7D disappointment so far

As noted above, 100% is likely to drive you insane. One thing I'm starting to see as an emerging theme is that 100% on the 7D, especially, will drive you nuts. I think those of us that pixel peep in our own homes are running into shock at how much minute amounts of movement are affecting shots that high res when viewed 100%.

The example shots look like their shadows are too harsh or contrast has been jacked through the roof and have some pretty harsh lighting; but sharpness doesn't really seem to be much of an issue in them. I think several have missed focus, but there does appear to be a plane of focus in them.

The other issue is you're shooting in harsh sunlight as someone else mentioned.

This picture looks pretty sharp. The focus is there and the subject was shot in the shade where there was more even light.
http://the-outdoorsman.net/temp/t​est/IMG_0137062110.jpg

Nascar Nut wrote in post #10403382
I am not sure what highlight priority is our under what setting to find it.

It is factory enabled, it is found under Custom Functions.

Yusef wrote in post #10403450
Looks like you're using full auto focus or zone focus. You can tell because the closest object is where the sharpest focus is. If you use spot focus or expanded spot focus and pin point your subject you should see better results. I also noticed when I'm using AI servo I get similar results where the focus points start to move to the closest part after initially pointing the focus point on a more distant part of the same object.

The majority of these thread are a result of not understanding the advanced focusing system of the 7D

These were all shot in spot focus. It is all I usally use for everything just about

There have been plenty of cases with 7D's and focus issues--where nothing in the frame is in focus.

This does not seem to be the case here.

Nascar Nut wrote in post #10403512
These were all shot in spot focus. It is all I usally use for everything just about

In that case you could be having focusing issues. Have you tried using a focus calibration chart?

Nascar Nut wrote in post #10403512
These were all shot in spot focus. It is all I usally use for everything just about

Where was the spot focus point put in that shot ?

JonSC wrote in post #10403510
It is factory enabled, it is found under Custom Functions.

That is disabled

Yusef wrote in post #10403523
In that case you could be having focusing issues. Have you tried using a focus calibration chart?

No I have not done this. Thanks for the sugestion.

Art Vandelay wrote in post #10403526
Where was the spot focus point put in that shot ?

Where there is a bird or a bee it was right on the subject. Some of the flowere pics could very but most of them was on the flower in the middle

Sun light was bright out. It was between 10 and noon. I have shot plenty of pics in this kind of light with my 40d and they came out fine for the most part. That is why I was concerned. These kind of shot like with the flowers should be great shots. Up close and should easily focus on them and should be sharp. Maybe the extra pixels and I always pixel peep has just shocked me.

You have to use Spot settings and you can search for my thread to read the Insanity I had with my 7D. Part of which was user error in setup but once I got it back from CPS it has been hypo-Sharp ever since.

So was the bee supposed to be in focus? If so then I would say you were backfocused on the leaf and water droplets.

Yusef hit the nail on the head. The focus is tack sharp exactly where the camera focused. Unfortunately, it wasn't on the bee. It definitely focused on an item closer to the lens. This was definitely caused by the focus choice you told the camera to make for you.

For your bee shots, switch to centerpoint only. Looks like this: [] in the view screen. No other points should be available for focusing. You can however, use the joy stick to move that point to the right so you could have focused on the bee and composed your shot exactly as shown, but with the focus on the bee and not the foreground foilage.

Give the camera some time and try to understand what is going on. I sat on my deck with mine for hours moving through the focus modes trying to understand where the focus was actually being applied. For me, centerpoint only seems to be a great place to start, then move into some others.

dave

snyderman wrote in post #10403651
Yusef hit the nail on the head. The focus is tack sharp exactly where the camera focused. Unfortunately, it wasn't on the bee. It definitely focused on an item closer to the lens. This was definitely caused by the focus choice you told the camera to make for you.

For your bee shots, switch to center point only. Looks like this: [] in the view screen. No other points should be available for focusing. You can however, use the joy stick to move that point to the right so you could have focused on the bee and composed your shot exactly as shown, but with the focus on the bee and not the foreground foilage.

Give the camera some time and try to understand what is going on. I sat on my deck with mine for hours moving through the focus modes trying to understand where the focus was actually being applied. For me, center point only seems to be a great place to start, then move into some others.

dave

Thank you for your advice. This is what I was doing though. This is why I think I might have a problem with focus. I am going to play with it some more though. I understand the focus points of this camera and I like all the options it has for it. But I usually only use the center point. One thing I think I was doing though and didn't realize was I was using the center focus point but I don't think I had the spot af mode on. The little square inside the bigger square. So this may be some of my focus issues. Am I right in thinking this or should the camera had good focus on the subjects in these pictures with just the center point on? The noise in some of the pics still bothers me but maybe that is due to the bright lighting.