# Canon releases firmware updates for the EOS R5 and EOS R6



## Canon Rumors Guy (Mar 18, 2022)

> As promised, Canon has released new firmware for both the Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6. The firmware updates appear to improve autofocus in certain situations.
> Canon EOS R5
> *Firmware Version 1.5.2 incorporates the following enhancement:*
> 
> ...



Continue reading...


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## Viggo (Mar 18, 2022)

So I did what I did last time, upgraded/downgraded five times and just bam, it suddenly works again. I cannot understand how this is possible, but it goes from havoc to Ronnie O’Sullivan precision with a few attempts.


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## tron (Mar 18, 2022)

So it seems that practice makes perfect not only for humans but for firmware too 

EDIT: So we learned what the 5 in 1.5.x stands for


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## tron (Mar 18, 2022)

... Which means prepare for six upgrades/downgrades when 1.6.0 becomes available


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## Felix (Mar 18, 2022)

I think it's great that the software is constantly being updated


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## snappy604 (Mar 18, 2022)

Viggo said:


> So I did what I did last time, upgraded/downgraded five times and just bam, it suddenly works again. I cannot understand how this is possible, but it goes from havoc to Ronnie O’Sullivan precision with a few attempts.


don't have context.. why did you upgrade/downgrade 5 times?

worked fine first time with me. I have latest now, but sadly no reason at moment to get some pics


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## venusFivePhotoStudio (Mar 18, 2022)

The only thing I would love to se improved is that when I have "Focus priority to set to NONE" and I press the eyeEF custom button it won't find any EYE. It just presumes I want to focus one the EYE of the NONE subject or something ))


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## HikeBike (Mar 18, 2022)

I did a couple of very quick tests, and it does seem the tracking ability is now on par with 1.4.0. I'll be able to tell for sure over the next week or so.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Mar 18, 2022)

I have not installed the last couple of firmware updates. I'll likely install this one. Its downloaded.


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## AlanF (Mar 18, 2022)

Mine has worked fine in every version so far, so I worry that upgrading will make it worse!


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## miken (Mar 18, 2022)

Viggo said:


> So I did what I did last time, upgraded/downgraded five times and just bam, it suddenly works again. I cannot understand how this is possible, but it goes from havoc to Ronnie O’Sullivan precision with a few attempts.


Glad it's sorted but just bare in mind, he's one of the best ever but Ronnie O'Sullivan can also be very unpredictable!


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## AlanF (Mar 18, 2022)

Viggo said:


> So I did what I did last time, upgraded/downgraded five times and just bam, it suddenly works again. I cannot understand how this is possible, but it goes from havoc to Ronnie O’Sullivan precision with a few attempts.


Do you install via a cable from your computer or do you transfer to a SD or CFexpress card via a card reader?


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## neurorx (Mar 18, 2022)

HikeBike said:


> I did a couple of very quick tests, and it does seem the tracking ability is now on par with 1.4.0. I'll be able to tell for sure over the next week or so.


I'd love to hear your experience. I downgraded mine to 1.4 and I'm cautious about upgrading at this point in the middle of senior portrait season....


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## Dpickup (Mar 18, 2022)

Worked first time for me (last upgrade was a nightmare, but this one worked ok)


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## Viggo (Mar 18, 2022)

snappy604 said:


> don't have context.. why did you upgrade/downgrade 5 times?
> 
> worked fine first time with me. I have latest now, but sadly no reason at moment to get some pics


The AF was chaos, the AF point jumps around and it tracks worse than the 1d3, before any of the fixes that didn’t do much. It won’t show the head or body square/rectangle, only a cluster of points.


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## Viggo (Mar 18, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Do you install via a cable from your computer or do you transfer to a SD or CFexpress card via a card reader?


I’ve tried both, but use mostly a card reader and I’ve tried both cards, makes no difference. And for both 1.5.1 and 1.5.2 I did the same exact routine 5(6) times and then suddenly my the tracking box comes down and sits very stable and accurate. It tries it very best at tracking whereas before it’s all over the place and nothing is in focus.


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## entoman (Mar 18, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Do you install via a cable from your computer or do you transfer to a SD or CFexpress card via a card reader?


Card readers are variable in quality and performance. I consider it safer and more reliable to slot an SD card into my Mac, drag the FIR file to the card, eject the card properly, and then put the card in the camera. I also follow Canon's recommendation to remove the lens from the camera, and install a freshly charged battery before updating. I wonder if some of the problems people encounter are caused by using different methods to update firmware.

Incidentally, my R5 running on v1.5 clocked up another 5000 actuations last week in Peru, where it was subjected to extreme humidity, frequent showers and high temperatures. It froze once, requiring a reboot. I also had some inexplicably bright flickering in the EVF when half-pressing the shutter button after a few hours of heavy use, although this issue disappeared once the camera cooled down. I was shooting entirely stills, and had no overheat warnings.


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## AlanF (Mar 18, 2022)

entoman said:


> Card readers are variable in quality and performance. I consider it safer and more reliable to slot an SD card into my Mac, drag the FIR file to the card, eject the card properly, and then put the card in the camera. I also follow Canon's recommendation to remove the lens from the camera, and install a freshly charged battery before updating. I wonder if some of the problems people encounter are caused by using different methods to update firmware.
> 
> Incidentally, my R5 running on v1.5 clocked up another 5000 actuations last week in Peru, where it was subjected to extreme humidity, frequent showers and high temperatures. It froze once, requiring a reboot. I also had some inexplicably bright flickering in the EVF when half-pressing the shutter button after a few hours of heavy use, although this issue disappeared once the camera cooled down. I was shooting entirely stills, and had no overheat warnings.


My MacBook Pro doesn’t have a built in card reader, and I have never had an external card reader let me down. The instructions with the firmware upgrade don’t tell you to remove the lens. I prefer to transfer by card rather than cable because cable connections occasionally let me down.


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## Juangrande (Mar 18, 2022)

entoman said:


> Card readers are variable in quality and performance. I consider it safer and more reliable to slot an SD card into my Mac, drag the FIR file to the card, eject the card properly, and then put the card in the camera. I also follow Canon's recommendation to remove the lens from the camera, and install a freshly charged battery before updating. I wonder if some of the problems people encounter are caused by using different methods to update firmware.
> 
> Incidentally, my R5 running on v1.5 clocked up another 5000 actuations last week in Peru, where it was subjected to extreme humidity, frequent showers and high temperatures. It froze once, requiring a reboot. I also had some inexplicably bright flickering in the EVF when half-pressing the shutter button after a few hours of heavy use, although this issue disappeared once the camera cooled down. I was shooting entirely stills, and had no overheat warnings.


My R5 has that bright flickering as well with the half shutter press when focusing on something that’s not brightly lit like indoors or shadows. I took to the Canon Center in Santa Ana and they couldn’t find any issues but it persists. I got the front desk person to witness the issue when I showed him, but when he took it to the tech in back the tech couldn’t replicate the issue. It doesn’t affect the captured image in anyway but it is annoying and distracting when composing a shot.


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## Juangrande (Mar 18, 2022)

Juangrande said:


> My R5 has that bright flickering as well with the half shutter press when focusing on something that’s not brightly lit like indoors or shadows. I took to the Canon Center in Santa Ana and they couldn’t find any issues but it persists. I got the front desk person to witness the issue when I showed him, but when he took it to the tech in back the tech couldn’t replicate the issue. It doesn’t affect the captured image in anyway but it is annoying and distracting when composing a shot.


I also see the same flickering phenomenon in the lcd screen as well, not just the evf. 
if anyone has a solution I’d love to know.


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## entoman (Mar 18, 2022)

AlanF said:


> The instructions with the firmware upgrade don’t tell you to remove the lens.


You might care to check the facts before replying:

The first paragraph of the update guide (camera-firmwareupdate-en.pdf) Firmware Update Cautions states very clearly:

"Before the firmware update, *please remove the lens*, external speedlite, and all other accessories from the camera"


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## tron (Mar 18, 2022)

It seems it does this flickering only in one shot (and probably in low light) and not in af servo. I wonder if it does it to amplify light to focus easier (or not, this is a hypothesis but it gives me this impression)


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## entoman (Mar 18, 2022)

Juangrande said:


> I also see the same flickering phenomenon in the lcd screen as well, not just the evf.
> if anyone has a solution I’d love to know.


I've owned my R5 for a year and used it heavily in all climates. The EVF flickering only occurred when I was in Peru recently, at a time when the camera had been in continuous use for several hours in hot and very humid conditions, so I put it down to overheating or humidity affecting the electronics. Giving the camera a ten minute break fixed the issue, it was fine afterwards.

To give you an idea of the conditions I operated under, I might mention that one of my colleagues on the trip had both of his cameras completely lockup (a 7DMkii and a brand new 90D). They both eventually recovered, but were unusable for 48 hours.


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## entoman (Mar 19, 2022)

tron said:


> It seems it does this flickering only in one shot (and probably in love light) and not in af servo. I wonder if it does it to amplify light to focus easier (or not, this is a hypothesis but it gives me this impression)


That can't be the case, because it isn't "normal" behaviour for the camera in low light conditions. What I experienced was a very rapid bright flickering, and I'm pretty sure it was caused by the exceptional heat and humidity. I was shooting in AF Servo.


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## tron (Mar 19, 2022)

Well at least mine does this consistently once in one shot AF in low light. I switch back to servo and it does not. I wonder if exposure simulation has anything to do with it.


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## Chris.Chapterten (Mar 19, 2022)

tron said:


> Well at least mine does this consistently once in one shot AF in low light. I switch back to servo and it does not. I wonder if exposure simulation has anything to do with it.



yep, it is normal for the EVF or LCD to brightly flash (once) when the area covered by the AF a point is too dark. Mine has always done it when shooting into the shadows. Or when there is a very dark spot just behind the AF point.

It should only flash bright once as the focus is acquired.

If the area behind the AF point is brightly lit with good contrast edges and the camera is flickering multiple times from one shutter press… something else is going on.


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## snappy604 (Mar 19, 2022)

Viggo said:


> The AF was chaos, the AF point jumps around and it tracks worse than the 1d3, before any of the fixes that didn’t do much. It won’t show the head or body square/rectangle, only a cluster of points.


how odd.. haven't seen anything like that.


Managed to try the new firmware and at least with the RF 24-70 2.8 it certainly seems to be better at tracking humans. it seems to stay focused better than last firmware.


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## Birdshooter (Mar 19, 2022)

Birdshooter said:


> Finally they seem to have fixed the autofocus with this update, as far as sticking to the eye better.
> I have more images in focus of very small birds, like wrens and it picked up the eyes on waterfowl at a distance very well and also with birds in flight.
> Looks like they have correct the issues from 1.50 firmware. I still am not impressed with some low light acquisition, and more testing will be necessary.
> I remember posting that the AF was degraded after 1.50 and many here disagreed, but this update proves that there was an issue.
> Great to see that Canon has continued to bring out firmware updates to get the best out of the R5 and R6.


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## Antono Refa (Mar 19, 2022)

AlanF said:


> I have never had an external card reader let me down.


I had a brandless external card reader let me down. Every so often, a jpeg would be missing a block. The rest of the pixels would be pulled in, making the image look as if you cut the right part and shifted it up. Copying the file again would get a correct image. Replaced the card reader with one from a reputable brand, and the problem disappeared.

