Are 7D problems widespread or is it just another case of only hearing about the bad?

Hi, first post. Sorry if this has been done to death, I looked back a few pages and couldn't see it, so I'd appreciate some up to date views if possible..

I'm about to drop my money on a 7D. It'll be the most I have paid for a camera to date, and I'm looking forward to it after seeing some of the great results on here

I've done a lot of reading about people having AF issues, although I realise some of it seems to be down to user error, however I do acknowledge that there are problems with certain bodies.

Now I realise you only ever hear about the bad stuff when you read too much online, so I'd just like to know just how widespread you think these issues are? I'm finding it hard to gauge due to the sheer number of uncertain posts speculating whether or not it's down to user error because of the new AF system being a little harder to learn.

So, no bashing or anything like that, particularly as I'm buying the 7D regardless, I'd just be interested to know how common 'actual' problems are.

Personally I can't wait to get my hands on this camera, the last Canon I owned was a 400D which in fairness was a great little camera. I'm selling my Olympus E-30 and all my Zuiko glass to get the 7D, primarily because I'm doing a lot more low light photography and wildlife, so the better high ISO and FPS should come in very handy.

Anyway, thanks in advance for your views

peter nap wrote in post #9955644

HTTP response: 500 | MIME changed to 'text/html'

Sorry if you think I'm trolling or anything, I'm honestly not.

If this is going to be an inflammatory post then I'd rather the mods delete it.

My apologies if this post is taken the wrong way.

Wow.. I just saw the same question elsewhere. I have the same answer so I'll just redirect to my previous post.
https://photography-on-the.net …?p=9955633&post​count=6872

Oh.. and welcome to the forum.

gjl711 wrote in post #9955662
Wow.. I just saw the same question elsewhere. I have the same answer so I'll just redirect to my previous post.
https://photography-on-the.net …?p=9955633&post​count=6872

Thanks, appreciate it

I think it's fair to say that any manufacture defects will be apparent sooner than later, and should you encounter, simply return or exchange it.

I've only had mine for 2 months now, but I've also shot 10 events in that time. No problems here. I don't care to overstate how great it is, but I'm happy with my purchase decision.

I'll answer you...

I just bought one three weeks ago. I almost like it. I like wildlife photography and thats what I mostly have been shooting with my 7d. It takes a bit to learn the focus systems and I'm almost there. I like the abilty to micro adjust each lenses and the camera remembers it.. The high iso is super. This allows you get high shutter speeds with minimal noise. The 7d does alot and I haven't even got to the video part yet.

Go for it... good luck

Yes there are tons of threads on this forum and great websites. PM me if you have any questions and i'll help you best I can.

Kurt

SnapLocally.com wrote in post #9955677
I think it's fair to say that any manufacture defects will be apparent sooner than later, and should you encounter, simply return or exchange it.

I've only had mine for 2 months now, but I've also shot 10 events in that time. No problems here. I don't care to overstate how great it is, but I'm happy with my purchase decision.

Thanks, and yeah I do realise that any new tech has it's share of lemons, especially when so many are being sold, I was just hoping it's getting overplayed a bit, and I think it may be.

Not taking anything away from those with genuine problems of course.

I'll be getting one either way, I'd just prefer it if I don't have to mess about returning it, naturally.

Thank you for your input.

I just bought mine last weekend. I haven't experienced any major focusing issues; I've had some, but the caveats that keep me from determining they're the camera's fault include
• similar behavior from the same lenses, on my XT
• very limited time to play with the camera, as I'm currently in the process of packing before a move and dealing with the last details of finalizing a divorce
• not ruling out operator error

I don't generally do much that requires high-speed tracking and focus (that may change, we'll see), but I've noticed a couple of my lenses do a lot of 'hunting', no matter how I set things up. On the flip side of that, the 18-135 kit lens for the 7D performed flawlessly on a simple walk-around test while shooting test video the other day... I walked around the house for a minute, turning the camera on myself, then eventually lowering it to cat-height and letting it concentrate on one of my cats. Tracked focus just fine.
I did some stills the other night, too. Set the screen up to show me the AF points it worked with on each picture. Some interesting results.
At present, I'm not totally convinced I don't have a faulty body where AF is concerned. But until I have the opportunity to sit down and fully understand the setup, I'm not getting worked up about it.
I will also note I'm a tad annoyed at having 19 points of AF... it almost seems like the camera is quibbling with me about what I want to be in focus.

