for the action to settle, count to ten, then stop.
• Do not zoom or pan during a shot unless you mean it. Static, steady shots are what we are teaching right now. If you want a different framing, stop recording, reframe, and record again.
• Watch the remaining time. It shows on the screen. If it is low on a fresh shoot, you forgot to format the card.
• Record room tone. After an interview, record 15 seconds of the empty room with nobody talking. Editors use it to smooth audio cuts.

Overheating

This camera has a cooling fan and rarely overheats. If a thermometer icon appears on the screen, the camera is getting hot. Stop recording for a few minutes and keep the camera out of direct sun.

Zooming

This lens has a power zoom mode: a motor inside the lens moves it between 20mm (wide) and 50mm (telephoto) smoothly and silently. That is different from most camera lenses, which you twist by hand.

The zoom lever

• Make sure you’re in Power Zoom mode (see the section on PZ/MZ switch just below)
• Press the zoom lever on the front of the body toward T to zoom in and toward W to zoom out.
• Press lightly for a slow zoom, harder for a fast zoom.

The zoom ring

The wide ring on the lens marked with focal lengths (20, 24, 35, 50) is the zoom ring. In power zoom mode it is spring-loaded: turn it a little and the lens zooms slowly, turn it further and the lens zooms faster, let go and it springs back to center.

The PZ/MZ switch

The lens can also work as a regular manual zoom. Holding the PZ/MZ switch while turning the zoom ring swaps between power zoom (PZ) and manual zoom (MZ). Leave the lens in PZ. If the zoom lever stops working, someone switched it to MZ.

Zoom, then record

The camera can sometimes refocus the lens as you zoom. So zoom first, let focus settle, then start recording. Avoid zooming during a shot for now.

Focus

The R6 V has one of the best autofocus systems available. For this class you will use it in its simplest form: let the camera find people, and tap the screen to tell it which person to focus on.

How autofocus works on this camera

• Autofocus (AF) means the camera moves the lens to make the subject sharp.
• Movie Servo AF means it keeps doing that continuously while you record, following the subject as they move closer or farther away.
• Subject detection means the camera looks for people in the frame (faces, eyes, bodies) and focuses on them automatically.
• Whole area AF means the camera searches the entire frame for a subject instead of a small box in the middle.

Our recommended settings turn all of these on, with subject detection set to People. In practice: point the camera at a person and a white box appears on their face or eye. That is the camera saying “I found someone.” While you record, the box follows them.

Tap to lock on to a subject

When there is more than one person in the frame, the camera guesses which one you want. Do not let it guess.

• Tap the person’s face on the screen. The box changes shape and locks on to that person. The camera now tracks them anywhere in the frame and ignores everyone else.
• To release the lock, tap the small cancel icon that appears on the screen, or tap a different person.

This one habit solves most focus problems: tap the face of the person who matters before you press record.

Focusing on something that is not a person

When there are no people in the shot, the camera focuses on whatever it decides is the subject, usually the closest large object near the center. If that is wrong, tap what you want in focus. A box appears there and the camera focuses on it.

Locking focus

Sometimes you want focus to stay put, for example on an interview subject who fidgets, so the picture does not pulse as the camera constantly readjusts. In the lower-left corner of the screen is a small Movie Servo AF pause icon. Tap it and the camera stops refocusing. Tap it again to resume.

The lens also has an AF/MF switch. Flipping it to MF (manual focus) turns autofocus off completely; you then focus by turning the narrow focus ring at the front of the lens. You can use it as a hard focus lock: let autofocus find the subject, then flip to MF. Remember to flip it back to AF afterward. If the camera ever refuses to focus, check this switch first.

Focus by situation

Sit-down interview (a talking head)

• Camera on a tripod, subject seated.
• Tap the subject’s face before recording. The box should sit on their eye.

Verite (following one person doing an activity)

• Handheld, subject moving, you moving with them.
• Tap the person to lock on before you start. The camera follows them even when they turn away or someone walks between you.
• Stay wide (20mm to 28mm). Wide shots are easier to keep in focus and easier to hold steady.
• If the camera loses them (the box disappears), tap them again. You do not need to stop recording to do this.

