7D Mark II - Focus Discussions

Okay so this is what I posted in the other thread; (thanks Bianchi for pointing me here).

Is anyone noticing focusing issues with the 7D Mark II? Front/ back focusing especially when using the center point?

On Saturday I took several bird pictures with my 5D Mark III and then on Sunday with the 7D Mark II; same place, same lighting situation. Camera settings quite similar although I left the AF tweaks on the 7D2 at defaults.

90% of the shots on the 5D were tack sharp; 90% on the 7D2 were soft and it was focusing in the front. All that was with the Tamron 150-600. I thought it was perhaps my inexperience with the 7D2 but was concerned that 90% were out of focus when the previous day 90% on the 5D were sharp.

I used the center point because I've always shot that way. The birds I was shooting were not flying birds - Heron, ducks and geese around a local lake; so movement was minimal - all were at 1/1000th or faster.

I came back, read the manual carefully and am now better familiar with the AF tweaks (thanks to Keyan and TeamSpeed) - I was waiting to go take bird pics with the 7D2 again but it's gotten very cold here in Dallas so I did not get a chance to go out.

Today I was taking pictures of my kids on the 7D2 - Canon 50/ 1.4. Settings were 1/125, f/1.4 and ISO at auto. Noticed about 90% shots were soft and, on further scrutiny, found them to be front focusing. Tried those exact same shots with the and it was consistently sharp.

I then took shots of various objects in the room (making sure each object was at a different distance than the other) with both the 7D2 and the 5D3 and found the same results.

I had the 70D and had center point focusing issues. With my experience on the 7D2 so far, I am wondering (and worried) if the 7D2 has the same front/ back focusing issues like the 70D.

I am not a professional but I am not inexperienced either. I love everything about the 7D2 except the focus issues I've had. I am still within the 30-days and I hope this is a bad copy.

Any thoughts/ comments?

Thank you

nsnqst wrote in post #17271011
Okay so this is what I posted in the other thread; (thanks Bianchi for pointing me here).

Is anyone noticing focusing issues with the 7D Mark II? Front/ back focusing especially when using the center point?

On Saturday I took several bird pictures with my 5D Mark III and then on Sunday with the 7D Mark II; same place, same lighting situation. Camera settings quite similar although I left the AF tweaks on the 7D2 at defaults.

90% of the shots on the 5D were tack sharp; 90% on the 7D2 were soft and it was focusing in the front. All that was with the Tamron 150-600. I thought it was perhaps my inexperience with the 7D2 but was concerned that 90% were out of focus when the previous day 90% on the 5D were sharp.

I used the center point because I've always shot that way. The birds I was shooting were not flying birds - Heron, ducks and geese around a local lake; so movement was minimal - all were at 1/1000th or faster.

I came back, read the manual carefully and am now better familiar with the AF tweaks (thanks to Keyan and TeamSpeed) - I was waiting to go take bird pics with the 7D2 again but it's gotten very cold here in Dallas so I did not get a chance to go out.

Today I was taking pictures of my kids on the 7D2 - Canon 50/ 1.4. Settings were 1/125, f/1.4 and ISO at auto. Noticed about 90% shots were soft and, on further scrutiny, found them to be front focusing. Tried those exact same shots with the and it was consistently sharp.

I then took shots of various objects in the room (making sure each object was at a different distance than the other) with both the 7D2 and the 5D3 and found the same results.

I had the 70D and had center point focusing issues. With my experience on the 7D2 so far, I am wondering (and worried) if the 7D2 has the same front/ back focusing issues like the 70D.

I am not a professional but I am not inexperienced either. I love everything about the 7D2 except the focus issues I've had. I am still within the 30-days and I hope this is a bad copy.

Any thoughts/ comments?

Thank you

BTW tried the Tamron from f/6.3 to f/11; most shots were at 600mm on both cameras

I had one of the problem bodies, as reported in the 7DII thread. It would randomly front or back focus. There wasn't any special test needed: I took 20 images of the same subject and ended up with 2 in focus and the others significantly out of focus. I returned the camera to the vendor, and they sent out the replacement which should come in early next week. Hope that one will be better.

Kickflipkid687 wrote in post #17267934
finally decided it was "defective" and swapped it out.

What company allows you to swap out a camera versus sending it in for warranty repair?

Is this a problem Canon can nip in the bud? If so, about how long should this take? I will be pretty pissed to have spent hard earned money on cameras (I will have to buy 2 as the wife shoots) that are not performing properly.

Focus issues and the fact the camera is not compatible with Lightroom are the reasons I have not purchased at this point.

Thanks for any info

JJD.Photography wrote in post #17271017
What company allows you to swap out a camera versus sending it in for warranty repair?

Is this a problem Canon can nip in the bud? If so, about how long should this take? I will be pretty pissed to have spent hard earned money on cameras (I will have to buy 2 as the wife shoots) that are not performing properly.

Focus issues and the fact the camera is not compatible with Lightroom are the reasons I have not purchased at this point.

Thanks for any info

Any company will take the camera back if the buyer is within the return period. If they don't send a new one, the buyer will return it and buy it from somewhere else.

