Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

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fhammond
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p.1 #1 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

It's been few years since I used an EOS-1, so my apologies if this is a silly question.

I seem to recall that on the Mark III I had the rear dial configured to select the focus point. Rotating the dial - without having to press any other buttons - would choose one of the outer focus points and pressing the button in the middle of the dial would select the center focus point.

Is there something similar on the 1D X? I've been using Nikon cameras for a while but I've always missed the way I selected focus on the Mark III. However, on the 1D X, I can't figure out how to replicate what I had on the Mark III.

thanks,
Fergus

Aug 12, 2012 at 09:25 PM

Photon
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p.1 #2 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

In the menu under the "camera" icon look for custom controls. Configure the rear dial to select AF point.

Aug 12, 2012 at 09:32 PM

stanj
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p.1 #3 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

Photon wrote:
In the menu under the "camera" icon look for custom controls. Configure the rear dial to select AF point.

Yeah, no, not quite the same. In the good old days (EOS-3 until 1D4), you could set the back dial to go around the outside points. Now, in the current pathetic attempt at that implementation, the back dial goes only on the horizontal line.

Equally pathetic is that the 9 and 15 point limit option does not include the upper and lower center points - just a rectangular grid. Again, in the old days, the 9 point limit included the upper and lower points, very useful for portraits. Now you have to go with the All (and depending on the lens, X-type) option to get those AF points - and it takes forever to get to them through the myriad of the other AF points with the track clit.

Like the AF point illumination, they broke something that worked perfectly well. Grr.

Aug 12, 2012 at 10:25 PM

fhammond
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p.1 #4 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

Photon wrote:
In the menu under the "camera" icon look for custom controls. Configure the rear dial to select AF point.

Ah, of course: a custom function! I should have guessed...

I haven't figured out a way to do what the Mark III did (i.e., choose just the outside points) but it seems to work ok to use the zone function where a cluster of AF points are selected. But it's a shame there's no option to, say, use the dial to select a cluster of AF points, then use the joystick thingee to refine the choice.

Aug 12, 2012 at 10:32 PM

stanj
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p.1 #5 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

fhammond wrote:
Ah, of course: a custom function! I should have guessed...

Well, it was a custom function on the earlier cameras, too - it was never like this in the default configuration. But the problem is not that it's a CFn but rather a worthlessly crippled one.

Aug 12, 2012 at 10:34 PM

fhammond
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p.1 #6 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

stanj wrote:
fhammond wrote:
Ah, of course: a custom function! I should have guessed...

Well, it was a custom function on the earlier cameras, too - it was never like this in the default configuration. But the problem is not that it's a CFn but rather a worthlessly crippled one.

Yeah, it's a little embarrassing I didn't look there. Well, didn't look deep enough: I flipped past the "Custom Controls" option.

I'm a little bummed about the focus point color. It's definitely confused compared to what I see on the D4 and what I recall from the Mark III.

Aug 12, 2012 at 10:35 PM

PetKal
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p.1 #7 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

I would suggest that you get used to the (relatively) new feature which allows you to have direct control of AF points on the joystick. Even if you include all of 61 point in the selection, getting to your point is very straightforward. Then, if you wanna return to the center AF pt., just click the joystick in "neutral".

I have also used control dials for AF pt. selection for years, and disliked every minute of it.

Aug 12, 2012 at 10:39 PM

stanj
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p.1 #8 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

The joystick was usable for the AF point selection since the 1D3, so I guess "new" is relative - I never liked it and greatly preferred the 9 point "race track" selection through the back dial. Then again, different strokes...

Aug 12, 2012 at 10:42 PM

uz2work
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p.1 #9 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

PetKal wrote:
I would suggest that you get used to the (relatively) new feature which allows you to have direct control of AF points on the joystick.

I'm trying to remember the last time that I saw anything related to electronics that is 5 years old being described as "relatively new".

Aug 12, 2012 at 10:48 PM

PetKal
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p.1 #10 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

stanj wrote:
The joystick was usable for the AF point selection since the 1D3, so I guess "new" is relative - I never liked it and greatly preferred the 9 point "race track" selection through the back dial. Then again, different strokes...

