Firmware: Canon releases new firmware for the Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6 to fix freezing bug

[Pixel]

My R5 still freezes.

...and for the record my BBF button has EyeAF mapped to it.

 

[wyotex43n]

I presume you’ve tried multiple cards and experienced the problem with all of them? Could be a hardware problem with the slot itself. Have you contacted Canon?

I have not contacted Canon. I have swapped cards but have not been rigorous in labeling them. It has always been in the middle of trying to get a shot. The next time it happens I will swap out a card immediately and mark it. If others are not seeing this it is most likely a card issue but thought I would ask.

 

[docsavage123]

No early adaptor, still on FW 1.3.1 on my R6 and waiting what will happen to all the others.

likewise on my R5

 

[AlanF]

So, do you think my camera is malfunctioning in that pressing * will not initiate AF unless I half press the shutter. Why would AF-ON do it but not *?? Maybe someone else has this sorted out - anyone?

I am willing to try other settings but right now I like the shutter to give me spot and a shot if that's all I need and my eye AF often needs the initial spot to know where to start so that's why I have it using AF-ON. I toggle between the two very routinely and use full manual for exposure since the viewfinder is a pretty good indicator while my left eye judges reality. I have never found that a fraction of a stop was an issue in post.

Of course I'm certainly not an expert, I've always just muddled along.

Jack

Does the menu state the for the customization of the * button that it will initiate AF? If it it does and the * button does not initiate AF then something is wrong. Spot AF has the slowest acquisition of initial focus, especially in low light. If I customise my shutter to initiate AF I think I will do it for animal eyeAF and tracking and use the AF-on to override with spot. This is because I need the fastest response for BIF when something shoots by unexpectedly, not that it would make much, if any at all, difference in practice.

 

[bbasiaga]

So, do you think my camera is malfunctioning in that pressing * will not initiate AF unless I half press the shutter. Why would AF-ON do it but not *?? Maybe someone else has this sorted out - anyone?

I am willing to try other settings but right now I like the shutter to give me spot and a shot if that's all I need and my eye AF often needs the initial spot to know where to start so that's why I have it using AF-ON. I toggle between the two very routinely and use full manual for exposure since the viewfinder is a pretty good indicator while my left eye judges reality. I have never found that a fraction of a stop was an issue in post.

Of course I'm certainly not an expert, I've always just muddled along.

Jack

Jack,

On my R6, I feel like I was never sure what mode I was actually getting when I had the half press doing one mode, and the BBF doing another. Timing seemed to be an issue - which button did I hit first. So I eventually abandoned the half press for AF activation and just built the muscle memory to have my thumb on the BBF all the time. Took about a weekend to get used to it.

That said a couple of things to check:
1) You can set your face+tracking mode in the menus to start from the point you have selected for the single point AF mode. This should make it easier for you to point the camera in eye/face mode and get it started
2) make sure you have that * button set to start AF and select the mode from the sub menu. It may be set to 'select AF mode'. In which case its then waiting for you to start AF with another button. For example, On mine I have the AF_on button set to Start AF on the current selected mode, * set to start AF on Face+eye mode, and the button next to it with the grid on it set to toggle between the modes (spot, zone, etc). That last button only changes the mode, it does not start the AF.

-Brian

 

[tron]

After downloading the R3 fix, my eye control totally froze up while shooting a basketball game. Only happened once so far, but turning off and on did not reset it. Hoping it is just a “rare occurrence.” Will be curious to see if these fixes generate other issues.

So you practically managed to freeze it merely by looking at it

Seriously now I hope that Canon fixes this bug too...

 

[stochasticmotions]

So, I installed the update and went out yesterday with the R5 and 500 f/4 (and canon EF/RF adaptor) and a full battery. It took about 10 minutes of shooting before I had my first hiccup. Seems they have done something as the issue was different than I had seen before. The camera stopped shooting the burst (I usually shoot 2-3 shot bursts) and hung for a couple of seconds but then was able to shoot again. This happened a few times over the hour that I was out.

The good thing is that I didn't have to shut down or remove the battery like I would have previously. The bad thing is that it still stopped me from getting the shot I wanted during the bursts as it usually stopped on the second shot and then I had to wait for it to be ready to shoot again (and the bird had gone by that point).

Hopefully as someone stated in this chain this is the first update around these errors and things will continue to get better.

 

[tron]

Sorry to read about that. I didn't have any issues with R5/EF500f/4L IS II/EF2XIII+EOS-R adapter.

I haven't used my 500 with other R5 combinations

Firmware use was from the one that was available June 2021 up to up a month ago (1.5.0 i think)

Now I have downgraded to 1.4.0 after some tests with my 100-500 and some real photo attempts with my 100-500 and 2X

 

[AlanF]

Sorry to read about that. I didn't have any issues with R5/EF500f/4L IS II/EF2XIII+EOS-R adapter.

