My R6 Autofocus Is Being Annoying - Any Ideas? Are You Experiencing Issues? Possible Solutions 

Hey Duade, This is why your channel continues to grow.... You share real-life issues and try to help others. Since I use Nikon I am not much help though I thought maybe using a teleconverter? But you have received really good suggestions. I always enjoy you videos and like always I am waiting for the next one! Sayin' hey.... Greg

Duade, Everyone out there... This is common on many cameras and lenses. I use Sony a7R4 and Sony A9II , as well as Canon R5 . It happened on all three. And not only with long lenses, but mainly with Telephoto ones. I was able to get around ,in few ways.. On canon i played with the Focus Preset Button on the lens itself and the Stabilization mode to number 2 instead of 1 of that lens , it mainly worked. Make sure that the AF is at Infinite Max as well. Remember that both the lens and the Camera has Stabilization and sometimes playing with the mode helps have both work together better in some situations , especially in Moving options such Bird in Flight (BIF) or Wildlife, or smaller objects. I found mode 1 to be more geared towards big objects, still ones and landscapes, As far as Sony, it was so easy on my end to get around the issue, but also changing the modes from 1,2, to 3, but in Sony , changing the Sensitivity of the AF to a higher one , picked up the smallest objects there is even though the background and the Bird were almost the same color... Here is an Example of one of the Pictures, that i used to have problem with until i did that,.., But Sony in my opinion was a better overall setup, however, Canon was obtaining EAF quicker. Below is only two examples.. You can see more on FB , ID @FotoTellerInc facebook.com/FotoTellerInc/photos/216013406757773/ facebook.com/FotoTellerInc/photos/184922503200197/ Hope this will fix your issue, and BTW, it is a great camera that you have in there... It took me a small while to understand the optimum settings needed in Mirrorless after using DSLRs for a long while ... It is normal ...

Hey Duade, this is a common issue with mirrorless cameras that the so called expert reviewers online always gloss over. Ive used panasonic and olympus mirrorless cameras and the issue seems to be worse on panasonic due to it using the contrast based AF only. On olympus in certain modes it uses the phase sensor in addition to contrast (for micro adjustments once the phase sensor has got it close enough). I believe the R6 has a phase sensor so either its the AF mode you are using being contrast only ( dlsrs never use contrast unless its in live view mode) or its simply a difference in the phase sensor tech. The reason why its an issue with contrast AF is that the sensor has no info to tell it where to focus with a bokeh'd out small bird. A phase sensor tells it distance information hence why it knows to refocus, in AI tracking modes the camera relies heavily on actual sensor data to identify the subject and less so distance data i suspect. I'm sure canon will improve this over time as panasonic/olympus have. You could probably test this by shooting live view only on your dlsr to see if it has the issue. Also on the R6 see what AF modes use the phase sensor if anyone online knows, it may be a different AF mode works better (which is the case for my olympus, some modes use the phase sensor and some dont).

I’ve had the same issue with the Nikon Z6, and now the Z6 ii, photographing small birds. My workaround has been to manually override the focus or prefocus lock with the lens function buttons. You’re the first I’ve seen on YT that adress this issue. I thought this was a issue only with the Nikon Z cameras and not R5 and R6 too...

I am just glad to hear I am not the only one. It also seems to happen more on the more advanced bodies (R5 in my case compared to the RP). It also happens much more often when I am using an extender compared to the 100-500 without one. The solution is simple enough and once I grab focus it's brilliant, but it was driving me batty. Thanks for talking about this.

