Master Canon C50 Autofocus: Complete Settings Breakdown
If you just got the Canon C50 and opened the autofocus menu for the first time, I completely understand if it felt overwhelming.
There are a lot of settings in there. Some of them sound straightforward, some of them sound almost identical, and a few of them are named in a way that honestly makes them more confusing than they need to be.
But once you understand what each autofocus setting actually does, the Canon C50 becomes a lot easier to trust.
That is the goal of this guide.
I’m going to walk you through the autofocus settings on the Canon C50, explain what they do, and show you how I would set them up for real-world video work — whether you’re filming interviews, client projects, yourself for YouTube, product demos, or moving subjects.
Grab your C50, open the menu, and let’s walk through this together.
Where to Find the Canon C50 Autofocus Settings
To start, open the menu on your Canon C50.
You’ll find the main autofocus settings in the first menu, which is Camera Setup, on page five.
The first setting you’ll see is Continuous AF.
Continuous AF: Should You Leave It On?
Continuous AF is exactly what it sounds like.
It determines whether autofocus runs continuously or behaves more like one-shot autofocus.
When Continuous AF is enabled, the camera keeps actively focusing and tracking your subject. If the subject moves, the camera can continue adjusting focus.
When Continuous AF is disabled, the camera acts more like one-shot AF. It finds focus, locks onto that position, and does not continue tracking if the subject moves.
Because I usually want autofocus to actively work while I’m filming, I enable Continuous AF.
That said, if you prefer one-shot autofocus in your workflow, you can disable it. You can also hotkey a button on the camera to quickly enable or disable one-shot AF.
My recommendation:
For most video work, leave Continuous AF enabled.
Lens Action If Cannot Autofocus
Next is Lens Action If Cannot Autofocus.
This setting tells the camera what to do when it struggles to find focus.
You have two options.
The first option is to let the camera continue searching for focus, even if it is having a hard time.
The second option is to have the camera stop at its last position once it decides it cannot find the autofocus point it wants.
This one is mostly personal preference.
For me, I like to leave it on Continue Focus Search. I would rather let the camera keep trying to find focus as often as needed instead of giving up and stopping.
My recommendation:
Set this to Continue Focus Search unless you prefer the camera to stop hunting once it struggles.
Track After Focusing: The Confusing Hybrid Autofocus Setting
One of the more confusing Canon C50 autofocus settings is Track After Focusing.
The simplest way I can explain it is this:
Track After Focusing is like a hybrid between manual focus and autofocus.
Before this setting works properly, you need to go into System Setup, page five, and make sure Focus Ring Operation is enabled during autofocus.
If that setting is disabled, moving the focus ring will not do anything while autofocus is active.
But when Focus Ring Operation is enabled, you can adjust the focus ring, and the camera will show an orange tracking box. Once you let go, the camera begins tracking the new subject you selected.
There are a few options here.
On With Tracking Frame
When Track After Focusing is set to On with Tracking Frame, moving the focus ring brings up an orange box.
That orange box shows you what the camera is about to focus on next.
Once you let go of the focus ring, the camera starts focusing on that new target.
This is the most useful version of this feature because you can actually see what subject the camera is about to track.
On With No Tracking Frame
When it is set to On with No Tracking Frame, the orange box disappears.
You can still move focus manually and have the camera start tracking the new subject, but you do not get the visual confirmation.
That means you need to be very sure you’re focused on the right subject before you let go.
If you’re wrong, the camera may not pick the subject you intended.
Disabled
When Track After Focusing is disabled, you can adjust the manual focus ring, but once you let go, autofocus goes back to its default behavior.
In my example, the camera decided to rack focus back to the main subject it thought it should focus on.
So if I focused manually on the background or another object and then let go, autofocus would suddenly jump back to the camera’s preferred subject.
Personally, I leave this on On with Tracking Frame, but honestly, I do not use this feature very often.
Because I do not really use it, I usually go into the system settings and disable Focus Ring Function During Autofocus Operation.
My recommendation:
If you want to use this hybrid manual/autofocus behavior, use On with Tracking Frame. If you do not plan to use it, disable focus ring operation during autofocus.
AF Area Zones: Choosing Where the Camera Looks for Focus
Next up are the AF Area Zones.
This setting tells the camera what part of the frame you want it to focus on.
On the Canon C50, you have options like:
Whole Area
Small Zone
Flexible Zone 1
Flexible Zone 2
Flexible Zone 3
Before testing these, I recommend going to page six and changing Subject Detect AF from Detect Only to Detect Priority if you’re trying to focus on random objects.
