Photo Plus - UK (2020-01)

F

90 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

CANONSCHOOL

Faster autofocus selection

Limit your AF point options so that you can get to the good stuff quicker

ADVANCED EOS cameras such the

90D and 7D Mark II have a large

number of AF points, along with

several ways to tweak and select

them. But the Custom Functions tab

in the camera menu offers shortcuts

that can streamline your workflow.

For example, you can reduce the

number of selectable AF area

selection modes. If you rarely use the

expanded AF point or Zone

configurations, say, you can remove

the checkmarks above them in the

menu. This will then allow you to get

to your preferred AF area modes

more quickly when you’re shooting.

The only one you won’t be able to

remove is the single-point AF.

The EOS 7D Mark II and

5D Mark IV have more than

60 AF points in their displays,

which can take a while to drive

a single AF point around,

although you can limit the total

number of AF points available via

each camera’s AF menu tab. On the

7D Mark II you can choose either the

full 65-point array, 21 points

or 9 points, while the 5D Mark IV

offers all 61 points, only cross-type

points, 15 points or 9 points.

WB

SET AF

ISO

ace detection AF is a

common feature in

Canon’s mirrorless

cameras and is also

available when using

shooting with a DSLR’s Live

View display. Until recently,

only high-end EOS cameras

offered this autofocus option

when shooting with the optical

viewfinder, but the recently

released EOS 90D, however, is

the first mid-range model to

offer up this useful feature.

Face detection through the

optical viewfinder sees the

camera’s high-resolution RGB

metering sensor feed the

autofocus system with

information about the scene.

The metering sensor can

recognize colours and it packs

enough pixels to be able to

detect human faces, making it

easier for the camera to keep

tracking a person as they

move through a scene. Canon

calls this Intelligent Tracking

and Recognition – or EOS

iTR for short.

The 90D also joins

the EOS R and RP

and a few other

models in having

the more advanced

Eye Detection AF.

After setting the

AF method to

Face+Tracking

and enabling Eye Detection AF

in the red Shooting menu, the

camera will detect a person’s

face and display an AF point

around one of their eyes to

indicate that it’s focusing on it.

A recent improvement to the

technology sees Eye Detection

AF (finally) available during

Servo AF, so it’s able to refocus

the lens to keep the eye sharp

if the subject moves.

You can tap the screen to

select an eye to focus on, but

even if you inadvertently tap

another part of the face, the

camera will automatically pull

focus on an eye.

Once you’ve enabled Eye

Detection AF, you’re able to

switch it off without having to

dip into the main menu if you

press the AF point selection

button, followed by INFO.

Tapping INFO again resumes

Eye Detection.

Face and eye detection

Take the stress out of capturing sharp Christmas portraits

CLEAR EYE FOCUS

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Tap a facial feature and the latest Canon cameras will be able to
automatically look for the eye when Eye Detection AF is activated