An event with a central focus (a rally with a speaker)

• Tap the speaker. The camera holds on them and ignores the crowd, even at 50mm from the back of the room.
• For crowd shots, tap nothing and let the camera find faces, or tap one interesting person.

Scene-setting shot (no single subject)

• A shot of a building, a street, a room.
• Use manual zoom and turn of AI Servo so the camera doesn’t jump between objects or people.

Advanced feature: Upload a person’s picture

This camera has the ability to memorize specific people’s faces and prioritize them over everyone else in the frame, which is useful at crowded events and you want to focus only on your main subject. That is covered in a later tutorial.

Exposure

Exposure is how bright or dark the picture is. In Fv mode the camera sets it for you, but allows you to nudge it by over-exposing or under-exposing.

Exposure compensation

Use exposure compensation. It is a scale from -3 to +3. Moving toward + makes the whole picture brighter; moving toward - makes it darker. Typical fixes:

• A person in front of a bright window looks like a silhouette: go to +1 or +2.
• A person against a dark wall looks washed out: go to -1.

To adjust it:

• Turn the main dial (or tap the arrows) to move the marker.
• Press SET or tap outside the scale to finish.

What the camera is adjusting

Three settings control brightness. You do not set them in Fv, but you should know their names because they appear on the screen.

• Shutter speed is how long each frame is exposed to light, written as a fraction like 1/60. A faster shutter (1/250) is darker and makes motion look choppy. A slower shutter (1/30) is brighter and makes motion smeary.
• Aperture is the size of the opening inside the lens, written as an f-number like f/4. Smaller numbers let in more light and blur the background more. This lens opens to f/4 at most.
• ISO is how much the camera amplifies the signal from the sensor. Higher ISO is brighter but grainier. We let the camera go up to ISO 12800, which is grainy but usable, so you can shoot in dim rooms without lights.

These three numbers appear along the bottom of the screen. In Fv, they change on their own.

Set it back to 0 when you change scenes. It is easy to leave it at +2 and brighten every shot for the rest of the day.

Locking exposure

In Fv the camera keeps adjusting brightness as things move. During an interview that can be distracting: someone walks past a lamp and the whole shot dims. Press button 3 (exposure lock, marked with an asterisk) to freeze the exposure. An asterisk appears on the screen in lower left-hand corner. Press it again to unlock.

Zebras

The camera can paint diagonal stripes (“zebras”) over any part of the picture that is so bright it has lost all detail: a blown-out sky, a white shirt in sunlight, a lamp. Our recommended settings turn zebras on at 100 percent, which means stripes appear only where the picture is completely white. The stripes are a warning only; they are never recorded.

• A few stripes on a lamp or a reflection: fine.
• Stripes on a person’s face or on the part of the scene that matters: lower the exposure compensation until they shrink.

Shooting in dim light

Because the camera can raise ISO to 12800 on its own, you can shoot in a dim room without lights. The footage will be grainy. Grain is acceptable; a black, unusable shot is not. When you can, add light: open a curtain, turn on a lamp, move the subject closer to a window.

White Balance

Different light sources have different colors. Daylight is bluish, household bulbs are orange, fluorescent tubes are greenish. White balance tells the camera what to treat as white so skin tones look normal.

For this class, leave white balance on AWB (auto white balance). The camera reads the scene and corrects for it, and it does a good job. If your footage comes back with a strong color cast, mention it to your instructor. The intermediate tutorial covers setting white balance by hand.

Image Stabilization

Image stabilization (IS) counteracts the shake of your hands. The lens has a stabilizer and the camera body has another; they work together. The IS switch on the side of the lens turns both on and off.

• Handheld: IS ON.
• On a tripod: IS OFF. Left on, the stabilizer fights the tripod and the picture can slowly drift or wobble.

