R5/R6 Firmware 1.5 - Please share your experiences or remarks.

[Mike Engles]

Hi

I'm very happy with the update on my R6. The af feels more response and locks on quicker. Not tried the vehicle again yet but it focused on a duck’s head behind some foliage in a flash. I’d thought I’d have to wrestle with manual focus to get the photo. Also the suppress low frame rate looks good but not assessed it’s impact on af yet.

Greg

My sense with the R5 is that people AF is actually worse.

What used to be quite uncanny using family pictures on the mantle piece about 1.5m away, was how the camera would select each eye, pretty well and stick. Now it is hit and miss and some times picks only one eye. It seems uncertain an flicks between a larger spot and the smallest one, or face. I am using the same 28-135mm lens at 135, I used before to practice. No doubt that I will be able to zone in on sports cars on a race circuit, with no problem. The larger problem is that I last went to race circuit in 1971.



Be glad it's not a squirrel Zenith E 135mm Helios



The old firmware. Now it jumps between this and face and 2 eyes. Before I could switch eyes. I had a lot more like this, but sadly in a fit of madness I deleted all my early CR3 files, because I had converted them to DNG for Lightroom

 

[Higgins2002]

Hi

I'm very happy with the update on my R6. The af feels more response and locks on quicker. Not tried the vehicle again yet but it focused on a duck’s head behind some foliage in a flash. I’d thought I’d have to wrestle with manual focus to get the photo. Also the suppress low frame rate looks good but not assessed it’s impact on af yet.

Greg

My sense with the R5 is that people AF is actually worse.

What used to be quite uncanny using family pictures on the mantle piece about 1.5m away, was how the camera would select each eye, pretty well and stick. Now it is hit and miss and some times picks only one eye. It seems uncertain an flicks between a larger spot and the smallest one, or face. I am using the same 28-135mm lens at 135, I used before to practice. No doubt that I will be able to zone in on sports cars on a race circuit, with no problem. The larger problem is that I last went to race circuit in 1971.



Be glad it's not a squirrel Zenith E 135mm Helios



The old firmware. Now it jumps between this and face and 2 eyes. Before I could switch eyes. I had a lot more like this, but sadly in a fit of madness I deleted all my early CR3 files, because I had converted them to DNG for Lightroom

from Exif ” Subject to track =Animal” try people

 

[Mike Engles]

Hi

I'm very happy with the update on my R6. The af feels more response and locks on quicker. Not tried the vehicle again yet but it focused on a duck’s head behind some foliage in a flash. I’d thought I’d have to wrestle with manual focus to get the photo. Also the suppress low frame rate looks good but not assessed it’s impact on af yet.

Greg

My sense with the R5 is that people AF is actually worse.

What used to be quite uncanny using family pictures on the mantle piece about 1.5m away, was how the camera would select each eye, pretty well and stick. Now it is hit and miss and some times picks only one eye. It seems uncertain an flicks between a larger spot and the smallest one, or face. I am using the same 28-135mm lens at 135, I used before to practice. No doubt that I will be able to zone in on sports cars on a race circuit, with no problem. The larger problem is that I last went to race circuit in 1971.



Be glad it's not a squirrel Zenith E 135mm Helios



The old firmware. Now it jumps between this and face and 2 eyes. Before I could switch eyes. I had a lot more like this, but sadly in a fit of madness I deleted all my early CR3 files, because I had converted them to DNG for Lightroom

”Subject to track Animal” try people

This was the old firmware and it made in this case very little difference.

It was better than it is now

 

[bigshledge]

Hi

I'm very happy with the update on my R6. The af feels more response and locks on quicker. Not tried the vehicle again yet but it focused on a duck’s head behind some foliage in a flash. I’d thought I’d have to wrestle with manual focus to get the photo. Also the suppress low frame rate looks good but not assessed it’s impact on af yet.

Greg

My sense with the R5 is that people AF is actually worse.

