AF Wishes - The future :)

[Pitbullo]

What are your wishes for AF from Canon in the future? I am thinking of mainly lower end cameras, 80D, 6D mark II etc., those cameras without a million AF points. My dSLR has 9 AF points, one x-type. Not revolutionary! The non-cross type points are not very good, and I want them to be x-type and be better placed in the viewfinder, bigger spread, not necessary more point. If the camera cant track, then there is no need to keep the AF-points crammed together. Also, better accuracy with large aperture lenses. My wife got a mirrorless which is way way more accurate than my dSLR. And last but not least, Eye-AF. Probably a LiveView only (or mirrorless), but I want this feature non the less. Awesome to have automatic focus on nearest eye with my beloved Sigma 35mm ART.

What is your wishes for AF?

 

[Orangutan]

I have a 70D, which I often use with a 100-400MkI for birds. The AF feature I'd like to have is a way to turn on/off a "fine-tune-only" focus mode. While I find AF to be much more accurate than MF, I'm often frustrated by manually focusing on a bird and then, when I press the shutter button, having the camera decide to focus on some other object far away from my subject. If I let it hunt long enough, it will usually hit the my subject, but that's often long enough for a bird to fly away. I want to be able to assign "fine-tune" to, for example the AF-On button, so it will make only minor focus adjustments to sharpen the subject. How much focus change it can make should be a settable parameter.

 

[Loswr]

...I'm often frustrated by manually focusing on a bird and then, when I press the shutter button, having the camera decide to focus on some other object far away from my subject.

That's why back button AF.

 

[Orangutan]

...I'm often frustrated by manually focusing on a bird and then, when I press the shutter button, having the camera decide to focus on some other object far away from my subject.

That's why back button AF.

I've tried it. It doesn't seem to "fine-tune" -- it's just another focus option. I have often had the single active AF point steady on a bird's head, and it will hunt the full range of focus before (maybe) coming back to focus on the bird.

Again, the point is not MF+AF; the point is MF+"don't hunt, just sharpen focus on this thing right here"

Of course, I'm always open to the possibility that I'm not doing it right, and will review that link you posted; however, I've already read several, and none have worked.

 

[Orangutan]

I just re-read that article, and looked at my manual: nothing new -- still nothing to prevent hunting.

 

[Loswr]

No, there no 'fine tune' like you're looking for. Yet.

I think the hunting may be down to lens + body. That was common with my 7D + 100-400, and almost never happens with my 1D X + 600/4 II.

In the case you describe, spot AF might also help, given that the standard AF point is bigger than the box in the VF.

 

[Orangutan]

No, there no 'fine tune' like you're looking for. Yet.

I think the hunting may be down to lens + body. That was common with my 7D + 100-400, and almost never happens with my 1D X + 600/4 II.

In the case you describe, spot AF might also help, given that the standard AF point is bigger than the box in the VF.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll double-check my settings.

 

[privatebydesign]

You can use the preset focus distance buttons on the white superteles to emulate this desired feature.

If you have a bird in a nest or at a feeding station you can pre program the AF to that spot, if you are really smart pre program it to a distance slightly further away. Then when the lens starts to hunt, or you just want that distance, press the programmable buttons on the lens, this immediately moves focus to your preset, if you are in Servo then it will start to focus closer to you than the preset to achieve focus. If you are in MF then just touch the shutter button and it will again start to focus closer to you.

It is worth remembering that the lens will rack inwards to closer focus on startup, to help the AF always try to make sure you are focused past the thing you want in focus before you activate AF otherwise it has to go to minimum distance before starting to rack back out, a flick of the wrist to start at infinity is usually the best idea.

 

[Orangutan]

Interesting. I have the 100-400; I don't believe it has a preset button. When I shoot BIF I do MF to infinity (or slightly short of infinity) before I engage AF, and that helps a lot. The situation that's most frustrating is a little brown bird on a bunch of branches. Even if I have the AF point right on the eye, it will often hunt full range. I'd love to have an option to limit the range to a few inches. I will try the trick of starting MF just beyond the target before engaging AF. Thanks for the suggestions.

You can use the preset focus distance buttons on the white superteles to emulate this desired feature.

If you have a bird in a nest or at a feeding station you can pre program the AF to that spot, if you are really smart pre program it to a distance slightly further away. Then when the lens starts to hunt, or you just want that distance, press the programmable buttons on the lens, this immediately moves focus to your preset, if you are in Servo then it will start to focus closer to you than the preset to achieve focus. If you are in MF then just touch the shutter button and it will again start to focus closer to you.

It is worth remembering that the lens will rack inwards to closer focus on startup, to help the AF always try to make sure you are focused past the thing you want in focus before you activate AF otherwise it has to go to minimum distance before starting to rack back out, a flick of the wrist to start at infinity is usually the best idea.

 

[Sabaki]

I'd like the ITR system (software & dedicated processor) to become a standard feature across the entire range.

I think the evolution of this feature is the crux feature for advancing AF performance.

 

[Kwwund]

19 points would be good enough for me, if the spread were greater. And more (than one) cross type, of course. Faster autofocus in dim light.

 

[Pitbullo]

Great suggestions here!
The more I think of it, my main feature I want is the EyeAF. If they implement this it would negate the need of more spread AF points. However I dont see how it could be done in a dSLR unless in LiveView.

 

[hne]

I often find the AF diamond limits my compositions. I'd like 25 AF points in a regular 5x5 grid covering about 90% of the 24x36mm frame. Rule of thirds plus center lines, diagonals and edges with enough points to allow real tracking and use them as visual guides for horizontal and vertical lines while leaving some margin for PP rotation or crop without breaking the composition. More points than that just makes it slower to select a single point (5x5 gives max distance 2 with a thumb operated 8-way joystick with quick jump to centre on klick)

Combined with iTR this should make entry level cameras like the 6D seriously useful AF-wise without cutting too far into 5D/1D sales.

 

[unfocused]

I expect that in the not too distant future (10 years?), autofocus could become obsolete if light field technology becomes sufficiently advanced. Or, possibly, we could see some type of hybrid, where autofocus would be used to get the subject within a general range of focus and then light field technology would be used for fine tuning.