Guide Updated June 2012
Canon Inc. in Japan has provided a richly-illustrated guidebook on the new 61-point High Density Reticular AF system found in both the EOS-1D X and EOS 5D Mark III*cameras. Canon USA has just updated this guide for clarity and enhanced description of the cameras' AF systems, hopefully making it an even more valuable asset to Canon users.
This guide offers a wealth of information about different possible settings and when to apply them. It explores the basic characteristics of the new AF system, shows the differences that occur when various lenses are mounted, and even gives suggestions for instantly changing from one AF point or AF area mode to another.
Canon's free download opens the door to the potential that exists within this spectacular 61-point AF system, and we encourage anyone interested in these new cameras to take advantage of this great resource.
* Since the EOS 5D Mark III shares nearly all aspects of its AF system with the EOS-1D X, this guide is equally useful for that camera, as well.
The only major AF-related difference between the two involves their metering systems. With the EOS-1D X, the new 100,000-pixel RGB metering system not only measures exposure, but can be used along with Automatic AF point selection to assist the AF system in following subjects around the AF area. This is Canon's Intelligent Tracking and Recognition system, EOS iTR. Backing up this sophisticated 100,000-pixel metering system is a separate, independent DIGIC 4 processor, dedicated strictly to metering tasks.
With the EOS 5D Mark III, a less-complex 63-zone metering system is used, and this is not linked to the AF system for helping with Automatic AF point selection. Both cameras have a separate processor dedicated to AF calculation tasks, such as AI Servo AF focus-tracking, in addition to the DIGIC 4 processor used by the EOS-1D X. Otherwise, the AF sensor is identical, and the AF optical system very similar. Aside from the ability to use EOS iTR, and its companion Face Detection technology that is also used with Automatic AF point selection, AF operation with the two cameras is essentially the same.
