I appreciate your videos. I just went through your setup for my R5 II. I had done that with your videos on the R5 set up when I first got that camera. When people are impressed with my shots of birds in flight, I am think about and am thankful of Canon’s technology and your guidance on using it.
Thank you for helping me setting up my new camera. I come from DSLR world and this Mirrorless R5 Mark II is really my 1st mirrorless camera. your tutorial has been more than helpful. I have a lot of gratitude for your generosity at sharing knowledge and expertise. Many many Thanks
Hi, Ron. Very comprehensive video. My setup is a little different of, of course, but seeing how others do things does help me learn how to tweak my setup to be a little more effective. Thank you for taking the time. I always appreciate your videos.
Hi Ron, thanks so much for taking the time to make such detailed videos. I personally don't shoot birds regularly. However, I customize one of the shooting modes to use your settings for when I'm in that situation and it works great. I really like how you explain why you choose the settings you do. BTW, I used your videos to setup my older (now) R5 as well.
You are very welcome. I like doing these videos as long as at least a few folks find something helpful in them. Always good to hear from people like you. Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment.
Great comprehensive video Ron. I think I shall stick with my R3 (which replaced my original R5). Maybe an R5II someday but probably not. The R3 is just too good for my purposes. Thanks for your work and dedication to the craft.
Another great video! Thanks Ron. I set up a bit different by placing "Start/Stop Whole Area AF Tracking" on the M-Fn button. This allows your thumb to be pressing the Back Button that has Flexible Zone AF and simultaneous tap the M-Fn button with your index finger. This seamlessly transitions from Flexible Zone to Full Area tracking without ever stopping AF function. The blue locked tracking square stays on the eye/subject during the transition to full area. If done while shooting you do very briefly pause shooting as the index finger moves off the shutter button to the M-Fn and back again. But it's really quick and AF stays locked. I find it most useful to tell the AF exactly what you want to lock on if there are multiple subjects in the frame and you use a small Flexible Zone. Just a different way to take control of the AF.
Hi Ron Great in depth video as usual it looks like you are very pleased with the new R5 11 hopefully when you get your hands on the R1 you are also pleased can't Wait for that video I didn't want to upgrade the R5 I pre ordered the R1 just waiting
Well, we should have our R1s sometime in November. We just have to hope it is not delayed. One never knows these days. Thanks so much for the kind words and for watching. Ron
The new AF in R5II is called Dual Pixel AF Intelligent. I guess it means improved. I agree the AF is more sticky than the R5. I really like this camera, especially the pre-capture that is freaking awesome. I set it up a bit differently but achieving almost the same things. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for sharing. Always good to hear from others. I too like the pre-capture, even more than I thought I would and a lot of my liking it has to do with how Canon implemented it. It is so easy to incorporate into my shooting style.
Great video, although I wonder how much of a refinement the autofocus system really is. It would be interesting to see how the R5 mkii, R5 mki, and R3 all do on the same scene with the bird carving.
I did the comparison you suggest and the R5II does much better than the R5 overall, and handles the vertical elements better and is a bit stickier to the subject than the R3. The difference between the R3 and R5II are subtle and that is why I use the term "refinement." But, the more I use the R5II the more I see these subtle improvements in the R5II. This video was about the AF of the R5II, and got long quick, so I could not include all aspects of the AF behavior. I hope to do another video showing how different AF settings change the behavior depicted in this video and also do a direct comparison among the R5, R3, and R5II. However, in the end, the only thing that really matters is the overall performance of the camera in question and the R5II impresses me more and more as I continue to use it. The R3 is an amazing camera and the AF is awesome. The R5 is easily outclassed by both the R3 and the R5II, as it should be given its "old age." If a person is happy with the R3 and its 24mp then, in my mind, there really is no urgent reason to upgrade. If you shoot a lot of action and need the best performance and are currently shooting the R5, upgrading to the R5II will get you more shots in many shooting scenarios. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment. It is much appreciated.
I watched a tripod yt channel and they said their testing found this tripod to be difficult to clean. Tripods placed in sand or water need to be broken down to be properly cleaned and this design makes it difficult to do that. I'm excited for this as a complement to my even more expensive gitzo gt5543ls tripod was over $1400 without a head but is geared for photography.
Great AF demo -- watching you use the features in the field and being able to see the display. Thanks much. Have you found a use for whole area tracking, turned on and off with the set button? Kind regards
Thanks for your kind words. To be honest, I have not found much use for Whole Area AF. For me, having the * button set to "eye detection AF" serves much the same purpose. If I want want whole area AF tracking it usually is when the bird is very close and moving quickly and keeping it in a zone is difficult and needing focus in eye more paramount. When this happens I just move my thumb to the Eye Detection AF back button and I get Whole Area AF Tracking. The combo of Zone and Eye Detection AF on my two main AF back buttons serves me well in just about every shooting scenario I find myself in. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment.
Hi Ron, I want to thank you for making such a detailed video. I have recently switched from a Canon 800D to the R5 Mark II and I was finding a bit hard to understand a few things. This video is surely a game changer for me and has helped me understand all the focus zones and their usecases. I have done the setup mostly as to how you've demonstrated and I have been pretty happy with the results. It would be great if you could also discuss something about the pre-capture feature. How can it be toggled using any custom button ? Thanks.
Thanks so much for watching, commenting, and the kind words. With regards to the pre-capture at this time it cannot be toggled on and off via a button. The only control is via half-press of the shutter button. If you use back button AF then it works out fairly nicely as you can focus all you need to with a back button (pre-capture will not be activated), half-press the shutter button when yo want pre-capture, and shoot by going to full-press of the shutter button. With a bit of practice it is an effective process. If you use half-press of the shutter to initiate AF then how pre-capture works is a real conundrum that is very difficult to overcome without a "weird" work around. Ron
Thanks so much for watching. I wish I could include every aspect of the AF in one video, but these videos get so long that I need to keep things reigned in a bit. I will do another video comparing the behavior as settings are changed.