Lesson learned, now I spend a few dozen dollars for a card readers from a reputable brand. Still one of the cheapest photography accessories I have.


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## Viggo (Mar 19, 2022)

I don’t think it’s possible to install the firmware wrong, it either gets installed or not.


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## AlanF (Mar 19, 2022)

Antono Refa said:


> I had a brandless external card reader let me down. Every so often, a jpeg would be missing a block. The rest of the pixels would be pulled in, making the image look as if you cut the right part and shifted it up. Copying the file again would get a correct image. Replaced the card reader with one from a reputable brand, and the problem disappeared.
> 
> Lesson learned, now I spend a few dozen dollars for a card readers from a reputable brand. Still one of the cheapest photography accessories I have.


I have separate SD and CFExpress readers from SanDisk. They are cheap and tiny. Brandless is pot luck for even cheap cables, batteries etc.


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## Chaitanya (Mar 19, 2022)

Viggo said:


> So I did what I did last time, upgraded/downgraded five times and just bam, it suddenly works again. I cannot understand how this is possible, but it goes from havoc to Ronnie O’Sullivan precision with a few attempts.


I read somewhere that in Japan Software development is a blue collar job and for many of these companies(until Fuji started the trend of providing firmware upgrades) firmwares were quite basic and new MILC are exposing their lack of investment in software development processes.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Mar 19, 2022)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I have not installed the last couple of firmware updates. I'll likely install this one. Its downloaded.


I went ahead and upgraded. It seemed to be fine. I have not been using my camera a lot, so I'd likely miss any infrequent issue.


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## djack41 (Mar 19, 2022)

Viggo said:


> The AF was chaos, the AF point jumps around and it tracks worse than the 1d3, before any of the fixes that didn’t do much. It won’t show the head or body square/rectangle, only a cluster of points.


Hmmm......I bought an early R5 by preorder but my AF has never acted as you described.


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## AlanF (Mar 19, 2022)

I upgraded the R5 and R6. The bird's eyeAF sticks like glue and I had no problems finding distant tiny birds. But, I might have had more problems on the AF locking on with distractions around even in spot focus. I'll report back more on this and will be interested to hear from others.


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## tron (Mar 19, 2022)

I upgraded my R5. But it's cold these days so staying at home. I just checked that it can focus on relative small foreground items which is good (but I need to test it with birds). Also I haven't tested 100-500 with teleconverters (I had a major issue with 1.5.0 in good lighting).


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## AlanF (Mar 19, 2022)

I think there is now a problem with focussing close up with both the RF 100-500mm and RF 100-400mm close up, say 2-3 metres away, on both the R5 and R6. I noticed it this morning trying to focus on a Robin about 3 metres away and have just reproduced it. The focus is very slow and needs a kick. Could someone @Viggo ? tell me if this method is infallible https://www.canonrumors.com/forum/t...wngrade-the-firmware-on-a-canon-camera.41180/ ?


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## Antono Refa (Mar 19, 2022)

Chaitanya said:


> I read somewhere that in Japan Software development is a blue collar job and for many of these companies (until Fuji started the trend of providing firmware upgrades) firmwares were quite basic and new MILC are exposing their lack of investment in software development processes.


This change was inevitable. Cameras now have more modes & options for QA to cover all the possible combination, and firmware has become large, so bugs are inevitable.

That's the price of cameras becoming much more powerful.


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## tron (Mar 19, 2022)

AlanF said:


> I think there is now a problem with focussing close up with both the RF 100-500mm and RF 100-400mm close up, say 2-3 metres away, on both the R5 and R6. I noticed it this morning trying to focus on a Robin about 3 metres away and have just reproduced it. The focus is very slow and needs a kick. Could someone @Viggo ? tell me if this method is infallible https://www.canonrumors.com/forum/t...wngrade-the-firmware-on-a-canon-camera.41180/ ?


I used the battery door trick on R5 and it worked (1.5.0->1.4.0). I think it worked the second or third time. But the first time it was a user error (I removed the battery instead of opening the battery door).

Now in the card I keep 1.4.0 with 1.5.2 I have not tried to downgrade (yet) with two firmware versions available in the card. I haven't tested at 2-3 meters but the distance was about 4m. It was a white chair (the upper part of it was like a white vertical stick so it was a good example for close birds). Unfortunately I do not have a contract with bird models  so I do not have an opinion with birds. But I can try tomorrow to 2 or 3 meters away.


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## tron (Mar 19, 2022)

I also have to test 100-500 with the two TCs


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## Pixel (Mar 19, 2022)

The 1.5.0 and the 1.5.1 updates were horrible for me but the initial test of 1.5.2 is STELLAR! It "appears" they got it right this time, for me, at least.


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## Viggo (Mar 19, 2022)

AlanF said:


> I think there is now a problem with focussing close up with both the RF 100-500mm and RF 100-400mm close up, say 2-3 metres away, on both the R5 and R6. I noticed it this morning trying to focus on a Robin about 3 metres away and have just reproduced it. The focus is very slow and needs a kick. Could someone @Viggo ? tell me if this method is infallible https://www.canonrumors.com/forum/t...wngrade-the-firmware-on-a-canon-camera.41180/ ?


Yes, I used option 1 and I’ve used it at least 12 times and it works great.


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## Big_Ant_TV_Media (Mar 20, 2022)

smh here come the bird shooters lol


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## YuengLinger (Mar 20, 2022)

AlanF said:


> I think there is now a problem with focussing close up with both the RF 100-500mm and RF 100-400mm close up, say 2-3 metres away, on both the R5 and R6. I noticed it this morning trying to focus on a Robin about 3 metres away and have just reproduced it. The focus is very slow and needs a kick. Could someone @Viggo ? tell me if this method is infallible https://www.canonrumors.com/forum/t...wngrade-the-firmware-on-a-canon-camera.41180/ ?


Here we go. Are you reverting because you are sure you've found a problem, or because you are going to effectively toggle back and forth for further testing?

Are you going to report to Canon?

The MFD is one of the many joys of the 100-500mm. Sigh...


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## Marcus550 (Mar 20, 2022)

Will be glad to get the god awful 1.5.1 off, took a photo of my dog (cockapoo) the other day and had the red box on the image preview and it showed the autofocus had focused on the eye but his noise was in focus was 2-3 inches out  not to mention hopefully the lock ups will stop had another one the other day and there wasn't even a lens connected


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## AlanF (Mar 20, 2022)

YuengLinger said:


> Here we go. Are you reverting because you are sure you've found a problem, or because you are going to effectively toggle back and forth for further testing?
> 
> Are you going to report to Canon?
> 
> The MFD is one of the many joys of the 100-500mm. Sigh...


Further testing. I dried human eye AF and it was fine when the lens was zoomed out and the face was small, but when very large in the frame, the camera lost it. Perhaps you could try. I'm going out today using 1.5.2 in the field and searching for really close ups like butterflies I know well. It's with the 100-400 as well, not just the 100-500,


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## YuengLinger (Mar 20, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Further testing. I dried human eye AF and it was fine when the lens was zoomed out and the face was small, but when very large in the frame, the camera lost it. Perhaps you could try. I'm going out today using 1.5.2 in the field and searching for really close ups like butterflies I know well. It's with the 100-400 as well, not just the 100-500,


I was planning to try 1.5.2 but your experience has caused me to pause. I know how systematically you test, and your test findings here have been incredibly comprehensive and helpful.

While I believe the reverting process works, I'm still reluctant to mess around much with the process.


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## HikeBike (Mar 20, 2022)

neurorx said:


> I'd love to hear your experience. I downgraded mine to 1.4 and I'm cautious about upgrading at this point in the middle of senior portrait season....


This is coming from an enthusiast, not a pro, just for context.

That said, when I upgraded to 1.4.0, I noticed the tracking seemed to nearly drop to the level of the R. That's honestly a bit of an overstatement, but it definitely didn't feel like the R6 anymore. One example, which I mentioned in one of my past posts, was on Christmas morning, when I was shooting a 5-10 minute video of my daughter opening her presents. The tracking was nearly useless. I had to keep tapping on the touchscreen to tell the camera where to focus, even though I had eye detect on and the AF was in Person priority mode. It was frustrating.

The quick tests I did the other day were as follows (these were done inside, in relatively poor lighting conditions, with the RF 35mm):
1) Photo mode. Had my wife try to confuse the camera to the best of her ability. Turning, swinging, moving forward and back, etc. Tracking locked on to her and wouldn't let go.
2) Video mode. Told my four year old to go nuts so I could make a video. She complied. She ran around in circles through three of our rooms while I stood in one spot. She was running as fast as she could, and going in and out of the frame. Tracking stayed on her while she was visible. When she would run out of frame and then re-enter the frame, it locked on again right away. We did this for a solid two minutes (she didn't want to stop running even after I told her she could stop...haha), and the results were consistent. Additionally (and rather impressively), at one point my dog walked in the room to figure out what the heck was happening. When my daughter went out of frame, the AF locked on the dog (even in Person priority mode). When my daughter came back in frame, it locked on her.

Now, as far as the accuracy of the AF, I haven't really tested that with 1.5.2 yet. I didn't notice any problems with AF accuracy with the past releases, unlike some others. And it still seems to be fine from the little I've seen with 1.5.2. AF tracking was always what I thought had taken a dive with 1.5.0.


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## YuengLinger (Mar 20, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Further testing. I dried human eye AF and it was fine when the lens was zoomed out and the face was small, but when very large in the frame, the camera lost it. Perhaps you could try. I'm going out today using 1.5.2 in the field and searching for really close ups like butterflies I know well. It's with the 100-400 as well, not just the 100-500,


Thank you! Here's a shot I took recently, when my 100-500mm came back from repair. Taken right at MFD, 363mm, by simply shooting straight down hand-held. It's amazing to be able to get so close with a zoom like this. Truly makes the lens a versatile hiking companion, in my opinion.

Firmware 1.4 on the R5.


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## Rofocale (Mar 20, 2022)

Just upgraded to 1.5.2 from 1.5.0 and I’ve lost autofocus almost entirely. I get the terracotta box which flickers almost imperceptibly with the blue box. Sometimes it’ll focus on something in the foreground but then pulls away. On 1.4 I don’t even remember seeing the terracotta box once, there’s always something to pull into focus.


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## Rofocale (Mar 20, 2022)

Rofocale said:


> Just upgraded to 1.5.2 from 1.5.0 and I’ve lost autofocus almost entirely. I get the terracotta box which flickers almost imperceptibly with the blue box. Sometimes it’ll focus on something in the foreground but then pulls away. On 1.4 I don’t even remember seeing the terracotta box once, there’s always something to pull into focus.


Bit of an update, I’ve got autofocus back but I’ve had to well over expose the image (+2 at least). It seems to latch on to light colored objects but not darker objects. But even when it finds something, it then keeps jumping around pulling the focus all over the place. I’m gonna roll back to 1.4 and try upgrading once more. If I don’t have any joy I’ll bring it into the canon center in Shibuya.


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## tron (Mar 20, 2022)

More home tests seem that AF works OK. Emphasis on it seems so.
Of course I do not know about BIF.

I will keep it for now and test it in the field when possible.


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## AlanF (Mar 20, 2022)

tron said:


> More home tests seem that AF works OK. Emphasis on it seems so.
> Of course I do not know about BIF.
> 
> I will keep it for now and test it in the field when possible.


