New Canon AF Guidebook for 1DX2

Canon released this new AF guide for 1DX2 and it is of course applicable to most modern cameras with the 61 pt AF system although more so for 1DX2 and 5D4.

There have been similar previous guides and after reading this new one it does seem Canon has refined it and explanations are much better. I find it a good read for newcomers to the 61/65 pt system and even those of us who have had years learning the system can pick up a tip or two...

Link to the download from CPN Europe.... http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/...d_x_mark_ii.do

Thanks Geoff for finding this document, it is interesting and very comprehensive especially for sport shooters, however I don't believe it provides much useful guideline for folks who like to shoot BIF. In their documents and guidebooks so far, including this one, Canon has never considered the possibility of shooting birds in flight against a varied background by hand holding a super-telephoto lens. They put a lot of emphasis on cases where subject is blocked by an obstacle like shooting soccer or football, or subjects that move towards the camera and suddenly move back (like olympics skating), or accelerate towards the camera on a straight tight line (like a sprinter). They have programmed cases for those but none of their settings is really optimized for such subject as BIF agains varied background like the image below. In the case of birds in flight, the main issue is not the complexity of the subjects movement (so long as photographer can keep the bird centered in the frame) but rather the small size of the subject and the lack of contrast difference between the bird and the BG something that will seldom happen when shooting sports.

Attachment 167134Attachment 167134
That's why when I teach BIF I first start with explaining the basics concepts behind AI-servo AF and what each of these settings means and do, instead of just relying on a magic combination of those settings. Once the user understands these basic concepts and the effect of each setting, they can easily program the AF cases for the subject they are shooting.

I hope in future Canon consults with photographers who specialize in BIF with super-telephoto hand hold technique in both developing the AF system and in preparing specialized AF modes for these users.

This document has been kicking around for some time now and is just an updated version of the MK1. Having larger subjects to illustrate their points makes it look great, but as you say Arash, perhaps having more 'realistic' situations may be more beneficial to the majority of new comers? :w3

Agree with both your points Arash and Steve. The Cases weren't the important things I was thinking of in the guide....some of the things I think are useful in the guide (and yes they have been in the previous 7D2 guide but the 1DX didn't have the same Back Button functionality)

1) It does do a detailed explanation of each AF slider on its own and not just in relation to the 6 Sport cases
2) It goes into detail about how to program both the AF-On button and the * button to use them as entirely different setting triggers (this is done in one of two ways that are entirely different and have pros and cons) These are Detail Set for Af Metering Start and the Register/Recall Shooting Functions....both have their pros and cons but can be very useful for those wanting to have instant BB access to two entirely different cameras (in a way).

Basically it is Chapter 6 that is most useful to teach people some of the different Custom controls you can assign (minus the movie stuff) and the detail into each individual slider in the AF module back in Chapter 1....not the description of the 6 cases which for the most part should be ignored by the bird shooter.

Also this isn't a redone 1DX Guidebook as the 1DX was missing a lot of the features discussed in Chapter 6 and even the ones it had were more limited than even the 7D2 (which first added most of the newest features). Still the 1DX2 adds even more custom buttons.

I'm not sure if the guide goes into this but one thing that is very powerful on both the 1DX and 1DX2 is using the M-Fn button to switch between C modes. I have basically an instant switch right beside the shutter button with 4 different M mode settings....often I have perched shade, perched sun, flight shade and flight sun all ready to go with a push of the M-Fn without having to move my hands or lower the lens. Thought I'd add that here because it is one of my favourite things on the 1DX/2 that isn't available on the 5 and 7 series because they use a physical dial to change between modes.

They also did a version for Smart Phones too.

As far as it is relevant to BIF the 1DX also has all the necessary customizations using the MF-n btm's. I wrote this short tutorial 4 years ago to show how it can be used to change the AF pattern on the fly.

http://arihazeghiphotography.com/blo...uick-af-trick/

Thanks for the information and for starting this thread, Geoff. Arash, thanks a lot for the download. I'll read it with pleasure.