topic Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

TaraLerch — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 23:45:47 GMT

Recently upgraded to R6 and works great with my Canon 70-200 and Tamron 18-400 lenses. However, I recently purchased the Canon RF 800mm and I am having a heck of time with the autofocus. It works sometimes but other times it freezes. It appears to be focusing and then gets completely out of focus and gets stuck there and will not focus - not matter how long I keep the back button focus button pressed. I have to turn the camera off and back on again and sometimes that doesn't even work. I also rented the Tamron 150-600 and I have the same issue with that lens - not as often but it still occurs frequently. With the zoom len, I can zoom out and focus and then zoom back in again to resolve but that takes time and shots are missed in the meantime. I thought perhaps it was some settings I made but I recently reset all setting to default settings and I am still experiencing this issue. I have completed the latest R6 firmware update and this did not help. Do others experience this? I've posted in another group and had at least one person with this camera lens combo that does not have the issue. I'm stumped - perhaps I have a defective R6?

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

kvbarkley — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 01:04:06 GMT

I know that my Tamron 150-600 gets confused sometimes when focusing on my T6S. I have to focus on something closer to "kick it in the pants". It does not happen often, though.

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

TaraLerch — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 14:54:54 GMT

Thanks so much for the reply! I did try the trick of trying to get it to focus on something else and it does not work consistently. I spend more time trying to get the camera to focus than I do taking photos. And of course by the time I do, the bird has flown away 😞 I would be willing to accept more with the Tamron but as this is occuring all the time with the Canon lens that is specifically built for this camera - I am beyond frustrated. I am ready to return both the camera and the lens at this point.

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

Waddizzle — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 16:17:24 GMT

@TaraLerch wrote:
Thanks so much for the reply! I did try the trick of trying to get it to focus on something else and it does not work consistently. I spend more time trying to get the camera to focus than I do taking photos. And of course by the time I do, the bird has flown away 😞 I would be willing to accept more with the Tamron but as this is occuring all the time with the Canon lens that is specifically built for this camera - I am beyond frustrated. I am ready to return both the camera and the lens at this point.

Every long, super telephoto lens has its' own personality. When people talking about "learning to use a lens", this an example of what they are talking about.

Sometimes the the lens needs help focusing when your focus distances change significantly. This can happen when you miss your subject, and the focus reverts to something in the distant background. Now, re-acquiring the much closer subject has become a task. This is where full-time manual focus override is a godsend.

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

Tronhard — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 19:48:27 GMT

It might be worth checking out the latest firmware update for the R6: 1.3.1: Here is a summary of the content. You may recognize some conditions or settings associated with your issues that it may fix.

Firmware changes:

Firmware Version 1.3.1 incorporates the following functional improvements and fixes.

1. Adds [IPB (Light)] to 4K to enable lower bit rate shooting.

2. Adds [Electronic full-time MF] to the AF tab of the menu. When a lens is attached, manual focus adjustment is always possible with both One-shot AF and Servo AF.

3. The transfer time (estimated value) now displays on the camera monitor during FTP transfer.

4. Fixes a phenomenon, in which in rare instances, the camera cannot function normally when the drive mode is set to "High-speed continuous shooting" to shoot still images continuously.

5. Fixes a phenomenon that may corrupt the image displayed in the viewfinder.

6. Fixes a phenomenon in which the power may become suspended when the camera is powered via USB for an extended period of time.

7. Fixes a phenomenon, in which the camera stops to operate normally when the movie cropping setting is set to [Enable] for performing movie shooting in Firmware Version 1.3.0.

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

wq9nsc — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 21:03:56 GMT

Tara,

Do you have the R6 menu item for lens drive when AF is impossible set to on? This is under AF tab 4 and it should be on or otherwise AF failure will often occur when AF has difficulty.

Although the R bodies will autofocus nicely with a f11 lens, this is based upon having decent light and contrast and when either or both are at the minimal end then it is going to have an issue with AF. So the amount of light, the subject, and the contrast to the background all impact its ability to quickly find and lock focus.

If you aren't using the focus limiter switch, use it unless your subject is within 20 meters and this will help it to more quickly focus.

There is a definite learning curve with every model of long telephoto glass. When I bought an EF 400 f2.8, I was surprised how much more demanding it was than the EF 300 2.8 I had been using for sports because tracking action becomes more difficult and critical and I missed a lot of shots during the first quarter of football I shot with it. My EF 800 f5.6 was very frustrating to use until I got used to it because framing something took longer because of me, not the gear. It has very fast AF but until I got a better feel for it the subject was either gone or no longer in a great position by the time I located it.

Rodger

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

TaraLerch — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 11:27:21 GMT

I have already updated the firmware to 1.3.1 and unfortunately that did not fix it. Thanks for the suggestion!

