1Dx mk2 DPAF performance...not like the reviews

[brianftpc]

I used this camera to do a graduation outside and a dance recital indoors. I used it with a 70-200 mkII IS with 2X III extender at F8 and the live view DPAF had to constantly be babysat. if someone else walked by on the stage it would grab their face and they would run away with the focus. During the dance recital I only used the 70-200 and there was 1 girl it absolutely would not hold focus on simply bc she had a dress on that was close to the color of the stage background or at least thats what I believe. It searched on her nonstop in all 3 scenes she was in. I had someone else shooting for me with a C100 mk2 and it had absolutely no issues with focus using the 100-400 mk2. It rarely went out of focus. Keeping focus 99% of the time even the moment the lights went up during a scene change. Id say the 1Dx mk2 kept focus 80% of the time but when the lights would go from black to bright it would hunt like crazy trying to focus for maybe 3-5 seconds. It would also randomly lose focus even on solo performances for a second or 2. The conditions at the graduation were ISO 100 1/125 F8-F11. At the dance recital ISO 1600-4000 F5.6 1/30. Im just not understanding why the C100mk 2 has such a more efficient focusing system. Something about them doesnt seem likely that they are really the same.

 

[Besisika]

Mine works flawlessly. I say, it is the opposite. I used the C100 mk ii two or three months ago and I gave up. I would have bought it, if not the DPAF on my L lenses.
I used the 1DX II under two different conditions yesterday and it didn't miss at all.
Whether yours is faulty or you need to configure it properly (my guess is the second).

See on Youtube our Grant's tutorial (special thanks to Grant for one of the best explanations I have seen) on how to configure these options. I suggest you keep the option 1 all the way to the left or the next one, so that it would stick to the face once acquires it.
My conditions yesterday were: ISO 1600, F 1.4 on 85mm 1.2, 1/60 as well as ISO 3200, F5.6 on 100-400 II, 1/60. The first was a singing choir, head shoots (two or three heads occupied the scene - I used the Joystick to move from one face to the other), while the second: dancing kids and some Chinese taichi (I used all focal lengths from 100 to 400mm). I filled up a 64G on full frame (not 4K)

If, for some reason it doesn't recognize the face (happens only at home when I tested it) then use the touch focus and it won't let it go.
Option 2 and 3 should be adapted according to the situation (like shooting stills)

Hope that helps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtGMw-2VD1U

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

There s always a learning curve with a new camera. Those reviewers did their homework before testing the camera, and if something did not appear to work, they found the answer. Certainly a 100-400 will bring a subject closer and probably lock-on easier than the same subject at 200mm where its smaller and more difficult to grab focus.

 

[gsealy]

A camera can't read your mind. It doesn't know where you want the focus to be. Does Hollywood use auto-focus? No. They want the focus where they want it to be, and that is where it has to be. I use Canon camcorders to shoot videos of all kinds, and while the auto-focus feature is darn good, it is not infallible. If the scene is fairly stable then I use AF to acquire focus and then switch to manual, especially if I have a deep DOF. That way I know it won't decide to grab a person walking behind in the distance. I also have a C100 with DPAF and again, I am very careful with the focus. I toggle it on and off in certain situations so that I have control. It also allows me to re-frame the shot rather than having the subject only in the AF focus area. If the subject is walking toward me then DPAF works well. If I want to refocus to a DIFFERENT subject, then it transitions beautifully. I never allow my 5DIIIs to be completely AF. It gets messy real quick, the lens will hunt and so forth. I use AF to acquire focus and it ends right there, back to manual. Again, I can calculate/set up the DOF, so that it handles even some variation in depth.

As I mentioned, AF with video is always a little risky. If you are shooting a video where you must have a finished, usable product, then it is best to keep things under control rather than relying solely on the camera's algorithms. Otherwise, you might get home and be disappointed.

 

[hne]

I used this camera to do a graduation outside and a dance recital indoors. I used it with a 70-200 mkII IS with 2X III extender at F8 and the live view DPAF had to constantly be babysat. if someone else walked by on the stage it would grab their face and they would run away with the focus. During the dance recital I only used the 70-200 and there was 1 girl it absolutely would not hold focus on simply bc she had a dress on that was close to the color of the stage background or at least thats what I believe. It searched on her nonstop in all 3 scenes she was in. I had someone else shooting for me with a C100 mk2 and it had absolutely no issues with focus using the 100-400 mk2. It rarely went out of focus. Keeping focus 99% of the time even the moment the lights went up during a scene change. Id say the 1Dx mk2 kept focus 80% of the time but when the lights would go from black to bright it would hunt like crazy trying to focus for maybe 3-5 seconds. It would also randomly lose focus even on solo performances for a second or 2. The conditions at the graduation were ISO 100 1/125 F8-F11. At the dance recital ISO 1600-4000 F5.6 1/30. Im just not understanding why the C100mk 2 has such a more efficient focusing system. Something about them doesnt seem likely that they are really the same.

Did you change the movie servo af tracking sensitivity? I've been hit by the same (overly quick at switching to a closer face) on the 70D and that body doesn't even allow you to tweak it, but the 1DXmkII has gained the ability to set the camera to be less prone to switch to a new subject also for movie servo af.

The workaround on the 70D that is also available on the 1DXmkII is to set a button to AF Stop to pause AF while holding it down.