Lightroom support lacking for the 7D2 raw files is not a compatibility issue; it will take a few weeks.

The focus issue is worrying, though. Mine does look to be a bad copy so its going to be returned unless I hear from others about something I have overlooked.

IF there is a real issue, it will take a majority of customers to complain and start returning before Canon will acknowledge the issue. It will likely mean more cost to them. 70Ds are known to have this issue and Canon is yet to acknowledge it. 7D2, IMO, has more experienced/ advanced users so the number of returns then will be high and Canon will probably be forced to do something.

Have you tried to use the focus micro adjustments? Front/back focus issues are a result of both body and lens, thus why afma should be used as needed.

Edit: I see your other answer, and just because a lens works well on one body, it can be off on another. Afma is there for that very reason. I would start with that. I afma every lens to every body I buy, then if I continue to have issues, I look deeper.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #17271051
Have you tried to use the focus micro adjustments? Front/back focus issues are a result of both body and lens, thus why afma should be used as needed.

Edit: I see your other answer, and just because a lens works well on one body, it can be off on another. Afma is there for that very reason. I would start with that. I afma every lens to every body I buy, then if I continue to have issues, I look deeper.

In my case at least this did not work, since sometimes the camera would back-focus, sometimes front focus and sometimes be spot on.

The ability to link an AF micro adjust to the serial number of the lens appeared together with the feature that allows you to do separate adjustments at the short and long end of a zoom lens.

Having separate adjustments for lenses with and without teleconverters worked with the first edition of micro adjust as well.

Most reputable companies have an exchange
Return period. I have returned my 7d mk2 because of
Focusing issues and should get my replacement
Today.
Hopefully the new body will work fine if not
I will return it and wait until the focus issues
Are fixed.

I just tested 7D mk2 and it was also clearly front focusing (w/ EF 100mm f/2.8L IS). However, problem can be solved by focus micro adjustment.

The issue is not a consistent miss, the issue initially reported is that it would vary between shots - if you take 5 shots, and all are front focused by the same amount, you do not have the problem, you just need to use MFA to adjust the lens to the body. If you take 5 shots and one of them is on focus, the next one is back focused, the one after that is front focused, etc, then you have the problem.

The Tammy 150-600 seems to be having a lot of users reporting focus calibration issues with the 7D2, which is somewhat interesting.

I just did a bunch of tests against a focus target on a tripod and I get very consistent results with my 17-55 and 70-300L. I would also ask that as people are testing try other points around the center point and see if it changes much.

Keyan wrote in post #17271363
The issue is not a consistent miss, the issue initially reported is that it would vary between shots - if you take 5 shots, and all are front focused by the same amount, you do not have the problem, you just need to use MFA to adjust the lens to the body. If you take 5 shots and one of them is on focus, the next one is back focused, the one after that is front focused, etc, then you have the problem.

The Tammy 150-600 seems to be having a lot of users reporting focus calibration issues with the 7D2, which is somewhat interesting.

I just did a bunch of tests against a focus target on a tripod and I get very consistent results with my 17-55 and 70-300L. I would also ask that as people are testing try other points around the center point and see if it changes much.

Even if the miss is not consistent MFA should be attempted. Having the camera find the focus where it thinks it should be by making an adjustment, even if it is very difficult to get that adjustment, may just control the issue. I have seen where a couple of user said this helped their inconsistent focus issue.

Keyan wrote in post #17271363
The issue is not a consistent miss, the issue initially reported is that it would vary between shots - if you take 5 shots, and all are front focused by the same amount, you do not have the problem, you just need to use MFA to adjust the lens to the body. If you take 5 shots and one of them is on focus, the next one is back focused, the one after that is front focused, etc, then you have the problem.

The Tammy 150-600 seems to be having a lot of users reporting focus calibration issues with the 7D2, which is somewhat interesting.

I just did a bunch of tests against a focus target on a tripod and I get very consistent results with my 17-55 and 70-300L. I would also ask that as people are testing try other points around the center point and see if it changes much.

My Canon 24-105 /f4 works fine but the 70-200 f/4 IS has the same inconsistent focus issues. Of my 4 lenses, only the 24-105 works ok. MFA is not going to help; I had this exact same issue with the 70D and MFA did not help. If the 7D1 also had this issue, is it a bad copy problem we are dealing with the pro-sumer Canon APS-C DSLRs?

nsnqst wrote in post #17271391
My Canon 24-105 /f4 works fine but the 70-200 f/4 IS has the same inconsistent focus issues. Of my 4 lenses, only the 24-105 works ok. MFA is not going to help; I had this exact same issue with the 70D and MFA did not help. If the 7D1 also had this issue, is it a bad copy problem we are dealing with the pro-sumer Canon APS-C DSLRs?

More likely a bad batch problem. The AF units' batch may have been bad. Also there may have been a programming error.

Could you define "ok" on the 24-105? Having one lens work and not the others sounds strange. I would expect none or all to be honest with the possible exception of ultra wide lenses since AF seems to be less important due to the expansion of the scene.

What happens if you try other points?