# Firmware: Canon EOS R v1.2.0 available for download



## Canon Rumors Guy (Apr 18, 2019)

> You can now download firmware v1.2.0 for the Canon EOS R.
> *Enhancements:*
> 
> Eye-detection AF
> ...



Continue reading...


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## Aramir (Apr 18, 2019)

In the Netherlands also available ..Just updated the R and in my opinion the eye detection works flawlessly..


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## dlmartin81 (Apr 18, 2019)

I'm currently charging my battery for the update. I'm looking forward to this a lot!


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## aleghedina (Apr 18, 2019)

Works perfectly, silent shooting and EYE detect in SERVO AF ciao from Italy


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## dlmartin81 (Apr 18, 2019)

My short initial testing of the update is good. I'm in the US and without realizing I installed the Canada version. Does this matter? What are the implications?


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## Besisika (Apr 18, 2019)

dlmartin81 said:


> I'm currently charging my battery for the update. I'm looking forward to this a lot!





Aramir said:


> In the Netherlands also available ..Just updated the R and in my opinion the eye detection works flawlessly..





dlmartin81 said:


> I'm currently charging my battery for the update. I'm looking forward to this a lot!


When you guys say, it works flawlessly; does that mean that it works at the same distance as face recognition or is it still works only at a closer distance than the face detection? thanks,


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## Besisika (Apr 18, 2019)

dlmartin81 said:


> My short initial testing of the update is good. I'm in the US and without realizing I installed the Canada version. Does this matter? What are the implications?


Yes, we Canadian have smaller eyes (just joking).


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## woodman411 (Apr 18, 2019)

aleghedina said:


> Works perfectly, silent shooting and EYE detect in SERVO AF ciao from Italy



I just tried silent shutter for the first time (and upgraded firmware to 1.2), I'm seeing noticeable banding under indoor lighting, led bulbs to be exact. Took the same shot with regular shutter and no banding. Can you please tell me if this is normal? Most of my shooting is indoors so if so, this will render it unusable for me.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 18, 2019)

woodman411 said:


> I just tried silent shutter for the first time (and upgraded firmware to 1.2), I'm seeing noticeable banding under indoor lighting, led bulbs to be exact. Took the same shot with regular shutter and no banding. Can you please tell me if this is normal? Most of my shooting is indoors so if so, this will render it unusable for me.


It’s a known issue with cycling light sources (fluorescent, LED, TV screens, etc., but not for example incandescent lighting) and electronic first curtain (the basis for the silent shutter), it affects all cameras, and will continue to do so until global electronic shutters are implemented (vs. the rolling electronic shutters currently in use).


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## aleghedina (Apr 18, 2019)

woodman411 said:


> I just tried silent shutter for the first time (and upgraded firmware to 1.2), I'm seeing noticeable banding under indoor lighting, led bulbs to be exact. Took the same shot with regular shutter and no banding. Can you please tell me if this is normal? Most of my shooting is indoors so if so, this will render it unusable for me.


Sure is normal, artificial light have low frequency and fight with shutter speed and the time the sensor needs to acquire the whole frame, this is not a global shutter, use it only with natural light and some (tested) artificial lights (sorry for my English, I hope is clear)


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## dlmartin81 (Apr 18, 2019)

Besisika said:


> When you guys say, it works flawlessly; does that mean that it works at the same distance as face recognition or is it still works only at a closer distance than the face detection? thanks,



Yes, the Eye-AF appears to be locking on at same distance in Servo as it does with One-shot (aka non-Servo). It's not like Sony's where it locks onto the eye at extreme distances, which is pointless if you ask me. Could it be a little further, like 3/4? Yes. But I'll take it.


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## woodman411 (Apr 18, 2019)

neuroanatomist said:


> It’s a known issue with cycling light sources (fluorescent, LED, TV screens, etc., but not for example incandescent lighting) and electronic first curtain (the basis for the silent shutter), it affects all cameras, and will continue to do so until global electronic shutters are implemented (vs. the rolling electronic shutters currently in use).





aleghedina said:


> Sure is normal, artificial light have low frequency and fight with shutter speed and the time the sensor needs to acquire the whole frame, this is not a global shutter, use it only with natural light and some (tested) artificial lights (sorry for my English, I hope is clear)



I understand, thanks.


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## magarity (Apr 18, 2019)

dlmartin81 said:


> My short initial testing of the update is good. I'm in the US and without realizing I installed the Canada version. Does this matter? What are the implications?


The menu options now all have ",eh" at the end.


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## CJudge (Apr 18, 2019)

Cheers for the heads up! So now the EOS R can shoot silently, with servo AF, in burst mode, with Eye-detect on. Nice!

One strange thing I've noted with mine, and I want to check if other people experience the same. When the burst mode is set to the slower of the two options (sometimes called Focus Priority), Silent shooting is still unavailable. It only works in high-speed burst. A pretty odd caveat...


