Canon R5 Mk. II and Canon R1 Auto Focus Behavior

[@PaPaMoSSi]

Thank you for another fantastic tutorial! One feature I really miss with the R5 II is the ability to switch to video using the M-Fn button. I truly hope Canon finds a way to bring this functionality back in a future update. Another aspect where the R5 II lags is metering to the focus points. While it’s not a dealbreaker, it would be a great feature to have. I always look forward to your videos and settings suggestions, so please keep them coming. Wishing you all the best!

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

Hey, thanks so much and thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. Ron

[@JaredRibic]

22:55 - R1 - half-press spot and full-press whole area AF. I've noticed the same thing. I was really looking forward to this in the R1, where I could use the smart controller to put the single point AF where I want it, and if I'm caught off guard (focus point too far away), I could just push harder (full-press) and the camera would take over via whole area AF. In theory, that's exactly what I want. In practice, it's not as good as I imagined. Hopefully Canon will fine tune this in an upcoming firmware update.

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

I agree. I like the concept, but it needs improvement in the button feel and how the AF performs. Thanks so much for watching and adding your experience to the discussion.

[@kennethlui2268]

Cool video. I am using zone AF a lot with R5II. With improved AF and pre-capture, R5II is a game changer for me.

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

Hey, thanks for watching. Cheers, Ron

[@christyp-HI]

My R1 settings for now: Since you reported before that the R1’s full press is tiring, I decided to use half press as my AF start (single point/4pt and AFTER selecting my point with the Smart Controller - bam!) and then to start tracking with a full press (only hold down when needed). Bouncing blue boxes (when letting the camera do too much) is distracting to me/slows me down, so I try to avoid them . I also use sensitivity +1 (faster acquisition and then re-pump as needed). If the subject is stationary in foliage, then I use One Shot on the * button (instantaneous/won’t grab something more contrasty and it’s also easier to focus in front of the eye w/mammals and super telephoto lenses). This is just an extension of my R3 settings and probably why I couldn’t get use to the R5 (no Smart Controller on the AF -On button/only full frame tracking). I only use zone when I’m unable to track fast/erratic subjects. Re: gloves, I just ordered/received 66 North’s WindPro touchscreen gloves which works with this setup. Note: their sizing is quite snug but probably will stretch out.

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

I really appreciate your detailed breakdown of your AF settings! Glad my videos are helpful in your setting your camera up.

[@Mark-i4h7r]

Ron, great video thank you, I have found that for the cases, a better one that gives me more sticky and less jumping off the subject is, Case AUTO and RESPONSIVE 1. This is by far the best that works for me with the R5II and RF600. Another thing I'd like to mention, when the defocus area is back focussed on a far background, the eye af struggles to bring it back to a closer subject. If you front focus closer to you then the distance of the subject and than go onto the subject you'll find that eye af works much much better in finding the subject. So I normally make sure the focus is closer to me than the subject is when I'm trying to find it and have the system focus on it. So I will normally spot af to something closer then the distance of the subject and than let the system find the subject with zone af

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

I'm glad you shared your experience and suggestions! Thanks much. Ron

[@Mark-i4h7r]

@@whistlingwingsphotography yes, from my experience since the mirrorless cameras came out (all of them with phase detect). I find they focus much better from front to back, than from back to front.

[@stevenwaldstein2249]

Thank you for the video. Just last week I added the R5 Mark II after selling one of my two Sony A1’s but just getting it set up. Currently I have no plans to add an R1 but it’s nice to see how they compare. Have an older 1DX Mark II to compare them to as well. Take care.

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. Ron

[@mikechapman1280]

Hi Ron, great vid again, I think it maybe highlights that the R1is a niche camera for the pros, when getting a picture in rain or shine means a pay cheque, low light and speed make it brilliant sports etc.I think for all us hobbyists R5 is best option, especially if you can only afford one camera !

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

A good way to look at it I think. The more I use the two cameras I am leaning toward the R5II for my bird work. The AF is just more consistent than the R1's even with the changes I made to setup and all the various setup combos I have tried. R5II is better on finding and sticking with a bird in flight under so many different scenarios.