If you leave it on Detect Only, the zones will only activate focus if the camera detects a subject in them. If you’re filming random objects, that may not happen.
Once that’s set, you can go back and test the different AF area zones.
Whole Area AF
With Whole Area, the camera decides what to focus on across the entire frame.
In my example, it focused on whatever was closest.
If I moved my hand into frame, the camera tried to focus on it. When I moved my hand away, it focused back on the lens.
Whole Area is the broadest autofocus option because you’re letting the camera use the whole frame to decide what should be sharp.
Small Zone AF
With Small Zone, a small box appears on the screen.
Whatever is inside that box is what the camera focuses on.
You can move the box with the joystick, or you can move it using the touchscreen if you disable tracking by touch priority.
Small Zone is more precise than the larger zone options because it gives the camera a smaller area to pay attention to.
This is useful when you want more control over exactly what the camera focuses on.
Flexible Zone 1
Flexible Zone 1 gives you a larger square than Small Zone.
That means it is not quite as precise, but it can still be useful depending on the type of shot.
Small Zone is better when you need precision. Flexible Zone 1 is better when you want the camera to focus within a more general area of the frame.
Flexible Zone 2
Flexible Zone 2 is the vertical box.
The autofocus system focuses on whatever is inside that vertical area.
I’ll be honest: I’m not entirely sure when I would personally use this one, but it is there if you need it.
Flexible Zone 3
Flexible Zone 3 is the horizontal box.
I find this one a little more useful than the vertical option.
That said, it still depends on the scene. In my example, it was not quite as useful because the dominant subject was the camera in the foreground. I could choose to focus on the body of the camera or bring the zone down to focus on the lens, but I could not easily use it to focus on subjects farther back in the frame.
For all of these AF zones, you can tap the screen or use the joystick to change their position.
If you press the joystick in, it resets the position.
And if you want to change the size of the zone, you need to be inside the AF area menu and press the menu button. From there, you can make the zone larger, smaller, thinner, wider, or less wide.
If you hit cancel, it resets back to the original size.
My Favorite AF Area Setup
Most of the time, I use Whole Area with Subject Detect Only and Tracking by Touch Priority.
That setup lets me simply tap the screen on whatever I want in the scene, and the camera will focus on that subject.
For most people, that is what I recommend.
It is simple, fast, and practical.
My recommendation:
Use Whole Area + Subject Detect Only + Tracking by Touch Priority for most real-world shooting.
Autofocus Speed: How Fast Should the Canon C50 Focus?
Next is Autofocus Speed.
This setting goes from 1 to 10.
One is the slowest. Ten is the fastest.
This is mostly personal preference, but I like mine around 7.
I want autofocus to be quick, but not too snappy. If autofocus is too fast, it can look a little cheap and unnatural.
If you prefer a slower focus rack, you can bring it down to around 3 to 5. I think 1 is too slow, but 3 to 5 can look pretty good.
I believe the default setting is 6, so I usually just bump mine up to 7.
The only time I go above 7 is when I’m shooting slow motion, like 60fps or 120fps.
In slow motion, even a normal autofocus speed can feel slower because you’re exaggerating the time it takes for focus to move. So in those cases, I’ll crank autofocus speed up to 10 so it feels snappier in the final footage.
My recommendation:
Use 7 for most normal video work. Use 10 for slow motion.
Subject Switching Sensitivity
Next is Subject Switching Sensitivity.
This setting controls how quickly the camera switches subjects when the initial subject becomes lost.
The scale goes from 1 to 5.
At 1, the camera is stickier. It stays locked onto the original subject longer before deciding to hunt for something else.
At 5, the camera switches much faster. As soon as it loses the initial subject, it starts looking for something else to focus on.
For interviews, talking heads, and YouTube videos, I leave this at 1.
That way, the autofocus stays locked onto the intended subject — usually the person speaking.
But there are times when you might want a higher setting.
For example, if you’re filming a product demo and the person holds a product up to the camera, you may want autofocus to quickly switch from the person to the product.
In that case, you could set subject switching sensitivity to 5.
I would also pair that with one of the square AF zones, especially one focused around the center of the frame. That way, if your subject is centered, the camera focuses on them until they bring the product closer to the camera. Then the camera knows to switch focus within that zone.
But for most of my work, this setting lives at 1.
