7D Mark II - Focus Discussions

ifixsharp wrote in post #17318925
Dude..have you not read my posts. I took about 50 shots of the coyote that day. They all look about the same. I even reset the camera to factory. The focus not activating also happens with my 70-200 you can hear the IS spool up, But the focus she no move...
Box
I have not had to adjust anything with the 6D or the 1D with the 500mm it just works..

That is what I expect a camera to do..WORK. I dont see why I need to spend my money to send a camera back to them to MAKE it work!

Sorry for all the typos (new tablet auto correct). It would be nice to work out of the box and with default settings.

But with some, whatsbthr harm trying what has worked for others? People just trying to help.
try toggling the AF search, turn tracking to -2, set Focus priority vs relase, and turn off IS.

I have suspicians that with the fast AF of the mk ii, that there might be some behavior with more frequent captures before IS settles.

Another suggestion is to clean your electical contacts on battery, camera, and lenses.. it can only help.

Your coyote photos didn't appear to actually be an AF issue, it was a blurr issue as if something was moving in the system internals since your ss compensated for coyote or camera movement.

gschlact wrote in post #17319229
Sorry for all the typos (new tablet auto correct). It would be nice to work out of the box and with default settings.

Your coyote photos didn't appear to actually be an AF issue, it was a blurr issue as if something was moving in the system internals since your ss compensated for coyote or camera movement.

That's what I noticed with some of the absolute garbage I saw from two 7D2's. I can see the focus lock onto the subjects in the view finder, and it locks on quickly. Way, way plenty shutter speed. 1/3200 second in some cases. And the pics are soft blurry mess. And "something moving in the system internals" is exactly what I've been thinking. While explaining it to a fellow wildlife photographer, that's exactly what he suggested that it sounded like.

If you had a 30 day window - you may still try.

Looking through a ton of shots I took today, really most were in focus actually, when I did things right.

Maybe the focus is really too fast/twitchy, and the camera needs to be set as slow as possible, unless tracking really fast moving subjects?

Kickflipkid687 wrote in post #17319380
Looking through a ton of shots I took today, really most were in focus actually, when I did things right.

Maybe the focus is really too fast/twitchy, and the camera needs to be set as slow as possible, unless tracking really fast moving subjects?

That's one of the things I've thought about some time ago. I've yet to test it, but I'm hoping that could work.

Mine seems to be performing mostly fine after all, althought the 35 f/2 is still a problem.

600mm, f6.3, 1/30, ISO 800. Tripod/Gimbal.

gschlact wrote in post #17318582
Was your first tiger shot with one shot or AI Servo?
if servo, I think sub settings mods could help.
Also on computer were was AF point shin to have locked relative to eyes, nose etc?

Both shots were one shot AF and the focus was locked on the eyes. If you think any adjustment would correct this fuzzy tiger then I would respectfully suggest Specsavers!

gschlact wrote in post #17318600
Remember, to maximize sharpness, necessary shutter speed always trumps lower noise from lower iso.

Pleeaaaaaaaaaseeeeeeee​​eeee .... I don't need a photography lecture ... just a camera that works!

DanC.Licks wrote in post #17319778
600mm, f6.3, 1/30, ISO 800. Tripod/Gimbal.


Lucky, for sure. 1/30 is seldom fast enough for birds, no mater what the focal length. But it can be done. Can't always shoot at ISO 100 with 1/4000.

When boosting the ISO you do hit a point of diminishing returns where the sensor's resolution is reduced by sensor noise. Takes time to figure out where that point is and it is different with different cameras.

Exactly, and exactly. I don't know if I have any that slow, but I regularly go below one bazillion times the focal length The higher the ISO, the quicker images turn to mush when cropped.

Need to leverage all the options we have to best advantage. Can't always fill the frame at ISO 100 with 1/4000.

Much happier with my setup the second weekend of sport.

Used case 4 in both instances.

They have been through my usual Lightroom process

Image hosted by forum (702208) © Markd102 THIS IS A LOW QUALITY PREVIEW. Please log in to see the good quality stuff.

OK, I'd like a little help/comments. I've had my 7DII for several weeks now and didn't want to get caught up in the focus issues but I kept noticing that the results were pretty variable. I kept telling myself it had to be me because there were some really sharp shots but the majority were just a little off.

Today I spent a LOT of time with a focus chart, tripod, remote release, mirror lock-up...the works, trying to figure out if all I needed was a little micro adjustment. I took over 100 shots with two different lenses (100-400L f4 and 70-200L f4). I recorded everything and tried to be as methodical as possible, i.e. took 3 shots at max zoom, no adjustment, unfocus to the left and then refocus, 3 shots at max zoom, no adjustment, unfocus to the right then refocus...on and on. About half were taken outside at about 60' and about half inside at about 15'. None looked tack sharp.

Finally, I brought up the focus point info from the add-on program in Lightroom and every single one said focus not locked (I used one single center point focus).

Have I overlooked something? I will call the vendor tomorrow and request a swap.

First off I don't think you should be using that to determine any MFA adjustment you may require. Where does it say not locked? I sees red and white square says otherwise even then you should not use it. It just tells you what the camera locked onto before the image was taken.

