Touch Bar on EOS R

I just received my "back-up" shooter, the EOS R, with the R6 as primary.

I quite like the touch bar. I use it for ISO, since the ISO functionality using the m-fn button causes the histogram to disappear.

Do most users really find the touch bar to be that aberrant? I think it's clever.

It’s like marmite….some love it, some hate it…there’s not many who are ambivalent

My experience with that weird thing fully consents with DPR's review findings:

At first blush, the M-Fn Bar seems a creative solution to adjusting a parameter with a wide range of values - AF Area modes, ISO values, or white balance presets. But it comes with three fatal flaws; it's imprecise, it's easily activated by accident, and it simply appears buggy in its operation.

The M-Fn Bar is a solution in search of a problem.

The first issue is perhaps the most damning. It's far too easy to swipe past your intended selection, necessitating a reverse swipe or some taps to get where you wanted to go. If you disable the swipe functionality and use the bar as two soft-touch buttons, you'll still be accidentally hitting the bar and changing the value all the time. You can enable a two-second 'touch to unlock' ability, or have the dedicated 'Lock' button prevent inputs when you don't want them, but that takes added time and misses the larger issue: In its current state, the M-Fn Bar is a solution in search of a problem.

Almost every staff member that's used the EOS R has ended up disabling the M-Fn Bar altogether. With the possible exception of silently controlling audio levels while recording (heavily cropped) 4K video, the M-Fn Bar basically accomplishes the same thing that a standard rear jog dial could accomplish, only in a less precise, less useful and more time-consuming fashion. It's the last control you'll want to deal with if you're trying to catch a fleeting moment

For me the M-Fn bar was the reason why not to buy R, keep the 5D mk III and wait for the R6 to come.

I think it depends on the weather, yea I really do .  Its a capacitive sensor and moisture has a large effect on it.  I have mine set for ISO with the left button set to 100 iso and the right button set for auto ISO.  Sometimes it sorta works and  sometimes it does not work at all and it changes with the seasons

I have not used it for months but after reading this thread I gave it a try and guess what, NOTHING.  what's new? 

An extra dial would have been more useful. I do find it annoying that Canon keep experimenting with different ergonomic layouts.

They also very quickly resigned from that weird touch bar. It also speaks for itself.

Personally I find the three on body dials + joystick as the best combination for fast and reliable (gloves included) operation of time, aperture, ISO and AF points.

Sittatunga wrote:

drsnoopy wrote:

An extra dial would have been more useful.

It's a control I use almost every time I take the camera out. I could adapt to an extra dial, but it's not useless, it's unique, so I needed to learn how to use it.

I do find it annoying that Canon keep experimenting with different ergonomic layouts.

That's innovation for you, something manufacturers are damned for not doing. They can stop doing that when they have perfected mirrorless camera controls. I don't think anybody's there yet.

That’s a fair point about innovation.  But when you have two or more bodies to work with, it can cause problems.  The R’s touch bar and the R7’s rear wheel are sufficiently unusual to make one wonder how extensively they trialled the ergonomics before release.

I think it's the single worst camera interface control ever put on a camera.  It's horrid.  First, it's finicky as heck, and when using it with ISO, it is difficult to switch between auto ISO and selected ISOs. The 'lock' function on it is just hit or miss.  It can't be used with gloves, and there is no tactile feedback at all.  Also, it takes up space that should have been used for a focus joystick.  I was relieved when Canon abandoned it for all future models.

I really wanted to like the bar, but every time I've put a critical setting on it, I've ended up regretting it. The problem for me is that without the lock it's too sensitive and gets unintentionally  nudged all the time, while the lock seems temperamental to put it mildly.

Now, about the only thing I trust it with is the level meter, but even then it manages to annoy me sometimes.

Bottom line for me: the bar was an interesting idea but I just don't find it to be practical.

Whatever use you find for the touch bar, it makes everything better to turn off the touchbar's own lock and set the top panel lock button to lock only the touch bar. That button is precise and operates instantly.

I use the touch bar to change WB, something that I will not use often. I leave ISO control to the EF/RF Control Adapter (bought the EOS R just to use EF glass).

However, I do think the touch bar really shines in image playback. VERY, VERY fast way to navigate to the picture you want it. Way better than an traditional dial. And you don't have to "unlock it" in playback mode.