chippy_jersey wrote:
In fairness and not wanting to sour the warm feeling I now have inside, I was shooting gulls in the sky so no distracting background. It would seem ring of fire is fine for plain backgrounds, but is really unstable and jittery with anything else, dropping the sensitivity down helped but wasn't a cure. The best option was to flip over to a selected AF point and use the surrounding AF points to assist, which seemed much, much better - I'd almost say majical in the way it seemed to keep track, even small birds at distance.
I'm interested in your final settings. One of the AF point selections I tried was 2 selected points above the CP and the sequences from that setting looked good and it felt like the cam was acquiring initial focus a little faster.
FYI, I just got off the phone with Canon CPS Tech Support. Seems they HAVE heard of a VERY FEW problems, isolately located!!!
Brian@CPS is saying that the complaints have been minute.
I suggest an email to Chuck Westfall via here: http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0912/tech-tips.html?dsq=32488019#comment-32488019
My 70-200mm IS f/2.8 with AF point "dead on" and AI Servo, CP only, is so radically oof on a stationary subject at 100ft it is shameful! Same subject same settings on 1DsMKIII and 50D "dead on" perfectly in focus!.
Dan
chippy_jersey wrote:
Looks like I've got the paperweight to work!
...snip...
I have changed a number of my AF CF's since I listed the previous lot, so I'll post my updated settings later in case it helps anyone else. I'll also post a full tracked burst and some other examples.
Yeah, I'm definitely interested. The issues I posted about a page or two back were shot with a manually selected point and AF assist points activated.
I am having the same problems with my 1DMKIV. I went out Saturday January 30th with my MKIV with firmware 1.04 and a 500mm f/4 lens. The tracking of Eagles in flight was amazing. The camera would focus lock instantly. The focus stayed locked on as I picked the eagle up in the sky and followed it down to the water line as it picked up a fish. I was totally impressed. Then Sunday morning I down loaded and installed firmware 1.06 and went out again to shoot eagles. Now it was a whole different story. With no changes to the settings of the camera and the same lens, the camera would have to search and search for the same type of eagles in the sky. Some time I would have to depress the shutter buttons several times in an effort to get focus. Then once focused, as soon as the eagle went below the horizon with water in the background I would lose focus, then refocus with the shutter button, depress and lose all focus again. I tried different setting, all with same outcome. I contacted a Canon Rep to see if it was possible to reinstall 1.04 and the answer was no. Why would the camera perform flawlessly with 1.04 and not with 1.06? I have read the some people say micro adjust for the lens, however if it worked on 1.04 why adjust for 1.06.
Ignoring CF settings for the time being, what AF settings did you use - Ring of F, single AF point? It might sound silly but did you use the same Af point settings for porterait and horizontal?
I have returned my camera to the retailer. I spoke with their customer service people who were unaware of any problem with the firmware. The clincher for me was the camera's inability to give me a solid focus, on a target, while on a tripod. I guess the AF adjustment might have corrected that, but right out of the box this camera should have focused. Even in their own manual Canon states, "Normally this adjustment is not required", and "Note that doing this adjustment may prevent correct focus from being achieved". Why would I fool around with a camera that right from the very beginning is trouble?
I think I will just snuggle up to my 1DsIII until Canon gets it right - hopefully - again.
I think in your case you should call Canon and tell them what has happened. The more feedback they get, the faster they'll try to resolve the problem.
My camera arrived with 1.0.6 and it doesn't seem to have the exact issues you have. Instead I'm seeing AF that fluctuates between front focusing and correct focusing. Some of it might be resolved with micro focus adjustment... we'll see. I'd suggest you visit the NatureScapes forum and read this thread: http://naturescapes.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=170702 if you haven't already done so. There are others with some issues, though possibly not strictly due to the firmware update.
I think in your case you should call Canon and tell them what has happened. The more feedback they get, the faster they'll try to resolve the problem.
My camera arrived with 1.0.6 and it doesn't seem to have the exact issues you have. Instead I'm seeing AF that fluctuates between front focusing and correct focusing. Some of it might be resolved with micro focus adjustment... we'll see. I'd suggest you visit the NatureScapes forum and read this thread: http://naturescapes.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=170702 if you haven't already done so. There are others with some issues, though possibly not strictly due to the firmware update....Show more →
I recommended that already above. I have spoke to Canon, Canon CPS and Canon, NY@ they are claiming "we never have heard of this, with the exception of CPS@Brian.