GrizzlyMan wrote in post #9955694
I'll answer you...

I just bought one three weeks ago. I almost like it. I like wildlife photography and thats what I mostly have been shooting with my 7d. It takes a bit to learn the focus systems and I'm almost there. I like the abilty to micro adjust each lenses and the camera remembers it.. The high iso is super. This allows you get high shutter speeds with minimal noise. The 7d does alot and I haven't even got to the video part yet.

Go for it... good luck

Yes there are tons of threads on this forum and great websites. PM me if you have any questions and i'll help you best I can.

Kurt

Thanks very much Kurt, appreciate your help

Don't get me wrong, I love my E-30, but I live in the mostly dull & drab UK so ISO tends to be bumped up. I shot at a nature reserve type place the other day. It was overcast and much of it was under the cover of trees so I shot at 640. I'm not scared of a little noise but the loss of detail really bugged me. It was kind of the final straw. I remember being able to use 1600 to decent effect on my old 400D so I decided to take the plunge and go for the 7D, I'm excited but it is the most I've ever spent on a body!

dave63 wrote in post #9955701
I just bought mine last weekend. I haven't experienced any major focusing issues; I've had some, but the caveats that keep me from determining they're the camera's fault include
• similar behavior from the same lenses, on my XT
• very limited time to play with the camera, as I'm currently in the process of packing before a move and dealing with the last details of finalizing a divorce
• not ruling out operator error

I don't generally do much that requires high-speed tracking and focus (that may change, we'll see), but I've noticed a couple of my lenses do a lot of 'hunting', no matter how I set things up. On the flip side of that, the 18-135 kit lens for the 7D performed flawlessly on a simple walk-around test while shooting test video the other day... I walked around the house for a minute, turning the camera on myself, then eventually lowering it to cat-height and letting it concentrate on one of my cats. Tracked focus just fine.
I did some stills the other night, too. Set the screen up to show me the AF points it worked with on each picture. Some interesting results.
At present, I'm not totally convinced I don't have a faulty body where AF is concerned. But until I have the opportunity to sit down and fully understand the setup, I'm not getting worked up about it.
I will also note I'm a tad annoyed at having 19 points of AF... it almost seems like the camera is quibbling with me about what I want to be in focus.

I agree, I think I'll definitely spend a lot of time learning how to get the most from the AF before I even start to analyse it too much.

To be honest a lot of the time I use single point AF, so I would imagine that kind of voids a lot of the issues that I 'may' run into..

I have noticed one bit of strange behavior with the 7D's focus system. The focusing system is less accurate when set to a single point than in all-ponts full auto-focus.

I was experimenting with some off camera flash photos in very low light (~11PM at night, outside) of my motorcycle. When set to to center point focus, the camera would hunt and only find focus 1 out of every 10 times or so (Tamron 17-50 @ f/2.8).

When I changed the mode to full auto focus, it would quickly lock on to the motorcycle without issue... even if I had the camera pointed at the same corresponding areas that the single point was trying to lock on to.

I haven't delved into the particulars of the AF system, but the behavior suggests that the 7D will perform a lot better in zone/auto focus where multiple points are feeding info back to the camera than from a single point.

Canis_Majoris wrote in post #9955650
Sorry if you think I'm trolling or anything, I'm honestly not.

If this is going to be an inflammatory post then I'd rather the mods delete it.

My apologies if this post is taken the wrong way.

Not you Canis and welcome to the Site.
I'm just getting comfortable for the show.
BTW, I have a 7D and love it.

peter nap wrote in post #9955749
Not you Canis and welcome to the Site.
I'm just getting comfortable for the show.
BTW, I have a 7D and love it.

Lol, thanks Peter, I was a little worried that I'd be taken as a troll, first post and all...

But then I guess this isn't DPR