Such a practical explanation in the field. Makes complete sense when you show it and give the examples right in the camera, so appreciated. You've gained a subscriber. Thanks!
Scott, I appreciate your defense of these mirrorless AF systems and your explanation of how to manage the different focal planes involved when an eagle sits in a tree with branches before and behind the bird. But don’t you agree that focusing on this eagle would have been easier with the older DSLR cameras? I have learned to deal with these complicated focus situations by tweaking the focus manually on my R7, but I never had to do that with my 7D Mark II.
It would be more difficult on a DSLR in almost all cases as you would have to maneuver your focus point on the dslr. And you wouldn't be sure of you focus on the dslr in that situation. You would have to hope it was on the bird and not the tree especially as your center point may be larger than the head and that doesn't tell you which it hits. With the mirrorless you know the focus hit the bird by the focus jumping to the head. Also if your shooting 9 point focus as we usually did with dslr, you would have to change to single point then back to 9point or stay on single. With the mirrorless you have the 2 buttons you instantly bounce between. Mirrorless does 2 things that are HUGE in wildlife photography: 1 the eye and tracking and ability to frame/compose and let the focus point stay on the bird/animal and much higher keeper rates and less re-comp in post 2 EVF to see your exposure in real time vs having to constantly review your shots
@@WILDALASKA good points you raise here. I am still struggling to adapt to my R5 from the 7DII , and to some extent agreed with Dave’s point of view. But, now having watched this video, and reading your explanation , I think I need to practice more so that the method you use becomes second nature. Thanks.
Great video. I’m struggling with subject detect vs eye detect and how to use. Do you use at same time? For example, today I’m taking photos of salmon jumping. I sometimes can see their eyes (so do I use eye detect), but it’s tough to predict where they will be in the viewfinder. I’m presetting focus for where I think they will be with the star button. I can think of many analogous settings (whales breaching…). Can you explain (or point me to an explanation)? Much appreciated!
This was great and helped explain the r10 setup video you did, thank you. I still don't get home the subject tracking works with this. I customized my multi-function button to start animal tracking and it does, but then those boxes all disappear when I auto focus. Is the tracking kind of prepping the camera for where to autofocus? Kind of like how you we're showing to use the single point button to kind of show the camera beforehand where you want it to autofocus.
You’re so right Scott the gap between life and death is so narrow we are only here once so try and grab what you can and enjoy it. Glad you are ok and the memory will fade. All the best
Can I ask when using BBF like this, do you disable eye tracking and subject tracking in the menu and just use back button to anable eye tracking ? I use M-Fn to turn subject tracking on and off.
you mentioned on the R10 set up video that you set your M-Fn button to toggle tracking on and off. Could you explain in what situations you would use that in addition to the AF-On and * buttons in the field, which you covered in this video?
When you want to change subject. 2 birds in the frame and if you hit it, it will track both and give you arrows you can use the dead to change subjects
Q: if i set star to Spot Focus, and look at the BB settings, (select Star), there you can choose "INFO-DETAIL SET", left lower corner. Should you do something over there? You can select different settings there, for exemple "SERVO" or "ONE SHOT" etc.
You can if you need to for your shooting style, but the setup guide I ave on here covers 99.5% of my shooting needs. ruclips.net/video/YE6iyp16lb4/видео.html
@@WILDALASKA Thx. I'm using all your settings as you show in the video already. But i don't understand why to set everything again at that "INFO-DETAIL SET" button. Or isn't that necessary to set it again over there?
Hello and thank you for your video, I am French and the translation on youtube is a little random, if I understand correctly you have set the AF button on with eye detection, animal tracking, af / activation measurement and on the star button only AF? Thanks for your answer
Nice job explaining the BBF concept and functionality. I love the R7 for wildlife but struggle with AF a bit. It’s phenomenal but inconsistent. I tend to hold eye AF on eve with stationary birds and wonder if that’s the issue. Thanks for point this out. One question: i don’t understand what the point of the tracking in/off option on the r7 when using BBF with Af-on assigned to eye Af. Isn’t eye AF engaging tracking and eye AF (when possible). For example, if you hold AF ON on a BIF, will it provide the maximum tracking capability or do I need to also engage tracking?
Are you talking about the M-Fn button that turns on and off the subject tracking? Its more usable if you have multiple birds and want to use the arrow boxes to change which bird you have in focus. For me I almost never use it. SO you just use the AF-On button for subject detection (autofocus) for all scenarios.
Awesome explanation of how these buttons work. I just got the R7 and watched your video of how to set it up. To be honest i was a little bit confused of why these two buttons were setup that way. Now I know. I have not used the camera yet on the field, but now I have a better understanding. I was a Nikon and a Sony shooter, for me is the first time using a Canon. Thanks for taking your time and explaining these back buttons and the autofocus system. I have a quick question for birds in flight other than using a faster shutter speed is it the same concept other than holding the AF to keep focus? Any short cuts or settings for fast moving birds? Thanks.
It works the same for BIF. Just hold the af-on button and keep the bird in the viewfinder. Pretty simple. The AF cases help with BIF, but I leave mine on auto and I don't miss. Canon AF setup makes it easier than the other 2 manufacturers as the af works on walking and BIF the same.
