We experienced focus issues with the Tokina 11-16 and the Sigma 24-60. No matter what we tried the tokina was never in focus. The Sigma required +20 to bring it in. As a side note, our Canon lens required little, if any adjustment, and on my 50D they focus fine. Go figure.....
Lots of people bought 7D's and went out with the default settings and ended up with out of focus images. Not because the camera was faulty, but because the new AF system, when set to all points sometimes focuses on the closest point, the top, bottom, or edge. Once they check AF with center point only, they discover it is operator error. (BTW - this happened to me)
Of course, the camera can be defective, just be sure to check and make sure which point it is focusing on.
spectraflash wrote:
I just got my new 7D this week and was also disappointed in the image sharpness. I have two L-series lenses, a 70-200 f/2.8 L IS and a 24-105 f/4 L IS. Both lenses are tack sharp on my XTi but not so on the 7D. I also tested using MF and still got soft photos. I'm really distraught over this, I saved for six months to buy this camera. I'm not sure what steps to take now and I'm wondering whether returning the 7D to B&H is a good idea. I love everything about the 7D except the end result: THE IMAGES!! Any suggestions are appreciated....Show more →
Welcome to FM, I see this is your first post!
Many people have had the same experience as you, and many if not all have changed their mind after some time with learning from the huge base of knowledge among members here.
There are many threads in the past covering this, and a search on 7D will give either too many results to look through, or if you use combinations of keywords, you might not find the most interesting threads.
For a start, I have dug up some of the threads that I think contain useful information:
If your camera is not faulty, these are in sum some factors to consider:
When viewing images at 100% the 7D image is effectively enlarged more, and every possible source of softness (technique, lens, diffraction, focus accuracy...) is also enlarged more.
Choice of RAW converter and post-processing REALLY matters with this camera.
Have owned 2 7Ds. Sold one which worked well, the second one I had to return to Newegg, majority of the images were soft. Had a 1d Mark III and 7D and 300 F4 IS, 28-75 Tamron, 16-35 Canon, 70-200 L IS. The 1D Mark III had no such issues with the same lenses.
In comparison, the 5D Mark II I owned for a while was perfect when used with center focus point.
Let me add my 2 cents worth.I have about 1/2 hour experience with a 7D.I swapped cameras with my landlord because he is not happy with the 7D "soft images" "poor focusing" etc.I use all MF glass.So i put my Mamiya 80mm f1.9 on the 7D and could not nail the focus with it.Hmmmmm.So i started playing with the diopter.The diopter was waaaaayyyyy off! So after properly setting it i can now focus no problems with the camera.Of course i will not be able to judge the AF of the camera.Now if i can just get it to meter right.I have to overexpose nearly 2 stops for proper exposure.Not so on my 5D.Any way i guess the moral of this story is, sometimes we have to start with the basics and go from there
-Jim
I have a 7D, and it's sweet. I have no focus problems with it. Mine focuses on static objects in single shot AND focuses on moving objects in AI servo.
It grabs focus quick in low light, and it grabs it accurately for me.
I regularly shoot it ISO 4000-6400 (well it was mainly 3200, but I bumped up last few shoots). I love it.
I really like the camera. I don't get how people can talk shit on it if they haven't used it. Then again, they can do research on it and post the research that they've found.
First, if you are viewing this thread on a satellite phone, I apologise, but perhaps you might switch off image fetching in your browser and only click images you are interested in viewing, as this certainly isn't the only thread on FM which is data-heavy.
Secondly, my images were intended to show the frequency, circumstances, and scale of the inconsistent mis-focussing I have experienced on my 7D. The focus is significantly wrong by varying amounts even in well lit easy situations with no confusing subject material. This is essentially a brick wall of people, with plenty of high contrast detail to pick up. All of the AF sensors cover the subject, which is at one distance. The camera failed to focus almost all of the 47 images. The only one sharply focussed here is the one where I used liveview/face-detection. The AI focus mode should perform exactly like One Shot in this situation, since there is no movement of subject matter in the direction of the lens axis. The manual does not warn that Auto-selection of focus points causes complete focussing failure and I don't think it's reasonable to expect it to fail like this when all other Canon DSLR's would have no trouble at all in auto-selecting focus in these conditions. Micro-adjustment is not to blame here - this is way off, and the lens works fine with my other cameras. This isn't miscalibration, this is a totally irrational failure of the focus system. Please stop making excuses for it. It's broken, and it's often hard to see when the camera fails like this, until you get home.
I have had other problems with 7D AF. I don't find it very accurate or reliable, and it's hard to find an AF-point array which suits all conditions, so I often feel compelled to cycle through the 5 arrangements in search of something that suits and works. This problem may vary with the lens attached. Who knows? Be warned.
still no real answer why you dont use...center point focus as the manuals of many,many EOS bodies say even my old Elan2 which wasnt no 1 series either had 3 A/F modes just guess which one worked better on static subjects..well seems flogging dead horses is the way of this subject and RTFM and understanding it
seems like another dead horse...there may be a good reason your pic are OOF'
you pressed the shutter twice before taking shot thus confusing A/F.
