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Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

BrianHamilton
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

I owned the R8 and "upgraded" to the R6 mkii. I'm happy with everything on the R6 except for the eye detection. So far I can't get the R6 to perform like the R8. It seems slower finding the eye and often will focus on the whole subject or a portion of the subject rather than just the eye. And I want to mention that I and mainly photograph birds. Anyone have experience with this and any suggestions for possible settings. I use back button eye focus. I know I can make the focusing area smaller but I didn't need to on the R8. Thanks!

Aug 25, 2023 at 12:42 PM

Gochugogi
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

I don't own an R8 so I can't compare them but I've had good results with eye focus on the R6 MK II, at least for butterflies, lizards, cats and humans. I'm not into birds but my brief tests on local doves and bulbul seemed reliable. Very fast and, if the eye isn't available, it normally defaults to the head. I mainly use single point on my my R7 and R6 MK II and with similar results. I found whole screen AF and large area modes not very reliable for little critters but okay for landscapes and snapshots. Not a fan of back button AF since switching to mirrorless but I can toggle between one-shot and servo by pressing the AF-on button. I find the AF lock more precise than simply stopping AF. I also toggle eye AF on/off with the DOF button—helpful sometimes, especially for moving critters too far away to lock the eye.

Aug 25, 2023 at 05:36 PM

jojib
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

I don't have the R8 but I'm truly amazed how fast and accurate the eye-AF technology is with my R6MKII. I left my back button style with the 5Ds, with mirrorless I just use the wide area focus with subject recognition on (human) with eye-AF to auto and AI Servo. It's just automatic---the focus is so fast.

Aug 25, 2023 at 06:01 PM

downhillonwater
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

When it's grabbing the head or body but not the eye, this is often a result of the subject being small in the frame. Does the camera switch to eye as the bird gets closer?

Aug 25, 2023 at 07:03 PM

BrianHamilton
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

I still need to do some more testing, but yes, I think it grabs on to the eye better when it's closer. That being said think it's a matter of just not finding the eye as quickly as the R8 and often not finding it at all. I am going to shrink the focusing area to see if there is much of a difference.

Aug 25, 2023 at 07:35 PM

downhillonwater
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

I often use a custom focus area set to be 70% of the vertical and 70% of the horizontal axes. This reduces the pixels that the camera is searching by half while still allowing the user to easily keep the bird in the custom area. I use this almost always for BIF.

Aug 25, 2023 at 08:54 PM

Imagemaster
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

Eye detection AF works like a charm on my R6 II with different AF areas and different lenses.

I don’t waste my time using back-button AF.

Aug 25, 2023 at 09:07 PM

mfrank999
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

Imagemaster wrote:
Eye detection AF works like a charm on my R6 II with different AF areas and different lenses.

I don’t waste my time using back-button AF.

I thought awhile back you addressed your setup utilizing shutter/af assigned to shutter button. Could you direct me to that article? Maybe it is time for me to change from bbf.
I am curious to know what you have the back buttons set to.

Thanks,

Aug 26, 2023 at 08:55 AM

Alan Kefauver
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

Imagemaster wrote:
Eye detection AF works like a charm on my R6 II with different AF areas and different lenses.

I don’t waste my time using back-button AF.

After all these years using BBF on multiple cameras, it would be hard for me to switch back to AF on the Shutter button.

Aug 26, 2023 at 09:06 AM

BrianHamilton
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

Alan, same for me. It's how I have shot for over 20 years.

Aug 26, 2023 at 09:11 AM

Imagemaster
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

Alan Kefauver wrote:
After all these years using BBF on multiple cameras, it would be hard for me to switch back to AF on the Shutter button.

Well after using the shutter button for AF on film cameras for many years, it made no sense to me to switch to using two buttons with two different fingers to accomplish the same thing.

Aug 26, 2023 at 10:42 AM

mfrank999
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

Imagemaster wrote:
Well after using the shutter button for AF on film cameras for many years, it made no sense to me to switch to using two buttons with two different fingers to accomplish the same thing.

I am interested in possibly going to shutter/af front button.
How do you switch af area say from wide to zone or spot when using af on shutter button?

Aug 26, 2023 at 10:56 AM

Imagemaster
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

mfrank999 wrote:
I thought awhile back you addressed your setup utilizing shutter/af assigned to shutter button. Could you direct me to that article? Maybe it is time for me to change from bbf.
I am curious to know what you have the back buttons set to.

Thanks,

I am older than you, so need to keep things as simple as possible. Since my index finger has to be on the shutter button to take the shot, why would I not just half-press it for easy AF engagement? Sure, it is great to be able to assign different functions to different buttons, but the more buttons you assign these functions to, the better your memory has to be. My memory is bad.

ALL photographers NEVER used back-button for AF for many years with no problem.

Aug 26, 2023 at 10:57 AM

Imagemaster
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

mfrank999 wrote:
How do you switch af area say from wide to zone or spot when using af on shutter button?

The same way you would do it if you use back-button AF.

Aug 26, 2023 at 11:01 AM

mfrank999
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

Imagemaster wrote:
The same way you would do it if you use back-button AF.

Can I assign one of the back buttons to change the af area without holding it down and will it change the shutter button to include the new af area?

By the way I am close to 85. Memory reasonably good for at least 5 minutes!

Aug 26, 2023 at 12:04 PM

Jeff Nolten
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

I have R5 and R7 and AF area is assignable to buttons and/or dials. On the R5 I have the rear dial set to scroll across AF areas. On the R7 there is no back dial but I use the equivalently located side buttons to do the same. I generally don't use BBAF but on the R5 I've assigned whole area tracking AF to the * button since the tracking AF area is set to small area. This last is non-sequitur if you don't have R5.

Aug 26, 2023 at 08:38 PM

mfrank999
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Eye Detection R6 mkii vs. R8

Imagemaster wrote:
The same way you would do it if you use back-button AF.

It took a while based on my age, but have finally figured out how to set back button for af area without having to hold it down.

Can now shoot front button af and change af area easily.

Will try shooting this week.

Thanks.

Aug 27, 2023 at 10:38 AM


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