This was absolutely fantastic and best deep dive I have seen. BUT, curious if you can help someone who has R5 Mark I and R5 Mark II so I can set up consistent 3 Back Button on Both....I have your old R5 video and the placement of SPOT is different. Can I move it on the R5 Mark I or should I move it on the R5 Mark II? THANKS!
Fantastic video and for the first time I feel I understand the three button back button focus rather than just using the AF-ON button. My worry is that by setting the whole area tracking off in the main menu I will forget to press set and lose the tracking. I know this is a stupid question but can you have this turned on in the main menu and also. on the set button to get used to it and then turn off in main menu once familiar with the change. I have a workshop in two weeks and don;t want to miss tracking the golden eagles. I found the practical section at the end of the video really useful. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Thank you for the kind words about the video. I am glad you found it useful. If you have the 3 back buttons set up the way I show in the video, the * button is Whole Area Tracking via Eye Detection AF. I actually rarely use the SET button to turn on Whole Area AF, because I have it via the * button. The issue with having Whole Area Tracking turned on in the main AF menu is then all AF area setups have Whole Area Tracking once the AF locks onto what it thinks is the subject. There are many times I do not want my Zone AF to instantly change to Whole Area, so keeping Whole Area off in the main AF menu is a must for me. So, overall, I find having the 3 back buttons set up for Zone, Eye Detection, and Spot AF gives me access to all the AF areas I really ever need. I just press the appropriate button that best fits the shooting scenario that is occurring. I often find myself using all 3 buttons/AF areas in one short session with an individual bird. I hope this helps. Ron
Hi Ron great review l have the R7 with the 100-500 at the moment l am going to get the R5 mark ii but l am bit worried about the reach with R5 and the 100 - 500 as l do birds do you think it will ok as it’s got 45 mp and l live the UK so not always good light for a extender thanks Keith
Keith, sorry for the late reply. If you like the R7's IQ then you will like the R5II's IQ. The reach issue is mitigated a bit by the 45mp, but heavy cropping and higher ISOs will result in images of lesser quality as I am sure you are aware. You will find the AF on the R5II is much better than on the R7. So, I guess you need to weight the overall package and make a choice. Cheers, Ron
Great video. I was interested in the opening shot of how you have rigged the Atomos ninja upside down and flush with back of R5 2. I also have a ninja. Great idea to have it flush with back of camera. It would be nice to see how you have it fixed to hotshoe and how it works for you. Perhaps a thought about an idea for future video. Thanks for your wonderful videos. Cheers Mike
Mike, thank you. I use two Smallrig items to get my Ninja placement behind the camera. Overall, it is fixed to the camera via the 1/4-20 thread on the bottom of the camera/vertical grip and not the hot shoe. This way the hot shoe is available for a mic or other accessory. Moreover, the hot shoe is not a very strong attachment point compared to the screw attachment under the camera. The two Smallrig items are: Swivel and Tilt Adjustable Monitor Mount with ARRI-Style Mount and Magic Arm with Dual Ball Heads (1/4”-20 Screws). If you want to see pic email me at ron@whistlingwingsphotography.com and I will email you a pick of my setup. Cheers, Ron
Hi Ron at 33:40 you went to AF-ON meter+AF but you didn't go into the detail set , just wondering why you left this bit out I just thought this button would get more attention.
Hey, thanks for watching and thanks for the comment. I don't use the Detail Set submenu for Metering and AF Start, so I did not cover it. In retrospect it would have been good to go through it, but this type of video gets very long very quickly, so I have to leave some things out or the video would be 2 hours long. Overall, it is basically just like the Register and Recall a Shooting Function Detail Set and I did go through that set up. Cheers, Ron
@@whistlingwingsphotography for sure, your explanations are clear and I great use case examples. I may shoot on the R7 but there is overlap here and there. Keep the content rolling as they are informative too!
Hi Ron, great comprehensive video again as usual, thanks. Im starting to see some criticism of the r52 results now, notably increased noise levels over the R51 and not good low light results. Any observations on this please?
Hey, thanks for the kind words. For me, I am still really happy with the R5II. There may be a bit more noise and a bit less DR, but overall, for me, the improvements in AF several other aspects of this camera's performance far outweigh the small negatives. The lack of rolling shutter and the leap in AF performance are major upgrades that are super important for my photography. I have worked with many files now that I have underexposed on purpose and have been able to recover them and they look great. Noise levels at the ISO settings I use are not much different then the R5. Moreover, dealing with noise is so easy these days in post using apps like Topaz. I would never go back to an R5 from the R5II, but that is just me.
@whistlingwingsphotography cheers Ron, I took mine out for the first time a few days ago photographing brown hares and I found the auto focus to be a big improvement, I was really impressed how well it locked on in low light situations and having just processed some images I'm very happy with the results. I believe I got images that I would not have with the original R5, that can't be bad!
Great video...I noticed that you changed some of the back buttons that you had set for your R3 described in the earlier R3 Menu setting video. I realize that they are a few more buttons on the R3, but did you go back and change your R3 buttons to reflect your R5 MKII settings...is it safe to assume that the R5 MK II button configuration is an evolution on your original R3 configuration...did you keep some of the original configuration on your R3...I'm thinking specifically M-Fn 1 and M-Fn 2 buttons...I will be changing my R3 to reflect the R5 MII in the video...
Yes, I would say that my changes are an evolution of sorts. Each new camera brings new options and behaviors, so I set my buttons according to how it feel I can best take advantage of the options I need. The way it looks I will end up with 2 R5IIs and sell my R3. Other than the noise levels at similar ISO settings the R5II has shown me the capabilities of the R3, but with 45mp. Having stated that, I don't find the noise on the R5II to be an issue, either. Thanks so much for continuing to follow my channel and for taking the time to comment.
Terrific video. Just got my R5ll today so I'm playing. I had it set up like my R5 but I really like your zone setup. That will be my third back button. Thanks for all the time and effort you put in. I do have one question. There's a white box (actually four white corners) that floats around and locks on some things. Do you know what that is. It's separate from my blue focus square.
