T6i : best AF setting to shoot movies without putting your hands on the camera

[beatman]

Hello there,

I'm new to the Rebel T6i and I'm having some issues while trying to shoot movies.
When I film, I never have the camera on my hands cause I work with a 'cage' - a support that you attach the camera to it to have more stability and also put light and microphone on it.

Well, that said, I can't keep touching the screen to focus on the objects I want to focus. So I'd like to know if you guys have any  hints on what is the best AF set on the T6i for this purpose.

Thanks a lot!

[Waddizzle]

The T6i camera lacks the ability to perform AF tracking in video mode, AFAIK.   It lacks "Dual Pixel AF".  If the T6i does have that type of image sensor, then your manual can teill you how to use it.

[beatman]

Nope, T6i does have AF tracking in video mode (3 types, actually).
My question leans towards user experience - i.e: I wonder if someone is already experienced using T6i for shooting movies so I can get some hint on how to properly set it.

Thanks anyway.

[kvbarkley]

But they are contrast detection modes not at all like the Dual pixel AF.

[beatman]

I am aware of that. But still, even with an AF set not so tight (by far) as the dual pixel AF, there are probably some ways you can set the AF to get your job done. Today I've tried some different things and I'm improving on it.

The bad thing is I am asking myself here if somehow I've put my money on the wrong equipament. 

[kvbarkley]

You did, you bought a still image camera for video.

[theandies]

There is a mode to track objects.  Can't remember what it's called at the moment and I'm work and don't have the time to look it up. Look in the manual, it's there.  When in this mode tap on the object you want to track and it will keep the focus on it.  Not the best but it works when I video my son playing Lacrosse.

I agree, if you bought this camera for video you may have wasted your money.  For the amount of money a T6i is you could have bought a kick-azz video camera.

[beatman]

I have read the entire manual and yes, AF Tracking method (tapping the LCD screen) works absolutely fine. 
The only counterpart is that - as I've described on the title - for some shots I can't put my hands on the camera. For that purpose I'm now testing different sets (ISO/apertures/shutterspeed) on manual mode + AF Flexizone (AF that doesn't require tapping). I will see how it works.
What would be the killer video cameras I could've bought for same price as the T6i? Just for research, who knows, maybe I can make a deal here.

[Waddizzle]

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@beatman wrote:

I am aware of that. But still, even with an AF set not so tight (by far) as the dual pixel AF, there are probably some ways you can set the AF to get your job done. Today I've tried some different things and I'm improving on it.

The bad thing is I am asking myself here if somehow I've put my money on the wrong equipament. 

---

There is a significant difference between being to AF in video mode, and AF focus tracking in video mode.  The former is manually activated, very much like One Shot focusing mode with stills.  The latter is more comparable to AI Servo when shooting stills, which cameras with "Dual Pixel AF" image sensors can do.

The 80D is very good at tracking faces in video mode, but you must still manually activate it.  In other words, you cannot do something to the camera, and then move in front of it and TAA-DAA, automatic camera man.  Nothing can do that.

[beatman]

T6i has AI Servo, AI Focus, live tracking mode, etc. I've made lots of new tests today and it worked great.
I'm just new to the equipment, that's all.
At the end of the day, all I had to do was change my approach - I have to touch the lcd screen to control it - no matter what- that's all.