Canon 7D Mark II Focus Issues - What is going on?

mwsilver wrote in post #17738305
Are you sure the lens is not the issue?

I'm not sure of anything at this point.

A lot of the original focus issues with this camera were random front/back focus. Not a consistant error that you could allow for with MFA. MFA itself became a can of worms. Use recommended distances for the tests; use normal working distance for the tests; different distances will give different results and on and on. It got quite confusing. In the end I charted out MFA values and went about taking pictures and shooting the test shots when a good high contrast subject presented itself and making notes. The results were random like the problem itself. Say I set it at +6 and was sure I had it nailed. A couple of days later things look to be back focused so that means I went the wrong way. This went on for months and I finally gave up on MFA.

Rod

Frodge wrote in post #17737732
This would make me believe that canon quietly fixed somethong , somewhere along the way.

Doubtful. More like users figuring out how to use their new toy.

Or check the amount of OOF shots that some people believe are OK

Not only is what has happened almost exactly the same as what happened with the 7D, but many people were predicting this exact thing would happen when it was announced.

Sure, there will always be bad cameras and I do feel for those folks who clearly got bad cameras and for whatever reason could not return them. As will all camera gear, some initial testing should tell you if it is working OK or not. Obviously with cameras the store may not take it back with the number of shots it takes you to figure out something is wrong.

HI
just purchased the 7DII after using 7D and 5DIII for years now without problems. Tried to set microadjustments on my 70-300L IS and does NOT get it right!
Please give me some advice on how to set up for AI Servo on this machine, there are so many funny settings that I think influences the AF on this camera so now I'm really confused grrrrr..
Either send me a mail stein@nng.no or post your advice here
Yours Stein, Norway
PS Bought the camera from Adorama so I dont like the idea of sending it back to US..

When on song my 7D2 was a champ. I could not trust it to sing each time I needed it to and in the end I sold it and replaced it with a Nikon d750 and the difference is night and day in how I can rely on the autofocus to perform as expected.

If your having focus issues with a 7D2 its pilot error. The camera AF is bulletproof. Start getting on you tube and start googling tutorials and AF set ups. Go find the video for what Andy Rouse set his up. You have to invest the time to setting up the case settings and how to use the different focus functions to get best use of the camera.

I never had issues with the 7D1 or 7D2 focus system. The 7D2 is the 1Dx1 AF system on a crop sensor. I really dont know why people are having such a hard time adapting.

That being said, I do remember a couple of guys gong back and forth with canon trying to get theirs corrected. One person had it replaced and problems went away. So yeah a few got out that were not right.

Love mine. Great camera for what it is.

Steinn wrote in post #17906673
HI
just purchased the 7DII after using 7D and 5DIII for years now without problems. Tried to set microadjustments on my 70-300L IS and does NOT get it right!
Please give me some advice on how to set up for AI Servo on this machine, there are so many funny settings that I think influences the AF on this camera so now I'm really confused grrrrr..
Either send me a mail stein@nng.no or post your advice here
Yours Stein, Norway
PS Bought the camera from Adorama so I dont like the idea of sending it back to US..

Good luck.
For a camera built from the ground up with action shots in mind it seems that problems with AI servo mode are at the top of the list. I'd love to see the magic mix of settings that can make AI servo work on the cameras that it doesn't want to work on. I've had mine for almost 16 months now. Sometimes it is used as a camera but mostly it is used as a big rectangular dust cap for my lenses.

Rod

Both extremes right there in the last two posts lol, Somewhere in the middle is the right answer. It all comes down to what experiences you've had with the 7DII. Bulletproof is not how I would describe the AF system on the 7DII but a dust cap is not exactly on the money either lol. You guys are funny

The 7D2 has no issues, the design is solid. This not like the 1D3. Like sated just either parts failures, something needed to be calibrated or both.

Frodge wrote in post #17737732
This would make me believe that canon quietly fixed somethong , somewhere along the way.

Due to promises, deadlines and the bottom line sometimes companies (note I said companies) will ship out a product accidentally, correct the next production runs and just deal with added cost of the original predicted warranty return rate. Sometimes it costs less than reworking the job. That is taken into account as well.

RodS57 wrote in post #17738039
My camera shipped from the retailer on Oct 30. By Christmas there were reports of focus issues. After reading quite a few of these posts I started to experiment with MFA. By March I had not been able to get any consistent results no matter what I did. I subsequently did a 'factory reset' to start from the beginning again. I contacted Canon by email and sent in the requested pictures. When taking the test shots I also took a set of the same shots with my T3i. These shots are a little better than those taken with the 7D2.

On one of my focus test excursions I took a bunch of shots of a stationary object with the camera well supported. All shots were soft with the exception of one shot in the middle of a short burst. That shot was perfect and it was that shot which convinced me to contact canon.

Canon's response was there was nothing wrong with my camera. If they had suggested I send it in for a checkup and then told me I was an idiot that would have been fine. Problem identified. With almost a year under my belt with this camera I still don't know if there is something wrong with the camera or not and based on Pondrader's recent experience it is unlikely I will send it into canon.

The focus errors are such that I can't nail down the source. Things aren't completely out of whack so my uncertainty continues.

Disclaimers:
This is the most complicated camera I have ever tried to use
I'm long on hopes of getting 'that' shot but short on experience
Most of the time the tamron 150-600 is mounted on the camera

Rod

Sometimes it needs a second trip when it is a new release. The techs may not know what to look for until several have passed their way.

Pondrader wrote in post #17907086
Both extremes right there in the last two posts lol, Somewhere in the middle is the right answer. It all comes down to what experiences you've had with the 7DII. Bulletproof is not how I would describe the AF system on the 7DII but a dust cap is not exactly on the money either lol. You guys are funny

Did you ever get yours sorted to your satisfaction? After the repair? I sort of lost track of the whole saga for a while, & haven't really caught right up.

Im sorry I have not replied ...I don't follow this thread do to blood pressure issues lol. I just drop by every so often. I really hate to say this but I don't love this camera any longer. The one I have now is definitely not like the first one i had, I find myself on the edge of following Triplexbee. I agree with everything he said. I just shoot knowing eight out of ten missed the mark. but my blood pressure is much better 124 / 77 lol ... Of course I'm loosing my drive to go out and shoot so I need to do something soon before I just start using a gun again.

Pondrader wrote in post #17910341
Im sorry I have not replied ...I don't follow this thread do to blood pressure issues lol. I just drop by every so often. I really hate to say this but I don't love this camera any longer. The one I have now is definitely not like the first one i had, I find myself on the edge of following Triplexbee. I agree with everything he said. I just shoot knowing eight out of ten missed the mark. but my blood pressure is much better 124 / 77 lol ... Of course I'm loosing my drive to go out and shoot so I need to do something soon before I just start using a gun again.

That doesn't sound right...2/10 keeper rate on two cameras. Are you sure your 70-300L isn't the problem?