7D Mark II - Focus Discussions

JM45ACP wrote in post #17555265
Do I have something set wrong? I noticed today while I was shooting a Canada Goose on the lake it was moving slow and was pretty close I back button focused on its head and it looked like it focused OK while I was doing this I half pressed the shutter button getting ready to take the shot and it lost focus and didn't seem to want to refocus until I let go of the shutter button and back button I then refocused with the back button took the picture and the shot was still out of focus . I did keep the back button pressed while I continued to track the subject and it would not lock on. Anyone experience or notice anything like this. It seemed like the shutter button was interfering with the back button.
Thanks
John

You have to remove the focus function from the shutter button (in the menu). Have you done this?

I have it set to metering only and the back button is set to metering and AF start

OK, I have been experimenting more, just shooting kids playing around. Since the 7d2 is so vastly different than my old 50d, can you show me what would be considered acceptable (heavy crop) focus / sharpness on a fast moving person? I guess what I am still trying to determine is what to realistically expect as an unprocessed starting point, maybe not exactly best case scenario. Does that make sense?

digital paradise wrote in post #17554817
That is the thing. No one knows for sure because there was not (as expected) a formal announcement about general focus. Canon Rumors got the FW update right but the claim about general AF issue was off. Seems like just a fix for the 70-200 2.8 II in the 100mm range.

I wonder how they figured this out? How many lenses and focal lengths are there out there? The technicians - 98mm - can you hear me now? 99mm - can you hear me now? I don't remember reading specific complaints about it.

A member at FM stated that it made a huge difference on both single and AI Servo but I'm waiting to see more reports because it is far too early. I still can't see how a FW update corrects mirror box and AF sensors that are being replaced.

I uploaded USA site update last night. I don't expect any huge changes and I'm pretty happy with whatever Canon did to it. I don't expect any worse. I don't do a lot of MFA so I don't have to redo anything. Once the dust settles I'll play around with Focal since I payed for it.

Has Canon accepted a major bug that they've fixed in a release? My suspicion & hope is that the AF issue is something they would have fixed; the 100mm AF issue looks to be an eyewash.

As you mentioned in you other post, I agree that I will no more be an early adopter of Canon DSLRs. I really do hope that this release fixes the AF issue for everyone that's been having these issues and makes them happy 7D2 shooters. Good luck, fellow mates!

wisv1k wrote in post #17555388
OK, I have been experimenting more, just shooting kids playing around. Since the 7d2 is so vastly different than my old 50d, can you show me what would be considered acceptable (heavy crop) focus / sharpness on a fast moving person? I guess what I am still trying to determine is what to realistically expect as an unprocessed starting point, maybe not exactly best case scenario. Does that make sense?

A lot of factors come into play. Your lens quality and although I'm not big on MFA but is your lens and body combo dialled in? If you shoot at appropriate shutter speeds, your exposure and your technique is good there is not reason you can't crop a moving object as much as a still.

Here is my old 7D. No kids though. I some some 7D2 shots but not as many yet. Should be no worse. Acceptable as also subjective to an individual. Would this be acceptable? Maybe for show but not a magazine cover.

I would say it is acceptable. Tonight I did not get results quite that good, although they were coming directly at my at a pretty good rate on a wheeled toy. The grass and sidewalk are super sharp but my moving daughter is not quite as sharp. I see tons of great pictures (100% crops are almost always on static subjects) that have been processed but I am still trying to determine if my expectations are too high or if I am dealing with servo focus crap too. Anyone have some good examples on unprocessed moving people?

Why don't you show us a photo with the sharp pavement and the blurred child, complete with Exif data instead? It may be more helpful to you...

Sigma 17-50 f2.8

ISO100, 50mm, F4, 1/1000

When you view it full size it looks pretty good to me. Here shirt and face are not badly OOF that I can see. Did you sharpen it a bit? Nice to to know where the AF point/s are.

Looks ok. Perhaps you can find one at f2.8.

The grass on either side is good so the plane of focus can be determined. The girl does not appear to be less sharp than the grass on either side of her.

I've had the same issue for several months. I'm on my second 7D mark ii body and while it's better, it's seems to randomly lose focus in low light or right after I take a shot that it sharp, but then the next shot from the same distance is soft. This occurs regardless of the lens I use and I have 4 Canon L lenses and two EF-S lenses. I updated the firmware this morning and it appears to solve the problem. I've used two lenses--Canon EF-S 17-55 2.8 and 70-20 f4 is so far. Keep you fingers crossed.

Let's hope that the solution is in hand!

Thanks for your help. I did not sharpen it at all and the focus point (single point, not spot) is on her chest. I shot at f4 for a little more depth of field as all I am trying to do is determine if the AF system is tracking properly. I'm also trying to get a sense of what exactly is an OK high movement shot from this thing. Again, perhaps my expectations were too high.

My setup. If you can, kindly tell me if the images with 1.0.4 are sharp or not. If you need more info I am glad to provide it.

EOS 7D Mark II with 1.0.4
EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM
AI Servo with appropriate focus limiter, AF is ON, IS is on Mode 1 and IS is ON

Late 2012 27-inch iMac Core i7
Aperture 3.6
OS X 10.10.3

These are Grabs at 2560x1389

https://c2.staticflick​r.com …38727451_7e4120​6d1a_o.jpg

https://c1.staticflick​r.com …36240682_63d37e​66e9_o.jpg

https://c1.staticflick​r.com …18310863_e97660​57ed_o.jpg

https://c2.staticflick​r.com …12340266_44788b​3e65_o.jpg

All look spot on to me, looking good