Thank you Duade! (Love your vids by the way). Awesome to know this issue is not just related to me. When you get the latest & greatest body (with price tag to match) you would expect it to have the same abilities as older models at the very least & this is clearly not the case. Yes, there are features about the R5/6 that I absolutely love, but there have been some backward steps/compromises in other areas. Appreciate the work-arounds you have suggested but I think you summed it up perfectly when you said this issue is "bloody annoying" :). I'm a walk & stalk shooter, so pre-focus settings don't really help when you the distance is constantly varying as I move around so I just have to rely on the old stand-by method of focusing on a bigger object (tree trunk, etc) at a similar distance...but those can be a critical few seconds lost. I got my R5 in late September and have been giving it a good work out on my local birds here in Canada. I've been using a 1Dx2 & 600mm f4L ISII for 4-5 years now, so for what it's worth, here are my thoughts after 3 months of use: Canon R5 (with Canon 600mm ISII f4L + 1.4x III extender) vs 1Dx2 & same set-up : Pros Bird Eye-detect AF is pretty darn good. Main benefits are: 1) I can quickly lock-on the eye, then re-compose in the frame. 2) Get way more keepers for birds in flight. On my 1Dx2 I used a single centre point for focus, but the R5 can lock on the eye and continue tracking right to the edge of the frame (normally these would be out-of-focus on the 1Dx2). Exposure Simulation/live Histogram - I LOVE being able to see what my image will look like live & not have to take test shots and check the back of the camera. Note that the exposure sim & histogram are not 100% perfectly aligned…sometimes the exposure sim implies you have blown highlights, but the histogram is saying you can still expose to the right even further. Not a deal breaker, though, as usually it’s only 1/3 of a stop off. 50Mb sensor (vs 20Mb on 1Dx2) means I can crop more than before & still have decent quality. I am using the C-RAW (compressed RAW file) file type which shrinks the files to 30Mb with no noticeable difference (vs standard RAW) as far as my eye can see. Saves load of memory space! EF/EF-S lens compatible - the fact I can use all my old lenses & they work 90-100% as good as before = fantastic. Save so much money. Feel sorry for those folks who jumped ship to Nikon and/or Sony…was only a matter of time before Canon delivered. 20 FPS electronic shutter - more FPS is always good = more frames = more chances of a pose you like & more to choose from. Silent shutter (electronic only) - very cool to be able to fire away without distracting a skittish subject. No more 1Dx ‘machine gun barrage’ scaring the #$$## out of the subject. Love it. That said, sometimes the shutter click is good to get the bird to look at you. Good to have the option and be able to adjust depending upon the species. Video - awesome to be able to shoot through the viewfinder instead of watching the back of the camera which was pretty awkward. I don’t do much video, but this feature will encourage me to do so. ISO dial - instead of having to press a button and then dial in ISO, the R5 has a dedicated ISO dial. Cool new feature if you don’t use Auto ISO like me. Battery charging - can charge my camera (by connecting the USB to my laptop) without taking the batteries out. Nice. Cons With 1.4x III extender - noticeably slower AF acquisition. With my 1Dx2 I shot 98% of the time with the extender and it was FAST, both with & without extender = same speed. So this slower acquisition really upset me initially (you would expect a newer camera to be better or at least the same as an older camera like the 1Dx2). Critically for me, the AF acquisition (R5 vs 1DX2) is pretty comparable without the 1.4x extender &, because I can now crop more with 50Mb (vs the 20Mb of the 1Dx2), I am now pretty much shooting the R5 with 600mm & no extender most of the time now so that AF speed is maintained. So, this has made up for a lot of this downside. Note: I still need to compare this in good bright light. All my side-by-side testing has been indoors in low light. I got my R5 at the end of Sep so the opportunities to test outdoors have been limited due to lack of subject matter (most of the birds had flown south already) and the fact I want to play with my new toy 😊 rather than do side-by-side compares. Lesser issues: Camera freeze - every 2nd time I go out, the camera ‘locks up’ (becomes inoperable) and I have to turn it off an pull out the battery to reset it. I think it happens when I press multiple buttons at once (which happens more frequently in the winter when I’m wearing gloves and/or my fingers are frozen and I can’t feel what I’m pressing. Easy enough to reset, but annoying and should not happen. I hope it gets fixed with firmware updates. Battery grip joystick - as a 1Dx2 user you are accustomed to being able to go horizontal and have the buttons and joystick in the exact same position…not so with the R5 battery grip. The joystick is in a totally different & difficult to use position. VERY annoying. If you’ve never used a 1Dx you would never know the difference as the 5Dxx and 7Dxx battery grips have the same annoying layout. 20 FPS + 50Mb files + silent shutter - you can really eat up your memory card fast without even noticing! File processing - I use Canon Digital Photo Professional to process the RAW files before importing the JPEG to Photoshop. Processing in DPP takes twice as long as my 1Dx files (now takes 1 minute on my 4 year old laptop). Power-off - to save battery, I have my R5 EVF power off after 30 seconds of inactivity. To power back on to take a shot takes a second or so, so you need to press a button a second before you go to take a shot. With the 1Dx you could take a shot instantaneously. Takes some getting used to, but not a biggie. Other comments: ‘Rolling shutter’ (RS) issues - I am only shooting electronic shutter as I love the 20FPS and silent shutter. Yes, I can sometimes see some mild RS ‘distortion’ when I shoot a sequence of shots & view them side by side, but looking at the shots individually you can’t tell. Therefore, not an issue for me. IBIS stabilization - I don’t notice any IS difference from what I had before on my EF lenses. I gather it works best on RF lenses, but I don’t own any. Battery life - not an issue for me. I heard the single battery life was short, but I always shoot with the 2-battery grip (as I wanted the horizontal grip) and never had an issue yet. Flash - I have not yet tried this out yet. Apparently you have to switch exposure sim off & it is much more like using a non-mirrorless camera. I use flash 1% of the time, so no biggie for me. Lens Retract - there was an annoying default setting that reset the lens focus every time the camera powered off (which was every 30 seconds for me to save battery). So, you could be focused on a hole in a tree waiting for a bird to emerge…but if the camera powered off, you would have to refocus again when you powered back on to take a shot. Good news is you can turn this off in the menu settings. Overheating issue - haven’t shot 8K as I don’t do video much & I don’t even have anything that can play 8K videos! That said, I like the idea that you can shoot 8K and then crop and still have 4k quailty as with wildlife you often have to crop. Cheers, Tim.

The funny thing is that this behavior is quite good when you shoot through branches and greenery and it keeps focus behind obstacles. You may also check AF option in the menu, maybe another mode would work better for you.

I bought the R62 and I am experiencing the exact problem that you are describing . Using the 100-500, the 500 f/4 and the 400 f/4 DO. Switched to my R5 and everything worked perfectly. Very frustrating and I sent it back.

Great tip about the Focus Preset. I have never used the feature and really did not know how it worked. Thanks.

I am having the same problem using the R6 with the new R100-500 on birds close up. I honestly considered sending it back to Canon and then I saw your post. Your information was very helpful. It is very frustrating to spend this much money on a new body and new lens including the R70-200 2.8 and having to find work arounds. Hopefully Canon will address this soon.

Wow, who would have thought this issue has only been raised now, and not by all the early reviewers. You’ve gained a subscriber for sharing this. I have only just got my R6, shooting with Ef converter I had exactly the same problem using the 100-400 mkii. Here is what I had set up... assigned AF-on button to “metering and AFstart” and the * button to “eye detection AF”. I was trying to focus on a plant at 400mm 5.6 using AF-on with the smallest focus spot but the camera would not shift focus from the background, even though the plant was quite big and was not even that blurred. Thinking I had forgotten which way around I had programmed the buttons, I pressed the * and boom focus acquired!! I had recalled correctly which way round these buttons were programmed and even though there wasn’t an eye, eyeAF got me focus. I repeated this on various occasions and now wonder if there is a difference in the focusing systems normal AF and eyeAF use, as one of the other commenters suggested, so allowing me to acquire focus. All I can say is , if you don’t have a lens with that button and don’t want to defocus to then refocus or decompose(!) to recompose and gain focus, this is even quicker as there is no need to move hand or camera, just your thumb. Still wish I didn’t have to as it still causes a brief delay getting focus, but hope this suggestion helps others

This happens occasionally with the R5, RF800 lens. It doesn’t happen often, but I would say more than rare. For my use, manually focus back in is generally enough to make it a minor annoyance. Great video, and thanks for the detailed information about ways you tried/found to solve it.

