p.55 #1 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
Gerry Szarek wrote:
You should always use the maximum zoom position because it has the least depth of field.
I agree with that and it would be most noticeable there...Unless it's significantly off by a different amount at the short end. I have 3 zooms and have been calibrating them at the long end as suggested... Better but still waiting on my M3 to be fixed prior to making any additional judgment.
p.55 #2 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
Thanks Bruce for the link, that's exactly it!
Gerry, that's what I thought as well.
Andrew, no way I'll loose this baby: it works flawlessly on my 5D. I do get an uneasy feeling though seeing its results on my 1D3 so I thought I'd give micro adjustment a try first. When worst comes to worst I'll couple it with my 5D and use my 70-200 on my 1D as that seems to be a miracle combo. Micro adjustment worked pretty well for my primes, it's only the 24-70 that I keep doubting. I guess you could call that a reasonable good score on this camera
p.55 #3 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
To bring up something that I think has been discussed before, but can't recall...
Since I don't have my M3 right now I cannot go and check... But after giving this some seriously hard thought over the last few weeks I have either started to doubt myself or could possibly be grasping at straws. Anyway, after taking my 300 out today on my 5D...I shot a few things and something dawned on me. In bright light, you certainly can tell if the AF locks on correctly (or not) via looking through the viewfinder. I believe while using the M3 I remembered the same thing... However, upon looking at the corresponding images, the M3's were soft and front focused (at least that is what it appeared like) and/or the plane seemed off. Even the "focused" area seemed soft.
So.. Is it possible that the AF is fine and that something is actually moving or distorting the image as it's being captured? If I had it, I'd try and manually focus and then shoot...but I am pretty sure that the images (in AI-Servo) locked and released on static subjects and held for follow-focus on moving subjects appeared IN FOCUS through the viewfinder.
Any thoughts other than I am going mad?
I realize I am overthinking this stuff... Sad. But after shooting a bit in my yard today, it dawned on me that it could be something else.
p.55 #4 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
apdieb,
I am having the same thoughts. I took 3000+ pics on a trip a few weeks ago; I'm starting to go through them (pacing myself), but I distinctly remember a few that were tack sharp in the viewfinder, and the file that was captured wasn't. Both one-shot and AIS.
But when I was using a tripod, and used LiveView and manual focus...WOW.
I'm still unhappy with Canon personally, but I'm waiting to see 1) that they can fix it and 2) for Sony to release the D3 chip in one of their cameras so the 5D has even more competition.
p.55 #5 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
Hrow wrote:
312 Images and the camera battery went from full charged to totally discharged. .... Any ideas on what might be happening?
Exactly my experience with my brand new out-of-the box fw1.1.3 BD. Have heard others have similar battery problems around the boards too.
Haven't sent it in yet as i'm slowly getting over the 5D and loving the MKIII more and more.
p.55 #6 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
Emile Gregoire wrote:
Could someone repost the url of the LCD calibration trick? I downloaded the image a while ago but have totally forgotten what to do with it
Another question while we're off-topic: how do you guys calibrate the AF of your zooms? I believe I've read somewhere one should use the maximum focal length for calibration, right? I'm kind of worried because I noticed that my 24-70 was all over the place at different focal lengths.
This is a great question and the responses make sense. So much so that I decided to give them a whirl with my 24-105 which I really had not tested with my returned 1DMkIII. Here's what I found...
At 105mm I need +20 to be borderline. Actually, I need more but that's all they gave me. +25 is probably what it will take to get it really sharp.
At 24mm I need +3.
If I split the difference, nothing is even close to being sharp. In other words, the zoom is totally useless.
BTW... the lens works perfectly on my 20D at both 24mm and 105mm. Tested it at the same time.
p.55 #8 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
apdieb wrote:
...So, is it possible that the AF is fine and that something is actually moving or distorting the image as it's being captured? If I had it, I'd try and manually focus and then shoot...but I am pretty sure that the images (in AI-Servo) locked and released on static subjects and held for follow-focus on moving subjects appeared IN FOCUS through the viewfinder.
Any thoughts other than I am going mad?
I realize I am overthinking this stuff... Sad. But after shooting a bit in my yard today, it dawned on me that it could be something else.
We talked through this exact issue months ago when trying to troubleshoot this stuff. Many of the OOF images you get from the camera were critically-focused as far as the viewfinder goes, but then the image file is totally soft.
As far as something moving about inside the camera, we've tossed that around as well as it seems the only plausible explanation for such results, however impossible it might seem.
Similar to the results of these conversations we've had for the last 9 months: Who knows?
p.55 #9 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
Well.... I checked my Service Order and it shows that the camera service in Irvine has been completed. Now if "completed" = "fixed", who knows?
Now I am impatiently waiting for FedEx.. I probably need to temper my expectations to avoid a stroke... After all, it is only a camera we're talking about right?
On the thought of something moving... I am more wondering if there could be some type of interference going on causing the image to not be stable. Not so much an actual moving part. Maybe something similar to heat waves that you might see looking down an open road...then the sensor captures that distorted image.
