p.11 #1 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
clarence3 wrote:
+1
I shot a stage performance on Friday night. Black costumes on a black background in a black theater. I could not see the selected black dot most of the time. Until they fix the firmware, I need to re-train myself to constantly re-toggle the AF selection point button even when I don't need to change the selected point.
You do know you can change "VF Points Illumination"? (Page 103 of the manual).
In the Enable = ON setting "The AF points and grid are illuminated in red regardless of the light level" or you could leave on "AUTO" in which case they go red in dark situations only. in "OFF" they never go red.
p.11 #4 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
Chris Tylko wrote:
You do know you can change "VF Points Illumination"? (Page 103 of the manual).
In the Enable = ON setting "The AF points and grid are illuminated in red regardless of the light level" or you could leave on "AUTO" in which case they go red in dark situations only. in "OFF" they never go red.
I read the manual several times. And tried every permutation of settings in menu AF5.
No red light on the focus point when in AI SERVO. I can get a quick red blip only when in ONE SHOT... like the beep (I always have the beep turned off, though), and I don't use ONE SHOT, I use AI SERVO.
Do you get a red rectangle on your 5D3 focus point in AI SERVO?
p.11 #5 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
clarence3 wrote:
I read the manual several times. And tried every permutation of settings in menu AF5.
No red light on the focus point when in AI SERVO. I can get a quick red blip only when in ONE SHOT... like the beep (I always have the beep turned off, though), and I don't use ONE SHOT, I use AI SERVO.
Do you get a red rectangle on your 5D3 focus point in AI SERVO?
No because in AI SERVO there's no focus confirmation. There's none on the 5DMII...and I don't think there was any on the 1DMIII either. Once you depress the AF or Shutter buttons on any of these cameras the focus points disappear (in AI SERVO).
The problem with lighting the AF points in red as opposed to black prior to depressing the AF or Shutter buttons, is that you can use anywhere from 1 to 61 AF points...and you wouldn't want 61 of them lighting up in red. When you have only 9 points it doesn't matter.
p.11 #6 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
even when you select ONE they all light up in red which very annoying and distracting, not even Barbie cam has got such a cheap red flare on the VF, much less a "red traffic light" efx if you look at the lens from the other side...Bad choice Canon...
p.11 #7 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
Chris Tylko wrote:
in AI SERVO there's no focus confirmation
Yep, I'm used to that from other bodies (1D3, 5D2, 7D).
It's the " Selected pre-AF" option (menu AF5.2) where I want the selected AF point to highlight in red when "VF display illumination = ON" (menu AF 5.3), even if only when I press the thumb back-button "AF-ON" in AI SERVO.
p.11 #8 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
The difference being on the 5D mark III the whole grid turns red at the same time as the AF point, which means the AF point gets lost in the clutter and can not easily or intuitively be found when shooting a scene with a lot of action. My desire here is to have the AF point turn red when I select an AF point, but turn off the red illumination of the red grid..........just as it is on the 5D, 5D2, and every other 1D and 1Ds series camera. Seriously, this is a step backwards.
p.11 #9 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
Hey Todd,
If you don't have a use for the grid, you can turn it off in the yellow wrench menu #2, last item. I guess it depends on whether you like to have it on for levelling/composing or would rather just not have it at all. I'm sure if Canon is given the feedback that they could change it to work as you suggested. Basically having the grid on but anytime it is going to flash the light it turns of the black grid lines so that the red side light only illuminates the points.
There is apparently going to be new 5D Mark III firmware before the end of May. It will address a few bugs, as well as adding some “features”. No mention of what the features might be. It was mentioned there is a possibility of a bug fix firmware update before the “feature” update, a two part strategy if you will.
There have been no mentions of additional features for video.
p.11 #12 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
arbitrage wrote:
If you don't have a use for the grid, you can turn it off in the yellow wrench menu #2, last item. I guess it depends on whether you like to have it on for levelling/composing or would rather just not have it at all. I'm sure if Canon is given the feedback that they could change it to work as you suggested. Basically having the grid on but anytime it is going to flash the light it turns of the black grid lines so that the red side light only illuminates the points.