Hi Duade there are definitely issues with the autofocus, I set my R6 with dual back button focus (manual /auto with full area coverage). It works but I need more practice and Even so I have noticed it getting lost when behind. The lens preset is a really good tip, I am definitely going to try that.

These settings helped solved the problem for me with the R6 when focused far away and trying to refocus close using the AF-ON button. Or you can set it to any button you prefer. For me it made the AF system more responsive. Give it a try if you haven’t already and let me know how it goes. In Customize buttons AF-ON button Register/recall shooting func Hit INFO Put check marks only next to and set to: AF method (set to Spot AF} Tracking sensitivity (set to your preference) Accel./decel. tracking (set to your preference) AF operation (set to Use AF) Then hit Register current settings In some situations, it helps to pump that button when refocusing. Keep up the good work Duane.

Common problem with mirrorless cameras. I have it with my a6400 and my friend also has it with the a7iii. It is clear that when the subject is so out of focus (due to the shallow DoF) that you can see the background clearly, the camera only sees background. This problem won't arise with distant birds (as you mentioned just now). When you are tracking distant birds in flight, it might hunt unnecessarily even if you have set the focus limiter on the lens. On alternative to using MF is to use back button focus. I haven't tried the focus preset button method yet (hoping it's there on the a6400) and the button is a bit inconvenient for me on the 200-600mm.

I'm a Nikon shooter but enjoy your channel very much, thank you. The focus preset button is one that sports photographers have known about and have used for a long time........ it works very well if you know that at a certain spot there will always be a lot of action during the game for instance, in a baseball game you focus on the second base or home plate. With one press on the prefocus button, you are on time to get the action. I still don't want to switch to mirrorless, love the big and clunky DSLR's like the D4s and D5.

It happens to me as well. The focus on the ground trick works well with a bird on a perch. I have however found it more difficult when you lose focus on a flying bird with a "sky" background

I think my R5 has this tendency too because I can recall having to manually focus into the general ballpark once or twice when there was a long distance discrepancy. The lights gone for the day but I'll test it tmrw and let you know. Maybe ask Jan if he's had this on the R5.

Thanks. Yes this issue has been plaguing me. So annoyed with my R6. Your solutions are good - but apply more to the convenience of using a tripod - not so much for handheld :) Thanks for sharing- so good to know I am not alone with this frustration - which given what I paid for the R6 I am disappointed about - my SLR's do not do this :(

Great analysis! I've grappled with the same issue but on the R5. The difference is I'm using the RF 100-500mm lens with a 1.4x extender. No adapter. My R5 refuses to focus about 5% of the time. The other 95% of the time, it's amazing. BUT, my R6 has never refused to focus. I sent the R5 to Canon Professional Services for repair. I'll keep people posted via my blog and videos here on the outcome.

I would recommend using the focusing limiter. If it's set from close focus to infinity and focuses on the background, it will struggle to refocus to a closer distance. The longer the lens, the more the struggle. You may still need to pre focus initially within the range of your subject, but once done it works fine for me.

I have the same problem on the R5 with my 600 f/4 lens, even when the bird in flight is against only blue sky! I hope that a firmware update will fix this problem.

Sounds like something Canon needs to know about, hopefully they'll be able to fix it an update. How disappointing. Glad you were able to find some work arounds. Very helpful video for those with a lens like yours.

In AF menu 4 be sure Lens drive when AF impossible is ON. Had similar problem with R at the beginning. Also, somewhere Canon has a lens and TC chart for compatibility and lens FW versions. Also may have to do with AF case settings.

I encountered the same issues with the Nikon Z9 with 600 mm f4 Nikkor lens, I was photographing hummingbirds in Ecuador. It would not see the hummingbirds even if they were in front of me. Same with the 500 mm PF as well as with the 100-400 mm S lens. It seems to be at its worst for birders, when they’re subject is out of focus (usually when the focus starts behind the subject). Due to the small size of the subject, many cameras will default to focusing to the background first, even if to us, the photographer, we can see the bird in the foreground. The recommendation is to set the Memory Set button on your telephoto lens (assuming the lens has this function) to a shorter distance than you normally see your subjects… say a few feet beyond the minimum focusing distance. So with one button push, it gets the focus in front of the subject and the camera will easily focus on it.

Hey Daude, Thanks for making this video. I have same issue while using it with my 500mm f4 lens. I saw the comment about lack of contract being the reason for this but I dont think it is the case because I have missed many of the shots in perfect contrast situations and after shutting camera off and turning on has solved this for me sometime. For wildlife photography this is serious challenge as the moments last for couple of seconds and I have missed recently shot of trip due to this. The issue occurs mostly with extenders but it does happen without extenders too. Also, one of the observation I have done is that it occurs quite regularly for me when I am in small single point auto focus mode. I hope this is a firmware fix and canon takes this issue seriously.

Just to add my experience - been using the R6 for 4 weeks with 500 f4 Mark 1 with x1. 4, exactly the same issue. I've started using the focus limiter set to 4.5-10m. Works very well.

You solved your own problem. I was going to suggest the focus lock button and the manual focus ring. Both things that Steve Perry has noted in his Nikon videos.

Nice video. The best autofocus setting in this case is to set in the AF menu 4 switching track subjects to 2 and select case 3 increasing tracking sensitivity. From what you said you tried everything but in my case it helped. The other thing I noticed is the initial servo AF point for eye detection. I don't remember in which case but one works better than the others. Would need to try again. I think it s initial AF. Thanks for sharing

It can also sometimes happen on a Sony A9 in AFC mode. Much more common with people using back button focus - no idea why but I have seen this a few times. On the rare occasion it happens (I do NOT back button focus) I will focus on the ground or tree near the perch, that fixes the problem. Setting up a custom button to use another focus mode like single shot AF also works. On the A9, perhaps the R6, I think the issue is more complex than just long telephotos and DOF, scene complexity, quality of light, contrast and colour also seem to play a part. The A9 problem impacts more with complex backgrounds, like lots of branches. The A9 issue is slightly different, the camera does not lock on the background (it may but not always), but not know where to focus. So the viewfinder can be blurry, rather than locked on the background. That said, they are still very similar. Your R6 example is worse than my Sony A9, the problem is much easier to fix on the A9. A9 firmware updates have not fixed the issue so far. Interesting to read comments its impacting across all brands of mirrorless. Also interesting that camera reviewers have not picked it up - that says something about the tests they do; too much time spent reading specs than real world use.

