EOS R5 Mark II Eye Control AF won't focus

[JFH834]

Hello everybody!

My newly acquired R5 II seems to be having a very bothersome issue.

The Eye Control AF, though perfectly calibrated, just doesn't focus. Instead of focusing where the pointer is placed by eye, it uses the standard focusing areas (spot, enlarged etc...) which remain functional. No focusing "below" the EC AF's pointer.

Of course, the Eye Control is set on "on", the manual was painfully followed, all possible settings checked.

All other functions perform the way they should.

Any idea? I'd greatly appreciate some help solving this issue!

[Hazel_T · Accepted solution]

Hi JFH834,

I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with Eye Control on your EOS R5 Mark II. When you are you using the Eye Control are you confirming the subject before having the camera start focus by pressing the shutter button half way or holding down the AF On button. With focus areas like Spot the camera needs you to confirm the highlighted subject first, then it moves the AF point, and at that point you can start the focus.

The other thing to double check would be to set the AF Area to Whole Area. That way the camera can use AF points throughout the frame, and in that mode it should automatically set the focus point to your eye control location.

[Hazel_T · Accepted solution]

Hi JFH834,

I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with Eye Control on your EOS R5 Mark II. When you are you using the Eye Control are you confirming the subject before having the camera start focus by pressing the shutter button half way or holding down the AF On button. With focus areas like Spot the camera needs you to confirm the highlighted subject first, then it moves the AF point, and at that point you can start the focus.

The other thing to double check would be to set the AF Area to Whole Area. That way the camera can use AF points throughout the frame, and in that mode it should automatically set the focus point to your eye control location.

[JFG · Accepted solution]

Hello JFH834,

Sorry to hear that you're having trouble with your R5 Mark II "Eye Control Focusing."  If you already performed the calibration procedure and are confident with it, then skip that part.

To use eye control focusing on the Canon EOS R5 Mark II, follow these steps:

1. Calibration:

   • Go to the menu and select [: Eye control].
   • Choose [Calibration (CAL)] and follow the on-screen instructions to register your eye’s characteristics. This involves looking at indicators in the viewfinder until they disappear. Perform this calibration both horizontally and vertically for better accuracy¹.  Also when calibrating you should be able to see all 4 corners of the Calibration Screen and calibrate in different lighting, indoor, outdoor, in sunny and cloudy settings.  The AI learns and fine tunes the Eye Control Focusing. 

2. Pointer Display:

   • Enable the pointer display by setting [: Pointer display] to [On]. This helps you see where your gaze is directed².

3. Focus Guide:

If you want assistance with manual focusing, set [: Focus guide] to [On]. This will display a guide frame where you are looking¹.

1. Using Eye Control:

   • Look through the viewfinder and focus on the subject by looking at the AF points. The camera will follow your gaze to select the focus point¹.

2. Combining with Tracking:

   • For better results, use eye control in combination with tracking. Set the AF operation to Whole area tracking Servo AF to start tracking even if the AF frame is not c...².

The above settings should help you effectively use eye control focusing on your EOS R5 Mark II.  Please let us know the outcome.  🙂

[JFH834]

Thanks for your suggestions! They helped, EC AF now works thanks to "whole area + (!!!!) servo AF.

I also calibrated anew using the large accessory eyepiece, which I warmly recommend!

Anyway, thank you all for your help, I really did appreciate!

[DrewSmithPhoto]

So I recently purchased an R5 Mk II and am loving it in many ways, but have had lots of issues getting the Eye Controlled AF to work in precisely the way you describe. I calibrated and re-calibrated and the tracker would follow my eye precisely, but it would not focus where the tracker went/where my eye looked. I found an answer that solved this for me on another thread today (after reading many, many others!) and wanted to post here in case it helps as I think it will make this a game changer for using the eye controlled AF.

Once you have followed all the other steps in the other answers, do this as well:

On the Camera, go to the "Customized buttons for shooting" Menu.  Click on "Customize buttons for shooting" then on the camera side (left column), for the shutter button, click on this one to set the controls that are activated when the shutter button is pressed.  Make sure that the option that has the Meter, AF and the EYE icon is selected.  For me it had been set to just Meter and AF but not eye, so even though it showed my eye being tracked it did not use that for AF. Now it works perfectly and wherever I look it sets the focus point when I press the shutter button. Hope this helps.

[chrishoesel]

This helped me out tremendously.  None of the other "answers" were actually correct as they didn't state the button reassignments needed.  I set mine to the "AF-On" button with the function you described.  That was the ticket.  Thanks.

[DrewSmithPhoto]

Glad it helped!

[tim32225]

THANK YOU !!! 

I just received my Canon R1 camera body, and an RF 28-70 f2L lens this afternoon and I had eye controlled focus working perfectly.  But after changing some custom settings, it stopped working, and had me stumped.  I knew that something I changed in a menu setting must have caused the problem but I was unable to figure out what it was.  I spent at least an hour trying to figure it out but was unsuccessful. 

Your post saved me a ton of frustration.

Thank you !! 

[JFG]

Tim, 

I'm happy that the post helped you and saved you a ton.  Please accept it as "Solution" and hit "Like".   😉

[AdamAlonzo]

Thanks for your help on this issue.  I had the same problem -- until now!  The 1,227 page manual didn't quite make it clear.  Now that it works, I need to decide if I want to actually use this feature . . .