What used to be quite uncanny using family pictures on the mantle piece about 1.5m away, was how the camera would select each eye, pretty well and stick. Now it is hit and miss and some times picks only one eye. It seems uncertain an flicks between a larger spot and the smallest one, or face. I am using the same 28-135mm lens at 135, I used before to practice. No doubt that I will be able to zone in on sports cars on a race circuit, with no problem. The larger problem is that I last went to race circuit in 1971.



Be glad it's not a squirrel Zenith E 135mm Helios



The old firmware. Now it jumps between this and face and 2 eyes. Before I could switch eyes. I had a lot more like this, but sadly in a fit of madness I deleted all my early CR3 files, because I had converted them to DNG for Lightroom

from Exif ” Subject to track =Animal” try people

Don't bother, he'll find a way to complain about it.

 

[Mike Engles]

Hi

I'm very happy with the update on my R6. The af feels more response and locks on quicker. Not tried the vehicle again yet but it focused on a duck’s head behind some foliage in a flash. I’d thought I’d have to wrestle with manual focus to get the photo. Also the suppress low frame rate looks good but not assessed it’s impact on af yet.

Greg

My sense with the R5 is that people AF is actually worse.

What used to be quite uncanny using family pictures on the mantle piece about 1.5m away, was how the camera would select each eye, pretty well and stick. Now it is hit and miss and some times picks only one eye. It seems uncertain an flicks between a larger spot and the smallest one, or face. I am using the same 28-135mm lens at 135, I used before to practice. No doubt that I will be able to zone in on sports cars on a race circuit, with no problem. The larger problem is that I last went to race circuit in 1971.



Be glad it's not a squirrel Zenith E 135mm Helios



The old firmware. Now it jumps between this and face and 2 eyes. Before I could switch eyes. I had a lot more like this, but sadly in a fit of madness I deleted all my early CR3 files, because I had converted them to DNG for Lightroom

from Exif ” Subject to track =Animal” try people

Don't bother, he'll find a way to complain about it.

I can detect no difference in this case between animal and person and in my opinion the AF in version 1.5 is worse. I have just checked.

What I was trying to point out was that the old firmware the AF was more confident and precise. I am complaining about the new firmware relative to the old and that is what i thought was the point of this discussion.

You are free to disagree

By the way I used a Canon adaptor with control ring. Just in case that was an issue.

 

[Tazz93]

I have just discovered that in auto in face detect, a joystick push can toggle on and off face detect. In the other modes it centres the focus point.

I've discovered that too, but forgot about is after this discovery.....

It's useful as it saves me a button.....

I always wondered what the double bracket box was for. I've tried using that option in the past and couldn't figure out if it was useful. Still not sure there is a value to it for me. However, I prefer to use the 'Eye Detection Off' button mapping for the times I want to effectively detect faces only. Works good for antlers animals or animals with odd (non-canine/feline) heads.

 

[Tazz93]

As far as the general AF Improvements, it doesn't feel better all the way around to me. I feel like it is quicker, but not as confident. I see a lot more bouncing from eye to eye and eye to face tracking. In the past, it seemed more confident and locked on with a more stable tracking.

That said, I do feel as though it is more active and a little hyper, so I'll see if the new traits I'm noticing make it better, worse, or equal in performance when I have more time with it.

The other feature adds are pretty great though. I do suggest people go ahead and install it. Any issues I have with the new AF performance are going to be minor, because it is still an amazing autofocusing machine. Just not sure if its better or worse.

Did you turn on the suppress low frame rate feature for the EVF? Because using that will decrease the sensitivity and accuracy of the AF. This is both per Canon and verified in my testing.

Yes I do use it, but I find its the opposite. Low light AF is better with that selected. I couldn't notice a difference in good light, using it or not. Could be different on various type of lenses though. I'm using some pretty fast glass and that may not be as affected.

 

[Mike Engles]

I have just discovered that in auto in face detect, a joystick push can toggle on and off face detect. In the other modes it centres the focus point.

