Canon EOS R5, EOS R6, EOS-1D X Mark III, RF 70-200 f/2.8L IS & RF 100-500 f/4.5-5.6L IS firmware released

BadBird

R5 1st 6 mos: CRAP AF; now backup to OM-1s, M1X
Feb 5, 2021
15
9
Electronic Full-time Manual Focus - so worth the wait... the ability to quickly get the lens back on the correct focal plane with the manual focus ring when in Servo AF, when the autofocus has once again gone insane (in any mode) and jumped past the target to the background. No more need to switch to One-Shot AF, manually recover your focal point, then switch back to Servo AF - a technique that might work well if your subject is a tree sloth, but it seldom if ever works on a bird. Hopefully Canon will get out equivalent firmware updates out for the 800/f11 (and 600/f11); I use the 800 fairly regularly for water birds at a distance.
 
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macrunning

Enjoying the Ride
Feb 12, 2021
441
1,169
WA
Starting to feel like stuff for photography isn't going to be addressed with the R5. Would love to have the submenu show up in the EVF for exposure compensation the same way it does for focus settings, when using the control ring. R5 locking up when using the Canon Connect App to remote trigger. This app needs some much needed attention as it is very sluggish when connecting to the camera. About the only thing it can do is take pictures of anything sitting completely still. Would love to be able to utilize the animal eye tracking focus to take pictures of birds and other small critters at close range without having to stand directly behind the camera. My list isn't even that big but I've read plenty on here of what other folks issues may be.
 
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macrunning

Enjoying the Ride
Feb 12, 2021
441
1,169
WA
Electronic Full-time Manual Focus - so worth the wait... the ability to quickly get the lens back on the correct focal plane with the manual focus ring when in Servo AF, when the autofocus has once again gone insane (in any mode) and jumped past the target to the background. No more need to switch to One-Shot AF, manually recover your focal point, then switch back to Servo AF - a technique that might work well if your subject is a tree sloth, but it seldom if ever works on a bird. Hopefully Canon will get out equivalent firmware updates out for the 800/f11 (and 600/f11); I use the 800 fairly regularly for water birds at a distance.
Just set up 2 back button focus options. I've got the AF On btn set to single point focus and the * set to Animal Eye Tracking. It's worked for me when the camera decided to focus on the background for whatever reason.
 
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snappy604

CR Pro
Jan 25, 2017
681
640
If you have "touch and drag AF" disabled, however, touching the dark screen won't change focus. Which is a very good thing if you ask me. Whether or not that has any impact on power consumption, I have no idea.
yep agree, different folks have different needs. I was impressed they considered the different scenarios
 
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BadBird

R5 1st 6 mos: CRAP AF; now backup to OM-1s, M1X
Feb 5, 2021
15
9
Your two back button settings are exactly what I have been using since I finally got the R5 last November (ordered on 9 July 2020), AND I watched the August 2020 Whistling Wings Photography video recommended on this Forum. I ran into way too many instances where the only way to break out of a failed auto-focus was to switch to One-Shot and use the manual focus ring to bring the focus all the way back to the subject. When the R5 AF blows out to the background, or when it gets lost deep in the branches behind the bird, it is usually unrecoverable using an AF function. If you try to use AF, it might take a half-dozen stabs of the thumb or more to force single point focus to re-acquire the target (much less luck had with animal eye tracking). Usually that meant that the bird had flown long before I got it back in focus.

Based on another post to this forum, I added the AF Point Button, programmed to switch between Servo AF and One-Shot AF, and that plus a spin of the focus ring got me back in focus much faster. Now with 1.3.0 I can skip the switch to and from One-Shot and just spin the focus ring, unless I actually want the One-shot-only MF tools from the AF 2 menu available . I tried it today with the 100-500 (with and without 1.4 TC) and it allows me to correct a blown AF very quickly.

I still find the AF on the R5 less reliable for small birds than my 7D Mk II with 100-400+1.4 TC, but when I get lucky, or force it to work, I get better images, especially in low light. IMHO, the R5 animal eye AF is a lot like a paraphrase from Longfellow's "Jemima" poem:
...when it is good, it is very, very good, and when it is bad it is horrid. :unsure:
 
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In video mode both cameras are very similar up until about 12800 ISO and after that point the R6 video has noticeably less noise. At least that was the finding in this side by side comparison:


Oh, sorry, not realised you are talking video. Had stills in mind ....
 
