1D vs 7D vs XXD Focussing speed

travellingcello

travellingcello

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Hi all,

Just wondering if anybody could share their experiences of the differences in tracking speed/autofocus accuracy between the 7D, 1D and XXD series cameras.

I currently own a 60D and a 1Ds (the original) and can't help but notice that the autofocus on the 1Ds is streets ahead of the 60D. Which brings me to a dilemma because the 1Ds doesn't have the nessesary FPS or processing speed to be used as a sports or wildlife camera and is hence gettting sold but the 60D's autofocus now leaves me wanting more.

I then thought that I could sell both and get a 7D, but then saw somebody post that a borrowed 1Dii has much faster tracking/better autofocus than their 7D. Is the 1d series autofocus so much better than the 7D's? Or is the 7D's autofocus so much better than the 60D's?

Thanks!
 
I found my 50d was better than the 5d for focusing speed and accuracy but can't compare to the 1d. 7d is the king for AF.

Generally though, I find the lenses themselves offer more variable focusing speed than any of those bodies. For example, my Sigma 70-200 and canon 10-22 focus much faster than my other lenses as they have HSM and USM respectively.

But for best AF tracking and accuracy, nothing beats the 7d.
 
I found recently that my 7d didn't compare to a 1d mkii n! I found that the hit rate at Burghley Horse Trials was much higher on the 1d
 
scottthehat said:
The 1d mk 4 has the best and fastest auto focus of any canon
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Is it better than the 7d? I only ask as the 1d series is the only body series I've never used.

That said most sports togs use the 1d3 and 4 so I guess that speaks for itself.
 
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I won't be able to buy a 1D III or IV for that matter but I don't want to get a 7D and then realise that the autofocus isn't that much better... because image quality wise the 60D produces exactly the same so the autofocus would be the only reason I buy the 7D.
 
I find AF on my 1D Mark 2 to be quicker and better at tracking challenging targets in AI Servo than 40D, 50D and 7D.
 
I've had the 500D, 40D, 50D, 7D, 1D3 and 1Ds2. The 1D3 had the best AF out of all of them, the 7D and 1Ds2 I find pretty close to each other in performance. The 7D has far more AF features than the 1Ds2 though, spot focus is handy as are the zones. Although not strictly related to performance I also love the different AF points for the orientation of the camera feature on the 7D. At one point I did downgrade from the 1D3 to the 40D\50D but just couldn't live with the AF performance so went back to the 7D. I've since picked up the 1Ds2 which compliments the 7D nicely.
 
lala said:
I found recently that my 7d didn't compare to a 1d mkii n! I found that the hit rate at Burghley Horse Trials was much higher on the 1d
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My experience too. I sometimes wonder if I'm doing something wrong when claims are made that the AF speed of the 7D is equal to the 1D series.

I really miss my 1D MkIIN when it comes to AF speed.
 
footman said:
My experience too. I sometimes wonder if I'm doing something wrong when claims are made that the AF speed of the 7D is equal to the 1D series.

I really miss my 1D MkIIN when it comes to AF speed.
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My feelings as well. I have used the 7d for equine and motorsport coupled with a 70 -200 f2.8 is and find that you can't predict the results. At a recent indoor dressage test I shot, I stood in the exact same spot for nearly 6 hours, some of the results were excellent and some were just so terrible that it's embarassing! The horses were following an almost identical track and I shot a sequence of say 20 shots and 18 were pinpoint sharp, next horse and maybe only 10!!
I might get rid of the 7d and get myself a 1d in some variant, just can't do the unpredictability.
 
I think that the 7d focus is more difficult to set up, with many more options than the older 1d models. It may be worth spending some time playing with the settings as it is certainly not set up for faster moving subjects from the off.
 
menthel said:
I think that the 7d focus is more difficult to set up, with many more options than the older 1d models. It may be worth spending some time playing with the settings as it is certainly not set up for faster moving subjects from the off.
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You're not wrong Jim, I'm having problems with a 100-400 that I suspect may be due to my usage of the 7D AF system.
 
footman said:
You're not wrong Jim, I'm having problems with a 100-400 that I suspect may be due to my usage of the 7D AF system.
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If you need to try your 100-400 on another 7d, you can always try mine. I also have the 150-500 for comparison too.
 
I've used a 450D, 50D, 1DII, 5DII, and a 7D, and to be honest I haven't noticed a HUGE deal of difference between any of them.

This may be because it was a steady progression, or may be just that they were always better at focussing than my technique was!
 
Interesting read
I have run the 7D alongside the 1d mk2 for a period of 3 months in the field my 7D just beat the 1Dmk2 on AF performance there was very little in it so i sold the 1dmk2 and replaced it with a second 7D. The plus points with the 7D are you can micro adjust your lens to the camera. Another reason is i like the CS1,2&3 on the Top dial you can set your preferences up. For me these settings are for birds in flight, Birds against messy backgrounds and static birds. Iso performance again on the 7D was slightly better. Another point is you have over double the resolution very useful for cropping.
On the 1D Mk3 front you get varying examples the one i had was so bad i went back to a mk2 you do get really good ones but it is a lottery. Plus if you get a bad one it is'nt going to get fixed under warranty.
I was really happy with a pair of 7D's then out came the 1Dmk4 i resisted for a while then tried one :D boy oh boy :D it is fan blooming tastic :clap:
Everything i track it sticks to like glue.
One thing i will add to this statement is with the 7D and 1Dmk4 you really need to understand how the Af works to set it up also what angles the subjects are traveling at to you will also make a difference.
If you feel you will struggle getting your head around setting the AF up the
1Dmk2 was set up with the Af averaged to get the best performance.
Technique will also play a big part in how you set the camera up in Servo mode i use single point AF most of the time.
These images were taken with the 7d frame after frame sharp shot the first was from the back of a boat the first one

132a.jpg


rk_3.jpg


These Shots were taken with the 1D mk4

d3.jpg


h19.jpg


h88.jpg


Regards
Richard

P.s you can always come over and try the cameras if you want
 
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