I've discovered that too, but forgot about is after this discovery.....

It's useful as it saves me a button.....

I always wondered what the double bracket box was for. I've tried using that option in the past and couldn't figure out if it was useful. Still not sure there is a value to it for me. However, I prefer to use the 'Eye Detection Off' button mapping for the times I want to effectively detect faces only. Works good for antlers animals or animals with odd (non-canine/feline) heads.

Yes on the whole I agree, as in auto I loose the ability to centre the focus spot, which I cannot do when I use the star button for spot AF. The SET button did not seem to work either for centring the AF point. Tried auto as well as all the other detection methods.with the latest firmware, which to me seems worse for people. A little academic as I don't take many people pictures. I hope it improves birds and animals, weather too bad to test it out.

 

[thunder storm]

Is it possible to go back to the previous version if you don't like the results?

Why would you not like the result?

Some are reporting the result is give and take. I'm also cautious because of potential compatibility issues with my Sigma lenses.

 

[Tazz93]

The only thing I need to be improved is the initial recognition of eyes. Does the update bring any improvements for initial recognition?

I think it is quicker there. But it clearly displays a trait most people automatically assume is negative (me included). However, after using it, it seems a little bit faster and is still very accurate. So my initial worries about it becoming hyper active and losing confidence, isn't showing up in the results. But I can easily see where some people may initially be worried after updating and seeing the eye detection box hop from one eye to another and from eye to face at very high frequency. But in use, I'm finding it very similar to the older accuracy.

 

[R2D2]

I have just discovered that in auto in face detect, a joystick push can toggle on and off face detect. In the other modes it centres the focus point.

I've discovered that too, but forgot about is after this discovery.....

It's useful as it saves me a button.....

I always wondered what the double bracket box was for. I've tried using that option in the past and couldn't figure out if it was useful. Still not sure there is a value to it for me. However, I prefer to use the 'Eye Detection Off' button mapping for the times I want to effectively detect faces only. Works good for antlers animals or animals with odd (non-canine/feline) heads.

Yes on the whole I agree, as in auto I loose the ability to centre the focus spot, which I cannot do when I use the star button for spot AF. The SET button did not seem to work either for centring the AF point. Tried auto as well as all the other detection methods.with the latest firmware, which to me seems worse for people. A little academic as I don't take many people pictures. I hope it improves birds and animals, weather too bad to test it out.

If you're exclusively using the back buttons for focus, then you can set the main AF Method to Spot and your joystick will work for that.

R2

 

[Mike Engles]

I have just discovered that in auto in face detect, a joystick push can toggle on and off face detect. In the other modes it centres the focus point.

I've discovered that too, but forgot about is after this discovery.....

It's useful as it saves me a button.....

I always wondered what the double bracket box was for. I've tried using that option in the past and couldn't figure out if it was useful. Still not sure there is a value to it for me. However, I prefer to use the 'Eye Detection Off' button mapping for the times I want to effectively detect faces only. Works good for antlers animals or animals with odd (non-canine/feline) heads.

Yes on the whole I agree, as in auto I loose the ability to centre the focus spot, which I cannot do when I use the star button for spot AF. The SET button did not seem to work either for centring the AF point. Tried auto as well as all the other detection methods.with the latest firmware, which to me seems worse for people. A little academic as I don't take many people pictures. I hope it improves birds and animals, weather too bad to test it out.

If you're exclusively using the back buttons for focus, then you can set the main AF Method to Spot and your joystick will work for that.

R2

Yes you are correct, sadly my fingers have got used to the other way and I am not in the least bothered about auto. The discovery was accidental and can remain so.

Yesterday we started a conversation about R5 mis focus, both back and front focus . I posted two images. You commented on the back focussed one with the bench, but did not say anything about the front focussed one.

That whole post has been lost, but could you repeat what you said, if you can remember.

 

[sobrien]

Is it possible to go back to the previous version if you don't like the results?

