Let's talk about customizing the buttons on your camera. It's a feature that a lot of photographers overlook. For years, I've never bothered to reprogram anything. Every camera I've owned worked just fine straight out of the box. The default settings did what I needed, and I never really felt the urge to change anything. I even remember when Canon started allowing users to customize the Quick Menu. I got so excited, I spent nearly three hours tweaking the entire screen—just to my liking.
And then, after one or two shoots, I realized I actually prefer the factory default. So yeah, three hours I'll never get back. That said, things changed recently. With my new mirrorless camera, there are additional focusing options that I want to be able to enable and disable quickly—things like focus tracking, object tracking, and so on. With all these new options, I decided to reprogram a few buttons to do that. And you know what? It's been great, but only because I customized it in a way that works for me personally.
Here's the thing. There are a ton of videos and tutorials out there on how you should customize your camera buttons. And while some of these tips are super helpful, they're not one-size-fits-all. For example, one popular setup I tried just didn't work for me at all. My hands are a bit smaller, and moving my thumb to certain positions isn't comfortable. So instead, I set up the controls based on how I hold and use my camera.
If you've gotten a new camera, start by using it as is. See how it feels in your hands. If something slows you down or feels awkward, that's your cue to experiment with custom button assignments. Try the popular configurations offered online, but don't be afraid to adjust based on your comfort. And if you keep forgetting what you assigned a button to do, that's probably a sign that it's not intuitive. Change it.
And here's a tip. Tape a small note on the back of your camera with your custom button settings. What I did was I used Sharpie paint markers to color-code the buttons, and my sticky note matches those colors. So over time, the paint will wear off, and by then I had memorized it. It's a small trick that can make a big difference while you're learning your setup.
In the end, there's no correct way to customize your camera buttons. There's just the way that works best for you and your photography style.
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