I use the 800 with a standard dslr and find the focus reflex ring to be really useful, especially when photographing subjects at different distances from a static position (usually a hide). I nearly always set the pre focus point on a nearby perch and that way if I'm photographing something further away and something else lands on the nearby perch I can twist the preset focus ring as I'm moving the lens. That means by the time I'm on the near perch the subject is clearly in view making it easier to pick up in the viewfinder. It's a very useful tool.

I have another friend with a RU-vid channel who has an R5 and does a lot with the animal eye-AF. I posed your situation to him. Here's what he wrote (I think maybe he is pointing at something you haven't tried yet?): "The Sony a9II does the same thing. All AF systems I have used will do this. However, I have found a solution that works for me almost all the time with the R5. In the few instances when the AF grabs something and will not let go of it, I use Spot AF and put it on the subject and it almost always focuses on the subject I want immediately. Every once in a while I have to "pump" the back button I have set to Spot focus to get it to switch. My back button AF set up is as follows: AF-ON button set to Eye Detection, the * button set to Zone, and the AF Point Selection button set to Spot. If what you describe happens I just quickly press the AF Point Selection Button and I get focus where I want it, and then go back to Eye Detection if appropriate. Overall, I do not think this is a problem with the AF systems of mirrorless cameras, we are just asking too much of the AF systems to always find the eye even when the "eye" is way out of focus when we ask the camera to find it. Overall, for me, these AI driven AF systems have been spectacularly good. Thanks for the comment". Ron at Whistling Wings Photography Duade, I don't understand these systems well enough to follow what Ron suggested as a work-around, and I don't have the R5 , but I share it to you as I'm sure you will know what he means. Please followup w/ me if his system helps!

Hello. Just some infos about your issue. I did experience the exact same with my R6 and some wide telephotos since I bought it, 6 months ago. This is a pretty simple issue, the downside of the ML af system. If you compare to previous miror cameras, the AF system, with it's complex second miror and Af module do not use the full apperture to make the AF point. It explains why it is so inacurate with wide apperture lenses compared to ML, why it can't focus in the dark as well as ML cameras. With the R6, you uses the full apperture to make the focus points. It means that everything that is out of focus is much more blurry to the R6 eyes than to the older miror cameras with optical AF system. For classical lenses such as 100-400, 100-500...etc with narrow appertures, it is not an issue. But with a 600 4, and even more with a 400 2.8, it is impossible to make the focus to hunt for subjects that are too much out of focus. So you need some tricks to focus : with prefocus or refocus mannually. But to be honest both are pretty bad. The only way that will help us is if canon implement a firmware that can add some kind of functions ''focus for wide appertures". In this mode, the lens will close it's apperture a little bit to initialise the focus, then reopen when it has look it's target. Some older ML and point and shoot cameras has this feature, but it seams that it is not in canon mind yet. Happy shooting

My solution is setting the AF behavior to bicycle mode (snapping to anything in the frontmost plane) and purely use the automatic tracking af, not the manual af points. That's how I shot quickly moving soap bubbles that no other camera could focus and track. Also, to quickly intervene, I'd give it a quick turn on the manual af override ring to bring the whole focus to the front. It might be an optical phenomenon in which the image is already too blurred to allow measurements.

The R5/6 always wants to push the AF backwards. It rarely wants to rack focus forwards. I do a lot of BIF so I will not only prefocus to where I expect the bird to appear but often well in front of that. The AF is very "sticky" which is a blessing when it's on the bird but a curse when it's on the background. Thanks for the suggestion of the focus preset as I had not thought of that.

Duade, the best solution would be a focus limiter in the camera. In my Olympus camera I can set-up a focus limiter range. Example : 5m...70m. So the focus would never get distracted by the background. I do not know if R5 has such option. Maybe even the focus limiter from the lens might be helpfull . Are you using it ?

"Try your best not to focus on the background" .... LOL!!! I don't always have the luxury of having a tripod out in the field, so losing the bird is a real issue! For the M6markii, if I'm on tracking mode, it will generally obtain focus again if I can get the bird into the screen, so I don't have that problem of completely losing the bird. Unfortunately the M6markii doesn't have the precision (animal eye focus) or speed of the R6.

Sonys do similar - the A9, A7R III & IV. Even on a 100mm diam tree trunk in mid-ground. One hypothesis is that a blurred subject doesn't provide enough contrast for the focus to function. In CAF mode the first stage of focus on these bodies is phase detect (for speed) and then it finishes with contrast detect (for accuracy), and that needs good contrast and it preferences the distant lock option. In SAF, it seems it only uses CD AF. Pre focus is the only reliable alternative. Manual intervention is a problem doing handheld with BIF.

I'm not using the Canon system but with my Sony something the size of a bird in that exact scenario I need to focus on something in the foreground then raise my lens up as you've done. I noticed the Sony system always focus from front to back so pre-focusing on something slightly closer than your anticipated subject can save you. Thanks for bringing out these details, amazing the DSLR had zero issues coping with this.

I've not read all the comments so this may have been already been mentioned....Easy, assign the AF single or spot to the AF On back button and the Eye detection to the Star Back button (or visa versa) simply snap on the subject with spot AF and slide your thumb over to activate eye-detection, as quick as that, no focusing on a stone to tweaking the manual focusing. Stay safe

Hi Duade, my friend and me had exactly the same thing happen to us using the R5 in a photography hide and the bird was much closer than the one in your video, I just used your second method manual focus, worked very well and very quick, once the camera found the bird the focus and eye tracking was amazing, just to add my friend was using the new RF 100-500mm so I don't think it's a lens issue.

