Have I damaged my new 7D and or 70-300L IS USM Lens?

I really appreciate all your answers - so reassuring when you are a newbie to digital. Especiallly as I've only really used it for 2 days kind expensive write off @ £2,600!

Made my weekend!

Oh dear, I just took 5 really quick landscape shots with the 70-300L IS USM and they didn't seem too sharp - a bit fuzzy. Maybe I had them all on 'Auto CA', but thought I'd put a couple on C1; whereas I did my shots on Thursday and Saturday [that were good] on C1 C2 & C3. Looked in DPP and it said Program AE but C1-3 were heavily modified P modes.
Ummm hopefully it was just user error, or grass fields didn't give me a clear focus point. But I'm a little worried.

What symtoms would one get if the IS wasn't working properly [other than fuzzy images]?
Would it give an error code?

Any ideas welcome.

Will try some more controlled shots soon, and let you know.

That might be the cause of your fuzziness

I'd just try a more controlled test - find something in semi-decent light with a clear focal point, focus with IS enabled, fire away.

You can check the IS by simply turning it on whilst looking through the lens, as it gets turned on you should see the image in the viewfinder stabilise and stop moving around so much.

I can't comment on the focus issue without knowing the focus mode, whether single point or all-points, what you tried to focus on etc. You say that you did 5 "really quick" shots, which can easily lead to sloppy technique. The results you describe could be bad focus technique, or camera shake due to poor bracing and shooting technique and/or too slow a shutter speed.

sandpiper wrote in post #14625251
You can check the IS by simply turning it on whilst looking through the lens, as it gets turned on you should see the image in the viewfinder stabilise and stop moving around so much.

I can't comment on the focus issue without knowing the focus mode, whether single point or all-points, what you tried to focus on etc. You say that you did 5 "really quick" shots, which can easily lead to sloppy technique. The results you describe could be bad focus technique, or camera shake due to poor bracing and shooting technique and/or too slow a shutter speed.

Thanks for your help Sandpiper. I'm going to set up photobucket so I can post some images tomorrow when we get some decent light

OK some pics of the problem.
The photo of Rebecca was taken before I took the lens off. Sure its not brilliant but the lighting was difficult - but good enough for my 2nd day using the camera and flash wirelessly, plus no where to set up remote 430EXMkII re a very small room:-
http://i1153.photobuck​et.com …riner7D/IMG_114​2Small.jpg

The second picture of the grassy field, was taken after the lens removal saga - the AF box was in the middle of the grass. And it's horribly fuzzy and soft:-
http://i1153.photobuck​et.com …riner7D/IMG_138​8small.jpg

I did put the AF box on the grassy field before reducing it in size only to find it's gone?
Not sure how I post with this tech stuff on it

Submariner wrote in post #14626096
Thanks for your help Sandpiper. I'm going to set up photobucket so I can post some images tomorrow when we get some decent light

Decent light? In the UK? You'll be expecting England to win a penalty shootout next.

Make sure you leave the exif data intact (so don't use "save for web" as that strips it) it makes it easier for people to work out what may be causing issues.

Submariner wrote in post #14626214
The second picture of the grassy field, was taken after the lens removal saga - the AF box was in the middle of the grass. And it's horribly fuzzy and soft:-
http://i1153.photobuck​et.com …riner7D/IMG_138​8small.jpg

You need contrast to autofocus, so if you are trying to autofocus on the grass, it is not going to work.

Is this your first SLR?

sandpiper wrote in post #14626219
Decent light? In the UK? You'll be expecting England to win a penalty shootout next.

Make sure you leave the exif data intact (so don't use "save for web" as that strips it) it makes it easier for people to work out what may be causing issues.

Uhmm looks like EXIF data has gone. All I did was use the Photobucket uploader, but I think I ticked remove location data where the photo was taken [reason if I used the A77 it has that stupid GPS integrated; so with google maps someone can actually see which room it was taken in!]. Do you think that stipped the exif data too?

I'll work on that tomorrow with the hopefully better pics.

Yeah, that grass is a tricky target for the AF to pick up, so it's hard to be sure of anything with that test. Try and pick a definite subject, with good edge contrast and focus on that. Be sure to place the chosen AF point so that it covers an edge (so it has a line through it with dark on one side and light on the other) to make sure that it has enough contrast to focus properly.

It will help if you show a resized version of the whole shot, plus a 100% crop taken from the part of the scene you focused on (a section of the original shotthat is cropped out and not resized - so it is posted as a faithful 1 pixel on the monitor for each pixel in the image). That allows us to see a part of it at full size, as though looking at the whole image at 100% (which obviously won't fit on the forum.

It also makes it easier if you embed the shots in the thread, so we don't have to click on links. If using photobucket, just click on the code in the "img" box under each image, then "paste" it into your forum post.

Submariner wrote in post #14626283
Uhmm looks like EXIF data has gone. All I did was use the Photobucket uploader, but I think I ticked remove location data where the photo was taken [reason if I used the A77 it has that stupid GPS integrated; so with google maps someone can actually see which room it was taken in!]. Do you think that stipped the exif data too?

I'll work on that tomorrow with the hopefully better pics.

Exif data is still there, have you got an exif reader plug in for your browser? You need one to see the exif. Removing location data is a good idea for shots taken at home, you don't really want to advertise where someone can find expensive camera gear.

Magnus3D wrote in post #14621718
The only issue i can imagine would occur when removing the lens while the camera is on would be that the sensor is active and has a static charge which would make it suck in dustparticles like a vacuum when you remove the lens.

/ Magnus

Very good advice - Nikons' were known as dust magnets because of this.

wrankin wrote in post #14641602
Very good advice - Nikons' were known as dust magnets because of this.

I think that's web lore. The sensor is never exposed to the air until the shutter button is pressed and then for only the speed of the shutter. Also, why would there be a static charge on the device? Just because there is a electrical current running through a chip does not necessarily mean that there is also static.

If taking off or putting on a lens while the power was on, would damage the camera or lens, I would have gone through at least several hundred bodies and lenses by now.

I have NEVER EVER turned the power off while changing lenses. And I'm not ever going to.

Glenn