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Archive 2012 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!

  
 
goosemang
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p.28 #1 · p.28 #1 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


I had the 7d and found it an occasional annoyance. I no longer have that body to compare to, but I believe the AF points are a smaller portion of the overall frame on my 5d3. so in other words if you can't tell exactly where the point is, there's more area for it to be "lost" in. or something like that. it's more annoying on the 5d3 than it was on the 7d, IMO, but I still shoot in some crazy low light and manage.

some things I've done to the AF system that others may find helpful are:

- use only cross type points. there will be fewer points, and you won't have non cross types which won't be as good in low light anyways
- setup orientation linked AF. if I do this I at least know my point is in a general area of the frame. like if my grip is up I know my point is in the top third of the frame, vice versa, etc.
- setup registered AF points for all three orientations. for instance my grip up point is registered to a specific point on the side of the frame. if I take my point off this spot, the registered "home" spot blinks so I know I'm off it. and my joystick is setup so if I center press it, the AF point will return to the registered point for whatever orientation im in. if I center press it again and spot will return to where it was. every center press makes the point light up which is helpful.

I agree the system could be improved upon, but I like it better than the 9 point system personally. I've also got a couple years of working with it under my belt because of the 7d.... it takes time and it's complex. gotta train your brain! hopefully canon cranks out a fw update to help folks out though



Jul 15, 2012 at 07:19 PM
stanj
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p.28 #2 · p.28 #2 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


stanj wrote:
I think the part that you're missing is that the 5D3 / 1DX points are (1) much smaller in relative size area, and (2) much thinner in absolute terms on the screen. Both issues compounded very well make a difference between an AF point that you can and can not see. Add to that (3) that there are 3x as many AF points on the 5D3/1DX, things can get very confusing very quickly.

Todd Klassy wrote:
That's if you choose to turn on all 61 AF points. There are times when a photographer might not need all 61 AF points and might use, say, just 9 instead. What's more, your point doesn't address the fact that the AF point is not illuminated during AI Servo mode, which would largely nullify the concern about the VF being too cluttered as only one AF point needs to be illuminated to help the photographer track subjects and know where the selected AF point is.


I am usually using only the 15 point mode, but then you lose the very useful upper and lower center stack (which in itself is a braindead idea and a step back from all former 1D series bodies where you could limit to 9 points and retain the useful ones at the edges, but I digress). Limiting to 15 or 9 doesn't improve the points visibility, just reduces clutter.



Jul 15, 2012 at 08:08 PM
pompo
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p.28 #3 · p.28 #3 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


I agree, I'm forced to select all cross points for the same exact reason since I use the outmost points in horizontal nd vertical...


Jul 15, 2012 at 08:11 PM
Todd Klassy
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p.28 #4 · p.28 #4 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


I could care less about the red "cylon" glow. In a perfect world I just want the AF point illumination to work like it does on my 5D and did on my 5D Mark II. It's hard to see the red light in brighter light, in lower light, and it is horrible in AI Servo mode.

Love my 5D Mark III in almost every other regard, hate the AF point illumination. I sincerely hope Canon finds a fix to make everyone happy. But that would seem to be wishful thinking at this point.



Jul 15, 2012 at 11:18 PM
Yakim Peled
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p.28 #5 · p.28 #5 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


Hummm..... I was living with my 7D for 2 years and thought it was fine. Now I know it's not. Ignorance is bliss...

Let me see.
In one shot mode and bright light (ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/6000) red dot is not visible. The active AF point is black and confirmation beep is heard. Other AF points are not visible at all.
In one shot mode and low light (ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/10) red dot is visible. The active AF point is red and confirmation beep is heard. Other AF points are not visible at all.

One shot summary: As this is where most of my shots are made, I can live with that. Reddening (sp.?) of the active AF point bright light would be nice though.

In AI servo mode and either bright light (ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/6000) or low light (ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/10) red dot is not visible. The active AF point is black and confirmation beep is not heard. Other AF points are not visible at all. As I understand, apart from the "Other AF points are not visible at all" (I think I customized it somewhere) this is how Canon intended AI servo mode to be. I mean, in this mode the active AF point is never red and confirmation beep is never heard in every Canon camera. Am I right?

A question to 1D4 owners: Is the active AF point always red, regardless of mode and lighting conditions?

Happy shooting,
Yakim.



Jul 16, 2012 at 01:37 AM
timbop
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p.28 #6 · p.28 #6 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


ggreene wrote:
I'm assuming the early testers saw these problems ..


well there's your problem!