Thanks for posting this. I've noticed this issue on my Canon R5 / 600mm F4L II (and used the "refocus on something close method"). I've also had the same problem on my Sony A9 with 200-600mm. Thanks for the "focus preset" tip. I had not thought of that.

The EOS R was the same, that was one reason why I moved away from it in the end. It seems the mirrorless still struggle with depth and low contrast focus. Watching a number of reviews it seems it has improved but it still needs work from all manufacturers of mirrorless. No mucking about with you're latest purchase with the R6 and 800mm, great buying!

thanks for the focus button method, I have never tried it before.

Hi Duade. I'd like to offer some input here. This is not actually a Canon phenomenon. It is a mirrorless thing and while I am a Canon shooter I say this without prejudice. I have owned mirrorless from Sony and Nikon and experiences have been similar. More so with Sony. Coming from DSLR I was seriously put off at first. It is even worse when you are dealing with birds in cover of complex backgrounds. With time and some experimentation I have overcome this and unlocking the power of eye AF (or the AF in general) is second nature. For me the solution is in the power of dual back button focus. I have one button programmed for a larger eye AF selection and another with a single point selection. Spot usually suffices. I typically use the spot to get my focus in the zone (often an object off-bird) and then switch to my eye AF selection. What seems to be at the heart of the issue is that when mirrorless AF fails to grab a subject and locks elsewhere using the same AF selection, mode and target doesn't force the AF to cycle through the range like we are used to with DSLR. You need to give it a nudge (focus on another subject) to get it moving. I have also found that increasing the tracking sensitivity can be helpful in some scenarios. As for the issue of switching lenses improving things somewhat your results are not surprising. Remember that when you are using a big white the ability of the R5 to drive the lens faces the same bottleneck as any previous 5 series. The voltage output of the battery will not drive the lens as fast as a 1D series. This may cause some viewers to point out that the 5D4 still produced better results in your specific tests but it is hard to draw conclusions there. Mirrorless are not categorically superior in every aspect and DSLR may well still do better in a given performance test. Making a direct comparison can be misleading. I was an early adopter of mirrorless and still shoot DSLR occasionally. For my use mirrorless is the better package overall. You may find differently. AF specs and reviews may not translate to your use but I do suggest that you give it proper time and experimentation before declaring that something is wrong that needs to be addressed in firmware.

Duade: Great and honest review/post. I am relatively new to (higher end) photography and recently bought a Nikon D500 with a Tamron 150-600G2 recently (lens that is known for some AF issues) after doing a lot of research including watching videos on your channel and those of other wildlife photographers. I felt that the mirrorless technology was not quite there for someone in my situation, and that many of the newer DSLRs had some growing up to do. I went for "tried and tested" and went for a DSLR that would serve me well. As for this particular situation, there are so many variables, that a quick answer to fix the problem does not appear to be out there. None of the "work-around the problem" approaches that you bring up seem really satisfactory and will make you happy in the long run. It appears that the single-point AF area is in reality a lot larger than the camera/lens actually indicates and, hence, it almost works as if you are in group-mode (Nikon setting) and focuses on parts of the scenery beyond the topic of interest. But what do I know..... Anyway, keep up the great work. I enjoy your videos immensely.

Thanks Duade, I'm moving to mirrorless from the 1dx3 to the R6 while waiting for my R3 to arrive. I have the exact same issue with my 600mm f/4 version 3 lens! I haven't tried yet without the teleconverter v3, but the lens/camera will NOT find refocus if it locks onto infinity. This was a zero issue with my 1dx3. My work-around was similar to yours - manual focus ring or find focus on a larger nearby object. I have not tired the pre-focus ring. For fast moving birds and animals, this is just not acceptable and I hope not characteristic of the R3. I'm using dual back button focus with one button assigned to single point for quick initial focus and the * back button assigned to eye. It works brilliantly --- IF I acquire initial focus. Canon needs to deal with this issue. Thanks.

Duade I’ve encountered similar to you but I was wondering if it was user error. I have the R5 with the EF 100-400 F5.6 plus 1.4 iii extender. Very frustrating and yes my solution has been what you have described with pre-focusing on an object near the bird grass, rock etc - this is not optimal for a very expensive piece of equipment! My canon 70D provided a better focusing experience in that respect. Having said that the animal eye autofocus when working is brilliant!

Boy it is an issue. Thanks for the work around. I have a 100-400mm EF lens with the R6 and it is really annoying. Thanks for the work arounds.

Hello again I am Erkki from Finland. Because of these issues I was frustrated and returned my first R6 last sebtember. As I told in other comments I recently bought it again.Yes in these cases dslrs are better no way to deny.Maybe I am wrong but my second R6 copy seems be better .It nails the birds eyes very fast.Maybe Canon has already done something.There are some solutions to to work : for instance I keep the one af one in camera and assign birds eye af to af on button - so I can first search the bird and chance to eye detection af rapidly.

Its still n isue. Got my r6 a week ago (coming from a 5dmk3) and firmware 1.8.1. Still trying to get the grib of this new autofocus system and i have now gone to the backbutton focus set up so a lot of changes for me therefore i thought the problem was me doing something wrong. But it seems like its a camera fault so i will in the future use the prefocus on my 400 L is mk2 and set it to about 15 meters and then turn the ring if this happens again. I have already experienced this issue a couple of times, but so far i am impressed with the performance of the r6. Thx for sharing Keep up the good work Greetings from Denmark

Hey Duade , Nicely Explained . But This technique might work when u r in hide or at fixed perch but when we are searching for a bird in the field it doesn't focus and most of the time we missed the shot . At the same time I saw other photographers got the shot especially mirrorless SONY cameras . Canon must have to improve the focusing system especial for bird photography . Thanks and Regards

Duade these are really great videos and are invaluable to me as a new Canon R5 user and new bird photographer. I’ve had the camera for a few months and am still trying to customize BBF in a way that makes sense to me. Settings appear to be interdependent. Looking for the best setting for bird on perch, bird in bush, and bird in flight. I keep changing settings buttons and on tab 1,3 and 4 and getting deep into the info detail set options. Would love to see a video on those for the 3 subjects above. Bird in flight being as an occasional thing for me. Your videos are easy to understand and much appreciated. It also so cool to see how different the species look. Our Kingfisher, robins, catbirds are a bit different in Ohio. but you can really tell they are related. Thanks again for sharing so much of your knowledge!

