6D Autofocus not impressive

[gimmeadeal19]

I rented a 6D camera body to take helicopter skiing in Canada. I brought my 24-105 f/4, 40 f/2.8, and my 50 f/1.8 lenses. I found the autofocus to be slow with all 3 lenses, especially in lower light. I really experimented by changing many of the autofocus parameters and resetting the rental body to factory settings to make sure nothing was amiss. I found the 6D autofocus to be for the most part as good as my Rebel 550D with each of my lenses. I was really disappointed because a want a new body to replace my Rebel.  Lensrentals.com checked the 6D and found it up to factory specs.  Looks like I may have to pony up for the 5D m III.  Does anyone think the climate and elevation had anything to do with the slow AF?  Or does the 6D really have a mediocre AF?

[Radiating]

I rented a 6D camera body to take helicopter skiing in Canada. I brought my 24-105 f/4, 40 f/2.8, and my 50 f/1.8 lenses. I found the autofocus to be slow with all 3 lenses, especially in lower light. I really experimented by changing many of the autofocus parameters and resetting the rental body to factory settings to make sure nothing was amiss. I found the 6D autofocus to be for the most part as good as my Rebel 550D with each of my lenses. I was really disappointed because a want a new body to replace my Rebel.  Lensrentals.com checked the 6D and found it up to factory specs.  Looks like I may have to pony up for the 5D m III.  Does anyone think the climate and elevation had anything to do with the slow AF?  Or does the 6D really have a mediocre AF?

The 6D has nearly the exact same autofocus system as a newer Rebel so it's no surprise at all that it performed similarly.  If you want better autofocus get a 5D3 or a 1DX, the purpose of the 6D is improved image quality and sensor size.

[Nishi Drew]

I rented a 6D camera body to take helicopter skiing in Canada. I brought my 24-105 f/4, 40 f/2.8, and my 50 f/1.8 lenses. I found the autofocus to be slow with all 3 lenses, especially in lower light. I really experimented by changing many of the autofocus parameters and resetting the rental body to factory settings to make sure nothing was amiss. I found the 6D autofocus to be for the most part as good as my Rebel 550D with each of my lenses. I was really disappointed because a want a new body to replace my Rebel.  Lensrentals.com checked the 6D and found it up to factory specs.  Looks like I may have to pony up for the 5D m III.  Does anyone think the climate and elevation had anything to do with the slow AF?  Or does the 6D really have a mediocre AF?

So, AF is slow to lock on or the lenses just slow to attain focus? Because focusing speed is based on the lens' focusing motor. I've only briefly tried the 6D at a store a couple times and the focus feels snappy and the outer points are accurate as well compared to my 5D2. The 6D may not have the greatest AF but certainly not from a rebel, it's claimed that the 6D's center point can focus in dark areas as low as -3EV and I can believe that, and the 5D3 nor 1DX AF are built for that, they are superior at obtaining and tracking the subject in general, and they're fast, but the 1DX is special with it's higher voltage that can possibly speed up the motor in certain lenses to actually achieve quicker AF lock. If you want to shoot sports then a 7D or 5D3 would be a lot more useful.

[CarlTN]

To the original poster, did you really expect to be impressed by the 6D's autofocus?  I considered renting one as well, but instead I just bought one, it will be here this week.  But I'm not buying it because of its ability to AF at a world class level.  However, I feel I can definitely make do with it.  I tried a 6D in a store, and it had the 24-105 mounted to it.  By comparison, I had rented a 1D Mark 4 last fall, along with a 24-105 lens (I also used the 1D4 with several of my other lenses).  I found the focus speed to be slower than I thought it should be (but still faster than any rebel) with the 24-105, even on the 1D4.  It didn't seem that much slower in the store on the 6D, if any.  It even seemed at least adequate in servo mode, in the store.  I was kind of surprised at that.   

The 24-105 is just not the fastest AF lens, and the 50 f/1.8 is extremely slow at AF.  The 24-105's focal range is why you use that lens...not its autofocus speed.

If you wanted to test ultimate AF speed of the 6D, you should at least try a really fast AF lens.  MY 135 f/2 focuses about as fast as any lens I've ever tried or rented.  Yet even it only focused barely faster on the 1D4, than on my 50D...and actually could not AF at all in low light on the 1D4, where my 50D actually could (at least with center point-only selected).  I feel my 50D's ability to autofocus fast and accurate, just may be superior to all other Canon crop cameras and rebels, other than of course the 7D (and that especially includes the 60D).

