A friend of mine asked me to take a look at his 7D, complaining of soft images. No matter how much he MA'ed and changed around parameters he was still getting lot's of hit or miss shots.
I tried a fix that's been circulating on the web for awhile now: Hard Reset...leaving both batteries out of the body for a 1/2 hour or more. Popped them back in and all was well. Focusing near and far was instantly on point. His 24-105L which he MA'ed to +9 in an attempt to fix the focusing issues is now tack sharp at 0 MA. He had used a Sigma zoom for awhile before buying the EF and the issue started from that point onwards.
Someone figured out last year or earlier that the 7D sometimes becomes currupted (AF-wise) when a third party lens is used.
A year ago I noticed something similar with my body. My 100mm macro AF was acting up. Because I hadn't used it in a long time I figured maybe it was damaged until I tried that hard reset. Now it's as tack sharp as when I got it. No more focusing issues.
Just an FYI if anyone is experiencing that issue and hasn't done a Google search on it.
That seems very suspicious. AF code should be in the firmware that is stored in NVRAM. I assumed that was loaded each time. You could update the firmware too.
I did some reading. I am going to try the reset. Last year I thought I bricked my 7D with an old OM lens and teleconverter - I locked up the camera and had to pull the battery to get it functioning again.
My 7D is generally great, but I have two lenses in particular that are flakey on it, and I have not been able to figure out why (MA results have been variable). One lens is the 100 macro, which is tack sharp on my 1D3 (0 MA) and 5Dc. I've MA'd it on 7D three times, my notes show that one time results were +9, another time +5, and another time +4. Results are all over the place, and I have not been able to figure out why... I mostly shoot that lens with MF anyway so it hasn't been a big priority to track the issue down. Interested to try MA tomorrow and see what transpires.
It seems like strange and incorrect behavior to me, but if the reset works then who am I to argue ? I just don't see how or why any lens could be trashing camera settings or randomizing the effect of fixed camera settings without doing something electrical that would zap every camera. Surely it's a camera defect.
Alan321 wrote:
It seems like strange and incorrect behavior to me, but if the reset works then who am I to argue ? I just don't see how or why any lens could be trashing camera settings or randomizing the effect of fixed camera settings without doing something electrical that would zap every camera. Surely it's a camera defect.
- Alan
Don't over analyze it. Try the fix on faith. It costs nothing and you can only go upwards. As i said, it worked for my buddies camera and now his three lenses are acceptably sharp without MA. I'm sure if he was willing to blow off an entire afternoon he could get them tack sharp with a little calibration.
He probably did a firmware upgrade at some point without following up with a hard reset. Firmware upgrades can leave your camera in a strange state if you do not do a reset after upgrading.
Third party lenses just spoof a Canon code for the lens though don't they?
I've found I've had inconsistent results with a lens if I leave MA enabled, I either turn it off or toggle it off and on and all seems well. Could be purely incidental though!
p.1 #10 · 7D AF issues...in case you haven't heard
Hmmm, it's a positive result for me. After overnight reset, I MA'd my 100 at +3 this morning, then upgraded FW to 1.2.3, reset it again, and re-verified the MA and it is at +3. At least it's not bouncing around...
Will try my other problematic lens when I have more time (hopefully today).
FWIW, the hard reset does not lose settings but it does zero out the clock (as expected).
p.1 #11 · 7D AF issues...in case you haven't heard
Update: I spoke with a Canon rep this morning...gotta tell ya, the concept of job mastery is rapidly declining in north america.
Anyway...rant over.
I called to verify the "hard reset" idea. It seemd a bit hokey to me that you would have to take out batteries, sacrifice goats and chant a spell to do all this.
He told me that removing the batteries is not necessary to reset the camera. Simply clear setting in the custom functions menu and other camera settings you may have changed. That he says, is a reset.
He then sent me the following email for assiting them in diagnosing focusing issues:
Dear valued customer,
Please find below the information that was requested.
To address the focusing issue we suggest performing the following focusing test and responding with the results.
If you use filters with your lenses please remove them for this test.
Place three objects of the same size on a table at different distances from the camera. From left to right, place the left most object closest to the camera and the right most object furthest from the camera. From front to back, space the objects out by about 2 to 3 inches.
Set the quality setting to Large JPEG.
Set the Picture Style to Standard.
Set the shooting mode to aperture priority <Av> and set the aperture to the maximum value (smallest f/stop).
Set the ISO speed to 100.
Set the AF mode to One Shot.
Select only the center autofocus point.
Compose or frame the image in the viewfinder so that the three objects occupy and fill as much of the frame as possible.
Use the centre autofocus point to achieve focus on the center object. Then without re-framing, capture the image.
Please reply to this message with the image(s) captured during this test attached. Ensure they are sent as is without editing using the attachment option within your e-mail program. After receiving and evaluating the results we will advise accordingly.
If you require additional assistance, please contact Canon Canada's customer support at:
Online Support ( Click here ) or 1 800 OK CANON (1 800 652-2666) 9 AM to 8 PM EST Monday through Friday
The image after the "fix"
It's cropped and adjusted for contrast etc. No sharpening.
p.1 #14 · 7D AF issues...in case you haven't heard
acs55812 wrote:
I'm confused by the setup you used, it looks like the 50mm and the 85mm are set parallel to each other with another lens behind the 85?
From what I see not set like they asked for at all?
These aren't from the test shot. It's from the lens test after resetting the camera. Prior to resetting the focus was front focusing and ma didn't make it any better. At least not consistently.
p.1 #16 · 7D AF issues...in case you haven't heard
There have been numerous posts of fixing problems with this so-called "Deep Reset", and reports of positive results.
I once tried it with a problem that others claimed were fixed by this method, and it did nothing in my case.
It's stated, by Canon to control only the Time & Date settings; and what that might have to do with AF issues is bewildering.
If this was truly functional in fixing certain anomalies, it's strange that Canon wouldn't suggest user's trying it prior to seeking warranty service; since it can't harm the Camera in any way?
p.1 #17 · 7D AF issues...in case you haven't heard
Sy Sez wrote:
There have been numerous posts of fixing problems with this so-called "Deep Reset", and reports of positive results.
I once tried it with a problem that others claimed were fixed by this method, and it did nothing in my case.
It's stated, by Canon to control only the Time & Date settings; and what that might have to do with AF issues is bewildering.
If this was truly functional in fixing certain anomalies, it's strange that Canon wouldn't suggest user's trying it prior to seeking warranty service; since it can't harm the Camera in any way?
Leigh
www.leighwax.com
Corporations can be weird about these things. They might consider making a statement would be an admission of some kind of flaw, and then leave themselves open to a class-action lawsuit or something. You never know what the lawyers are thinking!
p.1 #20 · 7D AF issues...in case you haven't heard
coranda wrote:
Mine is inconsistent on all cameras. I'm afraid, from what I've read lately, it's just a very common characteristic of the 500mm f/1.4.
I didn't know canon made a 500mm 1.4!!
Interested to try MA tomorrow and see what transpires.