EOS R6 Mark II Not focusing AT ALL in Spot and SET AF POINT TO CENTER

[photopro]

i had my r6 mk2 * button set for spot, one shot, no tracking, no servo old school style.  Somehow that changed and i discovered a few things while trying to get the setting back.  When the *button is  set to Spot the camera will not focus. AT ALL.  Also if the button is configured to Set AF<>, the camera does not achieve focus. The AF ON button is set to eye/people and works flawlessly No unusual settings in the main focus menu, Canon battery.

Also when set to AF with Detail set and spot point is selected in the main menu, and zones 1 or 3 are used the * button selects the center of that zone.  If the zone is moved the focus point is the center of that zone no matter where its moved.   I stumbled on this and actually like it.  But the above is a point of concern.  Is there any setting in the menu that would not cause the camera to focus or does that selection only select the center and doesnt focus which seems counterproductive (the joystick does the same thing by default but doesnt focus of course).  Stumbled upon a couple more settings of the * button that rendered the focus inoperable.  

Its not critical but just wondering if anyone else had the same experience.  Thanks in advance!!

[p4pictures]

Let me try to explain a few things and hopefully cover a few variants of your setup.

1. You had the * button set for spot, one shot, no tracking - and it used to work

2. You discovered that when the * button is set to Spot the camera will not focus at all.

Is it possible that you chose the Spot detection function for the * button like this...

If you did this, then it will toggle the Spot detection setting on/off for each press. But it only does that if you also have the subject to detect set to Vehicles. It does not activate AF at all.

3. Also if the button is configured to Set AF<>, the camera does not achieve focus

Did you possibly choose the Switch to registered AF functions? This function will override the current AF with the ones you pre-configure, but it does not activate AF. Also if the button is released then the AF settings return to the previous camera settings.

In the page below - accessed by pressing the INFO button above. You can choose what settings are temporarily overridden. A check mark in the left column means the setting is override with the value from the right. So in my screen below the AF area will be overridden with Spot AF, whole area tracking servo AF will be off and the subject to detect will be none. Basically a single AF point that is not at all intelligent - just like a DSLR. 

4. Also when set to AF with Detail set and spot point is selected in the main menu, and zones 1 or 3 are used the * button selects the center of that zone

If you use Spot AF, 1-point AF, expand AF area "cross", expand AF area around then these all share the same initial starting point. So if you use Spot then switch to 1-point AF the AF point is larger but in the same place.

The three Flexible Zone AF areas, each have a unique initial starting location that is independent of the other location for the Spot / 1-pt / expand AF area ones above. 

5. Is there any setting in the menu that would not cause the camera to focus

The following functions that can be assigned to the * button will actuate AF, the others do not.

• Metering and AF start
• AF one detected subject
• Eye detection AF

Additionally there is the Register/recall shooting function setting that can be configured to active AF or not. It is not activating AF by default.

From the detail settings page there are lots of things that you can do with this function... but right at the end is the option to also activate AF. Not only can this function change AF settings, but it can also change exposure settings too. It's probably the most powerful function in the custom button configuration.