Canon 60d how many focus points

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Jun 18, 1 I recently went from the T2i to the 60D and one feature I was excited about was being able to select the AF point with the multi-controller. Jun 18, 2 rh17, On page 17 of the manual there is a drawing of the back of the 60D. Jun 18, 3 Right, I think you misunderstood my issue. Jun 18, 4 It stands to reason that you have to wake up the camera, doesn't it?

Jun 18, 5 rh18, My bad. More info. Jun 18, 7 Wait, who ever said anything about the camera being asleep? Jun 19, 8 I just checked and it is the same with my 20D and the joystick controler. Before hitting the AF sensor, the light passes through an array of microlenses which separate incoming light to produce a pair of images that fall on each point in the AF sensor.

A simple line sensor then measures the distance between those two images to determine if the image is front- or back-focused, and by how much. In essence, each AF point is operating as a simple rangefinder. That's the simple case, but modern systems are much more complex - and there's a lot of jargon that make comparisons difficult. What do things like 'high precision' and 'dual-line zigzag arrangement' actually mean?

Number of points is self-explanatory. Geometry of points adds a layer of complexity, but both number and basic geometry are usually part of the top-line spec for an AF system e.

Complex geometry includes things like dual-cross points and dual-line zig zag arrangements. More on that later. Globally, accuracy is how 'close to true' the AF system gets, and Canon doesn't offer any specifications for this characteristic. Note that global accuracy is affected and hopefully, corrected by AF microadjustment. Locally, geometry affects accuracy, because a cross-type point has a better chance of achieving proper focus than a single-orientation point, since it samples features with different orientations.

Precision is repeatability - if you take several shots of the same thing, how close will the focus of any one shot be to all the other shots? Note that depth of focus is related to, but not the same as, depth of field, although the same factors influence both.

Overall sensitivity is how well the AF system performs in low light. The AF sensor is composed of multiple bit line sensors and associated amplifier circuitry - the more amplification within the limits of signal to noise , the less light needed to focus. AF sensitivity is specified as an EV range, and the lower the first number, the better. EV units are 'stops' so the 1D X can achieve AF in half as much light as the previous 1-series bodies.

Sensitivity is used in another context as well, associated with lens aperture e. Speed is another characteristic for which Canon offers no metrics, probably because there are too many variables. But better AF sensors and better processors result in faster AF performance. Coverage area is a very important factor - the broader the area of the frame where there are AF points, the more likely that an AF point will fall on your subject. More on this later.

Of the above characteristics, number, sensitivity, speed, and coverage area are fairly straightforward. But geometry, accuracy, and precision are more complex, especially because the lens mounted to the camera will change the way in which the AF points operate in terms of geometry, accuracy, and precision. A basic, single line AF point can detect contrast only in one dimension - the dimension 'opposite' to the orientation of the line.

Remember that split prism in the manual focus SLR? The 'split' was horizontal, so you had to look for a vertical feature to focus on for the prism to be effective. So, a horizontally-oriented line sensor will detect vertical lines like a flagpole or the side of a door frame , while a vertically-oriented line sensor will detect horizontal lines like a horizon or a boat on the water. There's some confusing terminology here - a "vertical line sensor" is the same as a "horizontally-sensitive line sensor" and vice versa.

A 'dual-line zig zag' arrangement found on a few points in some xxD bodies and the 7D, and on all the points of the 1D X means a line sensor that's actually two parallel lines instead of just a single line, and the pixels in those two lines are offset by half a pixel, meaning the point of maximum phase alignment can be more accurately determined because it will fall on a pixel in one line or the other, whereas with a single line it could fall between two pixels.