Self Timer Auto Focus Setting Suggestion

[oskareichler]

In Self Timer mode the focus and exposure are being set the moment that the timer is triggered and is then locked in until the timer runs down and takes the photo.

It would be great if there was a setting that allows for continuous auto-adjusting of focus and exposure while the timer is running in order to track the subject. Often the self timer is being used to take photos alone, and the person taking the picture needs to move close to the camera to trigger the timer but then again move back into frame, so allowing to track the target and adjusting the focus / exposure would be awesome!

Making this a setting an on/off setting to either lock / auto adjust in self timer drive mode will be an awesome update across all firmwares that I think will be a huge improvement to usability.

[Waddizzle]

Most people with this problem use a smart device running Canon Connect across Wi-Fi.

[oskareichler]

Sure I understand that there are workarounds by using a remote, but definitely not an optimal solution. I think having a setting that toggles between locked / dynamic makes a lot of sense...

[Waddizzle]

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@oskareichler wrote:

Sure I understand that there are workarounds by using a remote, but definitely not an optimal solution. I think having a setting that toggles between locked / dynamic makes a lot of sense...

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Forget about it.  The camera is not omnipotent, nor able to read your mind.  

The camera requires an operator to tell it where and what to focus on.  Sure, the camera can track things.  But tracking begins with you pointing the camera’s AF point at your subject.  

It is not good at self-discovery.  Using the right lens and focusing distance, it is possible to capture an entire scene in sharp focus.  Tracking is not necessary.

[oskareichler]

That's definitely true that for professionals the current setting makes a lot of sense, but having an optional switch that tries to auto-focus / expose dynamically makes a lot of sense for more entry level use cases. 

The camera is great at keeping focus of faces and eye detection, or when shooting video, so I don't see why this can't be an optional setting to improve usability.

[Waddizzle]

“ The camera is great at keeping focus of faces and eye detection, or when shooting video, so I don't see why this can't be an optional setting to improve usability. “

Yes, it is.  Someone must press and hold a button pressed to make it track and refocus on a subject.

[EDIT] Even video modes require a button be pressed in order for it to track subjects.  The button is called the {RECORD].button.

[oskareichler]

Well it's all software... pressing a button just means that the camera tries to find the best focus point in frame in that moment in time. I get that from a professional standpoint that control is important and necessary, but also the software in the camera should be perfectly capable to keep focus after pressing record, as it literally does this before pressing record as well...

To stay competitive with smart phone cameras that keep improving and that do all this stuff automatically, I do think allowing for such settings makes sense to give the user the choice of how they want to use the camera.

But I do see that you are being quite defensive over it, so if the manual way is how you want to approach things then that's fine, though a bit restrictive in my opinion...