I guess, I embraced the joystick happily because I had to live with the "hideous" dials (as well as concurrent two button pushing) for several years.

Aug 12, 2012 at 11:15 PM

fhammond
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p.1 #11 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

PetKal wrote:
I would suggest that you get used to the (relatively) new feature which allows you to have direct control of AF points on the joystick. Even if you include all of 61 point in the selection, getting to your point is very straightforward. Then, if you wanna return to the center AF pt., just click the joystick in "neutral".

I have also used control dials for AF pt. selection for years, and disliked every minute of it.

Aug 12, 2012 at 11:18 PM

dehowie
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p.1 #12 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

fhammond wrote:
PetKal wrote:
I would suggest that you get used to the (relatively) new feature which allows you to have direct control of AF points on the joystick. Even if you include all of 61 point in the selection, getting to your point is very straightforward. Then, if you wanna return to the center AF pt., just click the joystick in "neutral".

I have also used control dials for AF pt. selection for years, and disliked every minute of it.

Yes, it is definitely straightforward but, at least for me, it's definitely slower. If I only want to select the outer focus points, having to scroll through the others (i.e., holding the joystick while the camera moves the focus point) is annoying.

What's really annoying is that I can't imagine why Canon would remove a feature that, clearly, they thought was a good idea and, you'd assume, people used. Why not leave it in?

Maybe because the majority find it far faster and easy to use the joystick than to have an already over packed feature list stocked with something very few people( well two anyway) would use..

Aug 13, 2012 at 12:01 AM

fhammond
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p.1 #13 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

Maybe because the majority find it far faster and easy to use the joystick than to have an already over packed feature list stocked with something very few people( well two anyway) would use..

That's the dumbest thing I've every heard. Stupid Queenslanders....

Fergus from Brisbane

Aug 13, 2012 at 12:06 AM

Photon
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p.1 #14 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

I've used direct selection via joystick since the 1D3 (it appeared as a firmware revision, btw, wasn't originally there), but when that model came out I was disappointed that they eliminated something I could do with the 1D2, namely programming one back button for center point and another for an off center point. Pressing either button AFed with that particular chosen point. With any body since then, it has required pressing a button to choose a registered point, _then_ pressing AF on to actually focus. Otoh, with the 1DX I can now quickly move among three points for H and three for V orientation. I've programmed a custom button to switch between two off-center points, and pressing the joystick switches between either off-center point and the center point.

Aug 13, 2012 at 12:43 AM

RobertLynn
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p.1 #15 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

I use the joystick on my 1DIV's, but isn't their also an option that when you hit the button to select the new point, you can use the read dial to go left/right, and the upper dial to go up/down?

I'm terrible at advice with the cameras, because if it's not a function I don't play with, I don't learn to use it.

Aug 13, 2012 at 02:16 AM

fhammond
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p.1 #16 · Manually selecting a focus point (EOS-1D X)

RobertLynn wrote:
I use the joystick on my 1DIV's, but isn't their also an option that when you hit the button to select the new point, you can use the read dial to go left/right, and the upper dial to go up/down?

I'm terrible at advice with the cameras, because if it's not a function I don't play with, I don't learn to use it.

There is that option but it's a really slow way of selecting a focus point. Also, you first have to press the focus button.

I'm bummed there's no way to do what I used to do with the Mark III. Selecting the outer focus point with the dial was one thing that I missed from that camera after I switched to Nikon and I was really looking forward to it with the EOS-1D X. On the other hand, perhaps using the dial to select a zone of AF points will work as well; I'm definitely open to new ideas and you'd hope that Canon removed the feature I liked because in actual use, it's no longer necessary.

On an unrelated D4/1D X note, I definitely notice that the view finder on the 1D X is bigger and maybe brighter than on the D4. It's not a huge difference but noticeable. On the minus side, most of the lenses I'm really keen on actually have newer Nikon versions. (That doesn't mean the Canon versions aren't good, of course.) For years, Canon had a much more complete lens lineup so it's great for competition that Nikon have generally caught up. I do like the look of the 8-15mm fisheye. I probably wouldn't use it very much but it's pretty cool.

Aug 13, 2012 at 07:01 AM

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