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

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 iiot 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

Tamron's prob the problem. Canon does not have to guarantee that a third-party/reverse-engineered-autofocusing lens autofocuses well on its body.

you do know your answering a post from last Oct right ?? Lot of water under the bridge since then

Pondrader wrote in post #17910455
you do know your answering a post from last Oct right ?? Lot of water under the bridge since then

Whoops, didn't know that. Thanks.

Pondrader wrote in post #17910455
you do know your answering a post from last Oct right ?? Lot of water under the bridge since then

A lot of water, dust, bucket full of rubbish, emails, phone calls, returns, ripped out hair.....

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. .

Not a problem. Figured you'd spot it sooner or later. Sorry to hear that. Nothing more frustrating than knowing what is possible, but being unable to do it through no fault of your own. I'll have to read a little more to see what Triplexbee is up to.

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's too bad. I'm pretty much in the same boat. I am disappointed that this is supposed to represent the top of the line crop body for canon. I am irritated that I wasted $2k on this thing. Not sure I have exactly your problem though. My problem is centered around AI servo operation on mine. I bought it mainly for moving things. Guess I will have to shift gears and see how it works on things that aren't moving.

Rod

idkdc wrote in post #17910405
Tamron's prob the problem. Canon does not have to guarantee that a third-party/reverse-engineered-autofocusing lens autofocuses well on its body.

The biggest problem I see is AI servo can't seem to lock focus on a static object. It happens with all the lenses I've tried and only one isn't a canon lens. Will continue to experiment and hope for some great revelation.

Rod

RodS57 wrote in post #17910952
The biggest problem I see is AI servo can't seem to lock focus on a static object. It happens with all the lenses I've tried and only one isn't a canon lens. Will continue to experiment and hope for some great revelation.

Rod

That shouldn't be the case in normal lighting conditions. You might have a faulty camera. I think you can program a button to switch from servo to one-shot in the worst case if you can't get it repaired for some reason.

RodS57 wrote in post #17910945
... My problem is centered around AI servo operation on mine.
Rod

My 7D2 is on the way to Canon Service Center for this exact problem, i.e. inconsistent, unreliable AI Servo AF focus. My 1Dx + 100-400 II combination works like magic. My 7D2 + same 100-400 II combination always leaves me wondering "Did I get the shot or not?"

One shot AF is fine.

I'll post what Canon might say about my issue.

ldn323 wrote in post #17911024
My 7D2 is on the way to Canon Service Center for this exact problem, i.e. inconsistent, unreliable AI Servo AF focus. My 1Dx + 100-400 II combination works like magic. My 7D2 + same 100-400 II combination always leaves me wondering "Did I get the shot or not?"

One shot AF is fine.

I'll post what Canon might say about my issue.

That is the exact same thing mine was doing. I sent it to Canon in November of 2014.

I bought mine when they first came out and had the same problem. I sent it to canon New Jersey and they fixed it. I wrote about it way back in that 7D 2focus thread.I guess I was lucky.

great! I got rid of my 7D last year because of too many crappy missed focus soft shots (and blaming user error and/or my lenses) and now after some frustration with focus inconsistency find that this might also be an issue with my 7DII.? ugh. I realize there is a lot I don't know about the AF system and the bazillion different settings I could use and I have read till my head hurts and tried different things but when does one decide enough is enough and just send it in? My little rebel gave me consistently better shots.

idkdc wrote in post #17910968
That shouldn't be the case in normal lighting conditions. You might have a faulty camera. I think you can program a button to switch from servo to one-shot in the worst case if you can't get it repaired for some reason.

Done. Got the '*' set to toggle one shot and AI servo. Just waiting for conditions to improve to really give it a try in general usage and not another test setup.

Rod

Ok, I've just finished the firmware update. Can you share how to set that toggle option up? and do you have one shot AF release prior set to focus or release (or where on the scale) ?

not sure where I read to watch Andy Rouse's utube video on how to set up camera AF for birds but I can't find the video, anyone?

ldn323 wrote in post #17911024
My 7D2 is on the way to Canon Service Center for this exact problem, i.e. inconsistent, unreliable AI Servo AF focus. My 1Dx + 100-400 II combination works like magic. My 7D2 + same 100-400 II combination always leaves me wondering "Did I get the shot or not?"

One shot AF is fine.

I'll post what Canon might say about my issue.

Mine is out of warranty so a free repair is off the table.

I'm in Canada. If you have been following these various threads then last fall, about a year after the camera was released, techs from the US of A went to the Canadian repair facility to train them on this camera. Too little too late I think. At least for me.

Just gotta suck it up and do the best I can with what I have.

Rod