@@WILDALASKA I have one more question, should I buy a 400mm 5.6 old lens or a 100-400mm 5.6. The RF 100-400mm 5.6 to f8 is okay when there is plenty of light, but struggles in the shadows at F8. Thanks and sorry to bother.
Thank you! You have demystified the R7 AF universe for me! I've been having trouble controlling it, but I'm ready to go try again! My big aha! moment was "quick press" of AF button for single point focus while still in servo AF mode! I was holding it down. This is great!
Great video! On my R7 when I go to customize the back buttons, there is "Eye Detection" & "Eye Detection AF" which one would I use for the AF ON button? Thank you
I don't have the camera in front of me right now, but its the eye symbol if I remember correctly. The 2 setup videos I have on the channel walk you through which one to use. Let me know if you still have issues after watching those and I can see what I can do
Another issue for me by BF (R7 with Sigma 100-400 or 150-600). How to get the bird, when it quickly flies over, fast in focus? The focus system is searching and, when not good "aimed", can't find the bird in the frame. How to improve that speed? I'm missing a lot of that birds flying over and the camera isn't able to catch it in time (my fold). Bird gone, to slow/late .... :)
2 things. 1) that lens will not function as well as canon lenses as it can hunt a bit. 2) practice. Getting used to watching the bird and pulling the camera to your eye and staying with the bird. Best way is to start with slower birds and raking try focus our to 100 or so and then zooming in. After a bit you can be at that 400 or 600 and do it. You have find it fuzzy and hit the focus button THEN and not before as it will lock on out I space somewhere.
Hey Scott I'm going to be honest with you, I've tried like 3 different wildlife setups for the R6mk2. The only time I seen to get good eye auto focus tracking is a predator bird in flight. I was just out a little bit ago with a juvenile bald eagle that was pretty small in the screen which I'm guessing that's why I had trouble with I detect. He was perched. But I'm hoping that after watching this video my luck will change. I've been holding my eye detect button down. Not just tapping it like your showing and yes it will start searching for something else. So I'm excited to get out and find initial focus on bird, then bump the eye tracking. One thing. I have my spot focus assigned to af- on. And eye auto focus to the star. That's fine right as long as they are assigned. I hope this works 👍
Yes distance is going to affect AF success. Also if its small in the screen your getting less mega pixels on the bird which means less detail and a lot of folks says that "soft" but its not. Its actually working as intended as not enough mp and zoom in and it looks like mush. So filling frame with r6 has to be 1/3 to 1/2 filling frame and you still don't have a ton of mp on the subject.
Thanks very much. The AF settings have been very challenging. This is very helpful. I have an R 7 and primarily shoot deer, birds and surfing but have had lots of issues. It takes me many many shots to get keepers on wildlife photography. For 17 years I have had very clear crisp photos on my 40D and 70 D without any issues but having plenty of issues with my R 7. I use the older EF 100-400 Mark 1 lens that worked fantastic on my older cameras. My son who uses an R 5 helped me set up those two buttons similar to what you have shown in this video. I haven’t used them yet but looking forward to trying it.
Oh everything else is set up to your r6 mk.2 wildlife set up. Other than my eye detect and spot focus buttons are opposite. Thanks again. Been frustrated but I have to remain patient.
I wish you had time to show how to set these buttons in the menu. I guess I've got some homework to do since just going through all the custom choices left me getting it all wrong. Great concept though.
I have set up videos on most of the canon mirrorless cameras. Go check though all my videos for reviews and set ups Here's the set up video on the R7 ruclips.net/video/YE6iyp16lb4/видео.html
Great video. Back button focus works well in photo mode but cannot be used for video mode. Autofocus is quite slow in video mode on my R5 and sometimes the bird has flown away before the camera finds it. And if branches are in the way it may never find the subject. I wish there was a button for spot focus in video mode to tell the camera quickly what it should focus on. Do you have any tips for better autofocusing in video mode? I end up using manual focus a lot. Getting better autofocus was one of my main reasons to buy the R5.
Actually you can assign focus types to the video, but the video focus systems are made to focus smoothly. So the rack speed is a bit slow. Fly off or really fast birds are a bit of a mess with video if you don't have them a bit in the plane of focus. It's a bit hard to film BIF with the canon cameras and show the EVF as you can only see the external monitor when the Atoms or SeeMo is attached. My best tip for is to set the AF case to I think 2 for a subject moving behind other subjects. If you have it focused on the bird before it takes off or prefocused to where you can acquire it in an unobstructed area, then it should lock on and stay on the bird. Once we get closer to spring or I can get to Homer, AK for some shorebirds, I can possibly do a video on BIF video and stills. Right now around Anchorage its extremely small birds or large birds (Eagles and Common Ravens)
That's the start stop for subject detect. Eye tracking is always on. When to use it? If you gave multiple birds/animals and you want to switch between them with the pop up arrows on the subject detected box. Honestly I almost never use it. But I can see if I get into a flock of ducks and theres really one I want over the other then I may click it on to get to that ONE.
