Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

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Archive 2007 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

72chevelle454
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p.2 #1 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

dilgit wrote:
So it is within the affected range: 501001-546561 but blue dotted? Which means it has been fixed or it's one of the 3540 list?

My guess is it was pulled off the shelf or not even sent out, they fixed the sub mirror then sent it back out as new stock.

Looks like a brand new camera to me

Nov 17, 2007 at 01:25 PM

dilgit
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p.2 #2 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

It is brand new!! Never used before body but fixed in the factory or at some Canon service center. Chad, what are your initial impressions concerning AF?

Nov 17, 2007 at 02:50 PM

72chevelle454
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p.2 #3 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

Not to get into a big discussion on if you should micro adjust your lenses or not, I have always been a believer that if the tool is there why not use it, so that being said, I adjust all of my lenses using the lens adjustment in the camera with a focus chart. I have found this to be a very useful tool when shooting very shallow DOF in model photography. So, I have been adjusting all of my lenses indoors. I have one more to do, My initial impressions are:

Before this camera my lenses had to be adjusted all over the place from -10 to +15 I have always felt something was wrong if this was happening with this camera and my 1D2 was always consistent across my lens line up.

I am very please to say that all of my lenses so far are adjusted within +or- 3 that is a huge improvement over last 3 bodies I had, I will soon be heading out to get some static shots of birds, its 39f and cloudy, I will not get any BIF shots till Sunday (hopefully) weather permitting.

So far, as I said earlier the AIservo seems much more stable on static objects.

Lenses tested: like I said they all are very close to each other now. I always take 3 shots to make sure that I did achieve consistent focus for each lens, all three shots for each lens were spot on to each other

85 f1.8
135 f2
100 f2.8
24-70 f2.8
70-200 f2.8
300 f4
500 f4

Nov 17, 2007 at 03:15 PM

dilgit
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p.2 #4 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

Thanks Chad! That's encouraging. Waiting for your impressions while I wait for Canon to fix my MKIII.

Nov 17, 2007 at 03:20 PM

Jeff
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p.2 #5 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

Normcar21 wrote:
"...I apologize to Jeff, and to all of the others that I shat on, thinking that I knew what was going on. Clearly I was in error and you guys were absolutely correct, the canon family was nasty. Now they seem to be apologizing. I sincerely hope that their apology will even begin to solve the problems that they have caused. I can only assume that their motive was to chase Nikon.

I hope that Jeff again becomes moderator of this forum. Sorry, Jeff, you were right."

Normcar21 wrote:
"Just kidding, glad you voiced your appreciation because I've been a bit of a shit on this over the past few months because I thought I knew what I was talking about. I perhaps assisted the loss of a great moderator and hope that Jeff returns. I never wanted him to leave in the first or last place, and was bothered when he was gone.

All that I can do is apologize, no excuses, nothing else."

I appreciate the sentiments Norm, but I won't be returning. Your situation wasn't the cause of my leaving, it was merely the catalyst, the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. On a personal level there were very few reasons for me to continue to do the job I was doing; few appreciate the role of a moderator, and these gear forums tend to get a bit laborious. I have a family and have better things to do with my time than donate it to a non-charity organization. I am thankful to have been able to help the few that I did, and hope that Fred can find some others to help out around here, and to be able to make (at least some of) the changes that have been promised for so long. Things are pretty smooth at the moment, but as anyone who's been around here for any length of time would know, it's only a matter of time before things get pretty sporty.

Good luck to all, and keep shooting.

Jeff

Nov 18, 2007 at 05:08 PM

72chevelle454
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p.2 #6 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

First of all Thanks Jeff for your hard work.

Secondly, I just got back from shooting 400+ BIF shots with my "Blue Dot" M3.. all I can say is that it is fixed, it reminds me of how things were when I was shooting my M2.

I think you all will be very pleased with the fix.

I will post some shots on my PBase account shortly. I will provide a link in a few.

Chad

Nov 18, 2007 at 05:23 PM

Jeff
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p.2 #7 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

That's wonderful to hear, thanks for the update.

