Canon EOS R6 : "Face Select: Off"

[musicmaiden]

With the R6, when in Face Tracking AF and pushing the "SET" button, "Face Select: Off" appears on screen.  I would like to know why or when I should use this feature and what the box that then appears is now looking for and how I can utilitze it.  Thanks for any help! 

Karin

[stevet1]

music maiden,

This is just a guess, but it sounds like when you hit the Set button, you are toggling face detection off and on.

I ran across a video that explains how to set your face and eye detection in the Canon R6 here:

How to Use Face and Eye Detection on Canon R6 | Photo Tutorial for Beginners

Plug that search phrase into a Google search.

Steve Thomas

[musicmaiden]

Hi Steve, 

that is correct, but I am looking for guidance what these boxes that pop up after disabling are now looking for  and when/how to use that feature.  

Thanks for replying!

Karin

[FloridaDrafter]

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@musicmaiden wrote:

With the R6, when in Face Tracking AF and pushing the "SET" button, "Face Select: Off" appears on screen.  I would like to know why or when I should use this feature and what the box that then appears is now looking for and how I can utilitze it.  Thanks for any help! 

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Hello, Karin!

Is this what you are referring to?

If so, "Disable" is for Eye Tracking not for Face Tracking. Tap INFO to toggle Eye Tracking on or off during Face Tracking.

Newton

 

[musicmaiden]

Hi Newton, 

that is not it.  it appears only for a brief moment while looking through the viewfinder and hit the SET button, then it comes up briefly with that message.  It seems like it takes Face Detection off until I hit the SET button again, but I do not know what the boxes with a bit heavier line around are now looking for. So I am looking for an explanation why that function is there and in what scenarios I would use it.  I do like that Disable Eye Tracking feature though!

Karin

[p4pictures]

I have found the same Face select: OFF message on my EOS R6.

When the camera is set to Face + tracking AF method, and ONE SHOT AF, pressing the SET button does cause the message to appear along with an icon on the top right side of the LCD. This is part of the standard operation and is actually covered in the manual on page 375 & specifically in the Note box on page 376.

With face + tracking the camera will locate a face in the frame, but you can use the joystick (multicontroller) or tap on the screen  to select a specific face, the camera will track that face even if it moves within the frame. This is a function called locked tracking, and this lock can be released by pressing the SET button or taping the relevant icon on the top right side of the LCD screen.

[musicmaiden]

Thanks for your reply, Brian! I did see that note in the manual and I have used the joystick to move from one eye to the next or to another person's eye.  So what you are saying is, that if you have no Eye Detect on it , only Face, you need to have  "Face Select:Off" chosen to jump from one person to the next?  Unfortunately I do not have enough "bodies" around me to try out at this time, LOL! And trying with family pictures, the box jumps to different parts of the image that are not faces.   

Thanks, 
Karin

[p4pictures · Accepted solution]

Close but slightly different. When you aim the camera at the subject it starts looking for focus and before focus locks and the AF point turns green, it may move the position if the detected face moves. In effect it is tracking the location of the face before you lock the AF. With face select OFF, then the tracking doesn't move the AF point with the face, it stays where the face was initially found. 

You can see this for yourself even on a single face. Aim the camera at the face and press the shutter to initiate focus if the AF point turns green release the shutter button and now if you move the camera the af point moves to track the face that had been found, so that when you press the shutter again the AF point is already on the face even if it has moved. With face select OFF this tracking of the face initially found doesn't happen. 

In my own experience I actually stopped using one shot AF with my EOS R6 for portraits and simply used servo AF., and there is no setting for face select OFF in servo. Servo AF will still find the face or eye and tracks it around the frame if the subject moves, while also adjusting focus if you or the subject change the distance between you even slightly. For me this give me more accurate AF even with very fast lenses.

[musicmaiden]

Thank you, Brian! I had to try it a few times but I finally got it! Other question.....Setting:  Manual Settings with Servo Mode,  Back Button with AF-ON but leaving the Shutter Button with AF Start and Metering. Can I assume that when holding down the AF-ON Button, it is doing both metering and focus as stated in the Manual and the Shutter Button is now ONLY there to initiate the capture?  No conflicts between those two buttons? Let me know if a new thread for this question is needed!  thanks again! 

Karin

[p4pictures]

Probably worth a different thread to be fair.

However if your shutter button half-press is still set to initiate AF and metering, it becomes important as to the order of pressing the AF-ON and half press. If you press AF-ON and hold it down without pressing the shutter then it is the priority, and the half-press position of the shutter is not considered when taking a photo. If you release the AF-ON then the half-press of the shutter is the button initiating AF and metering (actually what the cameras are set for by default).