Creative Filters

Try applying these ‘novelty’ effects to your images

Many EOS cameras are equipped with Creative Filters. These aren’t physical lters that drop in front of the sensor, but a set of digital

lters that alter the look of images, in a similar way to Picture Style.

You can apply these lters to images you’ve already taken (by pressing the Q button when you’re reviewing images, or by selecting the Creative Filters option in the blue Playback menu). You can also use Creative Filters while you’re shooting – although you’ll need to be in Live View mode to preview the eect on the rear display of a DSLR. Mirrorless Canon EOS cameras like the EOS R7 and EOS R50 have the advantage of enabling you to preview the eect in the view nder.

Being able to see the lter eect while you shoot makes it easier to compose shots to make the most of it. The drawback is that you won’t be able to record your images as RAW les. If RAW image quality is set, the ltered images will be created in-camera as high-quality JPEGS. This means that you can’t undo the eect in Canon’s Digital Photo Professional, in the same way that you can with Picture Style, White Balance or other image-processing parameters.

Most of the Creative Filters have three strength settings – low, standard and high – but the default one generally gives the best result. If you’re applying one of the more aggressive eects, such as Fish-eye, take it down to the lowest setting.

You are also able to record movies with Creative Filter eects applied, although the line-up of lters is dierent. On the EOS R7, for example, the options include Dream (for a soft, blurry look) and Memory (think dark edges and a soft look).