Nov 18, 2007 at 05:26 PM

Wickedfn4u
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p.2 #8 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

deadeyedick wrote:
I'm amazed at the number of blue dot owners that have intentions of testing their new camera next week...or maybe the week following that. Bloody hell, point the thing at a car moving past your house and help the rest of us out will ya ?
The problem deadeye is if I test in a way that I did not with the others how do I know it is working in the same way? Shoot what ya know, and I don't know how the other bodies would do against a car.

I can tell you this, shot my fist soccer match with the new body and it is spot on. Just like, and I have to say from first blush better then, my M2's did.

Oh, and to Normcar21, thanks, wish some other nay sayers would step up too.

Nov 18, 2007 at 05:44 PM

72chevelle454
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p.2 #9 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

72chevelle454 wrote:
First of all Thanks Jeff for your hard work.

Secondly, I just got back from shooting 400+ BIF shots with my "Blue Dot" M3.. all I can say is that it is fixed, it reminds me of how things were when I was shooting my M2.

I think you all will be very pleased with the fix.

I will post some shots on my PBase account shortly. I will provide a link in a few.

Chad

The link:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/589830

Nov 18, 2007 at 06:40 PM

dvarnav
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p.2 #10 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

Very good 72chevelle454 shots indeed it seems that the Fix work fine but can you make a short description of the AF settings you have used to take these so well focused photos.... of cource AiServo (but did you select automatically the point of autofocus or you sellected a fixed one maybe the center? Also did you use expansion Left right or what please help us to estimate the fix....

Nov 18, 2007 at 06:57 PM

72chevelle454
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p.2 #11 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

dvarnav wrote:
Very good 72chevelle454 shots indeed it seems that the Fix work fine but can you make a short description of the AF settings you have used to take these so well focused photos.... of cource AiServo (but did you select automatically the point of autofocus or you sellected a fixed one maybe the center? Also did you use expansion Left right or what please help us to estimate the fix....

I saved my settings from my previous M3, I loaded them on the new one, calibrated the lenses, and had a much, much. much better keeper rate. Did I say much better

A few settings that I used and have always used.

Center focus point (99% of the time) lately, I have found that if you shooting BIF you can use 45 point with great success.

Center point Expanded. not left right.

Sensitivity was right in the middle.

I used the back button for focus

Chad

Nov 18, 2007 at 07:02 PM

dvarnav
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p.2 #12 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

72chevelle454 wrote:

Center focus point (99% of the time) lately, I have found that if you shooting BIF you can use 45 point with great success.
Center point Expanded. not left right.

Chad

Chad about shooting BirdsIF .... when you say you I can use 45 point you mean to let the 1D to assign automatically the one of the 45 points to focus or something else ?

Nov 18, 2007 at 07:12 PM

72chevelle454
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p.2 #13 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

dvarnav wrote:
72chevelle454 wrote:

Center focus point (99% of the time) lately, I have found that if you shooting BIF you can use 45 point with great success.
Center point Expanded. not left right.

Chad

Chad about shooting BirdsIF .... when you say you I can use 45 point you mean to let the 1D to assign automatically the one of the 45 points to focus or something else ?

Yes, select 45 point and let the camera choose, in AiServo of course. Just remember you will not see any light up in Ai servo mode.

Nov 18, 2007 at 07:17 PM

dvarnav
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p.2 #14 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

Chad I think that this is not working very well on my camera and I dont know if is due to my generation of MarkIII (non Blue Dot)

Nov 18, 2007 at 07:26 PM

Tom_W
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p.2 #15 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

72chevelle454 wrote:
The link:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/589830

Sweet!!

Thanks for posting those. Reminescent of my Mk II days - very consistent tracking (although the 5D is no slouch either but it isn't quite up to the same level for that kind of photography).

Thanks for posting this!

Nov 18, 2007 at 08:22 PM

SoundHound
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p.2 #16 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

Thank you Jeff for all your hard work sorry you got burned out but it had to happen.

Nov 20, 2007 at 06:16 PM

anthony whitmo
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p.2 #17 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

I have a Mark III that is suffering the AIServo problemo

Early serial number that falls within the numbers specified by Canon as possibly problematic and needing repair.

