Canon EOS R5 Mark II “jerky” AF frame issue confirmed by Canon

Really want to buy a MKII, I bought a second hand R5 and was blown away with it but unfortunately I had issues with that copy and returned it after being quoted 6 weeks to repair.

This camera seems to be, in what seems typical in modern electronics, that early adopters end up being testers of elements that should have been ironed out before mass production.
It’s an unfortunate situation, be an early adopter and deal with bugs in exchange to learning the new gear quicker.

I remember the 1DX came out, and working in nightlife, it had a bug where in low-light situations the evaluative metering would crash the entire camera after a few minutes.

Brought it to Canon in LA and they basically held my camera for a few weeks as a test subject and even flew out some engineers from Japan to figure out what was going on. Thankfully they did figure out the issue and fixed the bug in the first 1DX firmware update.

Goes to show how little Canon really tests the gear; mainly doing just basic sports/nature testing it seems. If they would have given the 1DX pre-production to any photographer in the music industry they would have easily found the bug before release. But Canon generally doesn’t care about music photography.
 
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Have a R5ii from the first day batch. I am not noticing jerkiness at either low or higher shutter speeds. I have made a fair number of settings changes, But, and this is a big but perhaps, I have not installed the firmware update. A factor?
 
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Display jerkiness that has, as a workaround, decreasing the amount of data being displayed sounds like there's a bottleneck in data transfer somewhere or in computing the data that's being displayed. That's not good. The bright side is that it's likely fixable in firmware update by (best case) finding an easy to fix bit of inefficient code and replacing it or (worst case) restricting some data transfer functionality such as what can be displayed on the EVF at any one time.
 
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I can confirm this as well. If I shoot video with my r5m2 I can see the video jerk and hear/feel a click that happens frequently. If I set it to manual focus or turn stabilization off it seems to go away. It is very obvious when it is doing it and you can see the video try to twist when it happens.
That’s a different issue to the one reported here though, no?
Sometimes these things are affected by use cases. So we don't know how many cameras are potentially affected. It could be an entire run, it could be random...
The fact that Canon replaced the rear panel components / multi-controller on the guy’s camera and it made no difference maybe suggests it’s software. If it’s software surely they’ll all be affected (although it might be some combination of settings that makes the problem manifest so not everyone will necessarily see it, of course).
 
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It just seems that Mirrorless cameras are now inserting the problems of computers, and the bad habits as well. I get that these are complex, electro-optical systems that are way beyond my pay grade. I'm a bit surprised that Canon has release the R5M2 with so many bugs. I'm thankful my R5M1 is so stable.

Of course, I expect a few more firmware upgrades for the R5M2 in upcoming months. Buying a 2nd-gen camera at introduction should not have to mean one is also a beta-tester.
 
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When I read replaced parts that didn’t help, I suddenly got a very nasty flashback to when I got one of the very first 1d mkIII, it was not a pleasant experience to own that camera….

Is this software or hardware issues I wonder…
This Japanese blogger has published a series of posts on his blog. The first of these posts was a post from 19.09.2024, the second post was from 22.09.2024 and the third post was from 06.10.2024. In this post from 19.09.2024 he has provided a link to his post on X showing what he means:


On the left side is the R6 Mark II and on the right side R5 Mark II. Whether this is fixable with a firmware update I have no idea as I am not a software engineer. It looks like the processor power is being limited for this task (moving the selected AF frame using the joystick) so that there is power left for other tasks.

I am currently using the R6 Mark II with firmware version 1.5.0 installed and I am not able to move the selected AF frame as smoothly using the joystick as in the R6 Mark II visible in this video. When it comes to moving the selected AF frame, I am sort of between the R6 Mark II and the R5 Mark II visible in this video, although more towards the R6 Mark II.

I have absolutely no problems when it comes to the smooth movement of the selected AF frame by touch using the thumb - everything works ultra-smoothly for me. As we all know, this only works when using the EVF.

I am commenting on this topic because today I managed to place an order for the R5 Mark II, and now I am wondering what will happen to me when I turn it on for the first time when I have it in my hands. I managed to place an order because in Poland, where I live, our photography chains (we have two) and smaller photography shops deliver single copies of this camera model and the first-come, first-served principle applies.
 
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This Japanese blogger has published a series of posts on his blog. The first of these posts was a post from 19.09.2024, the second post was from 22.09.2024 and the third post was from 06.10.2024. In this post from 19.09.2024 he has provided a link to his post on X showing what he means:


On the left side is the R6 Mark II and on the right side R5 Mark II. Whether this is fixable with a firmware update I have no idea as I am not a software engineer. It looks like the processor power is being limited for this task (moving the selected AF frame using the joystick) so that there is power left for other tasks.

I am currently using the R6 Mark II with firmware version 1.5.0 installed and I am not able to move the selected AF frame as smoothly using the joystick as in the R6 Mark II visible in this video. When it comes to moving the selected AF frame, I am sort of between the R6 Mark II and the R5 Mark II visible in this video, although more towards the R6 Mark II.

I have absolutely no problems when it comes to the smooth movement of the selected AF frame by touch using the thumb - everything works ultra-smoothly for me. As we all know, this only works when using the EVF.

