5D3 & 600ex-rt + AF assist beam = slower focus

[Mehmetski]

OK....so many of us now know there is a REAL problem here.  How do we go about notifying Canon and getting
them to fix it.

I already send an e-mail to CPS. I talked about it on the phone with Canon and also send them an e-mail. Twice in two weeks. Still no response.

[Louis]

OK....so many of us now know there is a REAL problem here.  How do we go about notifying Canon and getting
them to fix it.

I already send an e-mail to CPS. I talked about it on the phone with Canon and also send them an e-mail. Twice in two weeks. Still no response.

Interesting, the main thing dont give up talking about it, the moment you do, it will never get fixed

[RustyTheGeek]

UPDATE:  I've received the replacement 5D3 and will report back after I've used it a bit to compare to the first body I had trouble with.

[cpsico]

I am sure this has been discussed before but I just can't figure out why the 5D3 focuses so slowly when the AF assist is enabled on my flash.  Many times I have been at a wedding reception and I get frustrated with very slow focusing issues related to the AF assist beam.  I have messed around with turning it on and off and there is a very noticeable difference.  For example with my 70-200 as long as I find an area of some contrast it will focus almost instantly even dark situations.  As soon as I turn it on it sometimes takes a full second or two to lock focus.  I remember my 5D2 having improved focus with the AF assist from the 580exII.  Is it a flash issue or a camera issue?  I know there are a lot of you who have the same problems.  Anyone find any solutions?  Most of the time I don't need the AF assist but when it is pitch black and I need it it would be nice if I could focus a little faster.  I just don't understand how the AF can be so great in almost all situations except this one area.  Of course when I call CPS they claim they have never heard of an issue.     

I was wondering how the camera was set up to shoot, was it in one shot mode or AI servo? Ps have you tried using center point only? I am interested in this set up myself but now am a little unsure i want to until the issue is solved.

[jaayres20]

I am sure this has been discussed before but I just can't figure out why the 5D3 focuses so slowly when the AF assist is enabled on my flash.  Many times I have been at a wedding reception and I get frustrated with very slow focusing issues related to the AF assist beam.  I have messed around with turning it on and off and there is a very noticeable difference.  For example with my 70-200 as long as I find an area of some contrast it will focus almost instantly even dark situations.  As soon as I turn it on it sometimes takes a full second or two to lock focus.  I remember my 5D2 having improved focus with the AF assist from the 580exII.  Is it a flash issue or a camera issue?  I know there are a lot of you who have the same problems.  Anyone find any solutions?  Most of the time I don't need the AF assist but when it is pitch black and I need it it would be nice if I could focus a little faster.  I just don't understand how the AF can be so great in almost all situations except this one area.  Of course when I call CPS they claim they have never heard of an issue.     

I was wondering how the camera was set up to shoot, was it in one shot mode or AI servo? Ps have you tried using center point only? I am interested in this set up myself but now am a little unsure i want to until the issue is solved.

The AF assist only works with one shot.  I usually use the center point if it is really dark because it works a little better.  I would still get the 5D3 and a few 600ex-rt flashes if I were you.  They work great considering this one issue which is frustrating but you can work around it fairly easily.

[Northstar]

UPDATE:  I've received the replacement 5D3 and will report back after I've used it a bit to compare to the first body I had trouble with.

Curious to hear about your experience with the second body.

[kpk1]

I am sure this has been discussed before but I just can't figure out why the 5D3 focuses so slowly when the AF assist is enabled on my flash.  Many times I have been at a wedding reception and I get frustrated with very slow focusing issues related to the AF assist beam.  I have messed around with turning it on and off and there is a very noticeable difference.  For example with my 70-200 as long as I find an area of some contrast it will focus almost instantly even dark situations.  As soon as I turn it on it sometimes takes a full second or two to lock focus.  I remember my 5D2 having improved focus with the AF assist from the 580exII.  Is it a flash issue or a camera issue?  I know there are a lot of you who have the same problems.  Anyone find any solutions?  Most of the time I don't need the AF assist but when it is pitch black and I need it it would be nice if I could focus a little faster.  I just don't understand how the AF can be so great in almost all situations except this one area.  Of course when I call CPS they claim they have never heard of an issue.     

I was wondering how the camera was set up to shoot, was it in one shot mode or AI servo? Ps have you tried using center point only? I am interested in this set up myself but now am a little unsure i want to until the issue is solved.

The AF assist only works with one shot.  I usually use the center point if it is really dark because it works a little better.  I would still get the 5D3 and a few 600ex-rt flashes if I were you.  They work great considering this one issue which is frustrating but you can work around it fairly easily.

I'm not so impressed when it comes to low light focusing. The 5D2 still does faster.

