Eos 7D AF Performance Conclucions..

I think that many have been told about the Eos 7D performance...even if its about IQ or even about the multicomplex AF system...
so let me tell you my point of view about this well hiding little beast...
its been a month that came into my hands and started to play with it...not every day due to personal reasons but very often...

Coming from the ''old'' Eos 1 Mark 2n school and from the 40d i wasnt really familiar as many of you here i believe with thisweird AF system...
At first shots i was really satisfied about the overall performance in colour light metering ect...so whats left..?? Lets test the AF...
As all of you the test shots i took in real world and af charts were Soooo Many....(most of thme were INDOORS) and the combination is a killer one...with ''the brick'' 24-70 L on it i wasnt afraid of anything...
Shot per shot and time after time the tests in the AF system and the sharpness of the combination were all against the 7D and the 24-70 L ...GUILTY AS THE COURT SAID....

Something wasnt ok...it seems the combination was in great need of Microadjustment...i put the number of MA in plus 12..(+12) as it seemed the correct number... then something more weird happened...in straight horizontal position all shot were OOF....but in diagonal down position at 50 degrees height lets say the shots were all CLEAR... (this happened cause the Super Sensitive af system was focusing closer to me if i was a bit lower...35 deggres istead of 45...AND I THOUGHT IT WAS FRONT FOCUSING..thats why i MA at +12....but in straight horizontal position it was really back focusing because i had the +12..!!!!:o )
so more tests were on schedule.....so after so many more test again i was in the correct conclusion finally...!!!

I WAS the guilty one...not the 7D...i was made mistakes that led me to the false conclusions...so i put again in the default number 0 the MA and all my shots are great now..
USER ERROR is the right conclusion...
why???? xmmmmmmmmm...
first of all is that we can't do indoor Sharpness tests and be satisfied...you can see all that in outdoor shots sharpness is much more obvious than inside... (check here for examples.. https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=760327 ) this can lead to false idea about the sharpness.... so...test the camera IN BRIGHT SUN..thats the way to be 100% sure....And if you see that in bright sun the shots are Oof then YES you can worry about microadjustments or return it to CANON...

I Saw many shots with low shutter speeds and the users complained about OOF shots...thats normal...what did you expect..?????
I Saw many great shots in the gallery...so many that all you guys should be proud...i was worried and i was soooo wrong..
I strongly believe that in many cases about the complains that have heard about the 7d are mostly due to USER ERROR...
like mine false conserns...(it needs precise focus to be correct...its not like the oldest AF systems that we are all used to!!!!)

My camera now is in the default settings in the Microadjustment settings...
but i did the folowing from the Custom Functions...
1. I turned off the noise reduction...
2. I stopped the continue AF when af is impossible..
And iam finally happy.. and enjoy my tack sharp as hell photos..!!
better than my eos 1d mark 2 and my 40d...!!

thats a point from me...only an opinion...
thank you for your time and please excuse me for any language mistakes in grammar or spelling..!!! I am from Greece..~!!

Please feel free to share your experiences with the EOS 7D...!!!

Hey Show us some nice picture of sunny Greece

mind u if the nose is sharp and eye is not with certain parameter - it will be the same on your 40D (with same camera/lens parameters) -so your comment was unclear to me

yeap you re right about this ...it was just an example just to tell that in this AF system even the smallest detail matters just to have a sharp or an OOF image...that in the previous AF systems wouldnt matter at all...!! i corrected that...!!!

doesnt anyone has any experience to share...???

MKII wrote in post #10148783
first of all is that we can't do indoor Sharpness tests and be satisfied...

I totally agree with that, unless of course you're using a good lighting rig indoors.

I've found that the use of protective filters can also have a noticeable effect on my keeper rate with the 7D. I use the Hoya multicoated made-for-digital clear protective ones, which though not high end are supposed to be fairly decent, but in certain situations they really seem to throw the AF off. Not all the time, mind you, and not consistently, but often enough that I only put a filter on when I really feel I need it for protection against the elements. Just another thing to try if you feel your 7D isn't performing as it should.

i don't really know how much this filters affect the sharpness as i never use them...but if you say so and according with many other same opinions from other members who use them i suppose you are all right..!!! so lets take them off when we do those sharpness tests..!!

You might like this thread then, and I expect you will want to post some of your shots there. I agree with your synopsis, other than the point about only checking sharpness in sunlight. I have nearly 1000 shots at ISOs of 6400 and 12800 under my belt across 4 different events.

