6d2 is here.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18396154
As far as what it would give us over what we have now with DSLRs - the fact that one could shoot silently, which would be a huge advantage for the types of shooting I do. The stinking shutter is a nuisance for noise. . I put my 1D4 in quiet mode or whatever it is that they call it, but it still makes noise - what's that all about?????!!!! Plus, it limits me to one shot at a time, and I can't even take advantage of the 10 FPS when using the quiet mode. I don't want any damn noise being made when I take a shot.

Well the noise is because the shutter curtain still needs to move even if the mirror is locked up, but I see what you are needing now

FEChariot wrote in post #18396152
DPAF and PDAF is giving me a headache. Even the people who know what they are talking about are mixing the letters up. I liked it when we just called it phase detect and contrast detect. Sure Canon has a new way of doing contrast detect now with the dual pixel thing but its still a contrast detect based system.

Tom, I don't think you are going to get a focus peaking feedback that is going to work on live animals. As good as the dual pixel thing is, I wouldn't use it for animals. Sure its great on a tripod for landscape shots or video shots changing the focus area where precise AF is not as critical as in a single frame, but moving subjects is different. And the Sony example you stated from a friend that showed you how there system works is also not going to work as well on a moving subject. For moving subjects, I would still use viewfinder AF and if focus is critical I am going to use spot focus (is that even an option with the 6D2? I have to check). I then take a bunch of shots to improve my odds of nailing exact focus.

Looks like the 6D2 doesn't have spot AF but then I guess it really doesn't need it because the points are so tiny compared to my 7D's points. They slammed 45 points into less area than the 19 I have now at least when you talk about the area in the frame and not compare the FF to crop size difference

smythie wrote in post #18396042
Magic Lantern has provided focus peeking (the feature you're looking for) in the past. I think on the 5D3. Maybe sometime down the track they'll manage to hack the 6D2 and "offer" focus peeking for that body.

Smythie, you are right - there is a term for what I've been describing, and it's called focus peaking (well, you're almost right, it's called focus peaking, not focus peeking).

Here is a video (from Sony) that demonstrates it's use:
https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=GH_3f5xmJ_k

It will highlight the sharp edges in "the color of your choice". . It also allows you to choose from three sensitivity levels, low, medium, and high. . I would use the "low" level because it shows only the most critically sharp areas (it simulates shallow depth of field).

Here is a screen shot taken from the video, to show what it looks like.

FEChariot wrote in post #18396152
Sure Canon has a new way of doing contrast detect now with the dual pixel thing but its still a contrast detect based system.

No, it's a phase detect system.

FEChariot wrote in post #18396152
DPAF and PDAF is giving me a headache. Even the people who know what they are talking about are mixing the letters up. I liked it when we just called it phase detect and contrast detect. Sure Canon has a new way of doing contrast detect now with the dual pixel thing but its still a contrast detect based system.

davesrose wrote in post #18396184
No, it's a phase detect system.

davesrose is correct DPAF is a sensor based phase detect system. It is nothing like the old contrast detect. It is fast(er), and dead accurate.

davesrose wrote in post #18396184
No, it's a phase detect system.

OK I re-read the article you posted a few pages ago again. You are right. I am still new to the dual pixel thing since my current camera doesn't have it.

Bassat wrote in post #18396186
davesrose is correct DPAF is a sensor based phase detect system. It is nothing like the old contrast detect. It is fast(er), and dead accurate.

Yep but that doesn't change the fact that I wish they would have called it something less dyslexic than PDAF and DPAF

The M3 has manual focus focus peaking so I assume the M5/6 have it also. I find it really annoying to use but must benefit some users. Really messes with my eyes on what to look at. Would think it would be extremely distracting in auto focus hand held use if available.

FEChariot wrote in post #18396181
Looks like the 6D2 doesn't have spot AF but then I guess it really doesn't need it because the points are so tiny compared to my 7D's points. They slammed 45 points into less area than the 19 I have now at least when you talk about the area in the frame and not compare the FF to crop size difference

Have some more time to fact check 6D2 specs. Page 134 in the 6D2's manual says it has Single-point Spot AF, Single-point AF, Zone AF, Large Zone AF, and Automatic selection AF.

eos6d-mk2-im-en

davesrose wrote in post #18396279
Have some more time to fact check 6D2 specs. Page 134 in the 6D2's manual says it has Single-point Spot AF, Single-point AF, Zone AF, Large Zone AF, and Automatic selection AF.

eos6d-mk2-im-en

Jeez I am batting 1000% today. I read the same page and miss took spot and single as the same thing. Clearly I need to go to bed earlier tonight.