Hi Duade, I have seen a similar issue on R6 trying to find birds in flight when using new RF100mm-500mm.Sometimes the camera does not find the bird when I am at 500mm. Easy solution, zoom back to 300mm and then finds bird and locks on eye detect and now zoom into 500mm

Hey, thanks for this video. I was having and still have the same problems regarding focus as you. My 5D Mark IV never missed focus, this new R6, when in a long lens situation, is becoming a pain in … what I’ve done is move the focusing ring to get it closer to what I want to have on focus and then let the camera take over. You at least confirm that I am not going crazy… Thanks again for the video.

assign 2 knobs on the camera for focus: one for center focus, one for eye tracking focus. If you don't have eye tracking, push the center focus (e.g. the AF knob). Once that is done, push e.g. the 'star' button you assigned as eye tracking knob. In this way, you will quickly find the bird, and after the eye tracking takes over, you can start clicking away.

I use the same setup Canon 800 EF with 1.4x II and R5. I have the same problem of course. Interesting you did a video on this subject. I use the method of focusing close to reacquire the subject. If your subject is going to be within a certain close range, flipping the distance limiter switch to the middle position will also help. I have been using the focus memory for 30 years on Canon lenses. You are correct. This is the best solution. Interesting you said it only works with version II lenses. Mine doesn't work on my 800 and I thought there was something wrong with the lens. Doesn't make sense that it will only work on version II lenses. That is one of the best features of Canon's long lenses. So Canon won't let me use the focus memory and keeps the stabilizer on all the time on EF lenses and won't let the IBIS work with EF lenses. I would love to know exactly what they are thinking about over there. Such a great camera to ignore those features.

My Nikon P1000 does this, once you loose focus to the background, the subject is so out of focus it wont pick it back up. This is where only last week I figured out 'pre-focusing' Quickly point camera to a solid point at a similar distance to bird, as long as the bird is a little more in focus than it was before (will still be blurry) it will focus on the bird. Happened with my dads old Sony HX300 as well when I used to use it. Perched bird can be tricky. Interesting your DSLR didnt used to do that though.

Hi Duade, I had exactly the same Problem with my 5dsr, I Turned On the "Lens drive when AF impossible" option and it solved the problem. Try that on the R6, it also has this option. Best Regards, Miguel Gomes

I have the R6 but still waiting on the adapter. Poor camera has been in a drawer for month and a halve. Loved the video!

I have the R5 and it does the same. I use a second back button focus on fine point and will quickly use it to re-locate the bird then go back to eye-focus. I hope Canon will be able to fine tune this issue.

I had the same issue and was able to resolve as follows as a work around. Not saying this is perfect or the right long term solution but it works for me. When I was in Florida these settings worked in this situation. Focus on bird with AF-ON when it got confused Then the next time you use *, it works properly again In Customize Buttons Change shutter release to meter only Change AF-On to AF single point focus Change Star "*" to Eye Focus

Duade, have the same issue with my R5 and 600mm F4 III. Ive started using the manual focus ring when this happens. As you have said, it’s pretty quick with practice. Hahaha of course, the pre-focus button on the lens is another solution. Thanks Champion. 👍🏻

Hi Duade. I do have exactly that issue with my RF 100-500mm on my R5. It was drivning me mad, and It's good to know I am not alone 😊, and your video points out some good ideas! Thanks! Kind Regards, Jan

i mean from a physics and optics standpoint it makes total sense if the bird is physically the same size or smaller than the entrance pupil of the lens. You’ll know if you’ve used a large telescope, if you have your hand right in front of the scope you can still see what’s at infinity focus, because your hand is smaller than the aperture and light can still go around it. What i’m curious about is how other cameras have gotten around this, if I were a camera engineer I’d have no idea how to get around this issue.

Buy the R7 you have the same problem I have with Sony A9II the camera is not perfect yet (or even exists yet!).I have the Sony A9II and am looking forward to the A9III with hopefully as good an animal eye autofocus as Canon! Pre focus is the answer with expensive long glass for now! 👌😃

Thanks for this video. I received my R5 and a RF 100-500mm zoom a couple months after they began shipping. I took it out to one of our local parks for a trial run. Generally, I follow warblers and other small birds through branches/leaves (using autofocus to follow) until they get to an open branch with an uncluttered background and then take several images. Unfortunately, the R5 could neither follow the birds through the brush (it would always find some piece of distant background peeking through the leaves to focus on). Once the bird got to an open branch with a distant background it would not focus on the bird, but the background. Very Frustrating. Called Canon, sought help on the internet…and as you point out, there are workarounds. Unfortunately, I concluded that for me personally and the type of bird photography I do that the R5, even if I practiced and learned it well, would never be as effective as using my 5DSR (and EF 600mm f/4 IS II and EF 100-400 IS II lenses). I was within my return window for the both the R5 and the lens so returned them both. What you describe is an obvious problem to most bird photographers using mirrorless. It is almost astonishing that this AF problem does not receive much attention from the big time reviewers. They seem to describe AF performance of mirrorless cameras only in superlatives. I would love to own a mirrorless camera, I like the idea of a 30 fps with an electronic shutter (and little if any rolling shutter artifact). For video photographers, I am sure mirrorless cameras and their continued advancements are exciting. For primarily bird photographers (still, not video) I am not sure what the future holds. From a physics standpoint, I don’t see how on sensor Phase Detect Autofocus can compete with the off sensor Phase Detect in DSLR’s. Sincerely, hope much progress is made here......Ron

It would be interesting to try the same test with your 5D in live view. It seems to me to be as you say a DOF issue with the sensor based dual-pixel AF. The off-sensor AF of the DSLR doesn't seem to be fooled the same way.