Why would you not like the result?

Some are reporting the result is give and take. I'm also cautious because of potential compatibility issues with my Sigma lenses.

 

[axlotl]

I got to test it for 15 mins on birds and a couple of people. I think it is better but I need more time to get more shots but initial AF tracking on city pigeons seems to work faster and track a little better but those birds can be pretty quick. I did test on a couple of people at a quite a distance and one was walking away from me and it locked on to his head and tracked him pretty good. The other was a fail, it locked on to some logo on his shirt. He was wearing a hat and it kinda obscure his face and he was quite far away about 75 yards away.

I would like to hear what your experiences are with this new updates.

All good so far. Human eye detect is improved, now able to hold onto the eye even when hair is intruding and/or the eye is turned away.

Andrew

 

[lisa_camp]

Focus Is more accurate wide open at 1.8. - good news!
Also eye detection works better at obtuse angles, like when someone is mostly looking away from the camera.
All good, Though it appears Canon pulled the firmware update, so there will be another one coming shortly I presume.

 

[pawn]

Focus Is more accurate wide open at 1.8. - good news!
Also eye detection works better at obtuse angles, like when someone is mostly looking away from the camera.
All good, Though it appears Canon pulled the firmware update, so there will be another one coming shortly I presume.

I just checked the Canon USA support and it was still there as of Dec 3 2021 @ 9:00PM PST

 

[R2D2]

I have just discovered that in auto in face detect, a joystick push can toggle on and off face detect. In the other modes it centres the focus point.

I've discovered that too, but forgot about is after this discovery.....

It's useful as it saves me a button.....

I always wondered what the double bracket box was for. I've tried using that option in the past and couldn't figure out if it was useful. Still not sure there is a value to it for me. However, I prefer to use the 'Eye Detection Off' button mapping for the times I want to effectively detect faces only. Works good for antlers animals or animals with odd (non-canine/feline) heads.

Yes on the whole I agree, as in auto I loose the ability to centre the focus spot, which I cannot do when I use the star button for spot AF. The SET button did not seem to work either for centring the AF point. Tried auto as well as all the other detection methods.with the latest firmware, which to me seems worse for people. A little academic as I don't take many people pictures. I hope it improves birds and animals, weather too bad to test it out.

If you're exclusively using the back buttons for focus, then you can set the main AF Method to Spot and your joystick will work for that.

R2

Yes you are correct, sadly my fingers have got used to the other way and I am not in the least bothered about auto. The discovery was accidental and can remain so.

Yesterday we started a conversation about R5 mis focus, both back and front focus . I posted two images. You commented on the back focussed one with the bench, but did not say anything about the front focussed one.

That whole post has been lost, but could you repeat what you said, if you can remember.

Sorry, I don't know where you posted it.

R2

 

[lisa_camp]

Focus Is more accurate wide open at 1.8. - good news!
Also eye detection works better at obtuse angles, like when someone is mostly looking away from the camera.
All good, Though it appears Canon pulled the firmware update, so there will be another one coming shortly I presume.

I just checked the Canon USA support and it was still there as of Dec 3 2021 @ 9:00PM PST

 

[rmexpress22]

I can't really tell if there's a difference but and it's been pretty good for what I shoot since I got it so I don't know what improvements there could be. With the RF 85mm 1.2 at 1/8th and ISO6400, it was already nailing shots with version 1.4. I upgraded to v1.5.

 

[SigZero]

Focus Is more accurate wide open at 1.8. - good news!
Also eye detection works better at obtuse angles, like when someone is mostly looking away from the camera.
All good, Though it appears Canon pulled the firmware update, so there will be another one coming shortly I presume.

I just checked the Canon USA support and it was still there as of Dec 3 2021 @ 9:00PM PST

It’s been removed from most of the international sites.

It seems that it has been removed from all international sited that use the same engine. The US, Au sites are "on their own". Might be just some problem on server side rather than roll-back action.

Br, Pawel