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Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

Started Feb 25, 2022 | Discussions
ProDude Senior Member • Posts: 4,851
Great Instruction On the Canon AF System
18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFFKciYlxjQ&t=5679s

I really like Rudy Winston and his take on how to best use the AF system on a R5 and R6

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cdgta Regular Member • Posts: 111
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

This looks great so I have bookmarked to watch tomorrow. Thanks so much for posting the link!

gossamer88
gossamer88 Contributing Member • Posts: 769
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

I subscribe to Steve Brazill's channel and the David Bergman tip at the end is great!

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davidwien Contributing Member • Posts: 572
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System
1

ProDude wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFFKciYlxjQ&t=5679s

I really like Rudy Winston and his take on how to best use the AF system on a R5 and R6

He also says that his favourite RF lens is the (unjustly maligned) 16mm.

David

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Don_Campbell Veteran Member • Posts: 3,102
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

davidwien wrote:

ProDude wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFFKciYlxjQ&t=5679s

I really like Rudy Winston and his take on how to best use the AF system on a R5 and R6

He also says that his favourite RF lens is the (unjustly maligned) 16mm.

David

Rudy's videos made sense of the AF settings for the 7DmkII out of the gobbledegook that was Canon's manual some years ago. His contribution to this video similarly straightens out much of the R5 manual's AF settings gobbledegook in good fashion although some details are still a little "loose."

Don

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davidwien Contributing Member • Posts: 572
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System
9

When they discuss the Continuous AF menu item the point is made that this used to be called something else and I realised that the term was probably decided by non-native English speakers. Apparently users often confuse this with Servo AF, and it would have been more accurately named Continual AF, since it refers to the camera continually changing the focus point even when the focus button (or half pressed shooting button) is not being used. As this mode rapidly depletes the battery by adjusting focus 100% of the time, it is often best avoided.

It would also be more accurate and easier for an English-speaking native to understand, had they labelled the options “enabled/disabled” rather than “enable/disable”. That one gave me trouble for a long time...

David

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OP ProDude Senior Member • Posts: 4,851
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

davidwien wrote:

ProDude wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFFKciYlxjQ&t=5679s

I really like Rudy Winston and his take on how to best use the AF system on a R5 and R6

He also says that his favourite RF lens is the (unjustly maligned) 16mm.

David

What i've come to know is that nearly ANY lens can be compensated for with decent software of today. My preference is DXO Photolab 5 as well as Photoworks as my backup. Between those and Topaz DeNoise AI and Sharpen AI there's just about nothing I can't process to a great end result. I can understand his liking that 16mm as it's so light and compact and fast to focus....why not.

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FotografMagnus
FotografMagnus Regular Member • Posts: 268
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

Rudy Winston should be the president of the Universe. He's awesome at explaining everything.

/ Magnus

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cpharm86 Senior Member • Posts: 2,742
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

I skimmed the video until I have time to watch it completly.  Looks good. Thanks for posting.

spec68 Contributing Member • Posts: 533
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System
2

Great video to finally give me concrete examples of when to use the various AF Cases work. Like Steve Brazill, I'm going back to Case 4 from AF, at least for the moment.

What I don't understand is why did it take a podcaster to get Canon to do this? This kind of long form, detailed stuff should be done as a matter of course by Canon, esp. when so much of the menu system is "hidden in plain sight," counterintuitive or comes off as duplicative in places when it's really just poorly worded, perhaps, as Rudy Winston suggested, because of loss in translation. "Lens Electronic MF," and "Electronic Full Time MF," just one example of this.

I appreciate it when other photographers do set up videos but, I really like to hear how the camera options are designed to work direct from the horse's mouth, and also I've seen plenty of set up videos where the presenter comes upon a menu item and admits he had no idea what it did.

AlaskaJim Junior Member • Posts: 30
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

It was a welcomed video interview for sure. Thank you! I was wondering if Rudy would discuss the "lockup" and "freezing" issues, but I can understand why he would not. And yes, I subscribed to the channel.

DuckShots
DuckShots Contributing Member • Posts: 734
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

Refreshed my knowledge.

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cdgta Regular Member • Posts: 111
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

davidwien wrote:

When they discuss the Continuous AF menu item the point is made that this used to be called something else and I realised that the term was probably decided by non-native English speakers. Apparently users often confuse this with Servo AF, and it would have been more accurately named Continual AF, since it refers to the camera continually changing the focus point even when the focus button (or half pressed shooting button) is not being used. As this mode rapidly depletes the battery by adjusting focus 100% of the time, it is often best avoided.

