7D Custom Fct. IV-1 * to AF Question ???

The 7D menu is different from the choices found in my 7DMkII menu; I cannot find a definitive answer in my David Busch 7D book.

I decoupled the focus function from the shutter button.

I left the default setting for the AF-ON button and did not change the default "manually selected AF point" in INFO.

What I wanted to achieve, like I have done with the 7DMkII, was to set the *(Star) button to also be an AF-ON button, but to also automatically use all focus points.

I am beginning to fear that this is not possible with the 7D.

1. - In INFO, can someone please explain the outcome of selecting "registered AF point" as opposed to the default setting "manually selected AF point" ?

2. - How do I register an AF point ? I think I got this figured out.

3. - Can I register all of the AF points to achieve what I was hoping for, which is the *(Star) button automatically using all AF points, whereas the AF-ON button only uses the manually selected point(s) ?

>>>EDIT>Update: On page 219 of the user manual, " <AF> Switch to Registered AF Function "

I have read, reread, and read again, and it is still not sinking in.
Is this meaning that I can set up a particular AF scenario and call it up by simply pressing the *Star button, and achieve that which I described above ?

Thanks for reading and all help is appreciated.

You can only register a single point. If you use AF-ON with the normal setup, you'll do AF with the point that was selected just prior to pressing AF-ON.
If you instead set it to use a registered point (you register/unregister using the AF point selection button together with the two rightmost buttons in front of the display), it will do AF with the registered point, regardless of what was selected just prior to pressing AF-ON.

I typically set this up to have a point near the center selected, and a point high up registered. Then I can focus with the center point or a high up (face) point by just pressing different buttons.

The Switch to registered AF function setup you've found gives you more options than just selecting a single point.

apersson850 wrote in post #19182897
The Switch to registered AF function setup you've found gives you more options than just selecting a single point.

I just run into a mental roadblock when I read through that bit in the manual.
If Busch explains it in his 7D book, I sure am not finding it.

I have three other 7D books that I haven't yet opened, 7D for Dummies, Charlotte Lowrie, and Snap Shots to Great Shots; hopefully, one of them will shed some light on it.

It is a simple matter to set this up in the 7DMkII; I have the AF-ON set to use the manually selected squares, mostly the center single point; and, the *Star brings up all the points.

In the 7D User Manual, on page 218, is a chart with rows and columns.

In the very top row, 7th from left, is a column header "LENS*"

I cannot find any explanation as to what this is.

Can anyone shed some light on what is meant by "LENS*" ?

Alright, I've never owned a 7D, BUT with all my camera of that era, you most certainly COULD register all AF points.
This was part of my "Hail Mary" set up on so many cameras of that era.

If the 7D's menu system is anything like the 1D3 or 1D4, this might help;


https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=17951424

For the 7D, as for all other cameras I have with this function (EOS-1DX and EOS-1DX Mark II) you can only register a single point, not a zone. You can have different point in different directions (vertical/horizontal), but it's still only one point. A registered point is like putting one point in memory, because you tend to return to using it frequently.

If you want more points active, you have to select a zone, all points or whatever suits you. If you select a zone, the zone used when you select a registered point will be there zone that contains this particular single registered point. This may, or may not, be the same zone as you were using before selecting the registered point. It all depends on how far away the currently selected point and the registered one are.

To register a whole set of AF functions, mainly related to when using Servo AF, you can use the Switch to registered AF function option. Note that this is a different registration, which is independent from registering a certain AF point at a certain position within the AF point array. Here you can select which AF point selection mode you want (single point, zone etc.). You can also set some fine tuning variables for the AF system, like release/tracking priority etc.
One way to activate such a registration is to press the LENS button. LENS refers to the button on the lens. It's only available on longer telephoto lenses. The only one I have with that button is the EF 300 mm f/2.8L IS II USM.
The other option (on the 7D) is to assign this function to the stop down button. Note that to do back button focus this implies that you need to keep the stop down button (on the 7D it's at the throat of the lens mount) simultaneously with pressing the AF-ON button.

If you want to, you can combine these functions. For example like this:
Shutter button only: Metering only, no focus.
Shutter button with stop down button pressed: Metering only, no focus.
AF-ON: Focus with the currently selected point.
*: Focus with a pre-registered point.
AF-ON while stop down button is pressed: Focus with a zone, that's covering where the currently selected single point is in the AF array.
* while stop down button is pressed: Focus with a zone, that's covering where the pre-registered single point is in the AF array.

Exactly what happens does of course depend on how you configure allt these things:
Shutter button.
AF-ON button.
* button.
Stop down button.
The setup for Switch to registered AF function.
The position of the pre-registered AF point.
The position of the currently active AF point.

