7D Mark II - Focus Discussions

That is still a very nice lens. Post some stuff when you start to play with it seriously.

I ran some tests last night again, but indoors since it was too dark outside.

I was getting better results overall I'd say. I used spot AF in some cases where it made sense, and overall it worked well, sometimes failing more often than my 60D. But the 1 point AF seemed to work fine with 3 different lenses I tried. 70-200 F/4 L IS, 18-135 and 135 F/2.

I was using single point in One Shot and AI Servo, with Case 1 (default settings).

I was using my flash for part of the time, but I don't think it was doing the AF assist beam for most shots.

I may end up keeping it and see how it performs when I take it back to MN this week to see family.
If it's still acting up, I'll have to send it into Canon at that point.

Kickflipkid687 wrote in post #17279607
I ran some tests last night again, but indoors since it was too dark outside.

I was getting better results overall I'd say. I used spot AF in some cases where it made sense, and overall it worked well, sometimes failing more often than my 60D. But the 1 point AF i seemed to work fine with 3 different lenses I tried. 70-200 F/4 L IS, 18-135 and 135 F/2.

I was using single point in One Shot and AI Servo, with Case 1 (default settings).

I was using my flash for part of the time, but I don't think it was doing the AF assist beam for most shots.

I may end up keeping it and see how it performs when I take it back to MN this week to see family.
If it's still acting up, I'll have to send it into Canon at that point.

I went back to the factory settings for the cases and my AF issues have improved also. I think this AF system works much more rapidly than the 7D and lower bodies. I have one issue that I do not know if it is resolved yet but it is hard to test for. I think I still have some acclimation as I had the AF take 3 shots to settle in sharp but it was in a difficult situation that my 7D struggled with. I think the sensitivity is greater also in the AF system.

After having shot Clemson @ GT football game this weekend using my 7dm2 as the primary and 5dm3 as my backup/wide body, I have to say that I was immensely pleased with the new camera body including the AF. The camera tracked the big guys beautifully and I definitely had more keepers to choose from in terms of both the focus and faster fps.

Must've gotten a good copy.

I did have to do +15 MFA for my 50mm 1.4 though but both my 70-200 and 24-70 were good with 0 MFA.

Were you adjusting the parameter settings in case menus John? I've never attempted to or ever plan to get into those. Just going to trust Canon for those adjustments and just pick a suitable case.

Only changes I made were switching both AI Servo 1st and 2nd priority to Focus and experimented with iRT on and off.

I'l repost this. There are some good examples of what case to use, in conjunction with single, spot, expanded, zone and one shot or AI Servo at the end. Just be careful when you switch from expanded to zone. If iTR is enabled then it activates in Zone and the focusing characteristics change.

http://www.brochures.c​anon-europe.com …ctid=9090&langu​ageid=-111

http://www.sportsshoot​er.com/news/2678

hmmm... reading this one article he says:

John wrote in post #17279653
After having shot Clemson @ GT football game this weekend using my 7dm2 as the primary and 5dm3 as my backup/wide body, I have to say that I was immensely pleased with the new camera body including the AF. The camera tracked the big guys beautifully and I definitely had more keepers to choose from in terms of both the focus and faster fps.

Must've gotten a good copy.

I did have to do +15 MFA for my 50mm 1.4 though but both my 70-200 and 24-70 were good with 0 MFA.

Well...the 50 1.4 isn't exactly known for it's AF or build quality... Mine front focuses slightly (subject in focus on back 1/3 of the plane).

Gave mine a good run at lunch today with both the 17-55 and the 70-300L at both near and far targets, no birds in the sky though (wonder why as it was like 15 degrees blowing 25mph) so I couldn't play with tracking much, seemed like everything was focusing correctly at all kinds of ranges from about 10-15 feet out to about 500.

digital paradise wrote in post #17279657
Were you adjusting the parameter settings in case menus John? I've never attempted to or ever plan to get into those. Just going to trust Canon for those adjustments and just pick a suitable case.

Only changes I made were switching both AI Servo 1st and 2nd priority to Focus and experimented with iRT on and off.

