7D Mark II - Focus Discussions

Ha no there's no tricks to my game, today was full clouded sky but the sun did light the Loon nicely, But your right the trick is shoot your best stuff at the right time of day. I know its hard to get the critters to cooperate.

My mission today was the water flick and he did not disappoint

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/utEU​gC

Nope, no disappointment here either, fantastic new shots of the Loon!

digital paradise wrote in post #17593429
A few more

Case 2, 51 point no TC

Case 5, 51 point no TC

Case 2, Single AF point with 1.4 TC

I really like the 3rd shot with the TC. Looks like you nailed focus. If you want, you might be a leader to make the water a more pleasant t color if you cool the wb a little.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17593456
Wow, looking good! It really was tracking in front of the busy background very well.

I used to shoot my 7D with the similar settings as case 2 but with only single or expanded. Zone actually surprised me today. It's nice to have something else to goof around with. I'll study the parameters a little more carefully in cases 5 and 6.

Tracking sensitivity is the same as in case 1. Case 2 TS drops a tick. AF switching revs up in at 5 and 6. Accel/Decel kicks in at 6. Case 6 is the definitely the juggernaut.

Out of the entire manual there is only one thing that has never made any sense to me. The AF point switching instructions in cases 5 and 6. It says This setting is not available single point or spot focus but available in expanded.

As far a I know the outer points in expanded are assist points. If you use that you never see any assist point illuminated in DPP when the shot was taken in AI Servo. Only the centre point. You will in single shot but the centre point is always lit up as well.

I don't know about anyone else but I have never see anything switching while taking pictures in AI Servo and expanded. I can see them switching when it is is zone. Perhaps they just assist faster in expanded. If so Canon should have explained it that way. Some days I wonder if that was a typo but the AF PDF says the same thing.

When I view the system as a whole it seems to me cases 5 and 6 are really best used in zone anyway. If you are going to be tracking erratic objects the more AF points working for you the better. I know I won't bother with expanded in 5 and 6.

gschlact wrote in post #17593781
I really like the 3rd shot with the TC. Looks like you nailed focus. If you want, you might be a leader to make the water a more pleasant t color if you cool the wb a little.

Thanks. I did not really pay a lot of attention to WB, highlights., etc but if any go on my website I'll work on that. I was having to much fun with everything else. I need to be confident my gear will perform when I need it to. Winter weather shut me down for a while. I don't mind shooting in the cold. I just don't like testing in it.

Still a little surprised with the MFA results but the camera and lens are dialled in without MFA so if that is what it needs I can live with it. A first for me with those numbers. A local comp store has a used laptop with windows 7 for $160. I may swing by tomorrow and look at it. Any MFA will be done outside in the light and distances I shoot at. I'd like to try FoCal since I purchased it last year. I did a bunch of research on MFA distances and came up with a plan. The person who created Dot Tune does MFA at infinity.

Here was my target at the lake last weekend Dot Tune at about 100 feet away. We don't eat a lot of ice cream. I buy live minnows and I transport them in there so the plastic bags don't get punctured.

Cost aside, would anyone recommend FoCal considering that there seems to be so many issues surrounding the camera? If anyone is using it, how complicated is the process for it's use compared to manually testing all your lenses for microfocus without it?

I gather that anyone with the 100-400L mk 2, particularly if they use an extender, would need the Pro version?

bidkev wrote in post #17593907
Cost aside, would anyone recommend FoCal considering that there seems to be so many issues surrounding the camera? If anyone is using it, how complicated is the process for it's use compared to manually testing all your lenses for microfocus without it?

I gather that anyone with the 100-400L mk 2, particularly if they use an extender, would need the Pro version?

I have the plus version and just had a look at the differences at Focal's site. Focal pro adds

Aperture sharpness. Typically most lenses are sharpest 1 to 2 stops closed from wide open and you can find this info on the MTF charts. You will already be at f8 with the extender so I doubt you would want to shoot shallower than f11 anyway. No benefit here I don't think.

AF consistency. I'm was not sure I really wanted to know about that. There is nothing you can really do about it even without the TC. If you think it it is really out it would confirm this then you would have to send it to Canon. If adding a TC makes it a little more inconsistent when normally it is OK there is nothing Canon can do about it.

Dust analysis. Canon bodies already have this unless this is something else.

Multipoint focus test. There is only point you can use when the TC goes on.

The rest are additional analysis features. I just wanted it to MFA my gear so I got Plus. I can always upgrade.

The other reason I got Plus was both Pro and Plus state fully automatic Micro-adjustment and for some technical reason you can't do this in fully automatic with my 5D3. It isn't that Focal does not want to make it work. It has to do with the Camera codec I think. I don't even know what that means. It has been 6 months since I have used it and I'm pretty sure that was the same for my 7D2 but I can't back that until I try it again.

So I figured why pay for pro when I can't get the advertised fully automatic. It is not a big deal to used it in semi automatic, it was mostly the principle. I don't know of Focal has corrected this. I did download the latest version the other day and I'll read about it.

