RF lens autofocus—is it usable?

[Dana Neibert]

I ask this because I put a Canon RF 24-105 f4 L lens on the Komodo with the new firmware to test out the AF function. I do realize this is beta but it is pretty rough. It does focus fine but there is some hunting and pecking going on as you move about.

I use the A7R IV a lot as a small AF C camera because it can be operated by one person and the autofocus is phenomenal and you can change the settings to tell it to hold a focal length longer or shorter so that the hunting and pecking doesn't happen—great when tracking someone and something else passes through the frame in between the camera and the subject. Also, on the A7, when you reframe from one person to the other, the focus is a smooth pull just like you have an AC pulling focus for you. With this RF lens and the Komodo, it's a rough transition.

So, are other people finding this with other RF lenses as well? Is this a characteristic of the RF 24-105L? Would I experience the same results if I used the 24-70L?

 

[Dana Neibert]

Also, is there any way to activate the AF from the main screen? Kind of cumbersome to have go 3 menus deep to activate it each time. Which leads to my next problem—I have to keep reactivating the AF. Not totally sure what makes it turn off in the middle of filming. I think if you let the lens sit out of focus for too long (like point it at a white wall that it can't focus on), then the AF turns off and you have to reactivate it.

 

[Erik Rangel]

I only have the RF 50mm 1.8 and the AF isn't usable yet. 24mm 2.8 EF works like a champ with the adapter.
I'm gonna stick with EF adapter for now. Just ordered a sigma 24-70 2.8 to try out. Hopefully it'll work as well as the 24mm and live on my KOMODO most of the time.

 

[Dana Neibert]

I only have the RF 50mm 1.8 and the AF isn't usable yet. 24mm 2.8 EF works like a champ with the adapter.
I'm gonna stick with EF adapter for now. Just ordered a sigma 24-70 2.8 to try out. Hopefully it'll work as well as the 24mm and live on my KOMODO most of the time.

Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll try an EF lens.

With the RF lens right now, if the Komodo is on the table and nothing moves in the frame, it does the job. And I totally get that this is all beta right now and RED has to reverse engineer all this stuff. Just wanted to know if my lens was misbehaving but it sounds like I should try an EF lens.

 

[Erik Rangel]

Canon EF 18-55mm 3.5 kit lens AF works good too.
I like nikon glass so those are the only other canon lenses I've tried.

 

[Dana Neibert]

So just tried an EF autofocus lens and it is way better than the RF. The EF lens behaves more like what I described above on the A7. I'm sure the RF lenses will perform the same one day when they finish figuring out the interface.