EOS R6 Mark III Back button focus makes focus area bigger

[HankJ]

I have just received my new R6 Mark III. The issue I am having is with the AF area indicator. I have the camera set up with back button focus (using the AF button), electronic shutter, evaluative metering, AF servo and spot focus. As soon as I touch the AF button (for back button focus) the focus area indicator immediately changes from the small spot focus indicator to the larger single point focus indicator. This happens with all lenses. I even checked the JPG's in DPP4 (which still can't read the raw CR3 files), and it displays the larger single point focus indicator, not the smaller spot focus indicator.

I am at total loss. I also have an R7, which is set up exactly the same way. And I have never seen this before. I can't help but suspect I have inadvertently set up something incorrectly. But after spending the better part of an entire afternoon trying to troubleshoot, I have come up completely empty-handed.

If anyone already has their Mark III, and would be willing to help, I would be most grateful and appreciative. Many thanks in advance.

HankJ

[NatalyaP]

Greetings HankJ,

Sorry to hear that you are having some auto focus issues with your new EOS R6 Mark III camera. When shooting in Servo AF, the camera will default to the whole area for auto focusing when pressing the AF-ON button on the camera or when pressing down halfway on the shutter. We can switch it to where we can turn that off by pressing the INFO button on the camera. Please refer to the following link where the second bullet point under "AF Area" describes this towards the top of the page.

https://cam.start.canon/en/C022/manual/html/UG-05_AF-Drive_0060.html

Let's check to see if this helps resolve the issue.

[HankJ]

Natalya -

Thank you very much for getting back to me. I have already sorted it out. Turns out, it had to do with certain selections within the Info/Detail sub-menu for customizing the AF button. Took me awhile to figure it out. Quite different from my R7. But I did ultimately get it resolved, and in the process learned a lot about the insane (meaning remarkably good!) levels of customization available in this camera. I now have every thing setup exactly how I want, and I am extremely happy with my purchase. Thanks again.

Regards,

Hank

[CanonFTb]

Hello,

I also just purchased an EOS R6 Mark III camera and am having a very similar problem.  When I use the back button focus in spot mode or locked spot mode, the camera refuses to focus on the spot that I'm pointing it at.  It always focuses on a closer subject.  Camera is set to ONE SHOT, Whole area Tracking Servo AF is off.  I get a bunch of green focus squares lighting up the nearby object, but it refuses to spot focus. Here's my back button focus set-up: Shutter button half-press is set to metering start.  AF-ON button is set to AF on detected subject.  

When I have my shutter button set up to the default focus + meter with half press and in spot focus mode, the spot focus works as it should, threading the needle through surrounding objects to lock onto my subject.  I have not done a firmware update and it currently shows Ver. 1.0.0., so this may be the issue.

Thanks for your help,

Mark P

[HankJ]

Mark -

Change your back button to AF Start. By setting it to AF on detected subject, you are telling it to look for a subject to focus on, rather than where you are pointing the one spot focus area.

BTW - I like your name. My very first Canon camera was the Ftb-N. 😊

[CanonFTb]

Thanks Hank,

That fixed my issue.  Either way, with spot focus set, you would expect it to lock onto where you're pointing it at.  This is my first mirrorless, as I'm stepping up from a 5D Mark III.  Getting all the new autofocus options sorted out and programmed to where I can find everything easily is definitely taking some time.  As you know from learning on the FTb, you expect the camera to do what YOU want it to.  Trying to understand what IT wants to do and why is a challenge.

BTW, I still have both of my FTb-N bodies and FD lens gear.  Just can't seem to part with them.  The first one, (circa 1973) my dad gave to me after he bought an AE-1.  I then bought a back-up body in the mid-80's just in case I ever had any issues.  Both have always worked flawlessly.

[HankJ]

Glad that fixed it for you. The R6.3 is so customizable, it took me weeks to set it up exactly how I wanted.

That is so cool that you still have your FTb. After the FTb-N, I went to the F1-N, then AE-1 and A-1. Wish I still had the AE-1.

Hope you enjoy your new camera.