Thanks for the kind words. With regards to the "white box" that is floating around. That is a pre-focus indicator. The camera is telling you what the AF will focus on if you initiate AF. If you are in Zone AF the floating box will be an actual box. If you initiate "Whole Area AF," by say hitting the SET, button the double pre-focus box/brackets pop up and will lock onto say the eye of the bird if you have Subject to Detect set to Animals and Eye Detection turned on in the main AF menu. If you initiate AF the camera will focus where ever that box is located. Hope this helps.
As usual, excellent content, thanks. Can you offer any advice on the lens IS switch settings on the 100-500mm lens for bird photography? I just purchased an R5 Mark II, (arriving in a couple of days!) and am confused as to which IS setting to use. Most birds I shoot are still or slowly moving, with occasional birds in flight when I get lucky, and I know I will not be able to switch modes on the lens. I am not concerned about whether the IS is active when I am just looking through the camera as long as it stabilizes correctly when I take the picture. Having it stabilize when I press the shutter half-way as I am used to on my current camera (an OM1) would be a plus. Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words. I would set the IS mode to mode 2. This will give you stabilized View Finder, good stabilization for static birds, great stabilization for moving birds. It is the most versatile setting and what I use most. If you want the ultimate stabilization on static subjects then mode 1, but you will not be able to pan well with a moving subject as Mode 1 is for static subjects and any movement will be compensated for by the IS/IBIS. Mode 3 is for erratic subjects that are changing directions quickly. You get no VF stabilization as it only stabilizes as images are taken. I hope this helps. Ron
I use a Atomos Ninja V. Not sure what else you want to know. I just connect it to the camera via HDMI and the camera's display is displayed on the Ninja. Ron
I wonder if i will ever see a good test of a camera without birds af or video capabilities but all serious photo capabilities and good image quality not being degraded by the the electrical noise due to too fast sensor to cpu transfers without shielding or the aa filter.
I guess it all depends on what you are looking for as far as capabilities go. There are many cameras out there that are focused on still imagery and provide really great IQ. Leica and Hasselblad come to mind. There also is film. No electrical noise in those cameras. When it comes to hybrid cameras they are what they are and for me the IQ is good with performance that allows a person to get just about any shot imaginable either stills or video. It is all about the right tool for the job. If I were shooting landscapes I would not have the R5II that is for sure.
@@whistlingwingsphotography yes but every one ,be it youtube or tests on the internet , birds birds birds ,video here ,video this , thats it and it is absolutely not helping. Even lens tests , video video video. You can see the difference of older tests going into everything ,but every test of new cameras , birds or video ,ah nearly forgot for the canon r1 there are idiots running after a ball. But thats it. Have also film cameras , doing it since 83 , but at least for lenses i would wanna know how sharp they are and not only if they are good for video af , btw for those fixated on video get a good camcorder , better video quality and cheaper .
@@loboptlu My whole video was devoted to still imagery. It was video showing AF performance for Stills photography, so there is that. For what kind of photography do you want to see these cameras and lenses tested?
@@whistlingwingsphotography was simply a generic rant out of frustration sorry. But seeing another bird centric video seems to have illogically triggered me. And also the AF focus of canons on birds annoyed me so much on my r7 that i simply gave it away and got to sony and pentax. For explanation i make mostly longer distance architectural photos ( long because most of it is either cluttered with other houses and such or too much trees to get a good shot from near) and some planes , and even when i put the af in single point and servo ( for planes a bit forced) it always focused on birds outside of the focus area ( extremely annoying). And after writing a complaint to canon they simply answered that most people seem to shot mainly birds ( probably got that from all those yt videos) and that it is a feature. Honestly if i use point af i want my target in focus and not some damn bird on the edge of the screen.
@@loboptlu Not sure what to say given I cannot see how any of the recent Canon cameras, when using one-point or spot AF, would focus on something other than whatever object the AF "point" is on. Of course, you need to make sure tracking is turned off so you are not telling the AF to use the one-point or spot AF area as a starting point for whole area tracking. When I use spot or one-point AF with tracking off it focus on what I put the AF point/spot on and nothing else. And, it does a great job of doing so, especially with the R5II. Wish I could be of more help.
Using back button AF I can hold whichever back button down and also hold half-press of the shutter button to have Pre-Con going. This way the subject stays in focus. I have founds several used for Pre-Con that I never realized prior to have the R5II. It is not just great for getting take-off shots like you hear most people talk about. It is also great to capture all sorts of action sequences that a photographer has a hard time anticipating. I find myself tracking a subject with back button AF and having the Pre-Con going via half press much more than I ever thought I would.
@@whistlingwingsphotography appreciate your reply, I think maybe need more practice , I've been moving the camera too quickly I think as if I didn't have pre-con and keeping subject in the viewfinder after take off finding tough , but yeah more practice needed. What is happening if you're half pressing for a long time?
@@mikechapman1280 I really have not paid much attention to how long I hold half-press with Pre-con going. I just do it when I feel I need it and I have not seen any issues.
Yes, you need to keep holding the button down. Holding the button down keeps Servo AF active. Once you let up on the button Servo AF stops. That is the real power of Back Button AF. You have total control of AF operation while shooting. Cheers, Ron
@@whistlingwingsphotography Thank you for clarifying! Wouldn’t it be nice if once focus is acquired, we can let up on the back button and just press the shutter button to shoot the bird in flight. My old thumb would be much happier.
