topic Re: Why, when in manual focus mode... in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Why, when in manual focus mode...

pixeltaker — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 23:03:37 GMT

...on the 60D do I not hear a beep or see a green light when I am in focus? Is there a setting to change this? The lens I am using is a Canon 18-135.

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

Waddizzle — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 01:29:17 GMT

@pixeltaker wrote:
...on the 60D do I not hear a beep or see a green light when I am in focus? Is there a setting to change this? The lens I am using is a Canon 18-135.

If the light metering system is inactive and idle, then you will not hear a focus confirmation beep.

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

diverhank — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 01:20:17 GMT

@pixeltaker wrote:
...on the 60D do I not hear a beep or see a green light when I am in focus? Is there a setting to change this? The lens I am using is a Canon 18-135.

This is just the way Canon cameras are designed, when you're in Manual focus mode, you're on your own.. Some cameras like Sony will tell you and this is handy if you have a manual focus only lens.

The way the Canon cameras work is actually the way I personally prefer it because I have all AF-capable lenses and when I think I can do better than the AF, I go on manual focus and it does not matter what the camera thinks. A trick I use to manually focus better than the camera AF is to turn on live view, press the magnifying glass twice to get 10X zoom and focus on the magnified image. Press it again to go back to normal live view.

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

pixeltaker — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 15:18:43 GMT

Thanks for this info.

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

kvbarkley — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 15:48:21 GMT

Not all cameras. While this could be a Rebel thing, on my T6S it does give focus confirmation:

And on my late, great T3i, the beeper would sound:

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

pixeltaker — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 15:52:59 GMT

Thank you for your response, but I do not have a Rebel. I have a 60D. I have used the tecnique as posted by someone else. Set the zoom to where you want it. Go to Live View, zoom in and manual focus from Live View. I tried that the other night and it works perfectly, although no beep or green light. But I was able to see close-up how sharp (or not!) I was focusing!

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

kvbarkley — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 16:21:22 GMT

I was just correcting the "It is just not a Canon thing", it appears that it is not a Canon professional thing.

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

kvbarkley — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 16:26:53 GMT

You should get a focus confirmation light and focus point flashing in red, just no beep:

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

pixeltaker — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 18:29:19 GMT

I use back-button focus. Shouldn't it work with that also?

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

kvbarkley — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 19:25:09 GMT

I don't know. Should be easy to try.

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

lly3988 — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 20:02:37 GMT

Have you disabled beep in the menu ?

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

diverhank — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 20:27:53 GMT

@pixeltaker wrote:
Thank you for your response, but I do not have a Rebel. I have a 60D. I have used the tecnique as posted by someone else. Set the zoom to where you want it. Go to Live View, zoom in and manual focus from Live View. I tried that the other night and it works perfectly, although no beep or green light. But I was able to see close-up how sharp (or not!) I was focusing!

Glad you find the live view trick useful. I must admit I didn't even know about the green light. Actually I did - I used it for micro adjustment of lenses - but I have forgotten about it. The green light can only be seen through the viewfinder. Sorry for the wrong info.

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

Waddizzle — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 21:46:51 GMT

@lly3988 wrote:
Have you disabled beep in the menu ?

I haven't fully tested this, because I always get a confirmation beep with AF lenses that have been switched to MF. I don't even give it a second thought.

When manual focusing through the viewfiinder, you will only get a beep when the camera was in One Shot AF mode prior to switching the lens to MF, and even then, only when the metering system is active.

When I take photos of the Moon, I can manually focus in Live View, and get a confirmation beep when I wake up the metering system by pressing the shutter. In addition to the beep, the AF square [I use the center one] changes color, from green to red [or vice versa?].

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

pixeltaker — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 18:08:00 GMT

No, the beep is not disabled. That was the first thing I checked.

Re: Why, when in manual focus mode...

pixeltaker — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 18:10:31 GMT

I didn't even look to see if there was a focus confirmation on live view. I assumed it could only be seen through the viewfinder. I really like the live view technique to get more accurate focusing. Thanks for that tip!