1.set camera to center point focus
2. push shutter all-the-way(half press before may throw A/F point off
3. repeat and rinse
60 knots plus landing. Tracked from approach. I think the AF works fine if you don't use all damn 19 points. I have seen all points failure on the 50D as well. I don't know about 1D but aren't you asking for a "read my mind" AF system?
I'm with braniac sorry.
I have the 7D so I can speak. Mine has not all these problems but sorry guys... if canon make 19Af points why we have to trust only in the center one?
I have mixed experiences with it, some times I get great results other I don't, I'm not sayng it's not a good camera but Braniac seems to be a photographer who knws what he's doing and the pictures speak alone.
I'm still in the learning curve but I'm coming from a 1Dmk2N so I know what I'm speaking of.
gotak wrote:
Dead horse in the house.
I think the AF works fine if you don't use all damn 19 points.
So basically the AF works really well as long as you don't use it in many of the ways it was designed to work or the way that Canon spent so much time elaborating on in their promo videos.
Lovely. A huge $$$ upgrade for a better AF that works well as long as you disable the majority of it and use a single AF point. Watch the Canon videos again and listen to them opine about how pros using a single AF point are pretty much missing the boat using a single AF point because the 19 point AF on the 7D is just THAT good.
DLP wrote:
So basically the AF works really well as long as you don't use it in many of the ways it was designed to work or the way that Canon spent so much time elaborating on in their promo videos.
Lovely. A huge $$$ upgrade for a better AF that works well as long as you disable the majority of it and use a single AF point. Watch the Canon videos again and listen to them opine about how pros using a single AF point are pretty much missing the boat using a single AF point because the 19 point AF on the 7D is just THAT good. ...Show more →
That sums it up. The concentrated KoolAid - use only half the usual amount of water.
Brainiac, I don't see any point in most of your posted examples that is in focus, and don't imagine that half pressing the shutter to obtain a lock and then doing a little dance, a jig in place, before completing the release could cause such an error as your images display. Has that camera been repaired?
I have experienced similar with all points AF when there's nothing clearly closest to lock onto. When you do it works fine. I can post some example of when it works and when it fails later today.
People are so quickly to jump to conclusions. Just like the idea of hybrids being the solution to energy security :P without realizing that rare earth elements needed for batteries are in shorter supply than oil.
SteveTuerk wrote:
That sums it up. The concentrated KoolAid - use only half the usual amount of water.
Brainiac, I don't see any point in most of your posted examples that is in focus, and don't imagine that half pressing the shutter to obtain a lock and then doing a little dance, a jig in place, before completing the release could cause such an error as your images display. Has that camera been repaired?
I returned it for a new copy. I have installed a DIY modified Ef-S screen and shimmed it fairly accurately so that there is more chance I will notice AF errors in good time, and be able manually to focus when necessary. I shot 7k frames at a wedding this weekend, and first impressions are that new modified 7D worked OK, but I must admit that I did deliberately avoid AF-point-auto-selection and AI Focus. In fact, I avoided using the 7D when possible, as the two other cameras around my neck were the tried and tested 5D2's.
gotak wrote:
I have experienced similar with all points AF when there's nothing clearly closest to lock onto. When you do it works fine. I can post some example of when it works and when it fails later today.
That is very interesting. It could be a simple bug fixable in firmware. I would love to see your examples.
60 knots plus landing. Tracked from approach. I think the AF works fine if you don't use all damn 19 points.
Do you think one example of successful focus with different settings and completely different circumstances sheds any light on the AF failure I have experienced? I have hundreds of examples of successfully focussing a 7D with a variety of circumstances and settings. The issue here is that, sometimes, some 7D's at least, seem to fail in very favourable conditions. That's why I said 'inconsistent' in my original post. Inconsistent means unreliable, unprofessional, and unlikely to remain in my bag.
I have seen all points failure on the 50D as well.
Maybe it's the same fault. These cameras share a lot of design.
I don't know about 1D but aren't you asking for a "read my mind" AF system?
No, I'm asking for the camera to do what the manual says it should, namely pick a focus point, any focus point, from 19, and focus there. That's what it's supposed to do, and there's nothing in the examples I have given that should trouble it. The camera flashes the point(s) that it claims to be using, so there's no excuse for its failing to do what the live feedback suggests, in very favourable situations like the examples I posted.
So I tried couple of times and honestly, in 1 shot all 19 points AF, it didn't fail at all.
Now 19 points servo AF well that had some issues. However, it was a sparring match at my karate class tonight that I was testing it in. Pretty hard to track 3 guys all wearing white. Plus I was using my 17-50 and maybe the AF speed leaves a lot to be desired.