The menus also offer a “digital IS” that crops into the picture for extra steadiness. Our settings leave it off. Better technique is cheaper than a crop: tuck your elbows in, hold the rig with both hands (side handle plus the top handle or lens), brace against a wall or lean on a table, and breathe out slowly as you record.

The Menu System

Most settings for this class are already set. You will still need the menus to format the card, check settings and adjust audio. Here is how they work.

• Press MENU to open the menus. Press MENU again to back out one level, and again to close.
• Across the top are colored tabs. Each tab has several numbered pages.
• Press left or right on the main dial to move between tabs and pages. Turn the rear control dial to move up and down a page. Press SET to open an item and again to confirm a choice. You can also tap anything on the screen.

Tab	Icon	What is in it
Shooting	Red camera	Recording size and format, sound, exposure, color, white balance, zebras
AF	Purple AF	Everything about autofocus
Playback	Blue play triangle	Reviewing footage
Network	Wireless icon	Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Airplane mode lives here.
Set-up	Yellow wrench	Format card, date and time, screen brightness, power saving
Custom controls and Custom Functions	Orange	Button customization. Leave alone.
My Menu	Green star	Personal shortcuts. Not set up.

The menus show different items in photo mode and video mode. If you cannot find something listed in this tutorial, check that the photo/video switch is on video.

The Q Button

Press Q to open the Quick Control screen: a panel of the settings you change most, laid out around the live picture. It is faster than the full menu.

• Press Q, or tap the Q icon on the screen.
• Tap a setting, or move to it with the rear control dial.

The INFO Button

Press INFO to cycle through different amounts of information shown over the picture: a clean view, a view with basic settings, and a view with everything, including the audio level meters. Keep pressing until you see the audio meters (two horizontal bars near the bottom). You want to see them while shooting.

Attaching the Microphone

The camera has a tiny built-in microphone. It is terrible for anything you would publish. Always use the RODE VideoMic Pro+.

Mounting the mic on the cage

The microphone sits in a rubbery cradle called a shock mount that isolates it from handling noise. Under the cradle is a metal cold shoe foot, a flat rectangular tab.

• Find the cold shoe slot on the left side of the cage, above the side handle. We do not use the hot shoe on top of the camera; keeping the top of the rig clear leaves the top handle free for carrying.
• Slide the mic’s foot into the slot from the open end until it stops.
• Tighten the locking ring on the foot until the mic does not rock.
• Point the mic forward, parallel to the lens.

Plugging it in

• Open the rubber port door on the left side of the camera.
• Plug the mic’s 3.5mm cable into the jack marked MIC, not the headphone jack. They look alike. Push it in all the way.
• Route the cable so it does not dangle in front of the lens or tug on the mic.

The foam windscreen

Keep the foam windscreen on the mic at all times. It cuts wind and breath noise. Outdoors in real wind it will not be enough; get the mic out of the wind, or shoot with your back to the wind so your body blocks it.

Power on microphone

The mic turns itself on when it senses the camera is on, and turns itself off when the camera is off or the cable is unplugged. An LED on the back of the mic glows when it is on. If the LED is dark with the camera on, press and hold the mic’s power button.

Microphone Batteries

The RODE runs on a rechargeable LB-1 lithium battery that lives inside the mic. A charged LB-1 lasts a very long time (RODE claims up to 100 hours), so battery trouble is rare. Still, confirm the mic powers on when you pick up the kit.

Charging the batteries

• Plug a micro-USB cable into the port on the mic and into a USB power adapter or a computer.
• The mic’s LED shows charging status and changes color when the battery is full. Charge it overnight before a big shoot.

Swapping in AA batteries in a pinch

If the LB-1 is dead and you cannot charge it, the mic takes two AA batteries instead.

• Open the battery door on the mic. The door is hinged and stays attached.
• Slide out the LB-1.
• Insert two AA batteries, matching the + and - marks inside the compartment.
• Close the door.

Put the LB-1 back in the mic when you return the kit, and tell the equipment room it needs charging.

