7D Mark ll Focus?

britt777 wrote in post #17417355
So this is what was suppose to be my focus point, but as you can see this is far from focused, what am I doing wrong. Anyone?

To my eye there is some motion blur. Also be careful of those assist points. They will grab focus when you don't want them to.

what I see is motion blur!! at 1/500 you are not going to stop that action. at 1/1250 you would have done much better but there would still be blur on fast parts like feet and tails, heads turning

britt777 wrote in post #17417355
So this is what was suppose to be my focus point, but as you can see this is far from focused, what am I doing wrong. Anyone?

You let the camera decide where the focus point should be and it will always focus on the closest object. To control the focus point yourself you will need to use the single spot or the single spot with the 4 spot or 8 spot "focus assist" arrays. the "zone focus" arrays pick the focus spot for you. Visit this website http://www.usa.canon.c​om …rk_ii#Brochures​AndManuals and download the "AF Guide". Study how each of the focus arrays work. In my opinion the "zone focus" ones are the least useful and the single spot the best choice.

rgs wrote in post #17417369
You let the camera decide where the focus point should be and it will always focus on the closest object. To control the focus point yourself you will need to use the single spot or the single spot with the 4 spot or 8 spot "focus assist" arrays. the "zone focus" arrays pick the focus spot for you. Visit this website http://www.usa.canon.c​om …rk_ii#Brochures​AndManuals and download the "AF Guide". Study how each of the focus arrays work. In my opinion the "zone focus" ones are the least useful and the single spot the best choice.

Spot AF is not as reliable as simple single AF point. I'm convinced that many of the focus problems reported are due to use of spot focusing, perhaps in an effort to improve AF. Spot focus is potentially more precise, but it is less reliable.

Archibald wrote in post #17417430
Spot AF is not as reliable as simple single AF point. I'm convinced that many of the focus problems reported are due to use of spot focusing, perhaps in an effort to improve AF. Spot focus is potentially more precise, but it is less reliable.

I meant single point. Said it wrong. Sorry for the confusion. Yeah the single point seems to be the best followed by the 4 and 8 assist arrays.

what is the best setting for this option?

rgs wrote in post #17417369
You let the camera decide where the focus point should be and it will always focus on the closest object.

I have heard this many times before but it makes me wonder how is it possible. The camera has only one lens so no depth perception. The Canon 7 series does not use sonic or infra red signals for depth perception that I am aware of. So how does it know what is closer? I always thought the sensors grabbed the best contrasting subjects. Which means usually the closest but not always. That is why focus is sometimes captured by the background. So can somebody explain this to me? I am not trying to be a turd here. I am trying to find out if there is something I am missing. Could it be grabbing whatever comes into focus first? Ok some of you are a lot smarter than me. So what actually happens?

Mike

MikeWa wrote in post #17417510
I have heard this many times before but it makes me wonder how is it possible. The camera has only one lens so no depth perception. The Canon 7 series does not use sonic or infra red signals for depth perception that I am aware of. So how does it know what is closer? I always thought the sensors grabbed the best contrasting subjects. Which means usually the closest but not always. That is why focus is sometimes captured by the background. So can somebody explain this to me? I am not trying to be a turd here. I am trying to find out if there is something I am missing. Could it be grabbing whatever comes into focus first? Ok some of you are a lot smarter than me. So what actually happens?

Mike

The camera only needs one eye for depth perception. It knows distance because it knows the lens extension needed to achieve focus.

MikeWa wrote in post #17417510
I have heard this many times before but it makes me wonder how is it possible. The camera has only one lens so no depth perception. The Canon 7 series does not use sonic or infra red signals for depth perception that I am aware of. So how does it know what is closer? I always thought the sensors grabbed the best contrasting subjects. Which means usually the closest but not always. That is why focus is sometimes captured by the background. So can somebody explain this to me? I am not trying to be a turd here. I am trying to find out if there is something I am missing. Could it be grabbing whatever comes into focus first? Ok some of you are a lot smarter than me. So what actually happens?

Mike

This is just what Canon says about those focus arrays. I don't know how they do it or how accurate they are but one thing is certain, under most (but not all - like a flying bird in a clear sky) conditions, letting the camera choose the focus point is not reliable.

that was a great answer to my question.

Archibald wrote in post #17417517
The camera only needs one eye for depth perception. It knows distance because it knows the lens extension needed to achieve focus.

Agreed. It knows the distance to what it focused on. But I do not think it knows the distance to everything in the frame. So I don't think it always focuses on the nearest object when in automatic point selection. I don't see where I am wrong with this. Although I have been told I am.

Mike

rgs wrote in post #17417520
This is just what Canon says about those focus arrays. I don't know how they do it or how accurate they are but one thing is certain, under most (but not all - like a flying bird in a clear sky) conditions, letting the camera choose the focus point is not reliable.

Whole heartedly agree. In automatic point selection the camera will frequently focus on the clouds or background behind the BIF.
This doesn't mean I don't use it because I do. Frequently. But I understand not all of these shots are going to catch what I what.

Mike

MikeWa wrote in post #17419271
Agreed. It knows the distance to what it focused on. But I do not think it knows the distance to everything in the frame. So I don't think it always focuses on the nearest object when in automatic point selection. I don't see where I am wrong with this. Although I have been told I am.

I don't know either how the camera does it, but I surmise it must be checking focus with all active AF points. It must pick up lens extension data during the focus sweep for each point and retain that data. Seems amazing, but I don't see how else it could work.

Canon says the nearest object will be selected, and I can confirm that's what it does from my shooting experience.

It seems the more I learn the less I know. If this keeps up it won't be long before I don't know anything.

Mike