Wow. Excellent video. Thanks for taking the time in the field to actually show us. We don't have to use back button focus, correct? I'd like to keep something familiar :-)
If you want the most out of the camera and quickly get focus , dual back button is the best option I have found. What method are you referring to instead of back button?
Thank you very much your videos are really helpful and I am still learning with my new R7 with EF100-400 Mk2 lens but getting some quite good results. Can you clarify that you don't have to keep hold of the AE-On or * button when you press the shutter for perched birds as watching other videos they say you must keep your finger on the button whilst hitting the shutter at the same time? Many thanks Sheila
If your bird isn't moving towards or side to side then you can get your focus plane and let off. If it moves then re-acquire focus. In the case I was showing the bird was so far away and small in the frame that the while bird would be in focus no matter where I hit on it. head, eye, shoulder, etc. focal plane depth of field would be large enough. Now if your really close and your focal plane depth of field falls off towards the beak from the eye or back of head (shallow depth of field) then you may need to hold the af-on while you shoot if there is slight movement of the head. The best part of back button focusing is to be able to set your focal plane independent of your shutter button. So you can acquire a focus depth and not have to set it again and then hit your shutter button. If your subject doesn't move.
I am wondering if you have your subject tracking On or Off? Mine was on and was sure it was messing me up so now I turned it off, but havent tried it out there yet. I am not sure if it matters or will mess me up, but I have mine set up opposite you. My star button is eye detect and af on is single point. Thanks for your videos.
Its off in the menu and a button is assigned on the camera to turn it on or off if needed. This video walks you through how I have the camera set up. ruclips.net/video/YE6iyp16lb4/видео.html
I guess it's about time I start using back button focus. Really appreciate the demo! I can't remember from your setup video, does a half press on your shutter do anything?
Metering is all the shutter does besides take the picture. That way you don't change your focus method when using the shutter as the back button method gives you multiple ways to focus and get it set on the fly.
Great explanation Scott, that's exactly how I shot my last 110k images ! But I'm stunned about your cooperative eagle just sitting there while you explain everything. When Duade does something like this, his Gerry the Galaa looks much more plasticky 😛 Nice to see you found the same buttons for the Ptarmigan on your R9 with Z500 ;-)
Thanks. Well to be honest that was the 3rd eagle I found that day and the first 2 flew off. That's why the video was finally recorded at sunset time lol. And I love Gary the Galaa :) Yes I found a similar set up even though theres only one button on the back to assign. My biggest headache was the ISO setup on the Z9. Ill need to make a video about how to shoot manual soon.
I use my R7 mostly for small-bird photography (mostly with a 600 F11 lens). I use a variation on this one suggested by some other youtuber (sorry, don't remember which!). I've always liked the half-press shutter for regular autofocus. So I use that for the single-spot focus, and it ends up being my default. Then I have the AF-On button set up as you do. That way I just use the shutter button and the AF-On button; otherwise I haven't found my reason to explore other options.
your shutter is going to over ride your af-on at press. Your bot going to see it as its going to be fast, but im guessing your going to have issues if your single point is not on your subject ton shutter press at times.
@@WILDALASKA So I checked it this morning just to be sure. If I only use the shutter button, of course I only get spot focusing. If I press the Af-ON, I always get the eye-detect AF instead. I verified b/c on review I have it showing me where the AF point was, and it was always the bird's eye (on center point if AF-ON wasn't pressed). Your concern makes a lot of sense, but it seems the logic in the camera works with the way I have it set up.
@@WILDALASKA I have set it up the same way. Half press I got my single spot AF. AF-on i got my eye AF. And if I don't want eye detect (sometimes the camera thinks, an ear is an eye or things like that) then i got the multicontroller press to turn that off. I generally use single spot AF, otherwise the camera chooses focus points that I don't want. For me, this works fine.
I prefer to use the AF-ON as spot as it allows me to change the AF area selection from spot to anything else on the fly. This is especially useful on the R7 for accessing the flexible zones. The * button remains all points auto subject detection as changing the AF area selection on this button requires a dive into the menu.
The good thing about the cameras is they can be customized as for your needs. BUT... lol. Your killing the easiest way to sue the camera. You don't need all the zones as if you hit the eye focus as I have it set it uses all zones. and the star is to set to a single point. In dslr days yeah zones are great, but for the canon AF setup they are really not needed for wildlife. The af find things extremely fast.
@@WILDALASKA Killing the best way to use the camera? You cannot speak in absolutes. I shoot a lot of owls in very complex scenes which often confuses all points AF and a single spot is often too small if a bird starts moving. By having my * button set a likely secondary AF scenario I can dial in an appropriate zone at will which is the default for the camera (AF-ON). As good as all point Af is, it does not cover all situations. This is particularly useful on the R7 due to the minimalistic button layout vs the R3/5/6. Understand that you will how the exact same functionality by programming spot to AF-ON without compromising the ability to quickly switch AF area selections.
@@SteveSSBB and if you watch the setup video. the area select is used which is next to the star button. this one you can jump to whatever area methods you designate or limit to.
