Professional Autofocus settings for Canon DSLR cameras

Professional Autofocus settings for Canon DSLR cameras - 1DX Mark III people tracking hack

Рет қаралды 27,151

3 жыл бұрын

As a professional photographer, having the best autofocus settings is really important to get the most out of your camera. I have been photographing with Canon DSLR cameras for 10 years and these are the best autofocus settings I have found for sports, photojournalism and many other disciplines of photography. Supercharge your camera's autofocus system by setting up registered point, AF-ON (back button) autofocus and even people tracking in the 1dx Mark III.
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Пікірлер: 67

@RotterStudios Жыл бұрын

I'm so lost. I'm a visual learner but this was a great video.

@braystaylor 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for this, Brett! I wasn't actually looking for this, I just stumbled across your channel through the recommended section. These settings just blew my mind! I've always thought my settings needed tweaking on my 1DX2 but haven't been able to find any source that explains it so easily. I can't believe I didn't know about that sooner, lol. Thanks again mate, you've just saved me so much time when shooting.

@StephenDavisMonsignor 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video man! Will watch again tomorrow and follow along with my 1DXMkIII!

@djbob6859 3 жыл бұрын

This is a game changer Brett! This will come in handy for my next race. I can't believe I didn't know about this. Thank you for your helpful videos and reviews.

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Dude. So welcome!!

@frontfoot1035 3 жыл бұрын

SUPER informative!!!

@Double_Vision 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks mate! You're doing an incredible service for us all. This is hugely appreciated, as there's a real No-Man's-Land in decent tuition at the entry point to Events and Sports photography, and the particulars are generally not well explained. The 1D-X mkiii is a very specialist bit of kit, and it's quite rare on KZfaq too! Thank you for making a thorough explanation of your facial-autofocus workflow. I love my 1D-X mark iii for its low light 4K capability. It's enabled me to take some really lush video shots in low light at dusk without supplemental lighting. Before this that would have only been possible on a C300 or above. It's a camera that rides the line between Pro-Cinema and Pro-Photo, and that's both exciting and concerning for the future. I reckon this is the last Pro-DSLR Canon will ever make, so I've got my fingers crossed for the next iteration of the 1D-X series to be something pretty special. EVFs still feel strange to me, but I'm sure I'll accommodate to them eventually. What do you think will happen to how we shoot events if Canon were to release some kind of imaginary stabilised-sensor RF-Mount 1D-X MkIV with an electronic viewfinder? Would they shrink the sensor pixels for the sake of 8K resolution and possibly hamper the low light performance?

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

I think we’re still in beta on mirrorless. It’s not going anywhere but I’m less certain as time goes by that EF is disappearing. That being said, I don’t think Canon will dump 45 megapixels in a 1DX 4 R body at the expense of iso performance. They completely understand the 1DX market and what we like. Hence why it is still under 30 mp. Canon makes refined products not experiments so I don’t think when (not if) the sports R comes it will be spot on. All I know for sure is man are all these cameras incredible in what they allow us to do! I’m happy to help share more info on the camera! I’ve been using these bodies for 10 years. Lots of knowledge to share.

@TubaSolotheHiker 3 жыл бұрын

Very very interesting...I had to watch this video twice but I get what your getting at with the left right center. Excellent tip! Thank you!

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

It’s hard to explain since you can’t record the eye piece easily. Glad it came across. Happy to help and answer any questions!

@fabeaux8623 3 жыл бұрын

This video is like finding gold in the desert!! Amazingly useful!!

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Stoked to hear it! Share with others! Glad people can use it and get something out of it.

@robiniborn2191 Жыл бұрын

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

@lmendezphotography1935 2 жыл бұрын

Great Video! It helped me a lot!!!!!

@lucianofinardi7222 3 жыл бұрын

Complex for me. Will try on the camera.

@yahligalanti2799 3 жыл бұрын

Wow! This "star" focus will be very helpful for my wildlife photography (with the 7d mark ii) thanks!

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Very welcome!!

@stans6582 3 жыл бұрын

EXCELLENT............Brett, thanks again

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Very welcome!

@jackgoras858 3 жыл бұрын

love the video mate! You can hold up your phone to viewfinder for video of what it looks like inside the viewfinder. the phone camera is small enough to get everything!

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Great point! Thanks for the support!!

@chepo1956 3 жыл бұрын

Wonderful stuff Brett. I just subscribed to your channel. The problem I have is that I'm a visual learner. Maybe in the future, you can put one of those Atomos gizmos on top of the camera so we can see in real-time how you set up this camera. I'm not complaining, just adding the suggestion to my wish list.

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Totally agree. I actually did that for the screen captures in the video. Just didn’t do it live as then I’d have cables everywhere haha. And sadly those can’t capture what’s in the viewfinder being that it’s not electronic.

@Aleksandr_Alex 2 жыл бұрын

Отличные советы, полезно всем.

@Theirfightstory 2 жыл бұрын

🔥🔥🔥🔥

@acardena13 3 жыл бұрын

Very helpful!

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

🙏🏻 thank you!

