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Bruce Sawle
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p.4 #1 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

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Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 03:16 PM

Bruce Sawle
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p.4 #2 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

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Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 03:17 PM

Bruce Sawle
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p.4 #3 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

1a

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 03:17 PM

Bruce Sawle
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p.4 #4 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

2a

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 03:18 PM

Bruce Sawle
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p.4 #5 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

3a

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 03:18 PM

Bruce Sawle
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p.4 #6 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

4a

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 03:19 PM

tonyfield
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p.4 #7 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

I shot shot jumping specifically to test the camers. The observations are:

1. many image are back focused (out door temperature 26 C)

2. focus lock seemed better on dark jackets rather than light clothing.

3.10 fps or 5 fps made no difference in sharpness.

4. static images had slight errors on occasional shots.

Humm ,now to reproduce the test shooting with the 1D-IIn which is now at Canon for service.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 03:21 PM

d_brown
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p.4 #8 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

I am having a problem similar to Alistair101. About 10% of my exposures, mostly single-shot, center-focus in bright light and with plenty of shutter speed, are just plain fuzzy. NOTHING is in focus! I've never seen anything like it before.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 03:21 PM

rd4tile
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p.4 #9 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

DavidP wrote:

There has to be focus SOMEWHERE. Now, it's possible that there's nothing in your frame at that distance to look focused.

Caveat: lenses can focus beyond infinity, which could result in looking like there's nothing in focus.

New body and new lens (400 f5.6L) for me so I'm really up in the air. It's the first long non IS lens I've owned (100-400) was the other so I don't want to blame something on the mkIII that's due to my long lens technique (or lack of it) but I've shot a thousand frames at least with this combo at speeds up to 1/6400th. Every handheld shot with 1 shot/static subject has been more then acceptably sharp to me and I can't get what I'd call an acceptably sharp BIF shot with even luck to this point. Here's what I'm talking about: (am I expecting too much?) All the servo stuff looks just slightly "off" for lack of a better term. I can't find anything in true focus in the seagull shot.

BIF test original

This image is copyrighted by the owner

crop

Static handheld:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

This image is copyrighted by the owner

crop:

Edited by rd4tile on Jun 22, 2007 at 08:14 AM GMT

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 03:34 PM

DavidP
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p.4 #10 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

rd4tile wrote:
Here's what I'm talking about: (am I expecting too much?) All the servo stuff looks just slight "off" for lack of a better term.

BIF test original

This image is copyrighted by the owner

The bird is definitely NOT in focus . . . . however, I'm pretty sure that there would be *something* in focus in that frame . . *if* there were something at the right distance.

Do you have the custom function set that doesn't allow the camera to "rack focus" if it loses focus?

Also, were you using all focus points, or just the center one? I notice that the bird probably is outside the area of the center AF point in that picture.

I get the impression that the 1D-3 is VERY sensitive to the photogrpaher misplacing the AF point, even for a fraction of a second.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 04:14 PM

rd4tile
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p.4 #11 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

I've tried all point/single point/single pt expanded, tracking sensitivity slow and on up.
I have tried cfn III-4 both on and off (main FP priority vs continuous AF track priority. I've always left cfnIII-5 on 0 focus search on. Are you thinking I should turn focus search off?

I've shot the lens at a test chart and it seems to be fine. I even tried adjusting the microadjustment both ways to see if it helped, all that did was throw my static shots Oof where they had been pretty good.

Even on my worst day shooting this many images I'd get lucky and pop a few off in perfect focus but not with this setup, not one. I like your theory about focusing beyond infinity, I wonder if the camera is doing that. All my BIF stuff looks absolutely just like that one except for the ones where the subject is obviously Oof and it hit a spot in the BG.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 04:27 PM

rd4tile
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p.4 #12 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

Sorry I didn't answer your last question. That one's off CP but I have quite a few that imagebrowser is showing the CP being right on the bird with same results. The "ring of fire" shots are the same too. Most of these are with a blue sky BG so I'm thinking the body shouldn't lose AF that easily. I'm wondering though, since they're all the same, if this is even a tracking problem, it's acting like a lens that's way out of calibration. But if that was the case how do you explain the great static shots?

