EOS R5: How to prevent the viewfinder sensor from not letting the camera go to sleep mode?

CameraCarl said:

In Set Up menu 2 > Power Saving you can set the camera timers to turn off the display, camera or viewfinder after so many minutes.

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jAcKz said:

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any way to manually put the camera to sleep (e.g. by assigning a custom button) either. Locking the viewfinder sensor doesn't seem to be possible either.

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jAcKz said:

I'm used to carrying my cameras around the neck. When doing so with my R5 and walking around, the camera will bounce around a little and the viewfinder sensor will often come so close to my body that it will activate the camera if it hasn't gone to sleep mode yet. Unfortunately, this doesn't only prompt it to autofocus, meter and switch on the rear screen, it also prevents it from going to sleep mode. As a result, walking around with the camera around my neck will drain the battery surprisingly quickly.

So far, the only way I've found to resolve this is by holding the camera still until it goes to sleep mode or by switching it off completely. Unfortunately, if there is one thing I dislike about the R5, it's the on/off switch. Coming from Nikon where the on/off is around the shutter button, I find the R5's on/off to be cumbersome to operate. It also takes bit of time for the R5 to switch on, which can be frustrating if you want to be quick.

By contrast, waking up from sleep by pressing the shutter button is reasonably quick and very convenient. Frustratingly, the sleep time for the viewfinder cannot be set to anything shorter than 1 minute though. If I could set it to 10 seconds or something like that, it would be enough if I kept the camera from bouncing around for a few seconds to let it go to sleep.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any way to manually put the camera to sleep (e.g. by assigning a custom button) either. Locking the viewfinder sensor doesn't seem to be possible either.

Does anyone have the same problem or any idea how to solve it?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

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PicPocket said:

jAcKz said:

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any way to manually put the camera to sleep (e.g. by assigning a custom button) either. Locking the viewfinder sensor doesn't seem to be possible either.

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I have assigned the red movie recording button to display off, and that works pretty well for me

when I have short pauses between shots, I just hit that button right after my last shot. When I have known longer pauses, I use the power button. Plus I minimise sleep and Review timeouts. Overall gives me enough to go a long way

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Dan-Z said:

jAcKz said:

I'm used to carrying my cameras around the neck. When doing so with my R5 and walking around, the camera will bounce around a little and the viewfinder sensor will often come so close to my body that it will activate the camera if it hasn't gone to sleep mode yet. Unfortunately, this doesn't only prompt it to autofocus, meter and switch on the rear screen, it also prevents it from going to sleep mode. As a result, walking around with the camera around my neck will drain the battery surprisingly quickly.

So far, the only way I've found to resolve this is by holding the camera still until it goes to sleep mode or by switching it off completely. Unfortunately, if there is one thing I dislike about the R5, it's the on/off switch. Coming from Nikon where the on/off is around the shutter button, I find the R5's on/off to be cumbersome to operate. It also takes bit of time for the R5 to switch on, which can be frustrating if you want to be quick.

By contrast, waking up from sleep by pressing the shutter button is reasonably quick and very convenient. Frustratingly, the sleep time for the viewfinder cannot be set to anything shorter than 1 minute though. If I could set it to 10 seconds or something like that, it would be enough if I kept the camera from bouncing around for a few seconds to let it go to sleep.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any way to manually put the camera to sleep (e.g. by assigning a custom button) either. Locking the viewfinder sensor doesn't seem to be possible either.

Does anyone have the same problem or any idea how to solve it?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Click to expand...

To prevent the back screen from coming on in Live View mode (which uses the most battery), you can turn it off by cycling through the Info button modes. But first you need to set the "screen off" as one of the modes. Go in the first (red) menu, tab 7, Shooting info disp. / Screen Info Settings / then make sure option 6 is selected. To turn the Live View screen on again just hit the info button again. Note that it'll turn on and off automatically when viewing your photos on the screen.

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jAcKz said:

Thanks for the suggestion! Strangely, I only have 5 options in this menu, none of them is "screen off".

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SigZero said:

jAcKz said:

Thanks for the suggestion! Strangely, I only have 5 options in this menu, none of them is "screen off".

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It's available from firmware 1.3.1 and you have to enable it first in info screen setup menu.

Br, Pawel.

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jAcKz said:

I'm used to carrying my cameras around the neck. When doing so with my R5 and walking around, the camera will bounce around a little and the viewfinder sensor will often come so close to my body that it will activate the camera if it hasn't gone to sleep mode yet. Unfortunately, this doesn't only prompt it to autofocus, meter and switch on the rear screen, it also prevents it from going to sleep mode. As a result, walking around with the camera around my neck will drain the battery surprisingly quickly.