Bassat wrote in post #18395774
The 6D2 does have SPOT focus. From the manual.

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In my experience with the 7D2, spot-focus uses a narrower area of the focus point for greater relevance, but the spot-focus is more likely to hunt in marginal light and contrast, so if anyone is getting hunting with spot focus, it might be worth trying the single-point without the dot in the center, or spreading out to 9-point. 9-point tends to prioritize the center of the 9, and use the other 8 as help for the general depth of the area of interest, AFAIK. So, between spot-focus, single-point, and 9-point, the spot focus is the most precise in good conditions, but in marginal or poor lighting conditions the 9-point is the least likely to hunt, with the non-spot single point always in the middle for both precision and hunting.

What sucks about the 7D2 is that there is no 9-point at f/8 (probably my biggest practical peave with it), which would make f/8 focus far more usable, as it is prone to hunting with f/8 with either spot or single centerpoint in complex depths and/or poor lighting or contrast.

FEChariot wrote in post #18396294
Jeez I am batting 1000% today. I read the same page and miss took spot and single as the same thing. Clearly I need to go to bed earlier tonight.

No worries, we all have off days As for the opinion about crop AF spread and FF, I agree that it's a nice feature about crops having larger coverage. Looking at the overlay of the 6D2's AF points compared to the 5D3, the AF points look to be about the same size and there's not as much horizontal coverage with the 6D2. I've probably just had a few instances of single shot shooting where I've wanted some AF points beyond my 5D3s. For AI-Servo, since I'm picking up the focus while the subject is coming into screen, I'm finding it's happening about the time it is entering the AF area. I'm still using the 5D3 compared to the 7D2 for cycling races, because I'm using the 70-200 and can frame the subject in the total frame (and get better IQ with the 5D3).

This video shows it even better:
https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=tAuclvIFtag

At the 0:49 mark, it demonstrates it quite well. You can see which of his whiskers are in sharpest focus and which aren't. This is very similar to how I would use it when shooting wildlife from a tripod. I don't know what would be more precise than this:

FEChariot wrote in post #18396128
The EOS M needs adapters to use EF and EFS lenses because the distance from the flange mount to the sensor plane is less on the M than with the EF and EFS bodies. If you want a full frame mirrorless body that doesn't use an adapter for EF lenses, then you would have to make the FF mirrorless body as thick as any other FF body and in that case why would you want mirrorless over what we have now? What would that gain you?

People say you need an adapter but when you say that people think about stuff like metabones and etc. and their hit and miss reliability. The ef-m to EF adapters are just an electronic extension tube with different mounts on each end. The communication protocols are exactly the same so there is no conversion secret sauce in there that might or might not work correctly. For all intents EF lenses on an ef-m mount are native. The same would be true of a full frame mirrorless mount.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18395935
I have a Sigma 300-800mm that I really like, but at times it doesn't focus as well as my canon lenses and suffers at times without any IS.

So I thought that the answer would be to get a Sony A99ii (I think that's it????) and have my lens re-fitted with a Sony/Minolta mount. This would get me touchscreen focus and in body IS! So I called Sigma last week to inquire about having this done, and they told me that the do not offer any "A-mounts" for my lens. This news was rather devastating. So that's when I started seriously thinking about this 6D2 with the touchscreen focus.

But the main thing I want/need with touchscreen focus is for it to confirm what is in sharpest focus by highlighting the sharpest areas of the image. That is where the advantage is. That is the one thing that will actually help me. And now I am learning that the 6D2 doesn't do that.

So no way to have my lens fitted for native Sony DSLR use. And no advantage to the 6D2 touchscreen focus because it doesn't work the way that the Sonys do.

I feel that I am still back at square one, with no ready solution for the times when my 1D4 / 300-800 combo just barely misses focus.

.

It seems that what you are looking for is something like the focus peaking available on magic lantern. It provides visual markers (dots) which indicate what items in view are currently in focus which seems to be more or less what the Sony was doing. I don't know of any canon slr's that offer this feature natively. Please take this with a big grain of salt. I could be wrong.

Rod