7D Mark II - Focus Discussions

itw wrote in post #17761817
I was speaking to CPS the other night trying to nail down my troubles. Support asked me the question as to the manner in which I mount the lens and TC to the body.

I follow the instructions, but still asked why it mattered.....

He says that when installed in their prescribed manner, the camera reads the lens and TC as one unit instead of reading the TC and then changing things again by reading the lens.

Good to know. As I stated previously, it could cause a communication issue between lens and body.

Pondrader wrote in post #17761798
It did fix the no focus at 100mm on the 70-200LII 2.8

Did the update create any problems?

Al when I put 1.05 on my 7DII it was before the problem with the wheel and before they messed with the internal settings of the camera. It worked flawlessly and I love everything about it with and without the 1.4III. Canon is not saying what they did one way or the other. they told me the fixed the wheel, cleaned the sensor, and used the software that each tech has on there computer to update the firmware even though it was already 1.05, and when it came back it was a mess, sent it back to them and in 5 days it was back working great with and with out the 1.4III until one afternoon it just went down hill. you could see it right on the back screen that it was not functioning correctly. the next weekend my buddy showed up and we compared the two did a reset of my camera and bingo, camera seems ok again. I would not even hesitate to put on 1.05 firmware. the 7DII will now focus at 100mm with the 70-200LII 2.8.

Pondrader wrote in post #17763256
Al when I put 1.05 on my 7DII it was before the problem with the wheel and before they messed with the internal settings of the camera. It worked flawlessly and I love everything about it with and without the 1.4III. Canon is not saying what they did one way or the other. they told me the fixed the wheel, cleaned the sensor, and used the software that each tech has on there computer to update the firmware even though it was already 1.05, and when it came back it was a mess, sent it back to them and in 5 days it was back working great with and with out the 1.4III until one afternoon it just went down hill. you could see it right on the back screen that it was not functioning correctly. the next weekend my buddy showed up and we compared the two did a reset of my camera and bingo, camera seems ok again. I would not even hesitate to put on 1.05 firmware. the 7DII will now focus at 100mm with the 70-200LII 2.8.

Thanks. I will update today.

Kind of a dumb question but if I was shooting out the open window from a running truck and using the door to brace my arm could the vibrations from the truck cause the pictures to be out of focus. Reason is I was doing this the other day at lunch and none of the shots were in focus. I was shooting at a local lake the weather was perfect little to no clouds I had the camera set to 1/1000- 1/1600, ISO 100-400 or so, AI Servo,Evaluate metering I believe I was in case 1 and set to BBF, IS was on. I was shooting at sea gulls that were mostly sitting on a pole and lazily flying around the parking area.
I got the camera back a couple of weeks ago for a focus issue and had not had a chance to really try it out until then, at the time I didn't think about shooting from a running truck my be the issue. I called Canon and spoke to a tech he told me that I shouldn't be using AI Servo I should be in One Shot or possibly AI Focus he said the only time you should be in AI Servo is when the subject is moving toward you or away from you and not to use it for tracking . As an example I asked him if I'm shooting cheerleaders doing their routine or shooting a BIF then I shouldn't be in AI Servo and he said yes, I should be in single shot or maybe AI Focus I could see if they were posing for a picture but not while their jumping or doing stunts or if the animal is in motion I would think I would want AI Servo now I'm confused everything I read says use AI Servo for tracking and subjects that are moving the canon tech is saying no. He also said the higher shutter speeds might cause this because it bumps ISO up true but my ISO settings were not going that high. i know i can set the camera up to switch from single shot to servo and I have the Depth of Field Preview button set for this.
John

Ha ha YUP, With out a doubt John, your looking at motion blur, I have to shut the truck off no matter if I'm sitting in the road or not. Resting your camera on the truck held or not you will not get a clear shot out of the bunch. my wife is trained now to reach over and shut off the truck if we stop for something on the side of a back road.


And the One shot and AIservo thing is there fav answer and once the tech talked to me for a mins and a half the crap stopped and we talked about my camera. ....AIfocus hehe lol wooooo

I use nothing but AIservo always and I mean always. Even though birds never really sit still , if your using BBF if you lift you thumb its no longer continuing to focus
The Moon ....also AIservo

Photo from Pondrader's gallery.
Image hosted by forum (755526)

When I went back and thought about it a day later and was looking at the pictures I sort of figured that it was the cause, but I had just got the camera back and instantly I thought not again.

I've never had it set to anything but AI servo with BBF my 7D is set up the same way and I believe I had my 60D set this way too. I went back and read the manual on the AF focus settings

so what he said wasnt exactly wrong he was just being too literal with it.
Thanks
John
These were shot in AI servo too

Photo from JM45ACP's gallery.

Photo from JM45ACP's gallery.

JM45ACP wrote in post #17764319
When I went back and thought about it a day later and was looking at the pictures I sort of figured that it was the cause, but I had just got the camera back and instantly I thought not again.

