How to Use Canon EOS 80D Face Tracking and Autofocusing

Canon EOS 80D Face Tracking and Autofocusing

Yes, the Canon EOS 80D has this new and exciting feature of face+Tracking Autofocusing but there have been users who have faced issues with the Face+Tracking Auto-focusing on the Canon EOS 80D camera.

Canon EOS 80D face tracking mode is set as a default setting for both movie recording and still photography purposes.

In both cases, the camera automatically searches for human faces in the shot.

Still, you may come across issues while using Canon EOS 80D face tracking and autofocusing and the below guidelines can certainly help.

Step 1.

Target your camera lens on a human face first.

canon 80d face tracking – target

Step 2.

After this, you can press and hold the shutter button on the camera for a few seconds, or you can press and hold the AF-On button on the camera. You will notice the focus of getting a lock on the face.

Canon EF 50mm f-1.4 USM Standard and Medium Telephoto Lens

Step 3.

You will notice the focus frame turning green. After this, the camera will light a beep, and then you are ready to click the picture.

Some issues faced by the users while using Canon EOS 80D face tracking autofocus

Though this default setting in the Canon EOS 80D is exceptionally fantastic and makes the work of the photographer easy in a lot of ways, but it still shows some issues. So here are some tips that you can follow to avoid unwanted mishaps –

The focus of the Face+Tracking is a bit difficult to lock on a focus. In this case, you can follow the above steps.
Many users face the problem while detecting the face. It is necessary that the people you are clicking pictures of are facing the camera. Face detection works by detecting the mouth, eyes, and nose.
Sometimes, the camera might focus on any object possessing similarities to a human face.
Face detection sometimes shows some issues if the size ratio of the face and the background is not right. This problem may even show up when the angle you are taking is a bit tilted, or there is a problem with light, or the face has anything blocking it. In this case, you can try fixing them. In the case of size ratio, you can zoom in or out to fix it. If the angle is a bit tilted, make it straight. If there is less or more light, you can try increasing or decreasing the light or changing the position according to the preferred light. In case of anything blocks, the face tries to remove or ignore the object. Using a DSLR monitor will dramatically improve face tracking efficiency as the wide display screen will help you see the object in greater detail.
Whenever the person you are focusing on is too close to the camera frame, the Face+Tracking Autofocusing does not work. The camera will alert you to the issue it is focusing on. It displays a gray structure over the subject instead of the usual white one. To fix this, you can increase the distance of the camera frame or re-frame temporarily. After this, you can lock the focus using the mentioned steps and then re-frame it to your preferred composition.

These are some useful tutorials and tips to use Face+Tracking Autofocusing for your Canon flip screen DSLR. Face+Tracking is a face detection or face priority Auto Focus of the camera.

This can detect any human face which it becomes easier for the camera to set the proper focus and exposure for any shot automatically.