p.15 #1 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
Joshua, as someone who uses this camera (5DIII) in very low light conditions I have to say that the VF illumination implementation in this camera is a large step backwards compared to that of previous camera models, like that of the 1DIII. A simple pre-flash to let the camera user know which point, exactly, is active would solve a lot of the issue. The light bleed, however, is another story.
p.15 #2 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
Matt, I agree that it can be improved upon and of course, I am all for it. Actually, I didn't feel like posting here anymore although I am still following this thread. So, I was a little puzzled as to what he would like to see in the improvement. Does he want the LED light of the AF on all the time so he knows where the active AF is but at the same time he said that the LED light is catching the attention of people he is photographing?
p.15 #3 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
Joshua, I'd like to answer your question as if it had been addressed to me.
Given the physical limitations of the LCD overlay/LED sidelight viewfinder, I would like the selected AF point to be lit continuously whenever AF or metering is active, but at a reduced intensity (which seems feasible, as the auto-brightness setting can lower the brightness quite a bit). That would let me easily know which point is pre-selected when conditions are dark, but might make anything emanating from the lens too dim to be a serious distraction to subjects. Does that make sense? Of course I would want this as a selectable custom function, not forced on everyone and every situation. I think this would approximate the parts of the functioning of 5D2/1D3/1D4 that I like.
p.15 #5 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
I have and been having three major complaints about this so called "intelligent " viewfinder:
1) The Black af points become way too light and almost invisible in bright daylight even more so when using very fast lenses (1.2/1.4/1.8)
2) The red AF confirmation is not visible enough during daylight and useless
3) The red illumination smears all over the VF in the dark and the selected af point don't stay lit by itself like with the 1D Mark IV, making almost impossible to track a moving target with low light AND the same VF illumination can be also seen from the front of the lens which could be distracting and very problematic in certain situations like shooting on movie sets, where as the stills photographer you want to be as invisible as possible
p.15 #7 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
I think in the end it will boil down to this: Canon will be able to change when and for how long the active point lights up. Simple enough to do through firmware. So if you want a pre flash or a sustained active point light that may be fixed sometime soon.
However, if you can't stand the Cylon light emanating from the lens AND/OR you want to see the red in daylight then I would seriously consider going to a 1D4 or 1Ds3 as your camera. Also, I doubt there will be any change in how dark the black is with wide aperture lenses as pompo and some others on dpreview have reported.
Personally, I'm okay with how it works now but would like to see the pre flash of the active point. I haven't shot anything wider than f/2.8 so not sure if the fading points would annoy me or not.
Again, this is just my opinion, and I'm not defending Canon, I've written to them about the issue but when I look at it realistically these are the conclusions I have made as to what could be fixed in this generation.
p.15 #8 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
arbitrage wrote:
I think in the end it will boil down to this: Canon will be able to change when and for how long the active point lights up. Simple enough to do through firmware. So if you want a pre flash or a sustained active point light that may be fixed sometime soon.
However, if you can't stand the Cylon light emanating from the lens AND/OR you want to see the red in daylight then I would seriously consider going to a 1D4 or 1Ds3 as your camera. Also, I doubt there will be any change in how dark the black is with wide aperture lenses as pompo and some others on dpreview have reported.
Personally, I'm okay with how it works now but would like to see the pre flash of the active point. I haven't shot anything wider than f/2.8 so not sure if the fading points would annoy me or not.
Again, this is just my opinion, and I'm not defending Canon, I've written to them about the issue but when I look at it realistically these are the conclusions I have made as to what could be fixed in this generation....Show more →
That's how I see it. I prefer the AF point display of my 1D4, but that's a different beast, and I use the two bodies for different things. I do find that with wide aperture lenses the black AF points are much less distinct in bright light, but so far, for my types of shooting, that hasn't been a big issue, whereas the near invisibility of the boxes (particularly when using a single, non-expanded point) against a dark background in low light _is_ a pain.
I would like continuous illumination of the selected point when I touch the shutter to activate metering, because that way I don't have AF beginning until I know I have the point exactly where I want it. Then, and only then, I press the AF On button.
p.15 #11 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
I don't want it to drop off the radar.
And only a few hours after bumping this thread, look what Canon Rumors Tweeted:
"Info coming later tonight about the black focus points in AI Servo mode on the 5D Mark III & 1D X... it does drive some people crazy."
Of course, it's already "tonight" and there is no new information, and I don't know what or when that "info" is coming out, but sounds like something is happening.
p.15 #12 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
WHAT!?!?! plz I must have emailed them 15 times, lets see what they've got!
I'm really worried to where Canon is going with this dumb "intelligent viewfinder" I really, really hope they can improve it at least quite a bit!
p.15 #15 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
Canon Rumors @canonrumorsguy
Info coming later tonight about the black focus points in AI Servo mode on the 5D Mark III & 1D X... it does drive some people crazy.
p.15 #16 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
Well, I've got the 5D Mark III now and I see the problem. The issue exists only during AI Servo shooting, if I understand it correctly.
I agree Canon should be able to fix this in a firmware update.
It's not really a problem for me, as I shoot in One Shot about 90% of the time when I'm not shooting sports or wildlife, including all of my low-light event photography work. In this mode, the pre-flash lights up the AF point just fine during focusing, and so I don't anticipate a huge problem for my way of working.
There is a reasonable workaround to consider until Canon addresses this: the Mark III has a pretty cool feature that lets you reprogram the DOF button to toggle AI Servo on when you need it. For those who normally use only AI Servo, you can leave the camera in One Shot to acquire initial focus, then press the DOF button to toggle AI Servo for as long as needed.
p.15 #17 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
about the work around...and how you are supposed to track a person with low light if you don't see where the black af point is? in other words when you pan and track someone you gotta be able to see the af point is to constantly keep it on the subject, not just when you start shooting, but as you continue shooting and your subject move, you gotta move along with your af point on the subject. Try shooting a concert and following someone moving on the stage in low light, say 12800 iso 1.4
You will also see that even in one shot mode with very bright lenses (1.2 -1.4 -1.8) even if you shoot a still subject it gets very hard to see these cream af points; they aren't black like when you shoot a 2.8 lens anymore they become almost transparent and light.
p.15 #18 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
pompo wrote:
about the work around...and how you are supposed to track a person with low light if you don't see where the black af point is? .
If the selected AF point lights up when you initially acquire focus (in One Shot), then you know where it is, right?
If you manually select a different AF point (and it lights up when you do so), then you know where that one is too.
If you have set up the camera to use zone focusing or wide-area focusing, then the camera is picking the AF points on its own and it won't matter anyway.
If this appraoch doesn't work for you, then you might as well move on to another body or another system. Even if Canon adds AF point illumination during pre-focus in AI Servo as is being suggested, there is no way to light up the AF points constantly during AI Servo autofocus without the red flash in the viewfinder, and I'm betting most photographers won't want that on constantly while shooting.
p.15 #19 · 5d M III Viewfinder illumination and af points!
garyvot wrote:
If this appraoch doesn't work for you, then you might as well move on to another body or another system. Even if Canon adds AF point illumination during pre-focus in AI Servo as is being suggested, there is no way to light up the AF points continuously during AI Servo autofocus.
It does with the 1D MIV always lit, so this "intelligent" viewfinder is a major step backwards.
again, you need to be able to see the af point if you wan to keep it on a movin subject...
. 
plz I must have emailed them 15 times, lets see what they've got! 