I am commenting on this topic because today I managed to place an order for the R5 Mark II, and now I am wondering what will happen to me when I turn it on for the first time when I have it in my hands. I managed to place an order because in Poland, where I live, our photography chains (we have two) and smaller photography shops deliver single copies of this camera model and the first-come, first-served principle applies.
Much appreciated, thanks !
 
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I had the rotational jerkiness during video, which does sound like a different issue. I broke my memory card door and sent it in for repair. They did a factory reset and updated to 1.0.1. The video now is smooth and not jerky at all.
That’s a different issue to the one reported here though, no?

The fact that Canon replaced the rear panel components / multi-controller on the guy’s camera and it made no difference maybe suggests it’s software. If it’s software surely they’ll all be affected (although it might be some combination of settings that makes the problem manifest so not everyone will necessarily see it, of course).
 
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Thanks for all the early adopters out there finding the various issues associated with a new model. I learned the hard way years ago as I was one to immediately buy or pre-order new gear. Not anymore. Considering the large investment, I wait at least 4-6 months after new product releases to see if there are issues and if they are resolved before I purchase.
 
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That’s a different issue to the one reported here though, no?

The fact that Canon replaced the rear panel components / multi-controller on the guy’s camera and it made no difference maybe suggests it’s software. If it’s software surely they’ll all be affected (although it might be some combination of settings that makes the problem manifest so not everyone will necessarily see it, of course).
I guess you are correct, I didn't read the whole statement. My camera emits and audible click that you can feel and the video on the screen also warps to coincide with the click. It feels almost as if the stabilizer is running out to the end and slamming into something. I'll try to get my camera out here shortly to see if I can recreate the problem and film it.
 
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Thank you for posting the video, I now have a better idea of the degree jerkiness (stuttering). My R5ii is displaying the behavior but to a considerably lesser degree. My R5 is also displaying the behavior but to a much lesser degree than my R5ii. My old half deaf ears with the help of hearing aids does not detect any clicking noises from either camera. Frankly, I do not consider it to be a problem or even an inconvenience.
 
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I managed to capture a short video of my issue. I used my phone to capture the viewfinder video as it seems more pronounced when looking through that vs the screen on the back. Video file is too large to post here so I saved it on my image share. Link below.

Edit: it only does this in video mode, image mode does not have this problem. If I turn off image stabilization, it goes away.

 
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This Japanese blogger has published a series of posts on his blog. The first of these posts was a post from 19.09.2024, the second post was from 22.09.2024 and the third post was from 06.10.2024. In this post from 19.09.2024 he has provided a link to his post on X showing what he means:


On the left side is the R6 Mark II and on the right side R5 Mark II. Whether this is fixable with a firmware update I have no idea as I am not a software engineer. It looks like the processor power is being limited for this task (moving the selected AF frame using the joystick) so that there is power left for other tasks.

I am currently using the R6 Mark II with firmware version 1.5.0 installed and I am not able to move the selected AF frame as smoothly using the joystick as in the R6 Mark II visible in this video. When it comes to moving the selected AF frame, I am sort of between the R6 Mark II and the R5 Mark II visible in this video, although more towards the R6 Mark II.

I have absolutely no problems when it comes to the smooth movement of the selected AF frame by touch using the thumb - everything works ultra-smoothly for me. As we all know, this only works when using the EVF.

I am commenting on this topic because today I managed to place an order for the R5 Mark II, and now I am wondering what will happen to me when I turn it on for the first time when I have it in my hands. I managed to place an order because in Poland, where I live, our photography chains (we have two) and smaller photography shops deliver single copies of this camera model and the first-come, first-served principle applies.
This is a great video. Thank you for posting it and probably calming most people down. I thought the AF would jitter on its own. This is being moved on purpose and it’s the smoothness or lack of it that is the issue. I am in the software business and it is going to be most likely be a firmware update. Phew. Waiting for my camera that I should get over the weekend.
 
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Have a R5ii from the first day batch. I am not noticing jerkiness at either low or higher shutter speeds. I have made a fair number of settings changes, But, and this is a big but perhaps, I have not installed the firmware update. A factor?
Same as you. First day user. I don't have any jerky effect during af point move via multi controller. Firmware 1.0.1.
 
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This is a great video. Thank you for posting it and probably calming most people down. I thought the AF would jitter on its own. This is being moved on purpose and it’s the smoothness or lack of it that is the issue. I am in the software business and it is going to be most likely be a firmware update. Phew. Waiting for my camera that I should get over the weekend.
Same here, I thought this is something else, I normally use Touch’n drag to live the point and not that often has I use Eye Tracking, so I’m a bit calmer now ..
 
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Same here, I thought this is something else, I normally use Touch’n drag to live the point and not that often has I use Eye Tracking, so I’m a bit calmer now ..
Same here. I'm not sure this is a "real" issue. Could it be better/smoother? Sure.
But I can't see how this affects actual real usage of the camera - unless you are trying to live track the focus point on a dragonfly.

Caveat: I do not have a R5ii - yet. There may be more related issues lurking that I am unaware, so maybe I'm wrong and this is a part of a broader issue.
 
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