cannot focus with 70d and helicon remote

[stickyhelicon]

I've been running Helicon Remote successfully with a Canon 40d and a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens for many years.

Today, I tried running the same setup, but with a Canon 70d body and I'm unable to get Helicon Remote to control the lens' focus. When I switch into Live View and then click a single, double or triple arrow in Remote to adjust the focus, the focus seems to push in and out as if it's trying to auto-focus but can't lock-in on anything. As a result, I'm unable to control the focus from Remote.

Any idea why this is happening? I've tried connecting a 40d to the same computer and it runs as expected, so I think this is an issue with the 70d.

I'm running the latest version of Helicon Remote and I'm encountering this issue on both PC and Mac.

Also, I believe my settings on the 70d are correct. I'm in Manual mode, Auto focus, and I believe I have all the auto ASA, white balance, etc. turned off.

Also, I found this post forum post: /forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7737&p=15920&hilit=70d#p15920 ... which seems to be reporting a similar error, but unlike the OP of that post, adjusting the Canon preferences do not remedy the problem.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated ...

[Stas Yatsenko]

There is a disctinct focus mode setting for live view, sounds like yours is set to continuous focus. Find it and set to AF-S (single shot AF). It's only accessible while live view is turned on.

[stickyhelicon]

Thanks so much for your quick response. This camera was at a client's studio, so I wasn't able to troubleshoot until now.

You were correct that the 'AF method' setting in the menu needed to be switched to FlexiZoneAF[] ... note, that is the FlexiZoneAF option with the square at the end not the curved brackets like FlexiZoneAF().

In addition to this setting, the Continous AF setting on the same Menu screen also needed to be changed to Disabled.

Now everything is working as expected. Thanks again for the quick and helpful reply.

[Stas Yatsenko]

Thanks for clarifying the specifics.