topic Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

rkpsrh — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 19:23:04 GMT

I have a canon EOS R5 on a tripod. I have a Canon 28 to 70 mm f/2.0 L. I have face tracking on and eye detection enabled. My subject is 10 feet away. My ISO is at 200 l'm at f/2.0. My shutter speed is 1/8000. And I'm using a Canon 600EX-RT speedlite. In my studio with an open window on a sunny day. My subjects eyes are still out of focus. My subjects eyes are still out of focus. Not anywhere close to tact sharp.

Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

Waddizzle — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 18:57:49 GMT

Where is your locked AF point? The camera should be able to show you when you playback the image. The DPP4 app can also show you where your locked AF point is located.

The camera will only focus where you tell it to focus. If you want it to focus on an eye, then you must place the active AF point on the face. With eye tracking enabled, it should find the eye on the face you selected and lock onto it. The camera is not omnipotent.

Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

rkpsrh — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 19:27:44 GMT

I had my eye detection on as well, so the AF point was always locked and following the eye. I should have proof read my question earlier. Voice to text did not get that part correct.

I guess my concern is, with the settings I had, there should have been nothing keeping from a tact sharp focus on the eye. Unless I was missing something. So, I’m now wondering if my image sensor in the camera is not in alignment. I’ve heard it could be an issue with these cameras. I just don’t want to jump straight to that conclusion, if there is another perspective or something I missed.

Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

Waddizzle — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 20:46:14 GMT

The image sensor is probably just fine. Your DOF at f/2, 70mm at a distance of 10 feet should have been closes to 10 inches. You may have entirely missed focus.

Where is your locked AF point? That is the first thing you need to check. Anything else is conjecture and speculation.

Can you post a sample image that demonstrates the issue? Make sure the file contains the EXIF data. Thanks!

Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

rkpsrh — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:37:27 GMT

Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

rkpsrh — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:40:45 GMT

I uploaded an image, per your request. I hope you can find something I am not seeing. I rented this lens hoping I would love it. If it's not the lens or camera, then hopefully I just have my setup wrong. Thanks for helping me out with this, btw.

Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

Waddizzle — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 23:19:42 GMT

This image is not very helpful. It has been cropped/compressed rather severely. It also lacks any EXIF data. All of this means that your image cannot be properly analyzed. I understand that the forums limit the file size of uploaded images, but this one has been reduced to GameBoy resolution at 16 KB

Again, where is your AF point? If you do not know where it is, then that points to what could be 90% of your issue with the gear.

Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

Rojoyinc — Sat, 09 Aug 2025 23:29:20 GMT

F2 will give you VERY SHALLOW depth of field. If one eye is in focus the other will likely be out of focus if the subject is at portrait/close distance). Why are you shooting at 1/8000? That what I use to stop motion of birds in flight or hummingbird wings. For a portrait go to at least F4. In my studio I shot mostly F8. Back then it was 5D MKII

F8 and 1/5000th.F5.6 - 1/200th

Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

shadowsports — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 00:35:25 GMT

Rkpsrh,

Use a file sharing service (Google drive, one drive, drop box etc) and upload RAW image(s) there. Then post a link for us.

You can use DPP4 to see where your focus point is.

Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

Waddizzle — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 20:45:37 GMT

“ You can use DPP4 to see where your focus point is. “

The camera is also capable of displaying AF points. But there’s a big caveat. The camera and DPP will only display active AF points. This is a warning to BBF shooters using Servo AF. If you are not pressing BBF when the shutter fires, then the AF is not active and no active AF points will be displayed!

The display is not exactly showing you where the lens is focused, as much as it is showing you where in the field of view the camera has focused. It shows you what the camera was doing when the shutter fired.

This display can also be misleading if you were panning the camera, or otherwise moving it.

Re: EOS R5 Eyes out of focus

p4pictures — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 07:56:13 GMT

The EOS R5 (original / Mk1) can only do eye tracking / detection when it is also set to face + tracking AF method. It can track a face - but not eyes - when set to one of the three Zone AF methods. For a subject such as a headshot like you posted I would be using Face + tracking AF method, and make sure to set the initial AF point for servo AF to AUTO, and also use servo AF.

I have the RF 28-70mm F2L myself and love it. I've used it with most of the R-series cameras over the years. Here's a selection of portraits all at f/2.