Canon R6 II Servo AF Case Options Canon R6 Mark ii

out of focus said:

I'm shooting track and field with my Canon R6 Mark ii and trying to figure out which of the Servo AF options I should be using from the four "cases" provided by the Canon R6 Mark ii. I'm especially unsure about which of the last three I should be using when using Whole area AF to shoot track and field events:

Case 2: Continue to track subjects, ignoring possible obstacles
Case 3: Instantly focus on subjects suddenly entering AF points
Case 4: For subjects that accelerate or decelerate quickly

Also, for Switching tracked subjects, I set it to 0, for Initial priority, for shooting sports.
For Tracking sensitivity, I think that maybe it should be set to -2.

When I shoot football ("soccer"), do you think that those same Servo AF options used for track and field probably work as well?

Does anyone have experience with this?

Thank you!

Click to expand...

For professional football (soccer) I use Case 4 -2 0 on my R3s, which I think are similar.

For track and field I’ve been using the custom size af zones and making them about the size of the athlete I’m focused on.

For track and field I'd want maximum stickiness on a subject, so probably case 2, -2 tracking. Set up a back button to plant the AF point back on the subject when the tracking jumps away. Or (depending on the event) skip tracking and just use a suitable AF Area, since your subject is usually not competing for AF attention with nearer objects. For me:

Long jump - subject is always closer than the surroundings and coming straight at me - not a challenge with any method
Pole vault - I want to track the subject running behind other people, so yes it's a tracking challenge that wants stickiness
Hurdles - A lot going on that can pull tracking away from the desired subject
Runners - probably easiest with a small AF area like spot or single point, or tracking jumps to an adjacent runner.
Shot put and a few other things - faces appear and disappear so tracking can get fooled. But the subject doesn't go very far.

A lot of these cases aren't really good candidates for tracking, in the end. I usually use it but maybe I should rethink that.

out of focus said:

I'm shooting track and field with my Canon R6 Mark ii and trying to figure out which of the Servo AF options I should be using from the four "cases" provided by the Canon R6 Mark ii. I'm especially unsure about which of the last three I should be using when using Whole area AF to shoot track and field events:

Case 2: Continue to track subjects, ignoring possible obstacles
Case 3: Instantly focus on subjects suddenly entering AF points
Case 4: For subjects that accelerate or decelerate quickly

Also, for Switching tracked subjects, I set it to 0, for Initial priority, for shooting sports.
For Tracking sensitivity, I think that maybe it should be set to -2.

When I shoot football ("soccer"), do you think that those same Servo AF options used for track and field probably work as well?

Does anyone have experience with this?

Thank you!

Click to expand...

One other idea is to save those three different settings to C1~3, and switch between the three as needed.

The Case numbers are presets so you can make changes quickly in the field. For example I can set Case 2 to -2 to continue to track subjects, ignoring possible obstacles. Or I can set it to +2 to instantly focus on subjects suddenly entering AF points that obstruct the primary subject.

I set Tracking Sensitivity (TS) to -2 with my 7D in 2009 and have shot that way until today. I pretty much want to ignore obstructions and maintain AF on my primary subject. Set TS to a negative value or use Case 2. However if you are for example shooting a football game and don't care who in focus as long as someone is then set TS to a positive value or use Case 3. The camera will immediately drop who you are focusing on and focus on and whatever winds up in front of your primary subject.

Your subject can go behind a tree or a rock and the system will refocus on the rock with a positive TS setting. With a negative TS setting it will ignore the tree or rock and give the subject a second to re-appear.

Those are the examples for the DLSR days that still apply but eye detect changed everything. A DSLR will focus on a subject. It does not know what it is. It can be a person, a rock or a tree. With ML bodies can identify an eye thus pick out a person or animal. So in eye detect mode your subject goes behind a rock which is an obstruction. Same as usual. However if your subject goes behind another person it's also an obstruction, but now it is obstruction - with an eye. Now we get into Switching tracked subjects. I have to step out for a bit but will expand on this.

I forgot about Case 4, Accel/Decel. This setting makes your AF system more sensitive to subjects that increase/decrease speed, stop start that are coming towards your moving away from you.

My R7 and R6II are set this way. I'm on Case 2 with TS set to -2 and Accel/Decel set to +2. I will use Case 4 with Accel/Decel set to +2 for example shooting a drag race and cars are coming towards me. I don't really need TS for that.

As for Switching Tracked Subjects. That overlap between an obstruction that has no eye or one with an eye is a little tricky. Another person can cross in front of your primary subject. Now another eye has appeared so Switching Tracked Subjects is in play. If that person is facing away from you now it is an obstruction without an eye so Tracking Sensitivity is in play.

This is a really good wildlife video which you can apply to sports. R6 but it is the same thing. He has an R6II video but I like some of the explanations on this one.

Starting At 9:30 he shows how Tracking Sensitivity works. You will notice there is no obstruction but the AF point went off the bird for a second but the camera did no try to refocus on something else. I relied on this for that purpose since 2009. Really helpful for BIF.

At 10:15 he shows how Switching Tracked Subjects works.

As for how I set Switching Tracked Subjects (STS). There is a warning in every ML manual that I can't find an exampled answer to. So for static or slow moving subjects I set STS to 0 or initial Priority. For subjects that will move abruptly/quickly I set STS to 1.

0 or 1 to keep focusing on my primary subject. If I was shooting sports and didn't care which subject was in focus as long as someone was I'd set it to 2.

Once you digest all of this and do some shooting you will learn there is a lot going on out there and we have some control but we are limited. Eye detect is amazing tech but is relatively new and will get better. For now how do you keep focus on player out in a field with all that chaos around? I don't worry about Eye Detect failing. I expect it to fall now and then.

This is not a Canon procedure. It was developed by users and I call it AF Eye Detect override. If the system is not cooperating you make it do what you want, not what it wants. This video changed everything for me. Watch the Canon segments between minutes 3:10 and 5:00 and see how he uses Expansion AF to get his subject in focus when the system is out to lunch and then goes back into Eye Detect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGrEWOZYgDw

You will notice he just has to put Expansion AF anywhere on the subject. Once it is in focus and goes back into Eye Detect AF the eye snaps in. He uses Expansion AF but I like to use Zone AF. More AF points working for me. Others like to use Single Point or Spot AF.

There are many ways to do this. The mapping options are awesome. I prefer to keep both AF and Metering on the shutter button. This leaves the AF-On open for AF override. When I press AF-On it kicks into Zone AF. I can toggle that as many times as I need to. If you prefer to have AF on the AF-On you can set up the * button for that.

You can master the Case numbers and Tracking sensitivity but by adding this process you will elevate your shooting to a new level.

One last thing. You may notice a white broken AF square appear once in a while. Preview AF on page 3 of the purple AF menus. It finds and tracks an eye without pressing any buttons. I can keep the Shutter Button half pressed for AF (blue square) and if I lift my finger all the way off it takes over.

Looks like this with white lines.

Here is an example. I was shooting a bike race and they were coming in fast. I used the AF-On which is set to Zone to get my subject in focus first. When focused I released it and it switched to Eye Detect.

Just a screen shot example.

etect AF.


A final. Edited using LrC only.

Sorry for bumping again but I thought I'd clarify something. Sometimes the way Canon explains things leaves things out. Case 3 - Instantly focus on subjects suddenly entering AF points. Case numbers control tracking characteristics after initial AF has been achieved. So Case 3 does not focus faster. Cases 2 and 3 are delays. The system has to be focused on something first for these to work.

Canon bodies have no control over AF sensitivity. It either sees contrast or it doesn't. We can only control the size (AF mode) of the AF point.