weird pulsing focus during video interviews with r6ii

[sylentbob3]

I recently puchased the r6ii, and am having focus problems when shooting interviews.

The focus is "pulsing" every minute or so, like its hunting focus.

Im using human detection, with eye focus turned on.

Anyone can guide me to what Im doing wrong? As the footage isnt so useable as is

Ive included samples below

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/secqnts8yt6cn3amm3s5z/focus-problems.mp4?rlkey=whax1ruj21j78olmyy7p52...

[deebatman316]

What lenses are being used. 3rd Party lenses are known to have problems with newer cameras.

[sylentbob3]

Hi, thanks for your reply, im using both the 50mm rf and 85 ef with official canon adapter.

[deebatman316]

Are these Canon lenses or 3rd Party lenses with the EF Mount. Also please list the full names of the lenses. 

[sylentbob3]

Hi, the lenses are canon lenses (not third party)

The Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM with official canon adapter, and 

Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM

[grahamcopeland]

When recording video of a stationary subject, your best bet is to use an external monitor. This allows you to view the overall image on the large external monitor and use the camera’s monitor to check focus in magnified mode. At this point you can turn off the autofocus. Any autofocus is prone to hunting for focus and that’s a sure way to ruin an interview. 

[Waddizzle]

The issue of focusing pulsing has been a recent topic in social media, particularly on YouTube.  I think the issue is 100% operator error. 

If you are using a tripod, then make sure Image Stabilization is disabled and turned off.  Also, be sure to always be cognizant of MFD, minimum focus distance, for the lens you are using, particularly with longer focal length zooms.

[sylentbob3]

Thanks guys, unfortunately, neither of these solutions are really practical. I do use a monitor, and ive been monitoring the focus issue, IS is also off.

Its weird because the eos r that i own, has rock solid focus for interviews. 

I bought the r6ii (which is much more expenive than the r, as we know) with hopes that the autofocus would be better, not worse.

Im happy to hear any ideas about how this is user error, but not sure what to fix?

Turning off the auto focus seems like a major cop out for a $2500 camera, in 2023. 

Anyhow, happy to hear any practical ideas 

[grahamcopeland]

I understand the frustration. I have had cameras of all prices with autofocus behaving bad, often at the worst time. This is why turning it off, monitoring it carefully, and making adjustments by hand is the only way to guarantee results 100% of the time.

[Waddizzle]

The 6 second video clip appears to have a “jump cut” in the middle of it.  Is that the issue?

That issue has the appearance of some type of edit, perhaps a brief loss of signal.  This is why it is often referred to as a “jump cut”.  The video stream seems to jump forward in time, as if a small piece of the video stream were removed.

Are you recording in the camera?  If so, what memory card are you using?

What video configuration are you using?  Is your memory card capable of handling the bandwidth?