Audio Levels

The most common beginner mistake is not listening. Put the headphones on. If you cannot hear the subject clearly through the headphones, the camera cannot either.

Default: automatic levels

Our recommended settings put the camera on automatic sound recording. The camera raises and lowers the recording level on its own so voices land in a safe range. This works well for interviews and most field situations. Use it unless an instructor tells you otherwise.

With automatic levels, the buttons on the back of the mic should be set to:

• Level: 0 dB (the middle setting; not -10, not +20)
• High-pass filter: 75 Hz (cuts rumble from traffic and air conditioning without affecting voices)
• High-frequency boost: off
• Safety channel: off (see below)

Reading the meters

The audio meters on the screen (press INFO until you see them) bounce with the sound. The scale runs from about -40 on the left to 0 on the right.

• Speech should bounce mostly between -20 and -12.
• Peaks that hit 0 are clipped: the sound distorts and cannot be repaired. Automatic mode is designed to prevent this.
• Meters that barely move mean the mic is off, unplugged, or plugged into the headphone jack by mistake.

ADVANCED: Manual audio levels and the +20 dB trick

Automatic levels have one weakness: in a quiet room the camera turns the level up between sentences, so the background hiss swells and dips. For a controlled sit-down interview, manual levels sound cleaner. Here is the standard approach with this mic:

• On the back of the mic, set Level to +20 dB. The mic now sends a strong, clean signal.
• On the camera, press MENU, go to the Shooting tab, page 2, select Sound recording, and choose Manual.
• Select Rec. level and turn it down until normal speech peaks around -12 on the meters. You will end up with the camera level quite low. That is the point: the mic does the amplifying, and it is quieter at that job than the camera is.
• Do a sound check. Ask the subject a real question (“What did you have for breakfast?”) rather than “testing, one, two, three.” People speak at their real volume when they answer a real question.
• Watch the meters through the whole interview. If the subject laughs or shouts and the meter hits 0, lower the level.

Set the mic back to 0 dB and the camera back to Auto when you are done. Leaving the mic at +20 with the camera on Auto produces distorted audio for the next student.

The safety channel, briefly

The mic can record a second, quieter copy of the audio on the right channel as insurance against a sudden loud sound clipping the main track. It is a good tool, and it complicates editing (your clips arrive with one loud side and one quiet side). To activate this mode, press the power and Db buttons at the same time on the Rode mic.

Headphones

• Plug the Sony MDR-7506 headphones into the headphone jack on the left side of the camera, next to the MIC jack.
• The headphone plug ships with a large quarter-inch adapter screwed onto it. Unscrew the adapter to reveal the small 3.5mm plug underneath. Keep the adapter somewhere safe.
• Adjust headphone volume with the audio shortcut on the rear control dial. Headphone volume does not change the recording level.

Wear the headphones whenever you are recording sound that matters. Listen for hum, wind, traffic, refrigerators and air conditioners. Your ears stop noticing them after a minute. The mic never does.

Reviewing Your Footage

• Press the Playback button. The last clip appears.
• Turn the rear control dial, or swipe left and right, to move between clips.
• Press SET or tap the play icon to play a clip. Tap the screen for the playback controls, which let you pause, scrub and adjust volume.
• Press INFO during playback to see the clip’s settings.
• Press the Playback button again, or half-press the shutter button, to return to shooting.

Review a clip after your first shot in each new location to check focus, brightness and sound. Then trust your setup and keep shooting.

Never delete clips in the camera. It is easy to delete the wrong one, and the card is big. Sort footage on your computer.

Turning Off and Packing Up

• Stop recording. Turn the power switch OFF.
• Unplug the headphones and screw the adapter back on.
• Leave the microphone mounted. Set its Level back to 0 dB if you changed it.
• Rotate the screen so the glass faces the body and close it.
• Put the lens cap on.
• Set the lens switches to AF, IS ON and PZ so the next student starts from a normal state.
• Remove the top handle. Put the allen wrench and slot tool back in their magnetic slots.
• Charge both batteries when you get home if you can. Return everything in the case.

