Is my 1d Mk II "broken?" Focus issues...

[Crazified]

Hopefully someone can answer this for me:

When I have my 550ex flash attached to my 1d mk II, it seems to take forever for the focus point to lock. It'll get it eventually, but it's pretty slow. It's not that it necessarily "hunts", but basically what happens is that when you press halfway down on the shutter to activate the AF system, the "red light" on the flash will come on, flash a few times to help the AF out, and then it will find it. Sometimes it "hunts", but not all the time. Problem is though is that it takes WAY too LONG. I did a controlled test focusing on the same object with the same lens in the same lighting conditions with the same flash. All focus points were disabled except for the center spot. The difference between my 1d mk II and my 10d was night and day.

The 10d kicked the mk II's butt.

The "red light" flashed for for just two quick bursts on the 10d before it grabbed the focus.

Any insights/reccomendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Pekka]

Low light slows AF down: in order to accurately AF you need to accumulate light. My 1D Mark II works exactly as described in http://www.cps.canon-europe.com/kb/detail.jsp?faqId=1003 , takes about 1 sec to lock in very dark with AF assist from 550EX. But it locks to correct spot and I like that (10D was not so reliable).

[Crazified]

Yes... I know low light is a factor, but it's takes longer than a second to focus on the mk II. Using the 550's AF assist beam produces superior speed results with the 10d (as opposed to the mk II). And the 10d doesn't miss either. I find it hard to believe that the 10d beats the mk II and that's why I'm asking the question.

Is there anyone else who can do the same test and see if they get the same results?

[scottbergerphoto]

You can speed up low light AF of the 1DM2 by using Center point only AF and setting CFn.17 to 0. AF point expansion slows manually selected AF point down. There are limitations to Canon's choice of contrast based Passive AF, as well as advantages.
Chuck Westfall of Canon has addressed this issue at www.robgalbraith.com . You will find it if you search the Canon 1 Series Forum.