I didn't send my Mark III for the software updates d/t wanting to wait for a PROVEN fix.Glad I waited as that wasn't the real deal. I am now waiting to see others post either SUCCESS/FAILURE reports from sending in their Mark III's for repair. I keep seeing success from the purchase of a new Blue Dot version............... But has anyone sent in their III for repair and received it back yet??

Nov 20, 2007 at 11:08 PM

anthony whitmo
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p.2 #18 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

Maybe I should make a separate post inquiring everyones experience thus far......

Nov 20, 2007 at 11:09 PM

Dean Gillette
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p.2 #19 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

I sent mine to New Jersey and they sent the "accepted" notice on November 13th. Haven't heard a thing since, but will advise when it gets back.

anthony whitmo wrote:
I have a Mark III that is suffering the AIServo problemo

Nov 20, 2007 at 11:40 PM

anthony whitmo
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p.2 #20 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

Thanks Dean If you have a chance shoot me an email or PM or I'll keep checkin all the posts here. You may not have > But have you heard any reports from others that received their III's back yet?

Nov 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM

RDKirk
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p.2 #21 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

The AF issue is related to a rubber seal that holds the sub mirror.

From what I've seen of Canon's assembly plant, cameras are assembled in multiple "pods" in the assembly hall rather than a single assembly line. There are a number of cameras being assembled at the same time, with each pod having a supply of the components needed (for the day, perhaps).

Rubber seals would not be "numbered" components--they may not even be identified individually by lots or batches. They would have been formulated according to specification and perhaps batch tested. They would be distributed to the pods on a "just in time" basis.

But if one batch or lot was below specifications, it would be difficult to know when each pod received the bad batch, and as the (bad) seals were simply dropped into the seal bin with the previous good batch--and was then gradually replaced by the next good batch, it would be difficult to determine exactly which cameras received them.

Nov 21, 2007 at 12:02 AM

Dean Gillette
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p.2 #22 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

The only things I've heard are in here, from new blue dot recipients, with mixed reviews, mostly good. I didn't even think Canon would be accepting repairs yet, but somehow I got mine in. Hope it doesn't take too long, with basketball season in full swing and all...
I'll let you know.

anthony whitmo wrote:
Thanks Dean If you have a chance shoot me an email or PM or I'll keep checkin all the posts here. You may not have > But have you heard any reports from others that received their III's back yet?

Nov 21, 2007 at 03:33 AM

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p.2 #23 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

Dean Gillette wrote:
The only things I've heard are in here, from new blue dot recipients, with mixed reviews, mostly good. I didn't even think Canon would be accepting repairs yet, but somehow I got mine in. Hope it doesn't take too long, with basketball season in full swing and all...
I'll let you know.

anthony whitmo wrote:
Thanks Dean If you have a chance shoot me an email or PM or I'll keep checkin all the posts here. You may not have > But have you heard any reports from others that received their III's back yet?

Is that the only thing you sent it in for? I sent mine in last week for err99 and they said they wouldn't address the mirror until later this month.

Nov 21, 2007 at 03:51 AM

Dean Gillette
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p.2 #24 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

Yeah, that was my only issue. Maybe I'm a guinea pig? That would make twice, I guess. I received my M3 the end of April, when everybody else was hoping to get one by June. Serial number is in the very early 502's.
Never had any err99 issues, and everything else worked great. I've shot all summer, but the focus was never super, so I just worked with it until they announced a fix. I do love that camera though. Shooting with the backup 20d feels a little lame after using that beast for a few months!

Are they going to hold yours until the mirror fix, or will they send it back for you to use until they're ready for it?

Is that the only thing you sent it in for? I sent mine in last week for err99 and they said they wouldn't address the mirror until later this month.

Nov 21, 2007 at 04:17 AM

Red Grainger
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p.2 #25 · Rob Galbraith & Mark III Autofocus

In my original post I restated Galbraith's notice that he would report on the Mark III autofocus issue in the scond half of the week (November 19th). He delayed that report and indicated it would appear this week. O.K., Rob where is your report??

Nov 30, 2007 at 01:09 PM


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