I bet I could use that LR plugin with 5 second exposure, press the shutter half way, after the beep press the shutter and move the camera around and it still would give me a red and white focus lock in LR.

lg77sc wrote in post #17321471
OK, I'd like a little help/comments. I've had my 7DII for several weeks now and didn't want to get caught up in the focus issues but I kept noticing that the results were pretty variable. I kept telling myself it had to be me because there were some really sharp shots but the majority were just a little off.

Today I spent a LOT of time with a focus chart, tripod, remote release, mirror lock-up...the works, trying to figure out if all I needed was a little micro adjustment. I took over 100 shots with two different lenses (100-400L f4 and 70-200L f4). I recorded everything and tried to be as methodical as possible, i.e. took 3 shots at max zoom, no adjustment, unfocus to the left and then refocus, 3 shots at max zoom, no adjustment, unfocus to the right then refocus...on and on. About half were taken outside at about 60' and about half inside at about 15'. None looked tack sharp.

Finally, I brought up the focus point info from the add-on program in Lightroom and every single one said focus not locked (I used one single center point focus).

Have I overlooked something? I will call the vendor tomorrow and request a swap.

Hosted photo: posted by lg77sc in
./showthread.php?p=173​21471&i=i23350070
forum: Canon Digital Cameras

If you didn't try any micro adjustments then you were basically wasting your time. All you know is that you weren't getting sharp focus, but not whether it was simply a matter of front or back focusing, or something else entirely. As digital paradise noted, it's probably not a good idea to rely on that LR plugin with regard to focus lock. Your sample shot above is not very out of focus, so quite possibly could be brought to 100% sharp focus by a small micro adjustment.

OK, I don't know if this has been posted here before, but here is Canon (Canada)'s procedure provided to customers for doing focus tests. I received it from Canon after complaining about AF problems with a lens. I suppose the same procedure would apply to bodies too. I think it is a useful list, for starters at least.


===============
BASIC SLR FOCUS TEST
===============
In order to isolate the issue that you are experiencing, we suggest performing the following focusing test and responding with the results. Due to the large number of factors that can affect focus, it is imperative that all of the settings below be adhered to in order to properly assess the situation.

1. If you use filters with your lenses please remove them for this test.
2. Use the “Clear all camera settings” and “Clear all Custom Functions” of the camera to reset the camera to its default factory settings.
3. If your camera offers the AF microadjustment feature, please ensure that it is disabled for the purposes of this test.
4. Set the Image Quality setting to "Large JPEG" (or preferably RAW if possible)
5. Set the "Picture Style" to "Standard".
6. Set the shooting mode to "aperture priority <Av>" and set the aperture to the maximum value possible (smallest f/stop) however please also ensure that it is not set any lower than f/2.8
7. Set the "ISO" speed to "100".
8. Set the "AF mode" to "One Shot". For this test, do NOT use "AI Servo" or "AI Focus" modes.
9. Set the "Drive Mode" to "Single Shot". For this test, do NOT use "Continuous" shooting mode.
10. Select only the centre auto-focus point.
11. If you use a tripod, please disable the Image Stabilization of the lens by moving the "Stabilizer" switch on the lens to the "OFF" position.
12. Place three objects of the same size on a table at different distances from the camera. From left to right, place the left most object closest to the camera and the right most object furthest from the camera. From front to back, space the objects out by about 2 to 3 inches. For easier analysis, we recommend using objects that contain text or writing on them and that contain a fair amount of contrast (i.e. avoid using objects that are completely one colour).
13. Compose or frame the image in the viewfinder so that the three objects occupy and fill as much of the frame as possible.
14. Use the centre auto-focus point to achieve focus on the centre object and then, without re-framing, capture the image. Please ensure that the centre AF point is aimed towards a part of the object that contains contrast (i.e. avoid having the AF point land on a part of the object that is completely one colour).
15. Please ensure that there is more than adequate lighting in the room. If possible this test should be performed outdoors in full daylight.
16. Please ensure that the lens is "de-focused" or purposely thrown out of focus in between every test shot. To do this, focus on an object that is located at a different distance to your intended subject and then re-perform the test.
17. Optional: redo steps 1-16 using the "Live View Shooting" feature of your camera (if available on your model). This will help isolate the issue even further.

Note that, after downloading images to your computer from a digital camera, it is tempting to magnify or print out just a part of the image once downloaded to your computer. This can magnify small errors in AF that would otherwise not be apparent when being viewed at a more traditional print size. As a result, you may see slight errors in AF magnified many times over that would not normally be visible when the image is printed. Even if small errors in AF are visible on the computer monitor, these errors may not be visible when the image is viewed as a full size print.

OK, sorry for not being more precise. DP, I was using the method described here just to see if I could identify if I had a problem or not.

https://photographylif​e.com …dslr-for-autofocus-issues

STSVA, I did try lots of micro adjustments -15 to +15 in 2-3 stop increments for both lenses. At the very ends (-15, +15) I could see the focus getting worse but everything in between was soft. There wasn't any point between that was sharp.

As I mentioned I have gotten some very sharp shots, but it seems very variable and up until today I was certain it was "user error", but now I'm not sure. It would be fine with me if it were "user error". I'd just like to find out for sure.

Larry