Canon R5 Focus issues

[GazMan]

I purchased the R5 back in October 2021 .I had no issues with focus it was fast and spot on all the time .The problem I am having at the moment is intermittent focus .What happens is the camera indicated that it is in focus blue indicator ,for example I was focus on an owl sitting on a post ,image was totally out of focus but the blue focus indicator was on .Just a tad annoying , needless to say the owl flew off and no photo .I have experimented with many focus setting still with the same intermittent focusing problem ,I am uptodate with the firmware .

lenses ,400L 5.6 ,70-200L 2.8 & 24-70L 2.8 using the canon control ring

[Tronhard · Accepted solution]

Hi and welcome to the forum:
Sorry to learn  you are having issues. Can you please check what firmware version your camera is using?

Your camera should be using version 1.6.0.  These updates from the early versions have had an impact on focusing issues.

[Waddizzle]

I think firmware v1.6 was pulled from release

[Tronhard]

I think you are confusing the new firmware release for the EOS R3, which was pulled from release.   You can still download release 1.6.0 for the R5 from Canon's official website HERE 

[emmasmartacus]

Hello - I've also got awful focusing issues on my R5 using firmware 1.6.0. I hadn't updated at all until this year when I went from 1.1 to 1.5, then 1.6.0. I had no issues with focusing until I updated. I have the most issues when using video (I mostly use the RF 70-200mm 2.8). It will focus on a person's face and the eye detection box will still be on them but the focus will pulse in and out ruining the shot. It isn't finding other faces, it is still thinking it is focused on that person. I also used to select a person by tapping on the screen and it would stick with them, but now it keeps looking for other people in the shot and constantly changing focus. I also have isuses with photos, it selects a person's eye but the shot is soft. I didn't have any of these issues with the earlier firmware. It's really quite a frustrating issue, especially since I had no problems before this.

[amfoto1]

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@GazMan wrote:

I purchased the R5 back in October 2021 .I had no issues with focus it was fast and spot on all the time .The problem I am having at the moment is intermittent focus .....

lenses ,400L 5.6 ,70-200L 2.8 & 24-70L 2.8 using the canon control ring

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You say the firmware is up to date and the camera's AF worked flawlessly at first... but now it doesn't.

What changes did you make?

Maybe you should do a full reset back to the original factory defaults?

I don't have an R5, so can't tell you how to do a reset. I also can only guess that there are a lot of ways to tweak the AF system... some of which improve performance in certain situations, but also might make it less accurate in others. I've seen videos on YouTube about how to set up and use the AF system... might be worth watching.

***********

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2) some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & ZENFOLIO 

[photodigichick]

I had my R5 13 months and had to return it to Canon to have the focus "recalibrated" due to it not being able to focus.  Costs $500.  The camera was not used for the first 8 months I owned it and hardly used at all.  If you do a little research it is a known issue with the R5.  Not sure why Canon won't come out and fix the problem instead of making the customers pay, lose long time customers (45 years here) and become incredibly frustrated with the total lack of customer care.