Jul 16, 2012 at 09:12 AM
chez
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p.28 #7 · p.28 #7 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


timbop wrote:
well there's your problem!


I'm sure they saw the problems and Canon made a strategic decision to release anyway as I believe the fix is not simple and would have delayed the release of the 5d3. Canon knew Nikon was coming out with the D800 and could not afford not to release the 5d3 as is.

Now the question is, will there be a fix.



Jul 16, 2012 at 09:46 AM
Ralph Conway
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p.28 #8 · p.28 #8 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


Surely. In 3 years with 5D IV. Maybe there will be one for 1D X sooner, while production is running.


Jul 16, 2012 at 09:57 AM
ggreene
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p.28 #9 · p.28 #9 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


Yakim Peled wrote:
A question to 1D4 owners: Is the active AF point always red, regardless of mode and lighting conditions?

Happy shooting,
Yakim.


AF point illumination during focusing is on by default in the 1D4 whether using One Shot or AI Servo. There are also
options to set it to be on for just AF point selection or on when AF is achieved. There is also a custom setting to
allow for a normal or brighter AF point. Why Canon decided to screw around with a perfectly fine viewfinder and AF points in the 1 series is beyond me. They seriously didn't think 1D users would want that flexibility?



Jul 16, 2012 at 10:18 AM
yonpol
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p.28 #10 · p.28 #10 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


Please email Canon's Chuck Westfall to let him know this is the achiles tendon of an otherwise great camera. If something can be done through firmware to make it better they should do it, but I think we need to remind them.
[email protected]



Jul 16, 2012 at 10:40 AM
MintMar
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p.28 #11 · p.28 #11 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


ggreene wrote:
AF point illumination during focusing is on by default in the 1D4 whether using One Shot or AI Servo. There are also
options to set it to be on for just AF point selection or on when AF is achieved. There is also a custom setting to
allow for a normal or brighter AF point. Why Canon decided to screw around with a perfectly fine viewfinder and AF points in the 1 series is beyond me. They seriously didn't think 1D users would want that flexibility?


I'd expect some stupid business decision... I guess they wanted to cut some costs, they could remove a pentaprism module (albeit small one), perhaps the focusing screens had to be thinly silvered in some way if they had to reflect the red rectangles... All of that got away - you only have big red LED in there and a LCD on-screen which could display a lot of things...

So then they decided how great all of that is and that this must be implemented. I once read that in Japanese company, if the subordinate doesn't agree, the disagreement is voiced with a different tone to the word "yes", so the opposition might have been squashed and even the 1D users got blessed by this "great idea"... They're consumers too, and locked in anyway, right? Umm, irony off... I'm so glad I can't be upgrading anytime soon. I'll just watch and see what will happen next.



Jul 16, 2012 at 10:44 AM
AGeoJO
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p.28 #12 · p.28 #12 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


ggreene wrote:
AF point illumination during focusing is on by default in the 1D4 whether using One Shot or AI Servo. There are also
options to set it to be on for just AF point selection or on when AF is achieved. There is also a custom setting to
allow for a normal or brighter AF point. Why Canon decided to screw around with a perfectly fine viewfinder and AF points in the 1 series is beyond me. They seriously didn't think 1D users would want that flexibility?



Greg, I know for sure that the selected AF point will not be lit in the AI Servo mode on the 1D Mark IV when the focus plane is reached. I already sold my previous 1D series cameras and couldn't confirm this function in the others but from my recollection, none of the cameras has this function by default. Why? Because the focus plane changes on a regular basis in this mode.

BTW, have you handled any of the cameras in question here since the last time we conversed on this thread?



Jul 16, 2012 at 10:52 AM
stanj
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p.28 #13 · p.28 #13 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


ggreene wrote:
I'm assuming the early testers saw these problems ..

timbop wrote:
well there's your problem!

chez wrote:
I'm sure they saw the problems and Canon made a strategic decision to release anyway as I believe the fix is not simple and would have delayed the release of the 5d3. Canon knew Nikon was coming out with the D800 and could not afford not to release the 5d3 as is.

Now the question is, will there be a fix.


But they delayed the 1DX and could have fixed it for that, esp. since the 1DX was announced earlier and probably in people's hands earlier.



