It's a dog's life

Dan Mold shows you how to use Animal AF for pin-sharp pet portraits

- Dan Mold

THE MISSION

To catch perfect pet portraits at home

Time needed 15 minutes

Skill level Intermediate

Kit needed Canon EOS R5 or R6 – with Animal Face & Eye Detection AF

When taking photos of people, you want to focus on the eyes to get a sharp portrait. Canon has made this a whole lot easier with their Face/Eye Detection AF which locks onto human facial features. Now getting your pet’s eyes sharp is just as easy, thanks to the new Animal Face/Eye Detection on Canon’s EOS R5 and R6 mirrorless cameras. The EOS iTR AF X autofocus system in the EOS R5 has been programmed using a deep-learning AI, with the ability to recognize and track cats, dogs, and birds – focusing on either their bodies, faces, or eyes. So we got our hands on the new R5 to put it through its paces. Animal AF detection is even more useful for our four-legged friends, as the deeper distance between a dog’s nose and eyes can give you a sharp snout with soft eyes. Using Animal AF lets you concentrate on interacting with the animal and on framing the shot, so let’s see how to set it up and get going.

HOW TO GET PERFECT PICTURES OF YOUR PETS