[youngjediboy]

OMG, I knew I wasn't just imagining this problem!
I also upgraded from 5D2 and 580ex to 5D3 and 600ex-rt and have noticed it focuses noticeably slower now.

Before the AF assist beam would just fire and the focus would lock right away, now sometimes it locks but sometimes it would hunt a while before locking. Some upgrade right?

As I sold both my old body and flash to upgrade I can't go back to test and figure out if it's the 5D3 or the 600ex-rt that's causing this slower performance.

Has anyone had any news?

[gilmorephoto]

I did a quick test with 600EX and 430EX II on both T1i and 5D3 in dark room. Both flashes on T1i are responsive on center point (never used others).  Switching to 5D3, I get inconsistent results with both flashes.  I tried every focus mode, and aside from being laggy overall, the best mode for both flashes seemed to be area zone (perhaps because you limit the area it has to try to find focus and you are not picky about what in that zone you want vs. spot or spot with assists.). Disappointed and going to try and properly document to raise the issue with Canon.

Happy Thanksgiving. 

[Northstar]

I did a quick test with 600EX and 430EX II on both T1i and 5D3 in dark room. Both flashes on T1i are responsive on center point (never used others).  Switching to 5D3, I get inconsistent results with both flashes.  I tried every focus mode, and aside from being laggy overall, the best mode for both flashes seemed to be area zone (perhaps because you limit the area it has to try to find focus and you are not picky about what in that zone you want vs. spot or spot with assists.). Disappointed and going to try and properly document to raise the issue with Canon.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Gilmore...did you notice if the red AF beam was brighter/stronger with the T1i compared to the 5d3?  ( the red beam itself as it appears on the subject)

It seems that a few people have posted that they don't have issues with the 5d3 and yongnuo flash, and also that the AF beam is much brighter on the 5d3 yongnuo combo.  I'm just wondering if the beam itself is weaker for some reason when paired with the 5d3.

[gilmorephoto]

Not that I noticed, but I wasn't looking for that.  Will check again when I have both bodies on Sunday.

The 600EX does send out a different pattern depending on which focus setting. FWIW.

[youngjediboy]

I did a quick test with 600EX and 430EX II on both T1i and 5D3 in dark room. Both flashes on T1i are responsive on center point (never used others).  Switching to 5D3, I get inconsistent results with both flashes.  I tried every focus mode, and aside from being laggy overall, the best mode for both flashes seemed to be area zone (perhaps because you limit the area it has to try to find focus and you are not picky about what in that zone you want vs. spot or spot with assists.). Disappointed and going to try and properly document to raise the issue with Canon.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I also felt pretty disappointed after upgrading! Otherwise I love pretty much everything else about the 5D3. Hopefully Canon can provide a fix for this soon...

[Louis]

Gilmore...did you notice if the red AF beam was brighter/stronger with the T1i compared to the 5d3?  ( the red beam itself as it appears on the subject)

It seems that a few people have posted that they don't have issues with the 5d3 and yongnuo flash, and also that the AF beam is much brighter on the 5d3 yongnuo combo.  I'm just wondering if the beam itself is weaker for some reason when paired with the 5d3.
[/quote]

This is really interesting, I actually thought this, I am not sure, but I remember when I was doing nightclub photography with my 5D2 the beam seemed alot brighter, I maybe just imagining it, but when I last did a job with the 5D3 and 430ex ii I did think to myself the beam seems weaker, I cant confirm it, but it really did feel this way

[digital paradise]

I have been following this with great interest. Just picked up a 5D3 about a month ago and a 600 last week. Have yet to shoot an event. This morning I walked around the house in near dark rooms and tried centre and outer focus points. Most of the time I thought it was pretty quick.

There were a few times it took a little longer than a second but never failed to AF in both centre or outer focus points. Only outer failure was about 20ft to target. I actually did check the wiggle in the foot and when I twist the flash to the right the beam is centred to the centre AF point. To the left it is off centre but still catches the beam.

I just did some more tests in semi dark rooms. The beam at distance was not all that bright and it sure does expand in width at 15-20ft as opposed to 5 feet.

Out of the manual               

[Marsu42]

I just did some more tests in semi dark rooms. The beam at distance was not all that bright and it sure does expand in width at 15-20ft as opposed to 5 feet.

That makes sense - the brighter 580ex-type beam is widened on the 600rt+5d3 to cover all af points, but at range gets weaker thus generating the af lag. That would also explain why some people in this thread reported the 70-200/2.8 to be esp. bad at af'ing - it has the highest lens catergory, uses the most af points and has the highest precision, it could just be that the tradeoff is that it would needs even more af beam light to do it properly with af assist?