Jul 16, 2012 at 11:03 AM
ggreene
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p.28 #14 · p.28 #14 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


AGeoJO wrote:
Greg, I know for sure that the selected AF point will not be lit in the AI Servo mode on the 1D Mark IV when the focus plane is reached. I already sold my previous 1D series cameras and couldn't confirm this function in the others but from my recollection, none of the cameras has this function by default. Why? Because the focus plane changes on a regular basis in this mode.

BTW, have you handled any of the cameras in question here since the last time we conversed on this thread?


The custom function for when AF is achieved may well be for one shot only. I've never used it. I do know that the settings I have in place give me AF point illumination all the time in AI Servo and it is visible in low light as well as
bright light with fast lenses.

I have not used a 1DX yet. I could rent it but I really don't want to spend $300 right now for a quick try. I'm not
encouraged by a post on sportshooters.com that says they had trouble seeing the AF point in low light and against dark colored uniforms. Sort of waiting for more sports shooters to give their opinion.



Jul 16, 2012 at 12:06 PM
James Cripps
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p.28 #15 · p.28 #15 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


A response to my email regarding this issue, from Mr.Chuck Westfall just now:

"Dear Mr. Cripps:

We've been aware of the online reaction to the AF point illumination system of the EOS 5D Mark III and 1D X cameras for quite some time by now. This issue has already been reported to Canon Inc., however we have heard nothing from them in return. This is normal; we typically don't hear from them until they have decided how to respond. Your feedback will be added to our monthly report. Thanks! "

For some reason this gives me at least a small bit of hope!



Jul 16, 2012 at 02:33 PM
pompo
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p.28 #16 · p.28 #16 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


James Cripps wrote:
A response to my email regarding this issue, from Mr.Chuck Westfall just now:

"Dear Mr. Cripps:

We've been aware of the online reaction to the AF point illumination system of the EOS 5D Mark III and 1D X cameras for quite some time by now. This issue has already been reported to Canon Inc., however we have heard nothing from them in return. This is normal; we typically don't hear from them until they have decided how to respond. Your feedback will be added to our monthly report. Thanks! "

For some reason this gives me at least a small bit
...Show more

Ditto! Chuck sounds like Canon Usa is only a distributor tho...Are they just that?



Jul 16, 2012 at 02:36 PM
James Cripps
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p.28 #17 · p.28 #17 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


pompo wrote:
Ditto! Chuck sounds like Canon Usa is only a distributor tho...Are they just that?


From my understanding, yes, albeit more of a "force" than perhaps Canon Canada, etc. If anyone is going to drive the message home to Canon Inc in Japan, it's Canon USA - with a bit of help/complaints from customers like us!



Jul 16, 2012 at 02:44 PM
Beni
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p.28 #18 · p.28 #18 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


James Cripps wrote:
A response to my email regarding this issue, from Mr.Chuck Westfall just now:

"Dear Mr. Cripps:

We've been aware of the online reaction to the AF point illumination system of the EOS 5D Mark III and 1D X cameras for quite some time by now. This issue has already been reported to Canon Inc., however we have heard nothing from them in return. This is normal; we typically don't hear from them until they have decided how to respond. Your feedback will be added to our monthly report. Thanks! "

For some reason this gives me at least a small bit
...Show more

Not me actually. Chuck is a nice guy and a straight shooter. He owned up on the 50L problem as well, same thing, Japan just ignored him. Got a feeling that might happen this time too.



Jul 16, 2012 at 02:45 PM
James Cripps
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p.28 #19 · p.28 #19 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


Beni wrote:
Not me actually. Chuck is a nice guy and a straight shooter. He owned up on the 50L problem as well, same thing, Japan just ignored him. Got a feeling that might happen this time too.


That's true... gah. I'm *THIS* close to cancelling my pre-order on the 1DX.



Jul 16, 2012 at 02:51 PM
Ralph Conway
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p.28 #20 · p.28 #20 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!


pompo wrote:
Ditto! Chuck sounds like Canon Usa is only a distributor tho...Are they just that?


Yes, what else did you believe? Canon USA is just a subsidiary company and their purpose is to sell. They might give some input what products might be needed or why some do not sell succesful, but decisions concerning product development, marketing and pricing are done somewhere else (guess where) imo. That is the cause why the introduction price is based on japanese yen exchange rates and does not incorporate our real income. If the german subsidiary company would be allowed to "make" the pricing, I am pretty sure we (germany) would not be forced to pay so much more for the same product an US customers has to (not to talk about australia or some other countries).

Ralph



Jul 16, 2012 at 03:41 PM
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