Tried out 1.5.2 with the R5/100-500mm for BIF this afternoon. Fantastic - locked onto and tracked Blackheaded Gulls wheeling around against tricky backgrounds - definitely at least as good as earlier versions. But, this is what really impressed me - a Skylark belted past, just a speck in the sky at full speed. The R5 locked on and got a burst in focus for 26 shots in 1.27s as I tracked it traverse the lake. Here is a full size reduced and gif of the crop - the bird is only 280 px long. I am not going to downgrade unless I have real problems very close up. 1.5.2 is brilliant at long distances for finding faces, birds and humans, and if I have to work at focus for 1-3m away, I'll put up with it. It was definitely locking on quickly to small birds 5m away yesterday.


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## snappy604 (Mar 20, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Further testing. I dried human eye AF and it was fine when the lens was zoomed out and the face was small, but when very large in the frame, the camera lost it. Perhaps you could try. I'm going out today using 1.5.2 in the field and searching for really close ups like butterflies I know well. It's with the 100-400 as well, not just the 100-500,


I know it's a typo, but can't resist... I don't think Canon made autofocus for dried out human eyes... creepy!


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## LSXPhotog (Mar 20, 2022)

I can concur that this update has made a stable improvement to the reliability of the autofocus with portraits - including in vertical composition. I'm very pleased with the results I've gotten this weekend and the AF now appears much more confident and doesn't bounce around/drift. I only has the AF get confused with a face once and that was in a very wide dynamic range shot inside a car shooting in portrait orientation.


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## tron (Mar 20, 2022)

Many thanks Alan for letting us know. I will keep it and see how it goes.


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## bergstrom (Mar 20, 2022)

I'd be interested if people who were having lock ups on R5 and R6 are still having them after updating.


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## unfocused (Mar 21, 2022)

bergstrom said:


> I'd be interested if people who were having lock ups on R5 and R6 are still having them after updating.


I haven't yet updated the firmware on my R5, but yesterday I shot a golf tournament with my R3, which has the new firmware "fix." It froze up probably close to a dozen times during the day, the most it has ever frozen up. I kept getting an error message that said to remove the battery and restart it (this message is new as far as I know.)

Today, I shot a baseball game and a softball game -- no freeze. Only difference was the card (Transcend 256gb vs. ProGrade 128 mb)

As I've noted in the past, I've had other freeze ups with the R3 since the firmware upgrade (with SanDisk and ProGrade cards). Since freeze ups seem to be random and occur sporadically, I suspect it will be months before we can be confident that Canon's "fix" actually fixed anything.

Said this before and I'll say it again, we R system users are all paying to be beta testers for Canon's mirrorless system.


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## tron (Mar 21, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I haven't yet updated the firmware on my R5, but yesterday I shot a golf tournament with my R3, which has the new firmware "fix." It froze up probably close to a dozen times during the day, the most it has ever frozen up. I kept getting an error message that said to remove the battery and restart it (this message is new as far as I know.)
> 
> Today, I shot a baseball game and a softball game -- no freeze. Only difference was the card (Transcend 256gb vs. ProGrade 128 mb)
> 
> ...


Can you tell us exactly what Sandisk and Prograde card models you used when the freezes occurred?


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## unfocused (Mar 21, 2022)

tron said:


> Can you tell us exactly what Sandisk and Prograde card models you used when the freezes occurred?


SanDisk Extreme Pro, 128 and 256 gb; Pro Grade gold 128 gb, Transcend 256 gb. No consistent pattern. And, no commonalities between R5 and R3 -- that is, the same card may experience a freeze with the R5, but not the R3 and vice versa. The R3 does seem to be more prone to freezes with the Transcend cards, but not with the R5 and I have experienced freezes with all three brands.


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## steen-ag (Mar 21, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I haven't yet updated the firmware on my R5, but yesterday I shot a golf tournament with my R3, which has the new firmware "fix." It froze up probably close to a dozen times during the day, the most it has ever frozen up. I kept getting an error message that said to remove the battery and restart it (this message is new as far as I know.)
> 
> Today, I shot a baseball game and a softball game -- no freeze. Only difference was the card (Transcend 256gb vs. ProGrade 128 mb)
> 
> ...


Never had any problems with my memory card. Sony CFexpress 128Gb TOUGH. My SD Card is a Sony 64Gb


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## GreenViper (Mar 21, 2022)

I had a short play with 1.5.2 yesterday but not a full test. I found the bird tracking improved as per Alan's findings. Didn't try to focus at very short distances but I when I switched to expand AF I did find the focus much worse although that was only for a short time.
I had had no lock ups with R5 until I bought my Sandisk CFExpress card last month. Then I got Err70 and other lockups which only needed an off/on cycle rather than the battery to be taken out. For me this seemed to happen quite often when I switched between my 2 back-button focus buttons - zone to eye. I had no issues with this yesterday. I had also done a low-level format on the card so that might have helped too. Need to do some further tests


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## Viggo (Mar 21, 2022)

Had my daughter do some running yesterday. Open lawn, harsh sun behind me, her with a big winter coat and beanie shadowing her eyes. She ran as fast as she could and going from side to side several times, and nearly 100% hit rate at f1.8 (because of the sun) farther away than 2 meters. From 2 meters in it really struggled, but I shot with the RF85 so I was still impressed. Night and day difference from the first tests with 1.5.2.


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## unfocused (Mar 21, 2022)

steen-ag said:


> Never had any problems with my memory card. Sony CFexpress 128Gb TOUGH. My SD Card is a Sony 64Gb


As far as I know there is no evidence and Canon has never indicated that there is any relationship between the freezes and the brand or type of memory card. Likewise no evidence that it has anything to do with button settings or other customizations.


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## Pierre Lagarde (Mar 21, 2022)

My two cents : for those who have problems with cards, try to blow some air in the camera card reader and clean the card contacts. It can simply be due to some dust on some contacts. I recently had a camera having that kind of errors and after blowing air in the card reader everything went right again.


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## AlanF (Mar 21, 2022)

Viggo said:


> Had my daughter do some running yesterday. Open lawn, harsh sun behind me, her with a big winter coat and beanie shadowing her eyes. She ran as fast as she could and going from side to side several times, and nearly 100% hit rate at f1.8 (because of the sun) farther away than 2 meters. From 2 meters in it really struggled, but I shot with the RF85 so I was still impressed. Night and day difference from the first tests with 1.5.2.


I wonder if they have optimised the AF detection for longer distances or where the subject is very small? It would be nice if others could compare 1.5.2 with earlier at very close distances where the subject occupies a very large area of the frame. I am not going to downgrade for testing 1.5.1 as I will stick with 1.5.2 for now.


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## bergstrom (Mar 21, 2022)

Is there something that the card makers are doing?


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## [email protected] (Mar 21, 2022)

Pierre Lagarde said:


> My two cents : for those who have problems with cards, try to blow some air in the camera card reader and clean the card contacts. It can simply be due to some dust on some contacts. I recently had a camera having that kind of errors and after blowing air in the card reader everything went right again.



But be super-careful with canned air. It creates severe chilling, which can crack things or create odd condensation effects on internals. It can also blow junk well further into the camera, where it can do more damage. If you do a single sub-second spurt of canned air, the temperature is less likely to be a problem, but serially doing this means that each new spurt is very much colder than the last. 

Using a rocket blower is better, but also can have unintended consequences.

I think it was a 1dx where I spritzed air into the card slot, and wound up with a shocking amount of dirt ending up in the pentaprism. Not that you're worried about your pentaprism with an R5/6. Canon CPS was extremely kind and fixed that problem for me with a body checkup later. I bet it was a laborious pain to do.


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## [email protected] (Mar 21, 2022)

As to different cards and the freeze issue, the tracking we did over at camnostic.com did not at all correlate to card use. While we didn't eliminate it as *a* factor, we know it is not *the* factor. 

There are a few characteristics of the CFexpress cards that do raise suspicions:
1) They're a relatively new format
2) We do know that Canon firmware has been evolving specifically to address camera firmware-to-card-firmware issues. I've personally talked to people at three manufacturers on the topic in doing this reporting. 
3) Almost all of the big brands of card makers use internal M.2 2230 PCIe NVMe solid state drives from three or four chip companies, all of which have their own firmware. Only few of the big brands actually contract to have the drives flashed with  firmware variants. Angelbird and Delkin have indicated that they've upgraded firmware, although in the case of Angelbird, it is a user-upgradable system, which may indicate a secondary firmware layer above the chip's firmware. ProGrade indicated last month that they were going to develop a similar capacity.

So the upshot: don't waste too much time or money switching cards in an attempt to thwart the freezes. In the comprehensive review we did (being updated now with some new entrants), I'd look for speed and GB/$ as the primary factors.


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## neuroanatomist (Mar 21, 2022)

unfocused said:


> As far as I know there is no evidence and Canon has never indicated that there is any relationship between the freezes and the brand or type of memory card. Likewise no evidence that it has anything to do with button settings or other customizations.


Here are the ones Canon states are compatible, FWIW. 



Canon Knowledge Base - Compatible Cards (EOS R5)


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## neurorx (Mar 21, 2022)

Marcus550 said:


> Will be glad to get the god awful 1.5.1 off, took a photo of my dog (cockapoo) the other day and had the red box on the image preview and it showed the autofocus had focused on the eye but his noise was in focus was 2-3 inches out  not to mention hopefully the lock ups will stop had another one the other day and there wasn't even a lens connected


This is what was happening to me with people. The eye looked like it was the AF target and then it was always soft. I am hoping 1.5.2 is significantly better but I'm waiting a bit longer to update now.


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## Pierre Lagarde (Mar 21, 2022)

[email protected] said:


> But be super-careful with canned air. It creates severe chilling, which can crack things or create odd condensation effects on internals. It can also blow junk well further into the camera, where it can do more damage. If you do a single sub-second spurt of canned air, the temperature is less likely to be a problem, but serially doing this means that each new spurt is very much colder than the last.
> 
> Using a rocket blower is better, but also can have unintended consequences.
> 
> I think it was a 1dx where I spritzed air into the card slot, and wound up with a shocking amount of dirt ending up in the pentaprism. Not that you're worried about your pentaprism with an R5/6. Canon CPS was extremely kind and fixed that problem for me with a body checkup later. I bet it was a laborious pain to do.


Well, sorry, I thought it was clear it only needs a moderate blow of air indeed. In fact, for that kind of purpose I would avoid canned air, simply (and won't use it in many application concerning cameras, only perhaps for lenses, and carefully, anyway... ).
Another point is to hold the camera in a way that card reader opening is oriented down, to allow dust to fall out of the compartment.
So, I should have been more specific and thank you for the precision.


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## Marcus550 (Mar 21, 2022)

neurorx said:


> This is what was happening to me with people. The eye looked like it was the AF target and then it was always soft. I am hoping 1.5.2 is significantly better but I'm waiting a bit longer to update now.


Well if its any help I got 1.5.2 and used it on doggo yesterday and it was significantly better, tracked him much better, got a shot I was happy with and it was a smidge off his eye but he has some fur over so would put it down to that, the difference is night and day as 1.5.1 was useless, for me personally it was worth the upgrade to have a camera which is some what near 1.4.0 again autofocus wise no idea on the lock ups yet


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## VegasCameraGuy (Mar 21, 2022)

After updating the firmware, my R5's eye focus seems to be much better but I haven't had a chance to do much testing.

