R5 Mark II - AF problems and Factory Repair

[JimMM]

I’m experiencing the autofocus issue that many seem to also be experiencing. In researching the problem, I’ve seen 2 or 3 responses from Canon, saying to send the camera to them for repair. To those of you that have done this, did Canon find and fix a problem? Please share your experience. Many think it is a firmware issue. I’ve been on 1.0.3 since day one, so I can’t compare.

[JimMM]

I have done that and experienced the issue without changing a single setting.

[March411]

Jim, 

I've been following a thread on another Canon site regarding the same problem you are experiencing and the challenge is fairly random. As of yet Canon has not responded and there doesn't appear to be a fix. I say that tongue and cheek because it's completely from information/feedback from people on the web. 

Have you thought about attempting to jump back to v1.0.2

[JimMM]

Marc,

Thanks for all of your responses. The thought has crossed my mind about v1.0.2, but it sounds a bit risky trying to go back. I've seen reference to the "battery door trick" to make the camera load a back leveled firmware version, but I haven't looked into all of the details. Again, I appreciate your help.

I was disappointed when reviewing the fixes in v1.1.0, before it was pulled by Canon, and there were no mentions of AF fixes for still pictures.

Jim 

[March411]

I looked for v1.0.2 and the only place I found it so far was Canon Hong Kong. You would think with as many people that are reporting issues Canon would have some urgency to get it quickly resolved. If I see anything while I hit other sites that look promising I'll come back to this thread. Sorry you are having issues. Some people are saying that they are getting only a 20% hit rate on burst, hopefully yours isn't that bad.  

[JimMM]

Thank you so much, Marc. I appreciate your help. My biggest issue is occasionally when I frame a shot and then press the shutter button half way, to focus, the view finder will go blurry and a white "MF" will show up in the upper left-hand corner of the view finder (I assume that stands for manual focus). Most of the time, I can change the amount of zoom  and then go right back to the zoom setting I originally had and it will be fine, except by then I've missed the shot I wanted. Other times, I have to power cycle the camera to get it working again. Today, oddly enough, when I was testing it with the original factory settings, I had the viewfinder go black and the only thing that fixed it was to remove and then reinstall the battery. I've read of others having that issue, but I never experienced it with my user settings.

Jim

Music City

[March411]

For those interested Duade Paton posted a video today as he did get the new firmware release loaded on his R5 MkII and field tested it.

If you don't care to watch the video his conclusion was that for him V1.1.0 had no notable improvements over v1.0.3. He did go through how to "trouble shoot" the problems in the field but he continued to experience many of the old issues. 

[herein2021]

I temporarily had FW 1.0.3 because I updated to that version to try to fix another problem I was having. As soon as I discovered all of the AF issues I used the battery door trick to revert back to v1.0.1 which was my previous version. So, it does work, the hardest part was finding v1.0.1 on my computer since I couldn't find it on the Internet.

[shadowsports]

Canon is planning to release new firmware for the R1 and R5 mkII later this week.  It's not officially announced but I believe the probability is high since both were pulled shortly after release previously.  Be patient, it should just be a few more days.  

[FloridaDrafter]

Thanks for that clip, Marc!

Even though I've yet to experience this issue, and I basically shoot the same subject matter in similar conditions, something Mr. Paton points out is, it's not exclusive to the R5 II or Canon in general but all of the major players higher end MILC bodies.

Did you catch that?

Newton

[March411]

I did Newton, I'm going to assume that it was the point where he was trying to grab an image of the Walabbee. The AF getting distracted and how all the camera he uses have the same challenge. It's weird, as I read feedback on other sites with the longest discussing on CR the challenge seems extremely random. While some report problems there are others that say the R5 II is working seamlessly. 

Right now my R5 is doing what it need to do but I will most likely update to the Mk II once the dust settles.