@dushyantbhatt9345 2 жыл бұрын

Hello,. thanks for the nice video ,.. does it do 4k 60fps auto-focus ??

@adayinthelifeofg.i.janeand7860 Жыл бұрын

I just subscribed to your channel. I’m so glad I found it. My family races motocross and I take photos a ton. Do you have my suggestions for the best setting for MX? Sometimes if I’m not fast enough bringing the camera up it’s out of focus because the red dot didn’t land right on them to focus. Thank you in advance, Jane

@BrettCarlsen Жыл бұрын

Hey Jane I’ve only photographed MX once, despite attending many supercross races for fun and riding dirt bikes. I’d try a continuous/servo autofocus mode with a box or set of boxes about the size of the rider. Hopefully you can keep that area over the rider and then get some in focus. Another setting depending on the camera would be to up the tracking speed or find a setting for objects coming at you quickly etc.

@felixhartart1952 3 жыл бұрын

Big fan of your videos Brett!!! Could you upload more videos like this on your setup of the 1dx. I‘m about to get an used mark ii and I feel a bit overwhelmed with all its functions.

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Definitely! I only have the 1dx mark iii but I can do one on that

@felixhartart1952 3 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCarlsen That would be aweseone. The 1d series do share a lot of funtions, so this should be helpful anyway. You deliver great content and your knowledge, especially on Canon cameras is really profound.

@andrewxx7 Жыл бұрын

Are you able to cover all 3 zones with the 1dx mkiii. Left side and Center registers points and right side with star button. This works great with my 5D mk4, but I have just upgraded my 7D for a 1dx mk3. Not had chance to take many photos yet. But trying to configure button’s to make it easer. Don’t think people tracking would work on wildlife.. regards Andrew thank you

@ralfyboii 5 ай бұрын

I’m extremely late, but I’ve got it all setup…one area I’m a bit confused is how to get the autofocus to jump from the middle to the left side? 5:57 I already registered an autofocus point on the right side of the frame

@nickditoro 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Brett. I have a 1DX Mark III, and am so glad I happened on your video. I followed step-by-step and am now set-up so that pressing the star button will switch to people tracking. Can I assume that the feature you discussed earlier, about setting up a secondary focus point, say, at the right side of the frame to look exactly like the AF-ON point and is accessible by the star button is no longer possible once people tracking is registered for the star button? In other words, the camera can register only one point at a time? If there was a way to enable both modes, I missed it.

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

You are correct. You can do either one. So you could go back to using traditional points (and I have) by just moving your normal point (assumed to the right) and then registering it with the two button push and then move your point back to center/left/wherever and now the Hp point will perform just as your normal point does. Then to go back to people tracking just change your default point to that huge area and register it as Hp point and then just swap your normal point back to a traditional style you prefer. Does that make sense?

@nickditoro 3 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCarlsen That makes sense. Thank you!

@obsidian00 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this! Learning the auto focusing settings and menus on my 1DX3 has been...taxing. In my defense, I am coming from Nikon so...

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

They are definitely complex especially when switching. Slowly you kind of learn all the pieces you need.

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

I second this. A lot of menu items will give you some added info.

@TubaSolotheHiker 3 жыл бұрын

Hello Brett. Quick question. When you bounce the point back to the center using the joystick. What's your next motion to engage AF? Do you press the AF-ON button again? Wouldn't that bounce the point back to the left? Sorry that is the only concept I wasn't grasping. Im usually hired to do sports shooting for a local high school (Pre COVID of course). All high school sports in Southern CA are about to start ramping up their practices starting next week and I would love to try this method at a few practices that I know I'm going to shoot at so I can get back into the flow before actual games start.

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Hey! So when setup properly you should have two points (except on mark III). One that the control stick can move around and another that stays put. The one you can move should bounce to center when you push the joystick in and return to previous location if you push in again. The AF-ON should activate that point wherever it is located and then the * button should activate the other button (or mode in the case of 1DX mark III). Does that make sense?

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Basically AF-ON button will activate the point you can move wherever it’s located and in whatever config (single point, expanded, etc) and then the * button will always activate the registered point which traditionally would be a second point but on my mark iii I have configured as “people tracking”

@jkjghpme 4 ай бұрын

I have followed your steps in this video, but I still can't get the camera to focus on a face. Should this do it automatically or is there a step that I'm missing? Any help would be fantastic.

@androidstreak 3 жыл бұрын

FOCUS SHIFT BUG IN MARK 3 DX 1

@kelb89 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome video! Have you tried the new firmware? If so how do you find the AF compares?

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Not yet haha. Just released at midnight. Updating them though and have some MLS work this weekend. So I should see how it works. They are already amazing so I’ll be pretty impressed if they are even better.

@kelb89 3 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCarlsen Awesome. I'll be in touch Monday! Haha

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Haha sounds good. Now to remember to update the firmware and clean a hair out of the one sensor

@kelb89 3 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCarlsen AF update? 🤣

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

I was shooting in awful rain and then using it alongside the R5. It was really good before and still really good? Haha. Unsure what specifically is better.