@@WILDALASKA I understand the setup, but what you are advocating is setting the single point to the * button. By doing this you are putting a severe limitation on overall AF usability as you have to take a dive into the menu to change the AF area selection on the * button. If you reverse the configuration - that is, put the single point on the AF-ON and the all point auto on the * button you are able - with the area select button as you stated - to configure the one-point AF selection on the AF-ON button to something else on the fly. With this functionality. you can have two different AF zones that are not one-point and still have the freedom to cycle back to a one-point configuration on the AF-ON as desired. For many users - particularly those who do BIF, the ability to quickly configure two different AF zones is superior to having the * button - again, which is not easily changed like the AF-ON dedicated to a one-spot zone. Before responding, try it. Put the all points auto on your * button and the one-point on your AF-ON. Then, enjoy changing the one point to something else using the dedicated button. Far more versatile than being stuck with one button being dedicated as one-point, no?
none actually. The EYE detect is just the full af points ( corner to corner of the viewfinder) and then single point when I need to just get to a focal plane. I explain this in the setup videos. You set your focus method to single point then the af-on to eye detect which will use full af points the camera has. This is what makes it great for BIF. It just looks everywhere for it.
@@AlessandroAvigni If your subject is not moving then after you get lock your one th focal plane and focused on the eye so there's no reason to keep holding the focus button if the animal doesn't move.
@@WILDALASKA a small movement of the head (for example your eagle in the video) it is enough to change the focus plan. So i think it is necessary to keep holding the focus button to track the eyes. I'm wrong? now I have some doubs about
Thanks again Scott. I had already taken these settings on my R7 from your previous videos. Works fine. I also assigned the "tracking" function to a button that allows me to quickly turn it on or off. The question is whether this function has added value for birds that fly away or in full flight. I don't see that benefit myself yet. I'd love to hear your experiences with that. Gr Martin
![FendiDa Rappa - Clock Dat ft. Shamar Marco [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3NBU8KHdxYY/mqdefault.jpg)
That was a really nice description of how to use dual back button autofocus. Great job!
Hey, thanks! I will need to do a followup of BIF and depth of field explanation.
@@WILDALASKA great, look forward to it.
Such a practical explanation in the field. Makes complete sense when you show it and give the examples right in the camera, so appreciated. You've gained a subscriber. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Scott, I appreciate your defense of these mirrorless AF systems and your explanation of how to manage the different focal planes involved when an eagle sits in a tree with branches before and behind the bird.
But don’t you agree that focusing on this eagle would have been easier with the older DSLR cameras? I have learned to deal with these complicated focus situations by tweaking the focus manually on my R7, but I never had to do that with my 7D Mark II.
It would be more difficult on a DSLR in almost all cases as you would have to maneuver your focus point on the dslr. And you wouldn't be sure of you focus on the dslr in that situation. You would have to hope it was on the bird and not the tree especially as your center point may be larger than the head and that doesn't tell you which it hits. With the mirrorless you know the focus hit the bird by the focus jumping to the head.
Also if your shooting 9 point focus as we usually did with dslr, you would have to change to single point then back to 9point or stay on single. With the mirrorless you have the 2 buttons you instantly bounce between.
Mirrorless does 2 things that are HUGE in wildlife photography:
1 the eye and tracking and ability to frame/compose and let the focus point stay on the bird/animal and much higher keeper rates and less re-comp in post
2 EVF to see your exposure in real time vs having to constantly review your shots
@@WILDALASKA good points you raise here. I am still struggling to adapt to my R5 from the 7DII , and to some extent agreed with Dave’s point of view. But, now having watched this video, and reading your explanation , I think I need to practice more so that the method you use becomes second nature. Thanks.
Great video. I’m struggling with subject detect vs eye detect and how to use. Do you use at same time? For example, today I’m taking photos of salmon jumping. I sometimes can see their eyes (so do I use eye detect), but it’s tough to predict where they will be in the viewfinder. I’m presetting focus for where I think they will be with the star button. I can think of many analogous settings (whales breaching…). Can you explain (or point me to an explanation)? Much appreciated!
Eye detect wil also auto detect. meaning it will see the subject, the head, or the eye
This was great and helped explain the r10 setup video you did, thank you. I still don't get home the subject tracking works with this. I customized my multi-function button to start animal tracking and it does, but then those boxes all disappear when I auto focus. Is the tracking kind of prepping the camera for where to autofocus? Kind of like how you we're showing to use the single point button to kind of show the camera beforehand where you want it to autofocus.
its just telling you where it sees an eye or animal and where the af will go once you hit the af button
You’re so right Scott the gap between life and death is so narrow we are only here once so try and grab what you can and enjoy it. Glad you are ok and the memory will fade. All the best
👍
Great information thank you , will be going to Africa and this will help .....I will go to the set up video.
Glad it was helpful.
Can I ask when using BBF like this, do you disable eye tracking and subject tracking in the menu and just use back button to anable eye tracking ? I use M-Fn to turn subject tracking on and off.
yes follow my Af setup video for the r7 and its explained in there
you mentioned on the R10 set up video that you set your M-Fn button to toggle tracking on and off. Could you explain in what situations you would use that in addition to the AF-On and * buttons in the field, which you covered in this video?