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macrunning

Enjoying the Ride
Feb 12, 2021
441
1,169
WA
Your two back button settings are exactly what I have been using since I finally got the R5 last November (ordered on 9 July 2020), AND I watched the August 2020 Whistling Wings Photography video recommended on this Forum. I ran into way too many instances where the only way to break out of a failed auto-focus was to switch to One-Shot and use the manual focus ring to bring the focus all the way back to the subject. When the R5 AF blows out to the background, or when it gets lost deep in the branches behind the bird, it is usually unrecoverable using an AF function. If you try to use AF, it might take a half-dozen stabs of the thumb or more to force single point focus to re-acquire the target (much less luck had with animal eye tracking). Usually that meant that the bird had flown long before I got it back in focus.

Based on another post to this forum, I added the AF Point Button, programmed to switch between Servo AF and One-Shot AF, and that plus a spin of the focus ring got me back in focus much faster. Now with 1.3.0 I can skip the switch to and from One-Shot and just spin the focus ring, unless I actually want the One-shot-only MF tools from the AF 2 menu available . I tried it today with the 100-500 (with and without 1.4 TC) and it allows me to correct a blown AF very quickly.

I still find the AF on the R5 less reliable for small birds than my 7D Mk II with 100-400+1.4 TC, but when I get lucky, or force it to work, I get better images, especially in low light. IMHO, the R5 animal eye AF is a lot like a paraphrase from Longfellow's "Jemima" poem:
...when it is good, it is very, very good, and when it is bad it is horrid. :unsure:
I get what your saying now. I’ve experienced the same thing. I will have to give your method a try.
 
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Michael Clark

Now we see through a glass, darkly...
Apr 5, 2016
4,722
2,655
Why does Canon hate still photographers? Still no zebras, improved button functionality, or variable ES FPS.


Sad to see now zebra highlights when shooting, still holding hope we can get it some day soon....

Zebras are a non-issue for seasoned pros who learned how to interpret their meter with optical viewfinders. If one is shooting raw they're overrated as well, since you don't really see what you're going to get when you use a raw conversion app with much more flexibility as well as both increased range of adjustments and smaller increments of adjustment than what is available in camera.
 
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Michael Clark

Now we see through a glass, darkly...
Apr 5, 2016
4,722
2,655
Yeah that's true. It doesn't look like there is any consistent reason for the lockups. A bunch of people were claiming it was an issue with Sandisk CF Express cards and that Sony Tough cards didn't have lockups. But then that was disproven with some Sony Tough card users also having lockups.

As for me, I'm in Australia so have a 5 year warranty on the camera - no real rush for a repair just yet. I have had the camera since the start of August last year, taken about 12,000 photos and have had 3 lockups so far. It always seemed to occur directly after taking a photo when the camera was writing the data to the card or just after it had finished writing to the card. I have mainly been using a Sandisk 512gb CF express card, and don't believe I have had a lockup with my 128GB Sandisk SD card (but could just be because I used it much less). I was also on the 1.1.1 firmware for all of those lockups and only recently updated to 1.2.0.

Basically I have been waiting for this 1.3.0 firmware to see if it resolves my lockup issues before deciding to send my camera in for repair or not. I would prefer for the camera not to be taken apart for the mother board to be replaced unless it is 100% neccessary. It was really sad to hear that even replacing the mother board didn't seem to fix the lockup issue for some users... that actually made me question whether it was hardware or firmware causing the problem?

I guess we will all just have to wait and see what difference this new firmware makes! I have my fingers crossed..

There are only a handful of vendors who actually make the flash memory chips that all of the card manufacturers buy from. It's very feasible that there are some SanDisk and some Sony Tough CF Express cards that contain chips from the same batch of the same chip maker, while other examples of SanDisk and Sony Tough CF Express cards do not contain chips from the batch that is involved in the issue. The numbers printed on the side of your memory card that tells you *exactly* which batch it is a part of are just as important as the brand label on it when trying to determine if a card is among a batch of "problem" cards.
 
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dlee13

Canon EOS R6
May 13, 2014
325
227
Australia
Zebras are a non-issue for seasoned pros who learned how to interpret their meter with optical viewfinders. If one is shooting raw they're overrated as well, since you don't really see what you're going to get when you use a raw conversion app with much more flexibility as well as both increased range of adjustments and smaller increments of adjustment than what is available in camera.
But it's a mirrorless camera and you do see what you're going to get so they are very useful? If your signature is up to date and you haven't actually used one of these bodies, the highlights are very sensitive and blow easy unlike on older sensors.

