EOS R7 "Big question of af center point, and tracking subjects ON! Bug or is really how works?"

[Jowe79]

Hello people, well I already have the eos r7 and it is fantastic, I am trying things, watching tutorials for BBF etc etc... but I have seen several videos that there is a problem with the autofocus system when you choose a central focus point, for example, you enable servo and enable subject tracking...The autofocus system configured like this DOES NOT respect the central point or flexible zone for example or a larger square...the focus points in blue appear outside the focus box... (in this case the central point) and it does what it wants... it detects other things it focuses on other things that are around... but it ignores that I only want it to focus on the central point... is this a bug? Or is it really like that?...If I desactivate the tracking then if it respects the central focus point, I can move it wherever I want and it will focus only on that point and nothing else! ....In this video he explains this problem... has anyone else seen it?

https://youtu.be/CYXnuPoFWfQ?si=HEDP-xVwt33-2tQh

So the question is that it is better to configure for birds... that you want to catch the eye but with only a central focus point and that the focus does not go to crazy or go crazy? I think it only happens in Servo...in one shoot it respects the central point or the one I configure...but in servo and tracking activated any point or focus area that I limit the camera does not respect that limit and focuses many times. sometimes outside the limits of the focus box and that is wrong... Any clarification or suggestion for R7 owners? Any custom buttons for focus and tracking or several that you have that work well for you? Thank you all very much.

[stevet1]

Jowe79,

I can't swear that this will help, but do you have Continuous AF enabled?

Not Servo,  but Continuous AF.  If you do, try turning that off.

Steve Thomas

[Jowe79]

Sorry??? My camera only have 2 af modes SERVO (CONTINUES AF) OR ONE SHOT...nothing more...Other options are subject tracking on or off or eye tracking on or of....

I think you haven't understood my question...... If i choose servo mode and enable tracking subject and i configure.. ONLY 1 AF Point Square, teh autofocus system... don't respect me the only one focus point (or other size square like flexible mode ) and the system tries focus OUTSIDE the focus point (1 point AF) WHY???? ITS A BUG??? You understand me guys?

[stevet1]

Jowe79,

I have a T8i. The Continuous Af is in one of the Menu Settings. It's under the first menu (the red one that looks like a camera), Tab# 5.

It's only available in Live View.

Steve Thomas

[Aurora4233]

I've owned and been trilled with an R7 for a couple years now and I will say that it, and the R6m2, and the R8 that we own, and probably every Canon R series camera with servo and subject tracking on may not appear to 'respect' smaller focus zones because they lock on so quickly and continue to track well beyond the smaller sections you've selected in the center.  I did not watch the video so maybe I'm missing exactly what's frustrating you but I will say I've had zero trouble capturing eyeballs while birding and if it caught the wrong bird or object it's a quick release and back to half shutter. 

I experimented years ago with BBF in the DSLR days but it never sped up or improved my personal workflow and with the cosmic autofocus systems now I'm even less concerned with tweaks to improve what's already fantastic (for me).  The only two customizations I do with all our Canon mirrorless bodies is I make the * button turn on and off eye tracking and the square frame button next to it (or above/below depending on body) turns on and off servo.  I rarely use those buttons but if there's one stationary thing on a table or somewhere in the frame that I want to focus on but the eye tracking or servo/subject detect just won't stop grabbing something else I can quickly turn off those features without using menus then get them back on just as quickly.

There's no doubt the new eye/subject/servo etc AF features can appear to be acting 'crazy' at times compared to the flashing red dots from DSLR days but simply taming it with a couple button customizations or any other trick you like makes it all worth the benefits you get.  I feel like the AF only fights me 1-2% of the time and that's great compared to the 10-20% of the time in the DSLR days that I couldn't be completely confident I'd go a red dot on what I really intended.  I could certainly never consistently grab an eyeball like in the example pictures attached so I always had to shoot birds with tighter apertures to widen the depth of field to ensure I wasn't just catching a beak or a wingtip.  Now I can confidently go ridiculously wide aperture if I want as I can see there's a tiny blue box following one eyeball... that eyeball may be all I have in focus but back in the DSLR days too often it was the eyeball that was the noticeable thing mildly out of focus.

I've attached a pic of the AF mode I use for birds (Expand AF area: Around) and some samples from my R7 paired with an RF 100-500L.  I purposely was pushing the edges of shallow depth of field to test the eye tracking right after I got that body/lens pair and the performance was and continues to be astonishing!

Good luck!  The craziness you experience with the AF quickly improves with experience and you'll be confidently taming and utilizing it sooner than you probably think and the idea of various behaviors being 'bugs' will just fade away.

~Chris