Flexi zone on EOS R7 not as sharp as Spot AF and Expand AF area

[LewisBarrett1]

Hi, I shoot aviation with my canon R7, I often shoot on Spot AF and Expand AF area modes to yield the best sharpness and I tend to have no issues.

I have a upcoming air show and I have been testing out Flexi Zone 3 with subject tracking enabled and it set to Vehicle mode. I do understand that the r7 does not support recognition for aircraft, but my friends who recommended these settings to me also use the r7, and receive very sharp photos almost equivalent to my photos using Spot AF and Expand area AF

But here is the issue, the camera does not seem to be dialling in and focusing sharply on the plane, it focuses on the plane, but not sharp, very soft. I understand the R7 can not detect aircraft, but it works excellently for people who recommended it to me, undoubtedly they do shoot with better lenses than me, being in the multiple thousand price point, (Canon EF 100-400 MK2 and RF100-500) but I do not see the reason for it not focusing properly on the aircraft despite the fact we run the same camera body, I dont find this to be a issue with the lens as I can get very sharp if I just go back to other modes. I have tested both settings in the same lighting conditions so I do not think it is a issue related to the r7's struggle with low contrast, as I'll get sharp on Spot AF, and then soft 10 seconds later on Flexi Zone.

I use a Back button AF setup with the AF-On button set to Metering and AF start, with a half press shutter set to Metering start, in AF settings I do have subject tracking set to ON as default, i have a feeling it might be to do with these settings but there's a lot and I struggle to understand it all. Its not a major issue for me but I would like to use the Flexi zones with subject tracking for a upcoming air show as the aircraft can be hard to keep pinpoint accuracy on, any advice would help thanks.

[Waddizzle]

“ Hi, I shoot aviation with my canon R7, I often shoot on Spot AF and Expand AF area modes to yield the best sharpness and I tend to have no issues. “

This statement sounds like a false assumption to me.  The different AF point modes have no impact on the ability of the camera to focus, or how well it focuses.  The only difference is where it can focus and how large of an area.

Using BBF,Back Button Focusing, does not cause the camera to focus more sharply.  Many users find that the method allows them to be more selective in acquiring subjects.

Personally, I have found photographing air shows to be less challenging than wildlife or sports photography because there is not need to as selective when it comes to acquiring a subject for autofocus.  The biggest challenge can be keeping aircraft within the frame of focus.

I havre not shot an air shows in a few years, since before acquiring an R Series body with subject detection and eye tracking.  If I did, then I would use the camera as if it were a DSLR, to take advantage of the camera’s instinct to focus on the closest subject to the camera.  Aircraft will tend to always be at sufficient distances to where DOF becomes an irrelevant moot point.  

First, I would disable Subject and Eye Tracking.  I would use Servo autofocus mode.  I would use Whole Area AF to enable all AF points.  Using Whole Area AF Tracking enabled creates the large blue box that surround a subject.  Leaving it disabled causes the AF point to display to show dozens of small blue boxes on your closest subject as it moves through the frame. I would literally point and shoot.

But, to answer your question(s) about how the AF works I suggest that you watch this lengthy video.

[Waddizzle]

Also, I would not use the highest frame rate available.  I would stick to default shutter mode, too.