topic Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

JimMM — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 15:40:28 GMT

I’m experiencing the autofocus issue that many seem to also be experiencing. In researching the problem, I’ve seen 2 or 3 responses from Canon, saying to send the camera to them for repair. To those of you that have done this, did Canon find and fix a problem? Please share your experience. Many think it is a firmware issue. I’ve been on 1.0.3 since day one, so I can’t compare.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

March411 — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 16:25:28 GMT

It is a know issue that I believe was going to be addressed in the July 17th firmware release v1.1.0.

The challenges is, as fast as it was published is as quickly as Canon pulled it.

I'm not sure how bad of a problem it is for you but it may be worth waiting for the re-release if the challenges aren't to bad and see if it resolves the problem.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

shadowsports — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 16:39:15 GMT

In addition to what Marc suggests, I would make a backup of my settings, save to an SD card and reset the camera's main and custom settings.

Then retest and see if AF is still an issue for you.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

JimMM — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 17:04:54 GMT

I've tried that and have experienced the same issues.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

Waddizzle — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 18:00:56 GMT

“ I’m experiencing the autofocus issue that many seem to also be experiencing. In researching the problem, I’ve seen 2 or 3 responses from Canon, saying to send the camera to them for repair. To those of you that have done this, did Canon find and fix a problem? Please share your experience. Many think it is a firmware issue. I’ve been on 1.0.3 since day one, so I can’t compare. “

How long have you had this camera body? How long have you experienced AF issues?

I assume you are using Canon lenses and accessories.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

Waddizzle — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 18:05:24 GMT

“ I've tried that and have experienced the same issues. “

i like to advise people to test their camera in Intelligent Auto shooting mode. It’s a quick and simple way to take user customization off the table without having to reset the camera. Try it.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

FloridaDrafter — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 18:35:51 GMT

I'm not sure why some are having AF issues on the R5 II w/1.0.3, but a guess would be it's a certain combination of settings. Folks have a tendency to program as many features as they can manipulate and although this shouldn't be an issue, sometimes it is.

I installed it right away and haven't had any issues and I shoot in some pretty demanding conditions where AF accuracy and speed are critical, but my settings aren't complicated 🙂

Newton

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

March411 — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 19:26:50 GMT

Good thoughts Waddizzle and Newton.

Jim, since you have your customs backed up it may not hurt to reset to the factory setting and see if the problems persist. At this point it couldn't do any harm. At the very least you will know that it may be a conflict with a settings.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

JimMM — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 20:21:27 GMT

I bought the body in mid March of this year and first noticed the issue about a month later.

I've had the AF problems using both a Canon RF24-105 F4L USM and a Canon RF100-400 F5.6 - 8 IS USM lens.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

JimMM — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 20:16:03 GMT

I have done a factory reset and experienced the issues without changing a single setting.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

JimMM — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 20:17:24 GMT

I have done that and experienced the issue without changing a single setting.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

March411 — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 21:13:53 GMT

Jim,

I've been following a thread on another Canon site regarding the same problem you are experiencing and the challenge is fairly random. As of yet Canon has not responded and there doesn't appear to be a fix. I say that tongue and cheek because it's completely from information/feedback from people on the web.

Have you thought about attempting to jump back to v1.0.2

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

JimMM — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 23:00:42 GMT

Marc,

Thanks for all of your responses. The thought has crossed my mind about v1.0.2, but it sounds a bit risky trying to go back. I've seen reference to the "battery door trick" to make the camera load a back leveled firmware version, but I haven't looked into all of the details. Again, I appreciate your help.

I was disappointed when reviewing the fixes in v1.1.0, before it was pulled by Canon, and there were no mentions of AF fixes for still pictures.

Jim

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

March411 — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 23:16:32 GMT

I looked for v1.0.2 and the only place I found it so far was Canon Hong Kong. You would think with as many people that are reporting issues Canon would have some urgency to get it quickly resolved. If I see anything while I hit other sites that look promising I'll come back to this thread. Sorry you are having issues. Some people are saying that they are getting only a 20% hit rate on burst, hopefully yours isn't that bad.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

JimMM — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 00:44:37 GMT

Thank you so much, Marc. I appreciate your help. My biggest issue is occasionally when I frame a shot and then press the shutter button half way, to focus, the view finder will go blurry and a white "MF" will show up in the upper left-hand corner of the view finder (I assume that stands for manual focus). Most of the time, I can change the amount of zoom and then go right back to the zoom setting I originally had and it will be fine, except by then I've missed the shot I wanted. Other times, I have to power cycle the camera to get it working again. Today, oddly enough, when I was testing it with the original factory settings, I had the viewfinder go black and the only thing that fixed it was to remove and then reinstall the battery. I've read of others having that issue, but I never experienced it with my user settings.

Jim

Music City

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

March411 — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 15:41:02 GMT

For those interested Duade Paton posted a video today as he did get the new firmware release loaded on his R5 MkII and field tested it.

If you don't care to watch the video his conclusion was that for him V1.1.0 had no notable improvements over v1.0.3. He did go through how to "trouble shoot" the problems in the field but he continued to experience many of the old issues.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

herein2021 — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 18:28:53 GMT

I temporarily had FW 1.0.3 because I updated to that version to try to fix another problem I was having. As soon as I discovered all of the AF issues I used the battery door trick to revert back to v1.0.1 which was my previous version. So, it does work, the hardest part was finding v1.0.1 on my computer since I couldn't find it on the Internet.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

shadowsports — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 19:55:38 GMT

Canon is planning to release new firmware for the R1 and R5 mkII later this week. It's not officially announced but I believe the probability is high since both were pulled shortly after release previously. Be patient, it should just be a few more days.

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

FloridaDrafter — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 23:02:17 GMT

Thanks for that clip, Marc!

Even though I've yet to experience this issue, and I basically shoot the same subject matter in similar conditions, something Mr. Paton points out is, it's not exclusive to the R5 II or Canon in general but all of the major players higher end MILC bodies.

Did you catch that?

Newton

Re: R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

March411 — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 23:58:10 GMT

I did Newton, I'm going to assume that it was the point where he was trying to grab an image of the Walabbee. The AF getting distracted and how all the camera he uses have the same challenge. It's weird, as I read feedback on other sites with the longest discussing on CR the challenge seems extremely random. While some report problems there are others that say the R5 II is working seamlessly.

Right now my R5 is doing what it need to do but I will most likely update to the Mk II once the dust settles.