You probably use a “Magnification” button or dial to zoom in on the playback a shot you’ve just taken, but did you know you can use Magnification BEFORE you take the shot? I came across this in my exploration of my Canon R7 and I’d bet it is available on most makes of mirrorless cameras, too. I know there are other visual aides for manual focus, such as Peak Focus Guide and Focus Guide for the Canon but I think they are better used for landscape or macro photography, not bird photography (if you would like to see a video of these aides on YouTube CLICK HERE). I couldn’t find a video that showed the viewfinder magnification so if you do locate one, please let me know and I’ll update this post.
When looking through a mirrorless camera’s viewfinder you are looking at a small electronic display, which can give a pretty accurate representation of your subject. When trying to focus on a bird, particularly one in which the AF (Automatic Focus) isn’t finding the bird, I use manual focus.
• Before going on about the viewfinder, just a reminder that when you use your shutter button to initiate focus and release the shutter it will override any manual focus you have set. You have to assign a button other than the shutter button to initiate focus [i.e. Back-button focus]. Note that when using manual focus no button is used to initiate focus; manually adjusting the focus ring on the lens changes the focus.)
When I am looking through the viewfinder at a bird and need to use manual focus, it is sometimes difficult to see how precise that focus is. When using Eye-detection AF I don’t really look at how good the focus of bird is, I just look to see that the little orange square is on the eye of the bird and assume that the camera is focused properly. I don’t get any visual cues from the camera when using manual focus but I can hit a button and magnify the viewfinder image 5X and 10X! Usually the 5X magnification is enough for me to get a really good look at the bird and to use the manual focus to make it nice and sharp. I have a 400mm zoom lens so when I hit the magnification button it’s like looking at the bird through a 2000mm lens (5 X 400mm) or 4000mm (10 X 400mm). Zooming in on the bird shows a lot of detail and just a slight turn of the manual focus ring brings it into sharp focus. Then I use the shutter button to snap the picture.
Here’s how I set up my Canon R7 to magnify the viewfinder. Other Canon mirrorless cameras have as similar set up. Here’s a diagram of the R7 for reference purposes:
Select a button on your camera to initiate viewfinder magnification. Since I use the AF-ON button (left of #8 above) to initiate Autofocus and the AE Lock (#8) button for Animal Eye Detection (both used for Back-button Focus) I selected the AF point button (#9). To do so, hit the Menu button and then go the Camera Modifications icon, go to Tab 3 and select Customize buttons.
Using the joystick or any of the dials I selected the AF point button (#9) and pushed the Quick Control/Set button (center of #6). Again using the joystick or any of the dials I selected the Magnify/Reduce icon (shown as a Magnifying Glass) and hit Set OK.
That’s it! now when I look through the viewfinder when hit the button I’ve set once, the viewfinder show 5X. Hit the button again and it’s 10X. Hit it again and it goes back to the standard view. Note: my non-mirrorless lens needs an adapter to be used on the mirrorless camera so when I take a shot the viewfinder automatically reverts back to the standard view – I need to hit the magnify button again to go back to the 5X or 10X view. It’s my understanding that lenses designed for mirrorless cameras will stay in the magnified view after shooting, but I haven’t verified that.
For Nikon and other mirrorless camera brands I have to believe there are similar steps you can take to add magnification to your viewfinder. If you find a video showing to so this on your camera let me know and I’ll add it to this post.
Let me know how it works for you. Add a comment to the post or reply to the email.
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