When you want to change subject. 2 birds in the frame and if you hit it, it will track both and give you arrows you can use the dead to change subjects
how to make subject more sharper ? because when i shoot using sigma 120-300mm with adapter my subject not sharp.
Its going to be in the exposure usually, Raise your shutter speed. AND the 3rd party lenses will hunt at times also
Thank you for this! I have been struggling lately with this issue!
You are so welcome!
what if the bird starts flying, will the eye detector follow the bird and keep it in focus?
yes if you hold the button down the entire time it flies
Q: if i set star to Spot Focus, and look at the BB settings, (select Star), there you can choose "INFO-DETAIL SET", left lower corner. Should you do something over there? You can select different settings there, for exemple "SERVO" or "ONE SHOT" etc.
You can if you need to for your shooting style, but the setup guide I ave on here covers 99.5% of my shooting needs. ruclips.net/video/YE6iyp16lb4/видео.html
@@WILDALASKA Thx. I'm using all your settings as you show in the video already. But i don't understand why to set everything again at that "INFO-DETAIL SET" button. Or isn't that necessary to set it again over there?
Why does Canon have soooo many R series cameras? It makes me dizzy. 😂😂
👍
Really helpful, just got my R7 and still learning 😁👍🏻
Great to hear!
same! im so excited
Just got back from birding and had some issues. This video was perfect. Can’t wait to try this out next time. Great video!
Great to hear!
another brilliant video and really helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
Sincere thank you for the time and effort you put in to help us all become better wildlife/bird photographers - your are an excellent teacher.
Wow, thank you!
Hello and thank you for your video, I am French and the translation on youtube is a little random, if I understand correctly you have set the AF button on with eye detection, animal tracking, af / activation measurement and on the star button only AF? Thanks for your answer
here is the set up video ruclips.net/video/YE6iyp16lb4/видео.html
@@WILDALASKA
Thanks
You always work in an AF zone mode or 1 single collimator for birds in trees ?
Really helpful. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Best Canon AF explanation on RUclips, thank you
thx
great video
Thanks!
Excellent and very helpful 👍
Thanks
Nice job explaining the BBF concept and functionality. I love the R7 for wildlife but struggle with AF a bit. It’s phenomenal but inconsistent. I tend to hold eye AF on eve with stationary birds and wonder if that’s the issue. Thanks for point this out.
One question: i don’t understand what the point of the tracking in/off option on the r7 when using BBF with Af-on assigned to eye Af. Isn’t eye AF engaging tracking and eye AF (when possible). For example, if you hold AF ON on a BIF, will it provide the maximum tracking capability or do I need to also engage tracking?
Are you talking about the M-Fn button that turns on and off the subject tracking? Its more usable if you have multiple birds and want to use the arrow boxes to change which bird you have in focus.
For me I almost never use it. SO you just use the AF-On button for subject detection (autofocus) for all scenarios.
Very helpful! Thank you!
So glad!
Awesome explanation of how these buttons work. I just got the R7 and watched your video of how to set it up. To be honest i was a little bit confused of why these two buttons were setup that way. Now I know. I have not used the camera yet on the field, but now I have a better understanding. I was a Nikon and a Sony shooter, for me is the first time using a Canon. Thanks for taking your time and explaining these back buttons and the autofocus system. I have a quick question for birds in flight other than using a faster shutter speed is it the same concept other than holding the AF to keep focus? Any short cuts or settings for fast moving birds? Thanks.
It works the same for BIF. Just hold the af-on button and keep the bird in the viewfinder. Pretty simple. The AF cases help with BIF, but I leave mine on auto and I don't miss.
Canon AF setup makes it easier than the other 2 manufacturers as the af works on walking and BIF the same.
@@WILDALASKA Thank so much. All I have now is the 100-400 RF but I’m hoping to get a bigger lens down the road.
@@edwinmaldonado8761 that's a good lens and on the r7 that's 640mm equivalent
@@WILDALASKA Thank you so much! I will be heading out tomorrow to start using this combo. I set my camera with your settings.
@@WILDALASKA I have one more question, should I buy a 400mm 5.6 old lens or a 100-400mm 5.6. The RF 100-400mm 5.6 to f8 is okay when there is plenty of light, but struggles in the shadows at F8. Thanks and sorry to bother.
Hi Scot what cage do you have on R7
SmallRig Black Mamba amzn.to/3U0Q38n
Just found your channel (and subscribed). Good luck and greetings from Texas (not the largest State anymore 😄).
Welcome aboard!
Very helpful video. Great!! Do you have a video about birds in flight? Talking about settings, BB, focus-issue's etc. Would be very welcome :)
Coming soon!
Thank you! You have demystified the R7 AF universe for me! I've been having trouble controlling it, but I'm ready to go try again! My big aha! moment was "quick press" of AF button for single point focus while still in servo AF mode! I was holding it down. This is great!
glad it was helpful
Great video! On my R7 when I go to customize the back buttons, there is "Eye Detection" & "Eye Detection AF" which one would I use for the AF ON button?