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## jayphotoworks (Apr 18, 2019)

magarity said:


> The menu options now all have ",eh" at the end.



Also, the camera's speaker will play a pre-recorded "sorry" or "excuse me" through the speaker whenever you take photos of people that are didn't want their photo taken.


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## Don Haines (Apr 18, 2019)

magarity said:


> The menu options now all have ",eh" at the end.


And if the camera can not get focus in poor light, it apologizes


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## Aramir (Apr 18, 2019)

Besisika said:


> When you guys say, it works flawlessly; does that mean that it works at the same distance as face recognition or is it still works only at a closer distance than the face detection? thanks,


.
In my opinion it works at the same distance as face recognition, to use the words from your question. I think they nailed it with this update..


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## LSXPhotog (Apr 18, 2019)

Installing now. It would be nice to see the M50 get an update as well.


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## Besisika (Apr 18, 2019)

Aramir said:


> .
> In my opinion it works at the same distance as face recognition, to use the words from your question. I think they nailed it with this update..


Good stuff! I begin saving money for one then. I shoot cosplay photography very often. Hopefully, it will recognize more of them, now that it recognizes the eyes as well. Cosplayers have different "hair cut" makes my DSLR live view confused from time to time. Animal eye focus would work better most probably. Who knows? Eye and face together is good enough for now. My only hesitation so far came from the distance. I shoot photos most of the time 3/4 but video at belly or chest up.


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## woodman411 (Apr 18, 2019)

Aramir said:


> .
> In my opinion it works at the same distance as face recognition, to use the words from your question. I think they nailed it with this update..



Agree... Face/eye tracking and ai servo working very well post update.


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## killswitch (Apr 19, 2019)

Oh man, reading the comments it seems like the Eye-AF is working great in this update. Cannot wait to go home after work and try it out. Is the distance still limited to the what it was before for Eye-AF or has the range increase much more. Some are saying same as Face Detect, that is a very good range and not that it matters anyway but still good to have. Can anyone confirm? Gah, 6 more hours till I go home >_<


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## killswitch (Apr 20, 2019)

Initial testing suggests the Eye-AF is much better and responsive, in both One Shot and SERVO. However, it seems like it has limited distance within which it can detect the eyes like before. Need to test some more, but definitely much smoother and quick too.


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## deleteme (Apr 20, 2019)

I installed the update and eye AF works better than before and I used it on a paying job.
While it worked well it was not the hallelujah event I anticipated. It worked decently but I felt that if this was similar to Sony performance then the Sony is way over-hyped.


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## Lukas Haupt (Apr 20, 2019)

Hi, anyone noticed a bug connected with changing size of AF point in AF servo? I have assigned right touchbar button for changing size of AF point. In one shot it is working, but when I press it in servo mode, I got the message, that it is not available. When I change it in menu or in "Q", it is working perfectly. I have tho EOS R and I have experienced same problem on both. I hope, that they will fix it in another firmware. Rest of functions working perfectly.

About the distance, I don't mind - IMO eye detect is good for portrait - for longer distances is face detect enough. DoF is good even at F1.4, so if it finds face, than I have always eyes in focus.


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## epiieq1 (Apr 20, 2019)

Normalnorm said:


> I installed the update and eye AF works better than before and I used it on a paying job.
> While it worked well it was not the hallelujah event I anticipated. It worked decently but I felt that if this was similar to Sony performance then the Sony is way over-hyped.



I rented an A9, and all I have to say is wow. I was able to track someone through a jump serve in Volleyball inside a school gym. Worked great on my family members in a dim room (and outside). The biggest issue I had was ergonomics - my hand actually hurt after extended use.


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## Viggo (Apr 20, 2019)

After trying eye AF with my kids I will continue to use face detect and turn eye AF off. Face detect is much more stable and accurate.


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## CJudge (Apr 20, 2019)

Viggo said:


> After trying eye AF with my kids I will continue to use face detect and turn eye AF off. Face detect is much more stable and accurate.


In your experience, does face-detect-only have significantly better performance than with eye-detect on? I had assumed (seeing as when eye-detect fails, the system reverts to face-detect) that there were no downsides to leaving eye-detect on. Oops!


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## Viggo (Apr 20, 2019)

CJudge said:


> In your experience, does face-detect-only have significantly better performance than with eye-detect on? I had assumed (seeing as when eye-detect fails, the system reverts to face-detect) that there were no downsides to leaving eye-detect on. Oops!


As with any AF method, the smaller the area the harder it is for it to focus.

I find FD is better to hold focus than eye AF alone, better hitrate with FD for me. 

The same goes for the new smaller AF point, easier to focus in between things, but it’s not as good as the larger for locking and keeping focus.


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## deleteme (Apr 20, 2019)

epiieq1 said:


> I rented an A9, and all I have to say is wow. I was able to track someone through a jump serve in Volleyball inside a school gym. Worked great on my family members in a dim room (and outside). The biggest issue I had was ergonomics - my hand actually hurt after extended use.