Transfer your footage before you return the kit. The next student will format the card.

Transferring Footage to Your Computer

Ther are two ways to transfer footage to your Mac.

1. You connect the camera itself to your computer. Copy everything in one pass, then unplug the camera and edit from the copy on your computer, never from the camera or the card. Your clips are MP4 files. Expect several gigabytes for an afternoon of shooting. Make sure your computer has room before you start.
2. Use a card reader. Take out the memory card from the camera while it’s off and use the card reader to trasnfer the footage.

On a Mac with the camera plugged in (Use Image Capture)

• Turn the camera on.
• Connect the USB-C cable from the camera’s USB-C port to your Mac.
• Open Image Capture. It is in Applications > Utilities, or search for it with Spotlight Command + Space. If the Photos opens on its own; close it.
• Select Canon EOS R6 V in the sidebar on the left. Thumbnails of your clips appear.
• At the bottom of the window, set Import To to a folder you have created for the project, for example a folder on your Desktop named with the date and the story.
• Click Import All. Wait for every clip to finish. Do not unplug the camera during the transfer.
• When it finishes, open the folder and play a clip to confirm the transfer worked. Then unplug the camera.

With a card reader

A CFexpress Type B card reader is faster and does not tie up the camera. Use one when you have access to one.

• Turn the camera off and remove the card.
• Insert the card into the reader and plug the reader into your computer.
• The card appears as a drive. Open DCIM, then the folder inside it, and copy the MP4 files into your project folder.
• Eject the drive before pulling the card. Put the card back in the camera.

A note on charging over USB-C

While the camera is plugged into your computer it may charge the battery slowly. Do not rely on this. Use the charger.

Recommended Settings

The equipment room sets every camera to these values. Go through them before your first shoot and any time the camera behaves strangely. The photo/video switch must be on video to see the movie versions of these menus.

Physical switches and dials

Control	Setting
Photo/video switch	Make sure it’s on video
Mode dial	Set to Fv
Lens AF/MF switch	Use AF
Lens IS switch	On
Lens PZ/MZ switch	Recommend PZ for video
Memory card	CFexpress in slot 1; slot 2 empty

Shooting menu (red camera icon)

Page	Setting	Value	Why
1	Movie rec. size	4K-U Fine (3840x2160), 29.97P, LGOP	4K gives you room to crop in later.
1	Movie rec. format	XF-AVC S YCC420 8bit	Standard H.264 video in an MP4 file. Plays and edits on any computer without extra software.
1	Open Gate	Off	An advanced format that records the whole sensor in a square like format. Requires heavier processing time on the computer.
1	Movie cropping	Disable	Keeps the full width of the lens.
1	Digital zoom	Off	Digital zoom only works in FHD mode and you lose all of the tap-face focusing features. It’s better to crop in Adobe Premiere if you need a closer shot.
2	Sound recording (levels)	Auto	Students can switch to manual after learning how to properly adjust levels. See Audio Levels.
2	Audio format	AAC/16bit/2CH	Two channel simple audio.
3	Exposure comp.	0	Reset it after every scene.
3	ISO speed settings	Speed range: 100-25600; Max for Auto: 25600	Lets the camera shoot in dim rooms. Grainy but usable and fine for the web.
3	Auto slow shutter	Disable	Keeps motion looking natural in dim light. The camera raises ISO instead of slowing the shutter.
3	Detect priority AE while AF	On	Exposes for the detected person’s face.
4	Color mode	Auto (Picture style)	A finished, natural look straight out of the camera. No color correction needed.
4	Clarity	0	Neutral.
4	HDR Movie Mode	Off	Shoots low contrast to bring shadows and highlights toward a similar tone. Requires tonal adjustments in post.
4	Auto Lighting Optimizer	Standard	Softens harsh contrast a little.
4	Highlight tone priority	Off	Advanced.
5	White balance	AWB	Auto white balance. See White Balance.
5	Lens aberration correction	On, except focus breathing correction	Corrects color overlap with certain lenses.
5	High ISO speed NR	High	High noise reduction at high ISO.
6	Pre-recording set.	Off	Advanced.
6	Time-lapse movie	Disable	Not used.
6	Movie self-timer	Off	Not used.
7	Tally lamp	On	The front lamp glows while recording.
7	IS (Image Stabilizer) mode	Digital IS On	Optical IS is controlled by the lens switch. Having both on ensures a stable image, but advanced users may turn off digital IS because it crops the image a little bit.
7	Auto level	Off	Automatic horizon correction crops the picture.
7	Mag. rec. display	Off	Unused.
7	Metering timer	8 seconds	Time it uses to meter the image.
8	Metadata	Off	Requires software to set.
8	Timecode	Default (Rec run)	Count up timecode only when recording. Professional setups with multiple cameras may changes this to keep them in sync.
8	HDR/C.Log View Asst	Off/Off	Only needed with log color profiles.
8	False color set.	Off	Advanced.
8	Zebra settings	Zebra: On; Zebra pattern: Zebra 2; Zebra 2 level: 100%	Stripes appear only on completely blown-out areas. See Exposure.
9	Shooting info. disp.: Grid display	3x3	Optional. Helps you level the horizon and compose.
9	Brightness info.	Histogram	Personal preference.
9	Electronic level size.	Small	Size of level shown on screen.
9	Recording emphasis.	On	Indicators that show you’re recording.
9	Aspect marker setting.	Off/Off	Advanced.
9	Lens info display.	Focus distance in MF mode; Focal length Enable	Info that can be hidden with the INFO button.

