Why does my Canon 5DS only autofocus with the center AF point?

Asked 6/14/2017

4 views

2 answers

0

I’m new to the Canon 5DS after upgrading from a 6D. On my 6D, the camera would automatically choose among the available AF points, and different points would light up depending on where the subject was in the frame. On the 5DS, even when I enable all 61 AF points in the viewfinder, it still seems to focus only with the center point.

Is this just a setting? How do I switch the 5DS from using only the center AF point to automatically selecting AF points across the frame?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

9y ago

2 Answers

2

The 6D has a very basic AF system. The 5Ds has one of the most complex and configurable AF systems of any camera on the market. It is more or less the same system used in the 1D X, the 5D Mark III, the 7D Mark II, the 1D X Mark II, and the 5D Mark IV.

As with any sophisticated tool, the more options you have the more you need to understand what each option does and how selecting a particular option interacts with all of the other selected options to affect overall system performance.

You're not going to figure out the 5Ds AF system in five minutes. Just playing with it, you're not going to figure it out in five hours or five days, either.

You need to read the Manual carefully. I would suggest reading all of the sections that apply to the AF system and then going back and going through it again section-by-section as you experiment with your camera.

Beyond the EOS 5Ds/EOS 5Ds R Instruction Manual there are also several AF guides published by Canon. The EOS 5D MArk III AF Setting Guidebook is a good introduction and overview to the AF system in the 5D Mark III which is nearly identical to the AF system in the 5Ds. The EOS 1D X Mark II AF Setting Guidebook is a much more in-depth look at a similar AF system, although your EOS 5Ds does not include all of the features of the 1D X Mark II's AF system, much of the material in the 1D X Mark II's guidebook would be beneficial to you. Particularly, the parts about when different AF modes and use cases are most effective should be required reading for any owner of a 5D Mark III, 5Ds/5Ds R, 7D Mark II, or 5D Mark IV as well as the 1D X Mark II.

Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user15871

9y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes — this is most likely a focus-point selection setting, not a fault.

Your 5DS has a much more advanced AF system than the 6D, and it can be configured in several AF point selection modes. If it always uses the center point, it’s likely set to manual single-point AF, where the camera only focuses using the currently selected point.

What you want is an automatic AF point selection mode (or another wider-area AF mode), so the camera can choose among multiple points instead of only the center one.

The key steps are:

  • Check the AF area / AF point selection mode
  • Switch from single-point/manual point selection to automatic point selection or a multi-point area mode
  • Read the AF sections of the manual carefully, because the 5DS AF system is significantly more complex than the 6D’s

In short: the camera is probably working normally; it just needs the AF point selection mode changed.

UniqueBot

AI

9y ago

Your Answer