Thank you
I don't have the camera in front of me right now, but its the eye symbol if I remember correctly. The 2 setup videos I have on the channel walk you through which one to use.
Let me know if you still have issues after watching those and I can see what I can do
Great video great information
Glad you enjoyed it
the best video about autofocus .... this should be on Canon website/manual explaining how the autofocus works
thx
The best explanation I've seen. Champion!!👋🏽👋🏽👋🏽
Thanks
Another issue for me by BF (R7 with Sigma 100-400 or 150-600). How to get the bird, when it quickly flies over, fast in focus? The focus system is searching and, when not good "aimed", can't find the bird in the frame. How to improve that speed? I'm missing a lot of that birds flying over and the camera isn't able to catch it in time (my fold). Bird gone, to slow/late .... :)
2 things. 1) that lens will not function as well as canon lenses as it can hunt a bit. 2) practice. Getting used to watching the bird and pulling the camera to your eye and staying with the bird. Best way is to start with slower birds and raking try focus our to 100 or so and then zooming in. After a bit you can be at that 400 or 600 and do it. You have find it fuzzy and hit the focus button THEN and not before as it will lock on out I space somewhere.
@@WILDALASKA Thanks for the good advice/tip. I will give it a try. Indeed, Canon lenses would be better, but my budget and wife don't agree..... :)
@@keeskraaijeveld4704 lol. you could sell the sigma lenses and get the rf 100-400 ;)
@@WILDALASKA but the 150-600 is a must I think😀
Do you mean the CANON RF 100-400MM F/5.6-8 IS USM or CANON EF 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6 L IS USM II?
Scott, thanks for the video. Why do you turn off subject tracking in the menus? How would things be different in the VF if tracking were left on?
If you don then you cant use the spot focus in the dual back button set up. I cover it in this video ruclips.net/video/YE6iyp16lb4/видео.html
Very good video about the AF “failing” Thank you 🤩💯I will try this workaround from now on💪
Let me know how it works in the field for you.
Hey Scott I'm going to be honest with you, I've tried like 3 different wildlife setups for the R6mk2. The only time I seen to get good eye auto focus tracking is a predator bird in flight. I was just out a little bit ago with a juvenile bald eagle that was pretty small in the screen which I'm guessing that's why I had trouble with I detect. He was perched. But I'm hoping that after watching this video my luck will change. I've been holding my eye detect button down. Not just tapping it like your showing and yes it will start searching for something else. So I'm excited to get out and find initial focus on bird, then bump the eye tracking. One thing. I have my spot focus assigned to af- on. And eye auto focus to the star. That's fine right as long as they are assigned. I hope this works 👍
Yes distance is going to affect AF success. Also if its small in the screen your getting less mega pixels on the bird which means less detail and a lot of folks says that "soft" but its not. Its actually working as intended as not enough mp and zoom in and it looks like mush.
So filling frame with r6 has to be 1/3 to 1/2 filling frame and you still don't have a ton of mp on the subject.
Thanks very much. The AF settings have been very challenging. This is very helpful. I have an R 7 and primarily shoot deer, birds and surfing but have had lots of issues. It takes me many many shots to get keepers on wildlife photography. For 17 years I have had very clear crisp photos on my 40D and 70 D without any issues but having plenty of issues with my R 7. I use the older EF 100-400 Mark 1 lens that worked fantastic on my older cameras. My son who uses an R 5 helped me set up those two buttons similar to what you have shown in this video. I haven’t used them yet but looking forward to trying it.
Glad it was helpful
Oh everything else is set up to your r6 mk.2 wildlife set up. Other than my eye detect and spot focus buttons are opposite. Thanks again. Been frustrated but I have to remain patient.
practice and remember size in frame matters on the 24 mp camera.
I wish you had time to show how to set these buttons in the menu. I guess I've got some homework to do since just going through all the custom choices left me getting it all wrong. Great concept though.
I have set up videos on most of the canon mirrorless cameras. Go check though all my videos for reviews and set ups
Here's the set up video on the R7 ruclips.net/video/YE6iyp16lb4/видео.html
Thanks Scott, learned something today and it’s a good day when you learn something. 👀will be watching.
Glad to hear it!
Great video. 👍
Thanks from Gotland, Sweden.
Thank you too!
Very helpful. I set up my R7 with your suggested button assignment. It seems to work well.
Glad it helped!
Your tip at roughly three minutes was new news to me. Now I know why my lens was hunting when I was photographing stationary waxwings. Thankyou❤
Glad it was helpful
Thank you very much! This is very helpful and I will apply it to my Z 8!
Glad it helped!
Great video. Back button focus works well in photo mode but cannot be used for video mode. Autofocus is quite slow in video mode on my R5 and sometimes the bird has flown away before the camera finds it. And if branches are in the way it may never find the subject. I wish there was a button for spot focus in video mode to tell the camera quickly what it should focus on. Do you have any tips for better autofocusing in video mode? I end up using manual focus a lot. Getting better autofocus was one of my main reasons to buy the R5.
Actually you can assign focus types to the video, but the video focus systems are made to focus smoothly. So the rack speed is a bit slow. Fly off or really fast birds are a bit of a mess with video if you don't have them a bit in the plane of focus.
