Canon R6 MK II - Autofocus Setup and Button Layout for Bird and Wildlife Photography

[@PeteGottfried]

Thanks for doing this. When I bought my R7 I used your settings video for that camera and now that I have my R6MkII, I came back for a refresher.

[@WILDALASKA]

Glad I could help!

[@swells5ca]

just got an r6ii and you have made the AF settings and custom button set up very easy - thx - best setup video on youtube

[@WILDALASKA]

glad it was helpful

[@davidbarr9475]

The part in his video I wanted you to see is right at the end. Thanks again.

[@WILDALASKA]

Glad it was helpful

[@robertbennett6410]

Another great video sir! This is the camera I finally ended up deciding on and ordering. Mainly due to the higher readout and fps on it. This video as all of yours is so helpful! THANK YOU and Merry Christmas up there!

[@WILDALASKA]

Glad I could help!

[@patkearney340]

Thank you! I needed help setting it up. This was most helpful.

[@WILDALASKA]

Glad it was helpful

[@adnanmansour8757]

Thank you for a most informative and helpful video.

[@WILDALASKA]

Glad it was helpful

[@mikek4464]

Helpful video, thanks for taking the time to provide it in an easy to understand way.

[@WILDALASKA]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ronaldbergkamp6483]

Thanks foor everything, just start shooting canon R6 M2

[@WILDALASKA]

nice

[@DJBastor]

Thx alot

[@WILDALASKA]

You're welcome!

[@karenrutkowski5363]

So very much help. Thank you!!!

[@WILDALASKA]

So glad!

[@WernerBirdNature]

Hi Scott, Thanks for providing us all with a good starting setup for shooting birds and wildlife with this camera. Of course, we're mostly looking forward to how you feel it works in nature, and what kind of shots it gets you. Seems like Duade was more enthusiastic about it than how I expected, but you seem to have a better way then him to toggle eye-AF ;-) Of course, the setup for this one is pretty similar to the R7 .. wondering how you'll get to grips to setting up the Z9, and whether it's eye-AF will be as good as this R6ii .. In any case, plenty of videos yet to come !

[@WILDALASKA]

Yes its a busy time for me with trying to get all these videos out. This one was a break in as i got my hands on the camera. I go for a 90% setup to get me not messing with settings in the field as thats how I miss shots ;) Duades video was fantastic. Real in depth. And like you said ill be more how does it feel and perform. SO fars its pretty nice little camera,

[@WernerBirdNature]

@@WILDALASKA I just made a 'mistake' by watching a YT about bear and a mistake .. and it was an excellent overview on how to plan such trip, and while it barely showed a bear, it strongly compels me to watch another YT about Katmai and Kodiak which I fear will extend my bucket list 😛 you know what I'll be doing the next 12 minutes ;-)

[@aajohnf]

Love your informative video. Any idea why the camera is focusing on an object next to a still bird instead of the spot I’m trying to focus on?

[@WILDALASKA]

have to see the image to guess

[@DanBetty]

Thanks great video !!

[@WILDALASKA]

Glad you liked it.

[@vinstyles]

brill, thanks

[@WILDALASKA]

Glad it helped

[@petervanvleet8215]

How do you keep the subject in focus once it takes flight, especially the smaller birds? The focal point stays where they launched when the button was fully pressed. Using the RF 100-400.

[@WILDALASKA]

you have to keep the af-on button pressed entire time they are flying for the af to keep it locked up. Also takes practice

[@petervanvleet8215]

@@WILDALASKA I think I figured out my main culprit, which I'm sure you cover in another video, which is the shutter speed, I switched from M to Tv and bumped the speed up to the max for conditions and everything is much better now. I'm curious on which AF you use more, Eye or Single-point. The birds move their heads so fast that eye seems to hard to stay locked on. And for the M-FN button you have controlling the whole-area subject tracking, when do you suggest toggling that? I have plenty of practice opportunities, from small birds to hawks (as well as turkey vultures that help finish off the hawk's self-caught meals) where I can get very close shots out of my back door (~30-50' range) to the feeding areas I have for them. I'm really enjoying the R6 MII w/the lens and 1.4x extender (1st time mirrorless user) and the Electronic silent mode really does the trick too (you show using the Volume setting in your vid but I don't think it applies for the Electronic mode).