I'l repost this. There are some good examples of what case to use, in conjunction with single, spot, expanded, zone and one shot or AI Servo at the end. Just be careful when you switch from expanded to zone. If iTR is enabled then it activates in Zone and the focusing characteristics change.

http://www.brochures.c​anon-europe.com …ctid=9090&langu​ageid=-111

Yes I was changing the parameters. I made the same AI Servo adjustments. ITR is only supposed to work in zone modes, but I have turned it on and off a couple of times.

Mike-G wrote in post #17278979
Guys, I think we are loosing focus on the focus subject here..! I think there is the need to better understand what is really happening and how many of us are in trouble. Best would be to understand how many have problems over how many total buyers..
If you agree, I suggest that each of us answer the following questions :
Seller :
Body only : ( Yes/No )
Serial No.:
Focus problem : ( seriuos/occasional/No )
Will return : ( yes/don't know/No )

Just for the sake of clarity !
Thanks

So far got 3 answers : all purchased at Adorama, but only one with serious focus problems and returned. Can we confirm that the defective batch, if any, is not only with B&H?
2 kits and one 'body only' : one of the kits had problems. Can we say that the problem is on both: kit and body only ?
What I am trying to do is a sort of statistic that would help us understand what to do. Is it worth having it replaced ? There are probably thousands out there that are satisfied so one might try his luck and have it replaced.
I think my problem is more related to distance: shots with the 24-105 do not show the problem. Most problems are with the 100-400, far subject and center point focus. Unfortunately didn't have time to test it more.

2n10 wrote in post #17279889
Yes I was changing the parameters. I made the same AI Servo adjustments. ITR is only supposed to work in zone modes, but I have turned it on and off a couple of times.

Yes iTR only activates in zone modes - zone, large zone and 65.

Mike-G wrote in post #17279937
So far got 3 answers : all purchased at Adorama, but only one with serious focus problems and returned. Can we confirm that the defective batch, if any, is not only with B&H?
2 kits and one 'body only' : one of the kits had problems. Can we say that the problem is on both: kit and body only ?
What I am trying to do is a sort of statistic that would help us understand what to do. Is it worth having it replaced ? There are probably thousands out there that are satisfied so one might try his luck and have it replaced.
I think my problem is more related to distance: shots with the 24-105 do not show the problem. Most problems are with the 100-400, far subject and center point focus. Unfortunately didn't have time to test it more.

I've done a few handheld shots with my 400 f/5.6, and so far it seems to be focusing fine with both near and distant stuff. I'm mostly using center point with expansion. I've gotten some soft shots but am pretty sure they're from motion blur.

EDIT: body only from Adorama.

I have had the body for about a week now. My testing has been limited to indoors and low light. I find that the camera is very challenged with my 100mm 2.8 IS macro lens. If the subject is very out of focus it seems the camera has trouble finding contrast and the lens doesn't seem to even try to focus. Using all factory settings. Anyone else has an similar issue?

This doesn't happen all the time, but often enough that I wonder if I should return the body for another? Or is this new focusing system just quirky like that?

Chiefy wrote in post #17280363
I have had the body for about a week now. My testing has been limited to indoors and low light. I find that the camera is very challenged with my 100mm 2.8 IS macro lens. If the subject is very out of focus it seems the camera has trouble finding contrast and the lens doesn't seem to even try to focus. Using all factory settings. Anyone else has an similar issue?

This doesn't happen all the time, but often enough that I wonder if I should return the body for another? Or is this new focusing system just quirky like that?

Make sure focus searching is ON, that might do it/help?

Kickflipkid687 wrote in post #17280406
Make sure focus searching is ON, that might do it/help?

Not sure what the default setting is, but it was turned off and when I turned it on the lens now searches more consistently for focus. Thanks for the tip

I return mine today. It was just the body through Amazon. I had a studio session and at a low ISO the sharpness and quality was not there. I know that full frame is full frame but I expected more so I'm getting the 1Dx. I was trying to save the 4k but not this time. I tried but at the end I was not fully satisfied with the "results" when I compared it to 5DMII. I wished I could have test the RAW directly but the window for return was approaching and I don't want surprises. I wish you all the best and I hope it was just my copy or ME.