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Welcome back! I'm Rudy Winston
from Canon USA, and in this
episode, we'll speak to camera
enthusiasts about two vital
aspects of the Canon EOS R
camera: its Electronic
Viewfinder, and its Dual Pixel
CMOS autofocus system.
Especially if you've used EOS
digital SLRs with optical
viewfinders up to this time,
there are some excellent
features we'd like to introduce
you to. We'll look at the
Electronic Viewfinder first.
This is a very high resolution,
OLED-type electronic finder,
with 3.69 million dot
resolution. And, you'll note
it's very easy to see out to the
edges, even if you're wearing
glasses.
The Electronic Viewfinder brings
some new features, if you've
used DSLRs up to now:
There's more information,
including the option to display
a lens focus distance scale with
Canon RF lenses.
Excellent viewing in extreme
low-light conditions.
The ability to see the effect of
changes to camera settings,
including White Balance, color,
contrast, and exposure.
Focusing aids, which can make
Manual Focus a very practical
option in difficult shooting
situations.
The default operation is that a
sensor detects when your face is
near the camera, and activates
the viewfinder. Pull the camera
away, and it reverts to the LCD
monitor; so it's easy to shoot,
and then review images on the
LCD monitor. If you prefer,
there's a Menu setting to
restrict viewing to just the
viewfinder, or LCD.
An extensive range of viewfinder
information can be displayed, or
you can remove it entirely by
pressing the INFO button. This
viewfinder information can
change position automatically
when you shoot vertically, too.
Other information available in
the finder include a histogram
display in the finder to verify
lighting and exposure before you
take a picture.
It can be a brightness
or RGB histogram, and
you can opt for it to be large
or small in the finder and LCD
monitor.
And, with Canon's
dedicated RF lenses, you can
display a focus distance scale
in the finder (or on the LCD
monitor).
Something we could never do with
an optical viewfinder was
magnify the scene, to confirm
focus or other details before a
picture is taken.
With the EOS R,
whether you're set for
autofocus or manual focus, just
press the AF Point button on the
back, and then turn the Main
Dial to magnify the area around
your active AF points either 5
times, or 10 times. Turn again
to revert to a full-screen view.
Three superb new viewfinder aids
may make Manual Focus a
practical option for some EOS R
users. First, there's Manual
Focus Peaking, which highlights
the sharpest areas of a scene
with a red, yellow, or a blue
colored outline. Even in dim
light or with wide-angle lenses,
it can make Manual Focus a quick
proposition. There's also the
same Focus Assist that we've
seen in recent Cinema EOS
cameras - lines on an icon move
to indicate not only when
you're sharp, but in what
direction to adjust manual
focus.
And, with the Electronic Manual
Focusing on Canon RF lenses, yet
another option is available in
the AF Menu: magnify after
One-Shot AF.
Focus on a subject
using AF, and then just turn the
lens's manual focus ring - a
magnified view immediately
appears, letting you precisely
fine-tune focus manually.
There are several ways to
conserve battery power, with the
Electronic Viewfinder. One is to
adjust the power off timers in
the menu. There are separate
entries for the time before the
LCD monitor and Viewfinder shut
off, and the overall Power Off
for the entire camera. And,
there's another entry for
Display Performance. The Smooth
setting gives you a faster
refresh rate, but you can save
some power, especially if you're
not rapidly moving the camera,
with the Power saving option.
Autofocus with the EOS R brings
over many of the controls you're
familiar with in earlier EOS
DSLRs, but there are some new
features and differences, too.
First off, you're focusing off
the actual imaging sensor, with
the Dual Pixel CMOS autofocus,
and not with a separate,
dedicated AF sensor.
You can now focus over a much
larger area of the scene. The
EOS R's focus coverage with most
Canon lenses extends to 88% of
the width of the full-frame
image, and 100% of its height. A
single AF point can be manually
moved to any of over 5,600
different locations, so you can
control where you focus with
tremendous precision.
AF METHOD in the Canon EOS R
means the size of the active AF
area you're using. Many advanced
users prefer to start using one
single point, and this can be
moved around nearly the entire
frame. Press the AF Point button
and then the INFO button, and
you can make a single AF point
even smaller.
Change the AF Method by pressing
the AF Point button plus the
small Multi-Function button, and
select from the choices that
appear.
Or, you can customize
the Multi-function bar, and
slide your thumb to change AF
Method. You can do either with
the camera at your eye.
Face Detection plus Tracking is
one of your choices, and it can
change how you photograph people
- especially if you activate the
separate Eye Detection feature,
in the AF Menu area.
Horizontal or vertical,
just have a human
face in the active AF area, and
the EOS R will highlight it, and
Eye Detection AF will put
sharpest focus on the eye
nearest the camera. Don't think
of this as a consumer-level
feature: if you photograph
people, you need to give
Face Detection and especially
Eye Detection AF a try.
There are other AF Method
options, to expand the size of a
single point, or to change to
larger Zone AF options.
With these,
the EOS R focuses on the
nearest subject within the zone,
even with moving subjects in
Servo AF.
Speaking of Servo AF, the AF
Operation settings tell the
focus system
whether to lock
focus on a stationary subject
with One Shot AF,
or to expect
movement and follow it with
Servo AF. Don't be confused by
an adjacent menu option,
CONTINUOUS AF. This one keeps
focus active whenever the camera
is awake, to save a little time
when you pick it up and
initially focus on a subject.
Use SERVO to focus on moving
subjects.
A great feature carried-over
from EOS digital SLRs is
Orientation linked AF point.
Pick an AF point location for
horizontal shots, and another
for verticals. Now, when you
rotate the camera, the active AF
area will automatically change
locations for you.
Moving AF points is a critical
aspect of using an AF system
with such wide coverage. Our
strong recommendation: learn the
default methods first. Press the
AF Point button, and then use
the 4-way Cross Keys to move the
AF area where you want. You can
speed things up by customizing
the Cross Keys, so that they
directly move AF points, without
pressing the AF Point button
first.
Two other options: tap the
touch-screen LCD to move an AF
point or area, or try the
Touch-and-Drag AF to move an AF
area with your thumb on the LCD
monitor, as you look through the
eye-level viewfinder.
AF is normally activated via the
Shutter button or the AF On
button, but six other controls
on the EOS R can be customized
to start AF.
Finally, Manual Focus is really
enhanced on the EOS R. We
mentioned the Manual Focus aids
in the viewfinder earlier in
this episode, but beyond that,
if you're using Canon RF lenses,
you can change the direction of
focus ring rotation with a menu
selection, and also change the
sensitivity of the focus ring on
those lenses.
There's no question that the EOS
R camera puts many new
capabilities in the hands of the
experienced photographer, and it
starts right where you look:
with its Electronic Viewfinder,
and from there, it's AF system.
There are lots of options, and
with a little practice, most
users should find a combination
that makes them feel at home.
In the next couple of episodes,
my colleague Brent Ramsey will
discuss the video features of
the Canon EOS R camera. For
Canon USA, I'm Rudy Winston.
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