I'm at a complete loss here.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 04:37 PM

BobnJake
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p.4 #13 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

I just wanted to let everyone know, that I sent an e-mail to Canon as requested in
Rob Galbraith's latest post . I sent it last night about 6:00PM, explaining the AF problem, not knowing if I would hear back from them, but they got right back to me this morning. They wanted some more details on what was happening, so I went into more detail, about it happening in AI servo & high speed mode, AF points used, etc. So, they are listening

Take the time to send an e-mail to Canon, it has to help

Thanks

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 04:56 PM

nbain
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p.4 #14 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

I got my MKiii last week, took a few hundred shots of family, kids, flowers, bees and many focus test shots

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1032&message=23574589

I decided to return it.... I'm gutted, they took it back today...

I will buy another one, but I am going to wait until they have fixed all the focus issue.

Ah well, back to my 10D for a while.

I glad to here that some people are happy with theirs, it gives me hope.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 05:00 PM

mooretd
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p.4 #15 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

I emailed Canon about the AF problems on my body (I am not even getting consistent results on static objects using AI servo). They basically said you need to send the body to New Jersey for Service. I emailed them back and said that I was going to wait until a confirmed fix was available as I have to have a camera even if it doesn't work sometimes. No answer yet.

This crazy we went through month of delay to get the camera and know Canon is likly going to have to service all of the bodies.

BTW-- I just got an from Dell (I had on on order with them as well) saying that Canon has informed them that they have to cancel all of the pending orders.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 05:10 PM

Garylv
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p.4 #16 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

mooretd wrote:

BTW-- I just got an from Dell (I had on on order with them as well) saying that Canon has informed them that they have to cancel all of the pending orders.

That's quite interesting, I hadn't seen anyone post a response like that from a retailer yet.

This just keeps getting more interesting by the day, doesn't it? I wonder when Canon will make an official announcement to the customers..... I have a MkIII here in front of me. Registered of course.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 05:23 PM

rscheffler
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p.4 #17 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

Tim Larson wrote:
Alistair101 wrote:
......They are not front focussed or back focussed, no point in the image is focussed. It almost feelings like there is some multi-tasking problem within the camera ie as soon as you shoot a burst of frames and the buffer begins to fill and then write to the card (I always use Extreme 4 4gb CFs btw) that the camera suddenly is not able to focus properly. This is my feeling and I have nothing technical to back this up other than if I repeat the exercise in single shot drive mode but still using AI Servo focussing, nearly all the images are deadly sharp so in my opinion, and I am no professional, the problem seems only to occur in AI servo mode AND when shooting bursts of frames.

EXACTLY!
The same thing happened to me while doing the paintball stuff. Not front or back focussed. The entire frame was out of focus. Strange as heck. Strange enough to make me wonder about my lens.
Frustrating.

That's interesting. Back during the era of the 1D Mark II, over on SportsShooter member Thomas Witte complained of the same thing - softness without any plane of focus anywhere....
I should clarify that his images, when viewed small looked OK, but once enlarged it was clear that where there should be a shallow, crisp plane of focus, there wasn't, resulting in sports photos that looked a bit mushy and would never sharpen with USM to reveal any real detail. It's not that the photos were totally OOF.

Edited by rscheffler on Jun 22, 2007 at 01:07 PM GMT

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 05:40 PM

Garylv
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p.4 #18 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

rscheffler wrote:

That's interesting. Back during the era of the 1D Mark II, over on SportsShooter member Thomas Witte complained of the same thing - softness without any plane of focus anywhere....

I've actually seen it several times on non-1D series DLSR's too. I don't know if it's specific to Canon or not. And definitely not specific to just the MkIII. I think it's an actual issue not related to focus problems.

Just my opinion, but I think it is fairly often mistaken by people as a misfocus, you don't see it discussed much. I'd post some more samples of it but I don't have the files anymore.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 05:50 PM

A. Kingman
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p.4 #19 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

I too am unable to find any point of focus in a number of the out of focus frames, even though the subject is not dramatically out of focus. These are single shots taken in rapid succession using AI servo and a manually selected focus point (backlit subject moving away from the camera). With my 1DsII or 1DIIN (now sold) these are shots where the vast majority would be in focus. With the 1DIII very few of them are in focus.

