p.2 #1 · R5 double back button focus - bug in firmware
Taking in what you've said, I'm contemplating this triple BBF setup.
Left: Spot AF. I don't want to lose the Magnify button, so this has to be on my main AF method setting.
Middle: Eye-Tracking AF, manually specified initiation point
Right: Eye-Tracking AF, AUTO initiation.
Left and middle will be used most of the time, where things can be dynamic but I have enough time to specify exactly what I want to track.
Right will be my "emergency button" for the scenario you describe with an unexpected BIF. Hopefully the AUTO initiation tracking picks it up, but if I doesn't I would never have got the shot anyway. If it evolves into a situation where AUTO initiation missed it but it turns out I do have some time, I can revert to left or middle and specify the target.
(I'm now treating the "bug" as a feature, so let's hope it's not something they decide to "fix"!)
p.2 #2 · R5 double back button focus - bug in firmware
After a few days messing around, I think I'm very happy with the above triple-BBF setup, i.e.
(left to right)
Spot AF - Tracking w/manual initiation point - Tracking w/AUTO initiation
It seems practical for wildlife, with the left & middle in use most of the time, and the right as a quick-reaction button if something unexpected happens. And it's a great way to learn about the behavior of the tracking AF AI. Even when it's not a time-sensitive shot, any time I look through the viewfinder at a scene and wonder how AUTO tracking would handle it, I can just press the right button to find out.
Maybe eventually I'll develop enough confidence and experience of AUTO initiation that I'll go straight to it most of the time. This way I feel I can learn its behavior without any risk of losing shots.
p.2 #3 · R5 double back button focus - bug in firmware
I have the left button set to spot AF and the middle set to eye AF as well. I tried the right button as a 3rd AF option but opted to put that button to better use by setting it to quickly change the spot AF to another focusing option.
In the menu,, I've deselected the AF options I don't use and set the right button to scroll through the 4 remaining options, spot, expanded spot, the larger expanded spot and finally the smallest area focus option. I find spot is great for many situations but a moving hummingbird or butterfly needs the expanded spot. On hummingbirds once focus is acquired I just hit the eye AF and take it from there. The small area focus is good for larger birds flying by.
Each press of that right button jumps to the next focus choice, 4 quick presses and I'm back to spot. And of course you can leave the camera up to your eye and see the changes in the viewfinder.
p.2 #4 · R5 double back button focus - bug in firmware
jtford9 wrote...set the right button to scroll through the 4 remaining options, spot, expanded spot, the larger expanded spot and finally the smallest area focus option....
I'm using the RF lens control ring to scroll through AF methods. The interesting thing about using the control ring is that you can actually change methods with AF-ON button depressed, i.e you see what's happening in each successive AF method with AF active.
p.2 #5 · R5 double back button focus - bug in firmware
jtford9 wrote:
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In the menu,, I've deselected the AF options I don't use and set the right button to scroll through the 4 remaining options, spot, expanded spot, the larger expanded spot and finally the smallest area focus option. I find spot is great for many situations but a moving hummingbird or butterfly needs the expanded spot. On hummingbirds once focus is acquired I just hit the eye AF and take it from there. The small area focus is good for larger birds flying by.
Each press of that right button jumps to the next focus choice, 4 quick presses and I'm back to spot. And of course you can leave the camera up to your eye and see the changes in the viewfinder. ...Show more →
Agree. I have been using the third button the same way for a while and it is really, really fast. I do not need additional buttons for zones etc. My settings are:
Main AF - Face tracking/Eye with one of the first two points
Left BB - Spot AF
Right BB - Eye AF with its included AUTO
Last Right Button - like you have above
My testing is lazy, age is catching up. Fidgety little birds jump in and out of bird feeders in the backyard, and they are great for testing scenarios.
p.2 #6 · R5 double back button focus - bug in firmware
Excellent description Ralph. I've been annoyed by this '*' back button full-frame search imperfection for months. Finally someone explained it. I've had to adapt to it though, and sometimes use two back buttons for face tracking.
With the AF method set to face tracking, the AF-On starts with the square in the middle. The '*' button, however, searches the whole frame but generally starts from where the focus was last acquired. I toggle back and forth between the two. Also, I programmed the back wheel so I could rapidly roll through the focus methods without taking my eye off the EVF. That's been helpful because of the various habitats that I visit. I don't change the aperture much, so I put it on the lens ring.
BTW: My wife invented a great product. She stuck a small rough piece of velcro on the '*' button so I could feel it on my thumb. Can't live without it.
Lastly, I set the front button to spot, but I wish Canon would program it to run the AF. It requires a three-finger solute to use the front button, the AF-On and the shutter.
p.2 #7 · R5 double back button focus - bug in firmware
Took me a while on my R6 to figure out there is an eye AF option (icon looks like an eye) that can be set when programming the button, and then a separate way to set the eye+face tracking to the same button. The eye mode is as described - it searches only the whole frame. If you use the EYE+face mode instead, it will use the spot to start looking (assuming you have that option set up in the menu). Its been a while since i set it up, but I recall that to make sure you have the eye+face mode you set the button to AF mode, and then in a sub menu on that option select the face+tracking mode (icon looks like an ASCII face).
p.2 #8 · R5 double back button focus - bug in firmware
arbitrage wrote:
Honestly I almost never took advantage of moving between eyes with the indicators in AUTO. But I did like to have the preview white box to know if the system was going to get lost or not. I'm going to put some more time in with the Single Point activation method. It has been about 5 months since I sold my R5 in favor of the A1 so I can't even really remember why I didn't like that method. I think I felt like I was taking too much time to accurately place the Single square on the bird instead of the AUTO just quickly activating without the user having to be as precise. I also think the other reason is that even though I could find times that I wanted to use the Single Point method, I couldn't have a button with that method active and have AUTO on my shutter button. I use shutter button AF on MILCs (after years of BBF on DSLRs). I like to have the AUTO type of AF mode (just like my Wide mode on Sony) on my shutter button for quick reaction to unexpected or erratic BIF. I'll report back over the next few days and let you know how it goes....Show more →
Sorry you sold the R5. I've enjoyed your observations. Any further thoughts to report?