Yes, I'm aware of that feature. However, it doesn't change the fact that the edges of the viewfinder still flash red. While the red AF point is easier to see with the grid turned off, it is still harder to see than it ever was with any other pro or prosumer body I have owned in the past where there wasn't a flash of red in the viewfinder. And frankly it's sad that I have to cripple one feature I want to use for the sake of maintaining the status quo the way Canon's cameras have operated in the past. No matter how you slice it, it's a poor design and a major annoyance.
Few if any people would be affected if the 5D Mark III had the AF point illumination method employed by other prosumer and professional Canon cameras in the past. Many more people are affected as a result of this change. Hoping the next firmware update can address this issue.
p.11 #13 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
Todd Klassy wrote:
Yes, I'm aware of that feature. However, it doesn't change the fact that the edges of the viewfinder still flash red. While the red AF point is easier to see with the grid turned off, it is still harder to see than it ever was with any other pro or prosumer body I have owned in the past where there wasn't a flash of red in the viewfinder. And frankly it's sad that I have to cripple one feature I want to use for the sake of maintaining the status quo the way Canon's cameras have operated in the past. No matter how you slice it, it's a poor design and a major annoyance.
Few if any people would be affected if the 5D Mark III had the AF point illumination method employed by other prosumer and professional Canon cameras in the past. Many more people are affected as a result of this change. Hoping the next firmware update can address this issue. ...Show more →
p.11 #14 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
How does one get the AF point to illuminate all the time with the 1D4?I seem to have the same situation where the point only illuminates when i depress focus halfway...am I missing something with the 1D4?
p.11 #15 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
Todd Klassy wrote:
Yes, I'm aware of that feature. However, it doesn't change the fact that the edges of the viewfinder still flash red. While the red AF point is easier to see with the grid turned off, it is still harder to see than it ever was with any other pro or prosumer body I have owned in the past where there wasn't a flash of red in the viewfinder. And frankly it's sad that I have to cripple one feature I want to use for the sake of maintaining the status quo the way Canon's cameras have operated in the past. No matter how you slice it, it's a poor design and a major annoyance.
Few if any people would be affected if the 5D Mark III had the AF point illumination method employed by other prosumer and professional Canon cameras in the past. Many more people are affected as a result of this change. Hoping the next firmware update can address this issue. ...Show more →
Few, if any, would be affected if it could work like the 1D4. Everyone would be annoyed if we had 61 etched points that were always there in black basically obscuring our entire viewfinder as it works in the 5D2 and Rebels. I think the 1D4 system is ideal from what I've read but not been able to try it out personally. No way in hell would I want the 5D2 system in my 5D3 or 7D because it is too many points to have permanently showing on the screen.
Do you really think it would make sense to have 61 black squares permanetly blocking your view of a scene?
p.11 #16 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
arbitrage wrote:
Few, if any, would be affected if it could work like the 1D4. Everyone would be annoyed if we had 61 etched points that were always there in black basically obscuring our entire viewfinder as it works in the 5D2 and Rebels. I think the 1D4 system is ideal from what I've read but not been able to try it out personally. No way in hell would I want the 5D2 system in my 5D3 or 7D because it is too many points to have permanently showing on the screen.
Do you really think it would make sense to have 61 black squares permanetly blocking your view of a scene? ...Show more →
Agreed. The old way how it worked on all 1-series cameras since the 1V was fine. But it required that each AF point had its dedicated LED, something that the 5D3 doesn't have. So whatever they do in firmware, they won't be able to reproduce what they should have done in the first place, kept it in the good old 1-style. The fact that the D4 and 1DX has the same problem is not very comforting...
p.11 #18 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
pompo wrote:
I think they just wanted to keep the costs down or it would have been way too many LED @ one for each AF points
It's been fine to use 45 LEDs for the past 15 or so years, but using 61 of them would have been too spendy? That's just indicative of brilliant thinking.
p.11 #19 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
45 might have bee fine on a $5000 camera, but 61 leds would cost too much for a cheaper body ala 5dm3 who the heck knows what they are thinking at Canon...
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