The new Cropping Guide feature from Canon provides on-screen guidelines that help shooters position subjects with precision, helping to ensure consistent and professional results.

Canon announced that the new Cropping Guide feature will be available via a firmware update for the Canon EOS R50, EOS R10 and EOS R7 camera models. The gridlines visible on the screen allow users to more easily frame their subjects through the use of four tailored on-screen guides. Some may think this is a feature not needed, or too amateurish, but they are wrong. While it may help photographers who are just starting to better compose their images, the use of a gridline helps to solve one of the most common challenges for professional content creators – maintaining consistency and quality when capturing multiple images.

It’s true! In fact, long before the introduction of these options through firmware in modern digital cameras, photographers would draw lines, with a marker pen – or any other way – on the focusing screen of their medium-format cameras, to define where the subject would be placed in the frame. Although for some models focusing screens are available in variants with different etched markings for various purposes,  sometimes photographers would draw their own lines for specific purposes.

Canon F1 has nine focusing screens

While the solution was mostly used for medium and large format cameras – we used “home-made” gridlines in our Bronica cameras for portrait sessions in the studio, school shootings and for museum cataloguing purposes – , it was also available for some 35mm cameras that had changeable focusing screens, with models from Nikon, Pentax, Canon and others.

Some 35mm camera models even allowed users to change focusing screens for different needs and lenses, an example being Canon’s F1, which had nine different focusing screens for different uses. One of those screens, the D type, has horizontal and vertical reference lines, being recommended for architectural photography and copy work in which accurate image placement is essential.

The new Cropping Guide feature from Canon provides on-screen guidelines that help shooters position subjects with precision, helping to ensure consistent and professional results while saving time on editing. It allows for Canon users to position the frame at the time of capture so that post-production and editing can be kept at a minimum. Lastly, the Cropping Guides can be applied to horizontal or vertical framing scenarios, allowing for a wide range of shooting situations.

Sony has customized grid lines

This is not new, and Canon is simply following Sony, who introduced this feature in November 2023 and debuted it at NAB 2024 last April, for Alpha 1, Alpha 7S III, Alpha 7 IV, Alpha 9 III, and other mirrorless camera bodies. According to Sony, “custom grid lines alleviate the burden of volume photographers working at schools, photo studios, theme parks, cruise ships or malls who often need to take similar shots repeatedly, sometimes thousands in one day. The ability to clearly see pre-set customized grid lines, especially when working quickly or in challenging lighting conditions, provides unprecedented peace of mind knowing that each shot will be framed perfectly.”

The Sony update is available for anyone interested but you need to buy a license that costs $149 USD/$202 CAD, per permanent camera license, through Sony’s Upgrade and License Management Suite at https://ulms.sony.net. Sony’s license also lets creators import up to four customized original grid lines. These can be displayed on the camera’s electronic viewfinder (EVF) and rear LCD monitor, or on an external monitor using an HDMI output, to ensure consistent results during long shooting sessions.

Additionally, sports photographers can apply one set of grid lines for full team photos and another for individual player shots, enabling uniformity. They can also create grid lines customized for specific sports to follow the action and player movements more precisely. ​

A feature for professional photographers

Canon’s solution isn’t as flexible – at least for now – as it only allows users to more easily frame their subjects using the four tailored on-screen guides available. The new feature is available now from Canon USA for the price of $120 USD. The company says that “for customers who have previously purchased one of the camera models compatible with the feature, they can send their device to a Canon Service Center and it will be returned with the Cropping Guide feature installed. For those new customers interested in the above mentioned models, the option to purchase them pre-loaded with the feature (for an additional cost) will be available via Canon Direct and other dealers starting December 9th.”

Canon will showcase its new offering to visitors to the School Photographers Association of California (SPAC) trade show from January 21-25 in Las Vegas, NV at the South Point Hotel and Casino at Booth #715. This new feature is specifically designed for school photography, sports events, or any scenario in which subjects need to maintain a consistent position. As Canon says, “the Cropping Guide feature is designed to streamline your workflow, making it ideal for professional photographers who require consistency and precision in every shot. Experience the ease and efficiency of on-the-spot alignment, and take your photography to the next level.”