Note: There are circumstances where I am getting in focus shots with the 1DIII, and there have always been plenty of times when I got out of focus shots with the 1DsII and 1DIIN. What's disconcerting about the 1DIII is that I am getting lots of out of focus shots in circumstances that the older cameras can handle very well.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 06:02 PM

tonyfield
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p.4 #20 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

rscheffler wrote:
That's interesting. Back during the era of the 1D Mark II, over on SportsShooter member Thomas Witte complained of the same thing - softness without any plane of focus anywhere....

I have a few such images taken yesterday.

Is it possible that this is an IS issue with motors moving when they should not?

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 06:04 PM

marchantron
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p.4 #21 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

I have sadly confirmed the same problem this afternoon with mine. Shot several bursts with my children running towards the camera. First few shots tack sharp and then falls apart consistently after that. From what I see, it appears the plane of focus 'sticks' where the last in-focus shot was.

Anyhow, sent an email into the Canon Service Center and awaiting a response.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 06:32 PM

jhom
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p.4 #22 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

I just spoke with a colleague of mine who shoots along side SI photogs during track and field events. He said the SI folks have not had any problems with their 1D3. Also, my colleague has not experienced AF problems and only an occasional OOF shot that he attributes to operator error.

Jim

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 06:46 PM

rscheffler
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p.4 #23 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

tonyfield wrote:
rscheffler wrote:
That's interesting. Back during the era of the 1D Mark II, over on SportsShooter member Thomas Witte complained of the same thing - softness without any plane of focus anywhere....

I have a few such images taken yesterday.

Is it possible that this is an IS issue with motors moving when they should not?

In general when shooting sports where the subject moves erratically, one shouldn't use IS as it will degrade sharpness due to the IS module fighting to keep up with the random movements of the lens.

Referring back to the issue raised a few years ago on SportsShooter, I'm certain it wasn't an IS issue. In any case, Thomas Witte is a very competent sports photographer so if in his opinion there was a problem with the camera, I believe him. If anyone cares to go back and dig up those threads you'll see that we discussed the problem in depth exhausting many of the variables one would expect to cause such a problem. His conclusion was that the camera was the problem (actually, if I recall, he had this problem with a couple cameras at least).

I haven't yet seen this specific problem with my Mark III but the AF accuracy issues I've had with it in backlit situations are not related to IS as I usually don't activate IS for field sports, runners, etc.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 06:47 PM

Garylv
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p.4 #24 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

rscheffler wrote:

His conclusion was that the camera was the problem (actually, if I recall, he had this problem with a couple cameras at least). I haven't yet seen this specific problem with my Mark III but the AF accuracy issues I've had with it in backlit situations are not related to IS as I usually don't activate IS for field sports, runners, etc.

Agreed. I think it's a problem in the cameras too. Either sensor malfunction or something in the processor. And when shooting sports with my 300 f2.8 IS, the stabilization is almost always off.

That's one part of my 300 that doesn't get used much.

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 07:39 PM

fabiolad
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p.4 #25 · Does your MkIII have AF issues?

A. Kingman wrote:
I too am unable to find any point of focus in a number of the out of focus frames, even though the subject is not dramatically out of focus. These are single shots taken in rapid succession using AI servo and a manually selected focus point (backlit subject moving away from the camera). With my 1DsII or 1DIIN (now sold) these are shots where the vast majority would be in focus. With the 1DIII very few of them are in focus.

Note: There are circumstances where I am getting in focus shots with the 1DIII, and there have always been plenty of times when I got out of focus shots with the 1DsII and 1DIIN. What's disconcerting about the 1DIII is that I am getting lots of out of focus shots in circumstances that the older cameras can handle very well.

My sentiments EXACTLY!!!!

Edited on Jul 01, 2007 at 10:08 AM

Jun 22, 2007 at 08:33 PM


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