EOS R6 Mark III fails to keep focus on subject moving towards me.

[alyssasxm]

I shoot weddings and portraits and have found that my EOS R6 Mark III is not holding focus on a subject walking towards me. This is a big deal for wedding moments like walking down the aisle. I have fiddled with the tracking settings and nothing seems to work consistently. I am constantly having to refocus or keep my thumb on the screen on the subject. I never had to do this with my original R6.

Also, I only use L series lenses.

Any advice on better settings or is this an issue with my camera?

[shadowsports]

Greetings ,

It would be helpful if you told us the shooting mode, and any specific settings you might be using.  Describe the shooting scenario, help us understand how to reproduce the behavior.

[deebatman316]

Hi @alyssasxm welcome to the forums. What lenses are you using exactly? If using adapted EF lenses what mount adapter are you using. Not every EF lens released is fully compatible with R series cameras. 

[stevet1]

alyssasxm,

You wrote, " is not holding focus on a subject walking towards me".

This is normal behavior.

You have to realize that your focus is a two-dimensional plane in front of your camera's sensor. What's in that plane is what's going to be in focus. If you or your subject moves closer or farther away from that plane is going to be out of focus.

If I could offer a tip: Change your focus method to single point, and use AI Servo. Assign your focus to the AF-ON button (often referred to as back button focus). As long as you continue to hold down that button with your thumb your camera will constantly re-focus on whatever point you are aiming at.

That single point can be anywhere you choose, but many people choose the center point as it is the most accurate.

Tracking is supposed to follow a subject and keep that subject in focus, I guess, but I wonder if the focusing keeps pace with the tracking, and I don't know how well it responds to subjects moving closer to you or farther away from you.

Steve Thomas

[Waddizzle]

We will need more information about your shooting scenario and camera settings in order to be able to advise you.’

For example, are you captured stills or video?

What type of lighting? Indoors or outdoors)

What exact model of lens are you using? The portrait lenses are not very good at tracking moving subjects. They sacrifice AF speed for better AF accuracy. 

Tell us how to reproduce the issue. 

[FloridaDrafter]

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@stevet1 wrote:

"Tracking is supposed to follow a subject and keep that subject in focus, I guess, but I wonder if the focusing keeps pace with the tracking, and I don't know how well it responds to subjects moving closer to you or farther away from you."

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I've attached a link to a video that may clear that up for you. Although the video is for the subject camera, all of my R series behave the same. But I will say a bit slower with the R5 and R6 classics.

R6 mark III subject tracking.

Newton

[jrhoffman75]

An add-on to the informative video Newton referenced.

https://www.ninabailey.co.uk/nuggets/subject-tracking.html

[ebiggs1]

I did weddings for years, for decade, and never had any real AF assistance except the basic. Coming down the isle is an easy shoot so you don't need fancy AF mode. Stills that is, I never did videos.

I used two camera each prefocused to a certain point in the isle. No additional focus necessary. Pick two of the most  best spots really two is all anyone wants of that shot. Unless you are a spray and pray shooter!

[stevet1]

Newton and John,

Thanks for the info on tracking. It looks like it's come a long way.

Steve Thomas