It would also be more accurate and easier for an English-speaking native to understand, had they labelled the options “enabled/disabled” rather than “enable/disable”. That one gave me trouble for a long time...

David

So true, David! I still have trouble when I see those 'enable/disable' usage. I am always confusing whether I just turned on (or off) a feature, lol. Now thanks to you I will read them as if they actually say 'enabled' or 'disabled'!

cdgta Regular Member • Posts: 111
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

cdgta wrote:

This looks great so I have bookmarked to watch tomorrow. Thanks so much for posting the link!

I watched this and also went back to the one from 2020 with Canon's Drew MacCallum discussing R5 & 6 as well as Rf lenses. Both are quite informative. One thing Rudy said that everyone should keep in mind & that is that we are never going to get a 'perfect' camera. We do have to remind ourselves that even with all the game-changing tech, a camera is still just a tool in our hands and it has to be told what we want. I am going to keep this in mind whenever the camera is doing its own little happy dance instead of focussing on what I want!

cdgta Regular Member • Posts: 111
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

Don_Campbell wrote:

davidwien wrote:

ProDude wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFFKciYlxjQ&t=5679s

I really like Rudy Winston and his take on how to best use the AF system on a R5 and R6

He also says that his favourite RF lens is the (unjustly maligned) 16mm.

David

" although some details are still a little "loose."

Don

True. One thing I found odd was around 31:22 when he was talking about ZoneAF and that you can have 'face detection' active or just turn off the face detection if you don't want it active in the zone. I can't see how since face detection is part of the Face+ Tracking system which is one AF method (really as he said an 'area') while ZoneAF is another choice in the AF methods list. Am I missing something?

Don_Campbell Veteran Member • Posts: 3,102
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

cdgta wrote:

Don_Campbell wrote:

davidwien wrote:

ProDude wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFFKciYlxjQ&t=5679s

I really like Rudy Winston and his take on how to best use the AF system on a R5 and R6

He also says that his favourite RF lens is the (unjustly maligned) 16mm.

David

" although some details are still a little "loose."

Don

True. One thing I found odd was around 31:22 when he was talking about ZoneAF and that you can have 'face detection' active or just turn off the face detection if you don't want it active in the zone. I can't see how since face detection is part of the Face+ Tracking system which is one AF method (really as he said an 'area') while ZoneAF is another choice in the AF methods list. Am I missing something?

I missed more than one thing about that description but I let it go because  it wasn't something I considered using. It definitely was confusing of Rudy. Partly it was because he was saying that you could have a zone and do face detection inside the zone but I think he said only with the subject "people" and not with eye-AF. Sounded non-useful for BIF, my main interest ;).

Don

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Yan Duval Regular Member • Posts: 199
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System
1

The enable/disable is still bugging me.  It's been like that for years and I now realize that since I am not a native speaker, I don't have the same issues as the natives.  I make plenty of mistakes in English, but not that one and I find it confusing.

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Yan

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cdgta Regular Member • Posts: 111
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

Yan Duval wrote:

The enable/disable is still bugging me. It's been like that for years and I now realize that since I am not a native speaker, I don't have the same issues as the natives. I make plenty of mistakes in English, but not that one and I find it confusing.

Thanks to DavidWien's post, I now have 'enabled/disabled' firmly in my head every time I see those 'enable/disable' labels. I am saved from that frustration going forward!...now, if only someone could magically take away all other frustrations...!!!

Leigh A. Wax Senior Member • Posts: 1,621
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System
5

And another from Canon Europe:

Everything you wanted to know about autofocus (AF)

https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/infobank/autofocus/

cdgta Regular Member • Posts: 111
Re: Great Instruction On the Canon AF System

Leigh A. Wax wrote:

And another from Canon Europe:

Everything you wanted to know about autofocus (AF)

https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/infobank/autofocus/

Everyone should read through this website's articles. It has the clearest explanations, even giving surprisingly (to me) insights on the Canon behind-the-scenes AF, etc. As an example, when it describes Servo AF it highlights the predictive elements of the system which I don't think most of us think about. Instead we probably mainly think of Servo AF as a tracking device, as in 'following' a subject. This notion is inadequate because the system is actively 'predicting' where the subject will be in the next frame.

It is not often I find the info on a camera manufacturer's website to be excellent but Canon Europe's site seems superior in this.

Thanks so much for sharing this link, Leigh.  Even for old Canon hands, it is worth a read because one's understanding of a familiar topic can be expanded, changed or clarified simply by having it explained in a different way than previously.

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