I need help. I have all your settings in place..I think…..I am still seeing a moving blue focus box that is different from where my selected spot focus box is…..any suggestions much appreciated
Yep, the solution to this is to go into the "Register and Recall a Shooting Function" Detail Set and put a check mark in the "Subject to Detect" parameter and set that parameter to "None." What is happening is the setting in the main AF menu of "Subject to Detect" being set to "Animals" is still in effect and not being overridden by unchecking the "Subject to Detect" box in the "Register and Recall a Shooting Function" Detail Set menu. This to me is a glitch and needs to be fixed by Canon. Another way to get what I call a "Pure" Spot AF behavior (no subject detection and no tracking) is to set the "AF Area" in the "Register and Recall a Shooting Function" "Detail Set" menu to the "Locked Spot AF." Doing this makes setting the "Subject to Detect" to "None" unnecessary. I hope this helps. Ron
Absolutely. As I stated in the video, I think the R5II is the most intuitive and easy to setup camera in its class that I have used. This is not to say that the camera is without setup flexibility or performance due to this simplification. I think Canon made a big effort to not only simplify the menus, but also to use terminology that make more sense to the user in getting across what various menu items do. Thanks so much for watching and commenting.
I have not done an actual test on this, and the AF improvement over the R5 is more than just the % of in focus shots. It is also about the number of in focus shots of very difficult subjects (obscured, fast moving, fast moving and small, etc.) the R5II will get you that the R5 just could not get or would get at a very low rate. That different is very large between the R5 and R5II. If you have what I might call an easy subject (large bird flying by slowly in the wide open for example) and the AF of the R5II locks on, which is almost always does, then generally it will not miss focus on any of the shots. I have shot many 100+ image sequences of birds in flight with the R5II and every image is in focus. With the R5 that hit rate on such opportunities was less, but how much less I cannot tell you. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
But how come it you just set up the third asterisk button as spot AF , it turns into eye AF after you hit the eye ? I’m confused there ! You only checked AF on and spot AF on the setup menu , the rest wasn’t checked
This was a mistake on my part. You also need to check "Subject to Detect" and set that parameter to "Off" Doing so will give you a pure "Spot AF" without it switching to tracking once it detects the subject. Ron
I'm a bit dissapointed with the image quality. I wish they would forget about building video cameras inside stills cameras. There's just too much compromise on the sensor design.
As a 100% still photographer I agree with you about the video functions. I feel like I am paying for many video-foreword or video-centric functions that I don't use. Where I disagree is about image quality. Any modern camera sensor offers outstanding image quality. Not to mention that the content of our images is the determining factor in the quality of our images - not the technology.
@whistlingwingsphotography Everything seems to be about half a stop noisier than the R5. It's the first time in my life I've bought a direct upgrade of a camera and it's chief function is slightly downgraded instead. I'm not one of these people who expects massive improvements in sensor design . But I don't think they should be going backwards either. Here was I really keen because with the mk ii there was no more compromise with 12 bit files in some shooting modes. Having 14 bits exclusively now but still a slight degradation in image quality just does my head in. It's a first world problem and I just need to try and forget it and go shooting, I know. Anyway, I'm keeping the Original R5 for the the outstanding quality of its files. I just should add that the effort you put into a detailed practical demo of the camera's auto focus with that model bird is the most exhaustive and directly helpful demo of a camera's AF I've seen and is much appreciated.
Hi Ron. I am happy with the stills I get with my R5 first release. Problem is that I would like a grab and go 2nd body for video purposes because I noted that stills are not as much appreciated by the general public. I saw a video of a youtuber who is not happy with the sharpness of the canon r5ii when shooting video. Any comment about that? th-cam.com/video/Km9wcq7VmRE/w-d-xo.html Michael Johnson Productions
I have not done enough video with the R5II to be able to comment on this subject at this time. I think it will, in the end, depend on what you want to do with your footage. If it is for Instagram type use then I am sure the R5II IQ will be fine. I do know that the AF performance is very good for my use cases so far. Wish I could help more. Ron
I think my next video is going to be even more comprehensive and will probably be almost 2 hours. Sound good? Hey, thanks for taking the time to comment. I especially like comments that are so constructive.
@@denniss5977 I know what constructive means and an 8 word statement stating something is "absurd" is simply blunt and rude. To be truly constructive how about providing ideas to keep a video short that covers basically the entire AF system of a camera with live examples of performance and behaviors including both static and flight work. Not all videos can be brief if you want to cover a subject thoroughly.
I appreciate your videos. I just went through your setup for my R5 II. I had done that with your videos on the R5 set up when I first got that camera. When people are impressed with my shots of birds in flight, I am think about and am thankful of Canon’s technology and your guidance on using it.
Thank you for helping me setting up my new camera. I come from DSLR world and this Mirrorless R5 Mark II is really my 1st mirrorless camera. your tutorial has been more than helpful. I have a lot of gratitude for your generosity at sharing knowledge and expertise. Many many Thanks
I appreciate all the work and time you put into this. I applied this to some of the settings to the R3. Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words and for watching. I appreciate your participation.
As always I feel you offer the most complete and correct settings for these bodies.
Thanks so much, Vince. Glad you find my videos helpful. Ron
Thank you for making this video! I’ve been waiting for it since the R5mkii has came out. Much appreciated!
You are welcome. Thanks for watching.
Great tutorial. Thank you so much.
Another great video. I just love the way you explained the difference scenarios for autofocus with smaller birds. Thanks
Hey, thanks so much for your kind words. I am glad you found the video helpful. Cheers, Ron
Hi, Ron. Very comprehensive video. My setup is a little different of, of course, but seeing how others do things does help me learn how to tweak my setup to be a little more effective. Thank you for taking the time. I always appreciate your videos.
Very welcome. I appreciate you watching and taking the time to comment.
Hi Ron, thanks so much for taking the time to make such detailed videos. I personally don't shoot birds regularly. However, I customize one of the shooting modes to use your settings for when I'm in that situation and it works great. I really like how you explain why you choose the settings you do. BTW, I used your videos to setup my older (now) R5 as well.
You are very welcome. I like doing these videos as long as at least a few folks find something helpful in them. Always good to hear from people like you. Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment.
Great comprehensive video Ron. I think I shall stick with my R3 (which replaced my original R5). Maybe an R5II someday but probably not. The R3 is just too good for my purposes. Thanks for your work and dedication to the craft.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. Always good to hear from people like you given your perspective of things. Much appreciated.
