7D Mark II (another focus thread)

"I noticed that even on non moving objects however, that the sort of shaky focus that drives me nuts, is still present when my shutter speed drops below 1/160th of a second. Some one mentioned a harder mirror slap?"


These pictures are looking pretty good. I don't know about mirror slap being the cause of your problem with a 7D Mark II. It does not use a conventional spring loaded mirror but instead uses a motor mechanism. Hence the extremely quiet mode. Were these shots hand held? My guess is as you become accustomed to this camera and lens motion will decrease. And you will become more pleased with the results.

Mike

Frodge wrote in post #17450047
Your latest photos look pretty good to me. 160th as the slowest shutter speed that you can use getting decent photos is kind of ridiculous to me at least. It basically forces you to use high iso or wide open indoors, and still be underexposing without a flash. Heck, my M can shoot at 1/30th and get decent results. Are you happy?

Nothing to do with camera, but everything to do with holding technique and subject material at that point. I can shoot at 1 sec and get decent results too, but that doesn't mean my camera is the reason.

ScPhotoMom wrote in post #17450033
I noticed that even on non moving objects however, that the sort of shaky focus that drives me nuts, is still present when my shutter speed drops below 1/160th of a second. Some one mentioned a harder mirror slap?

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I have to set my shutter speed to at least 1/320th of a second to be sure to avoid camera shake with my 85mm lens if I'm not careful with my technique. You can do a search on how to hold your camera to be as steady as possible. (Elbows in tight to your body to help brace yourself, etc.)

ScPhotoMom wrote in post #17450033
I noticed that even on non moving objects however, that the sort of shaky focus that drives me nuts, is still present when my shutter speed drops below 1/160th of a second. Some one mentioned a harder mirror slap?

The greater pixel density of the 7DII calls for faster shutter speeds than you were comfortable hand-holding with the 40D.

agedbriar wrote in post #17450576
The greater pixel density of the 7DII calls for faster shutter speeds than you were comfortable hand-holding with the 40D.

If this is the case, this is a tremendous handicap for any of these newer sensors. Sounds to me like the companies needto find a way to enginner a way around this. 1/160 is pretty damned fast for a still object. This fact makes all of these new cameras very deficient in low light.
Edit-addition-
I just pulled one of my cameras out and put it in manual. I preset the shutter at 1/160th and the lens at 2.0. The iso had to be pumped up at a minimum of 3200 to center the meter in my living room. This is not acceptable unless you are always shooting the camera outside with very good light.

I can see a 5DS Focus issue thread in the making !!!!

MikeWa wrote in post #17450115
"I noticed that even on non moving objects however, that the sort of shaky focus that drives me nuts, is still present when my shutter speed drops below 1/160th of a second. Some one mentioned a harder mirror slap?"


These pictures are looking pretty good. I don't know about mirror slap being the cause of your problem with a 7D Mark II. It does not use a conventional spring loaded mirror but instead uses a motor mechanism. Hence the extremely quiet mode. Were these shots hand held? My guess is as you become accustomed to this camera and lens motion will decrease. And you will become more pleased with the results.

Mike

It makes a big difference and has been thoroughly tested on NSN. I shoot from a gimbal with my 600II. With my 1Dx, I can do birds at 1/1000. I won't dream of doing that with the 7d2. The mirror slap, while it sounds soft, is as hard or harder than the 1Dx and the files are noticeably softer, especially if you are shooting the full 10 frames per sec. If you lower that to around 7, you minimize the slap and the pics get cleaner.

If I remember tonight, I'll post some samples and show the difference.

As to the shutter speed discussion, you cannot go by the FL*1.6 to calculate minimum SS anymore. You need at least double if handholding. Such is the world of shooting pixel dense sensors.

cmosman wrote in post #17450602
I can see a 5DS Focus issue thread in the making !!!!

You are damn skippy that one's coming!!

I'm not even talking about the shutter speed formula. It's more about real world use and available light. The new generation of pixel dense sensors have a considerable handicap for indoor photography.

Frodge wrote in post #17450615
I'm not even talking about the shutter speed formula. It's more about real world use and available light. The new generation of pixel dense sensors have a considerable handicap for indoor photography.

I would agree. Either have to use a tripod (and that only solves so much), use flash, up the ISO or have a fast prime. Or any combination of the above.

I find that this camera is less forgiving of my technique due to it's higher density sensor.


The first time I went out shooting most of my pictures looked soft, now as I have become more familiar with the camera and it's complex autofocus, I'm getting much better results.

huntersdad wrote in post #17450607
It makes a big difference and has been thoroughly tested on NSN. I shoot from a gimbal with my 600II. With my 1Dx, I can do birds at 1/1000. I won't dream of doing that with the 7d2. The mirror slap, while it sounds soft, is as hard or harder than the 1Dx and the files are noticeably softer, especially if you are shooting the full 10 frames per sec. If you lower that to around 7, you minimize the slap and the pics get cleaner.

If I remember tonight, I'll post some samples and show the difference.

As to the shutter speed discussion, you cannot go by the FL*1.6 to calculate minimum SS anymore. You need at least double if handholding. Such is the world of shooting pixel dense sensors.

You wouldn't dream of shooting birds at 1/1000 with a 7D Mark II. Really? Because the mirror slap is to pronounced at that high of a shutter speed. Really? OK you obviously know a lot more than me.

Mike

MikeWa wrote in post #17451045
You wouldn't dream of shooting birds at 1/1000 with a 7D Mark II. Really? Because the mirror slap is to pronounced at that high of a shutter speed. Really? OK you obviously know a lot more than me.

Mike

I'm not sure if your being serious or antagonistic, but, no, in my attempts, that is too slow for a duck in flight with the 7d2 (disregarding any wing blur you may want). You're better off upping the ISO and getting a higher shutter speed. But that's my opinion.

huntersdad wrote in post #17451082
I'm not sure if your being serious or antagonistic, but, no, in my attempts, that is too slow for a duck in flight with the 7d2 (disregarding any wing blur you may want). You're better off upping the ISO and getting a higher shutter speed. But that's my opinion.

Ok I misunderstood. Thought you were saying 1/1000 was to fast.

Mike

huntersdad wrote in post #17450607
....The mirror slap, while it sounds soft, is as hard or harder than the 1Dx and the files are noticeably softer, especially if you are shooting the full 10 frames per sec. If you lower that to around 7, you minimize the slap and the pics get cleaner.

If I remember tonight, I'll post some samples and show the difference.

I've a couple of questions if you don't mind;

I've only used my camera a couple of times at 10 FPS; it seemed each time that the initial shot wasn't as sharp as the subsequent shots in the sequence. Would I be correct in assuming this is what you are referring to here, instead of me just jamming down on the shutter button?

Secondly, does using silent shooting also further minimise mirror slap?