5D MKIII - Change AF Focal Point Display to Red?

I could've sworn that my AF focal point display when shooting used to be red, now it's black, which is really hard for me to see when shooting in darker surroundings. I've tried ot find something online or in the manual about changing it back to red (hopefully I"m not imagining things & it's always been black!) with no lick. Could someone please tell me how to do this? thanks so much!

Oh, another related question - I have chosen Expand AF Area Surround in the AF area selection, but when I am focusing, it's only showing the little focus point box as one focal point, not the surrounding ones. Isn't it supposed to show the surrounding focal points too? I swear I've read about this section in my manual but it just isn't making sense to me.

When using One Shot AF, you can set the AF points to be always black, light up in red if it's dark outside or always light up in red. There's a setting for that in the 5th AF menu on a 1DX - probably the same on a 5D Mark III.

No light in Servo AF on a 5D Mark III, though. It takes a 1DX for that.

If you select a single point with expansion, then the selected point should be a large square and the assisting points small squares. When you actually focus, those points acquiring focus will be large and the others will turn off.
You are sure you selected single point with expansion with the camera in the orientation you use it? If you have orientation dependent AF point and area selection enabled, and hold the camera tilted when you select single point + expansion, then that will not be the mode you see when you hold the camera straight.

@apersson850: 5D3 doesnt have an "always on" mode like the 1DX does as far as I know.

I think it only lights red when achieving focus in one shot af, once it has it remains black. This was a common gripe when the camera came out and from what I remember the only reason Canon gave was that if the AF points were constantly lit it messed with the metering or something along those lines.

Reading up on the internet, yes, it appears this is soemthing many 5D MKIII owners are unhappy about. I found where they developed a firmware update for the 1DX for a fix (mentioning that it is "an answer to many user requests to provide some sort of AF point illumination that could be made visible during focus-tracking with AI Servo AF, Canon engineers have provided a comprehensive firmware upgrade that adds this feature, along with menu selections to control its operation." Well, WHOOPEE for the 1DX owners, now how about us 5D MKII guys?

thedcmule2 wrote in post #16799673
@apersson850: 5D3 doesnt have an "always on" mode like the 1DX does as far as I know.

For One Shot AF I think it has. That means that the AF points will flash in red when focus is acquired, regardless of the brightness in the environment, not that they'll be constantly lit. This is the same as for older cameras, not having the transmissive LCD and thus the more flexible viewfinder information you get now. The 40D, for example, flashes the active AF point when you start focusing, to show you which one is used. That's not needed any more, since now you only see those you actually use.

But then in Servo AF, the 1DX is nowadays capable of indicating the location of the AF points in low light, by flickering them in red. Thus you can see where you aim, even if it's pitch black. Whether the camera can focus or not in such light is a different question.
Looking at my old 40D, there's no indication in low light of where the AF point is, when using Servo AF, more than a brief blink to show where it is when I start tracking.

I understand that everyone who has a 5D Mark III want's everything possible in that camera, but to me it doesn't look totally unreasonable that a model costing twice has some more features, not just twice the continuous drive speed.

Point taken, Anders, but the 5D MKII has the red illumination in all the AF modes (One Shot, AI, AI Servo) so why take that away when "improving" it with the next model??

I see. Then it doesn't work the same as my 40D, which otherwise also has the old type of AF point display.

That it went away is of course due to a different technology, where this wasn't possible without having the AF points flickering all the time. A method they finally decided to use in the 1DX. You have to live with the flicker.
The 7D was pioneering this kind of viewfinder display, and behaves exactly the same as the 5D Mark III (as you describe it - I haven't used the 5D Mark III myself).

In the 5DIII One-Shot mode, the AF point will NOT flash red, unless the lighting is low. In better lighting it will show black at all times. It will show the AF point in black if a pattern AF is selected (more than 1 point). Typically the pattern will show as tiny rectangles and when AF is achieved, then those points (can be more than 1) will enlarge in black. If a single point is selected, then the only confrmation in One-Shot is the beep and the light in the VF

I don't ever remember 7D owners complaining about this. It behaves the same.

Since on the 7D and the 1DX, you can change the behavior to always flash red on AF confirmation, regardless of ambient light level, I'd be surprised if that setting isn't on the 5D Mark III too. It's a custom function on the 7D and in the AF menus on the 1DX.

apersson850 wrote in post #16804244
Since on the 7D and the 1DX, you can change the behavior to always flash red on AF confirmation, regardless of ambient light level, I'd be surprised if that setting isn't on the 5D Mark III too. It's a custom function on the 7D and in the AF menus on the 1DX.

Could be... I am using exclusively AIServo, so I haven't looked into it...

MakisM1 wrote in post #16803879
In the 5DIII One-Shot mode, the AF point will NOT flash red, unless the lighting is low. In better lighting it will show black at all times. It will show the AF point in black if a pattern AF is selected (more than 1 point). Typically the pattern will show as tiny rectangles and when AF is achieved, then those points (can be more than 1) will enlarge in black. If a single point is selected, then the only confrmation in One-Shot is the beep and the light in the VF

I am sitting here in my fairly well-lit office with my 5D MKIII; I have it set to One Shot Mode. I have Expand AF area surround & Zone AF selected in Select AF Area Selec. Mode ( & of course the default Single Point AF). In AF Point Disply During Focus, I am going to start with the first choice & tell you what I see when I focus (back button).

1. Selected (constant) - the one AF point box showing blinks red
2. All (constant) - the entire AF 61 points & the selected AF point blinks red
3. Selected (pre-AF, focused) - the one AF point box only shows , blinks red when focused (Dont' see what the diff in the first one & this one is)
4. Selected (focused) - Same as 1 & 3

(As a side point I don't understand why my surrounding Zone AF points don't show up; the only time I see anything more than the one selected AF point is when #2 choice is selected)

There is a menu in the last page of AF menus (as Anders correctly surmised)

"VF Display Illumination"

Mine came on 'AUTO' so it doesn't light up unless the light is low.

Probably yours is on 'ON'

MakisM1 wrote in post #16804468
There is a menu in the last page of AF menus (as Anders correctly surmised)

"VF Display Illumination"

Mine came on 'AUTO' so it doesn't light up unless the light is low.

Probably yours is on 'ON'

Yes you're correct. But why aren't the AF points in the zonre surrounding the selected AF point showing also? I realize I'm derailing my own thread but now this is bugging me, lol.