AE Lock Combined with AF Point Selection on Canon R8

[mmbrombe]

Greetings, still learning the ins and out of my (relatively) new Canon R8. I am struggling with one specific operation, where the behavior is not as expected: Using AE lock in combination with moving the autofocus point. The sequence of steps is as follows: 

(1) Point the camera to a well lit area

(2) Press AE Lock (*) to expose for the highlights

(3) Point the camera to a darker subject - exposure remains locked (as expected)

(4) Now I need to move the autofocus point. Since the R8 has no joystick, I must press the 'AF selection' button before I can move the AF point using the 4-way pad. And this is where things go south: As soon as I press the 'AF selection' button, AE exposure is unlocked, reverting back to the "darker" exposure metering. 

Am I missing a step where exposure remains locked while moving the AF point? 

Thanks for any help.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

"At this point, I can get the job done using the method I'm used to from my previous camera (despite the darned 6 second AE-lock timer)."

AE time is adjustable in the menus. See page 307 in the manual:

 

[mmbrombe]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Never occurred to me that I could change this. Much appreciated, really

[Anonymous]

Glad I could help.

[FloridaDrafter]

Thanks, Bob. At some point, I must have changed that time limit because I have plenty of time to lock exposure, focus, and recompose 🙂 I don't do it a lot, but I do when backlighting is a problem.

Newton