Can Canon AF do real time tracking of objects (not just faces,eyes,cars,animals etc)?

drsnoopy wrote:

Leigh A. Wax wrote:

The term "Tracking" in current MILCH Cameras is the AF capability of "locking on to , and "following" / tracking a moving object.

What moving objects are there to track in a Landscape scenario?

The OP means he/she wants to lock focus on an object and then move the camera around, hence the chosen object is “moving” within the viewfinder frame. Of course all recent Canons can do this perfectly well - in my experience there’s no issue with R, RP, R5, which I have owned, or with R6, R7, R10, which I have tried and/or used.

However there’s a much simpler solution. Use back button focus. Focus on chosen point. Recompose at will and press the (non-focusing) shutter release. I started using BBF for wildlife years ago but it’s much better than shutter release focusing in almost every scenario, for me anyway.

The old method of focusing and recomposing, with a fixed-position focusing spot, could not keep the subject from moving slightly out of the plane of focus when the camera is rotated. That was even a problem for Leica rangefinder cameras.

The new mirrorless cameras allow you to define a focus point almost anywhere you want, and move the camera with the focus point following the subject. That's the newer method, and it's how focusing and recomposing ought to work. Contrary to some responses here, this CAN be done with recent Canon mirrorless cameras.

By the way, some SLRs, including the Nikon D500, could also use the new technique, as far as I know.

There's another useful technique. Most modern cameras also allow placing a focusing spot almost anywhere in the field. That's useful for a camera on a tripod. Even my modest, old SL1 does that, and it's especially easy with the new Canons.