[@mikechapman1280]

@@whistlingwingsphotography Thanks for reply, makes me feel better about my choice

[@geoffreyinniss6036]

Great video as usual Ron. Just curious was that the 200 - 800 in the video and what camo skin did you have on it.

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

Yep, 200-800mm. It is a material called Mossy Oak Graphics. You can buy it in rolls. You need to cut it to fit your particular lens. This is the exact stuff: amzn.to/42wbQZt

[@petere6036]

Thanks for the new video. I also disabled the dual function on the R1 for half press. Canon should fix this with firmware, otherwise this function is useless. With gloves the function is hard to use anyway. Looking forward to more videos!

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

I agree. I am also continuing to find the AF just is not as good in sticking with a bird as the R5II's even with the dual function not being used. It is better, but still not as good. Cheers, Ron

[@mvp_kryptonite]

Very interesting point about that dual button setup with the zone full press having less accuracy from what I could see. Might be worth liaising with Canon on that one. These cameras are awesome! Canon imo should continue their AF mastery in their next batch of cameras R6iii and R7 II whilst enlarging their viewfinders. The 200-500/4 might even be f5.6 but the f4 makes the most sense to me!

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

Thanks so much for watching. I greatly appreciate the comment. Ron

[@gavinrowley960]

Hi Ron another great in-depth video interesting not a lot to choose maybe personal preference would really like option on R1 full press pre capture that would be great may be on a future software update 🤔take care Gavin from England

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

Thanks for sharing and for watching. Ron

[@DavidMaciasPhoto]

I disabled the dual button as you did as I also was having the same problems.

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

More and more I am finding the R1's AF is just not doing as well as the R5II's for the shooting scenarios I am shooting, even with the dual function disabled. Perhaps the Cross-type AF is having a negative affect on overall performance.

[@Kellysher]

I’m still using the R5, but find these interesting to watch. Maybe this is the monitor you’re attaching to the camera, but how are you getting that round circle in the middle of the zone? Thanks

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

The circle appears when you set you camera to Spot Metering. I shot in full Manual exposure, so the metering mode I set does not matter to my exposure. I set to Spot Metering because I use the circle to help me track fast subjects. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment. Ron

[@gossedejong9248]

thank you, Sir!!

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

You are welcome!

[@JePeVePe]

One downside of the 30 frames per second and 15 pre recording (of the R5)... you end up with massive amount of photo's ;) One day of windsurfing photography, now easily surpasses the 5000. The prerecording (when half pressed focus) is very nice btw. For me, the R5mkII is now my new 'sports' camera, and I'm not sure why I still keep the R3, since, I doubt I'll use that one for windsurfing. The 'tracking block' the R5 has, is for me awesome, since with windsurfing on a rough sea, with waves everywhere, the focus tend to 'shifts' to a wave. Or if I pushed the AF button fraction to fast, seeing action, sometimes the AF is on the wave, not the surfer. In the older 1D's, you didn't know, only later with editing you could see if the AF followed the surfer or the wave. Now, you can actually see where the camera is 'aiming' at. The different setting for AF... I changed some , learned at some youtube clips like yours, but ... I do find it difficult to remember, which button then was defined to what. I'm more the kind of guy just wanting the action in the frame, if I have to figure out which AF setting I want, I clearly miss the action. I clearly never use the 'zone' AF since , it's way to unpredictable for windsurfing. In earlier days I kept the windsurfer mostly in the 'middle', where mostly my 'start AF point' is, but now with the R5mkII, it keeps the windsurfer good in focus, so I can just 'not move the camera', which gives me the possibility to make a small movie clip from the photo's.... guys love that rightnow (allthough, gives me tons of photo's ;) ). With the R3,... it sometimes 'lost' the focus halfway... with the older D1's I couldn't rely on it anyway. So I now have to 'de-learn' not to move the camera while somebody is doing a jump ;) I skip the R1.... it's expensive, and... the R5mkII is a 'multi purpose' camera now for me. I keep the R3 for video I think, and also the R8 en R, so I have 4 camera's for videosessions (I record 'interviews' and podcast stuff). I haven't used the R5mkII for that, but the old R5 had some issues. First ofcourse the still the risk of overheating, which forced me to mostly use a monitor like Shogun V, second, the face recognition , eye detecting, I didn't like it very much . In the studio, when guests wear glasses or moved their head, the R5 had some 'breathing', small adjustments going forth and back a bit, which made the material unusable. Weirdly , the R and R8 are way better in that... (and for video, the image quality is just as good) Ow and sure I do need that batterygrip for the R5mkII... in the studio I use those adaptors to power it by PD powerbanks, but... to be honest, since it's then all depend on the cable/connection.... I rather have a 'solid' battery... but with those LP6 batteries... they drain to fast for for example longer shoots.