On the topic of memory cards, there have been multiple anecdotal reports on problems with memory cards causing various issues with the camera. I only use the Sony CFexpress Tough and Sony SF-G64/T1 SD cards and have never had an issue with them. Other than the shame of using a Sony in my Canon, I swear by them.


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## entoman (Mar 21, 2022)

I was planning to let others do the beta testing, but I succumbed to temptation and installed v1.5.2...

Using the AF settings that previously worked well for BIF with v1.4, I found the camera had difficulty grabbing initial focus on birds, and even greater difficulty tracking them.

Today I decided as an experiment to change some of the AF settings, and found a dramatic improvement in bird-eye AF, and better tracking than I've ever previously experienced, even against confusing backgrounds. This is using the EF 100-400mm on my R5.

Everyone seems to have their own set of AF settings that works well for them. What works best for one person may not necessarily work best for another, depending on what lenses they are using, and various other factors. I'll happily reveal the settings that work best for me, if anyone is interested.

The point I'm making, is that in my opinion, v1.5.2 has altered the AF characteristics, such that it is now desirable to establish a bunch of new settings that work with the new firmware.


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## Exploreshootshare (Mar 21, 2022)

I am happy for the R6/5 users and the updates their getting. But imho it is a shame that the original R didn't receive any real updates in the past two years besides adding support for new lenses. I do see a lot of R models around (southwest part of Germany) and I'd guess those shooters would all be happy. Especially, the R´s original pricing was exact the same price the R6 had/ has but yet it was/ is treated kind a like step motherly...


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## AlanF (Mar 21, 2022)

entoman said:


> I was planning to let others do the beta testing, but I succumbed to temptation and installed v1.5.2...
> 
> Using the AF settings that previously worked well for BIF with v1.4, I found the camera had difficulty grabbing initial focus on birds, and even greater difficulty tracking them.
> 
> ...


What settings are you using?


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## allanP (Mar 21, 2022)

I have no problems with focusing at short distances (2-3m).
Something completely different - after the update to 1.5.2 I noticed that saving to the CF card took a lot of time when Lens Aberration Correction was switched on. After about 15 pictures, I had to wait several seconds before I could take more photos (in RAW, of course). Annoying for wildlife photography. After switching off the correction, the waiting times have disappeared.
I didn't notice it before, or it wasn't like that?


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## AlanF (Mar 21, 2022)

allanP said:


> I have no problems with focusing at short distances (2-3m).
> Something completely different - after the update to 1.5.2 I noticed that saving to the CF card took a lot of time when Lens Aberration Correction was switched on. After about 15 pictures, I had to wait several seconds before I could take more photos (in RAW, of course). Annoying for wildlife photography. After switching off the correction, the waiting times have disappeared.
> I didn't notice it before, or it wasn't like that?


I always leave lens aberration correction off when shooting RAW, which is I think is a recommended procedure. The problem I found in focussing on objects close up was when a face started to fill the frame the eyeAF stopped recognising eyes. It will focus on small objects close up.


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## entoman (Mar 21, 2022)

AlanF said:


> What settings are you using?


Servo AF
Face & tracking
Animal eye-AF
Case 2
Switch tracked objects - 0
Initial Servo AF pt for face & tracking

Tested today with EF 100-400mm on black-headed gulls, hundreds of them swooping and swirling at breeding site on Hayling Island.
Almost 100% keepers in terms of focus, at maximum fps with electronic shutter.


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## entoman (Mar 21, 2022)

AlanF said:


> I always leave lens aberration correction off when shooting RAW, which is I think is a recommended procedure. The problem I found in focussing on objects close up was when a face started to fill the frame the eyeAF stopped recognising eyes. It will focus on small objects close up.


Yes, I also turn off all lens corrections, as my experience with other Canon cameras is that it slows down AF and causes buffer overload.
I have the camera in airplane-mode for the same reason.


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## AlanF (Mar 21, 2022)

entoman said:


> Yes, I also turn off all lens corrections, as my experience with other Canon cameras is that it slows down AF and causes buffer overload.
> I have the camera in airplane-mode for the same reason.


Same here for airplane mode, and also to minimise battery drain.


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## Chris.Chapterten (Mar 21, 2022)

VegasCameraGuy said:


> After updating the firmware, my R5's eye focus seems to be much better but I haven't had a chance to do much testing.
> 
> On the topic of memory cards, there have been multiple anecdotal reports on problems with memory cards causing various issues with the camera. I only use the Sony CFexpress Tough and Sony SF-G64/T1 SD cards and have never had an issue with them. Other than the shame of using a Sony in my Canon, I swear by them.



Thanks for the input. Just to add to this - I was using Sandisk 512gb CFexpress and had a lockup approximately once every 2000 images taken. After 5 lockups (10,000 photos) I switched to a Sandisk SD card - 128GB 170MB/s. In over 50,000 shots over the last year I have not had a single lockup with this card.

I will agree with Tig that I don’t think the brand of the card actually makes much difference. I have heard of lockups with every single brand now. It seems to be luck of the draw - something funky with your camera or something funky with the card and potentially them not communicating/ playing with each other nicely. I should note that I now own 4x of the Sandisk 128gb SD cards I mentioned and none of them have seen a camera freeze.

I am reluctant to change firmware at all now as my camera has been stable for well over a year… 1.5.2 is the first time I have considered the upgrade in quite a while…


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## jprusa (Mar 21, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Same here for airplane mode, and also to minimise battery drain.


When I updated to 1.51, everything was good with my 100-500 and 2.0 TC then I changed my lens to the 15-35. it was perfect until I went back to the 100-500 and TC it was doing the same thing with 1.50. It would have been nice if I had thought about lens correction then.


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## Big_Ant_TV_Media (Mar 21, 2022)

all these bird and animal shooters smh HAS ANYBODY tested the new firmware on human sports eg: American football, soccer,baseball and bball since it can follow TORSO & Helmets now? or even AUTOMOBILE RACING?


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## YuengLinger (Mar 22, 2022)

AlanF said:


> ...The problem I found in focussing on objects close up was when a face started to fill the frame the eyeAF stopped recognising eyes. It will focus on small objects close up.


This doesn't sound like a problem I'd have with portraits, which is what I mainly shoot. If I'm close enough for _just _a face to _fill_ the frame, I really don't want eye AF.

But for torso + head with a bit of extra room for print-size options--then in some situations it would be a step backwards for me to lose top-notch Eye AF.

And if you are saying it doesn't seem, at near MFD, to affect AF without tracking, then it should not be a problem for macro, etc.

I have no doubt that Canon will fix this if it gets reported enough--and can be reproduced by Canon.

Glad to hear it is working better still with quick birds filling so little of the frame!


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## David - Sydney (Mar 22, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> Here are the ones Canon states are compatible, FWIW.
> 
> 
> 
> Canon Knowledge Base - Compatible Cards (EOS R5)


Unfortunately, Canon hasn't updated that list from when the R5 was first released. I got the Sony Tough 128GB CFe as it was the only ~128GB option that was available (I couldn't find Lexar and the others were very expensive). I have had 1 lockup in 21 months so far. I believe that 1DXiii has the same list.

The R3 compatible CFe cards start at 256GB!
https://cam.start.canon/en/H001/supplement_0040.html


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## AlanF (Mar 22, 2022)

YuengLinger said:


> This doesn't sound like a problem I'd have with portraits, which is what I mainly shoot. If I'm close enough for _just _a face to _fill_ the frame, I really don't want eye AF.
> 
> But for torso + head with a bit of extra room for print-size options--then in some situations it would be a step backwards for me to lose top-notch Eye AF.
> 
> ...


That's my attitude too. If it works for the butterfly and dragonfly seasons, especially DIF, then I won't worry.


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## AlanF (Mar 22, 2022)

Big_Ant_TV_Media said:


> all these bird and animal shooters smh HAS ANYBODY tested the new firmware on human sports eg: American football, soccer,baseball and bball since it can follow TORSO & Helmets now? or even AUTOMOBILE RACING?


Not much American football and baseball over here, and basketball not that popular.


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## allanP (Mar 22, 2022)

AlanF said:


> I always leave lens aberration correction off when shooting RAW, which is I think is a recommended procedure.


Actually me too. Recently I tried different settings and this one got stuck instead of being off


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## stochasticmotions (Mar 22, 2022)

First time out for bird in flight shots with the new firmware yesterday. Using the canon EF 500 f/4 (with and without the 1.4 teleconverter). Camera locked up while shooting 5 times in the first 10 minutes. Next hour it only locked up twice. I need to get out a more before deciding if this is worse than the previous firmware since it is common for it to do this a few times in a short period then be more stable for a while. It is too bad, this is the most unstable camera I have owned in many years but it is really so great when it is stable. For now, I have to stick with the Sony cameras for when I need to know that I'm going to get the shot, or go back to using the 5DS which seems so ancient when it comes to autofocus now.


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## angelisland (Mar 22, 2022)

stochasticmotions said:


> First time out for bird in flight shots with the new firmware yesterday. Using the canon EF 500 f/4 (with and without the 1.4 teleconverter). Camera locked up while shooting 5 times in the first 10 minutes. Next hour it only locked up twice. I need to get out a more before deciding if this is worse than the previous firmware since it is common for it to do this a few times in a short period then be more stable for a while. It is too bad, this is the most unstable camera I have owned in many years but it is really so great when it is stable. For now, I have to stick with the Sony cameras for when I need to know that I'm going to get the shot, or go back to using the 5DS which seems so ancient when it comes to autofocus now.



I've not had a single lockup in years with 4 different R5 bodies. They've been 100% reliable (unlike my a7r4, which did lock upon occasion.)
If the above were me, I'd be on Canon's ass to replace the camera!
Obviously most R5s do not have this issue...


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## Juangrande (Mar 22, 2022)

tron said:


> Well at least mine does this consistently once in one shot AF in low light. I switch back to servo and it does not. I wonder if exposure simulation has anything to do with it.


That’s the exact same issue I have. Relatively low light (indoors ambient daylight for example) nothing extreme, and one shot. I haven’t tried servo as I’m usually shooting static portraits. I first noticed it when shooting with a colleague in a studio setup and she had the exact same body and lens as me, an R5 and RF 50mm 1.2. Her camera was not having the issue and we tested from the exact same position and focused in the exact spot. So it seems to be an issue with a certain batch of R5 bodies and not by design. I took my camera in to the Canon Center in Santa Ana, CA and explained the issue and that my colleague didn’t have the issue with the same setup and exact conditions. I was able to demonstrate the issue to the person at the customer service desk and he agreed it was odd, but when he took it back to the technician the tech said everything worked fine. I should have asked him to bring the tech out and demonstrated it for him myself. I asked them to record my visit and take notes of my issue because my one year warranty was close to expiration and wanted to prove I brought it in prior in case the issue worsened or more people reported it and there’s a later fix. It’s not the lens either because the issue persists no matter the lens. I even swapped lenses at the time with my colleague to test if that was the issue.


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## Juangrande (Mar 22, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I haven't yet updated the firmware on my R5, but yesterday I shot a golf tournament with my R3, which has the new firmware "fix." It froze up probably close to a dozen times during the day, the most it has ever frozen up. I kept getting an error message that said to remove the battery and restart it (this message is new as far as I know.)
> 
> Today, I shot a baseball game and a softball game -- no freeze. Only difference was the card (Transcend 256gb vs. ProGrade 128 mb)
> 
> ...