I am grasping here and really don't know what I am talking about... but just throwing it out there..
p.55 #10 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
apdieb wrote:
I am grasping here and really don't know what I am talking about... but just throwing it out there..
Never let the facts get in the way of good drivel I say. My wife says I spew forth verbal effluent with remarkable ease. Baffle them them with BS, It's got a high success rate.
p.55 #12 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
Emile Gregoire wrote:
Could someone repost the url of the LCD calibration trick? I downloaded the image a while ago but have totally forgotten what to do with it
Another question while we're off-topic: how do you guys calibrate the AF of your zooms? I believe I've read somewhere one should use the maximum focal length for calibration, right? I'm kind of worried because I noticed that my 24-70 was all over the place at different focal lengths.
I noticed someone else posted the link but I thought I'd pass on my procedure which I found to be very fast and gave better results then when I calibrated shooting focus charts. First I used the image with all the rings rather the the first one with the targets as those rings really jump out when you hit focus dead on. The only problem there is the AF can have a bit harder time locking focus on that image vs the target one.
I put the image up on my 23" ACD and located it so I had plenty of room to work with my different lenses. Set up the cam on your tripod at the same height with the sensor plane parallel to the LCD screen as much as possible.
Open up live view, manual focus until the rings really start showing moire (with my better lenses you'll see what looks like oil drops on water, it's pretty obvious when it's spot on.) 5X or 10X works great here. Once you've found the lens' sweet spot focus wise note the approx position on the distance scale.
Switch off live view, rotate the focus ring off it's current setting and AF like normal. If your lens appears to hit the same point on the scale switch liveview back on and see if you're getting maximum moire again. If it's there you're pretty much right on. If it AF's to a different point altogether start experimenting with different calibration settings forward or backward as indicated by the new distance scale readings using AF. I was amazed that the distance scale indicator will actually hit obviously different marks with setting changes as small as 1 to 2 clicks. You'll start to get a feel for how much one or two clicks moves your focus point just by watching the distance scale. Once I got each lens to AF to pretty much the exact point I hit with liveview/manual focus (which really doesn't take long) I'd switch liveview back on and fine tune to get the best moire after AF which was usually within 1 click or right on at that point.
It also helps to rotate your lenses off focus in both directions and check if you're getting the same point coming back to focus from both directions. My Tamron 16-35 would AF to slightly different spots depending on which direction I had rotated the focus ring. Once I found it's optimum calibration setting the Tamron would hit the same point coming in from either direction. All my L's hit the same spot regardless so it was just a matter of adjusting the calibration until it would hit the same point as the manually focused position.
I got the following results and subsequent regular shots revealed that the overall AF results were better then before calibration:
30mm f2: was the worst at +10
Tamron 16-35: -7
24-105: 0 at 24mm, -1 at 105
70-200f4L IS: -3 at 200mm
400 f5.6L: -5 which is exactly where I had set it previously after careful testing using the 45 degree focus chart.
This method is just so much faster then shooting focus charts IMHO.
p.55 #13 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
I mentioned earlier that I used this method and thought I had it dialed in, then went out and shot real world stuff that was much further away than my monitor was at calibration time...Found out that it was off more and more depending on how far away the subject was. Up close (10-15ft), generally my focus was decent after calibration. But as the subject got further things started falling apart.
p.55 #14 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
I was laying in bed the other night thinking about this focus fiasco...instead of actually sleeping...and it hit me that another remarkable innovation of the Mark III is the focus calibration feature. What is that little gem of a system designed around, how does it function, and how may it be having an effect on the all new totally redesigned worlds most advanced 45 point autofocus system ? Oh I could go on and on. I had fun going to YouTube and watching the ads from the release of the MK III. I actually had to .
p.55 #15 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
Rich, thanks for your elaborate response. I've saved your description right next to the .gif file should I loose the url again in the future
Hrow, I had exactly the same results with my 24-70 using those focus charts @ a 45 degree angle. I'll see what this method brings. Maybe a calibration of the lens is in order, but then again, like yours, on my 5D it works miracles...
p.55 #16 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
Emile, the differences between wide and telephoto are so dramatic that they are easily visible on the LCD. In my case, there is no setting that will work that will make the lens functional as a zoom - which is kind of, sort of, why I bought a 24-105 in the first place. Had Canon told me that zooms won't work on MY 1DMkIII then my purchase decision would have been considerable different.
p.55 #17 · ['NEW Fix' UPDATE!] - MkIII AF still broken
I was reasonably happy with the first 24-105 I owned using with a 5D. I just picked up a much newer 24-105 used that came out of a 5D bundle. I don't know if it's just a better copy or the mkIII just AF's it better but images are looking a bit sharper even then that original setup.
Your experiences with the mkIII are just terrible Henry and tough to imagine given how well mine is working. It's disturbing even when one owns a decent mkIII because it's always in the back of your mind that the AF issues may rear their ugly head at some point. (sort of like driving a sports car that handles perfectly until you push it past a certain point and then it rolls over on you)