Zebras are just like Eye AF, people got by without them before but now that we have this feature it's better to use it.
 
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Michael Clark

Now we see through a glass, darkly...
Apr 5, 2016
4,722
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But it's a mirrorless camera and you do see what you're going to get so they are very useful? If your signature is up to date and you haven't actually used one of these bodies, the highlights are very sensitive and blow easy unlike on older sensors.

Zebras are just like Eye AF, people got by without them before but now that we have this feature it's better to use it.
What you see in the EVF of a mirrorless camera is no more like what you'll eventually get when doing proper raw processing than what you seen on the rear LCD of a DSLR in Live View is.

If you're shooting straight to JPEG, you get very close to WYSIWYG *if* the EVF is properly calibrated for color, contrast, and brightness to match your ultimate intended viewing device (typically your large, properly calibrated and profiled monitor). But even then, there are artifacts from scaling 20-30-45 MP images to a 1-3 MP EVF (remember, you have to divide "dots" by three to get actual MP of an EVF or back of camera LCD). You also can't adequately judge "sharpness" or "focus" of a 45-50 MP image when viewing it on a 2 MP (6 million Dot) EVF, as each pixel in the EVF represents a 5x5 block of pixels in the actual image. Blur that is five pixels or less wide will look perfectly sharp on the lower resolution screen.

Highlights blow easier on any higher resolution sensor, because the smaller sensels have lower full well capacity. This is not unique to mirrorless cameras.
 
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Dec 25, 2012
750
376
I have never been a fan of BBF but with the R5 I am trying to train myself to use it, I have left meter and focus on the shutter button but have mapped dedicated single point and Eye Autofocus (animal) to the back buttons.

So far so good:)
When I first started using BBF it was a very deliberate motion. Now it is automatic even when I switch to shutter AF.

My Wacom tablet was the same way. For two weeks I struggled and then it all became smooth.
 
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Dec 25, 2012
750
376
Starting to feel like stuff for photography isn't going to be addressed with the R5. Would love to have the submenu show up in the EVF for exposure compensation the same way it does for focus settings, when using the control ring. R5 locking up when using the Canon Connect App to remote trigger. This app needs some much needed attention as it is very sluggish when connecting to the camera. About the only thing it can do is take pictures of anything sitting completely still. Would love to be able to utilize the animal eye tracking focus to take pictures of birds and other small critters at close range without having to stand directly behind the camera. My list isn't even that big but I've read plenty on here of what other folks issues may be.
Canon needs to dump the nonsense they call Canon Connect. It needs a complete re-write to offer proper stability and a comprehensive suite of controls and features.
CamRanger is a very good app that offers a lot of still and video features. Canon should do as well or better
 
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Your two back button settings are exactly what I have been using since I finally got the R5 last November (ordered on 9 July 2020), AND I watched the August 2020 Whistling Wings Photography video recommended on this Forum. I ran into way too many instances where the only way to break out of a failed auto-focus was to switch to One-Shot and use the manual focus ring to bring the focus all the way back to the subject. When the R5 AF blows out to the background, or when it gets lost deep in the branches behind the bird, it is usually unrecoverable using an AF function. If you try to use AF, it might take a half-dozen stabs of the thumb or more to force single point focus to re-acquire the target (much less luck had with animal eye tracking). Usually that meant that the bird had flown long before I got it back in focus.

Based on another post to this forum, I added the AF Point Button, programmed to switch between Servo AF and One-Shot AF, and that plus a spin of the focus ring got me back in focus much faster. Now with 1.3.0 I can skip the switch to and from One-Shot and just spin the focus ring, unless I actually want the One-shot-only MF tools from the AF 2 menu available . I tried it today with the 100-500 (with and without 1.4 TC) and it allows me to correct a blown AF very quickly.

I still find the AF on the R5 less reliable for small birds than my 7D Mk II with 100-400+1.4 TC, but when I get lucky, or force it to work, I get better images, especially in low light. IMHO, the R5 animal eye AF is a lot like a paraphrase from Longfellow's "Jemima" poem:
...when it is good, it is very, very good, and when it is bad it is horrid. :unsure:

I dare to describe our setup. We do ppl - studio, outdoors, weddings.