The 7D does well with good lenses in the dark situations I shot in, its AF was spot on. Sure you lose detail, but you can tell if it is sharp at the higher ISOs, or at least you can if you do it enough. But then again, my discussing this is about like a stablehand bragging about how fast and efficient he is at shoveling crap out of the stalls, nobody really cares nor do they want to try this on a daily basis.

https://photography-on-the.net …99284&highlight​=7d+100%25

I'm happy with my 7D AF finally after learning how to use it through trial & error (mostly error ). Many users return their 7D's due to "bad AF", but as I've learned - it's mostly the user not knowing how to use it. That was the case with me as well.
Now I get razor-sharp images, combined with an 85mm f/1.8 makes it a powerful combo!

aboss3 wrote in post #10155052
Many users return their 7D's due to "bad AF", but as I've learned - it's mostly the user not knowing how to use it.

Ooh now you've gone and done it. They'll be after you now. You're not allowed to suggest User Error might play a part at all, ever !!!

aboss3 wrote in post #10155052
I'm happy with my 7D AF finally after learning how to use it through trial & error (mostly error ). Many users return their 7D's due to "bad AF", but as I've learned - it's mostly the user not knowing how to use it. That was the case with me as well.
Now I get razor-sharp images, combined with an 85mm f/1.8 makes it a powerful combo!

I don't know what the big deal was...how are people using the 7D wrong? A little common sense goes a long way... I've never had any problem with the 7D straight out of the box (and no MA on any of my lenses, either).

TeamSpeed wrote in post #10154904
You might like this thread then, and I expect you will want to post some of your shots there. I agree with your synopsis, other than the point about only checking sharpness in sunlight. I have nearly 1000 shots at ISOs of 6400 and 12800 under my belt across 4 different events.

The 7D does well with good lenses in the dark situations I shot in, its AF was spot on. Sure you lose detail, but you can tell if it is sharp at the higher ISOs, or at least you can if you do it enough. But then again, my discussing this is about like a stablehand bragging about how fast and efficient he is at shoveling crap out of the stalls, nobody really cares nor do they want to try this on a daily basis.

Yes youre right...but lets say if we talk about someone who hasnt a well trained eye to judge sharpness clearly then is better to do the tests in bright sun cause its MORE obvious in this weather situation...!!!
oppsss..this is a metaform that i don't really understand...!!!

aboss3 wrote in post #10155052
I'm happy with my 7D AF finally after learning how to use it through trial & error (mostly error ). Many users return their 7D's due to "bad AF", but as I've learned - it's mostly the user not knowing how to use it. That was the case with me as well.
Now I get razor-sharp images, combined with an 85mm f/1.8 makes it a powerful combo!

yeap...just like me...user error...didn't you blamed the camera many times before you finally find out that was alllllll your fault... ? ?

GSH wrote in post #10155158
Ooh now you've gone and done it. They'll be after you now. You're not allowed to suggest User Error might play a part at all, ever !!!

for many people its not even discussable.....its cameras fault......!!!!:p:p

stickshift wrote in post #10155205
I don't know what the big deal was...how are people using the 7D wrong? A little common sense goes a long way... I've never had any problem with the 7D straight out of the box (and no MA on any of my lenses, either).

Don't you realize that common sense is an oxymoron

I had a problem with the focus on my 7D, but I never, not once, blamed the camera - I know much better than to blame the camera - It is me (Wow I feel better). This weekend I took the camera out for the first sunny weekend we have had in a while and took some shots of a parade. Wow TACK SHARP. I found out by trial and error (mostly error) what I was doing wrong and wow I am just amazed at what the camera is capable of. I am now a huge proponent of bright sunshine.

napolar wrote in post #10155886
I had a problem with the focus on my 7D, but I never, not once, blamed the camera - I know much better than to blame the camera - It is me (Wow I feel better). This weekend I took the camera out for the first sunny weekend we have had in a while and took some shots of a parade. Wow TACK SHARP. I found out by trial and error (mostly error) what I was doing wrong and wow I am just amazed at what the camera is capable of. I am now a huge proponent of bright sunshine.

So what the heck is it that everyone is doing wrong? A few are admitting error but no one is sharing what it was? What gives?

Sikor7 wrote in post #10156166
So what the heck is it that everyone is doing wrong? A few are admitting error but no one is sharing what it was? What gives?

Well for me it was mostly using the wrong AF modes at wrong times. For example, I try to stay away from the 19-pt AF due to the closest subject always in focus and the rest is OOF. Instead, I learned how and when to use the Single Point, and when to use the adjacent points, and also how to position them for vertical/horizontal shooting. Last week I was shooting the ballroom competition and got some great results w/85mm f/1.8 when cropping due to pre-setting vertical/horizontal AF settings, and also adjusting (+1) AI Servo for higher speed when shooting continuous.
This weekend, I was just shooting some crazy friends at a pool party jumping into the pool, and also got excellent results with using single point expanded.
There are lots of discussions on this forum already that really helped me with deciding which AF mode to use and when.
But yes, there were times when I thought: "This is definitely the camera!!!". I'm glad that I stuck with 7D, and thanks POTN for being a great help!