A note on 4k or Full HD. If your computer struggles to play the 4K files (stuttering playback, editing software that freezes), change Movie rec. size to Full HD (1920x1080), 29.97P, Light. Full HD files are about a quarter the size and edit smoothly on almost any laptop. The downside is that you lose the ability to crop in later; if you shot a wide shot and wish you had a close-up, you are stuck with the wide shot. With Full HD you must get the framing right in camera by zooming. The rest of this tutorial assumes 4K.

AF menu (purple AF icon)

Page	Setting	Value	Why
1	Movie Servo AF	Enable	The camera keeps focusing continuously while recording.
1	AF area	Whole area AF	The camera looks for subjects across the entire frame.
1	Focus mode	Disabled	Unused in this mode.
2	Subject to detect	People	The camera looks for faces, eyes and bodies. User can switch with Q button.
2	Eye detection	Auto	Focus lands on the eye. Camera picks best eye to focus on.
2	Register people priority	Off	Advanced. You can register a central person to focus on.
2	Subject tracking sensitivity	3	How sensitive before camera switches to another person (not used if you tap on someone).
3	AF for close-up demos	Off	For macro close-ups, can be activated with Q button.
3	Movie Servo AF speed	7	How fast focus moves.
4	Lens drive when AF Imossible	On	Focus keeps hunting when you get too close.
5	Limit AF areas	- (all)	Students will have all options available.
5	Limit Subjects to detect	- (all)	Students will have all options available.
5	Limit L/R eye detection	- (all)	Students will have all options available.
6	Focus guide.	Off	Not needed.
6	Lens electronic MF.	Off	Only works in one-shot mode, not AI servo. Allows for manual focus adjustments after AF fixes on target
6	Track after focusing.	ON (Tracking Frame)	Keep tracking subject with frame after focus is found.

Note: The Playback menu and Network functions are not used as part of this tutorial.

Network menu (wireless icon)

Setting	Value	Why
Airplane mode	On	Turns off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to save battery.

