CMOS wrote:
Sounds like my 5DII. Anyway, when Canon released firmware 1.0.6, did the release notes say anything about changes to the AF on the camera?
If Canon didn't advertise any tweaks to the AF, let's assume for the moment they didn't make any changes. That suggests that nothing has changed on the AF system and the cameras were jacked from the beginning - it's just that nobody noticed it until now.
Spider wrote:
Well, I did call canon and I'm also CPS member and they told me v.1.0.4 is not available any more end of the story….
This is turning into a really sad story. I cannot beleive that someone somewhere in the Canon empire does not have that file. There's a big difference between can't and won't.
PierreB wrote:
This is turning into a really sad story. I cannot beleive that someone somewhere in the Canon empire does not have that file. There's a big difference between can't and won't.
John--G wrote:
I'm not saying there isn't a potential issue with 1.0.6 and you can color me wrong but I think most folks would be well advised to leave most of the settings at default until you get more comfortable with the camera. After a short period of use you will quickly discover which (if any) of the settings need tweaked.
Just because this Miller guy posted some settings doesn't mean they are now the defacto standard for how a 1-series is supposed to be setup.
I've been shooting with a pair of MkIII's for two years and upon delivery of my MkIV I simply changed a couple settings to make the displays, buttons and menus work like my MkIII and went out to shoot basketball. It worked fantastic.
As time goes on I'm sure there may be a few tweaks here and there but I'm certainly not about to blindly enter some unknown guys settings and hope they work for me.
I'm thinking that's a very good idea. I see more people having good results using out of the box settings then anything else. I tried about every AF combo known to man on this cam during my last go out and the results change so much with the different settings that I have to say I'm pretty confused at this point. My brain is just so locked into the MKIII settings used for 2 years that I have a tough time thinking stock settings will work properly on the IV.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1032&message=34422510
This is FYI only..I did not read all the posts but maybe it will help all us new MKIV users "understand" what is going on. It appears similiar DP/FM users responded and runs true to what is being said here.
I have a call into Chuck Westfall@Canon NY. I will post what he sez, if he replies.
Dan
Ok, here's the result of the test. 24-105mm at F4, 10FPS. This is a good one as a couple of people walked between the subject the audi and the camera.
As you can see, tracking seems spot on, even when the guys head blocks part of the AF ring (was on ring of fire).
However I dont think that this is that conclusive. For starters the DOF is huge so it's less likely to show any accuracy issue, and the car was travelling quite slowly. Also it only seems to be an issue with the 500mm, so tomorrow's test will be with identical settings and the 500 and see what happens!
Is anyone else having this problem with the 400mm f/5.6 on the Mark IV? I was shooting this weekend and couldn't get good focus. Now, I cannot say that this is an issue. I didn't shoot all that much and I was hand holding so this could be me and not the camera. I will be trying more but wanted to see if anyone else had similar results.
Guys, just to add that I too have experienced problems as described. Lens in use a 600 F4 with and without a 1.4x.
I used the mk4 with factory fitted firmware and it was super. I loaded the new version and AF was incredible slow, often not picking up the subject (birds in flight with single, centre AF point).
My experience is that the camera will eventually find the subject but it is taking much longer than with v1.04, or indeed the MK3.
What I find incredible is that Canon obviously did not test this firmware with all lenses in a variety of shooting situations. Why would they not test a sports / wildlife body with a long lens and a fast moving target? That would be where I'd start.
My IV arrived with firmware 1.0.6 last Thursday. On the weekend I tested AI Servo with my 600 f/4 IS on skiers. The results were not good.
First of all, I think the combo needs focus adjustment. After review on the computer it seemed the focus was more often than not in front of distant subjects. Focus improved somewhat when the subject was filling the frame. But I also noticed that the AF was a bit jumpy. When the focus was off it was usually in front, but a few times behind, this combined with some frames that were correctly focused (or good enough).
I had already dialed in -1 micro focus before the skiers because that's what worked for what I was shooting before. I guess it would have contributed to the front focusing, but wonder if -1 is enough to shift focus around 2 meters (7 feet) with relatively distant subjects. But what bothers me the most is the jumpy nature of the plane of focus. If it was consistently in front of the subject that that's one thing, but there are frames that are pretty good, and frames that are off in every sequence.
The images have been cropped to 1000x1000 pixel of the center of the frame at actual pixels to allow 100% viewing. The center AF point was used with C. Fn. III-2 probably set to slow, or maybe between slow and normal. III-4-1 and III-8 at either 1 or 2 (don't recall for this specific sample). I know III-4-1 has been somewhat maligned in the past, but found that it worked OK for me on the III. Perhaps I made the mistake of porting over most of my Mark III settings and instead should have started off as already suggested with the stock settings. I plan to try that tomorrow on moving cars.
Since the weekend I've tried testing micro focus adjustments with the 400 2.8 & 600 to determine whether or not there really is a focus issue. So far it's been inconclusive because I'm having trouble getting the camera to focus consistently. You would expect that as you go from 0 to +10 that the focus gradually shifts backwards. In my tests I'm seeing some of that but with random frames way off, like sharp at +2 then way in front for +4 then in focus again at +8... BTW, I set C.Fn. III-8 to 0, which then also disables III-4 for the tests.
I also checked AF accuracy with a bunch of other lenses like the 50 1.2, 85 1.2, 135L, 70-200 f/4L IS, 300 f/4L IS and those were generally right on the money, though the 70-200 and 300 benefitted from +3 (I've always had slight FF issues with the 70-200).
Ron
P.S. there is discussion on the NatureScapes board where a few IV users are having issues with the camera and the 600 IS. It started off as a micro focus adjustment topic but has collected a number of us with general AF problems with that combo: http://naturescapes.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=170702