Is it possible to upgrade the firmware on the cards as well? Maybe there’s an issue there.


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## unfocused (Mar 22, 2022)

I don't understand why people feel compelled to post that they have never had a problem with the R5, R6 or R3 freezing up. That imparts no useful information. It's a bit like saying you've never been in a tornado or bitten by a shark. That's nice, but it doesn't mean there aren't tornados or sharks or that those who have been hit or bitten are doing something wrong. I'd encourage those who have not encountered the problem to simply refrain from hitting the "reply" button unless you have something of value to contribute.


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## tron (Mar 22, 2022)

Juangrande said:


> That’s the exact same issue I have. Relatively low light (indoors ambient daylight for example) nothing extreme, and one shot. I haven’t tried servo as I’m usually shooting static portraits. I first noticed it when shooting with a colleague in a studio setup and she had the exact same body and lens as me, an R5 and RF 50mm 1.2. Her camera was not having the issue and we tested from the exact same position and focused in the exact spot. So it seems to be an issue with a certain batch of R5 bodies and not by design. I took my camera in to the Canon Center in Santa Ana, CA and explained the issue and that my colleague didn’t have the issue with the same setup and exact conditions. I was able to demonstrate the issue to the person at the customer service desk and he agreed it was odd, but when he took it back to the technician the tech said everything worked fine. I should have asked him to bring the tech out and demonstrated it for him myself. I asked them to record my visit and take notes of my issue because my one year warranty was close to expiration and wanted to prove I brought it in prior in case the issue worsened or more people reported it and there’s a later fix. It’s not the lens either because the issue persists no matter the lens. I even swapped lenses at the time with my colleague to test if that was the issue.


It isn't a big deal for me: It looks like a low light focus helper when using one shot AF.

Keep in mind that when in AF Servo and Exp simulation when we use manual metering and we are way off the sensor doesn't get enough light to focus and it fails until we fix the exposure (or possibly turn off exp simulation).


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## angelisland (Mar 22, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I don't understand why people feel compelled to post that they have never had a problem with the R5, R6 or R3 freezing up. That imparts no useful information. It's a bit like saying you've never been in a tornado or bitten by a shark. That's nice, but it doesn't mean there aren't tornados or sharks or that those who have been hit or bitten are doing something wrong. I'd encourage those who have not encountered the problem to simply refrain from hitting the "reply" button unless you have something of value to contribute.



It can be useful to know that not EVERY camera / EVERY brand of memory card etc are affected by an issue. Unlike some issues which *do affect every body.
But I'm not going to argue about it ;-)
As I noted above, if you know that every R5 body has the same issue, then replacing your current one makes no sense. Alternately, if it's only some of them, then a replacement may sort your issue.
Cheers.


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## angelisland (Mar 22, 2022)

tron said:


> I believe we have to compare our camera settings.


Yes indeed.
But no combination of settings should cause the camera to crash/freeze up (obviously)...
Thus it's good to know some similarly configured cameras do not have the issue IMO.
In which case I'd be on the phone with CPS demanding a replacement ;-)


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## tron (Mar 22, 2022)

angelisland said:


> Yes indeed.
> But no combination of settings should cause the camera to crash/freeze up (obviously)...
> Thus it's good to know some similarly configured cameras do not have the issue IMO.
> In which case I'd be on the phone with CPS demanding a replacement ;-)


I have already deleted that post because I meant to answer to a different post sorry.


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## unfocused (Mar 22, 2022)

angelisland said:


> It can be useful to know that not EVERY camera / EVERY brand of memory card etc are affected by an issue. Unlike some issues which *do affect every body.
> But I'm not going to argue about it ;-)
> As I noted above, if you know that every R5 body has the same issue, then replacing your current one makes no sense. Alternately, if it's only some of them, then a replacement may sort your issue.
> Cheers.


That might have been valid a year or so ago. By now there have been so many examples and so much shared about the freezes, that simply having people say they have not experienced the problem doesn't serve any purpose at this point. 

To be fair, sharing stories from those of us who have had freezes probably doesn't really contribute anything either. Although I think it is somewhat helpful to know that Canon's "fix" hasn't resolved the issue in at least some cases. 

There is also a bit of a psychological aspect to it. Although the scale of the problem is in no way similar, It is a little like persons who are afflicted with rare and difficult to diagnose physical ailments. It can be comforting just knowing that what your are experiencing is real and is shared by others. 

As for demanding that Canon replace a body. Well, that's simply not going to happen. Because it is relatively common and because it does occur randomly, Canon can't simply replace all the bodies that have suffered a freeze. We don't know the scale of the problem, but given the number of people on this forum alone who have experienced it, I think it is safe to say it is quite widespread. And, because it is so random and not easy to reproduce, Canon would be opening themselves up to tremendous financial risk if they just said anyone who claimed to have the problem could get a replacement body. And, of course many of those replacements would still have the problem since the root cause still appears to be unknown. 

I give Canon credit for trying to find a solution, although I wish they had been a bit more forthcoming in acknowledging it earlier (as least with the R3, they seem to have learned a lesson there). The recent firmware fixes may be less than perfect, but I take it as a sign that Canon is on the trail of the problem and will eventually determine the cause. 

I simply suggest that those who have been lucky enough not to have a problem might display a bit of empathy by enjoying their good luck in silence, recognizing that posting about their good fortune can feel to others as though they are, perhaps unintentionally, trying to invalidate the experiences of those who haven't been as lucky.


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## AlanF (Mar 22, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I simply suggest that those who have been lucky enough not to have a problem might display a bit of empathy by enjoying their good luck in silence, recognizing that posting about their good fortune can feel to others as though they are, perhaps unintentionally, trying to invalidate the experiences of those who haven't been as lucky.


The simple statement of factual information is what makes the site tick - we exchange our experiences and knowledge to help others. I don't recall offhand anyone gloating over that their cameras don't have problems or overtly showing a lack of empathy with those who do have problems, though no doubt schadenfreude does exist with some. If you have a problem with a piece of kit it is important to know whether you have a faulty product or everyone is in the same boat. Buy your kit from dealers who give you the right to return after 14 days or so, and you can test it and then return it if it is problematic. You will only know if it is problematic if there are others who have reported they have no problems.


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## unfocused (Mar 22, 2022)

AlanF said:


> The simple statement of factual information is what makes the site tick - we exchange our experiences and knowledge to help others. I don't recall offhand anyone gloating over that their cameras don't have problems or overtly showing a lack of empathy with those who do have problems, though no doubt schadenfreude does exist with some. If you have a problem with a piece of kit it is important to know whether you have a faulty product or everyone is in the same boat. Buy your kit from dealers who give you the right to return after 14 days or so, and you can test it and then return it if it is problematic. You will only know if it is problematic if there are others who have reported they have no problems.


It doesn't seem like you read my full post.


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## AlanF (Mar 22, 2022)

unfocused said:


> It doesn't seem like you read my full post.


I did read it all and was commenting on your last paragraph which had a specific request.


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## neuroanatomist (Mar 22, 2022)

I believe the memory card association is a red herring and that this issue is a settings problem. When a camera is sent to Canon, they reset it to factory defaults and cannot replicate the problem. The individual brute force approach of testing settings one by one isn't viable, because there are thousands of possible settings combinations, only a subset of which result in freezing.

I think the only way this gets solved is for both affected and unaffected users to post their settings (e.g. my list for the R3 setup), and we look for commonalities. Just a suggestion.


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## entoman (Mar 22, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I don't understand why people feel compelled to post that they have never had a problem with the R5, R6 or R3 freezing up. That imparts no useful information. It's a bit like saying you've never been in a tornado or bitten by a shark. That's nice, but it doesn't mean there aren't tornados or sharks or that those who have been hit or bitten are doing something wrong. I'd encourage those who have not encountered the problem to simply refrain from hitting the "reply" button unless you have something of value to contribute.


I have to disagree. Sure, it can be a little nauseating if people rub salt into the wound with stories about how their particular camera is faultless. It can seem as if they are having a laugh at our expense. But it's nevertheless valuable to know whether a problem exists with *all* R5 bodies (which might point to a design fault), or whether it only occurs with a particular batch of bodies. On this regard it might be worth CR keeping a record of affected serial numbers, if folk are willing to divulge them. It's also worthwhile knowing just how frequently these intermittent faults occur. Unfortunately the only people who could really make much sense of such information are Canon themselves...


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## unfocused (Mar 22, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> I believe the memory card association is a red herring and that this issue is a settings problem. When a camera is sent to Canon, they reset it to factory defaults and cannot replicate the problem. The individual brute force approach of testing settings one by one isn't viable, because there are thousands of possible settings combinations, only a subset of which result in freezing.
> 
> I think the only way this gets solved is for both affected and unaffected users to post their settings (e.g. my list for the R3 setup), and we look for commonalities. Just a suggestion.


I think that's a good suggestion and when I get the time, I will share mine. 

A couple of minor points however. 

It's not true that Canon cannot replicate the problem. On a Canon forum discussing the R3, a user sent his body in to Canon and they told him they were able to replicate the problem. However, their solution -- reset to factory default an send back to user -- did not solve the problem. (No surprise there.)

I disagree that a subset of setting combinations is causing the freezing. I agree that memory card association is a red herring, but I also strongly suspect that user-determined settings is also a red herring. 

Finally, while it helps us feel like we are accomplishing something, I don't believe this exercise will move us any closer to a resolution. I think Canon is probably better equipped to diagnose this problem than we are, either individually or as a group. As I've said before, I am encouraged that Canon is now acknowledging the problem and I am hopeful that they will eventually figure it out.


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## unfocused (Mar 22, 2022)

entoman said:


> I have to disagree. Sure, it can be a little nauseating if people rub salt into the wound with stories about how their particular camera is faultless. It can seem as if they are having a laugh at our expense. But it's nevertheless valuable to know whether a problem exists with *all* R5 bodies (which might point to a design fault), or whether it only occurs with a particular batch of bodies. On this regard it might be worth CR keeping a record of affected serial numbers, if folk are willing to divulge them. It's also worthwhile knowing just how frequently these intermittent faults occur. Unfortunately the only people who could really make much sense of such information are Canon themselves...


I get your point and don't disagree. I was just trying to articulate that after well over a year of posts on this issue, I think we all know that it doesn't affect all R5 bodies and when people just post statements saying they don't have the problem, they aren't really contributing to the discussion and I wonder what their motivation is.


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## angelisland (Mar 22, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I get your point and don't disagree. I was just trying to articulate that after well over a year of posts on this issue, I think we all know that it doesn't affect all R5 bodies and when people just post statements saying they don't have the problem, they aren't really contributing to the discussion and I wonder what their motivation is.


Since your feelings are hurt this easily (someone stating that their camera is not affected by a bug), I’m not sure what you are doing on the Internet . You’re gonna be in a world of pain ;-). 
cheers.


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## Jack Douglas (Mar 22, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I get your point and don't disagree. I was just trying to articulate that after well over a year of posts on this issue, I think we all know that it doesn't affect all R5 bodies and when people just post statements saying they don't have the problem, they aren't really contributing to the discussion and I wonder what their motivation is.


