Quickly switching from AF to MF on Canon R7 + RF lens

There’s a button on the front of the camera to do precisely that AFAIK.

You should just be able to turn the focus ring and it should adjust focus as you require. Saying this I have not checked it on an RF lens, even though I own the 100-500. Works on the L EF lenses.

There;s a AF - MF switch on the lens, 2nd switch of 4.

For RF lenses it needs “Electronic full-time MF” (in AF 6 menu) to be ON, but that's default setting I think.

JJWilcox wrote:

Hi everyone,

I just got my R7! I also picked up the RF 100-500 for birding. I'm new to photography and can't seem to figure out how to quickly switch from AF to MF so I can use the control ring on my lens to focus. In many cases AF works great but when my subject is far away, the AF isn't as precise as I need it to be. When I see this happening in AF mode, is there a way to quickly switch to MF and improve the focus manually?

How far away is it not focusing on subjects. It is by all accounts better than R5 and that is good.

Great shot by the way.

I'm a complete n00b to photography so apologies if I'm not thinking about this correctly. How do experienced birders do this? Are they in MF mode the entire time?

Thanks for the help and here's a shot I got yesterday with AF!

chipman wrote:

There;s a AF - MF switch on the lens, 2nd switch of 4.

Thanks Ron, yes and when I toggle the AF/MF switch I can then auto focus using the manual focus ring. Nice!

I guess my next question is if there’s an easier way to do this or if I need to keep a finger on that AF/MF switch and get comfortable flipping it when needed?

Usually I only have a few seconds to get the shot I want so I’m hoping to automate / streamline the switch to manual focus as much as possible.

Johnnyxbow wrote:

You should just be able to turn the focus ring and it should adjust focus as you require. Saying this I have not checked it on an RF lens, even though I own the 100-500. Works on the L EF lenses.

Yeup, this works but only after hitting the AF/MF switch in the lens.

PicPocket wrote:

JJWilcox wrote:

Hi everyone,

I just got my R7! I also picked up the RF 100-500 for birding. I'm new to photography and can't seem to figure out how to quickly switch from AF to MF so I can use the control ring on my lens to focus.

You won't use the control ring, but rather the focusing ring on the lens. Do you have the full time manual focus option turned on in AF menu, tab 6?

https://cam.start.canon/en/C005/manual/html/UG-05_AF-Drive_0120.html#AF-Drive_0120_3-1

Ouch. My R7 only has 5 tabs in the AF menu. Any idea what might be happening here? 
And yes, meant to type focusing ring!

In many cases AF works great but when my subject is far away, the AF isn't as precise as I need it to be. When I see this happening in AF mode, is there a way to quickly switch to MF and improve the focus manually?

It also helps to delink the focusing from shutter button and assign various focus modes to buttons on the back. That way, you get to separately control when to shoot and when to AF and in what AF mode. See button customization section of the menu

That sounds like the right direction! On a related note - I’d love to not have to use manual AF/MF toggle on the lens but instead to do it with a camera button. Is this possible?

Thank you!

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PicPocket
http://photography.ashishpandey.com

Johnnyxbow wrote:

JJWilcox wrote:

Hi everyone,

I just got my R7! I also picked up the RF 100-500 for birding. I'm new to photography and can't seem to figure out how to quickly switch from AF to MF so I can use the control ring on my lens to focus. In many cases AF works great but when my subject is far away, the AF isn't as precise as I need it to be. When I see this happening in AF mode, is there a way to quickly switch to MF and improve the focus manually?

How far away is it not focusing on subjects. It is by all accounts better than R5 and that is good.

Great shot by the way.

Thank you! ❤️
Mostly this happens with large distances (50+ yards) but I’ve seen it happen with less. When it does happen, it’s almost always a bird in a tree where the tree the bird is on appears in focus, but the bird itself isn’t as sharp. I’m hoping that a slight manual adjustment will make the difference but open to other suggestions!

JJWilcox wrote:

Johnnyxbow wrote:

JJWilcox wrote:

Hi everyone,

I just got my R7! I also picked up the RF 100-500 for birding. I'm new to photography and can't seem to figure out how to quickly switch from AF to MF so I can use the control ring on my lens to focus. In many cases AF works great but when my subject is far away, the AF isn't as precise as I need it to be. When I see this happening in AF mode, is there a way to quickly switch to MF and improve the focus manually?

