topic Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

JFH834 — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 20:13:37 GMT

Hello everybody!

My newly acquired R5 II seems to be having a very bothersome issue.

The Eye Control AF, though perfectly calibrated, just doesn't focus. Instead of focusing where the pointer is placed by eye, it uses the standard focusing areas (spot, enlarged etc...) which remain functional. No focusing "below" the EC AF's pointer.

Of course, the Eye Control is set on "on", the manual was painfully followed, all possible settings checked.

All other functions perform the way they should.

Any idea? I'd greatly appreciate some help solving this issue!

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

Hazel_T — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 21:55:23 GMT

Hi JFH834,

I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with Eye Control on your EOS R5 Mark II. When you are you using the Eye Control are you confirming the subject before having the camera start focus by pressing the shutter button half way or holding down the AF On button. With focus areas like Spot the camera needs you to confirm the highlighted subject first, then it moves the AF point, and at that point you can start the focus.

The other thing to double check would be to set the AF Area to Whole Area. That way the camera can use AF points throughout the frame, and in that mode it should automatically set the focus point to your eye control location.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

JFG — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 02:57:56 GMT

Hello JFH834,

Sorry to hear that you're having trouble with your R5 Mark II "Eye Control Focusing." If you already performed the calibration procedure and are confident with it, then skip that part.

To use eye control focusing on the Canon EOS R5 Mark II, follow these steps:

Calibration:
- Go to the menu and select [: Eye control].
- Choose [Calibration (CAL)] and follow the on-screen instructions to register your eye’s characteristics. This involves looking at indicators in the viewfinder until they disappear. Perform this calibration both horizontally and vertically for better accuracy ¹. Also when calibrating you should be able to see all 4 corners of the Calibration Screen and calibrate in different lighting, indoor, outdoor, in sunny and cloudy settings. The AI learns and fine tunes the Eye Control Focusing.
Pointer Display:
- Enable the pointer display by setting [: Pointer display] to [On]. This helps you see where your gaze is directed ².
Focus Guide:

If you want assistance with manual focusing, set [: Focus guide] to [On]. This will display a guide frame where you are looking ¹.

Using Eye Control:
- Look through the viewfinder and focus on the subject by looking at the AF points. The camera will follow your gaze to select the focus point ¹.
Combining with Tracking:
- For better results, use eye control in combination with tracking. Set the AF operation to Whole area tracking Servo AF to start tracking even if the AF frame is not centered on the subject ².

The above settings should help you effectively use eye control focusing on your EOS R5 Mark II. Please let us know the outcome. 🙂

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

JFH834 — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 18:06:12 GMT

Thanks for your suggestions! They helped, EC AF now works thanks to "whole area + (!!!!) servo AF.

I also calibrated anew using the large accessory eyepiece, which I warmly recommend!

Anyway, thank you all for your help, I really did appreciate!

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

DrewSmithPhoto — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 20:00:13 GMT

So I recently purchased an R5 Mk II and am loving it in many ways, but have had lots of issues getting the Eye Controlled AF to work in precisely the way you describe. I calibrated and re-calibrated and the tracker would follow my eye precisely, but it would not focus where the tracker went/where my eye looked. I found an answer that solved this for me on another thread today (after reading many, many others!) and wanted to post here in case it helps as I think it will make this a game changer for using the eye controlled AF.

Once you have followed all the other steps in the other answers, do this as well:

On the Camera, go to the "Customized buttons for shooting" Menu. Click on "Customize buttons for shooting" then on the camera side (left column), for the shutter button, click on this one to set the controls that are activated when the shutter button is pressed. Make sure that the option that has the Meter, AF and the EYE icon is selected. For me it had been set to just Meter and AF but not eye, so even though it showed my eye being tracked it did not use that for AF. Now it works perfectly and wherever I look it sets the focus point when I press the shutter button. Hope this helps.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

chrishoesel — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:17:31 GMT

This helped me out tremendously. None of the other "answers" were actually correct as they didn't state the button reassignments needed. I set mine to the "AF-On" button with the function you described. That was the ticket. Thanks.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

DrewSmithPhoto — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:38:07 GMT

Glad it helped!

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

tim32225 — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 06:10:33 GMT

THANK YOU !!!

I just received my Canon R1 camera body, and an RF 28-70 f2L lens this afternoon and I had eye controlled focus working perfectly. But after changing some custom settings, it stopped working, and had me stumped. I knew that something I changed in a menu setting must have caused the problem but I was unable to figure out what it was. I spent at least an hour trying to figure it out but was unsuccessful.

Your post saved me a ton of frustration.

Thank you !!

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

JFG — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 23:29:47 GMT

Tim,

I'm happy that the post helped you and saved you a ton. Please accept it as "Solution" and hit "Like". 😉

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

JohnGZ — Sun, 24 Nov 2024 00:49:04 GMT

When configuring a custom button to control eye focus using the AF-ON button (back focus) or half press shutter, customize the button menu icon for AF, Eye Control, and move the focus point. The main issue is not selecting the option for the move focus point., otherwise the desire focus point does not follow the shutter half-press or the back button AF-ON.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

AdamAlonzo — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:04:54 GMT

Thanks for your help on this issue. I had the same problem -- until now! The 1,227 page manual didn't quite make it clear. Now that it works, I need to decide if I want to actually use this feature . . .

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

JFG — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 02:14:47 GMT

Hi AdamAlonzo,

If you're into sports, wildlife or any kind of fast action photography you'll find that its a great feature to have. However, it does take a bit getting used to and it's not for everyone. I'm glad that this post helped you in setting it up. Let us know what you decide and why, after you've had time to play with it. Have fun with it! 🙂

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

Rojoyinc — Sat, 09 Aug 2025 23:38:18 GMT

Mine did this perfectly at first. I could keep the frame static, but looking at a close tree and pressing a back button to focus would focus on the tree, looking to the other side (long distance lake view) It would focus on the lake. It was great (but the tracking icon sometimes STICKS and other times disappears. Not working at all? I find it doesn't work more than it works? Then recently without changing settings, I noticed the eye control would track my eye movement, but hitting focus would not focus where I was looking. I heard "its great when it works" but what does that mean? Mine works less than 50% of the time. Eye tracking works well but not the eye control. When it did it was amazing. But mostly doesn't. = ( Sending in the camera for exchange for another one. R5II