Another great video! Thanks Ron. I set up a bit different by placing "Start/Stop Whole Area AF Tracking" on the M-Fn button. This allows your thumb to be pressing the Back Button that has Flexible Zone AF and simultaneous tap the M-Fn button with your index finger. This seamlessly transitions from Flexible Zone to Full Area tracking without ever stopping AF function. The blue locked tracking square stays on the eye/subject during the transition to full area. If done while shooting you do very briefly pause shooting as the index finger moves off the shutter button to the M-Fn and back again. But it's really quick and AF stays locked. I find it most useful to tell the AF exactly what you want to lock on if there are multiple subjects in the frame and you use a small Flexible Zone. Just a different way to take control of the AF.
Awesome, thanks so much for adding your setup to the conversation. I will have to give this setup a try, sounds like a great way to go.
Amazing auto focus video. The best I have seen.
Wow, thanks! And thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. Much appreciated.
Hi Ron Great in depth video as usual it looks like you are very pleased with the new R5 11 hopefully when you get your hands on the R1 you are also pleased can't Wait for that video I didn't want to upgrade the R5 I pre ordered the R1 just waiting
Well, we should have our R1s sometime in November. We just have to hope it is not delayed. One never knows these days. Thanks so much for the kind words and for watching. Ron
Great video as always!! You have saved me hours of time.
Awesome! Thank you!
Very helpful. Thank you.
You're welcome! Thank you for watching and commenting.
Thanks Ron, always insightful and honest. Enjoy your work young man!
Much appreciated. Thanks for watching.
Another helpful video Ron, thanks
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching and commenting. Always good to hear from others.
I would like to say a big thank you for your help sorting a problem out. It worked 👍🏻👍🏻
Glad it helped. My pleasure.
The new AF in R5II is called Dual Pixel AF Intelligent. I guess it means improved. I agree the AF is more sticky than the R5. I really like this camera, especially the pre-capture that is freaking awesome. I set it up a bit differently but achieving almost the same things. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for sharing. Always good to hear from others. I too like the pre-capture, even more than I thought I would and a lot of my liking it has to do with how Canon implemented it. It is so easy to incorporate into my shooting style.
Great video, although I wonder how much of a refinement the autofocus system really is. It would be interesting to see how the R5 mkii, R5 mki, and R3 all do on the same scene with the bird carving.
I did the comparison you suggest and the R5II does much better than the R5 overall, and handles the vertical elements better and is a bit stickier to the subject than the R3. The difference between the R3 and R5II are subtle and that is why I use the term "refinement." But, the more I use the R5II the more I see these subtle improvements in the R5II.
This video was about the AF of the R5II, and got long quick, so I could not include all aspects of the AF behavior. I hope to do another video showing how different AF settings change the behavior depicted in this video and also do a direct comparison among the R5, R3, and R5II. However, in the end, the only thing that really matters is the overall performance of the camera in question and the R5II impresses me more and more as I continue to use it. The R3 is an amazing camera and the AF is awesome. The R5 is easily outclassed by both the R3 and the R5II, as it should be given its "old age." If a person is happy with the R3 and its 24mp then, in my mind, there really is no urgent reason to upgrade. If you shoot a lot of action and need the best performance and are currently shooting the R5, upgrading to the R5II will get you more shots in many shooting scenarios. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment. It is much appreciated.
I watched a tripod yt channel and they said their testing found this tripod to be difficult to clean. Tripods placed in sand or water need to be broken down to be properly cleaned and this design makes it difficult to do that. I'm excited for this as a complement to my even more expensive gitzo gt5543ls tripod was over $1400 without a head but is geared for photography.
Great AF demo -- watching you use the features in the field and being able to see the display. Thanks much. Have you found a use for whole area tracking, turned on and off with the set button? Kind regards
Thanks for your kind words. To be honest, I have not found much use for Whole Area AF. For me, having the * button set to "eye detection AF" serves much the same purpose. If I want want whole area AF tracking it usually is when the bird is very close and moving quickly and keeping it in a zone is difficult and needing focus in eye more paramount. When this happens I just move my thumb to the Eye Detection AF back button and I get Whole Area AF Tracking. The combo of Zone and Eye Detection AF on my two main AF back buttons serves me well in just about every shooting scenario I find myself in. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment.
Thanks for the excellent video. I offers some good clarification and expansion on your previous setup video.
Awesome, thank you! Thanks so much for watching.
Merci beaucoup, j’apprends toujours beaucoup sur la photographie animalière même si je n’ai pas le canon R5 mark II 😊. Thank you very much
You are welcome. Thank you for watching and commenting. It is appreciated.
Hi Ron, I want to thank you for making such a detailed video. I have recently switched from a Canon 800D to the R5 Mark II and I was finding a bit hard to understand a few things. This video is surely a game changer for me and has helped me understand all the focus zones and their usecases. I have done the setup mostly as to how you've demonstrated and I have been pretty happy with the results.
It would be great if you could also discuss something about the pre-capture feature. How can it be toggled using any custom button ? Thanks.
Thanks so much for watching, commenting, and the kind words. With regards to the pre-capture at this time it cannot be toggled on and off via a button. The only control is via half-press of the shutter button. If you use back button AF then it works out fairly nicely as you can focus all you need to with a back button (pre-capture will not be activated), half-press the shutter button when yo want pre-capture, and shoot by going to full-press of the shutter button. With a bit of practice it is an effective process. If you use half-press of the shutter to initiate AF then how pre-capture works is a real conundrum that is very difficult to overcome without a "weird" work around. Ron
Excellent video!
Thank you very much! Thanks for watching and commenting. Always appreciated.
Great detailed tutorial
Glad it was helpful! Thanks so much for watching and taking time to comment.
I awaiting my camera, this is very useful one, last part on spot focus can be made more elaborate 😊
Thanks so much for watching. I wish I could include every aspect of the AF in one video, but these videos get so long that I need to keep things reigned in a bit. I will do another video comparing the behavior as settings are changed.