[@u2me24all]

Was hoping to see your setup for exposure compensation. I am having trouble with that. I will be getting my rf 200-800 next week and will try this ring control. How do you control your EC.

[@WILDALASKA]

I shoot full manual so there is no exposure compensation

[@billybradley3669]

Hi Scott, Thanks for the setting for Bird & Wildlife Photography. I'm new to photography, is there different settings for Landscape and if so could you do a video on that please.

[@WILDALASKA]

Set up would be different for sure, but I really don't do the landscape stuff much.

[@philwolsey]

Hi Scott and thank you for this most helpful video. In programming the AE Lock Button (*) to 'Metering and AF Start', I notice that this setting has its own submenu, which appears when I tap INFO. You haven't mentioned this submenu or its correct settings, and I wondered if you could supply the settings as you would expect them to be, in case I've screwed them up as I wander around the menus, lost, bewildered and confused (be gentle with me, my self-esteem is taking a helluva beating in trying to understand this baffling camera and I'm beginning to doubt my own sanity). My particular settings for the Metering and AF Start submenu are as follows: Servo AF characteristics AUTO, AF operation ONE SHOT, AF area Spot AF, Whole area tracking Servo AF ON Subject to detect Animal, and Spot detection ON. I can't say I've completely grasped the relationship between the 3 programmed back buttons, (in fact I no longer understand anything) so I'm very much looking forward to the video you're hoping to complete on their use in the field. Best wishes from a whingeing Limey :-)

[@WILDALASKA]

set it to AF area Spot AF

[@debrapeasley2606]

I'm wandering around those same menus! Good to know I'm not alone. Thanks for the laugh, I needed it.

[@frednorman1]

I have watched this video and about four others, and everyone has a different way of doing things. I’m a little confused.

[@WILDALASKA]

the n ice thing about all the new mirrorless cameras is you can set them up for what works best for YOU. So test out each setup and find what works and doesn't work for you then mutate them into your setup for your shooting needs.

[@grischafario]

I have set up as you did. When pressing eye detection and follow through whole area, it follows the eye. But only the detection. Meaning that when the subject comes towards me, the field sticks to the eye, but it is not continuously adapting focus. Do I have to constantly press and hold the eye AF button? Maybe you can make a video showing live scenes and explaining what you are doing?

[@WILDALASKA]

yes you need to hold the eye AF button for the entire time if the animal is moving. That's why we turn on the servo int eh AF menu also. I plan on working up a how to use the AF for the new mirrorless canon cameras this month.

[@paulomateus3083]

Great one, thanks! Just wondering what would you change for video?

[@WILDALASKA]

just change framerate to 1080p 180fps

[@paulomateus3083]

@@WILDALASKA so no change at all for your autofocus settings?

[@WILDALASKA]

@@paulomateus3083 just change to animal is it

[@francis.k.jfranco9488]

Sir please send canonr6markii wedding photography settings and tips

[@WILDALASKA]

Love to but I'm a wildlife photographer sorry

[@grischafario]

Hi, thanks a lot for your pro-tips! I would like to know why you put the 'subject tracking over the whole screen" on that button next to the shutter, and not let it be active by default? This asked I admit I am a newbee and just bought the R5M2 and I feel very happy for your configuring tips - having full control on your fingertips is good 😃👍

[@WILDALASKA]

If you leave it on you cannot use single point. it will jump to any subject that it detects

[@nordic5490]

Where can I buy the R5mkII ?

[@grischafario]

@@nordic5490 r6m2

[@jpprovost64]

Thanks you ! again super video .. question for you ...i have the R7 about 2 month .. i love it ... and i just buy the R6mk2 ... i did youre ajustement just now .. i will try it ... question what do you think about the feature on the R6 the crop factor auto .. X1.6 for the quality ... goes down to 9 MP ... for media i think its enough ? what do you think ! thanks you Boss youre excellent ! sorry for my spelling im a frnch from Montreal Quebec !

[@WILDALASKA]

Good question. You can achieve the same thing in post AND since you didn't crop the image in camera, you can adjust the crop in post vs if you cropped in camera your stuck with that crop of composition and you can't re-adjst that. The only time I throw a camera in crop is to see if I have enough pixels on the subject for in post crop. I just prefer the flexibility in post vs being stuck in. box in post. 9 MP is enough if you have enough pixels on the subject ( feathers not shy pixelated, etc)

[@RVNmedic]

Very nice. I'm going to try out these settings. What about exposure comp? Where do you have that? I usually shoot Auto ISO.