I haven't used my 500 with other R5 combinations

Firmware use was from the one that was available June 2021 up to up a month ago (1.5.0 i think)

Now I have downgraded to 1.4.0 after some tests with my 100-500 and some real photo attempts with my 100-500 and 2X

I upgraded to 1.5.1 yesterday. So far so good, so far so good...

 

[Tirmite]

Why isn’t there a fix for the R? Anyone else ever have freeze issues? Never had a freeze with the R6 but all three of my R bodies freeze when using the 70-200mm 2.8. Never happens with other lenses. Always happens when the camera wakes up to shoot or when it senses the EVF needs to turn on (auto switching from LCD to EVF). Canon says they’ve never heard anyone else have this problem.

 

[SonicStudios]

In the past two years i have never had any lock up issues on the 5 to date. One thing that I can't reproduce is all subjects lock on with AF Eye. At an event I had taken a group shot of 20 people and everyone of them had a green box around their eye and the shot came out amazing. That's how I always thought AF Eye should work, lock on everyone's eyes, but I have not been able to reproduce that same technique again. Now with group shots, only one person shows up with green box around eye.

This feature , may have come active or accurate do to the distance from my group shots

 

[macrunning]

I suspect the presumption that this issue is widespread has an aspect of confirmation bias. Canon sells tens of thousands of R5 bodies a year.

Of course, that’s a total guess but they sold 2.74 million ILCs last year and if 10% of those are FF, which is consistent with the broader ILC market, and 10% of the FF bodies Canon sold were R5’s, that’s >27,000 sold last year and the year before. My gut believes that’s an underestimate.

Tens of thousands of people experiencing a pervasive problem, with a handful of them reporting it on the Internet, does not seem likely. I’m sure the problem is real for some people, and I’m pretty sure that it results from some combination of customized settings. But if even 10% of owners were experiencing the problems, that’s still thousands of people and we’ve heard from what, a few dozen at most?

Try a little experiment. Has your car had transmission problems? Google your car is making model followed by transmission problems. I suspect that will leave you with the impression that you’re driving a ticking time bomb. When the problems actually are widespread, for example as was the case for the CVT in some Subaru models a few years back, the manufacturer usually responds appropriately (in that case, they significantly extended the powertrain warranty).

The use of cars as an analogy is poor. This is like saying, Hey Mr. Customer you just purchased a new car/camera for a sh*t ton of money and once you drive it off the lot your own your own. New car/camera proceeds to break down after a couple months and manufacturer says sorry your SOL we don't know what' wrong with it but we'll keep working on it. If your new car started breaking down consistently shortly after purchase you'd be extremely pissed and you'd either sell the car, sue the manufacturer and either way in all likelihood you'd never buy from this company again. The truth is many people are experiencing issues with lockup and nobody (not even Canon) have been able to pin point the issue(s). I've already had my 'circuit board' replaced on my R5. I started having lockups just a couple of months after purchasing summer 2020. It got worse as time went on. After contacting Canon they did have me send it in for repair. All I was told was they replaced the 'circuit board'. Nothing else. That leaves a lot to be desired as to what the problem truly is. Since then I've only had it lock up on me 2 times and it's been several months since then. I can't help but wonder if whomever is producing the hardware for this camera didn't take some shortcuts and/or just has poor quality control measures. Honestly I don't know but our cameras shouldn't be having 'transmission problems' when they are practically brand new. Canon really needs to address the Quality Control because their name/reputation relies on it.

 

[digigal]

I wish replacing the circuit board had solved my problem--no such luck for me. I have both the freezes described above and the lock-ups (crashes) that require removal of the battery to get the camera to function again. I will say that I went to Sonoma yesterday to photograph mustard in the vineyards and shot about 300 pictures with no crashes or freezes which has been my experience since I minimized my customization of my camera.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Does the menu state the for the customization of the * button that it will initiate AF? If it it does and the * button does not initiate AF then something is wrong. Spot AF has the slowest acquisition of initial focus, especially in low light. If I customise my shutter to initiate AF I think I will do it for animal eyeAF and tracking and use the AF-on to override with spot. This is because I need the fastest response for BIF when something shoots by unexpectedly, not that it would make much, if any at all, difference in practice.

Not specifically. I checked, * is set to: Switch to registered AF and initiate AF is not mentioned.

Jack,

On my R6, I feel like I was never sure what mode I was actually getting when I had the half press doing one mode, and the BBF doing another. Timing seemed to be an issue - which button did I hit first. So I eventually abandoned the half press for AF activation and just built the muscle memory to have my thumb on the BBF all the time. Took about a weekend to get used to it.

