EOS R3 autofocus issues after upgrade to firmware 1.8

[czbrat3962]

I updated the my Canon R3 to 1.8 firmware because I had an issue with my camera freezing during a football game.  What a mistake that was.  Now my camera won’t lock on focus.  I have all of my settings set to where I had it before.  Now when I try to lock on a player it’s floating all over the place. Before I was locking a player, then eye detection would take over for nearly two years. Worked flawlessly. Now my camera is a POS. I know a few other photographers having similar issues with the update.  I have did a factory reset and reinstalled the update same issues. Last night during the football game I disabled everything and shot the old fashioned way.  Now going to try and downgrade my update. So frustrated.

[Stephen]

This is excellent advice, Rick! 

You just forgot one step: Before sending it to our Factory Service Center, I recommend calling tech support. If your gear is acting weird, give our folks a call. They can troubleshoot with you to help narrow down whether it's a hardware issue that needs to be sent for repair, a rogue setting, or something else altogether. Support is at 800-OK-CANON (800-652-2666), Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (ET).

I once had a customer call to send his Rebel in for service because his flash wasn't working—it wouldn't pop up. The camera was "acting like it didn't see it." Our troubleshooting revealed that he was using a hot shoe cover, and the camera thought he had a non-TTL external flash attached. His camera was working fine without that hot shoe cover!

[czbrat3962]

I’ve been conversing with the Factory Service Center via email.

[Stephen]

Do you mean you've been speaking with tech support by email? 

You would only be speaking with the Factory Service Center by email if your camera was at the Factory Service Center. 

[czbrat3962]

I’ve been talking to Canon CPS service and support.

[Stephen]

Ah, that makes sense, then! 

[Evgeny1973]

I did exactly like described.

Prepared 2 SD cards. 

1st with firmware 1.8

2nd with firmware 1.7.1

Insert 1st one. Go to firmware update menu. Press update

It will show firmware 1.8

Press ok, and immediately open memory slot.

Remove 1st, insert 2nd card.

Close memory slot and in a minute you can see on screen two boxes with choice 1.8 or 1.7.1

Choose 1.7.1. That's it.

[shadowsports]

Stephen,

Thanks for this helpful information.  Contacting Canon first is always the right thing to do!!

[czbrat3962]

Thank you. What I was doing was putting the card in the other slot.  And not the same slot.  I was able to download the old software.  I’m heading off to a basketball game shortly.  Hopefully it resolves my issue.

[Evgeny1973]

I was glad to help.

Enjoy to basketball.

If the freezing will appear often, visit Canon servis.

[AlexCPSmember]

Hello! I want to share my observations on Canon EOS R3 and firmware 1.8.0.

One of my R3s was purchased in August 2024. The camera is new. And I had certain problems with focus, which was expressed in the fact that on both RF and EF lenses, autofocus showed that it was focusing where I pointed the focus point, but in fact it was visible on the photograph that it was focused elsewhere. A check at Canon CPS showed that everything is fine with the technique. However, the trick of the trick continued. It was only when I installed firmware 1.8.0 that the focus returned to me again! It was an impressive difference and now the camera is working properly.

Considering that someone, on the contrary, started having problems with focus when updating to firmware 1.8.0, is there perhaps a difference in camera revisions? In general, the problems are related to software and firmware. I am glad that I no longer have them and do not plan to update to new firmware yet, because it is important to me that the equipment is reliable, like my 1dx, 1dxII, 1dxIII.

I photograph world motorsport in Europe, so I know the technique and instructions well enough, and this is not a user error. Sorry if there are any mistakes, I use a translator to help.

P.S. And I have never encountered freezing on my R3 camera.