Canon R6 Mk2 AF Cases

Hi Everyone!

What AF Case and settings do you guys use for photographing fast movement, e.g., airshows? I use Cases 2 or 4 but have never fully understood how those cases work.

Cheers!

mslino said:

Hi Everyone!

What AF Case and settings do you guys use for photographing fast movement, e.g., airshows? I use Cases 2 or 4 but have never fully understood how those cases work.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Hi mslino,

I don't shoot fast movement (well, not with any huge success!) - but you may find this YouTube post useful for explaining about Canon AF/ Cases etc...

(It's a little old now - with plenty of new R tech having been launched since it was first released, but the principles involved remain sound).


Jan Wegener also gets good feedback for his camera set-up and AF advice - so this post (and his YouTube channel) may be worth a look.

Phil

PKM-UK said:

Hi mslino,

I don't shoot fast movement (well, not with any huge success!) - but you may find this YouTube post useful for explaining about Canon AF/ Cases etc...

(It's a little old now - with plenty of new R tech having been launched since it was first released, but the principles involved remain sound).


Jan Wegener also gets good feedback for his camera set-up and AF advice - so this post (and his YouTube channel) may be worth a look.

Phil

Click to expand...

Thank you, Phil.

I watched that video again, but I've seen it before. Rudy provided a comprehensive explanation of the Canon AF cases. Looking at all the cases, I didn't know which one between (2 and 4 ) is the best for my case scenario when photographing fast jets passing in front of me or coming towards me.

I will give you a try at the AUTO option, which I have never used before.

Marcio

mslino said:

Thank you, Phil.

I watched that video again, but I've seen it before. Rudy provided a comprehensive explanation of the Canon AF cases. Looking at all the cases, I didn't know which one between (2 and 4 ) is the best for my case scenario when photographing fast jets passing in front of me or coming towards me.

I will give you a try at the AUTO option, which I have never used before.

Marcio

Click to expand...

Hi mslino,

Ah, in the absence of any other responses I thought it may give you some leads - worth a punt.

I use Case 1 almost exclusively - occasionally trying others (but without any 'eureka moments').


Hopefully some of the BIF/ Aircraft gurus on here will be able to offer you advice.

If you do find the secret mix of settings, please come back and let us know...

Phil

Cases will not let you achieve initial focus any faster. They control tracking characteristics after AF is achieved. You can achieve any characteristic you wish by adjusting Tracking Sensitivity and Accel/decel manually. The Case numbers are presets to save you time in the field.

In 2009 with my 7D I set Tracking Sensitivity to -2 and have shot that way for 15 years. That has always been my primary mode. There were no Case numbers back then. When Case were introduced I selected Case 2 and set Tracking Sensitivity to -2. Again my primary mode.

If I'm shooting things that come at me quickly and accelerate and decelerate, stop and go again I will use Case 4 and bump it up to +2. I may also bump Tracking Sensitivity as well. I use it shooting something like a drag race where vehicles were coming towards me.

Here is summary I created. I find the manuals a little vague. Rudy Winston had an excellent shorter 7D2 video that only covered Case numbers but like many things Canon pulled it.

Case 1. Factory base settings that will cover most shooting situations. Note: In that Rudy Winston video the first thing he says is Case 1 is all you may ever need. The other case numbers just fine tune the characteristics.

Case 2. TS is negative. I set it to -2. If the AF point/s go off your subject AF will hang on and not refocus instantly on something else and give you time to reacquire your original subject. This includes your subject being obstructed momentarily by something else like a tree or another bird.

Case 3. TS is positive. The opposite of Case 2. If I used which was seldom I'd set it to +2. The system will immediately refocuses on another subject when AF point/s fall on it. The intent is that you are already focused on something else first. For example good for tracking two runners in a race, you are shooting both switching AF from one to the other and you want the system to immediately focus on the other.

Case 4. Accel/Decel is increased. System is more sensitive to objects moving to towards and away from you which includes abrupt stops/starts and increase/decrease in speed from a start point to a finish point.

Now the mirrorless bodies have Auto for the last Case. Some of the top birder/etc reviewers like it. Here is my take on it. I can see the algorithms self adjusting for Accel/decel based on a subjects movement. How would it know if you want to hang onto or refocus on an obstruction that crosses in in front of you subject? Since I think most photographers want to hang onto the original subject so I believe Tracking Sensitivity is weighted towards -1 or -2.

For anyone still using a DSLR. The next two are really more suited for the zone AF modes. I used them exclusively in Zone AF modes only. Mostly Case 6 for birding.

Case 5. AF switching is increased. The camera more sensitive to left, right, up and down movement.

Case 6. The Grand Poobah. Combines Cases 4 and 5. Both Accel/Decel and AF switching are increased thus front to back and left/right up/down erratic movement is covered.

Only RF said:

Cases will not let you achieve initial focus any faster. They control tracking characteristics after AF is achieved. You can achieve any characteristic you wish by adjusting Tracking Sensitivity and Accel/decel manually. The Case numbers are presets to save you time in the field.

In 2009 with my 7D I set Tracking Sensitivity to -2 and have shot that way for 15 years. That has always been my primary mode. There were no Case numbers back then. When Case were introduced I selected Case 2 and set Tracking Sensitivity to -2. Again my primary mode.

