EOS R problems positioning AF point

[kg415]

I've had the EOS R for two weeks and am finding positioning the AF point to be quirky/unreliable/annoying.  I have Touch & drag AF set to Enable, Relative, Right.

1. Positioning the AF point with the EVF and Touch & Drag, then lowering the camera causing switch from EVF to screen, then resuming use of EVF without lifting thumb from screen causes Touch & Drag to stop working until thumb is lifted from screen.

2. When positioning the AF point with the cross keys, if my nose touches the "inactive" area of the screen, cross key long press to repeat stops working intermittently.  Cross key single short presses continue to move the AF point one step.

3. Intermittently, my nose touching the "inactive" area of the screen changes the AF point position.

4. Possibly other intermittent conditions causing the AF point to freeze.

I spent a long time on the phone with a Canon support person who seemed to be able to duplicate these behaviors, so exchanging the EOS R is unlikely to correct what seem to be firmware defects and no followup as to if/when these will be fixed is available.  I've never dealt with Canon support before -- what should I expect?  Any advice?

[PLee]

Would suggest you try the following settings for touch and drag:

• Enable
• Absolute
• Top Right

Your points one and two are repeatable. I have not seen point three or point four. I suggest trying again with my recommended settings and see how the system responds. I also don't quite understand why you are touching and holding on to the screen when chimping and then going back to EVF. Lifting at any point will reset the system and restore AF point movement functionality. I would also not recommend using the directional keypad for large movements with the press and hold function as touch and drag is much faster for moving such large distances. The keypad is better used to incrementaly move the AF point for precise placement instead.

[kg415]

Absolute control is too uncomfortable for me.  I did switch to Top Right, but the problem occurred again while shooting today.  It seems to occur when raising the camera to use the EVF and my nose touches the left, "inactive", part of the screen.  The AF point jumps to the upper left and cannot be moved by dragging in the active area until I lift my nose from the screen.  I'm unable to reliably duplicate the problem.  My nose isn't unusually big.

[Waddizzle]

Are you using your left eye to look through the viewfinder?  Have you tried rotating the rear screen to the “closed” position?  I am forced to use my left eye to look through the viewfinder of my DSLRs, and my nose always rubs and smears on the rear screens.  

I do not have an EOS R, but I do use an EOS M3 with a viewfinder option.  I do not experience your issues, probably because I will shoot with either the viewfinder, or with the rear screen.  I have never tried to switch between the two user interfaces as you seem to describe.  I am not surprised if the camera may be getting confused as to which user interface you want to use.

When I use my M3, I either use it like a cellphone, away from my face, composing the shots with the rear LCD.  If I want more precise focusing and compositions, I attach the viewfinder accessory and use that, which is actually quite rare.  I mostly use my M3 for street shooting urban landscapes when I want to use a more compact camera body, instead of a pro-size body.

Have you ever used a DSLR as you describe, switching between Live View shooting and viewinder shooting on the fly?  I have not, mainly because you cannot do so with a DSLR, and I do not think that the Canon engineers have, either.

[RW32]

Had EOS R for about a week. Great performance but I am defintely experiencing #3, i.e. nose touching the inactive area of the screen (when using the viewfinder) which then moves the focus point to somewhere on LH side of screen. Happens all the time.

Have tried disabling touch screen settings like Touch shutter and Touch & Drag AF but doesn’t seem to help.

(I also have an M5 and I don’t get this problem on that camera)

[kg415]

The video "Canon EOS R BUGS" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE8FD1W_9Sc) mentions an AF point freezing bug.

[RobertTheFat]

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@kg415 wrote:

I've had the EOS R for two weeks and am finding positioning the AF point to be quirky/unreliable/annoying.  I have Touch & drag AF set to Enable, Relative, Right.

1. Positioning the AF point with the EVF and Touch & Drag, then lowering the camera causing switch from EVF to screen, then resuming use of EVF without lifting thumb from screen causes Touch & Drag to stop working until thumb is lifted from screen.

2. When positioning the AF point with the cross keys, if my nose touches the "inactive" area of the screen, cross key long press to repeat stops working intermittently.  Cross key single short presses continue to move the AF point one step.

3. Intermittently, my nose touching the "inactive" area of the screen changes the AF point position.

4. Possibly other intermittent conditions causing the AF point to freeze.

I spent a long time on the phone with a Canon support person who seemed to be able to duplicate these behaviors, so exchanging the EOS R is unlikely to correct what seem to be firmware defects and no followup as to if/when these will be fixed is available.  I've never dealt with Canon support before -- what should I expect?  Any advice?

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Conceivably, some users might consider that behavior to be a feature rather than a bug. What, if anything, does the instruction manual say on the subject?

To answer your question: Canon Service has a very good reputation, at least in this forum. But the R is a pretty new camera, and some of its peculiarities may not be well understood yet.

[ebiggs1]

"Canon Service has a very good reputation, at least in this forum."

I agree except Canon CS is not just good it is the best there is. However, you may get a person that isn't as knowledgeable as some. Simply hang up can call back or while on the phone ask for somebody else. My personally experience with Canon is top notch. All companies should be as good.

Also, no help to you, I am not in favor of the touch screens. I hope Canon does not add them to the professional line of cameras.

[CarlG]

I've turned touch and drag off and use the arrows on the back. Turned off image review off and touch shutter is disabled. What I have now is my settings showing up on the screen just like my 80D. Most of the time I shoot with the screen closed but that just me. Everything does seem to work better like this. If I decide to use it for video I would imagine using the screen for moving focus around as needed. However I primarily still photo. I started with the same issues however I also found the arrows on the back can be moved by my thumb accidently as well. Particularly if I extend my thumb up to the mode wheel. I just had to set the camera up for needs and it works great.

[Allanduff]

I have had the same problem with the focus points on my EOS R, it is VERY frustrating.  I love the image quality of the camera, but if I cannot control the focus points it is going to be a big disappointment.  

I have have had the problem of setting the focus point but when I lower the camera then put it back to my eye, the focus point has moved the the upper left corner.  I have also had the focus point freeze at the worst times.