This was absolutely fantastic and best deep dive I have seen. BUT, curious if you can help someone who has R5 Mark I and R5 Mark II so I can set up consistent 3 Back Button on Both....I have your old R5 video and the placement of SPOT is different. Can I move it on the R5 Mark I or should I move it on the R5 Mark II? THANKS!
Fantastic video and for the first time I feel I understand the three button back button focus rather than just using the AF-ON button. My worry is that by setting the whole area tracking off in the main menu I will forget to press set and lose the tracking. I know this is a stupid question but can you have this turned on in the main menu and also. on the set button to get used to it and then turn off in main menu once familiar with the change. I have a workshop in two weeks and don;t want to miss tracking the golden eagles. I found the practical section at the end of the video really useful. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Thank you for the kind words about the video. I am glad you found it useful. If you have the 3 back buttons set up the way I show in the video, the * button is Whole Area Tracking via Eye Detection AF. I actually rarely use the SET button to turn on Whole Area AF, because I have it via the * button. The issue with having Whole Area Tracking turned on in the main AF menu is then all AF area setups have Whole Area Tracking once the AF locks onto what it thinks is the subject. There are many times I do not want my Zone AF to instantly change to Whole Area, so keeping Whole Area off in the main AF menu is a must for me.
So, overall, I find having the 3 back buttons set up for Zone, Eye Detection, and Spot AF gives me access to all the AF areas I really ever need. I just press the appropriate button that best fits the shooting scenario that is occurring. I often find myself using all 3 buttons/AF areas in one short session with an individual bird. I hope this helps. Ron
Hi Ron great review l have the R7 with the 100-500 at the moment l am going to get the R5 mark ii but l am bit worried about the reach with R5 and the 100 - 500 as l do birds do you think it will ok as it’s got 45 mp and l live the UK so not always good light for a extender thanks Keith
Keith, sorry for the late reply. If you like the R7's IQ then you will like the R5II's IQ. The reach issue is mitigated a bit by the 45mp, but heavy cropping and higher ISOs will result in images of lesser quality as I am sure you are aware. You will find the AF on the R5II is much better than on the R7. So, I guess you need to weight the overall package and make a choice. Cheers, Ron
love your videos and I have a question how do you compare the r6 Markii autofocus to the r5 Mark ii
Great video. I was interested in the opening shot of how you have rigged the Atomos ninja upside down and flush with back of R5 2. I also have a ninja. Great idea to have it flush with back of camera. It would be nice to see how you have it fixed to hotshoe and how it works for you. Perhaps a thought about an idea for future video. Thanks for your wonderful videos. Cheers Mike
Mike, thank you. I use two Smallrig items to get my Ninja placement behind the camera. Overall, it is fixed to the camera via the 1/4-20 thread on the bottom of the camera/vertical grip and not the hot shoe. This way the hot shoe is available for a mic or other accessory. Moreover, the hot shoe is not a very strong attachment point compared to the screw attachment under the camera. The two Smallrig items are: Swivel and Tilt Adjustable Monitor Mount with ARRI-Style Mount and Magic Arm with Dual Ball Heads (1/4”-20 Screws). If you want to see pic email me at ron@whistlingwingsphotography.com and I will email you a pick of my setup. Cheers, Ron
@@whistlingwingsphotographyThanks Ron, I will email you. Thanks for your help with this
Great video ! Do I have to keep pressing the eye detection button to follow it ?
Hi Ron at 33:40 you went to AF-ON meter+AF but you didn't go into the detail set , just wondering why you left this bit out I just thought this button would get more attention.
Hey, thanks for watching and thanks for the comment. I don't use the Detail Set submenu for Metering and AF Start, so I did not cover it. In retrospect it would have been good to go through it, but this type of video gets very long very quickly, so I have to leave some things out or the video would be 2 hours long. Overall, it is basically just like the Register and Recall a Shooting Function Detail Set and I did go through that set up. Cheers, Ron
Do you have the "whole area tracking" disabled just for perched birds? What button you have this function set to to quickly enable it?
Got my popcorn, here we go
Ha! Thanks. I am glad you find the entertainment value of my videos.
@@whistlingwingsphotography for sure, your explanations are clear and I great use case examples. I may shoot on the R7 but there is overlap here and there. Keep the content rolling as they are informative too!
Hi Ron, great comprehensive video again as usual, thanks. Im starting to see some criticism of the r52 results now, notably increased noise levels over the R51 and not good low light results. Any observations on this please?
Hey, thanks for the kind words. For me, I am still really happy with the R5II. There may be a bit more noise and a bit less DR, but overall, for me, the improvements in AF several other aspects of this camera's performance far outweigh the small negatives. The lack of rolling shutter and the leap in AF performance are major upgrades that are super important for my photography. I have worked with many files now that I have underexposed on purpose and have been able to recover them and they look great. Noise levels at the ISO settings I use are not much different then the R5. Moreover, dealing with noise is so easy these days in post using apps like Topaz. I would never go back to an R5 from the R5II, but that is just me.
@whistlingwingsphotography cheers Ron, I took mine out for the first time a few days ago photographing brown hares and I found the auto focus to be a big improvement, I was really impressed how well it locked on in low light situations and having just processed some images I'm very happy with the results. I believe I got images that I would not have with the original R5, that can't be bad!
Great video...I noticed that you changed some of the back buttons that you had set for your R3 described in the earlier R3 Menu setting video. I realize that they are a few more buttons on the R3, but did you go back and change your R3 buttons to reflect your R5 MKII settings...is it safe to assume that the R5 MK II button configuration is an evolution on your original R3 configuration...did you keep some of the original configuration on your R3...I'm thinking specifically M-Fn 1 and M-Fn 2 buttons...I will be changing my R3 to reflect the R5 MII in the video...