I don't have the problem! 

Jack


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## tron (Mar 22, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I get your point and don't disagree. I was just trying to articulate that after well over a year of posts on this issue, I think we all know that it doesn't affect all R5 bodies and when people just post statements saying they don't have the problem, they aren't really contributing to the discussion and I wonder what their motivation is.


R5 may all crash under some conditions. Only these conditions may not match exactly since they now have a complex operating system and there is the case for CFExpress cards which although not certain we cannot dismiss it.

In addition not all shoot as many photos. R5s which haven't crash till now may crash sometime in the future.

And regarding SanDisk CFExpress cards here is a crazy though of mine: They are of the ...IN and of ...NN variety. They are not the same.

By ...NN variety I mean - for a 512GB Sandisk Extreme Pro - SDCFE-512G-GN4NN

I remember a case where out of the two varieties only the ...NN are backward compatible with XQD cards and can be used in some cameras like Z7.

I am NOT saying that this is the case but that was an example where things may get crazy.


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## ERHP (Mar 23, 2022)

This evening, running 1.5.2, I had two lockups back to back. The first one I waited for approximately 15 seconds until the camera reset itself. The second, I popped the battery tray out after just undoing the grip's battery tray lock did not do anything. Same subject, a preening Green winged Teal, but no idea what was different this time than roughly 5-6k worth of shots over the last week. It focused, was tracking the head, then froze. First hiccup(s) with 1.5.2 though. For the roughly half a million shots I've used this camera for it doesn't have a very high failure rate but I'd always prefer none.


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## snappy604 (Mar 23, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I don't understand why people feel compelled to post that they have never had a problem with the R5, R6 or R3 freezing up. That imparts no useful information. It's a bit like saying you've never been in a tornado or bitten by a shark. That's nice, but it doesn't mean there aren't tornados or sharks or that those who have been hit or bitten are doing something wrong. I'd encourage those who have not encountered the problem to simply refrain from hitting the "reply" button unless you have something of value to contribute.




I don't recall anyone calling out folks with issues, in fact I seem to recall folks being downright helpful and trying to figure it out with them including different things to try to resolve.

Providing information on whether others have or haven't experienced an issue is useful. It allows you to know if yours is behaving with the normal or not and its not a bragging or rubbing salt in the wounds etc. I think it is of value knowing if something is normal, a widespread issue or an anomaly. Sometimes new firmware has broken instead of fixed things. I had some impact with a recent firmware and by seeing others who were and weren't impacted we were able to trace it to me activating a feature for low light that seemed to be documented as an improvement.. but turns out with caveats. Other times it was good confirming autofocus behaved worse, not better with an upgrade.

I get frustration having a buggy piece of hardware, esp if the manufacturer seems to try to sweep it under the rug, but knowing others don't have the problem should give you some ammo to get them continue to look into the problem.


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## m4ndr4ke (Mar 23, 2022)

I updated my R6, as usual.

So far, what I’ve noticed is that eye AF with servo seems to be working better, but eye AF with one shot AF is, in my experience, backfocusing most of the time. For now I only tried animal AF, so I’d say that I still need to investigate this further.

I have a button set to switch between one shot AF and servo AF, and another button set to instant eye AF. The backfocus was noticeable on the EVF, and I could see the improvement when switching back to servo AF.

It doesn’t bother me a lot, to be honest. Most of us pick these cameras for eye AF with servo, don’t we?


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## Birdshooter (Mar 23, 2022)

entoman said:


> Yes, I also turn off all lens corrections, as my experience with other Canon cameras is that it slows down AF and causes buffer overload.
> I have the camera in airplane-mode for the same reason.


As with all my pro bodies from the Mark III to the 1DX II I have turned off all lens corrections, but not on the R5.
I have been shooting birds since 2007 amongst other things and after reading a few reviews on the R5 decided to leave most corrections on.
This is of course a new camera unlike the DSLR's, and if I found it bogged the camera down, then I would turn them off. I have no issues with them on.


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## derrald (Mar 23, 2022)

ERHP said:


> This evening, running 1.5.2, I had two lockups back to back. The first one I waited for approximately 15 seconds until the camera reset itself. The second, I popped the battery tray out after just undoing the grip's battery tray lock did not do anything. Same subject, a preening Green winged Teal, but no idea what was different this time than roughly 5-6k worth of shots over the last week. It focused, was tracking the head, then froze. First hiccup(s) with 1.5.2 though. For the roughly half a million shots I've used this camera for it doesn't have a very high failure rate but I'd always prefer none.


With all the discussion of memory cards and settings, I think we're all missing the real reason for the lockups on the R5. I shot a northern shoveler in a lake, in flight, quacking at some nearby geese - no problems. I shot a red tail hawk sitting on a branch - no problems. I shot a barred owl sitting in a tree looking menacing and that's when the lockup appeared. It's not settings, it's not cards, it's the subject. If you are going to shoot teals or owls, forget about it, you'll get lockups all day long. You shoot hawks and shovelers and you're golden!


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## Jack Douglas (Mar 23, 2022)

derrald said:


> With all the discussion of memory cards and settings, I think we're all missing the real reason for the lockups on the R5. I shot a northern shoveler in a lake, in flight, quacking at some nearby geese - no problems. I shot a red tail hawk sitting on a branch - no problems. I shot a barred owl sitting in a tree looking menacing and that's when the lockup appeared. It's not settings, it's not cards, it's the subject. If you are going to shoot teals or owls, forget about it, you'll get lockups all day long. You shoot hawks and shovelers and you're golden!


How cleaver - Canon has set up the AI to protect certain species from excessive hunting (shooting of birds with cameras). 

Jack


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## stochasticmotions (Mar 23, 2022)

derrald said:


> With all the discussion of memory cards and settings, I think we're all missing the real reason for the lockups on the R5. I shot a northern shoveler in a lake, in flight, quacking at some nearby geese - no problems. I shot a red tail hawk sitting on a branch - no problems. I shot a barred owl sitting in a tree looking menacing and that's when the lockup appeared. It's not settings, it's not cards, it's the subject. If you are going to shoot teals or owls, forget about it, you'll get lockups all day long. You shoot hawks and shovelers and you're golden!


Well, I guess that is my problem since I shoot a lot of owls....good to know


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## RayValdez360 (Mar 23, 2022)

I am got a lock up with my 70-200 again yesterday.


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## canajun (Mar 23, 2022)

Canon Rumors Guy said:


> Continue reading...


Immediately after the update, I was transferring photos from card one to my computer. Became focused and needed to get some quick reference shots. I can now take pictures with only the #2 card installed. Both don’t need to be installed.


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## AlanF (Mar 23, 2022)

derrald said:


> With all the discussion of memory cards and settings, I think we're all missing the real reason for the lockups on the R5. I shot a northern shoveler in a lake, in flight, quacking at some nearby geese - no problems. I shot a red tail hawk sitting on a branch - no problems. I shot a barred owl sitting in a tree looking menacing and that's when the lockup appeared. It's not settings, it's not cards, it's the subject. If you are going to shoot teals or owls, forget about it, you'll get lockups all day long. You shoot hawks and shovelers and you're golden!


Never had a problem with Teals. Here's one from the R5 and another from the R6.


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## Famateur (Mar 23, 2022)

Pierre Lagarde said:


> My two cents : for those who have problems with cards, try to blow some air in the camera card reader and clean the card contacts. It can simply be due to some dust on some contacts. I recently had a camera having that kind of errors and after blowing air in the card reader everything went right again.


Ah, yes. The old NES Game Cartridge trick.


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## Jack Douglas (Mar 23, 2022)

Famateur said:


> Ah, yes. The old NES Game Cartridge trick.


How about Abracadabra, anyone given it a try? I know there are people who don't understand the healing effects of humour. 

Jack


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## Frodo (Mar 23, 2022)

Most of the problems with 1.5.2 seem to relate to the R5, rather than R6, which seems to be okay. I have yet to upgrade my R6.


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## Famateur (Mar 23, 2022)

Disclaimer: This really is meant to be helpful...

I have had my R5 for about a year. I've upgraded to each version of firmware when it came out. I'm not a professional but have shot an estimated 20K images or more with the R5. 

I have not (yet) experienced a lockup or error.

This is only one data point, so on its own is not helpful. It also doesn't diminish the frustration of those who do experience lockups. However, if everyone (including those who have never experienced a lockup) shares their setup and use cases, data points may become trends; trends may become correlations; and correlations might become statistically significant indicators of cause, be it firmware issues, card issues, settings, or even a flawed R5 production run.

Knowing what does work can help rule things out in order to find the cause when it doesn't work. You just need data.

Also, in case it's helpful, I use the shutter release button half-press for face tracking with eye detection and the AF-On button for single-point AF. I typically use AF Case 1, but sometimes Case 2. I shoot RAW, almost exclusively in Manual mode and often with Auto ISO. Because I don't see a noticeable detriment to quality or processing latitude, I use CRaw to save disk space. I've only used SD cards (both SanDisk: one Ultra 64GB, one Extreme Pro 32GB). I'm usually shooting one shot but occasionally shoot in H+ (e.g. for barrel racing). I prefer Electronic First-Curtain Shutter as I found the images to be noticeably sharper than Mechanical shutter, and I haven't felt the need for silent or 20FPS with Electronic shutter. All my lenses are adapted EF L-series lenses.

I hope this helps -- even if I'm one data-point-spit-in-the-river! 

Edited to add: Most of my shooting is in Utah. Hot and dry in the summer (100F+), very cold in the winter, wet-ish in the spring and fall. Haven't subjected the R5 to sand yet (so windy at Little Sahara that it gets absolutely everywhere and in everything, sealing be damned), though riding arenas (indoor and out) can be quite dusty.


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## Jack Douglas (Mar 23, 2022)

While I


Famateur said:


> Disclaimer: This really is meant to be helpful...
> 
> I have had my R5 for about a year. I've upgraded to each version of firmware when it came out. I'm not a professional but have shot an estimated 20K images or more with the R5.
> 
> ...


While I agree that this type of submission may be of value, it can only work if someone goes to the trouble of structuring it such that all of us can submit information in a compact useful format and I could see that requiring not only a lot of work but expertise as well. This is the type of survey Canon could set up if it were not too embarrassing. I suppose they could even solicit the information from every owner but somehow I think they would end up being shamed rather than praised.

Jack


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## Famateur (Mar 23, 2022)

Jack Douglas said:


> While I
> 
> While I agree that this type of submission may be of value, it can only work if someone goes to the trouble of structuring it such that all of us can submit information in a compact useful format and I could see that requiring not only a lot of work but expertise as well. This is the type of survey Canon could set up if it were not too embarrassing. I suppose they could even solicit the information from every owner but somehow I think they would end up being shamed rather than praised.
> 
> Jack


I thought the same thing as as soon as I posted. A detailed and well-structured survey would allow for aggregation of data for analysis.

Anyone want to put that together? I'm happy to take part in the survey (though I'm not sure I'm knowledgeable enough to author it).


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## Famateur (Mar 23, 2022)

Famateur said:


> I thought the same thing as as soon as I posted. A detailed and well-structured survey would allow for aggregation of data for analysis.
> 
> Anyone want to put that together? I'm happy to take part in the survey (though I'm not sure I'm knowledgeable enough to author it).


