I am in Zambia on safari, South Luangwa National Park. I have with me an R1 (I am new to the 1 series of cameras) and an R5 Mark II (with an old R7 as a backup). I had an R5 Mark I but found the differences in the setup and handling compared to the R1 to be so large that it was driving me crazy to use them at the same time, so I upgraded to a Mark II, gave the Mark I to my son. The R5 Mark II worked fine for about the first four days of my trip, but starting on day five, every time I look in the viewfinder it is fuzzy and out of focus, except for things that are close to me - but animals almost always are not. The photos that I take with the R5 generally (though not always) seem to be in focus when I look at them on my computer screen, but the viewfinder is a disaster - very difficult to take photos when what you are looking at is blurry. This is puzzling to me since I thought that what I saw in the viewfinder is what was recorded by the sensor. The R1 viewfinder has always been better (much clearer and brighter, MUCH better color) than the R5 Mark II, but not this huge a difference. The R7 screen is clearer. This using the same lens on each of the three bodies to eliminate the lens as the source of the problem. No Canon service center nearby. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get this thing to work or am I just out of luck?
Sounds like it could be condensation inside the VF. It's likely if you've been shooting in any rain or moving the camera from cold AC out into the humid heat.
Thank you for your reply. It was indeed stupid user error. In probably 30 to 35 years of using Canon cameras with that little wheel, I never inadvertently did that, until a few days ago. So problem solved.
leverda1 wrote:
Thank you for your reply. It was indeed stupid user error. In probably 30 to 35 years of using Canon cameras with that little wheel, I never inadvertently did that, until a few days ago. So problem solved.
It happens often when throwing around multiple bodies. I’m glad you posted about it to find out it’s a simple adjustment instead of thinking something is faulty and dealing with it for the rest of your trip.
The R1 has a new mechanism which requires first pulling out the wheel to be able to move it, then pushing it back in to the lock the setting. This has thrown off several people who intentionally wanted to make an adjust on their R1 but found out the diopter wouldn't turn like like every other camera they own.
leverda1 wrote:
Thank you for your reply. It was indeed stupid user error. In probably 30 to 35 years of using Canon cameras with that little wheel, I never inadvertently did that, until a few days ago. So problem solved.
For what it's worth, I have used a couple of small pieces of black gaffers tape to "secure" the location of that wheel. It's one of the first things I do with a new camera. The gaffers tape will leave very little if any adhesive residue when it's time to remove it for whatever reason.
