I was in B&H yesterday and checked out the EOS R briefly and wanted to know if the focus point can be made as small as it is with a 5D III or IV. I noticed that the square was pretty big (maybe about 1.5X-2X the size of a focus square on a 5d III - not the reduced size tiny focus point... the regular one).
Is there a way to reduce the size of the focus square in single point with the EOS R? I often find myself trying to hit the eye below the brim of someone's cap or maybe hit focus when the subject is behind a fairly narrow opening....I really like the tiny focus square.
I also compared the EOS R to the Sony A7 III and the focus point on the Sony seemed a bit smaller (perhaps a tiny bit bigger than the 5DIII point), but the sales guy said if you use that smallest focus point on the Sony, it reduces focus speed and he preferred the larger point on the Sony which seemed about the same size as the EOS R focus square.
Can someone who uses a 5D III or IV and uses the EOS R comment on focus point size in single point mode? Thanks.
Also interested in this! My main gripe about live view AF with the 5D4 is that the square is huge.
With the A7III a good system is to keep it as flexible spot medium/L and then just use eye AF to confirm focus on the eye. This might be reasonable for the EOS R as well.
mb126 wrote:
Also interested in this! My main gripe about live view AF with the 5D4 is that the square is huge.
This confuses me. The 5D IV square and the 5D III square can be set to a tiny box within the box. As far as I know, that's the smallest square out there. If that's what you're complaining about, I think we are concerned about different things. Are you talking about single point focus and the smallest box available or some other setting? I'm interested in single point focus. Maybe I'm missing something.
I've not used the EOS-R yet but from some quick research it looks like you can change the size of the AF frame size.
Unless I'm misunderstanding this guys write up. See Step 20, I think that's what you are asking about.
rek101 wrote:
This confuses me. The 5D IV square and the 5D III square can be set to a tiny box within the box. As far as I know, that's the smallest square out there. If that's what you're complaining about, I think we are concerned about different things. Are you talking about single point focus and the smallest box available or some other setting? I'm interested in single point focus. Maybe I'm missing something.
The part you are missing are the words “live view,” right there in the post
This is as small as it gets and you are correct in that it is too large for some subjects. The DSLR Canon single point is much smaller and of course Spot AF even more precise.
EDIT: May have spoke too soon...looks like there is a way to get a smaller point if in One-shot mode...see the second screen grab from the EOS R manual.
What I don't see is a picture showing how small it gets.
I have the EOS R and set the AF frame size to the smaller setting the first day I had it in my hands. I did not compare the AF frame size side-by-side with my 5D4, but my impression is that it's suitably sized for the kinds of small feature-focus specificity I prefer. In other words, I think it's equally small as the 5D4's smallest AF area.
moondigger wrote:
I have the EOS R and set the AF frame size to the smaller setting the first day I had it in my hands. I did not compare the AF frame size side-by-side with my 5D4, but my impression is that it's suitably sized for the kinds of small feature-focus specificity I prefer. In other words, I think it's equally small as the 5D4's smallest AF area.
I like it.
To the extent that I can extrapolate from experience with other mirrorless cameras (and I make no guarantees, having not used the R), while diminishing the AF area to a single point can increase accuracy when that point must be in perfect focus, doing so can also decrease the speed of AF.
I'll be interested in first-hand reports on that issue regarding the R.
Dan -- I don't think the focus speed was impacted at all when I changed the size of the AF frame. I certainly have no complaints about focus speed with my current settings. I can check it later today to be sure.
While I admit ignorance of exactly how other mirrorless systems do autofocus, I'm under the impression that Canon's dual pixel system is unique to them, and may not have the same behaviors/limitations that some other mirrorless systems have.
ETA: as to the specifics of "diminishing the AF area to a single point" -- I doubt that's actually what's happening when you reduce the AF frame size. Certainly a single one of the EOS R's 5000+ AF points is far smaller than the AF frame in the viewfinder, even if it's set to the small frame size. How many points would hypothetically be required for full-speed AF?
Would be great if some EOS R owners could take a shot of the rear-LCD with the regular smallest point in Servo compared to the small point setting available in One-shot. I'm curious to see how small it gets.
Certainly the Spot-AF mode on Canon DSLRs was something I really missed on Nikon and Sony cameras. It was so helpful when targeting birds in thick foliage.
arbitrage wrote:
Would be great if some EOS R owners could take a shot of the rear-LCD with the regular smallest point in Servo compared to the small point setting available in One-shot. I'm curious to see how small it gets.
Certainly the Spot-AF mode on Canon DSLRs was something I really missed on Nikon and Sony cameras. It was so helpful when targeting birds in thick foliage.
Here is a comparison of the normal AF point size and small AF point size in one shot. When you switch to servo you only have the option of normal size (the bigger one)
You can switch quickly between these sizes by hitting the info button on this particular screen (no need to go into menus).
Here is a comparison of the normal AF point size and small AF point size in one shot. When you switch to servo you only have the option of normal size (the bigger one)
You can switch quickly between these sizes by hitting the info button on this particular screen (no need to go into menus).
Thanks, that clears it up...I'd say the small point is similar in size to a DSLR point on the current 61/65pt system.
I don't think there's any appreciable difference in focus speed between the normal AF frame size and the small AF frame size. I just tried it with two lenses -- the Canon 85/1.4L and the Tamron SP 45/1.8. Autofocus was extremely fast with the 85L no matter what size the AF frame was. The Tamron is noticeably slower, but again there's no difference based on the size of the AF frame. All tests done in single shot mode, obviously.
I also do not buy the language in the manual which seems to be saying that there is a mode in which you're only using a single AF point. I believe "point" is being used two different ways, depending on whether we're talking about AF modes as listed in the manual or actual AF points that engineering says the camera has.
Specifically, they're calling the smallest AF mode "single point AF" no matter whether the AF frame is set to normal size or small size. Since the small size frame actually does what we would want it to -- narrows the active focus area to a smaller piece of the frame -- there's no way the normal size frame was actually using only one of the 5600+ focus points that Canon engineering says this has.
Obviously it's using a smaller number of AF points when the frame is set to the small size, but even then I do not believe it's using only one of those 5600+. The AF frame can be moved in much tinier increments than the size of the AF frame. The AF points are packed so closely together that the active AF areas appear completely continuous across the frame. If only one one of them were active in "single point" AF mode, and it was centered in the AF frame drawn in the viewfinder, the corners of the AF frame simply wouldn't be active. But every corner of that AF frame is capable of triggering AF. Therefore there must be more than one focus point active even in "single point AF" mode.
Sorry for my late replies to my initial post. Thank you so much for these comments. That smaller point seems like exactly what I need and if the focus speed is still "fairly" close with the reduced size, it would seem Canon did a great job with this first mirrorless full frame camera at least when it comes to focus. I will probably wait until they add IBIS to switch, but this makes makes me feel that sticking with Canon is the way to go.