It's a bit hard to film BIF with the canon cameras and show the EVF as you can only see the external monitor when the Atoms or SeeMo is attached.
My best tip for is to set the AF case to I think 2 for a subject moving behind other subjects.
If you have it focused on the bird before it takes off or prefocused to where you can acquire it in an unobstructed area, then it should lock on and stay on the bird.
Once we get closer to spring or I can get to Homer, AK for some shorebirds, I can possibly do a video on BIF video and stills. Right now around Anchorage its extremely small birds or large birds (Eagles and Common Ravens)
Thats great nice video. Thank you for that it was very helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
Very well presented explanation and examples of the use of servo/eye detect and one-shot focus Scott!
I have referred a beginner friend to this...
Good stuff!
Very helpful. In what scenarios would the start/stop eye tracking come in handy? In your customised controls videos this was set on the button M-fn.
That's the start stop for subject detect. Eye tracking is always on.
When to use it? If you gave multiple birds/animals and you want to switch between them with the pop up arrows on the subject detected box.
Honestly I almost never use it. But I can see if I get into a flock of ducks and theres really one I want over the other then I may click it on to get to that ONE.
i have set buttons, and do it this way, for long time :) nice to know, that also you are using this technique
Great 👍
Thanks!
Thanks David.
Thanks!
THANKS!!
Wow. Excellent video. Thanks for taking the time in the field to actually show us. We don't have to use back button focus, correct? I'd like to keep something familiar :-)
If you want the most out of the camera and quickly get focus , dual back button is the best option I have found.
What method are you referring to instead of back button?
@@WILDALASKA With my Canon DSLR I've used the half press shutter button to focus and shoot. I just switched to a Canon mirrorless and what a change.
Thank you for another great tutorial and explanation of a tricky subject! Take care
Very welcome
Great explanation of how to use the buttons. I know that since I started using this method that my keeper rate is up and my frustration is down.
Very cool. Let me know if there are any other scenarios that trouble you and I can make a video that shows how I overcome it.
Thank you very much your videos are really helpful and I am still learning with my new R7 with EF100-400 Mk2 lens but getting some quite good results. Can you clarify that you don't have to keep hold of the AE-On or * button when you press the shutter for perched birds as watching other videos they say you must keep your finger on the button whilst hitting the shutter at the same time? Many thanks Sheila
If your bird isn't moving towards or side to side then you can get your focus plane and let off. If it moves then re-acquire focus. In the case I was showing the bird was so far away and small in the frame that the while bird would be in focus no matter where I hit on it. head, eye, shoulder, etc. focal plane depth of field would be large enough.
Now if your really close and your focal plane depth of field falls off towards the beak from the eye or back of head (shallow depth of field) then you may need to hold the af-on while you shoot if there is slight movement of the head.
The best part of back button focusing is to be able to set your focal plane independent of your shutter button. So you can acquire a focus depth and not have to set it again and then hit your shutter button. If your subject doesn't move.
@@WILDALASKA Thank you very helpful indeed
Just the video I needed, I think this is going to help me a lot, heading over to another one of your videos now, thank you.
Very cool. If there's anything you have questions with let me know or if you have a scenario you would like a video on, im all ears ;)
This was very helpful. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful
It is again a quality video. I learned quite a fre things.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I am wondering if you have your subject tracking On or Off? Mine was on and was sure it was messing me up so now I turned it off, but havent tried it out there yet. I am not sure if it matters or will mess me up, but I have mine set up opposite you. My star button is eye detect and af on is single point. Thanks for your videos.
Its off in the menu and a button is assigned on the camera to turn it on or off if needed.
This video walks you through how I have the camera set up. ruclips.net/video/YE6iyp16lb4/видео.html
@@WILDALASKA in what situation would you turn it on?
Thanks for this great demonstration.
thx
Really clear instruction on how to use auto focus on the R7, etc.
thx
I guess it's about time I start using back button focus. Really appreciate the demo! I can't remember from your setup video, does a half press on your shutter do anything?
Metering is all the shutter does besides take the picture. That way you don't change your focus method when using the shutter as the back button method gives you multiple ways to focus and get it set on the fly.
@@WILDALASKA That's what I thought, appreciate the confirmation👍👍
Great explanation Scott, that's exactly how I shot my last 110k images ! But I'm stunned about your cooperative eagle just sitting there while you explain everything. When Duade does something like this, his Gerry the Galaa looks much more plasticky 😛
Nice to see you found the same buttons for the Ptarmigan on your R9 with Z500 ;-)
Thanks. Well to be honest that was the 3rd eagle I found that day and the first 2 flew off. That's why the video was finally recorded at sunset time lol. And I love Gary the Galaa :)
Yes I found a similar set up even though theres only one button on the back to assign. My biggest headache was the ISO setup on the Z9. Ill need to make a video about how to shoot manual soon.
@@WILDALASKA Wow, 3 eagles on one day ! I bet many people envy your wildlife location man !!
@@WernerBirdNature pretty common bird up here. couple spots I can hit in winter that have several hundred of them.
