topic Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting Suggestion in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Self Timer Auto Focus Setting Suggestion

oskareichler — Sat, 09 Dec 2023 13:27:05 GMT

In Self Timer mode the focus and exposure are being set the moment that the timer is triggered and is then locked in until the timer runs down and takes the photo.

It would be great if there was a setting that allows for continuous auto-adjusting of focus and exposure while the timer is running in order to track the subject. Often the self timer is being used to take photos alone, and the person taking the picture needs to move close to the camera to trigger the timer but then again move back into frame, so allowing to track the target and adjusting the focus / exposure would be awesome!

Making this a setting an on/off setting to either lock / auto adjust in self timer drive mode will be an awesome update across all firmwares that I think will be a huge improvement to usability.

Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting

Waddizzle — Sat, 09 Dec 2023 11:09:39 GMT

Most people with this problem use a smart device running Canon Connect across Wi-Fi.

Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting

oskareichler — Sat, 09 Dec 2023 11:50:41 GMT

Sure I understand that there are workarounds by using a remote, but definitely not an optimal solution. I think having a setting that toggles between locked / dynamic makes a lot of sense...

Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting

Waddizzle — Sat, 09 Dec 2023 13:14:27 GMT

@oskareichler wrote:
Sure I understand that there are workarounds by using a remote, but definitely not an optimal solution. I think having a setting that toggles between locked / dynamic makes a lot of sense...

Forget about it. The camera is not omnipotent, nor able to read your mind.

The camera requires an operator to tell it where and what to focus on. Sure, the camera can track things. But tracking begins with you pointing the camera’s AF point at your subject.

It is not good at self-discovery. Using the right lens and focusing distance, it is possible to capture an entire scene in sharp focus. Tracking is not necessary.

Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting

oskareichler — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 00:20:40 GMT

That's definitely true that for professionals the current setting makes a lot of sense, but having an optional switch that tries to auto-focus / expose dynamically makes a lot of sense for more entry level use cases.

The camera is great at keeping focus of faces and eye detection, or when shooting video, so I don't see why this can't be an optional setting to improve usability.

Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting

Waddizzle — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 17:37:55 GMT

“ The camera is great at keeping focus of faces and eye detection, or when shooting video, so I don't see why this can't be an optional setting to improve usability. “

Yes, it is. Someone must press and hold a button pressed to make it track and refocus on a subject.

[EDIT] Even video modes require a button be pressed in order for it to track subjects. The button is called the {RECORD].button.

Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting

oskareichler — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 00:19:43 GMT

Well it's all software... pressing a button just means that the camera tries to find the best focus point in frame in that moment in time. I get that from a professional standpoint that control is important and necessary, but also the software in the camera should be perfectly capable to keep focus after pressing record, as it literally does this before pressing record as well...

To stay competitive with smart phone cameras that keep improving and that do all this stuff automatically, I do think allowing for such settings makes sense to give the user the choice of how they want to use the camera.

But I do see that you are being quite defensive over it, so if the manual way is how you want to approach things then that's fine, though a bit restrictive in my opinion...

Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting

adamin — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 23:21:58 GMT

I made an account just to respond to this.

The OP's complaint is valid, and your response is just extremely pretentious.

You make the points that a user must press a button for either taking a single picture or when videoing to get the camera to autofocus. Okay... if it only requires a single button press when video recording, and you can just hold down the button when taking a picture, why not make it a single button press (or have an option) to constantly refocus when taking a picture on a timer?

Do you talk to people like this in person?

Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting Suggestion

stevet1 — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 01:33:08 GMT

This thread is two years old

Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting

kvbarkley — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 02:22:29 GMT

In any case, if you are serious about Canon seeing this, go to the Canon USA home page and look for the little tiny (+)feedback button.

Re: Self Timer Auto Focus Setting Suggestion

Waddizzle — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 04:39:31 GMT

“ The OP's complaint is valid, and your response is just extremely pretentious.

You make the points that a user must press a button for either taking a single picture or when videoing to get the camera to autofocus.”

The OPs complaint is wishful thinking. It’s more feature suggestion than anything.

As I pointed out above, the camera needs an operator. That’s how still photo cameras work. They are not video cameras.

The delay timer is designed for One Shot AF.

The user must tell the camera when to focus in Servo mode. There’s no hands free mode. If you want the camera to refocus during the timer count down, then the user must find a way to activate the AF system during the countdown. It’s entirely possible that the AF system is disabled during the countdown.

Try this. Press and hold the [AF-ON] button during the countdown. I guess the camera would need to be in Servo AF mode. If this works, then consider it as a happy accident. It’s a behavior that the camera wasn’t designed to do.