Carl Auer Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Like many, I have been having focus issues with my 7D. When I first got the camera, I sent it back to Canon 2 times for focus issues. Then talking on the phone with one of their CPS techs, we figured it out, but this was two years ago. Things were good with it until recently. In March of last year I had CPS clean my 7D and when they sent it back, it was focusing crappy. I would normally get a 20-30% keeper rate for high school shooting If I shot 300 photos at a football game, I would have up to 90 that I felt were good for my website. But after the cleaning, I was lucky if I got 5%. I knew it was the camera, and not the lenses. My 1D keeper rate was just fine. But the 7D was sucking. So, I move to Colorado and I am shooting a lot more high school (35 schools within 10 miles of me...In Alaska I had 2 high schools, I lot more college, and a lot more pro. But I was suffering with soft images. Then, during last weeks LA Galaxy and Colorado Rapids game, I wanted to be sure I was getting sharp images of Landon Donovan since he may retire, and David Beckham because, well because he was David Beckham. So, while I was grabbing soft images, like 1 out of 25 were sharp, I started going through the Custom Function Menu III looking through it to see what I might change that would help. I thought I had everything set the same way that CPS and I had walked through a couple years back. Everything looked fine and then I noticed setting III, AI Servo AF tracking method. It was on 0. 0 will change focus to whatever the focus point was on. I was using the expanded single point, and my images all looked like they had lost focus. Originally when I was having focus settings, I was going off the Sports settings that I found on SportsShooter in THIS POST where it says use 0 for C.F. III - 3. CPS and I figured out this was wrong and it should be set to 1. 1, combined with AI Servo sensitivity set to -1 (C.F. III - 1) focusing should be better. So anyway, I sat there staring at the 0 it was set on, and then on a whim set it to 1 and started shooting. Everything looked better right away. Turns out, when I had my last cleaning in March, they updated the firmware and some settings defaulted back to factory settings. Everything else was fine. But, to confirm it, I shot the San Jose Earthquake and Colorado Rapids game tonight with C.F. III - 3 set to 1, which continues trying to track your subject if one of the expanded points stays on the subject, even when someone or something comes between you and your subject. The -1 sensitivity lets it try to react to refocusing slower, helps here. Tonight I came back with 9 out of 10 shots spot on focus. I am happy I figured it out, but wish it would not have taken so long.....
Anyway, anyone shooting moving subjects, sports, birds in flight, whatever, and your 7D is not focusing correctly, try changing C.F. III - 1 to minus 1 and C.F. III - 3 to 1 and see if that helps.
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