[@WILDALASKA]

I shoot manual ISO. Auto ISO will push the exposure at times where I do not want it. Also if it is nit where you want it and you need to adjust and say the exposure for iso is like 800 and you move your iso dial it starts at 100 and moves up and that is time wasted in a hurried situation

[@RVNmedic]

@@WILDALASKA Thanks Scott. That's usually when I use exposure comp.

[@chrisserino9757]

Thank you for the video! So if the whole subject tracking is off, can you still track the eye with the Af-on button? When would you want to enable whole subject tracking?

[@WILDALASKA]

So for me as soon as I hit the eye AF button it grabs it almost immediately. The only reason I see using the subject detect is to see where it sees the eye. But it is sooo fast to detect I don't use it and it messes my single points or pre focuses up. And you can just toggle it on and off at will. Now remember if you toggle it on and take it shot, it will switch off and you have to tap the button you assigned for it to come back on and for me that's the M-FN button.

[@RogerJones-mountfield]

Use C-Raw rather than RAW the difference isn’t visible and it saves so much room

[@WILDALASKA]

It'd very visible if you use DXO Pure RAW. Software states that for full processing use RAW

[@davidbarr9475]

I accidentally put tracking on right eye and can't get it to back up to auto

[@WILDALASKA]

Should be able to go back in the settings. If it still won't cooperate, just reset the camera from the Yellow Wrench menu.

[@davidbarr9475]

@@WILDALASKA ok thank you Scott 😊

[@NikosRentas]

Thanks for the video. I just picked mine up. Does the buffer take forever to unload for you too? I have the prograde uhs 2 v90. I put it on high speed mode and oh man I'm waiting.

[@WILDALASKA]

Not really. When I used the V90 it seemed to clear pretty fast but I also feather my shutter and don't hit the buffer limit. Now when I forgot my V90 this morning and was using a v30 I never hit the buffer but when I went to change to video immediately after taking a burst of shots it said "busy...." If you haven't watched my R7 videos it may help as I talk a lot about the buffer and feathering your shots to never hit that buffer.

[@NikosRentas]

@@WILDALASKA Hmm. Interesting. Yeah, this is horribly slow. Feathering won't help. Thanks for getting back to me.

[@petrisonkeri9604]

Thanks for the video. I tried your setup. Now, even when i have whole area tracking off, there is a box with single corners on the subject (birds eye), i then try to press star to do center spot focus and the box on birds eye turns blue - not the single center spot. Why is that? What have i done wrong? If i press af-on the focus goes to eye as well as expected. If i press M-fn to enable whole area subject tracking the box on subject changes to full double box. So i do not quite figure out how the whole area subject tracking works - any idea where to find proper explanation of it?

[@petrisonkeri9604]

Is the subject to detect button supposed to be none or animals? Just noticed that in my earlier setup the subject to detect was set to none and then also the single spot focus worked and af-on button started eye focus... However, no idea whether eye focus was on auto, animals or something else then..

[@WILDALASKA]

I would reset the camera and start again. You will get the white box but the single point button in my setup should over ride that

[@pimdiesel860]

My single rawburst mode photo is 1620 - 1080 ?? my setting is 6000 - 4000 normal!

[@WILDALASKA]

👍

[@dereklees]

Great video. I have recently purchased a Canon R6 Mkii (Firmware Ver. 1.1.1), as an upgrade from my R6 Mki. I have the camera set up for 2 button back focus, with all settings as described in your video. The eye focus works perfectly. However, the spot focus does not remain on the designated area, but searches around similar to eye focus. I have tried disabling the eye focus plus several other settings but cannot cure the problem. I have noticed the AF Menu No.1 is slightly different to your version, which lists AF Operation, AF Area, Whole area tracking Servo AF, Subject to detect, Eye detection, and Switching tracked subjects. There is no Focus mode in my menu. Any ideas what is causing the problem?

[@WILDALASKA]

reset the camera and start over. You have to have whole area off and set your AF method to single point as the af start and metering will pick up whatever is in your AF Method setting on the camera. Also go watch my video on how to use the canon AF. You only want to hit single point for a tap, nit a press and hold.