Did the 7D have zones?, I thought it was before zone AF existed? Maybe they started with the 7D? Anyway, Zones don't register, this is true.

In my reply, I was not talking about zones, and I believe that Buckskin wasn't asking zones, vs. registering all AF points active, or the Canon default for AF,. this is absolutely doable on any 1D body, the 5D3 and 5D4, the 7D2, etc.

It is done the same way you'd register a single AF point, ie: select the AF point you want registered, and then register it using the AF selection button and the top LCD light panel. In this case, select all AF points, again the default AF set up as it comes out of the box, and register.

OK, my mistake, I just did the deep dive into the 7D manual it does say that you can not register the entire AF area on page 219.

I wish I had a 7D in my hands to try it though

This is weird to me, as I've always been able to do this on other bodies. Again, I've never owned the 7D, and it was a departure from Canon's existing AF systems.

The idea behind registering all af points, vs. a single one, is to have access to the auto af point tracking method at your finger tips. When you need a singe AF point, usually this is when you have time to compose etc. When you need all af points, you don't have time to dig into menus or twiddle dials to get there.

For me anyway, since the 20D's AF selection point joystick, registering the center AF point, or any single AF point has been redundant.
I am already set up with single af point, that's how I shot. AF ON would always be lighting up the single AF point I had selected (with or without expansion) and that was usually the center AF point. I could get to an off center one immediately with the thumb joystick, and get back center by pressing the thumb joystick. So never a need to also register that point.

Thanks to both of you in helping me get this through my thick head.

I went through the steps to achieve the "Ring of Fire" set-up and quickly discovered that the 7D did not have that capability.

I then created a Registered AF Function and set the Aperture Preview Button to activate it.

This Registered AF Function pretty much gives me what I was looking for = activate the whole array of focus points at the press of a button and return to whatever as soon as the button is released.

However, as apersson pointed out, there is one stumbling block to this; pressing the stop-down button does not focus = a focusing button must be held along with holding the stop-down button - both at the same time.

Also, this would be a lot easier if the function could be assigned to a more naturally accessible button; but, after pondering upon this, I guess the fact that one can only have their right thumb in one place at a time, the 7D's stop-down button is probably the best choice.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #19183528
For me anyway, since the 20D's AF selection point joystick, registering the center AF point, or any single AF point has been redundant.
I am already set up with single af point, that's how I shot. AF ON would always be lighting up the single AF point I had selected (with or without expansion) and that was usually the center AF point. I could get to an off center one immediately with the thumb joystick, and get back center by pressing the thumb joystick. So never a need to also register that point.

My old 40D works the same. Just like the 20D, it has only nine points, so you go from center to peripheral point in one step.
But the 7D gave us 19 points, which means the center point isn't adjacent to a peripheral point. That's why I started using a manually selected point (sometimes the center one, but not always - remember that the 40D was the first Canon where all points were cross type, and the 7D continued this). The fastest way to go from the center to a point at the top is to register the top point and also associate AF-ON (or *) with doing AF with the registered point.

The 7D also allows for setting up a modification to the AF setup, register that and then bring it into action with a single button. It also introduced zones. It was kind of a preliminary step before launching the system the 1DX uses.

With the 1DX, you can also associate a whole AF case with AF-ON, as well as registering a setup with exposure mode, aperture and time settings etc. You can also set it to switch between complete custom setups by pressing a single button. This is far more advanced than what's availabel with the 7D.
Older 1D-series had the assist button, which in some ways was a predecessor to the MF-n button, to allow calling on stored setups.

apersson850 wrote in post #19183887
It was kind of a preliminary step before launching the system the 1DX uses.

I sometimes think that they have a lot more new technology than they let be known, so that they can dole it out a little at a time and keep those that can afford it buying the next latest model.

I (we) have both, a 7D and a 7DMkII.
I saw somewhere that the 7D was introduced at something like $1,400 and the 7DMkII at only $100 more; that extra $100 sure bought a lot more technology.

I would not wanted to have been in the camera business with a back room stacked with 7Ds when the 7DMkII came out; of course, if they are operating with a huge profit margin, they could just back off the price and still make money.

Of course they should have more than they release. They must always be researching new features, and frequently it makes sense to introduce a subset of something new, as a probe, perhaps in a lower-profile model.

Where I work we manufacture machines. We frequently investigate and develop things for the "technology shelf", when we see something is technically feasible, but we aren't ready to introduce it in a machine we produce at that time.

The 7d was released at $1700 and the 7d2 at $1800. That $100 did indeed buy alot of extra goodies over the 7d, and also included a inflationary factor.