That said a couple of things to check:
1) You can set your face+tracking mode in the menus to start from the point you have selected for the single point AF mode. This should make it easier for you to point the camera in eye/face mode and get it started
2) make sure you have that * button set to start AF and select the mode from the sub menu. It may be set to 'select AF mode'. In which case its then waiting for you to start AF with another button. For example, On mine I have the AF_on button set to Start AF on the current selected mode, * set to start AF on Face+eye mode, and the button next to it with the grid on it set to toggle between the modes (spot, zone, etc). That last button only changes the mode, it does not start the AF.

-Brian

Thanks. I need to spend more time in the menus but from a quick check there is no sub menu that allows a tick of "start AF".
for "Switch to Registered AF". It's not exactly fun investigating all the choices and permutations so early on I just chose some and left it at that but when I saw that I had to half press the shutter to initiate AF after hitting * that really disappointed me and so I need to change something. I had all this set on my 1DX2 without such an issue before.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Does the menu state the for the customization of the * button that it will initiate AF? If it it does and the * button does not initiate AF then something is wrong. Spot AF has the slowest acquisition of initial focus, especially in low light. If I customise my shutter to initiate AF I think I will do it for animal eyeAF and tracking and use the AF-on to override with spot. This is because I need the fastest response for BIF when something shoots by unexpectedly, not that it would make much, if any at all, difference in practice.

Not specifically, but in my mind it is ridiculous that it wouldn't. However, I spent a month with the 1DX2 figuring such things out fully and with the R5 maybe a day, so it may be operator incompetence. I haven't had any complaint with spot AF on my shutter button but ignorance is bliss.

Jack

 

[Jack Douglas]

I have found the solution to the * button not initiating AF. An alternate choice is "start metering and AF", which then gives a sub-menu choice of the mode of AF - my problem is solved. When I have time sitting for a bird to come in the spring, I'll play with other choices such as Alan has suggested.

Jack

 

[unfocused]

The use of cars as an analogy is poor. This is like saying, Hey Mr. Customer you just purchased a new car/camera for a sh*t ton of money and once you drive it off the lot your own your own. New car/camera proceeds to break down after a couple months and manufacturer says sorry your SOL we don't know what' wrong with it but we'll keep working on it. If your new car started breaking down consistently shortly after purchase you'd be extremely pissed and you'd either sell the car, sue the manufacturer and either way in all likelihood you'd never buy from this company again. The truth is many people are experiencing issues with lockup and nobody (not even Canon) have been able to pin point the issue(s). I've already had my 'circuit board' replaced on my R5. I started having lockups just a couple of months after purchasing summer 2020. It got worse as time went on. After contacting Canon they did have me send it in for repair. All I was told was they replaced the 'circuit board'. Nothing else. That leaves a lot to be desired as to what the problem truly is. Since then I've only had it lock up on me 2 times and it's been several months since then. I can't help but wonder if whomever is producing the hardware for this camera didn't take some shortcuts and/or just has poor quality control measures. Honestly I don't know but our cameras shouldn't be having 'transmission problems' when they are practically brand new. Canon really needs to address the Quality Control because their name/reputation relies on it.

Good post. I get a little tired of people who have been lucky enough not to have the problem who act like it is a) people imagining the problem, b) the user's fault or c) that people should just suck it up and accept it because it doesn't happen to them.

Since people seem to like strained car analogies, saying it is "just" some combination of buttons is a bit like saying that if your brakes fail when you turn on your windshield wipers, then you should "just" not use your windshield wipers.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Good post. I get a little tired of people who have been lucky enough not to have the problem who act like it is a) people imagining the problem, b) the user's fault or c) that people should just suck it up and accept it because it doesn't happen to them.

Since people seem to like strained car analogies, saying it is "just" some combination of buttons is a bit like saying that if your brakes fail when you turn on your windshield wipers, then you should "just" not use your windshield wipers.

It does get a little pathetic. Maybe we should try the analogy of health. Oh, I have a bad migraine! It's all in your imagination. MY head never aches.

Jack

 

[80kms]

R5 (1.5.1). Shot 1800 photos yesterday, without any lockups. Using BBF in servo mode. This is the first time since purchase that I have used the camera without it freezing.

 

[AlanF]

Good post. I get a little tired of people who have been lucky enough not to have the problem who act like it is a) people imagining the problem, b) the user's fault or c) that people should just suck it up and accept it because it doesn't happen to them.

Since people seem to like strained car analogies, saying it is "just" some combination of buttons is a bit like saying that if your brakes fail when you turn on your windshield wipers, then you should "just" not use your windshield wipers.

I hope you are not driving towards me during the rain.