  1. We have left enabled only two modes - Eye AF tracking + single point and re-assigned the AF selection button to directly switch between them
  2. For Eye AF tracking, we have set Initial Servo AF point being set - if you don't do so, you have no clue, what the camera selects. I call it a focus & recompose reborn, really. Watch this:
  3. AF-ON - set to engage the Eye AF. This way, while in One point mode, you can still let the camera quickly find and jump to the face
  4. * - we have it set to Servo ON/OFF. What I don't like at all, is the Single point mode tracking working in reverse mode - it refocuses to where you point the camera, instead of tracking the subject - I hate that.
 
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I dare to describe our setup. We do ppl - studio, outdoors, weddings.

  1. We have left enabled only two modes - Eye AF tracking + single point and re-assigned the AF selection button to directly switch between them
  2. For Eye AF tracking, we have set Initial Servo AF point being set - if you don't do so, you have no clue, what the camera selects. I call it a focus & recompose reborn, really. Watch this:
  3. AF-ON - set to engage the Eye AF. This way, while in One point mode, you can still let the camera quickly find and jump to the face
  4. * - we have it set to Servo ON/OFF. What I don't like at all, is the Single point mode tracking working in reverse mode - it refocuses to where you point the camera, instead of tracking the subject - I hate that.
I just watched that last week! Works like a champ. Appreciate you posting it here.
 
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On the R5, what exactly does the "LCD Backlight Off" option do? I know I'm taking the description too literally, and it's making me wonder why a user wouldn't simply flip the screen shut.

"It’s an option to use the LCD the same style as on a DSLR. So by default the screen and EVF are off. When moving your eye to the EVF it will turn on the EVF and the screen stays off. It sort of simulates DSLR usage. But when pressing the review button or menu button and you do not use the EVF it wil show that on the rear screen, just like when using a DSLR.

In previous version you only had the option to completely turn off the back screen and then the EVF was always on and menu and review of photo’s was also handled by the EVF. Or the backscreen was always on with a liveview or your settings screen and went only off when using the EVF.

This new option is much nicer to use and probably will also save some battery because EVF and screen are off more often."


 
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Canonite

EOS R5
Dec 19, 2013
33
89
What you see in the EVF of a mirrorless camera is no more like what you'll eventually get when doing proper raw processing than what you seen on the rear LCD of a DSLR in Live View is.

If you're shooting straight to JPEG, you get very close to WYSIWYG *if* the EVF is properly calibrated for color, contrast, and brightness to match your ultimate intended viewing device (typically your large, properly calibrated and profiled monitor). But even then, there are artifacts from scaling 20-30-45 MP images to a 1-3 MP EVF (remember, you have to divide "dots" by three to get actual MP of an EVF or back of camera LCD). You also can't adequately judge "sharpness" or "focus" of a 45-50 MP image when viewing it on a 2 MP (6 million Dot) EVF, as each pixel in the EVF represents a 5x5 block of pixels in the actual image. Blur that is five pixels or less wide will look perfectly sharp on the lower resolution screen.

Highlights blow easier on any higher resolution sensor, because the smaller sensels have lower full well capacity. This is not unique to mirrorless cameras.
Wow, I wonder how we ever got our exposures right when using film. Nothing note worthy here to help others, just a lot of useless info.
would a, should a, could a, stuff. :)
 
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Michael Clark

Now we see through a glass, darkly...
Apr 5, 2016
4,722
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Wow, I wonder how we ever got our exposures right when using film. Nothing note worthy here to help others, just a lot of useless info.
would a, should a, could a, stuff. :)

Have you got anything to actually dispute what I said? Or just the ad hominin attack you posted?

If you'll read back through the thread, you'll see that it all started when I noted that those who learned to read and properly interpret what the meter on their OVF camera with no rear LCD screen was telling them don't place near the same importance on zebras and WYSIWYG that newcomers to photography do.

The other party in the conversation then countered that mirrorless cameras are somehow different from DSLRs in that an EVF actually does show you what you're going to get (as if DSLRs don't also offer Live view and rear LCD screens) and that somehow, highlights magically blow out easier on sensors placed in mirrorless cameras than the same sensors placed in DSLRs. (i.e. both the EOS 5D Mark IV and the EOS R have the exact same sensor, yet somehow the EOS R blows highlights faster/easier than the 5D Mark IV. Or the 1D X Mark III and the R6 share the same sensor, but somehow the R6 blows highlights faster/easier than the 1D X Mark II?)

Only then did I go on to point out that WYSIWYG isn't really true, either, unless one is shooting straight to JPEG with no further processing.
 
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