Sharpness issues with 7d mark II and 70-200mm f/2.8 is ver 1

Not sure exactly what I'm doing wrong, or if its the gear.

Been having the camera for a few years, and I never really too a close look at the sharpness of my kid's baseball in-game shots. I've been using this lens both with and without a Canon 1.4X II converter, and things just don't look anywhere near as crisp as I see other people's shots with identical setups.

Could it be the autofocus settings that I use? Currently have it set on Case 6. I usually shoot with single point autofocus, rarely the 5 point, sometimes the 9 point block. Could it be the teleconverter?

I usually shoot on fairly bright days in AV mode at apertures between f/2.8 and f/7.1 without the converter and of course f/4 and up with it.

Usually set the white balance to sunny, evaluative metering, and speeds always of 1/1000 and faster with an ISO between 200-300.


Just bought a fairly new 6D mark II and have yet to run any tests to see if its the 7D mark II or the lens. Just looking for any guidance.

Thanks.

Have you set the MFA on the 7D2 for that specific lens?

I think I have it turned *on*, but I've never messed with it. Are there specific adjustments that I need to make?


Thank you.

Can you post an example?

I'm at work right now, but after watching a few youtube videos on microadjustments, I think that's the issue. I'm going to set up the tripod, I've printed out a sheet or two, and will try to see if that helps. If not, I'll post some shots tomorrow when I wake up (working night shift the next two nights. Appreciate the feedback.

From what I've watched and read, this is fairly common, especially with older lenses. I don't recall having these issues with my 24-105 f/4 L or my Tokina 11-20 f/2.8 on my trip to Italy. I didn't bring the 70-200 with me on that trip for weight purposes.

Will post the results of my tests as soon as I adjust and check the image quality.

If it's simply lack of MFA, the lens is focusing, but not (quite) on the subject. Instead, it's focusing slightly in front or behind the target.

That being the case, a close inspection of the shots can often confirm this, because the actual plane of focus is visible in the image, i.e. something else is sharp.

just do a quick-and-dirty test of two subjects, near and far of zoom range, to represent the distances of the focusing in your practices. Take about 3 photos at each subject and fine tune your MFA. Zoom in your preview and look closely near and far of the subject, and you can tell which direction you're off.

Side note: Ideally, you want to calibrate your lens instead of your camera. I have this tiny problem w/ my 7Dii that if I do the MFA adjustment for non-flash shot, the MFA revert back to default when shooting w/ flash (430exiii and 600ex on ETTL and AF assist). My remedy was to get the Sigma tool and correct the lens to zero out the camera's MFA adjustments.

Ok, tried my best to quickly make some adjustments before work. I have a varsity baseball game to shoot tomorrow afternoon and I'll see what they look like. I'll bring my 6D mark II as well. After shooting that 70-200 with a 1.4X teleconverter on a crop body and then going to the 6D mark II, I feel like I can't reach anything. Really making me want a 100-400mm.

I had the same issue with my 7DM2 and 70 - 200 ver 1. I used FoCal to MFA the lense and it made an all the difference. Might be worth a shot. Without checking their site ... I want to say you should be able to use that same software on your 6DM2 as well.

Thank you very much

If you're shooting a lot wide open then MFA may well be the issue. You might google "Dot Tune method" as a way to make the adjustment. It's free and it works well.