Live View zoom function not working on 5d II

I was using Live View and tried the magnifying button for the first time to zoom in and it didn't work. Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be the problem.

are you doing video? As far as I know, you can't zoom in when you are recording video.

If you're just in live view, or in video mode, but not recording, you should be able to zoom in.

Do the magnification buttons work when you review an image? Just want to make sure that the buttons are working properly.

Also, just to make sure, are you pressing the correct magnification button? There's zoom in and zoom out...the only one that works in live view is the "zoom in" button.

If that doesn't work, hopefully someone else can chime in w/ possible solutions.

Thanks for responding. I'm using it in still not video and using the button with the magnifier +.

And yes the magnification button works when I view other images.

Please don't take offense to this question, but I don't know what your level of knowledge is so I am going to ask:

Do you understand that the live view zoom does not result in the captured image being "zoomed", but only zooms in the image displayed on the lcd?

I only ask because this misconception has been addressed here before. Folks coming from P & S cameras expect the LCD zoom to work the same on DSLR's and it does not.

It only works when you set the lens to manual focus.

*Jayrou wrote in post #13711942
It only works when you set the lens to manual focus.

?? ?? ??
Can you support that statement? Do you think that both my 40D and my 5D2 that zoom absolutely independently of any lens setting are malfunctioning and need repair? Or can you explain what the connection is between the LCD display and the lens focus setting is? Because it sounds to me like saying that my television shows 9:16 format only when the refrigerator is unplugged.

OP - If the Live View focusing method is set to Face Detection, the magnifier is disabled.

*Jayrou wrote in post #13711942
It only works when you set the lens to manual focus.

This.

^^^ You must not have not read tzalman's response. AF or not, my liveview always zoomed in. But then again I always use the other focusing method, I havent tried the face detect yet.

tzalman wrote in post #13712106
?? ?? ??
Can you support that statement? Do you think that both my 40D and my 5D2 that zoom absolutely independently of any lens setting are malfunctioning and need repair? Or can you explain what the connection is between the LCD display and the lens focus setting is? Because it sounds to me like saying that my television shows 9:16 format only when the refrigerator is unplugged.

OP - If the Live View focusing method is set to Face Detection, the magnifier is disabled.

FFS..Calm down..

I'm at work at the moment.. so no I can't back it up... I've never been able nor wanted to use 10x magnification with Auto Focus.. in the times I needed too use 10 times magnification, and I my lens was set to Auto Focus it wouldn't work.

but your last statement may be the reason why it hasn't worked... I don't know

Maybe you can explain the connection to face detect and the LCD and why 10x doesn't work for us then?.

From the Manual

• Live View Shooting
Focusing: Quick mode (Phase-difference detection), Live mode,
Live face detection mode (Contrast detection)
Manual focusing (5x/10x magnification possible)

Now anyone looking at that would presume 5x 10x magnification is connected to Manual Focussing, it certainly reads that way

No harm done I didn't kill any puppies.

I've just tried this and I can't get my 100-400 L set on AF to focus in live view using the back focus button or the shutter button when zoomed in. When zoomed out in live view it works fine and I've just been through the CF menu's to try. So, it looks like the above quote is correct.

Now I've just tried my 7D with my Sigma 150-500 OS set to AF, turned live view on and zoomed into 10x and AF works fine. So I guess it must differ from body to body depending on age.

modchild wrote in post #13713006
I've just tried this and I can't get my 100-400 L set on AF to focus in live view using the back focus button or the shutter button when zoomed in. When zoomed out in live view it works fine and I've just been through the CF menu's to try. So, it looks like the above quote is correct.

Now I've just tried my 7D with my Sigma 150-500 OS set to AF, turned live view on and zoomed into 10x and AF works fine. So I guess it must differ from body to body depending on age.

AF and Live View zoom both work together on my T1i just fine. You may be right that it's the age of the body that makes the difference.

I own a 5d2 and I can zoom 10x whenever I want. However...check the live view functions in the menu. If you are set to movie mode you might not be able to zoom. I dont have my camera otherwise I would have checked it myself.

That is not what the OP said. He said that he cannot zoom the display at all. You have just confirmed that it does zoom when AF is set.

*Jayrou wrote in post #13712247
From the Manual

• Live View Shooting
Focusing: Quick mode (Phase-difference detection), Live mode,
Live face detection mode (Contrast detection)
Manual focusing (5x/10x magnification possible)

Now anyone looking at that would presume 5x 10x magnification is connected to Manual Focussing, it certainly reads that way

No harm done I didn't kill any puppies.

It also says (page 120), " Note that AF speed may differ between the normal and magnified views." Wouldn't you presume from this that AF and magnification are not mutually exclusive?

Maybe because during face detection the focus frame migrates to a position over the face and being zoomed would interfere with this? I don't know, I have never tried face detect because I am profoundly anti-social.