EOS R6 II: First Setup — Camera Select

Canon · EOS R6 II · Free lesson

First Setup

What should you change on a brand-new EOS R6 II before your first shoot?

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The answer — share this

Format both cards, write every still to both with Rec. to multiple, shoot RAW (or C-RAW at half the file size), Still photo IS on Always — then register the whole setup to C1.

Format: Set-up → Format card · Backup: Record func+card/folder sel. → Rec. to multiple · Image quality: RAW · IS: Still photo IS → Always · Save: Custom shooting mode (C1-C3) → Register settings → C1

Cameras Decoded — Camera Select

Step 1

Format both cards in the camera

MENU→Set-up→Format card

Formatting builds the folder structure the camera expects. This body formats one card at a time — pick Card 1, format, then Card 2. Shooting 4K video? Tick Low level format: Canon's own manual calls for it before 4K recording, and it clears every recordable sector.

Know this: formatting erases everything on the selected card — including protected images. Empty both cards first, and never format on a low battery.

Step 2

Write every still to both cards

MENU→Set-up→Record func+card/folder sel.

Out of the box the camera records to one card and the second slot sits idle. Set Rec options → Rec. to multiple and every still is written to both cards at once — if a card dies, the shoot survives. Its sibling setting, Rec. separately, cannot split RAW files, so multiple is the one you want.

Step 3

Shoot RAW — know C-RAW

MENU→Shooting→Image quality

Set Image quality to RAW for the full file. Canon also offers C-RAW (Compact RAW): the manual states it produces RAW images with smaller file sizes than RAW — Canon's own approximate sizes are 26.1 MB for RAW and 13.2 MB for C-RAW, the same 6000×4000 pixels at about half the card bill. Default to RAW; reach for C-RAW when card space is the constraint.

Approx. file size per photo (Canon’s figures)

RAW26.1 MB

C-RAW13.2 MB

Step 4

Still photo IS: Always

MENU→Shooting→IS (Image Stabilizer) mode

Set Still photo IS to Always and stabilization runs whenever you compose, not only at the exposure. Shooting a lens that cannot communicate with the body? A Focal length item appears in this same menu — set the lens's focal length (1–1000mm), and enable Release shutter w/o lens under Custom Functions or the shutter will not fire at all.

Step 5

Register everything to C1

MENU→Set-up→Custom shooting mode (C1-C3)→Register settings

Canon's saved setup is a physical dial position. Register the setup you just built to C1 — after any reset, firmware update, or borrowed-body detour, one turn of the dial restores it. Leave Auto update set. off for now, so experiments in other modes never silently rewrite your C1.

Try it now

Do the five steps now, in order, then turn the mode dial to C1 and confirm every setting stuck. That dial position is your camera from today on.