Focal has released a windows V2 Beta but I don't know much about it. Mac to follow.

Hello!

I’ve been following this thread for a while. I still haven’t passed through all of it yet (127 pages strong!)
I could use your advice if you can spare one.
I’ve got my 7D Mark II about two months ago, wonderful thing (upgraded from an XSi)
In Servo AF I’m getting sharp photos, then a few photos with no focus at all and then sharp photos again (is it the FroKnowsPhoto issue?).
I’m using two lenses: 17-55 f2.8 IS and 70-200 f4 IS. I’m shooting close to maximum aperture (for example f3.2), at least 1/1000 shutter speed and ISO 100 or 200. I sometimes forget to turn off the IS though
I've upgrade to firmware 1.0.4.
I’m shooting at broad day light and my model is walking towards me.
My AF settings are AF point expansion with 8 surrounding points, I’m using case 2 with tracking sensitivity set to -2, focus is done using the shutter button and both my AI Servo 1st and 2nd image priorities are set to focus.
The last two are the ones driving me nuts. Why would the camera let me take a shot if it is not in focus when I’ve specifically instructed it otherwise??
iTR and anti-flickering are disabled.

Since there is no official Canon where I live, just local representatives, I am worried letting them trying to fix the body. So I’ve started off with letting them test my lenses. The 17-55 just returned today after fixing a front focus issue. It is sharper then what I was used to but the phenomenon happens again. Here it is:
Sharp

I did a quick search and could only find info on the 5D3 so looks like it has not changed. I can'r find anything about the 7D2 so far. Maybe FoCal users could comment on that.

digital paradise wrote in post #17594170
I have the plus version and just had a look at the differences at Focal's site. Focal pro adds

Aperture sharpness. Typically most lenses are sharpest 1 to 2 stops closed from wide open and you can find this info on the MTF charts. You will already be at f8 with the extender so I doubt you would want to shoot shallower than f11 anyway. No benefit here I don't think.

AF consistency. I'm was not sure I really wanted to know about that. There is nothing you can really do about it even without the TC. If you think it it is really out it would confirm this then you would have to send it to Canon. If adding a TC makes it a little more inconsistent when normally it is OK there is nothing Canon can do about it.

Dust analysis. Canon bodies already have this unless this is something else.

Multipoint focus test. There is only point you can use when the TC goes on.

The rest are additional analysis features. I just wanted it to MFA my gear so I got Plus. I can always upgrade.

The other reason I got Plus was both Pro and Plus state fully automatic Micro-adjustment and for some technical reason you can't do this in fully automatic with my 5D3. It isn't that Focal does not want to make it work. It has to do with the Camera codec I think. I don't even know what that means. It has been 6 months since I have used it and I'm pretty sure that was the same for my 7D2 but I can't back that until I try it again.

So I figured why pay for pro when I can't get the advertised fully automatic. It is not a big deal to used it in semi automatic, it was mostly the principle. I don't know of Focal has corrected this. I did download the latest version the other day and I'll read about it.

Focal has released a windows V2 Beta but I don't know much about it. Mac to follow.

Thanks for taking a considerable length of time to respond to me. It's really appreciated.

It is not a huge amount of money to go to pro but if the main reason you are getting it is for the TC the added features don't do much for you unless you want the extra analysis stuff. You may want the additional things for your non TC applications.

http://www.reikan.co.u​k …eased-7d-mark-ii-support/

bidkev wrote in post #17593907
Cost aside, would anyone recommend FoCal considering that there seems to be so many issues surrounding the camera? If anyone is using it, how complicated is the process for it's use compared to manually testing all your lenses for microfocus without it?

I gather that anyone with the 100-400L mk 2, particularly if they use an extender, would need the Pro version?

I am not familiar with FoCal hands on, but I would just recommend using DOT tune with a good target on a solid tripod, and watch results in live-view.

With 7D2 you can make a new set of adjustments for use with t-Cons. ( I've not done this yet myself)

You can throw money at it, but in the end either way you have to spend time just doing it. IMHO Dot tune is really fast and easy and free.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17594300
I am not familiar with FoCal hands on, but I would just recommend using DOT tune with a good target on a solid tripod, and watch results in live-view.

With 7D2 you can make a new set of adjustments for use with t-Cons. ( I've not done this yet myself)

You can throw money at it, but in the end either way you have to spend time just doing it. IMHO Dot tune is really fast and easy and free.

I was going over this the other day. The process is kinda like Dot Tune but DT makes it easier and more efficient. No AF ring movement to observe. The closer you are to the target the smaller the AF ring the movements are.

http://learn.usa.canon​.com …ate_EOS_AF_Quic​kGuide.pdf

Still trying to decide if I want to drop $160 for a laptop or just work with DT. I won't need it for very much and the only concern I had was the TC and that seems to have been corrected. I still have to apply the going over 20 procedure but I'm getting tack sharp images at +14 at 560mm.

pegaso wrote in post #17594298
http://www.reikan.co.u​k …eased-7d-mark-ii-support/

I read that page and there nothing saying the 7D2 will not work in fully automatic mode.