anyone have issues with AI Focus on 40D?

My main question is, are there any 40D owners experiencing focusing problems whatsoever? Im hoping its me, i plan on doing a comparison with the xt to make sure its neither the lens or camera.

So on to my main subject.

Went out for a lil bit today to do a lil railroad photography. I've mainly used AI Servo on the xt i had for years. I did switch it between AI servo and AI focus.
So today in my usualy spot i was trying out the ai servo and ai focus on the 40d with the canon 24-105 f/4L. I noticed that 1. AI Focus does not track the moving subject whatsoever. 2. AI Servo is pretty good, i just hate the beeping when the shutter button is pressed halfway for more then a few seconds.
If I was able to get a shot off while in ai focus, the shots were very soft.
I thought this was just a one time occurance. So tonight I setup my tripod with the sigma 70-200 + 2x converter on the 40d. Start playing around with the different WB settings to see which is better on the 40 for the moon. Do all that, set it to timer since i dont have the remote shutter yet. Manually focus, shots came out soso. Using liveview with the moon was kinda pointless as the moon was washed out and you couldn't see any detail. Anyway, i switch to AF and select one shot. Press shutter, it focses, timer starts. Shots are soft when I upload them. Again disappointed, i've used the same setup but with the xt and gotten incredible sharp shots.

Now im hoping it was just user error on the moon pics since i didn't have a shutter release and didn't use mirror lockup. So there is the chance for lens shake.

Now my other issue, is the amount of DUST!!! I took a shot of an airplane the first day i had it. The blue sky looked like it had lil UFO's in it. It was everywhere. So here is my question, can i use any sensor cleaner on the 40d's sensor? I just want to make sure there's nothing different or special about that will cause me to buy a different sensor cleaner.

I was initially worried about my AI Servo mode. I thought that my keeper rate was lower than it should have been. Now that I have had it a few weeks, it appears it was just user error....

FWIW, my AI Focus works well...tracks just fine.

I have had no problems at all, AI server tracking, don't use AI focus, but have taken a lot of photos with servo, football, moto x yesterday, for me I find it accurate, and fast.
You can turn beep off, but I use the * button for focusing, and the shutter to expose, and then shoot, don't get beeps
Dust, I not even looked at my sensor, or noticed anything, on around 3k shots now

Have a look at this guys baseball images http://forums.dpreview​.com …rum=1019&messag​e=24943573 his comments and comparison to the 30D are likely worth noting & not forgetting his very good images.

I have never doubted the 40D, and it just confirms my comments I made when I first got it, the AF side of the 40D over 30D is a fair improvement, and my keeper rate went up. I was using my 70-200 F2.8 yesterday, got to say I was impressed with it.
OP needs to do some more testing to make sure he does not have a Faulty Camera

And here you can see another run ... it takes time to load the 108 photos, but I think is worth ... is like cenema ...

http://www.komar.org …400d/canon-40d-autofocus/

2005GLI wrote in post #3994331
2. AI Servo is pretty good, i just hate the beeping when the shutter button is pressed halfway for more then a few seconds.

Would CF 4-1 (if it is still the same on the 40D) help with that?

2005GLI wrote in post #3994331
So here is my question, can i use any sensor cleaner on the 40d's sensor? I just want to make sure there's nothing different or special about that will cause me to buy a different sensor cleaner.

Start with a rocket blower!!!

thanks guys. i've been reading up on the manual again just to make sure i have the settings i like. It was user error on my part about the ai focus. I dont know what i did yesterday that it seemed like it wasn't working.

I haven't use the "*" that much on the 40d or my xt, but it seems alot better to use then just the shutter button for focusing and exposure. Just gotta keep remembering to use it.

Now my last problem which is driving me nuts, even after reading the manual numerous times. ISO settings, im full manual and do not have iso100. It goes Auto, 200,400,800,1600. If i put it to 1/3 incremints, the lowest is still auto then 200. Is there a 100 iso in the camera or is 200 the lowest?

Maybe you have highlight tone prirority enabled. If so I think the 100 is not available.

Box Brownie wrote in post #3994970
Have a look at this guys baseball images http://forums.dpreview​.com …rum=1019&messag​e=24943573 his comments and comparison to the 30D are likely worth noting & not forgetting his very good images.

I bet the AF system LOVED those uniforms.

I received my 40D last Friday. The images in any focus mode were soft. Performed a controlled focus test and my 40D front focuses 4" at 6'. I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I am. The 40D is going to Canon Repair in Irvine, CA on Wednesday. So much for the greater focusing accuracy of the diagonal focus points. Grrrr!!

I've been using my 40D over the past weekend shooting a wedding, and AI Servo worked just great during the fun games at the reception.

There is ISO 100, disable the highlight tone priority C.Fn II-3. Otherwise, only ISO 200-1600 is available.

As for the dust issue on the sensor, I was concerned about it as well. When I purchased the camera, I took a few shots on a white sheet of paper at the retail store (f/22, 2 sec shutter, ISO 200) to check for black spots (dust) on the sensor. Turned out to be the CLEANEST sensor I've personally seen on a new canon DSLR. If you saw dust, it could, and hopefully, be a one-off situation. You can clean it yourself, or take it to a Canon Service Centre, it's done free, and takes 24 hours. They ship the camera back to you with next day priority.

oldsquawk wrote in post #3998685
I received my 30D last Friday. The images in any focus mode were soft. Performed a controlled focus test and my 40D front focuses 4" at 6'. I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I am. The 40D is going to Canon Repair in Irvine, CA on Wednesday. So much for the greater focusing accuracy of the diagonal focus points. Grrrr!!

Sorry to hear that , hope it gets sorted

So far things are working well in all focus modes. My keeper rate is so much higher with the 40D over my 400D.

thanks for that tip on highlight tone mode. I do think i have it on, i'll disable it tomorrow. Im goign to do a few more test shots tomorrow, printing out the focus chart now to make sure things are working as intended. If now i'll drive down to the canon service center here in nj.