Yes, I would say that my changes are an evolution of sorts. Each new camera brings new options and behaviors, so I set my buttons according to how it feel I can best take advantage of the options I need. The way it looks I will end up with 2 R5IIs and sell my R3. Other than the noise levels at similar ISO settings the R5II has shown me the capabilities of the R3, but with 45mp. Having stated that, I don't find the noise on the R5II to be an issue, either. Thanks so much for continuing to follow my channel and for taking the time to comment.
Terrific video. Just got my R5ll today so I'm playing. I had it set up like my R5 but I really like your zone setup. That will be my third back button. Thanks for all the time and effort you put in. I do have one question. There's a white box (actually four white corners) that floats around and locks on some things. Do you know what that is. It's separate from my blue focus square.
Thanks for the kind words. With regards to the "white box" that is floating around. That is a pre-focus indicator. The camera is telling you what the AF will focus on if you initiate AF. If you are in Zone AF the floating box will be an actual box. If you initiate "Whole Area AF," by say hitting the SET, button the double pre-focus box/brackets pop up and will lock onto say the eye of the bird if you have Subject to Detect set to Animals and Eye Detection turned on in the main AF menu. If you initiate AF the camera will focus where ever that box is located. Hope this helps.
@@whistlingwingsphotography Great. Thanks. I kind of thought that after using it for awhile. Appreciate the feedback.
As usual, excellent content, thanks. Can you offer any advice on the lens IS switch settings on the 100-500mm lens for bird photography? I just purchased an R5 Mark II, (arriving in a couple of days!) and am confused as to which IS setting to use. Most birds I shoot are still or slowly moving, with occasional birds in flight when I get lucky, and I know I will not be able to switch modes on the lens. I am not concerned about whether the IS is active when I am just looking through the camera as long as it stabilizes correctly when I take the picture. Having it stabilize when I press the shutter half-way as I am used to on my current camera (an OM1) would be a plus. Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words. I would set the IS mode to mode 2. This will give you stabilized View Finder, good stabilization for static birds, great stabilization for moving birds. It is the most versatile setting and what I use most. If you want the ultimate stabilization on static subjects then mode 1, but you will not be able to pan well with a moving subject as Mode 1 is for static subjects and any movement will be compensated for by the IS/IBIS. Mode 3 is for erratic subjects that are changing directions quickly. You get no VF stabilization as it only stabilizes as images are taken. I hope this helps. Ron
Hi Ron, once again thank you for a great video. Question for you, what kind of monitor do you use and can you elaborate a little, thanks.
I use a Atomos Ninja V. Not sure what else you want to know. I just connect it to the camera via HDMI and the camera's display is displayed on the Ninja. Ron
@@whistlingwingsphotography Thank you Ron.
Hi Ron, thanks for another great video. Do you find that high iso images in the Mk2, have more noise than the R5 produces.
Maybe just a bit more, but I have not found noise to be an issue for me so far with the R5II.
I wonder if i will ever see a good test of a camera without birds af or video capabilities but all serious photo capabilities and good image quality not being degraded by the the electrical noise due to too fast sensor to cpu transfers without shielding or the aa filter.
I guess it all depends on what you are looking for as far as capabilities go. There are many cameras out there that are focused on still imagery and provide really great IQ. Leica and Hasselblad come to mind. There also is film. No electrical noise in those cameras. When it comes to hybrid cameras they are what they are and for me the IQ is good with performance that allows a person to get just about any shot imaginable either stills or video. It is all about the right tool for the job. If I were shooting landscapes I would not have the R5II that is for sure.
@@whistlingwingsphotography yes but every one ,be it youtube or tests on the internet , birds birds birds ,video here ,video this , thats it and it is absolutely not helping.
Even lens tests , video video video.
You can see the difference of older tests going into everything ,but every test of new cameras , birds or video ,ah nearly forgot for the canon r1 there are idiots running after a ball.
But thats it.
Have also film cameras , doing it since 83 , but at least for lenses i would wanna know how sharp they are and not only if they are good for video af , btw for those fixated on video get a good camcorder , better video quality and cheaper .
@@loboptlu My whole video was devoted to still imagery. It was video showing AF performance for Stills photography, so there is that. For what kind of photography do you want to see these cameras and lenses tested?
@@whistlingwingsphotography was simply a generic rant out of frustration sorry.
But seeing another bird centric video seems to have illogically triggered me.
And also the AF focus of canons on birds annoyed me so much on my r7 that i simply gave it away and got to sony and pentax.
For explanation i make mostly longer distance architectural photos ( long because most of it is either cluttered with other houses and such or too much trees to get a good shot from near) and some planes , and even when i put the af in single point and servo ( for planes a bit forced) it always focused on birds outside of the focus area ( extremely annoying).
And after writing a complaint to canon they simply answered that most people seem to shot mainly birds ( probably got that from all those yt videos) and that it is a feature.
Honestly if i use point af i want my target in focus and not some damn bird on the edge of the screen.
@@loboptlu Not sure what to say given I cannot see how any of the recent Canon cameras, when using one-point or spot AF, would focus on something other than whatever object the AF "point" is on. Of course, you need to make sure tracking is turned off so you are not telling the AF to use the one-point or spot AF area as a starting point for whole area tracking. When I use spot or one-point AF with tracking off it focus on what I put the AF point/spot on and nothing else. And, it does a great job of doing so, especially with the R5II. Wish I could be of more help.
Hi Ron , do you use any particular focus set up when using pre-con shooting? to keep subject in focus
Using back button AF I can hold whichever back button down and also hold half-press of the shutter button to have Pre-Con going. This way the subject stays in focus. I have founds several used for Pre-Con that I never realized prior to have the R5II. It is not just great for getting take-off shots like you hear most people talk about. It is also great to capture all sorts of action sequences that a photographer has a hard time anticipating. I find myself tracking a subject with back button AF and having the Pre-Con going via half press much more than I ever thought I would.
@@whistlingwingsphotography appreciate your reply, I think maybe need more practice , I've been moving the camera too quickly I think as if I didn't have pre-con and keeping subject in the viewfinder after take off finding tough , but yeah more practice needed. What is happening if you're half pressing for a long time?