Set-up menu (yellow wrench icon)

Page	Setting	Value	Why
1	Record func + card/folder sel.	(no separate cards for video/photo); Rec options standard; Record all to card 1	Different options to record to CF Express card or SD card simultaenously or separately.
1	File numbering	Continuous	Self explanatory
1	Clip numbering	Continuous	Self explanatory
1	File names	Default	Do not change for other students
1	Format card	Every shoot	See Formatting the Memory Card.
1	Auto rotate	On for both camera and computer	Allow for shooting vertical video.
1	Add video rotate info	Enable	Allows for vertical video
2	Date/Time/Zone	Current date and time (Los Angeles)	Do not adjust unless it’s wrong or you’re traveling.
2	Language	English	Please do not change or make sure to switch it back before returning.
2	System frequency	For 59.94 NTSC	The North American standard.
2	Help text size	Small	Self explanatory
2	Feature guide	Enable	Gives hints for various options
3	Beep	Disable	No beeps in your audio.
3	Beep Volume	N/A	No beeps in your audio.
3	Audio Monitor	Headphones; Volume 9; Audio monitor: Real-time; CH1/CH2	Do not change to help future students.
3	Playback Monitor	Headphones; Volume 9; Audio monitor: Real-time; CH1/CH2	Do not change to help future students.
4	Screen brightness	4	Conservative battery saving level.
4	Screen color tone	Standard	Default.
4	UI magificiation	Disable	Accessibility feature.
4	HDMI resolution	1080p	When plugging into a monitor
5	Cooling fan settings	Fan: Auto; Rotation speed: Low	Camera will cool down when getting too hot.
5	Sensor cleaning	Auto cleaning: At pwr off	Cleans sensor whenever camera is shut down.
5	Password request	off	Do not set a password.
5	Power saving	Screen dimmer: 30sec; Screen off:disable; Auto power off: 1min	Standard power settings
6	Reset camera	No	This resets all settings to default. Do not attempt
6	Custom shooting modes	Leave alone	For customization.
6	Load/Save cam settings on card	NA	Used for copying these settings to other cameras.

Customized controls menu (green info circle)

Please do not change any of the defaults. You can do this if you own your own gear. This way students develop muscle memory with the default buttons.

Page	Setting	Value	Why
5	Touch control	Enable	Allows people to use touch screen controls
5	Clear all customized contorls	Yes	Do not use customized controls to allow students to develop muscle memory with the defaults.

Exposure Custom Functions C.Fn (Orange camera icon)

Page	Setting	Value	Why
3	Clear all Custom Func. (C.Fn)	Yes	Please do not change the defaults. Select this option to return all custom functions in this menu category back to their defaults

Troubleshooting

• The record button does nothing. Check the photo/video switch. Check that a card is in slot 1 and that the card door is closed. Check the remaining time; you may need to format.
• The picture is blurry and will not sharpen. The lens AF/MF switch is on MF. Flip it to AF. Or the Movie Servo AF pause icon is active; tap it. Switch main mode dial to Fv.
• The zoom lever does nothing. The lens PZ/MZ switch is on MZ. Hold the switch and turn the zoom ring to return to PZ.
• The picture is too dark or too bright. Check exposure compensation and set it back to 0. Check that exposure lock (the asterisk) is not on.
• Motion looks choppy. You are probably in Tv mode with a fast shutter speed, or it is very bright outside. Return to Fv, or lower the shutter speed toward 1/60.
• The audio meters do not move. The mic is off (hold its power button), unplugged, or plugged into the headphone jack instead of MIC. Check that Sound recording is not set to Disable.
• The audio is distorted. The mic is at +20 dB with the camera on Auto. Set the mic back to 0 dB.
• I cannot find a menu item. The photo/video switch is on photo. Flip it to video.
• A thermometer icon appeared. The camera is warm. Pause for a few minutes and get out of direct sun.
• The screen is dark but the camera is on. The lens cap is on. Or the screen is folded with the glass facing in. Open it.
• The camera won’t turn on. Make sure there is a battery and it’s charged.

More Resources

• Canon EOS R6 V Advanced User Guide (web)
• Canon EOS R6 V Advanced User Guide (PDF)
• RODE support and user guides

A future tutorial will cover more advanced usage and settings, including Tv mode, manual white balance, manual audio in depth, and the camera’s memory for registered faces.

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