40D live view not auto focusing?

[kamekaze]

I've enabled auto focus / drive auto focus during live view and its not working. Most likely its user error, anybody know what I'm missing?

[CaptainTom]

Use the AF-on button and not the half press shutter release ?

My experience has been that when I am using Live View I want to isolate the precise focus and doing this via the manual focus ring is more accurate when using the 5X and 10X live view magnification function.

[wandrson]

I just asked the same question a week or so ago. Autofocus does not work when using live view on the 40D. Here is the response I got from Canon:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding your EOS 40D. We value you as a
Canon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

When using Live View Shooting to show the intended image on the LCD,
autofocus is not possible, only manual focus. This is why the camera
does not autofocus when you press the shutter button in Live View
Shooting. However, you can use autofocus during Live View if you enable
Custom Function III-6 in the menu. Please follow these steps:

1. Power the camera on.

2. Press the <MENU> button.

3. Select the [Custom Functions] tab.

4. Select [Custom Function Group III].

5. Press the <SET> button.

6. Select [C.Fn. III-6: AF During Live View].

7. Press the <SET> button.

8. Select [Enable].

9. Press the <SET> button.

During Live View Shooting, you can interrupt the Live View image and
autofocus the lens using the <AF-ON> button. When you let go, the Live
View will return to normal.

We hope this information is helpful to you. Please let us know if we
can be of any further assistance with your EOS 40D.

Thank you for choosing Canon.

Sincerely,

Michael
Technical Support Representative

[venchka]

So that's how you do it. I'm with the Captain. However, it's nice to know how to get close with AF-ON and then fine tune by hand.

Thanks.

[kamekaze]

Thanks for the info ya'll, I thought I had tried using the af-on button to no avail and no it seems to work just fine... Like I said, user error.