7D Mark II focusing issue in LiveView

I posted this question in another thread since it was very similar to the original posting, but due to a "lively" discussion there with the OP my question was skipped.

I have a problem with focusing in Live View.

The camera is set to a one shot, center point, and it correctly focuses when using the Viewfinder.

However, in LV it is the camera that decides on the focus points, not me! Still set on the center point, one shot, I target the center of the frame at the subject, but the camera selects several points on something else, as if I set the camera AF to a zone. If I try to reset the focus point by pressing focus change button the top right of the camera (that I would normally do with the VF), a window on the back LCD pops up saying "This function is not available during the Live View shooting". Pressing the button of the joystick just toggles between the zone and the full screen (all 65), even though it does not show the points. Moving the joystick handle does not do anything.

And finally, in the LV I can zoom 5x or 10x, but when pressing the SS halfway, the picture drops back to 1x, and again the multiple focus points appear, selected by the camera!

I hope I was clear in describing what I was doing, and that somebody can help me figure out what I am doing wrong.

I don't use LV very often but just checked my settings. In the red menu, tab #4. AF method is set to FlexiZoneAF with the square, not the brackets. It does not matter which AF mode I have selected, one AF point comes up when I activate LV.

Thanks, I will check this setting tonight.

Interesting. I do use LV a fair bit and have never had a problem like this. So I checked a bit, curiosity piqued by DP's suggestion. My AF setting was to the last FlexiZone item. Changing that to the middle item gave AF point-like behavior. Ugh, changed it back right away. So please check your AF Method selection. Could make a difference.

I know I went through that when I got it and set it for single point only so it would be ready when I needed it.

Archibald wrote in post #17712395
Interesting. I do use LV a fair bit and have never had a problem like this. So I checked a bit, curiosity piqued by DP's suggestion. My AF setting was to the last FlexiZone item. Changing that to the middle item gave AF point-like behavior. Ugh, changed it back right away. So please check your AF Method selection. Could make a difference.

Without being able to check the settings right away - I am not at home right now, I have difficulties understanding that. I will do it tonight, and most likely I will have more questions.

Lbsimon wrote in post #17712082
I posted this question in another thread since it was very similar to the original posting, but due to a "lively" discussion there with the OP my question was skipped.

I have a problem with focusing in Live View.

The camera is set to a one shot, center point, and it correctly focuses when using the Viewfinder.

However, in LV it is the camera that decides on the focus points, not me! Still set on the center point, one shot, I target the center of the frame at the subject, but the camera selects several points on something else, as if I set the camera AF to a zone. If I try to reset the focus point by pressing focus change button the top right of the camera (that I would normally do with the VF), a window on the back LCD pops up saying "This function is not available during the Live View shooting". Pressing the button of the joystick just toggles between the zone and the full screen (all 65), even though it does not show the points. Moving the joystick handle does not do anything.

And finally, in the LV I can zoom 5x or 10x, but when pressing the SS halfway, the picture drops back to 1x, and again the multiple focus points appear, selected by the camera!

I hope I was clear in describing what I was doing, and that somebody can help me figure out what I am doing wrong.

Quite simple actually. The Live view AF setting have nothing to do the 65 AF points you can see through the viewfinder since Live View does not use the AF focusing sensor. When you are in Live View go to your menu settings. Go to the 5th camera menu and select AF method. There are three choices. Select the third choice, Flexzone with a box after it . It will then focus on wherever you move the box on the LiveView screen. In the other two options the camera intelligently decides where to focus. I believe the default is the middle FlexZone [] option. As far ai I know, there is no EOS camera that allows you to select any of the specific focus points available in the viewfinder when you are in LiveView.

mwsilver wrote in post #17712572
Quite simple actually. The Live view AF setting have nothing to do the 65 AF points you can see through the viewfinder since Live View does not use the AF focusing sensor. When you are in Live View go to your menu settings. Go to the 5th camera menu and select AF method. There are three choices. Select the third choice, Flexzone with a box after it . It will then focus on wherever you move the box on the LiveView screen. In the other two options the camera intelligently decides where to focus. I believe the default is the middle FlexZone [] option. As far ai I know, there is no EOS camera that allows you to select any of the specific focus points available in the viewfinder when you are in LiveView.

That was it!

Thanks a lot guys.

Lbsimon wrote in post #17712887
That was it!

Thanks a lot guys.

Additional follow-up. When you use the middle option, FlexiZone Multi you can also use the joystick toggle to select any one of 9 focus zones which all together use a total of 31 focus points. Within each of the 9 zones multiple focus points will be selected automatically by the camera, which is similar to Zone AF through the viewfinder. If you press the toggle as a button it goes back to the single large zone with all 31 focus points automatically selectable by the camera.

mwsilver wrote in post #17713462
Additional follow-up. When you use the middle option, FlexiZone Multi you can also use the joystick toggle to select any one of 9 focus zones which all together use a total of 31 focus points. Within each of the 9 zones multiple focus points will be selected automatically by the camera, which is similar to Zone AF through the viewfinder. If you press the toggle as a button it goes back to the single large zone with all 31 focus points automatically selectable by the camera.

I was not clear right away but I eventually figured it out. Thanks a lot!