7D Mark II - Focus Discussions

Heat shimmer (I have to deal with it a LOT!) can occur even when it is cool. The decisive factor is the relative temperature of the ground and the warming air just above it. Shooting across cold water on a warm day can be a real pain. And things don't have to be all that far away. Sometimes I can't get a clear shot of a bird that isn't more than 10 meters away.

A little of my experiences with the 7d2. I have owned 40d, 7d and 5d3. Have also owned a Nikon d300s and have spent some time with a d750.I am on body #4 of the 7d2. First 2 were all over the board for Ai Servo focus. Some pics were sharp, some way off, like nothing in focus even tho the camera "indicated" it had focus (both priorities were set to focus). Yep - did MA (not real help), tried various Cases, tried to slow tracking, speed tracking, rest to factory etc... Just inconsistent. Against my better instinct, I opted to go for the 4th instead of just moving to the d750 (I put a lens on it and boom, sharp pics). Since I shoot more field sports, on paper the 7d2 was really what I needed so I gave in.I will say #4 is far superior than the previous 3, however, there are pictures where I have to scratch my head and think WTF... Now with about 4000 shots on this one - I will say that it takes a whole lot more sharpening than any other body I have ever shot and it seems to require a bit higher SS than any other I have used or to put it this way, I feel more confident in it with a higher SS.All in all - so far, it is a body that I have the least amount of confidence shooting and it is one that I feel like I have to pay attention to a lot more to shoot. If I could do it all over, I think I would have picked a different option.

Hi everyone !

just to give my experience with the 7D mark II .

bought it on boxing day in australia in december with canon EF 50 f1.4 usm and a tamron 24 70 USD DI F/2.8

had great time with it until i processed my photo . was quite surprised with the amont of "not so sharp" photos. so in first place was thinking it was me , settings and whatever else...
and thanks to internet i found this forum and since there i am thinking "was it my fault"

so i've been trough a shop , ask them if i could test one lense with my body ( try the canon 24 70 f2.8 L ) same result , and then ask them to test another body.

so i used the same lens taking same shot with my 7D MII and with their .
with mine it seems really to have a focus problem. photos on shop body where sharp ( both body same settings same environment , default setting using one shot and center af )

so decided to take some shots tonight to show you , but before that can someone explain me difference with the focus system used in live view (flexizone AF )and with the view finder?


here are the photo the live views one are the sharpest

with 50 mm View Finder focus on the blue rabbit

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/rBw6​83

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/rU7e​hn

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/rTYY​kE

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/rBxu​Cu

I'm not up-to-date regarding the live view focus modes, but I believe flexzone uses what it thinks should be in focus, not what you think. I believe that's why you are seeing different focus points.

Both of those shots look plenty fine to me regardless of focus point. When I use LV, I use the 3rd option, I believe - it mimics the viewfinder in that it is one AF point and you place it where you want too.

8612 - glad to see your's is working. Yes, it is "required" that higher shutter speeds be used, definitely higher than you think and on moving subjects. I also recommend, since you are using higher shutter speeds, that you turn IS off. Those two things made huge differences to me.

I notice, in general, coming from film to 18mp crop bodies that higher shutter speeds are necessary to get nice, crisp, colorful pictures. As the megapixel wars continue and the battle for high iso usability also continues, we have in my opinion reached a plateau. I say this because of the basic idea of the photographic triangle. We are trading high iso, high megapixels and losing the usefulness of lower shutter speeds. From everything I've read, it looks to me as if the 18 megapixel bodies were the sweet spot for balance.

loutwice wrote in post #17500351
Hi everyone !

just to give my experience with the 7D mark II .

Looks like it's front-focusing to me, but sharp where it IS in focus.

Yeah those shots are front/back focusing. Otherwise seems ok to me as well.

Has anyone here used the new version of focal yet? I'm tempted to get it and see how consistent everything is, as well as finding the best af tune value I can.

Looking at my shots from the other day, even with case 2 af and trying to keep steady, I do realize my technique needs to improve. If the focus point drops off even slightly for 1 frame, the focus can jump very quick. So I gotta watch that.

That is probably part of the issue yet. Now using a faster lens and body when auto focusing, my technique maybe wasn't so hot before. With a slower body and lens, I prob got away with it more often.

LonelyBoy wrote in post #17500453
Looks like it's front-focusing to me, but sharp where it IS in focus.

I agree.
Loutwice, did you mfa your lenses with your body?

You'd have to post a picture showing the focus point you used. Assuming you used center point, it could have easily picked up the green bunny as it is closer to the camera. There's too many items in the test image that could cause problems. Use three at a 45 degree angle, spaced so they don't touch or interfere with each other.

Huntersdad, cant believe what I read in the for sale forum,, sorry for your loss. Will there be #5 ?

gschlact wrote in post #17500537
I agree.
Loutwice, did you mfa your lenses with your body?

yeah i tried that , but focus for the distance ( 50 * focal rules) after was ok
but focus at another distance was not .

and why should i MFA my body if another one ( the new one from the shop ) didn't require any adjustement ?

i will make shots this week end before and after MFA to show you what's going on

huntersdad wrote in post #17500666
You'd have to post a picture showing the focus point you used. Assuming you used center point, it could have easily picked up the green bunny as it is closer to the camera. There's too many items in the test image that could cause problems. Use three at a 45 degree angle, spaced so they don't touch or interfere with each other.

ok how can i make it appear on the photos? i was using Single-point AF (Manual selection of zone) like described in the AF setting guide .
the focus was on the head of blue bunny for the test with 50 mm and head of pink bunny for test with the 24-70.

Bianchi wrote in post #17500756
Huntersdad, cant believe what I read in the for sale forum,, sorry for your loss. Will there be #5 ?

Eventually, but not right now. Focusing on the business and family side.

huntersdad wrote in post #17501210
Eventually, but not right now. Focusing on the business and family side.

Sorry to hear about this especially after all the time and effort you put into getting a good copy.

Good luck with future purchases.

Rod

RodS57 wrote in post #17501942
Sorry to hear about this especially after all the time and effort you put into getting a good copy.

Good luck with future purchases.

Rod

No big deal to me. Although next time, I'll know what to look for and test thoroughly. Lovin' my 5d3 for the most part, just wish I could adjust the exposure in the menu system ike you can with the 1Ds. Only drawback.

Finally settling down to center point only with either case 3 ( rapid action with sky BG) or case 4 for BIF ( with busy BG). This camera does not like AF point expansion at all in contrast to 1DX or 5D3. Three frames using case 3 with EF500/4IS II.