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

Thanks for watching and your insights. Ron

[@wasil3k]

I wish i got money to get r5, anyway thanks for video ! :)

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

Thanks for watching. Ron

[@jnx611]

I have been using both cameras with the 200-800 for the past month or so photographing kestrels and kingfishers in flight, to me the R5ii grabs birds quicker and is much stickier than the R1. I've tried every AF servo setting on the R1 but it just isn't as locked on as the R5ii, I thought I was the only one with this problem but seems like you are getting it as well. The R1 advantage is 2-3 stops advantage of higher ISO than the R5ii and the EVF, however I'll most likely sell it and keep the R5ii and buy a 400 RF or 600RF with the extra funds.

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

I'm glad you shared your experience with both cameras. I agree with you. The more I use the two cameras and am in different shooting scenarios the more I like the R5II's AF. Not using the dual function AF-ON helps with the issue, but it still is not as good as the R5II. Ron

[@colintraveller]

Does ethier user who happens to be on KZbin .. Honestly said in a video that the R5Mrk2 takes a better pic than the R5 ...or even the R1 takes a better pic than the R3 .. Nope .....And the average joe public wouldn't know the difference nor would many Togs .... Buying an expensive Camera doesm't make the buyer / user an instant pro .. It takes years of experience and the willingness to learn the craft and the camera

[@mikede2464]

Maybe by "better pictures" he meant better image quality? I have the R3 and the R1. R1 is sharper than the R3-was surprised how much when I got the R1. R1 is also significantly better in low light to my eyes. 51,600 is not only 100% useable-it is even good quality whenever I have to shoot that high. It is so good, that I'm able to use a slower, variable-aperture zoom (RF 100-500 4.5-7.1) indoors to shoot gymnastics. Before my R1 had to use a 2.8 in such situations. I would therefore agree with the youtuber, that the R1 takes better **quality** pictures than the R3 to my eye. But I would expect as much given it is the latest generation Canon 1 series camera.

[@cooloox]

You're stating the obvious but denying the fact one camera makes it much easier than another. No matter how much skill and experience you have, one camera will give a higher hit rate than another, simple fact. E.g. 7D Mk II is rubbish by modern standards. A subject can drift in and out of focus even though the AF points were on the subject the whole time! This is far less likely to happen on an R1 than an R5/R6.

[@mikede2464]

​@@cooloox In my experience shooting over the years with the 5D, D700, D3000, A9ii, A1, R3 and now the R1 I agree that modern auto focus systems, higher burst rates, and larger buffers make it easier to get the "decisive shot" in fast moving situations like sports. But for other genres super fast accurate-tracking auto focus has much less of an impact. That being said, even modern auto focus systems only deal with one aspect of focus-subject accusation. They do nothing for the depth of the focus which is a critical aspect of getting a good shot. And beyond focus, everything else related to getting a good shot-most importantly exposure-has changed little over the years. Well....OK...maybe real time zebra's on Sony has makes getting the right exposure easier but I don't believe it's much easier (and keep in mind that Canon and Nikon both do not have real time zebra's in photo mode-their exposure systems are stuck in the DSLR era). For those reasons I not sure modern camera's make getting a good shot **much** easier. Maybe much easier when it comes to subject acquisition only?

[@whistlingwingsphotography]

The fact that you can see your exposure through the viewfinder, zebras or not, is a huge advancement and makes it much easier to get good exposures, especially for those new to photography. I work with hundreds of photographers each year and this change alone is mentioned as a reason for people being so much happier with their photography experience.

[@mikede2464]

@@whistlingwingsphotography Good point! Yup...forgot about that one!!! 🙂LOL.... It's been so long since I used a D-SLR. Both exposure, along with autofocus, are indeed significantly easier in modern times.