@@mikechapman1280 I really have not paid much attention to how long I hold half-press with Pre-con going. I just do it when I feel I need it and I have not seen any issues.
@@whistlingwingsphotography Many thanks for your help.
Do we have to keep holding the back button to track the bird in flight even after focus is locked on?
Yes, you need to keep holding the button down. Holding the button down keeps Servo AF active. Once you let up on the button Servo AF stops. That is the real power of Back Button AF. You have total control of AF operation while shooting. Cheers, Ron
@@whistlingwingsphotography Thank you for clarifying! Wouldn’t it be nice if once focus is acquired, we can let up on the back button and just press the shutter button to shoot the bird in flight. My old thumb would be much happier.
I need help. I have all your settings in place..I think…..I am still seeing a moving blue focus box that is different from where my selected spot focus box is…..any suggestions much appreciated
Yep, the solution to this is to go into the "Register and Recall a Shooting Function" Detail Set and put a check mark in the "Subject to Detect" parameter and set that parameter to "None." What is happening is the setting in the main AF menu of "Subject to Detect" being set to "Animals" is still in effect and not being overridden by unchecking the "Subject to Detect" box in the "Register and Recall a Shooting Function" Detail Set menu. This to me is a glitch and needs to be fixed by Canon. Another way to get what I call a "Pure" Spot AF behavior (no subject detection and no tracking) is to set the "AF Area" in the "Register and Recall a Shooting Function" "Detail Set" menu to the "Locked Spot AF." Doing this makes setting the "Subject to Detect" to "None" unnecessary. I hope this helps. Ron
Menus have been simplified?? Certainly looks that way.
Absolutely. As I stated in the video, I think the R5II is the most intuitive and easy to setup camera in its class that I have used. This is not to say that the camera is without setup flexibility or performance due to this simplification. I think Canon made a big effort to not only simplify the menus, but also to use terminology that make more sense to the user in getting across what various menu items do. Thanks so much for watching and commenting.
What % improvement do you get in shots in focus vs R5 . In other words how many extra shots are in focus per 100 pics woth the better auto focus .
I have not done an actual test on this, and the AF improvement over the R5 is more than just the % of in focus shots. It is also about the number of in focus shots of very difficult subjects (obscured, fast moving, fast moving and small, etc.) the R5II will get you that the R5 just could not get or would get at a very low rate. That different is very large between the R5 and R5II. If you have what I might call an easy subject (large bird flying by slowly in the wide open for example) and the AF of the R5II locks on, which is almost always does, then generally it will not miss focus on any of the shots. I have shot many 100+ image sequences of birds in flight with the R5II and every image is in focus. With the R5 that hit rate on such opportunities was less, but how much less I cannot tell you. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
But how come it you just set up the third asterisk button as spot AF , it turns into eye AF after you hit the eye ? I’m confused there ! You only checked AF on and spot AF on the setup menu , the rest wasn’t checked
This was a mistake on my part. You also need to check "Subject to Detect" and set that parameter to "Off" Doing so will give you a pure "Spot AF" without it switching to tracking once it detects the subject. Ron
I'm a bit dissapointed with the image quality. I wish they would forget about building video cameras inside stills cameras. There's just too much compromise on the sensor design.
What about the image quality do you find is lacking? I have been very happy with the quality of the images I am getting.
As a 100% still photographer I agree with you about the video functions. I feel like I am paying for many video-foreword or video-centric functions that I don't use. Where I disagree is about image quality. Any modern camera sensor offers outstanding image quality. Not to mention that the content of our images is the determining factor in the quality of our images - not the technology.
@whistlingwingsphotography Everything seems to be about half a stop noisier than the R5. It's the first time in my life I've bought a direct upgrade of a camera and it's chief function is slightly downgraded instead. I'm not one of these people who expects massive improvements in sensor design . But I don't think they should be going backwards either. Here was I really keen because with the mk ii there was no more compromise with 12 bit files in some shooting modes. Having 14 bits exclusively now but still a slight degradation in image quality just does my head in. It's a first world problem and I just need to try and forget it and go shooting, I know. Anyway, I'm keeping the Original R5 for the the outstanding quality of its files. I just should add that the effort you put into a detailed practical demo of the camera's auto focus with that model bird is the most exhaustive and directly helpful demo of a camera's AF I've seen and is much appreciated.
@@SteveSSBB With this type of photography, it is heavily reliant on technology.
I agree, I don’t shoot video and feel the same way
Hi Ron. I am happy with the stills I get with my R5 first release. Problem is that I would like a grab and go 2nd body for video purposes because I noted that stills are not as much appreciated by the general public. I saw a video of a youtuber who is not happy with the sharpness of the canon r5ii when shooting video. Any comment about that? th-cam.com/video/Km9wcq7VmRE/w-d-xo.html Michael Johnson Productions
I have not done enough video with the R5II to be able to comment on this subject at this time. I think it will, in the end, depend on what you want to do with your footage. If it is for Instagram type use then I am sure the R5II IQ will be fine. I do know that the AF performance is very good for my use cases so far. Wish I could help more. Ron
Over an hour on any topic is absurd.
I think my next video is going to be even more comprehensive and will probably be almost 2 hours. Sound good? Hey, thanks for taking the time to comment. I especially like comments that are so constructive.
Oh, and over 200 likes and dislikes in the single digits. I think that tells me what I need to know.
@@whistlingwingsphotography don’t think you understand what constructive means that was very useful advice.
@@denniss5977 I know what constructive means and an 8 word statement stating something is "absurd" is simply blunt and rude. To be truly constructive how about providing ideas to keep a video short that covers basically the entire AF system of a camera with live examples of performance and behaviors including both static and flight work. Not all videos can be brief if you want to cover a subject thoroughly.
@@whistlingwingsphotography I like things to be explained elaborately, I am a slow learner myself. Thanks Ron.