Canon 1DX - AFMA reset when I turn off the camera (workaround found)

[StephanP]

JFYI: I have the same problem with my 1DX (bought in Germany) and 70-200 IS II lens.
AFMA works as expected with my 85/1.8 lens.

[ThomasBx]

2 other user more 

[stringfellow1946]

I have the same problem . I picked mine up today from LCE Southampton, UK. I tried manually entering the serial No of the lens as the camera does not recognise the s/number, & it still has the same problem. I tried it with a new 70-200L F2.8 Mk2 & a 35mm F1.4L.
Must be a firmware issue??

[stringfellow1946]

This is crazy, I have just left the camera off for 10 minutes & tried it again and NOW its remembering the AFMF settings for both len's. WIERD
Could it be dirty lens connections???

[sephknite]

This is odd. I tried it on my 70-200 IS II and I'm not getting it to happen. I watched the video like 8 times and followed the same inputs/key-presses and it saves fine.

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it, but before the 70-200, I tried it with a 16-35 II and it saved as well. My firmware is also 1.0.2

[StantonS]

Bug replicated on my unit as well.  Will contact CPS tomorrow. Thanks John for the video!

[neuroanatomist]

Bug replicated on my unit as well.  Will contact CPS tomorrow. Thanks John for the video!

Glad to help by being (apparently) the tip of the iceberg.  Ok, maybe not glad, exactly.   

[JR]

After watching the video, Canon tech support has asked me to send my camera in for service.   

Oh no!  This is unfortunate.  I just check on mine and luckily I dont have the issue.  I even checked with my 70-200 2.8L II IS lens like yours and I dont have the problem.

Good luck...

[hoghavemercy]

Does anyone know a good way of reporting this subtle problem to Canon so they can get this fixed in a firmware update?

FWIW, I emailed Canon tech support yesterday. Heard back from them today with the statement that they could not reproduce the issue on their two 1D X bodies, and asked me to provide the detailed steps I took when trying to set an AFMA.  I chuckled a bit at the implication that I don't know how to set an AFMA (especially given the fact that I've written a tutorial on the subject!).  I replied to the email, and when I got home I took a short video clip documenting the issue, and I've just sent that to Canon as well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_brain/7600237574/#secretb2c81b5680

this is like a CMOS battery dying and forgetting your settings, or pretty much a coding error. they held off a long time to release the camera and amazingly forgot to QC the whole batch. does it have a little battery like the 7D?

[trowski]

This is odd. I tried it on my 70-200 IS II and I'm not getting it to happen. I watched the video like 8 times and followed the same inputs/key-presses and it saves fine.

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it, but before the 70-200, I tried it with a 16-35 II and it saved as well. My firmware is also 1.0.2

Did you turn the camera off/on too fast? The camera doesn't actually turn off for about 2 seconds after you turn it off, so you might have turned the dial too fast. The most repeatable way I've found to make the bug show up is to let the camera go to sleep. The mounted lens is always unrecognized as a previously registered lens after this, but un- and remounting the lens always fixes the problem.

This is crazy, I have just left the camera off for 10 minutes & tried it again and NOW its remembering the AFMF settings for both len's. WIERD
Could it be dirty lens connections???

Could you try again? I notice sometimes it does recognize the lens when powered on... not sure why yet, maybe there's a reason for this. Try letting it go to sleep like I mentioned above.

Looks like a few others will be getting their cameras from B&H soon, maybe they can test for this problem as well. I still think it's a firmware problem, but if it is, then I would think everyone would be affected and we'd see more threads on other sites about this problem.

I wish I could reinstall the firmware, just to see if that did anything, but I don't see it available for download on Canon's site.

[sephknite]

This is odd. I tried it on my 70-200 IS II and I'm not getting it to happen. I watched the video like 8 times and followed the same inputs/key-presses and it saves fine.

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it, but before the 70-200, I tried it with a 16-35 II and it saved as well. My firmware is also 1.0.2

Did you turn the camera off/on too fast? The camera doesn't actually turn off for about 2 seconds after you turn it off, so you might have turned the dial too fast. The most repeatable way I've found to make the bug show up is to let the camera go to sleep. The mounted lens is always unrecognized as a previously registered lens after this, but un- and remounting the lens always fixes the problem.

I tried turning on/off at different speeds, fast and slow. I'll try the timeout tonight.

Update: I tried it again and still have my numbers retained. I did a 5-count when I turned camera off/on. I also tried a 1-minute timeout and that seemed fine as well. I'm wondering if it's certain batches that has this issue. 

[Studio1930]

More settings not being saved...  My 1DX won't save the "AP point direct selection" setting after turning off the camera (sometimes) while using a 200 f/2 lens.  Not sure of other lenses yet.  This setting is the one that allows you to move the focus point with the joy stick without having to hit any other buttons.

It sounds like Canon is not saving any (or at least some) settings you change when you power off the camera and it doesn't recognize the lens.  I also have the AFMA bug.

-Darrin
www.studio1930.com

[Sycotek]

Long shot suggestion but I uploaded a solid working profile from a canon reps camera which helped resolve my af issue.

perhaps try and make a copy of yours and then reset your camera to his - if it fixes the issues send me the broken profile and i can see if he will accept submitting it to canon jp (as he is doing with my broken config)

[trowski]

On a whim this morning I thought I'd try resetting everything on the camera to factory defaults and see what happens. I only had about 10 minutes to experiment, but it seems the camera is now correctly recalling previously used lenses in the AFMA menu, regardless of the lens used, if the camera is power-cycled, or upon waking from sleep. Resetting the camera settings actually did not clear out the adjustment values I entered, but I did have to change the AFMA setting back to adjust by lens. Other than this change, I did not change any settings on the camera.

Looks like this is why Canon was unable to replicate our problem. I'm guessing their 1D X's are largely still on factory settings. Apparently some change that several of us made in the settings causes this problem. Looks like it is just a firmware bug that's even more subtle that I thought.

Everyone who has this problem, try resetting your camera to factory defaults, change AFMA to adjust by lens, and see what it does.

[neuroanatomist]

Thanks again!  I had planned to try that, and also the settings file download from the Servo AF issue thread, as part of more extended trouble shooting on Monday (using the camera this weekend, with lenses already AFMA'd, and didn't want to revert my C-modes).

So...I'll try it on Monday, but I welcome input from anyone else affected!