I also agree with Nishi Drew above...but I'll take it one step farther.  If you need the fastest AF speed, don't even get a 5D3.  Pony up for the 1DX.  In the future I will either buy one, or else its replacement.  The 1DX is far superior in its ability to autofocus quickly and accurately, than every other camera on the planet, at least as of now.

The only thing I highly dislike about the 6D so far, just from trying it in the store, is the magnify button.  I want to immediately zoom into 100% of the image to see if I got sharp focus, and not have to spin the top wheel.  Hopefully there is a shortcut, or else someone will come up with one.

[x-vision]

Or does the 6D really have a mediocre AF?

Yes, it does ... but you are not supposed to be disappointed by it. 

[Runibl]

The only thing I highly dislike about the 6D so far, just from trying it in the store, is the magnify button.  I want to immediately zoom into 100% of the image to see if I got sharp focus, and not have to spin the top wheel.  Hopefully there is a shortcut, or else someone will come up with one.

You can customize it in the menu, so that it jumps straight to 100% when you press magnify.

[verysimplejason]

6D isn't intended for sports or fast action.  Why not try a 5D3?  It's AF is a lot, lot better than 6D.

[rifz]

How does the 6D compare to the 5DmkII?  they are about the same price.  Could someone who has used both give us their thoughts.  thanks

[timmy_650]

Yes pony up the money for the 5D3. It is simple. You want a better AF the 5D3 has it.

[MathieuB]

I bought the 6D in December and I knew what I was getting into, AF wise: Something similar to my previous Rebel T2i autofocus system.

For stills and low-light shooting, the 6D autofocus works perfectly fine.

However, for action and moving objects, forget it, it's terrible. I took pictures of butterflies last week and my hit rate of butterflies in flight is abysmal, 10-15% at most, with the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8, a relatively fast lens when it comes to AF speed.

On the good side, when they were not moving, the image quality of the shots I took was stunning, something I'd probably never see from a Rebel.

[Sella174]

The EOS 6D is in my opinion a "Rebel" in disguise ... it is an entry-level (full-frame) camera.

Yes pony up the money for the 5D3. It is simple. You want a better AF the 5D3 has it.

Exactly what Canon's Marketing Dept. wants you to do! Well, not exactly ... they will prefer you buy the 6D first, get frustrated with the mediocre 11-point AF system, then sell it on and buy a 5D Mk.III ... where you end up using only the centre-AF point, as the camera has too many without any method of actually controlling them (like "Eye-Control").

[sandymandy]

5diii got several modes for seelecting focus points. in groups for example. sure it wpuld be hell if the only possibility was choosing each point alone urself

[Sella174]

"Eye-Control" allows you to select the AF-point to use by simply looking through the viewfinder at that object which you want the camera to focus on ... no fiddling with menus, buttons or settings.

The way you can select the active AF-points in the 5D Mk.III (seems) great ... now why can't we do the same on the "lower"-grade cameras? The reason I only use the centre AF-point (out of 9) on my EOS 30D is because those two on the extreme outside are always getting in the way and there is no option to disable just them, but keep the other 7 in the centre-ish active. This is just sucky design.

[learncanon]

I rented a 6D camera body to take helicopter skiing in Canada. I brought my 24-105 f/4, 40 f/2.8, and my 50 f/1.8 lenses. I found the autofocus to be slow with all 3 lenses, especially in lower light. I really experimented by changing many of the autofocus parameters and resetting the rental body to factory settings to make sure nothing was amiss. I found the 6D autofocus to be for the most part as good as my Rebel 550D with each of my lenses. I was really disappointed because a want a new body to replace my Rebel.  Lensrentals.com checked the 6D and found it up to factory specs.  Looks like I may have to pony up for the 5D m III.  Does anyone think the climate and elevation had anything to do with the slow AF?  Or does the 6D really have a mediocre AF?

Of course it is NOT impressive. It is not meant to be. But it IS good enough for everyday shots. It's a travel camera as Canon calls it. You need to do your research before buying. You are not impressive.

[gimmeadeal19]

If you read my original post, I rented the 6D to try it out. I did not buy it.  I was seeking other opinions because many have said the 6D's AF was in the same ballpark of the 5D m III. I found this not to be the case with the kit 24-105 f/4.