I've never had it set to anything but AI servo with BBF my 7D is set up the same way and I believe I had my 60D set this way too. I went back and read the manual on the AF focus settings
so what he said wasnt exactly wrong he was just being too literal with it.
Thanks
John
These were shot in AI servo too

Gallery photo:
posted by JM45ACP originally in forum: Canon Digital Cameras

Gallery photo:
posted by JM45ACP originally in forum: Canon Digital Cameras

John,
The other thing you need to watch for when shooting from the truck is heat shimmer when it is war, inside truck and warm air leaving the window, and cold outside. If you hadn't been bracing hard on the truck door, I would not expect any issue.

Good to know I never would have even thought to be aware of this.
Normally I get out and walk around or shut the truck off and sit on the tailgate. But I did have my arm resting on the door.
When I get home from work Ill try to post some of the OOF pictures
Thanks
John

JM45ACP wrote in post #17764226
Kind of a dumb question but if I was shooting out the open window from a running truck and using the door to brace my arm could the vibrations from the truck cause the pictures to be out of focus. ...

Yes, when shooting in Africa we always stopped the engine.
Ironically this resulted in the loss of power for the windows, which remained down while lion prides etc, walked inches from our vehicles..

Pondrader wrote in post #17764251
Ha ha YUP, With out a doubt John, your looking at motion blur, I have to shut the truck off no matter if I'm sitting in the road or not. Resting your camera on the truck held or not you will not get a clear shot out of the bunch. my wife is trained now to reach over and shut off the truck if we stop for something on the side of a back road.


And the One shot and AIservo thing is there fav answer and once the tech talked to me for a mins and a half the crap stopped and we talked about my camera. ....AIfocus hehe lol wooooo

I use nothing but AIservo always and I mean always. Even though birds never really sit still , if your using BBF if you lift you thumb its no longer continuing to focus
The Moon ....also AIservo

Gallery photo (hosted):
posted by Pondrader originally in forum: Canon Digital Cameras

Hosted photo: posted by Pondrader in
./showthread.php?p=177​64251&i=i24236562
forum: Canon Digital Cameras

+1. I'm almost always in AI Servo, both for moving and stationary subjects, and have never noticed any issue with focus sharpness. About the only time I use Single Shot focus is when I need focus assist from the flash.

AI Servo works great for static objects and I use it but just like shooting events I find shooting all day for myself in Servo very tiring. I like the beep and/or the red indicator when using one shot. So I still use the shutter button for stills and BBF for moving subjects. I still hope that canon will add drive mode to the "detail set" in the custom settings one day.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17764728
Yes, when shooting in Africa we always stopped the engine.
Ironically this resulted in the loss of power for the windows, which remained down while lion prides etc, walked inches from our vehicles..

Windows???? I typically don't have windows, much less power windows.

Actually, the bakkie I use on self drive trips have windows, but my trips with guests usually have a ranger driving us in open vehicles.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17764728
Yes, when shooting in Africa we always stopped the engine.
Ironically this resulted in the loss of power for the windows, which remained down while lion prides etc, walked inches from our vehicles..

At least it males for a good back story,... "Yeah, the windows were stuck down with the truck power off, and I got to use myself as the bait for these big cat photos. "
pretty cool.

JM45ACP wrote in post #17764226
Kind of a dumb question but if I was shooting out the open window from a running truck and using the door to brace my arm could the vibrations from the truck cause the pictures to be out of focus. Reason is I was doing this the other day at lunch and none of the shots were in focus. I was shooting at a local lake the weather was perfect little to no clouds I had the camera set to 1/1000- 1/1600, ISO 100-400 or so, AI Servo,Evaluate metering I believe I was in case 1 and set to BBF, IS was on. I was shooting at sea gulls that were mostly sitting on a pole and lazily flying around the parking area.
I got the camera back a couple of weeks ago for a focus issue and had not had a chance to really try it out until then, at the time I didn't think about shooting from a running truck my be the issue. I called Canon and spoke to a tech he told me that I shouldn't be using AI Servo I should be in One Shot or possibly AI Focus he said the only time you should be in AI Servo is when the subject is moving toward you or away from you and not to use it for tracking . As an example I asked him if I'm shooting cheerleaders doing their routine or shooting a BIF then I shouldn't be in AI Servo and he said yes, I should be in single shot or maybe AI Focus I could see if they were posing for a picture but not while their jumping or doing stunts or if the animal is in motion I would think I would want AI Servo now I'm confused everything I read says use AI Servo for tracking and subjects that are moving the canon tech is saying no. He also said the higher shutter speeds might cause this because it bumps ISO up true but my ISO settings were not going that high. i know i can set the camera up to switch from single shot to servo and I have the Depth of Field Preview button set for this.
John

Man, I got vibration just sitting still in a running vehicle (a smooth running vehicle) and wandered why my shots were blurry and realized I did not shut the car down that's how smooth it was. So, a moving car will be just as bad. Now with that said I was able to get some good mountain shots in Texas from a moving car, but I used everybit of the 10fps, but the foreground was blurry - nothing a good crop didn't take care of though.

Now, if you can get an 8000 SS you might be good