My recommendation:
Use 1 for interviews, talking heads, and YouTube videos. Use 5 when you want the camera to switch quickly to a new subject, like in product demos.
Focus Mode
Next is Focus Mode.
On my setup, this was grayed out because the lens itself has a physical switch for autofocus and manual focus.
If your lens has an AF/MF switch, the camera may not let you control focus mode from the menu.
But if you’re using a lens without that physical switch, this menu option can become available and let you enable or disable autofocus from the camera.
Autofocus Frame Thickness
The next setting is Autofocus Frame Thickness.
This changes the thickness of the autofocus frame box and tracking box.
Personally, I do not want the box to be too big or distracting, so I leave this at Normal.
It looks perfectly fine to me.
My recommendation:
Leave autofocus frame thickness at Normal.
Subject to Detect
Now we’ll move to page six for the rest of the main autofocus settings.
The first one is Subject to Detect.
You have three options:
People
Animals
None
You want to choose the subject based on the scenario you’re filming.
If you’re filming people, like YouTube videos or interviews, set it to People.
If you’re filming wildlife or animal-related B-roll, maybe for a zoo or museum, set it to Animals.
If you’re not filming people or animals, set it to None. That can be helpful for things like vehicles or products.
Just know that if you set this to None, the rest of the subject detection menu becomes disabled because the camera no longer has a specific subject type to detect.
My recommendation:
Use People for interviews and YouTube. Use Animals for wildlife or animal work. Use None for products, vehicles, or other non-human subjects.
Subject Detection AF: Detection Priority vs Detection Only
This is another setting where the naming can be confusing.
You have two options:
Detection Priority
Detection Only
Here’s what they actually mean.
Detection Priority
When you set the camera to Detection Priority, the camera prioritizes detecting your selected subject.
But if that subject leaves the frame, the camera will continue hunting for focus and focus on whatever it thinks should be next.
For example, if someone walks off screen, the camera may rack focus to the background.
Detection Only
When you set the camera to Detection Only, the camera focuses on the detected subject.
But if that subject leaves the frame, the camera does not suddenly rack focus somewhere else. Instead, it stays locked at the last focus position.
To me, this looks more natural and more cinematic.
If someone leaves frame, a camera operator usually would not suddenly rack focus to the background just because the person is gone. They would often leave focus where it was and let the scene end.
That is why I use Detection Only most of the time.
The main time I would switch to Detection Priority is for product demos.
If the camera detects me as a person and I suddenly hold a product in front of my face, Detection Only may not switch focus to the new object. But Detection Priority is more willing to switch focus to the new subject.
Outside of that kind of situation, I usually keep this on Detection Only.
My recommendation:
Use Detection Only for most cinematic, interview, and talking-head work. Use Detection Priority when you want the camera to switch focus more readily, like during product demos.
Eye Detection
Next is Eye Detection.
This tells the camera whether to automatically choose an eye, focus on the right eye, focus on the left eye, or disable eye detection entirely.
I leave this on Auto.
In my experience, the Canon C50 is smart enough to choose which eye to focus on. Canon cameras typically prefer the eye closest to the camera, and that is usually what I prefer too.
If you need the camera to stay locked on a specific eye, you can choose right or left.
Just remember: the right and left eye refer to the subject’s eyes, not your perspective as the camera operator.
So the subject’s right eye may appear on the left side of your screen, depending on how they are facing the camera.
If eye detection is struggling, you can disable it. When you disable eye detection, the camera tracks the full face or body instead of the eye.
For most of my work, I leave it on Auto.
My recommendation:
Use Auto for eye detection unless you specifically need to force the camera to track one eye.
Face Detection Auto Exposure
Next is Face Detection Auto Exposure.
This only really matters if you’re shooting in an auto exposure mode, like shutter priority or aperture priority.
Because I shoot manually and like having full manual control of the camera, this setting does not affect my workflow.
But if you do shoot in an auto exposure mode, this setting tells the camera to adjust exposure based on the detected face in the scene.
That can be helpful if you are a beginner, if you are not using full manual controls, or if you are handing the camera to someone who is not comfortable exposing manually.
The camera will try to judge exposure for the person and make sure they are properly exposed.
Personally, I never use this, so I leave it off.
My recommendation:
If you shoot manual, leave this Off. If you rely on auto exposure, this may be useful.
Tracking by Touch Priority
The last major autofocus menu setting is Tracking by Touch Priority.
This lets you use the touchscreen to tell the camera what to focus on.
