I rang Canon Tech today here in the UK and was astonished they did not know what a particular setting was that I have on my 1DX, they even put me onto a technician and he told me the at the 1DX is so complex he did not know the answer and they don't see it in the manual.
Basically I use the AI Servo , high speed 12 frames sec, and let the camera set the aperture, My Question.. I have set the AF Expansion to (9 points) whereby they appear to be 8 static small black squares around a bigger black square, with the circle, these focus points, (squares) DONT move when I focus on my subject, i.e, a Racehorse running and jumping, am I right in thinking if you select any of the case settings, 1 to 6 with these static focus points, that the Case selected does not work ? thats all I asked Canon, they don't know.
When you select any Case setting with the Zone AF, I see the points moving around all over the place in red so I assume the Case settings are not working with the In AF Expansion (8 small black square points and one big black square ) ? as they don't move.
I do racehorse photography and I have found that with Zone AF the camera can do strange things with the focus and you lose the shot as it locks on to the wrong horse. In AF Expansion (8 small black square points and 1 big black square ) I tried yesterday I had far more success but you have to follow the horse and tell the camera what to do but I don't think there is any tracking as regards whatever Case you select?
I am not that keen on auto this that and the other as the camera a thinks for you. So my question is: do you think the Case settings don't work with AF Expansion (8 points) or have I got that right?
Thanks for any enlightenment as Canon UK don't know?
When you select any Case setting with the Zone AF, I see the points moving around all over the place in red so I assume the Case settings are not working with the In AF Expansion (8 small black square points and one big black square ) ? as they don't move.
I do racehorse photography and I have found that with Zone AF the camera can do strange things with the focus and you lose the shot as it locks on to the wrong horse. In AF Expansion (8 small black square points and 1 big black square ) I tried yesterday I had far more success but you have to follow the horse and tell the camera what to do but I don't think there is any tracking as regards whatever Case you select? ...Show more →
I'm not entirely sure what you want to achieve, but maybe I can still be a bit of a help.
Firstly, in Zone AF that camera basically decides which of the 9 or 12 AF points it will use to acquire focus with. It will typically use the one where the subject is closest to the camera or simply the one where it has enough contrast to acquire focus. The Case settings doesn't per see have any influence on this.
With AF Expansion the camera gives priority to the center AF point. If it cant acquire focus with the center AF point, it will use one of the other 4 or 8 expansion points. The Case settings have influence on how this work, because you can tweak how fast or slow the camera will shift from the center AF to one of the expansion AF points (if needed).
The diplomatic (and short) answer is that the AF Case settings are totally decoupled from the AF Area selection. I recommend enabling the custom function to let you use the Multi-controller to rapidly move your selected AF point while shooting.
Further, there's a lot of documentation out there about how to get the most out of this camera's amazing AF system. The Canon AF Setting Guidebook is a good start.
FosterPhoto wrote:
I see what you are saying but they don't see the points move as I do in Zone AF ? so I assume they just focus on what I aim at and do not track?
On second thought. You seem to want the camera to do the tracking for you? Then try the EOS iTR AF function on Page 95 of the manual. Apparently it should work with Zone AF also.
Stoffer wrote:
On second thought. You seem to want the camera to do the tracking for you? Then try the EOS iTR AF function on Page 95 of the manual. Apparently it should work with Zone AF also.
Nils, my understanding is that iTR AF can not work with any fully automatic AF point selection, be that Zone AF or all 61 pt AF.
Those two are "mindlesss" AF modes which focus on the closest/strongest contrast object wherever in the frame that might be.
For iTR AF to work, the operator has to make a selection of the target he/she wants to AF on......therefore, a manual starting AF point selection is required.
Therefore, iTR AF works in the single AF pt. + expansion mode, but it doesn't work in the Zone AF mode.
That is the way I understand it, however, I am not an iTR AF expert, because I have not used it much after some initial testing where I couldn't see its value.
Peter, I'm pretty much clueless on iTR AF ... but the manual says that it works with either the 61-point automatic selection AF or Zone AF. It will track based on the initial AF point used, but AFAIK you can only select this initial point with the 61-point automatic AF not the Zone AF.
Stoffer wrote:
Peter, I'm pretty much clueless on iTR AF ... but the manual says that it works with either the 61-point automatic selection AF or Zone AF. It will track based on the initial AF point used, but AFAIK you can only select this initial point with the 61-point automatic AF not the Zone AF.
Nils, that is a puzzling part to me......because, fundamentally, Zone AF is just a small area auto AF point selection.......no target "registration" takes place with it.
PetKal wrote:
Nils, that is a puzzling part to me......because, fundamentally, Zone AF is just a small area auto AF point selection.......no target "registration" takes place with it.
I dont understand how Zone AF can work with iTR AF either.
... but the manual says that it works with either the 61-point automatic selection AF or Zone AF. It will track based on the initial AF point used, but AFAIK you can only select this initial point with the 61-point automatic AF not the Zone AF. 
