Finally got my 7D and wow my 85mm looks great!

Only reason I upgraded was to get MA capability. Got my 7D in the mail yesterday and instantly strapped on the 85mm 1.8. First pic is before MA and second is after (-4)

All I can say is this camera is perfect, only flaw which that I will have to get accustomed to is the fact the play button is on the left so it's a two hand operation to review photo's compared to the 60D. Only drawback I see so far haha... I'll get used it it. EDIT: Nevermind I found out you can set the "SET" button to playback, yay!

85mm @ F2 (facebook photos, jpg sooc, focus is on his right eye both times with an outer point)

Before

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Congrats on your 7D/85 combo. Make sure you switch the 7D over to back button focusing and you'll never miss a shot with a fast lens like the 85.

Thorrulz wrote in post #14794707
Congrats on your 7D/85 combo. Make sure you switch the 7D over to back button focusing and you'll never miss a shot with a fast lens like the 85.

already setup and done.

also have C3 setup under "P" settings for my wife
C2 is for my external flash
nothing for C1 yet, not sure what I wanna do.

The first image is focused on the mask, as far as I can see, not on the eye.
When taking portraits like that it doesn't matter which button you use to focus. I prefer focusing by the normal half-press and then have AF-ON set to focus with the Home point instead. Back button focus I find mainly useful when using Servo AF.

great combo your 7D and 85mm f/1.8. Should be that sharp! Good job getting it setup right.

dave

apersson850 wrote in post #14794733
The first image is focused on the mask, as far as I can see, not on the eye.
When taking portraits like that it doesn't matter which button you use to focus. I prefer focusing by the normal half-press and then have AF-ON set to focus with the Home point instead. Back button focus I find mainly useful when using Servo AF.

my 85mm has always front focused like this on my 60D, I upgraded to get the MA capability rather than send the lens off to get calibrated. The focus point is on his eye yet it front focused making the mask in focus. I fixed it with -4 and now it's right on.

I have BBF enabled with servo mode, this way I press and follow action or just tap for a portrait, works great.

Congrats on your 7d. Me too is upgrading to 7d in a week or two one question though and sorry for the newbie question what is MA? Thanks

Talley wrote in post #14794810
The focus point is on his eye yet it front focused making the mask in focus.

I doubt that. Even if you use spot focus on a 7D, the focus point is larger than what's depicted in the viewfinder. If you use a normal single point focus setting, it's very much larger than the box you see in the viewfinder. To get the focus into a hole like that is tricky.
Besides, an adjustment of only four units would probably not be enough to shift focus that far, from the mask to the eye.

Note that in low light One Shot AF is more sensitive than Servo AF, since One Shot AF is given longer exposure time for the AF sensor, as well as a longer time to focus. This is true even if you set Servo AF to focus priority.

MA is an acronym for Micro focus Adjustment. A kind of simple calibration of lens and/or camera focusing, which you can do in the camera itself. Not as elaborate as they can do in the workshops, but better than nothing.

apersson850 wrote in post #14794878
I doubt that. Even if you use spot focus on a 7D, the focus point is larger than what's depicted in the viewfinder. If you use a normal single point focus setting, it's very much larger than the box you see in the viewfinder. To get the focus into a hole like that is tricky.
Besides, an adjustment of only four units would probably not be enough to shift focus that far, from the mask to the eye.

Note that in low light One Shot AF is more sensitive than Servo AF, since One Shot AF is given longer exposure time for the AF sensor, as well as a longer time to focus. This is true even if you set Servo AF to focus priority.

MA is an acronym for Micro focus Adjustment. A kind of simple calibration of lens and/or camera focusing, which you can do in the camera itself. Not as elaborate as they can do in the workshops, but better than nothing.

If you are going to critique his photo, with his new camera I might add, maybe you could go into more detail as to how he could improve his technique.

To the original poster, I bet you never thought this would turn into a what you're doing wrong posting.

And congrats again on a great camera.

Thorrulz wrote in post #14794947
...you could go into more detail as to how he could improve his technique.

That's exactly what I tried to do. I think he has drawn conclusions that are wrong (about the focusing), so I'm hinting about some characteristics of the 7D, which are good to know. I've used mine for almost three years now, so I've learned a bit about it.

apersson850 wrote in post #14794878
MA is an acronym for Micro focus Adjustment. A kind of simple calibration of lens and/or camera focusing, which you can do in the camera itself. Not as elaborate as they can do in the workshops, but better than nothing.

Great!! Thanks, now I am more excited to get the 7d plus the firmware update in a couple of days..(crossing my fingers).

apersson850 wrote in post #14794976
That's exactly what I tried to do. I think he has drawn conclusions that are wrong (about the focusing), so I'm hinting about some characteristics of the 7D, which are good to know. I've used mine for almost three years now, so I've learned a bit about it.

I am not quite sure which one of us is using more sarcasm right now but I am headed out the door for a walk.
Have a nice day, apersson850

Congrats on the 7D! I love mine and have been obsessing about upgrading my nifty fifty to the Sigma 50mm 1.4 or getting the 85mm 1.8 instead... looks like an awesome combo though.

apersson850 wrote in post #14794878
I doubt that. Even if you use spot focus on a 7D, the focus point is larger than what's depicted in the viewfinder. If you use a normal single point focus setting, it's very much larger than the box you see in the viewfinder. To get the focus into a hole like that is tricky.
Besides, an adjustment of only four units would probably not be enough to shift focus that far, from the mask to the eye.

Note that in low light One Shot AF is more sensitive than Servo AF, since One Shot AF is given longer exposure time for the AF sensor, as well as a longer time to focus. This is true even if you set Servo AF to focus priority.

MA is an acronym for Micro focus Adjustment. A kind of simple calibration of lens and/or camera focusing, which you can do in the camera itself. Not as elaborate as they can do in the workshops, but better than nothing.

Well after spending the past hour with all 3 of my lenses I've determined using all methods you mentioned. I always check focus with one shot mode. It seems as if -4 is producing the best results. Which is wierd because that indicates original spec is back focus. Either way checking with objects and battery test i've gotten very consistent results with -4. I agree that the eye through the hole is tricky which is why I've spent more time with it today. Eventually I'll invest in the focal software and see with what that comes up with.

Obviously as you are finding out, it is best to eliminate as many factors as you can when doing MA. This means shooting the same static target each and every time. A kid isn't the best target material for MA!

You can use the battery test, the DVD/VHS + ruler test, or even use the free focus genie I have linked in my sale post in my signature. These 3 methods (along with a handful of other great methods, like focusing on a computer screen, AF, then use live view to see how much to adjust AF) will really help nail down consistent results.

Lots of light, low ISO, etc will also help the tests. Keep in mind that different types of lighting will also change your focus results.