The link I provided is read by Canon and definitely by Chuck Westfall@Canon.
Forums on other sites are saying the same things and now numerous other lenses are entering the fray.
We should not have to use MA everytime we mount a lens IMHO.
JUst FYI and opinion.
People HAVE to let Canon know there is a problem! Yes the "canned" answer is "Send it in!"
Dan
mdbassman wrote:
My 70-200mm IS f/2.8 with AF point "dead on" and AI Servo, CP only, is so radically oof on a stationary subject at 100ft it is shameful! Same subject same settings on 1DsMKIII and 50D "dead on" perfectly in focus!.
Dan
I just did a test, 70-200/2.8L IS on Mark IV, handheld, AI SERVO 10 FPS, shot JPG, picture style Standard, no editing other than cropping and resizing, it's a over cast day here, not a good lighting for photography...
used both center and outer loop AF points, pictures shown are FF frame and 100% crop.
I have spoken with Canon two times and both Monday and Tuesday of this week.On Monday the gentleman said he had not heard of any other problems and that he would check around to see if any other reps were aware of the issue. When I called back Tuesday he said he checked others in his group and no one was aware of any problems. He tried to follow standard procedures and walk me through different camera settings, however it worked well with 1.04 and not 1.06.
Wonder if all shipments have stopped because of this? Keep looking at NowInStock.net and nothing since last week. They may deny a problem but wonder if they are looking into it.
Wonder if all shipments have stopped because of this? Keep looking at NowInStock.net and nothing since last week. They may deny a problem but wonder if they are looking into it.
John,
I received mine yesterday but did not think that the latest firmware would installed like it was. That leads me to think that the prior lull in deliveries was due to Canon holding units back to update the firmware. Now if there are additional problems I would expect them to hold all shipments until the figure it out.
Michael
I hate to say I told you so, but I warned about the dangers here. The risks of updates to something as complex as AF are huge and Canon would not have taken this step lightly. I hope your tests are somehow wrong, but would not be surprised it they are right.
It certainly would be a shame if they had a killer af system and f'ed it up tweaking the firmware. I guess the upside is that if this is a systematic problem, it's a firmware issue and not a hardware one.
Reading more that MA is not to be a routine adjustment to customize your rig, but it seem like folks resort to it as if it is. That's a general observation, not addressing anyone in particular who has posted.
OK here's the 2nd test frorm today, nothing creative, just AF tests.
First set, the fella on the bike was single centre AF point with surrounding AF points assist. Looks like it went fractionally off as the pole crossed the frame, but could have been me as it was haldheld.
Second set of the gull was centre AF point with all 45 points assisted. Early burst with ROF selected produced the same results against a plain sky.
Pigeons, this is where the ROF failed miserably an flicked between the pigeons and background, but with a single AF point with surrounding Af point assist kept focus locked in perfectly (white pigeon was AF target).
1=0
2=0 (Or 1 step towards slow helped in ROF but leaving mine at default)
3=0
4=0
5=0
6=1
7=0
8=2
9=0
10=0
11=1
12=0
13=2
14=1
15=0
16=1
17=0
In my opinion CF8 is one of the most important. A general rule should probably be, the busier the background, the less points I'd be tempted to use. Will leave mine on 2 for now which seemed to be the best general setting.
ROF is crap for anything with a background. This is perhaps why I was seeing awful results earlier in the week as that's all I was using (or trying to get to work).
John P Mulgrew wrote:
Wonder if all shipments have stopped because of this? Keep looking at NowInStock.net and nothing since last week. They may deny a problem but wonder if they are looking into it.
The last 1D Mark IV was in stock was Jan 28, and the last Nikon D3s was in stock was Jan 27, doest it mean Nikon D3s having any problem?
In my opinion CF8 is one of the most important. A general rule should probably be, the busier the background, the less points I'd be tempted to use. Will leave mine on 2 for now which seemed to be the best general setting.
It was quite important with the MkIII as well. Without discounting any of the experiences people are having, I think one has to be prepared to master all the different setting options and apply them as they work best in different settings, controlling your changes as you go along to know what is and isn't working in a given situation. I don't think it optimal to just have one seting used for BIF, or soccer, or whatever action one shoots, but to tailor them to the challenges different environments present when doing those shoots.
chippy_jersey wrote:
Pigeons, this is where the ROF failed miserably an flicked between the pigeons and background, but with a single AF point with surrounding Af point assist kept focus locked in perfectly (white pigeon was AF target).