If I'm shooting things that come at me quickly and accelerate and decelerate, stop and go again I will use Case 4 and bump it up to +2. I may also bump Tracking Sensitivity as well. I use it shooting something like a drag race where vehicles were coming towards me.

Here is summary I created. I find the manuals a little vague. Rudy Winston had an excellent shorter 7D2 video that only covered Case numbers but like many things Canon pulled it.

Case 1. Factory base settings that will cover most shooting situations. Note: In that Rudy Winston video the first thing he says is Case 1 is all you may ever need. The other case numbers just fine tune the characteristics.

Case 2. TS is negative. I set it to -2. If the AF point/s go off your subject AF will hang on and not refocus instantly on something else and give you time to reacquire your original subject. This includes your subject being obstructed momentarily by something else like a tree or another bird.

Case 3. TS is positive. The opposite of Case 2. If I used which was seldom I'd set it to +2. The system will immediately refocuses on another subject when AF point/s fall on it. The intent is that you are already focused on something else first. For example good for tracking two runners in a race, you are shooting both switching AF from one to the other and you want the system to immediately focus on the other.

Case 4. Accel/Decel is increased. System is more sensitive to objects moving to towards and away from you which includes abrupt stops/starts and increase/decrease in speed from a start point to a finish point.

Now the mirrorless bodies have Auto for the last Case. Some of the top birder/etc reviewers like it. Here is my take on it. I can see the algorithms self adjusting for Accel/decel based on a subjects movement. How would it know if you want to hang onto or refocus on an obstruction that crosses in in front of you subject? Since I think most photographers want to hang onto the original subject so I believe Tracking Sensitivity is weighted towards -1 or -2.

For anyone still using a DSLR. The next two are really more suited for the zone AF modes. I used them exclusively in Zone AF modes only. Mostly Case 6 for birding.

Case 5. AF switching is increased. The camera more sensitive to left, right, up and down movement.

Case 6. The Grand Poobah. Combines Cases 4 and 5. Both Accel/Decel and AF switching are increased thus front to back and left/right up/down erratic movement is covered.

Click to expand...

Excellent explanation, @Only RF ! Now, it's clear to me how the Canon cases work. Since planes come towards me and away too fast, I will hang on to case 4 (-2 and +1) to see if there will be any improvement.

Thank you!

When the mirrorless bodies were introduced Canon dumped Cases 5/6 and added Switching Tracking Subjects (STS). I found trying to figure out it's relationship with the Case numbers a little challenging at first.

Before mirrorless there was no eye detect. If you focused on something that was your subject. It could be anything. A telephone pole, a person, etc., There were some rudimentary person recognition but I'll leave that out for now. If you were tracking a person and walked behind a telephone pole or another person which would be an obstruction. You would set Tracking Sensitivity to ignore the pole the use Case 2 at - 1 or -2. If you wanted to re-focus on the pole then set Case 3 at +1 or +2.

These day with eye detect if another person crosses in front of you original subject you have an obstruction - but now with an eye.

This is an R6 video he has great examples.

9:45 for TS. 10:22 for STS.

Accel/decel at +2 with my lowly R. The R no case numbers, fps was awful which led to a lot or frame to frame blackout.

I also should mention that Case 4 is also good for abrupt subject turns. I once had a direct link to this from Canon. It's the DX1 III AF guide but this is the latest from Canon. The 1DX III is a hybrid that first dropped Cases 5/6 and added STS. It seams Canon stopped producing AF guides for the R series. At least I have not found any and I've tried.

Case 4 starts on page 26.


ted

Only RF said:

I also should mention that Case 4 is also good for abrupt subject turns. I once had a direct link to this from Canon. It's the DX1 III AF guide but this is the latest from Canon. The 1DX III is a hybrid that first dropped Cases 5/6 and added STS. It seams Canon stopped producing AF guides for the R series. At least I have not found any and I've tried.

Case 4 starts on page 26.

CANON EOS-1D X MARK III AF SETTING MANUALBOOK Pdf Download

View and Download Canon EOS-1D X Mark III af setting manualbook online. EOS-1D X Mark III digital camera pdf manual download.

www.manualslib.com

ted

Click to expand...

@Only RF, based on your excellent information and the provided AF manual, I think the best case for photographing fast jet planes could be CASE 2 since planes in flight do not compare with an athlete ready to run and run suddenly.

Planes come fast towards you and can change direction quickly or move away from you fast, too. Thank you so much for all the information.

mslino said:

@Only RF, based on your excellent information and the provided AF manual, I think the best case for photographing fast jet planes could be CASE 2 since planes in flight do not compare with an athlete ready to run and run suddenly.

Planes come fast towards you and can change direction quickly or move away from you fast, too. Thank you so much for all the information.

Click to expand...

That was what I used at my last air show. However you can choose Case 2, bump TS down to -2 and bump up Accel/Decel a bit. I don't ever reall see need for Case 3 so you can set up a hybrid for that. Set Case 3 with TS -2 and Accel/Decel +2. Not only for that but other purposes. Sky is the limit.

Here is an example of example of how powerful TS can be. If there is an obstruction in front of your subject or the AF point/s fall off it you get about a second to get them back on. 1 second my not seem like much but when shooting 10 fps like I did here with my 7D2 it makes a world of difference.

I was tracking this gull for practise. These are just screen shots. The gull was in focus.



It swopped up. I kept firing at 10 fps and the system did not re-focus. It kept the gull in focus.