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

TaraLerch — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 11:44:20 GMT

Wq9nsc - thanks so much for the detailed reply, I really appreciate you taking the time to help! I have actually tried all of these setting changes. I have watched many You Tube videos and read a bunch of articles on this issue. The fact is the camera/len just freeze in a completely out of focus state and nothing I do helps with the exception of turning it off and back on again. I am not a pro so would be willing to accept it's user error if the same lens did not work perfectly on my older Canon 7DMii. (The Tamron 150-600 I mean, I can only use the RF 800 on my R6). I read an article by a photographer who sent the camera in for service and since she's had it back it has not happened since. Based on that and feeling I tried everything else, I went ahead and sent it in for service. Fingers crossed!

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

wq9nsc — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 12:04:54 GMT

Tara,

You are very welcome!

Sending it in for service was the right thing to do and it does sound like your R6 has an issue with something freezing in the search/seek routine when it is trying to achieve focus. I am glad that you have both the RF native lens along with an EF plus adapter, with it happening with the RF lens that prevents blame from being assigned to the adapter or third party lens. And it certainly doesn't sound like user error.

I was hoping that it was the setting of how AF responds to an out of focus issue because I had found with some other bodies that it will give up quickly if the lens overshoots while trying to focus but you checked your setup so your camera has another issue.

Canon was caught behind in the headlong rush to mirrorless and it seems they may have tried too much to shorten the development cycle for some of the new bodies and are having to sort out some issues in the field probably related to tolerances of some components used in the build. I am going through a similar issue with another company that has long been a leader in its field but was late to the table with SDR (software defined radio) technology and got caught up in a fast development cycle. The transceiver I bought from them cost as much as my 1DX III and giving the manufacturer, Yaesu, proper credit, it is a far more complex device than a camera with far more processing power than most desktop computers. But in their attempt to correct issues and add features via a firmware update, Yaesu made matters far worse including turning some owner's expensive gear into "bricked" devices. With Canon, I have never had an issue with a firmware update and never worry about installing one because I know that they don't rush those updates out without extensive testing but with Yaesu I am happy to let others be the test rats.

Canon service has been stellar in my experience and I expect they will quickly return your R6 in proper working order.

Rodger

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

inorman — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 17:06:19 GMT

Just experienced the same. The rf800mm lens stop focusing. Did the 1.3.1 update-that did not work for refocusing. Read the threads, but suggestions did not work either. Not going to take in for service unless nothing else worked. Perhaps you might try this before taking the lens in for servicing. On the side of the lens are three adjustment buttons. 1.stabilizer on/off, 2.af/mf, and 3.20m-Full/infinity. Mine was set to infinity when it should be set at the other setting. This might help 🙂

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

tuyeda — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 16:20:50 GMT

I have the RF600 (not the RF800) but I had a similar issue with the autofocus when I first got it. There is a switch on the lens where you can select "FULL" or "12m-infinity". I had read that "12m-Infinity" would allow it to focus faster because it limits it to a smaller range of focus...

However, I found the opposite to be true. After I switched it to FULL, the autofocus worked much faster. I no longer experienced where "It appears to be focusing and then gets completely out of focus and gets stuck there and will not focus." I have since read 1 other post that recommends using the "FULL" option.

The other workaround I did was to focus on something midway (if I was going from something close to something far) and then focus on the object. This helps it along. I used to do this a lot more often (prior to changing it to FULL).

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

jrhoffman75 — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 17:10:45 GMT

@tuyeda wrote:
I have the RF600 (not the RF800) but I had a similar issue with the autofocus when I first got it. There is a switch on the lens where you can select "FULL" or "12m-infinity". I had read that "12m-Infinity" would allow it to focus faster because it limits it to a smaller range of focus...

However, I found the opposite to be true. After I switched it to FULL, the autofocus worked much faster. I no longer experienced where "It appears to be focusing and then gets completely out of focus and gets stuck there and will not focus." I have since read 1 other post that recommends using the "FULL" option.

The other workaround I did was to focus on something midway (if I was going from something close to something far) and then focus on the object. This helps it along. I used to do this a lot more often (prior to changing it to FULL).

The experience you quote frequently occurs becasue the lens is set closer than the shortened range. IOW, if you had the lens set at 10 feet and told the camera to only focus greater than 12 feet there is an initial confustion in the AF system.

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

tuyeda — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 21:08:43 GMT

Hi John. I don't know about the OP but for me, i saw the auto issues at various distances, but mostly in the middle distance (going from around 30-200 feet). For me the issues mostly went away after switching the lens to the FULL position. I know it sounds backwards but that was my fix so just passing it along to those with issues to try. Maybe it helps. Maybe not...