[@dereklees]

@@WILDALASKA Thank you for your reply, will try out your advice and see if that works.

[@petrisonkeri9604]

At 4:46 you have on AF-menu 1 an item called "Focus mode" under "Switching tracked subjects". On my R6 mk ii (firmware 1.1.1) there is no such menu item. Why is that?

[@WILDALASKA]

I don't have the camera so I cant check what it says there. The menus in the video were what the camera had when I filmed.

[@nixland]

Thanks for sharing. Any demo video where you use the setting on the field?

[@WILDALASKA]

In the review video kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6uWc3-bl7WnY7M

[@teethtrainsandcameras2668]

Hi, what output will your Ninja V support? Can it capture 6k RAW at 30fps? Thx

[@WILDALASKA]

Per Atomos: Video Input HDMI 1 x HDMI (2.0) 4K p60 HDMI RAW Apple ProRes RAW up to 6K SDI Optional via AtomX SDI module SDI RAW Optional with AtomX SDI module + SDI RAW activation Bit Depth 8/10-bit Video / RAW up to 12-bit Video Chroma Subsampling 4:2:2 HDCP copy protection Not supported

[@davidbarr9475]

One more question Scott. Is dual pixel raw supposed to be enabled? It comes disabled. Thanks

[@WILDALASKA]

You have to enable it. Its not anything I use. there's a lot of videos on its pros and cons

[@davidbarr9475]

@@WILDALASKA thanks for all your help Scott I was able to reset camer and get back to auto eye detect. Remember I was stuck and menu wouldn't allow me to jump back up to auto. Resetting took care of it. Appreciate you. I can tell already the potential of this camera and hopefully by the end of March when my osprey return I will have the r6 mk.2 figured out. Alot to learn. Thanks again

[@Ed-dv2ij]

Interesting addition to Canon's range. Seems like they are focused on getting their consumers using the electronic shutter, be interested in how it actually preforms at 40 FPS; getting to the point where it becomes more annoying deleting that many photos. Looking forward to the Z9 videos. Ed

[@WILDALASKA]

it shoots 40fps. you just have to adjust your shutter finger so you don't get a zillion shots

[@davidbarr9475]

Hey Scott I pretty much set my new r6 mk.2 following your video. I'm doing ok and getting some nice images. Coming from a 6d and having just that center focus point all the time seemed so easy. I seem to get frustrated cause I feel sometimes the focus is like all over the place especially if a small bird is in some branches. I watched a video I was hoping you might take a look at that seems like it let's you go back to a center focus point. My question is I wonder if you can still aquire eye detect on the bird. I don't care if you don't get back to me for a few days I know you're busy. I just didn't really know any other way to ask you. So sorry for the long message. The video I seen this on was dude Paton Canon R6 mk.2 Better in every way except for..... it was posted 2 days ago. No hurry. And thanks so much 🙏

[@francis.k.jfranco9488]

Sir please wedding photography settings and tips

[@WILDALASKA]

So the setup I use is for 2 focus methods: 1 animal eye detect in full field of view 2 single point where ever you want to put it. In a small bird in a bunch of branches, use the star button from my setup for single point. If the single point has moved away from the center then just push in the joystick and t will recenter. The eye detect will get lost on a small bird in a lot of branches unless you can get it large in the frame. All systems , Sony, Nikon, and canon, will have this issue. Anytime the eye detect gets lost just use the star button for single point to get focus plane then try again or just stay on single point. Also increase your iso or something to increase contrast of your subject if the AF gets lost.

[@davidbarr9475]

@@WILDALASKA thanks so much Scott as you always get back with me. I think I need to set up in custom settings the thing that allows me to return to center. I seen someone showing how to set that. I thought it came that way? But yes even that will help me being able to return to center quickly.

[@davidbarr9475]

@@WILDALASKA is there an icon I'm looking for or did I miss it following along in your video when I set up my custom buttons. To return my focus to center. When I'm looking through my viewfinder I hit set my focus point does not return to center. I did see an icon in custom settings that said return focus to center. Is that what I want? I'm so sorry this is a little crazy coming from my 6d lol

[@davidbarr9475]

I got it Scott!!!! Thanks 😊