Hi Duade, just tried my trusty old 7D MKII, 100-400 MKII at 400mm, small target close to minimal focusing distance (to get the most narrow depth of field), contrasty test chart in the background and it has the same "issue". It won't focus on the target in situations like a small target with a very nice contrasty background if it once get attracted by the background. To make it harder I even used not so good light. The 7D MKII is here very slow. The R6 is under the same conditions blazing fast but of cause same issue. My theory is this is the AF system algorithm is the issue. It will look at the data and it sees more contrast in the background as with your small target so it will hunt the more contrast. In my case if I wouldn't know there is something I would also manually focus on the background. If I have my focus set to before my target both cameras focus on the small target. At the moment the background provides more contrast, I am behind my target with the focus, it will jump towards this. The only way out is pre-focus but as far as I remember this was always a good idea. I think this can't be fix with an upgrade it is how the focus system works. Important is you know the issue and know how to deal with it. Another "issue" with the R5/R6 is the the animal eye, head, body detect and a small branch in front of for example a bird. Even AF shows locks on the eye it will tend towards the little branch, not always but sometimes. Here I think this can be fixed. Overall the AF system of the R5/R6 is a big jump but far from perfect as always ;-).

Every MILC using on sensor PDAF has this issue. It is a nature of that type of focus system. My R5 has it, my A9II has it, my A7RIV has it, my Z7 and Z50 had it. There is no escaping it. Workarounds are preset focus distance if your lens has that, pointing the lens at the ground so it has no other choice or DMF. That said, with Canon make sure Lens Drive when AF impossible is set to ON. Also I believe that older EF lenses and especially a really long focal length like 1120mm would exacerbate the issue.

Same here with Sony A7III and 200-600. I have to be honest though. I only discovered it after this video! My workaround is "apparently" fast and automatic. I focus on the nearest closeby subject ad recompose afterwards.

Is it just as bad without the teleconverter? Nikon Z6 with 600mm f4 and 800mm lenses doesnt seem to have the same problem. The R6 is still new - Canon will surely fix it with new firmware.

My R5 actually stopped autofocusing in the field yesterday. Restarting the camera didn't help. I had to remove the battery (and put it back in) before it resumed autofocusing. My guess is that removing the lens may have worked, too. I use back-button autofocus with AF and Eye AF on separate buttons.

I'm pretty confused and a bit annoyed too thinking why a 2k usd new camera (with 1Dxiii sensor as advertised) is having such an issue, particularly that is built with wildlife photographers in mind! I don't think It's the long focal length. If it was, then the same issue might have appeared with the 5Div. That might be a bad copy. Well, in most field situations we don't even have time to reach out for the focus limiter switch or manual focus ring, when fast activities occur. All lenses don't hava that switch or Manual override either. Those are some very patient birds I must say😅 though, giving you the time to analyse in depth. Thanks for sharing the problem.

I have also experienced this with dSLRs as well as the R5, with a 400mm f/4 DO IS + x2 extender. It always seems to be that the focused point is further away than the subject and the camera+lens then fails to find the subject when it is closer to the camera than that focused point. I find that just spinning the focus ring clockwise and then hitting the AF generally works (if the subject hasn't moved!)

Same issue on my R5 (+ EF 600 f4 ii +/- 1.4x). Sometimes alternate AF points help so I’ll use those. Otherwise I’ll roll the focus ring to get focus range closer to subject I want so the camera AF can pick up the bird. I can’t say this never happened on my 1DX3. Depends the environment and/or subject. Hummingbirds have been tricky. My black birdbath is always a struggle for both cameras! But it’s annoying and we can try to compensate but I hope this gets fixed. This really shouldn’t occur. Ive most definitely missed shots because of it. 😒

I have just today seen this problem with my R5 coupled with the new RF100-500mm lens plus 2X extender ... all handheld using eye focus. The snowy Owl was way too far away on a fence post in a private field so switched to crop mode (1.6 X). That is a total of 1600mm reach. I could not hold the focus on anything but the background. In frustration I got my tripod out (lucky the Owl stayed for his portrait session) and tried to focus to the post beneath the bird then used the Magnify button X5 to fill the screen along with the manual focus ring to accomplish the task. Not what I'm hoping for as a quick result and never even useable for birds in flight. I know this distance is an impossible thing to ask for but .... guys... it"s supposed to be the best focus capability made by Canon. I want it to work flawless. I think an update to firmware should be in order. I don't want a work around like most things these days with Microsoft software bugs. My RANT. Over-and-out.

I got my R6 back in October and I sort of recall this issue. I believe I changed the Continuous AF to Disable (Purple AF menu #1). Don't quote me on that though - I'll have a look back at my settings to see if anything else rings a bell. Although I do not recall the last time this happening to me.

this is a problem with all mirrorless cameras that use the sensor to focus. The DSLR have their own mechanism and mirror to focus that can deal much better. It can not be fixed with a new firmware or new R lenses or anything else for this is the weakness of sensor focus. Even if you use a macro lens and your subject is in front of your lens it will not focus unless the focus distance of the lens is already near to the point of focus. The only way to work around it is to use your manual focus ring to get near to the distance of your subject or prefocus button to help the focusing system of the sensor that is very accurate once it can spot your subject. This happens only with macro lenses and telephoto lenses that have a large distance of focus to cover. your suggestions are right, so use the prefocus button or use the manual focus ring for help and you will not have issues. if you try to focus once you lost your subject you will not succeed by trying endlessly, it will just not focus unless you move the manual focus ting to get to a close distance before you focus on your subject and be successful.

YEah. Had this problem with my R6. Thanks for the workaround!

Same problem on my Sony A9 and A7R IV and long lenses.

