Canon 7D not autofocusing?

Hey guys, I just bought a canon 7D and the canon 1.8 50mm lens. I upgraded from a Rebel Xti so I generally know how canon cameras work. However, I cannot get this bugger to autofocus. It's being a pain in the neck and just whirrs back and forth and I can't get it to focus on anything, even if I try and force my subject to stand at the proper distance.

Thanks for the help! You might save me from taking it back!
:o

Call 1 800 OK Canon for tech help.
They should work you thru a set of self checks before they say service time.
I would do a set myself..
including cleaning of contacts on camera lens and battery areas.
I would also reset all defaults, switches, and check that lens does AF on other bodies
and that body does AF with other lenes.

So its just not locking on?
How close are you to what your shooting?

firespyer wrote in post #14648156
So its just not locking on?
How close are you to what your shooting?

yes, it will not lock correctly.
about a meter or so.

Can you lock into anything further away, out of interest, or does it refuse regardless? Also, what about with other lenses, the same deal?

Andrew Tingle wrote in post #14648171
Can you lock into anything further away, out of interest, or does it refuse regardless? Also, what about with other lenses, the same deal?

It will allow me to take a shot for an object about 10 feet away, but it'll be blurry and out of focus. I will try to borrow a friend's stock lens when I come home from work tonight.
Sometimes it will allow me to lock at the proper distance (1.5 feet?) but the result is blurry every time.

try another lens, that should narrow it down.

I am getting a little bit better results when I changed the AF mode to SEL, and I can move the little square cursor, but it's still being difficult (several times of back and forth before it locks).

Yup, okay, it would be good to see how it is with your friends lens - just trying to, as Rick states, narrow it down here.

Green box mode and a different lens shooting a well defined and lit subject will definitely help narrow down camera or lens...

That lens has a minimum subject distance of 18 inches so you are roughly twice that at a meter.

Since new firmware has just been released for the 7D you might just want to start with a flash of the latest and greatest. It just might help and likely will be something you do anyway in the near future. Go to https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1201244 for the details.

Is the lens you are using the 50mm F1.8 II? If so that lens is known to be decent on focusing in good light, but as light level drops it becomes substantially less reliable. So are you testing at high or low light levels? Good focus dependent upon a number of variables, including the camera body used, subject contrast, and light levels.

For the pics that do lock, what aperture are you shooting? 1.8 is awfully thin even at a distance.

What are you using for your test subject for the focusing issue and how well lit is it?

Not likely an issue since you say some images will cause a lock but check Custom Function setting IV and make sure nothing is set to AF-OFF. Not sure about your 7D but some Canon cameras allow you to disable the lens AF/MF switch via Custom Function settings.

John from PA wrote in post #14648378
Is the lens you are using the 50mm F1.8 II? If so that lens is known to be decent on focusing in good light, but as light level drops it becomes substantially less reliable. So are you testing at high or low light levels? Good focus dependent upon a number of variables, including the camera body used, subject contrast, and light levels.

This is the exact lens I have, so yes. I didn't realize it was the II.
http://www.amazon.com …Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU

I just wanted to try taking some candids in indoor fluorescent lighting, so not the best but certainly not the worst.

Thank you for all your help here. I'm going to try and play with some of your suggestions and see if I can figure it out. Is there a recommended AF setting that you suggest I use? I reset everything back to the default in case I messed something up.

Indoor flourescent lighting can be surprisingly dim and you might not realize it as the human eye has quite a dynamic range. I would do a flash of the firmware, as I said you probably want to do that anyway. Then just make sure your AF setting is on. I would manually select the center focus point then hold the shutter about 1/2 way down and see if it locks. Maybe try it in marginal light and good light and see how the lens behaves. To improve the image go into white balance and select fluorescent.