R7 (1.6.0) treats RF70-200 f/2.8L-Z like a 2-ring lens! FW bug?

[JamesHarvey]

A couple of months ago we acquired the RF70-200 f/2.8L-Z, and have mainly used it with our 5ii.  Today I tried it with our R7 and was very surprised to find that the lens' control ring had no function, but the MF ring was acting as the control ring, & would invoke whatever function was set for the control ring; & there was no ability to manually focus the lens (lens switch set to MF)!  The lens works normally on our R6ii. 

After some thought I checked the menu to discover that with this lens on the R7 the "control/focus" ring option appears in AF menu 6!  I had it set to "CONTROL" for use with our 2 ring lenses.  It does not appear with any of our other 3 ring RF-L lenses attached.  When changed to "FOCUS" in the menu, both rings on the lens work as intended. 

So can anyone confirm whether this is a known bug with this body/lens combo, and has it been fixed in R7 FW 1.7.1?  I am reluctant to update as I honestly don't want to be troubled by all the "password" issues in the latest FW, lest it cause a lockout (i.e. the "ignore PW" setting gets lost) when the camera is used by the less technical (but more creative) members of my family! 

Thanks for any comments / JH

[Waddizzle]

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@JamesHarvey wrote:

A couple of months ago we acquired the RF70-200 f/2.8L-Z, and have mainly used it with our 5ii.  Today I tried it with our R7 and was very surprised to find that the lens' control ring had no function, but the MF ring was acting as the control ring, & would invoke whatever function was set for the control ring; & there was no ability to manually focus the lens (lens switch set to MF)!  The lens works normally on our R6ii. 

After some thought I checked the menu to discover that with this lens on the R7 the "control/focus" ring option appears in AF menu 6!  I had it set to "CONTROL" for use with our 2 ring lenses.  It does not appear with any of our other 3 ring RF-L lenses attached.  When changed to "FOCUS" in the menu, both rings on the lens work as intended. 

So can anyone confirm whether this is a known bug with this body/lens combo, and has it been fixed in R7 FW 1.7.1?  I am reluctant to update as I honestly don't want to be troubled by all the "password" issues in the latest FW, lest it cause a lockout (i.e. the "ignore PW" setting gets lost) when the camera is used by the less technical (but more creative) members of my family! 

Thanks for any comments / JH

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The best resource to address your concerns and questions is Canon Support.

[March411]

Have you tried resetting to factory defaults?

Canon Support - 800-652-2666

[shadowsports]

Greetings, 

I'm responding out of order. 🙂

There is nothing in FW v1.7.1 that changes the programmable behavior of the control or focus rings on the RF 70-200 f2.8 Z. 

Reluctance to upgrade because of the new security feature.  It's a one time setup.  The password prompt can be disabled initially or at any time after it's set.  The less technically inclined won't get locked out.  They probably won't even know it exists if the prompt is disabled when set.

Control Ring behavior on the R7.  The default state of the control ring is disabled on the R7 unless you change it.  This is not a bug.   The focus ring can be used as the control ring by changing the camera settings.   However, when the focus ring is used as the control ring, the original control ring operation will be disabled. This is called out on page 9 of the lense's manual.  The behavior changes based on the body being used.  I also recommend you review the camera's manual "Customize Dials" to confirm expected  behaviors.

I think you may want to reset as Marc suggested.  Start over, and if you continue to experience difficulty, contact Canon Support as both of my colleagues suggested. This should get you back on track.

[JamesHarvey]

Interesting.  So its not a "bug" it's a(n exclusive) "feature" of the Z lenses (the 24-105 is the same), in that you can use the un-clicked focus ring as a control ring, I guess for video; as an alternative to permanent disablement of the click stops on the control ring, which is otherwise the norm?  And then lose the ability to MF.  What a joke! 

It is "unfortunate", to say the least, that to do this they are using a mechanism (in the R7) that was intended for switching features of a very different class of lenses.  Furthermore, though the lens' manual states that the focus ring function can be switched in other bodies, I cannot see where this is done in the menu on my 5ii & 6ii, unless it has been added in very recent FW updates, though that is not noted in the update features, nor included in the manuals covering those FW updates, as far as I can see. 

Have they added that option to any of the video oriented R series cameras yet? 

[March411]

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@shadowsports wrote:

Control Ring behavior on the R7.  The default state of the control ring is disabled on the R7 unless you change it.  This is not a bug.   The focus ring can be used as the control ring by changing the camera settings.   However, when the focus ring is used as the control ring, the original control ring operation will be disabled. This is called out on page 9 of the lense's manual.  The behavior changes based on the body being used.  I also recommend you review the camera's manual "Customize Dials" to confirm expected  behaviors.

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Thanks Rick, I don't own and R7 but plan on changing that when the MkII is released.

Learn something new every day! I will keep this bit of information in my back pocket.

[shadowsports]

This has been a unexpected behavior of the Z series that takes many by surprise.  Myself included.