Yes...being a hobbyist I thought this was me. I took a ton of photos with my new camera and lens that should've been great. The AF indicated focus on my objects, but the memory card showed otherwise. I'm going to need to read all of the comments because I did test by taking close up photos and those were fine, but anything further out was still out of focus. I have the RF 100-500 which is so far an expensive piece of useless equipment. I've watched the videos, read the tips and tricks, changed all the settings, still not working. My main question is why is this camera and AF system working for some people, and not for others???

Sometimes, I have the same problem with my canon 6d mark2+canon 70 300mm. Your tips are usefull, thank you.

Thank you so much for the honest and real-world review. Is it because of the EF to RF adapter, sir?

Thats definitely not a Canon only problem, also have this with all of my Sony cameras (A9ii, A7RIV and even the mighty new A1). But the A1 has it definitely not as often as the other 2, it really needs special circumstances there to happen. The easiest way I fix it is to switch to manual, bring the focus closer to the actual subject and then go back to AF - problem "solved". Or even quicker to shoot in DMF (Direct Manual Focus) which means you can use AF but easily overwrite this by using the manual focus ring. I also do not like work-arounds, but this is the best way I found to solve this for Sony. From my experiences it happens the most often when you are shooting something in close proximity with aperture wide open like F5.6, F4 or F2.8 ...

Yes, I am. And needless to say, it drives me absolutely crazy. And the noise of the lens never stops searching for focus even if I don't half press the button. I have never missed shots like I have now with the R6. And just like you, I took me ages to surrender and buy a mirrorless camera after shooting for 10-12 years with Canon 1Dc(outstanding camera even to this day. I tried all the 7 lenses I have with both cameras and unfortunately, the R6 does not compare to the good and old 1Dc. Thank you for the video.

Happens to me too. Ridiculous to think a camera that is "new" with "better" technology can't focus. What good is all the focus features if it can't find the subject. My Canon Mark lll never had this problem.

Something else you could try is removing the Initial Servo AP point for eye detection from auto (AF5) to standard focus point, once found it will then auto eye detect

The simple way to fix it is to use TWO back button focus. One with spot AF and the other with eye AF. You use the spot AF to get the bird in focus and then go with the eye AF. That solves most AF problems.

YES! I upgraded firmware. I still get a lot of noise and blur with R5. Noise even at 200 ISO F 5.6 1/80. Frustrating and disappointing. Some images are super sharp. Some times R5 won't focus. Will probably send R5 to Canon for service. My D5 works fine. I had to use manual focus as well. Auto focus sucks. I bought a mirrorless lens (I didn't need) converter works fine.

Same issue with R6 + Sigma 150-600C lens, only in the 400-600mm range. I use the same workaround by manually focusing close to the subject, then letting the focus system bring it home. Especially right at the 600mm indicated mark, the lens would often refuse to reel its focus away from distant background (even with the "Lens Drive when AF impossible" is set to "on"), but it would do the same with my 5D mk3. So in my case, it may be an issue with both body and lens (lens currently at Sigma repair now).

It isn't just telephoto. I've been trying to figure out why my RF 24-105 behaved in the exact same manner you've displayed when trying to focus on small object like a close berry or small single flower with a distant background on my R5. Even a cluster of flowers. It goes to infinity and you simply can't get it back. Being a zoom, it has worked to zoom out to wide angle, focus on the object, then zoom back to 105 (or whatever). But get your photo fast or it will go back to infinity in the blink of an eye. I'm not new to the 24-105, having used it on 5D2, 3, and 4. Never had this issue at all. Deeply distressing to me. Yes, you can manual focus. But it is slow, limiting, and I've paid to much for an R5 to not be able to use it as designed.

Auto focus still sucks. Why do you need AF for a bird on a branch ? The camera companies have convinced photographers that manually focusing is impossible and has turned photographers/into button pushers and menu makers. Sad.

Make sure that "continue search when af impossible " is enabled. I don't know why this comes from the factory disabled. This solved this problem for me 100%.

I’ve been playing with the R6 and had the same problem with a 100-400 mk2 L lens with the 1.4 teleconverter. Not only had issues with finding the bird but the focus tracking can’t track when the bird is behind twigs or other foliage. Had to turn off tracking and force it to focus beyond the few nearby branches and leaves. My 7D mk2 withe the same lens setup can shoot sharpe photo through small windows of foliage as you’d find in rain forests. Very disappointed that these “cool” feature don’t work unless the bird is close and in the open. BIF is another issue, trying to find the bird in the sky. Goes back to not focusing on any object but the background. No time to manually adjust (bump) focus ring to compensate.

I have the same issue it happens pretty much every time I try to photograph smaller birds. Very frustrating and occasionally makes me miss my 6D MkII

I haven't seen this problem with the 100-400 with/without 1.4X converter. I use back button focus with the af-on set for spot focus, non auto eye detect and the * button for auto eye detect. I still tend to use spot focus rather than auto eye detect as I am shooting in "busy/messy" habitat and I find the auto eye can be confused if the bird is small in the field of view ( it often is!)

I have a similar issue with the EOS R and the Tamron 150-600 G2. I thought it was the lens, as it is new. I am going to test a few other lens in greater detail to make sure, but having the same issue leads me to believe it is the autofocus on the R cameras!

I have the same issue with my R5. Focus jumps to the sky (if that's the background) even when tracking Harriers or Owls. Super-frustrating with the 100-500 RF because the focus by wire ring does not respond in AF-tracking. You have to aim for a closer object and then reacquire the bird. My Z6 does it too but my Nikon teles are mechanical so it's easier to correct.

I haven’t done a lot of bird shooting, but I do shoot Airshows. I have found a similar experience with the Focussing on the R6 for planes in flight. I have lost a lot of shots because the focus would get stuck on background sky rather than the subject and getting it to reset and capture the subject has been difficult. With planes, the speed of the subject makes it a very short window of opportunity. I have not had the same issues with my 5D IV or my 7D II. I’ve had their with my 400mm, 300mm, and my 100-400 (with and without a 1.4 Tele).