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

jrhoffman75 — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 23:31:12 GMT

@tuyeda wrote:
Hi John. I don't know about the OP but for me, i saw the auto issues at various distances, but mostly in the middle distance (going from around 30-200 feet). For me the issues mostly went away after switching the lens to the FULL position. I know it sounds backwards but that was my fix so just passing it along to those with issues to try. Maybe it helps. Maybe not...

Thanks for passing this on. It may help others.

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

Albinos — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 19:40:22 GMT

HI,

I also have the same problem, using the 100-400mm, EF mount with the mount adapter. I am a bird photographer and quite often the focus just not see the bird where the collimator is perfectly on.

Instead the camera will focus at infinite and never come back on my subject. This will happen when there in nothing on the foreground. Just a horizontal branch and a bird sitting on it. You can simulate this by trying to focus on a electrical wire ( nothing else in front or in background). My old 7d MK II can focus easily on this. Any thought?

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

Tronhard — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 20:01:40 GMT

It's worthwhile noting that there have been several firmware updates since this was first posted and some of those specifically address focusing issues. It certainly won't hurt to do the firmware updates and it may solve at least some of the issues indicated here...

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

tuyeda — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 01:49:52 GMT

That's a good reminder. My RF100-500 is surprisingly bad at autofocusing, especially the animal tracking mode. I'm going to check for firmware updates.

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

wannabeartist — Sat, 07 May 2022 08:32:44 GMT

Did these focus issues happen with video of stills?

I was just getting some bird shots yesterday, both video and stills with my RF600 and while for the stills the focus worked perfectly 100%, with video I ran into problems.

In about half of my shots it just would not focus on slowly swimming birds on a lake, gave me the red rectangle for no reason I could think of. There were no distractions on the scene and the birds definitely were further away than the min focusing distance. If switched over to stills, it would focus every time.

I tried switching focus modes, the distance switch on the lens and restarting the camera, but none of those seem to have any effect. Interested to hear if anyone has experienced the same with video!

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

Waddizzle — Sat, 07 May 2022 14:45:44 GMT

Without seeing images or footage, no one can offer meaningful advice about your specific issues. Your issue is most likely related to camera setting, and the factory default settings may not be the answer..

More times than not the gear is not at fault for focusing issues. Yes, that is a euphemism for operator error. Understanding how the settings work is key to getting the best performance.

Resetting the camera to factory defaults is good advice, but all it really does is put most of the camera settings into a known state. The emphasis is on the phrase “most of the camera settings.” A factory reset does not mean these are the best settings to use for any shooting scenario. If they were, you would not be given the ability to tweak them.

Look at resetting the camera as putting into an automatic shooting mode, which will work for most shooting scenarios involving still subjects. Capturing moving or distant subjects is an entirely different story. You need to make adjustments to the camera like using AI Servo Af for moving subjects, instead of One Shot AF.

There are other settings that can just as dramatically alter the behavior of the AF system. I think the factory defaults mostly lean toward shooting still subjects, not action photography. The factory defaults probably lean towards using a standard zoom to capture fairly close objects, not distant birds on a pond. You will need to tweak the camera for the latter.

Also, the camera has a settings that enables or disables the AF when the camera cannot lock focus. I have suspected this was the issue for some of the earlier posts. Releasing the BBF button and allowing the AF system to reset and restart is probably all that was needed.

Which brings us to your issues with shooting video. When you are shooting stills the AF system shuts down between shots. When you are shooting video, the AF system is constantly enabled, so if it fails to lock focus on a subject then it may just stop working, which is a setting in the camera.

Another setting in the camera is Eye and Animal AF. These settings require the subject to be close enough to the camera that a sufficient number of AF point can be placed on the subject so that the camera can recognize an eyeball or an animal.

Using a telephoto lens is like looking at the world through a straw. That is all that the camera can see. In fact, the camera can only “see” what the active AF points see.

The camera is not omnipotent. It will only do what you ask it to do. If you ask the wrong questions, then you will get the wrong answers.

[EDIT] I strongly suggest that you start your own thread, so that people can better understand your issue, and not conflate your issues with others.

Re: R6 Issues with autofocus with long lenses

nianchen — Mon, 09 May 2022 06:35:12 GMT

I have exactly the same problem! My husband bought the R6 and the 100-500mm lens for me. Now I found the auto focus is not as good as my 5D mark4, far slower. Plus this focus freezing issue. It can focus for short moments and then gets completely off and freeze there. I use it for bird shooting. I had to turn the lens manually to help it to get back to focus, and the subject can be gone! Very upsetting! I also reset the camera. But didn’t solve the problem!