Another thought: My bluetooth OBDII scanner allows me to take a "freeze frame" of a car's operating data (RPM, engine temp, coolant temp, O2, fuel trims, etc) when there's an error. Similarly, computer programs also often provide a "crash report" that can be sent to the vendor if something goes haywire.

What if Canon included a "crash report" feature in their firmware?

I know at least capturing a settings snapshot is possible because the R5 allows you to save your settings profile to a card. I don't think it would be hard for Canon to add a crash report option in the firmware that could package up a settings profile (along with the error code and any relevant operating data) and send it back to Canon. They could use that to rapidly aggregate the data and look for statistical relationships.

Probably wishful thinking...but one can dream, right? Maybe something those suffering from lock-ups can join together and request Canon develop?


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## entoman (Mar 23, 2022)

derrald said:


> With all the discussion of memory cards and settings, I think we're all missing the real reason for the lockups on the R5. I shot a northern shoveler in a lake, in flight, quacking at some nearby geese - no problems. I shot a red tail hawk sitting on a branch - no problems. I shot a barred owl sitting in a tree looking menacing and that's when the lockup appeared. It's not settings, it's not cards, it's the subject. If you are going to shoot teals or owls, forget about it, you'll get lockups all day long. You shoot hawks and shovelers and you're golden!


I assume your post was tongue-in-cheek, but if it wasn't:

I don't believe for a second that subject matter has anything to do with lockups/freezes. If you've had problems with lockups with owls and teals, it's pure coincidence, unless you are using different settings from when you're shooting shovelers and hawks.

Among other birds that I've photographed recently in the UK are swans, Canada geese species, teals, wigeon, gadwall, shoveler, mallard, herring gulls (BIF), kestrels (BIF), black-headed gulls (BIF), curlew, little tern, chaffinches, robins, siskins, kingfishers, avocets, moorhens, pheasants, coots, blue tits, godwits, brambling, little egret, cormorants, grey herons, golden-eyes, lapwing, carrion crow, pigeons, snipe, mandarin duck, oystercatcher (BIF), great crested grebe, shelduck, turnstones, tufted duck and whitethroat. I also had 10 days in The Gambia photographing a wide variety of African birds including various eagles (BIF), bee eaters, various herons, vultures (BIF) and at least 50 other species. I've also photographed butterflies in flight in Brazil, and literally hundreds of butterfly species in Peru.

I mention this purely to illustrate that in my experience subject matter is entirely irrelevant to lockups/freezes. No one knows for sure exactly what triggers lockups, but it certainly isn't subject matter, and it's unlikely to be related to memory cards unless you are using very slow ones. It's possible that the lockups may be related to unreliable electronic components, but the geeneral consensus is that they are caused by particular permutations of customisation and AF settings that create firmware conflicts.


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## Otara (Mar 23, 2022)

unfocused said:


> I get your point and don't disagree. I was just trying to articulate that after well over a year of posts on this issue, I think we all know that it doesn't affect all R5 bodies and when people just post statements saying they don't have the problem, they aren't really contributing to the discussion and I wonder what their motivation is.



I agree its frustrating, but the surest way to get people on the internet to be more annoying is to ask them to stop. It just tells them its working, and adds the extra noise of people arguing that anything up to and including panda killing is a perfectly reasonable thing to do on the internet and why would you ask people to stop doing it.


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## arbitrage (Mar 23, 2022)

entoman said:


> I assume your post was tongue-in-cheek, but if it wasn't:
> 
> I don't believe for a second that subject matter has anything to do with lockups/freezes. If you've had problems with lockups with owls and teals, it's pure coincidence, unless you are using different settings from when you're shooting shovelers and hawks.
> 
> ...


My lockups were perched Belted Kingfishers so no one should shoot those either...


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## tron (Mar 24, 2022)

I didn't have any lockups but my R5 could not focus on a well lit great crested grebe using RF100-500 and RF2X. 
Finally I was able to focus because it waited for me a few minutes 
Don't tell me to not shoot them because I like them very much.


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## Pierre Lagarde (Mar 24, 2022)

Famateur said:


> Ah, yes. The old NES Game Cartridge trick.


Exactly, and was also the same for floppy disks readers. I remember the Atari PC of a friend completely stuck. I blowed in the reader, and it went back to life  ...


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## Pierre Lagarde (Mar 24, 2022)

Jack Douglas said:


> How about Abracadabra, anyone given it a try? ...


Indeed. At this right time, a little magic can't be bad


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## Zak Viemon (Mar 25, 2022)

It been a while since last posting.
On 1.5 firmware I had encountered an issue, which is present on 1.5.2 and was also on 1.5.1
I always prefer to shoot on servo using the AF-on button with the center autofocus point as my initial point of focus that locks on whatever I want it to lock on and stays locked on for as long as I hold down the AF-on button.
Exactly to the right of that button, on the asterisk button I have selected to engage the eye tracking mode.
This way I can lock to anything I want on the first button and directly on eyes with the second button.
I achieve that by selecting NO PRIORITY in the autofocus menu and it works perfectly on 1.4
So in 1.4 autofocus menu SUBJECTS TO DETECT
There are three options:
1.Animals
2.People
3.No priority (the one I have selected that works perfectly for the combo I described)
On 1.5/1.5.1/1.5.2
That menu has 4 selections.
1.People
2.Animals
3.Vehicles
4.Nothing from above (can't remember the exact name since I have reverted back but will correct it if someone can write it)
So my R6 on 1.4 knows that when I hit the asterisk and want eye tracking that it is only normal to look for faces thus using people priority automatically while holding the asterisk down.
On any other firmware that does not happen and it will not look for eyes unless People priority is selected.
But if people priority is selected then whenever a human element is present on the frame my initial center focus point will not lock on to whatever I want it but will go straight for the faces.
Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to share the story so far.


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## digigal (Mar 25, 2022)

Many here know of my previous issue of multiple lock ups and crashes on my R5 which I recently had come to associate with my extensive custom setup of the camera. Since vastly de-customizing the camera and converting it back to "normal" except for a single BBF button and remapping 2 dial functions it had performed MUCH better with markedly reduced to rare lock ups. After reading Alan's recent post about not having lens corrections functions enabled, I turned those functions off and installed the new 1.5.2 software (was on 1.5.0--I was having so many crashes on it that I never went to the 1.5.1 when people reported focussing issues as well). I took my camera out to a wildlife refuge area yesterday and shot about 2500 pictures using both electronic and mech shutter, sometimes filling the buffer of birds and running hares. I shot only to the SD card which I've never done. I've always used the CFE card exclusively. I found the focus to be excellent, responsive, like I remembered my R5 at its best! I had NO crashes or freezes, which I certainly would have expected given my previous experience. We'll see if this holds up in the long run. I have 180,000 clicks on my camera to date. We leave in 3 weeks for a 6 week photo trip in Africa so I'm really hoping the problems are now settled down. My last couple of trips were marred by focussing and crashing issues so I will be glad to have this behind me if yesterday's shoot was any indication. Attached are some unedited, directly out of camera pics from yesterday taken with R5 + 100-500 + 1.4x
Catherine


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## m4ndr4ke (Mar 25, 2022)

Zak Viemon said:


> On any other firmware that does not happen and it will not look for eyes unless People priority is selected.


This part...is how it's supposed to work. It shall search for the type of eyes you have selected. If you don't pick any, then it shouldn't search for eyes in the frame. To be honest I didn't notice that, because I always have one priority type selected, but the user manual states since the beginning that the other option won't look for eyes.



Zak Viemon said:


> But if people priority is selected then whenever a human element is present on the frame my initial center focus point will not lock on to whatever I want it but will go straight for the faces.


If you press the button you have setup to Eye AF (asterisk, in this case), then yes, it will immediately jump to people's eyes.

Now, assuming that you are *NOT* using *'L'+Tracking* (which actually means FACE + tracking)...
If you press AF-ON, as long as you have that button with its default settings, then it should focus track the area you pick in the frame.

But if you're using *'L'+Tracking*, then that is how it's supposed to work, it will look for eyes.


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## YuengLinger (Mar 25, 2022)

digigal said:


> Many here know of my previous issue of multiple lock ups and crashes on my R5 which I recently had come to associate with my extensive custom setup of the camera. Since vastly de-customizing the camera and converting it back to "normal" except for a single BBF button and remapping 2 dial functions it had performed MUCH better with markedly reduced to rare lock ups. After reading Alan's recent post about not having lens corrections functions enabled, I turned those functions off and installed the new 1.5.2 software (was on 1.5.0--I was having so many crashes on it that I never went to the 1.5.1 when people reported focussing issues as well). I took my camera out to a wildlife refuge area yesterday and shot about 2500 pictures using both electronic and mech shutter, sometimes filling the buffer of birds and running hares. I shot only to the SD card which I've never done. I've always used the CFE card exclusively. I found the focus to be excellent, responsive, like I remembered my R5 at its best! I had NO crashes or freezes, which I certainly would have expected given my previous experience. We'll see if this holds up in the long run. I have 180,000 clicks on my camera to date. We leave in 3 weeks for a 6 week photo trip in Africa so I'm really hoping the problems are now settled down. My last couple of trips were marred by focussing and crashing issues so I will be glad to have this behind me if yesterday's shoot was any indication. Attached are some unedited, directly out of camera pics from yesterday taken with R5 + 100-500 + 1.4x
> Catherine


Looks great. I hope this continues for you.

By any chance, have you had an opportunity to check what AlanF suspects about focusing close to MFD? Thanks!


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## YuengLinger (Mar 26, 2022)

I updated my firmware to 1.5.2. It's great! I did not have any problem with my 100-500mm at any focal length, and I tested with two kids trying hard to challenge the Eye AF. Even at MFD, Eye AF worked fine--until I zoomed to 500mm and completely filled the frame with cheek, eye, and some eyebrow. Extreme closeup, with the eye the relatively large and dominant feature in the frame, the Eye AF just went to Face AF, with the blue box expanding to fill the inner 2/3 of the frame.

Other than that, for my real-world test scenarios, overall AF is better than I've ever seen it. With the kids striding towards me rapidly, I just had to remember to switch the lens's delimiter to FULL.

A dove about 60 yards away in a tree full of twigs (but no leaves yet) was "found" by the Animal Face AF (which is how I refer to tracking with Eye detect off), and the images are tack sharp. I can post a few of those soon.

Note that I also captured razor sharp images of my wife's face at very near MFD with the Rf 85mm f/1.2L, so that portrait lens is great with 1.5.2 too.

All in all, great job Canon. Personally, I've never had any of the problems complained about here regarding crashes, though I did have my doubts about 1.5.0 AF precision.

Maybe it's just a slow period, or people are experiencing FW fatigue, but here and other forums seem to have a big drop in complaints. Maybe 1.5.2 fixed things for a lot of those who were having trouble.


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## entoman (Mar 27, 2022)

My gut feeling is that Canon will regard v1.5.2 as "job done" as far as the R5 and R6 are concerned. I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if they bring out any further firmware updates for these models. The various issues have been pretty much fixed, so if you want more features or even better performance, Canon will want you to upgrade. I wonder how long we'll be waiting for the "R5 Mkii", and what the specs will be?

Exposure bracketing with electronic shutter would be nice.
User-selectable fps with electronic shutter would be nice.
Optional beep or "shutter sound" with electronic shutter would be nice.
Panasonic-style tilting flippy screen would be nice.


