Quad Pixel Autofocus

Since the announcement of Canon’s Dual Pixel Autofocus system, introduced with the Canon EOS 70D, we kind of knew that Quad Pixel Autofocus would be inevitable eventually. Several new patents have been released over the last few years, including this one from 2020 suggesting that it might come with the EOS R1. Now a new patent from Canon about Quad Pixel AF adds more fuel to that EOS R1 fire.

Dual Pixel AF is pretty awesome, as evidenced by the significant lack of auto-backfocus jokes we used to regularly hear about Canon DSLRs. And while it’s not perfect, it seems to be leading the way lately in some respects. But Quad Pixel AF should help to make Canon’s EF more reliable and accurate than it has already become, posing a serious threat to the competition.

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Canon’s Dual Pixel Autofocus (DPAF) has been one of Canon’s biggest selling points ever since they first introduced the technology in 2013 with the EOS 70D DSLR. The technology has developed ever since, with the EOS R5 and EOS R6 cameras having some of the best AF performance available in mirrorless cameras today.

But DPAF isn’t perfect. It’s fantastic if the edge contrast of what you’re focusing on is oriented 90 degrees to how you’re holding the camera, but if you’re holding the camera horizontal and the edge you’re focusing on is also horizontal, it can struggle. This new patent suggests a solution. Quad Pixel Autofocus!

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