How far away is it not focusing on subjects. It is by all accounts better than R5 and that is good.

Great shot by the way.

Thank you! ❤️
Mostly this happens with large distances (50+ yards) but I’ve seen it happen with less. When it does happen, it’s almost always a bird in a tree where the tree the bird is on appears in focus, but the bird itself isn’t as sharp. I’m hoping that a slight manual adjustment will make the difference but open to other suggestions!

Most people including myself use two back buttons to focus. One set to a single point, for situations such as this. The other set to multi point with eye focus.

Not sure how you have yours set up. there are loads of examples on YouTube.

JJWilcox wrote:

That sounds like the right direction! On a related note - I’d love to not have to use manual AF/MF toggle on the lens but instead to do it with a camera button. Is this possible?

No. There's a dedicated AF/MF switch on the front of camera, but (see manual p. 62) if the lens has AF/MF switch it takes precedence over any setting on camera (either front switch or menu setting).

Johnnyxbow wrote:

Most people including myself use two back buttons to focus. One set to a single point, for situations such as this. The other set to multi point with eye focus.

This can be configured without switching to back button focus (which I hate) – mine is configured with default focus+meter on shutter, set to whole area with eye AF. One of the back buttons (I used * as easiest to use) is configured as “Switch to registered AF func.” (AF↔) with focus area in detailed settings (spot chosen as area).

kikimora wrote:

Johnnyxbow wrote:

Most people including myself use two back buttons to focus. One set to a single point, for situations such as this. The other set to multi point with eye focus.

This can be configured without switching to back button focus (which I hate) – mine is configured with default focus+meter on shutter, set to whole area with eye AF. One of the back buttons (I used * as easiest to use) is configured as “Switch to registered AF func.” (AF↔) with focus area in detailed settings (spot chosen as area).

Question,  How do you focus and re-compose, if the need arise. Half pressing the shutter would change focus.

Once the focus locks on the bird I release the * button and default tracking takes over. Works like a charm.

Johnnyxbow wrote:

kikimora wrote:

Johnnyxbow wrote:

Most people including myself use two back buttons to focus. One set to a single point, for situations such as this. The other set to multi point with eye focus.

This can be configured without switching to back button focus (which I hate) – mine is configured with default focus+meter on shutter, set to whole area with eye AF. One of the back buttons (I used * as easiest to use) is configured as “Switch to registered AF func.” (AF↔) with focus area in detailed settings (spot chosen as area).

Question, How do you focus and re-compose, if the need arise. Half pressing the shutter would change focus.

That is one of the benefits of using Back Button Focus. The shutter button is used to fire the shutter not focus. It does take time to get use to using the back button instead of the shutter button to focus.

JJWilcox wrote:

Hi everyone,

I just got my R7! I also picked up the RF 100-500 for birding. I'm new to photography and can't seem to figure out how to quickly switch from AF to MF so I can use the control ring on my lens to focus. In many cases AF works great but when my subject is far away, the AF isn't as precise as I need it to be. When I see this happening in AF mode, is there a way to quickly switch to MF and improve the focus manually?

I'm a complete n00b to photography so apologies if I'm not thinking about this correctly. How do experienced birders do this? Are they in MF mode the entire time?

Mostly not. Maual focus is  too slow. Check out Youtube videos of birding and wildlife photographers. There are many. You could start with Jan Wegener and Duade Paton.

Basically they use Servo AF, Continuous High drive, Animal+ eye detect on, 1 point or spot AF method (depends on situation)

Andrew

Thanks for the help and here's a shot I got yesterday with AF!

kikimora wrote:

JJWilcox wrote:

That sounds like the right direction! On a related note - I’d love to not have to use manual AF/MF toggle on the lens but instead to do it with a camera button. Is this possible?

No. There's a dedicated AF/MF switch on the front of camera, but (see manual p. 62) if the lens has AF/MF switch it takes precedence over any setting on camera (either front switch or menu setting).

Thank you, that makes sense!