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## unfocused (Mar 27, 2022)

digigal said:


> Many here know of my previous issue of multiple lock ups and crashes on my R5 which I recently had come to associate with my extensive custom setup of the camera. Since vastly de-customizing the camera and converting it back to "normal" except for a single BBF button and remapping 2 dial functions it had performed MUCH better with markedly reduced to rare lock ups. After reading Alan's recent post about not having lens corrections functions enabled, I turned those functions off and installed the new 1.5.2 software (was on 1.5.0--I was having so many crashes on it that I never went to the 1.5.1 when people reported focussing issues as well). I took my camera out to a wildlife refuge area yesterday and shot about 2500 pictures using both electronic and mech shutter, sometimes filling the buffer of birds and running hares. I shot only to the SD card which I've never done. I've always used the CFE card exclusively. I found the focus to be excellent, responsive, like I remembered my R5 at its best! I had NO crashes or freezes, which I certainly would have expected given my previous experience. We'll see if this holds up in the long run. I have 180,000 clicks on my camera to date. We leave in 3 weeks for a 6 week photo trip in Africa so I'm really hoping the problems are now settled down. My last couple of trips were marred by focussing and crashing issues so I will be glad to have this behind me if yesterday's shoot was any indication. Attached are some unedited, directly out of camera pics from yesterday taken with R5 + 100-500 + 1.4x
> Catherine


Good to hear. I hope your luck keeps up, as you seem to have had one of the worst cases of freezing. I'd be interested to know if you gradually add back in your customizations, whether or not that has any effect. I just downloaded the new R5 firmware, so I really don't know yet if it is helping. The new R3 firmware still seems to have issues -- I had another couple of freezes yesterday.


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## digigal (Mar 28, 2022)

unfocused said:


> Good to hear. I hope your luck keeps up, as you seem to have had one of the worst cases of freezing. I'd be interested to know if you gradually add back in your customizations, whether or not that has any effect. I just downloaded the new R5 firmware, so I really don't know yet if it is helping. The new R3 firmware still seems to have issues -- I had another couple of freezes yesterday.


I think my upcoming trip to Africa will be the test. I don't think I will change anything before then. If things are going well on the trip I may cautiously change a thing or two. I can certainly live with the camera as it currently is, although it's always nice to add a little tweek here or there. I think that now that cameras have become computers they are going to crash and freeze and it's just going to be a matter of how well they have been programmed and trouble shooted as to how well they will perform in the wild. Hopefully Canon is learning something from all this. I can certainly tell you that even my fancy new M1 Macs with all the bells and whistles still freeze and crash and can't cope with my Drobo etc no matter what all their cute ads make it look like.
Catherine


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## Rick D. (Mar 28, 2022)

I have an R6....downloaded the DMG file and my Mac won't open it....just sits there as a DMG file. Never had that happen before....


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## HikeBike (Mar 29, 2022)

entoman said:


> My gut feeling is that Canon will regard v1.5.2 as "job done" as far as the R5 and R6 are concerned. I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if they bring out any further firmware updates for these models. The various issues have been pretty much fixed, so if you want more features or even better performance, Canon will want you to upgrade. I wonder how long we'll be waiting for the "R5 Mkii", and what the specs will be?
> 
> Exposure bracketing with electronic shutter would be nice.
> User-selectable fps with electronic shutter would be nice.
> ...



I think you're right about the firmware updates. I'd be surprised if we get any additional features at this point...only bug fixes. But, other than some difficulties with 1.5.0, I think Canon did a hell of a job improving the R5 and R6 via firmware.

Based on past releases, 2024 would normally be the year the R5 Mk II would be released. As for the R6 Mark II, more like 2025. However, with chip shortage issues continuing, and with the additional R bodies coming down the line, these release dates very well might be further out.

I really thought Canon would add an FPS option in electronic shutter mode to these models, but it's not looking that way.


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## entoman (Mar 29, 2022)

HikeBike said:


> I think you're right about the firmware updates. I'd be surprised if we get any additional features at this point...only bug fixes. But, other than some difficulties with 1.5.0, I think Canon did a hell of a job improving the R5 and R6 via firmware.
> 
> Based on past releases, 2024 would normally be the year the R5 Mk II would be released. As for the R6 Mark II, more like 2025. However, with chip shortage issues continuing, and with the additional R bodies coming down the line, these release dates very well might be further out.
> 
> I really thought Canon would add an FPS option in electronic shutter mode to these models, but it's not looking that way.


I don't think we'll see a fps option via firmware for the R5, which is a great pity.
I don't think we'll get an option to bracket exposures with electronic shutter either.

As for bug fixes - a couple minor glitches still remain:


IBIS occasionally gets stuck in a cycle - I've had a few occasions when walking about with the camera switched on, when the IBIS has started "clicking" as if it has reached the limit of travel and repeatedly attempts to unlock itself.
Freezes are still happening for a few people, even with v1.5.2.

It would be nice if Canon could sort these out.


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## neuroanatomist (Mar 29, 2022)

entoman said:


> Exposure bracketing with electronic shutter would be nice.
> User-selectable fps with electronic shutter would be nice.
> Optional beep or "shutter sound" with electronic shutter would be nice.
> Panasonic-style tilting flippy screen would be nice.


The R3 has the first three (although the middle one is not freely selectable, rather settings of 3, 15 and 30 fps are available). AEB at 30 fps is pretty sweet.


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## entoman (Mar 29, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> The R3 has the first three (although the middle one is not freely selectable, rather settings of 3, 15 and 30 fps are available). AEB at 30 fps is pretty sweet.


Hi neuro, yes I know the R3 has these features, but I prefer an ungripped body and the extra MP that the R5 provides. Unfortunately I don't envisage any of these features becoming available via firmware upgrades. I'm very happy with the R5 especially since v1.5.2, which (touch wood) has fixed most of the bugs, so to get the extra features I'll have to wait for the next iteration of R5. Meanwhile I anticipate taking many thousands of satisfying shots with the R5.


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## Wikzo (Apr 25, 2022)

Is there a consensus whether it's worth upgrading - or should I just stick with 1.4.0 (EOS R6)?


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## vjlex (Jun 2, 2022)

I'm searching the forum trying to find information on past rumors of firmware updates. I could have sworn that there was a promise of a major update to come *after* 1.5.0 had been released, but can't find it anywhere. Am I misremembering? Was 1.5.1 or .2 the last promised firmware?


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## canajun (Jun 2, 2022)

Found this short-cut to driver/ firmware area,





Canon Support for EOS R6 | Canon U.S.A., Inc.


Find support for your Canon EOS R6. Browse the recommended drivers, downloads, and manuals to make sure your product contains the most up-to-date software.




www.usa.canon.com


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## HikeBike (Jun 2, 2022)

vjlex said:


> I'm searching the forum trying to find information on past rumors of firmware updates. I could have sworn that there was a promise of a major update to come *after* 1.5.0 had been released, but can't find it anywhere. Am I misremembering? Was 1.5.1 or .2 the last promised firmware?


I don't recall anything being promised beyond fixing the issues encountered with 1.5.0, which 1.5.2 ended up taking care of. But I will be extremely happy if Canon decides to bring the sensor leveling feature of the R7 to the R5 and R6.

This post might be what you're thinking of:








Firmware: Canon releases new firmware for the Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6 to fix freezing bug


Canon may have finally fixed a lot of the freezing that has been occurring when shooting with the Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6. I'm not sure that "rare insta



www.canonrumors.com





It contains the quote: "Canon always appreciates user feedback on our products and services. Following the release of Firmware Version 1.5.0, we are in the process of developing an update to further optimize AF operations. We plan to publish details of the revised firmware in late March and will make an announcement on the Web site."


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## vjlex (Jun 2, 2022)

HikeBike said:


> I don't recall anything being promised beyond fixing the issues encountered with 1.5.0, which 1.5.2 ended up taking care of. But I will be extremely happy if Canon decides to bring the sensor leveling feature of the R7 to the R5 and R6.
> 
> This post might be what you're thinking of:
> 
> ...


Thanks. That's probably it. I came across that thread in my search too, but wasn't sure if there was something more specific.

1.5.1 was released February 17
1.5.2 was released March 17

I guess *technically* anything after the 15th qualifies as 'late' but it seems like they didn't actually release the firmware they were implying. 1.5.1 and .2 seemed more like quick patches for 1.5.0 rather than the planned March update they mentioned. But nothing other than those came, so maybe I misinterpreted. I do hope a 1.6 is actually coming with some added features (particularly eliminating the 30 min record limit, variable High FPS mode, and horizon auto-level), but just delayed. But I know none of that stuff is promised.


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## vjlex (Jun 2, 2022)

Yeah, on re-reading it, it seems like I misinterpreted. The promised details in late March were in reference to details about 1.5.x I guess, not details and announcements about a further upcoming firmware revision.


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## MarkS (Jul 9, 2022)

I have a brand new R5 with FW 1.5.2. It froze rather dramatically on my first BIF venture. I use back button and I have the AE-lock button set to Eye Detection. After about thirty minutes of intermittent use of the AE-lock button, waiting for an Osprey to cooperate (it didn’t), the freezing began. It resolved briefly with turning the camera off only to return fairly quickly. Batteries are good. I haven’t read all of the posts but some seem to suggest that 1.5.2 would fix the freezing. It didn’t and this represents a remarkable failure on Canon’s part. I am going to try again when the AZ temps are below 112 but I would appreciate advice before I pack up the camera and send it back. 1.4? Don’t use AE-lock for Eye Detection? Thanks


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## Marcus550 (Jul 9, 2022)

all my lockups were on car detect with a tamron 70-200 f2.8 g2, been using a 70-300L and its been brilliant never had a lock up since, done a full drift day with car detect and an airshow and no issues what so ever, are you using an adapted none canon lens ?


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## MarkS (Jul 9, 2022)

Marcus550 said:


> all my lockups were on car detect with a tamron 70-200 f2.8 g2, been using a 70-300L and its been brilliant never had a lock up since, done a full drift day with car detect and an airshow and no issues what so ever, are you using an adapted none canon lens ?


Thanks for responding. No. I was using the Canon RF 100-500 L with the Canon 1.4 extender. I also have an R6 and have had a similar issue with freezing but not as bad as the new R5. I have not used my Canon 2.8 70-200 on the new R5 yet. Very disconcerting to say the least.


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## Marcus550 (Jul 9, 2022)

erm only thing I could suggest is to try a different media so only cf express or only sd card and with the canon lp6nh battery, my cf express card locks up my MacBook Pro if I try to edit photos off it, so could be a media issue


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## AlanF (Jul 9, 2022)

MarkS said:


> I have a brand new R5 with FW 1.5.2. It froze rather dramatically on my first BIF venture. I use back button and I have the AE-lock button set to Eye Detection. After about thirty minutes of intermittent use of the AE-lock button, waiting for an Osprey to cooperate (it didn’t), the freezing began. It resolved briefly with turning the camera off only to return fairly quickly. Batteries are good. I haven’t read all of the posts but some seem to suggest that 1.5.2 would fix the freezing. It didn’t and this represents a remarkable failure on Canon’s part. I am going to try again when the AZ temps are below 112 but I would appreciate advice before I pack up the camera and send it back. 1.4? Don’t use AE-lock for Eye Detection? Thanks


Try changing your customization of buttons.


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