@valentinmikleu 3 жыл бұрын

Hello, these are settings for a sports photographer as yourself. I tried them once but I am trying to increase my AF success rate when shooting portraits at 1.2 or other apertures but also with shallow depth of field. Do you have a golden receipt for us portrait photographers ? TIA

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Hey! I actually use this for all disciplines. Do a ton of portraits and commercial work like this. You can always switch to ONE SHOT Af which might have more success in portraits. I personally use the method from the video with my 1.2 lenses and find it works better than one shot. I just use the smallest box available (tiny box inside standard box) and place that on the eye. If you have the 1DX mark III the people tracking can help a bit. The 1.2 lenses are pretty notorious for missing focus with any camera sadly. They used to be unusable on my 1DX mark I, I’d maybe get 50% of pictures in focus.

@valentinmikleu 3 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCarlsen Thank you! I have a 5Ds and 5D4 which in theory has the same AF as 1Dx2. No Eye AF, only Face AF which is not good enough with my 70-200 II for example. I learned that smaller box cannot find contrast and I have to use single point, larger square and put it on the margin of the eye where I have stronger contrast. I dream of a R5 and with new Eye AF my struggle would be gone but I invested too much in EF to switch now.

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Totally understand. I have a lot of success with that tiny box but you certainly have to land on contrast or eye etc. for anything bigger I use the single box or expanded (box with 4 around it). No system is perfect but those have given me best results. Also fiddling with the AF cases (1,2,3,4) and try one that is more locked on if things aren’t moving fast (not sports). R5 works flawlessly with EF lenses in my opinion. No issues at all on my end with the older R or now the new R5. I use the normal RF-EF adaptor that is pretty cheap. If you don’t need 45 megapixels the R6 will have the same focus system and speed (12 FPS) just stop 20mp. Lots of great options

@sagihurvitz858 Жыл бұрын

Hey Brett, maybe you can help me with my 1dxiii issue.. After using the 1dxii for the last 5 years, I bought myself the 1dxiii last week. Now, overall this camera is insane and I love it, but I found something that bothers me a bit. Outdoors, during daylight, the autofocus is crazy fast. (I'm using the full af zone with initial servo af point) now, during night time or even during day time if I'm in a room that doesn't have direct sun light it feels like the autofocus is laggy, suddenly it's not that fast, and it feels even slower than the 1dxii, and I checked both cameras in the same scenarios, 1dxii autofocus speed is consistent on both cases and 1dxiii is not, feels like there's a half a second latency from the second I press the af button until it's actually starts working, and the af point movement becomes laggy. I using all L prime lenses (checked them all) Brand new 1dxiii - a week old, already shot one wedding with it. Would live to hear from you if u experienced that as well and if so did u find a solution for it?

@BrettCarlsen Жыл бұрын

Hmm. I don’t have much of a solution but definitely did not have this experience with mine. Can’t think of any obvious settings I’d look at. My first thought was slow glass but obviously not the issue. Perhaps check for firmware updates for the body?

@sagihurvitz858 Жыл бұрын

@@BrettCarlsen I downgraded from 1.7.1 to 1.6.2... Feels a little better than what I've experienced with the 1.7.1

@BrettCarlsen Жыл бұрын

Interesting. Wish I had something helpful to say. Trying another body to compare would be great but I know that’s not simple to do.

@kevywilliams3304 2 жыл бұрын

90d has all those setting too. People tracker is horrible in a group … like soccer . You focus on someone in foreground and the camera talks everyone on the bench in focus too .

@BrettCarlsen 2 жыл бұрын

Many settings overlap between cameras yes. If shooting into benches I use the point focus. Why I have mine setup to use the point primarily and then people on a secondary button.

@wangqianjun Жыл бұрын

typical settings from nikon‘s

@TubaSolotheHiker 3 жыл бұрын

Now that you've owned the 1DX Mark III for a year and the R5 for over 6 months I'm going ask you the magic question. Which camera's auto focus system do you trust more? 1DX Mark III or the R5/6

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Trust more. Mark III. It’s more consistent. I chose it at the super bowl and currently at SEC tournament. Specific instances one beats the other though. If I knew I was exclusively photographing people IE wedding/portraits etc. I’d pick the R5. Sports I almost always pick the 1DX minus golf (faces). Both are amazing just different flavors of amazing. To a novice user the R5 will be the winner though without question

@TubaSolotheHiker 3 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCarlsen Dang...I just knew that was going to be the answer LOL...I won't bore you with the details of all my problems but, yeah, shooting sports...I feeling like there is something missing from the R6's. I just spoke with a mentor photographer friend of mine. I was telling him. I love shooting the dual R6's but I'm not in love with shooting the R6's. When I was shooting the 5DIV..yeah wow...it was like an extension of me... People are going to think I'm nuts....but yeah..something just isn't fully there with the R6's...maybe its my brain..LOL. DUDE! Brett. I really really really appreciate all the time you've taken to answer all my crazy questions man. You've been such a big help to me. Have a great weekend!

@BrettCarlsen 3 жыл бұрын

Always welcome!