When this is enabled, you can simply tap the screen, and the camera knows that whatever you tapped is what you want in focus.
I use this a lot because it makes the autofocus system feel much more practical in real-world shooting.
Instead of digging through settings or fighting the camera, I can just tap the subject I care about.
My recommendation:
Leave Tracking by Touch Priority enabled if you want quick touchscreen control over autofocus.
Understanding the Canon C50 Autofocus Icons
Now let’s talk about the UI and the symbols you see on screen.
On the left side of the display, you’ll see a group of autofocus icons.
These icons tell you what autofocus mode you’re in and which features are active.
AF or MF Icon
The first icon tells you whether you are in autofocus or manual focus.
If your lens is set to autofocus, you’ll see AF.
If you switch the lens to manual focus, it changes to MF.
When the AF icon is gray, autofocus is disengaged and not actively tracking anything.
When you tap the screen and autofocus re-engages, the icon turns white.
Face Icon With an O
The face icon with an O tells you that you’re in Detection Only mode.
The O stands for Only.
If you switch to Detection Priority, the O disappears from the face icon.
Eye Detection Icon
The eye icon tells you which eye detection mode you’re using.
If eye detection is set to Auto, it says Auto underneath.
If you set it to right eye, you’ll see an R.
If you set it to left eye, you’ll see an L.
If you disable eye detection, the eye symbol disappears completely.
Subject Detection Icon
The person icon tells you what subject detection mode you’re in.
If you are detecting people, you’ll see a person icon.
If you switch to animals, that icon changes to what looks like a cat.
If you disable subject detection, a lot of the icons disappear because the camera is no longer using those subject detection settings.
Touch Tracking Icon
The square icon with a hand means touch autofocus is enabled.
That tells you that you can tap the screen to focus.
If you disable Tracking by Touch Priority, that icon goes away.
Bonus Manual Focus Setting: Focus Ring Response
Now I want to share a bonus setting that can make manual focusing much easier, especially with Canon lenses.
Go back into the menu, then go to System Setup, page five.
Look for Focus Ring Response.
By default, this is set to Varies with Rotation Speed.
I recommend changing it to Linked to Rotation Degree.
Here’s why.
When Focus Ring Response is set to Varies with Rotation Speed, the focus distance changes depending on how fast or slow you move the focus ring.
That can create inconsistent results and make manual focusing frustrating.
When you set it to Linked to Rotation Degree, the focus adjustment is based on how much you rotate the ring, not how quickly you rotate it.
So whether you turn the ring quickly or slowly, the amount of focus change is based on the rotation amount.
That gives you more consistent results and makes manual focusing much easier.
My recommendation:
Set Focus Ring Response to Linked to Rotation Degree.
My Canon C50 Autofocus Settings for Most Video Work
Here’s the basic setup I recommend for most people:
Continuous AF: Enabled
Lens Action If Cannot Autofocus: Continue Focus Search
Track After Focusing: On with Tracking Frame but I disable focus ring operation during AF
AF Area: Whole Area
Subject Detect AF: Detection Only
Tracking by Touch Priority: Enabled
Autofocus Speed: 7
Subject Switching Sensitivity: 1
Autofocus Frame Thickness: Normal
Subject to Detect: People for interviews and YouTube
Eye Detection: Auto
Face Detection Auto Exposure: Off if shooting manual
Focus Ring Response: Linked to Rotation Degree
This setup gives you a practical, reliable autofocus system that works well for interviews, talking heads, client work, and filming yourself.
Final Thoughts
The Canon C50 autofocus menu can feel intimidating at first, but once you understand what each setting does, it becomes much easier to use autofocus intentionally.
You do not need to memorize every single option.
What matters is knowing which settings affect your real-world shooting.
For most of my work, I want autofocus to stay locked on the subject, avoid unnecessary focus jumps, and let me quickly tap the screen when I want to choose something specific.
That is why I rely on Detection Only, Whole Area AF, Tracking by Touch Priority, Eye Detection Auto, and a subject switching sensitivity of 1.
Once those settings are dialed in, the Canon C50 becomes much easier to trust.
And if you also set Focus Ring Response to Linked to Rotation Degree, manual focusing becomes a lot more consistent too.
Now that you understand the autofocus settings on the Canon C50, you can use autofocus as a tool instead of fighting against it. Whether you’re filming interviews, YouTube videos, client work, moving subjects, or product demos, these settings will help you get more predictable, professional-looking results.