I haven't tried any action yet but from what I see, it seems unlikely to really track with verve.


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## tonidavid5 (Apr 21, 2019)

Haven't been able to update my EOS R (not until I get back home from a few days off in the mountains) but, while trying to find 1st-hand experiences from other guys already using it I bumped into this sort of quick video-test.
Is this really the kind of performance/improvements you guys are seeing? Because, to me, that doesn't seem like a consistent improvement.
Tech Down Over 239: EOS R Focus Test With Firmware 1.2.0


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## Viggo (Apr 21, 2019)

Haven’t tried in video, but the one he is using doesn’t look like the one in Servo for stills at all, that one is blue, and when it finds an eye it’s only the small square on the eye, not the larger square around.

And as you can see from my test, finding a closed eye with a hand covering 50% of the face is not a challenge at f1.2.


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## pmarcig (Apr 22, 2019)

tonidavid5 said:


> Haven't been able to update my EOS R (not until I get back home from a few days off in the mountains) but, while trying to find 1st-hand experiences from other guys already using it I bumped into this sort of quick video-test.
> Is this really the kind of performance/improvements you guys are seeing? Because, to me, that doesn't seem like a consistent improvement.
> Tech Down Over 239: EOS R Focus Test With Firmware 1.2.0


With all due respect, that video review is idiotic. Half that review takes place under harsh sunlight. You can't even see the guy's eyes. I wouldn't expect it to find an eye, it resorts to FD just fine. Then the other half he's inside and it pretty much works perfectly unless he's doing something you'd never do..."look what happens when i cover my whole face except my eyes! it messes up!" Then it tracks his eye just fine. "What happens when i put finger under my eye? It messes up?" "No it's still working..." "How bout when i cover my eye like a pirate?" Yeah...why are you doing that? 

I used it on a Senior girl shoot yesterday. I was elated. Continuous Focus, Servo Mode, and used Eye AF or FD the whole shoot. Worked like a charm. My only gripe is the one I had before the firmware update. If I'm using FD or Eye-AF, and stop shooting for a minute, then come back to the subject, it often won't start tracking again. I have to choose a diff focus method and then choose FD again...or sometimes I can get it by touch and dragging to the focus point. It is annoying...but otherwise...it works.

Oh and he's using a Tamron lens. Which BTW, i was using a Tamron 85 1.8 and Sigma 105 1.4 myself yesterday with no issues. But if im doing a youtube video review, id prob be sure to try and use some native glass. And then maybe actually take some pictures and look and see what's actually in focus or not.


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## epiieq1 (Apr 26, 2019)

pmarcig said:


> With all due respect, that video review is idiotic. Half that review takes place under harsh sunlight. You can't even see the guy's eyes. I wouldn't expect it to find an eye, it resorts to FD just fine. Then the other half he's inside and it pretty much works perfectly unless he's doing something you'd never do..."look what happens when i cover my whole face except my eyes! it messes up!" Then it tracks his eye just fine. "What happens when i put finger under my eye? It messes up?" "No it's still working..." "How bout when i cover my eye like a pirate?" Yeah...why are you doing that?
> 
> I used it on a Senior girl shoot yesterday. I was elated. Continuous Focus, Servo Mode, and used Eye AF or FD the whole shoot. Worked like a charm. My only gripe is the one I had before the firmware update. If I'm using FD or Eye-AF, and stop shooting for a minute, then come back to the subject, it often won't start tracking again. I have to choose a diff focus method and then choose FD again...or sometimes I can get it by touch and dragging to the focus point. It is annoying...but otherwise...it works.
> 
> Oh and he's using a Tamron lens. Which BTW, i was using a Tamron 85 1.8 and Sigma 105 1.4 myself yesterday with no issues. But if im doing a youtube video review, id prob be sure to try and use some native glass. And then maybe actually take some pictures and look and see what's actually in focus or not.



It's good to hear that it's working well. I'm leaning more towards just getting the R and RF glass and crossing my fingers that I don't experience any failures during weddings.


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## Viggo (Apr 26, 2019)

epiieq1 said:


> It's good to hear that it's working well. I'm leaning more towards just getting the R and RF glass and crossing my fingers that I don't experience any failures during weddings.


It’s a Canon, you won’t...


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## epiieq1 (Apr 26, 2019)

Viggo said:


> It’s a Canon, you won’t...


Yeah, except for that time my main board died during one and I was happy I always carry 2 bodies to each event...


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## Mbell75 (May 1, 2019)

Is eye tracking anywhere close to Sony level yet? Does it work without having to be right on top of your subject?


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## Viggo (May 1, 2019)

Mbell75 said:


> Is eye tracking anywhere close to Sony level yet? Does it work without having to be right on top of your subject?


I tried with a 135mm yesterday and to my initial surprise I learned that eye af isn’t subject distance dependent, but how large the face is in the VF, so with the 135 I had eye AF at several meters away


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