So far, the only way I've found to resolve this is by holding the camera still until it goes to sleep mode or by switching it off completely. Unfortunately, if there is one thing I dislike about the R5, it's the on/off switch. Coming from Nikon where the on/off is around the shutter button, I find the R5's on/off to be cumbersome to operate. It also takes bit of time for the R5 to switch on, which can be frustrating if you want to be quick.

By contrast, waking up from sleep by pressing the shutter button is reasonably quick and very convenient. Frustratingly, the sleep time for the viewfinder cannot be set to anything shorter than 1 minute though. If I could set it to 10 seconds or something like that, it would be enough if I kept the camera from bouncing around for a few seconds to let it go to sleep.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any way to manually put the camera to sleep (e.g. by assigning a custom button) either. Locking the viewfinder sensor doesn't seem to be possible either.

Does anyone have the same problem or any idea how to solve it?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Click to expand...

Nimonus said:

That EVF sensor is really annoying.

1) It always mistakens finger operation /movement on back LCD display as your face approaching resulting the back LCD shut down and EVF turning on which is not you want..

This issue had been raised up from the very beginning of R5 and no solution at all.

2) Issue as this post.

It had bee complained by other users before and no response from manufacturer.

My solution is very simple and can be done easily by a firmware updating:

TO ENABLE A BUTTON TO TURN ON/OFF THE EVF. Simply the shutter release button is the best.

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Alastair Norcross said:

I find the easiest way around this with my R and M6II (when I have the EVF mounted) is simply to disable the eye sensor altogether, and just switch between screen and EVF with a button. On the R, I have the up arrow programmed to switch between screen and EVF. The M6II EVF has its own button to do this. I also have another button programmed to turn off the screen or EVF (whichever is active). It's quick and easy. I much prefer having this control over relying on the sensor to tell which viewing method I want to use. Whenever I put the camera down on its strap after taking a shot, I simply press the button to turn off the screen. When I raise the camera to my eye, I half press the shutter on its way, and by the time I have the camera up to take the shot the EVF (or screen) is on again. I presume that you can do something similar with the R5. I have seen a lot of people complain about the EVF sensor on cameras that use them, and never really understand why they don't just turn the sensor off altogether, and go to manual switching. No need for tape over the sensor.

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R2D2 said:

jAcKz said:

I'm used to carrying my cameras around the neck. When doing so with my R5 and walking around, the camera will bounce around a little and the viewfinder sensor will often come so close to my body that it will activate the camera if it hasn't gone to sleep mode yet. Unfortunately, this doesn't only prompt it to autofocus, meter and switch on the rear screen, it also prevents it from going to sleep mode. As a result, walking around with the camera around my neck will drain the battery surprisingly quickly.

So far, the only way I've found to resolve this is by holding the camera still until it goes to sleep mode or by switching it off completely. Unfortunately, if there is one thing I dislike about the R5, it's the on/off switch. Coming from Nikon where the on/off is around the shutter button, I find the R5's on/off to be cumbersome to operate. It also takes bit of time for the R5 to switch on, which can be frustrating if you want to be quick.

By contrast, waking up from sleep by pressing the shutter button is reasonably quick and very convenient. Frustratingly, the sleep time for the viewfinder cannot be set to anything shorter than 1 minute though. If I could set it to 10 seconds or something like that, it would be enough if I kept the camera from bouncing around for a few seconds to let it go to sleep.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any way to manually put the camera to sleep (e.g. by assigning a custom button) either. Locking the viewfinder sensor doesn't seem to be possible either.

Does anyone have the same problem or any idea how to solve it?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Click to expand...

Go high tech. Cover the sensor with black electrical tape. It disables auto wake-up, but just half press the shutter on the way up to wake.

R2

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Alastair Norcross said:

I find the easiest way around this with my R and M6II (when I have the EVF mounted) is simply to disable the eye sensor altogether, and just switch between screen and EVF with a button. On the R, I have the up arrow programmed to switch between screen and EVF. The M6II EVF has its own button to do this. I also have another button programmed to turn off the screen or EVF (whichever is active). It's quick and easy. I much prefer having this control over relying on the sensor to tell which viewing method I want to use. Whenever I put the camera down on its strap after taking a shot, I simply press the button to turn off the screen. When I raise the camera to my eye, I half press the shutter on its way, and by the time I have the camera up to take the shot the EVF (or screen) is on again. I presume that you can do something similar with the R5. I have seen a lot of people complain about the EVF sensor on cameras that use them, and never really understand why they don't just turn the sensor off altogether, and go to manual switching. No need for tape over the sensor.

Click to expand...

Nigel Wells said:

I use the eco mode. I have assigned the set button to switch eco on or off, works very well for me.

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