7D soft focus

Hey all. I just got off the mountain from shooting my son and friends on the slopes. After loading all the pics from the shoot, I found that a lot of them were soft focus. I am thinking it might ba caused by a lack of contrast from subject and background. Focus mode was AI SERVO. Below is my son, the skier and this entire 8 frames were soft, but his friends came out razor sharp. I posted a pic of anter guy who was razor sharp.. This was taken with the same settings, from the same spot.

Any thoughts on this? Both of these photos are straight from the camera with no processing of any kind. Also if anyone has settings for focus for shots like this and would like to share, I would appreciate it. Thanks everyone!

My son....

The 2nd one looks really good. Center focus?

Spot AF

Info shows SPOT AF.... What is checked on the camera in CF3 is:
auto select 19 point AF
manual select zone AF
manual select single point AF
manual select spot AF

I think I need to deselect some things....

You can use the AF point selection button (right most one) and M-Fn to scroll through AF mode. It will be tough to shoot action with spot af, either use zone or expansion AF will be better.

maverick678 wrote in post #9703178
You can use the AF point selection button (right most one) and M-Fn to scroll through AF mode. It will be tough to shoot action with spot af, either use zone or expansion AF will be better.

Thanks. I just changed the settings for that so we will see how much better it gets. That should fix it though.

Just and idea to try. I purchased a 7D about 3 weeks ago and found that some of my pictures were soft and some were ok. I was using my 28-75 2.8. I see that in your second image their is more depth of field. Do you have a filter on? I found that when shooting about f/2.8- f/4 with my filter on the images came out soft, remove the filter and all was good.

I like the 2nd shot, hopefully what has been suggested helps your issue

Matt,

if your 7D is anything like mine, it snaps to focus instantly. Whether it delivers ACCURATE focus is another story. Your two shots are exactly what I experience on a regular basis with my 7D. I can't tell you how frustrated I am with this body.

Since basketball playoffs begin this week, I'm holding off sending it back to Canon until my home team is eliminated. Hopefully, there is a real problem with focus that can be addressed and corrected by Canon.

dave

In addition to all the above, I'm wondering if the high contrast clothing of the second guy might have helped to lock the spot focus compared to the almost monotone outfit worn by your son?

Were you shooting manual? If so what were your settings? Also what was your focus set at?

galaxyfinder wrote in post #9705158
Just and idea to try. I purchased a 7D about 3 weeks ago and found that some of my pictures were soft and some were ok. I was using my 28-75 2.8. I see that in your second image their is more depth of field. Do you have a filter on? I found that when shooting about f/2.8- f/4 with my filter on the images came out soft, remove the filter and all was good.

that is what happens when you shoot with a cheap filter on in general... this isnt a DOF problem... its an AF problem.

maverick678 wrote in post #9703178
You can use the AF point selection button (right most one) and M-Fn to scroll through AF mode. It will be tough to shoot action with spot af, either use zone or expansion AF will be better.

Correct, and for this situation, unless you are perfect with tracking and following action with that one point out of the 19, you definitely want one of the other AF modes.

However, others may be correct too, and the way the clothing doesn't contrast too much with the surrounds could cause initial focus onto a different subject. However if you can track your son through the jump and take a picture, using one of the other AF modes, you should end up with the keepers you are looking for.

2nd picture is killer though, love the DOF giving it that 3d look! I hope his tongue was intact after the landing.

Well for this shoot, I was not using a filter of any kind and I was shooting in AV. F4.0 ISO200 and around 1/1500 shutter speed for most of the shots. My initial thoughts on this were about the lack of contrast between subject and background. Then someone mentioned focus mode and it was set on SPOT AF.

Going through the entire shoot appears to mostly reveal sharp focus with subjects that have great contrast from the background... Could zone or expansion AF help the camera find the more contrasting spots on the skiers gear? Give it a broader selection??? Thanks for the help everyone.

mattymx wrote in post #9706546
Well for this shoot, I was not using a filter of any kind and I was shooting in AV. F4.0 ISO200 and around 1/1500 shutter speed for most of the shots. My initial thoughts on this were about the lack of contrast between subject and background. Then someone mentioned focus mode and it was set on SPOT AF.

Going through the entire shoot appears to mostly reveal sharp focus with subjects that have great contrast from the background... Could zone or expansion AF help the camera find the more contrasting spots on the skiers gear? Give it a broader selection??? Thanks for the help everyone.

well honestly get off spot AF.. It will help alot unless you have perfect panning technique... use zone expansion and you should be fine.