@@WILDALASKA amazing !
I use my R7 mostly for small-bird photography (mostly with a 600 F11 lens). I use a variation on this one suggested by some other youtuber (sorry, don't remember which!). I've always liked the half-press shutter for regular autofocus. So I use that for the single-spot focus, and it ends up being my default. Then I have the AF-On button set up as you do. That way I just use the shutter button and the AF-On button; otherwise I haven't found my reason to explore other options.
your shutter is going to over ride your af-on at press. Your bot going to see it as its going to be fast, but im guessing your going to have issues if your single point is not on your subject ton shutter press at times.
@@WILDALASKA I haven't found that to be true...
@@WILDALASKA So I checked it this morning just to be sure. If I only use the shutter button, of course I only get spot focusing. If I press the Af-ON, I always get the eye-detect AF instead. I verified b/c on review I have it showing me where the AF point was, and it was always the bird's eye (on center point if AF-ON wasn't pressed). Your concern makes a lot of sense, but it seems the logic in the camera works with the way I have it set up.
@@simeonandrews8223 do you have subject tracking on? if so then it ill jump tp eye if af is close. good to know its working for you though
@@WILDALASKA I have set it up the same way. Half press I got my single spot AF. AF-on i got my eye AF. And if I don't want eye detect (sometimes the camera thinks, an ear is an eye or things like that) then i got the multicontroller press to turn that off. I generally use single spot AF, otherwise the camera chooses focus points that I don't want. For me, this works fine.
I prefer to use the AF-ON as spot as it allows me to change the AF area selection from spot to anything else on the fly. This is especially useful on the R7 for accessing the flexible zones. The * button remains all points auto subject detection as changing the AF area selection on this button requires a dive into the menu.
The good thing about the cameras is they can be customized as for your needs.
BUT... lol. Your killing the easiest way to sue the camera. You don't need all the zones as if you hit the eye focus as I have it set it uses all zones. and the star is to set to a single point.
In dslr days yeah zones are great, but for the canon AF setup they are really not needed for wildlife. The af find things extremely fast.
@@WILDALASKA Killing the best way to use the camera? You cannot speak in absolutes. I shoot a lot of owls in very complex scenes which often confuses all points AF and a single spot is often too small if a bird starts moving. By having my * button set a likely secondary AF scenario I can dial in an appropriate zone at will which is the default for the camera (AF-ON). As good as all point Af is, it does not cover all situations. This is particularly useful on the R7 due to the minimalistic button layout vs the R3/5/6. Understand that you will how the exact same functionality by programming spot to AF-ON without compromising the ability to quickly switch AF area selections.
@@SteveSSBB and if you watch the setup video. the area select is used which is next to the star button. this one you can jump to whatever area methods you designate or limit to.
@@WILDALASKA I understand the setup, but what you are advocating is setting the single point to the * button. By doing this you are putting a severe limitation on overall AF usability as you have to take a dive into the menu to change the AF area selection on the * button. If you reverse the configuration - that is, put the single point on the AF-ON and the all point auto on the * button you are able - with the area select button as you stated - to configure the one-point AF selection on the AF-ON button to something else on the fly. With this functionality. you can have two different AF zones that are not one-point and still have the freedom to cycle back to a one-point configuration on the AF-ON as desired. For many users - particularly those who do BIF, the ability to quickly configure two different AF zones is superior to having the * button - again, which is not easily changed like the AF-ON dedicated to a one-spot zone. Before responding, try it. Put the all points auto on your * button and the one-point on your AF-ON. Then, enjoy changing the one point to something else using the dedicated button. Far more versatile than being stuck with one button being dedicated as one-point, no?
Great video! I realised I usually keep the AF on button pressed, but I sure will try your method.
Quick question: which AF area do you use the most?
none actually. The EYE detect is just the full af points ( corner to corner of the viewfinder) and then single point when I need to just get to a focal plane.
I explain this in the setup videos. You set your focus method to single point then the af-on to eye detect which will use full af points the camera has.
This is what makes it great for BIF. It just looks everywhere for it.
@@WILDALASKA @MrBrabo1 if you don't keep the AF on button pressed, you will not tracking eyes! or I missed something?
@@AlessandroAvigni If your subject is not moving then after you get lock your one th focal plane and focused on the eye so there's no reason to keep holding the focus button if the animal doesn't move.
@@WILDALASKA a small movement of the head (for example your eagle in the video) it is enough to change the focus plan. So i think it is necessary to keep holding the focus button to track the eyes. I'm wrong? now I have some doubs about
@@AlessandroAvigni no. the depth of field at that distance is larger than the bird. so anywhere I hit it, its all in focus
Excellent!
Thank you! Cheers!
Thanks again Scott. I had already taken these settings on my R7 from your previous videos. Works fine. I also assigned the "tracking" function to a button that allows me to quickly turn it on or off. The question is whether this function has added value for birds that fly away or in full flight. I don't see that benefit myself yet. I'd love to hear your experiences with that. Gr Martin
only way I have found it useful is if I have multiple ducks and I want to switch to which duck to focus on using the arrows on the detect box.