Canon 7D focusing

paulk

paulk

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Paul
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Anyone had a dodgy one? My brother has returned his to Jessops today as it misses focus so badly, proved by some indoor tripod mounted auto /manual focus shots. It's not front or back focusing, just inconsistent.:thumbsdown:
 
I've read 9,276 threads about people having problems with focussing on the 7D. 9,273 of them were user error.
 
Go on then, explain, you can't just say it's user error
 
Only had mine a short time but so far found in very good.
Shot a local football game yesterday and hardly missed a shot, as good as my old 1dIII
Mind you it was a nice bright day so I wouldn't expect too many problems with
focusing.
 
The shots where we noticed the problem were in bright sunlight on blossom on a tree, the tests my brother did were under incandescent light. I'll get the shots and put them up
 
I have had mine since last October the day after i bought it along with a canon 70-200 F2.8 IS i went to chester zoo, took 100s of pics & really was chuffed with my purchase.

When i got home i did find that many were badly focused, to say i was brassed off having just spent in excess of £2600 on my shiny brand new gear and got crap photos was an understatement. Previous to this camera i have a 40D which never missed at beat.

Now a few months later i have got used to the focusing methods and dont have any problems with it. In fact i think i am in love with my new cam & lens combo, and the photos it produces are stunning.

I put the bad photos i came back with from the zoo down to "User Error"
 
He used AF Expansion ad selected the focus point I think, I'll chat to him when he's back from riding in Scotland
 
I never really understand the "complex" tag given to the 7D AF. I find it pretty straightforward to be honest. For those that have come to "understand" the AF, what were you doing wrong and what have you done to correct the user error?
 
No, I was wrong it was manual point AF, which is the same as any Canon AF I believe?
 
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Find mine to be pin sharp and focus issues are all me.

Now when I first got it I was very disapointed on its first outing. Found lots to be blurred. However reading a few posts and how to set it up for what I wanted to shot fixed the issues straight away. I must also say that I did test shots and they were blured but I did find the setting to be the issue.

Funny thing is my friend said the same and when he changed the setting found it to be fantastic.
 
I found the issue to be with regards to the focusing method i selected.

I did start off using "Auto Select 19 AF" and the camera never seemed to get it right for me, unless i am shooting a landscape.

I now generally use "AF Expansion (Manual Selection)" and these focus issues no longer occur.

Images are now very sharp and great detail not like my first outing to the zoo.
 
hollis_f said:
I've read 9,276 threads about people having problems with focussing on the 7D. 9,273 of them were user error.
Click to expand...

I'm one of the other three then. My first 7D occasionally lost the plot when focusing. I returned it and my second one is fine.
 
salacalvet said:
Find mine to be pin sharp and focus issues are all me.

Now when I first got it I was very disapointed on its first outing. Found lots to be blurred. However reading a few posts and how to set it up for what I wanted to shot fixed the issues straight away. I must also say that I did test shots and they were blured but I did find the setting to be the issue.

Funny thing is my friend said the same and when he hcanged the setting found it to be fantastic.
Click to expand...

What setting?...
 
Coming from an FZ28 I also found with the 7D I needed to make my shutter speed faster to establish sharp shots etc...
 
Lbm said:
Coming from an FZ28 I also found with the 7D I needed to make my shutter speed faster to establish sharp shots etc...
Click to expand...

Surely the shutter speed needed to make the shots sharper was more dependant on your focal length than the camera?
 
Russ77 said:
Surely the shutter speed needed to make the shots sharper was more dependant on your focal length than the camera?
Click to expand...

True. But it was something I didn't need to think about too much with the Panny.

For instance with my Canon 85mm f1.8 with the 7D, I will now shoot at 1/160-1/200th minimum or it's not good enough for me. As a rule I go for 2x focul length. I didn't know about this idea let alone practice it at first.

Therefore my portraits shot outside at 1/50 or 1/60th were no good. I thought it was the camera. Luckily I read and searched before I publicly moaned about the 7D's dreadful focusing/sharpness issues :D

I was also using too big an aperture (f1.8) with not enough skill to do so.
 
Lbm said:
True. But it was something I didn't need to think about too much with the Panny.

For instance with my Canon 85mm f1.8 with the 7D, I will now shoot at 1/160-1/200th minimum or it's not good enough for me. As a rule I go for 2x focul length. I didn't know about this idea let alone practice it at first.

Therefore my portraits shot outside at 1/50 or 1/60th were no good. I thought it was the camera. Luckily I read and searched before I publicly moaned about the 7D's dreadful focusing/sharpness issues :D

I was also using too big an aperture (f1.8) with not enough skill to do so.
Click to expand...

Fair enough but I don't really think you can compare a bridge camera with a pro-sumer DSLR.

The Panny also had optical stabilisation which is probably the reason you wouldn't have had to be too careful about shutter speed.

The 7D is renowned for showing up poor glass and user error, it was a culture shock when I moved from my 400D BUT when you get it set up right and learn to use it properly it's an amazing piece of kit IMHO
 
Russ77 said:
The 7D is renowned for showing up poor glass and user error, it was a culture shock when I moved from my 400D BUT when you get it set up right and learn to use it properly it's an amazing piece of kit IMHO
Click to expand...

I guess that is my point :)
 
With its densely packed sensor the 7D is more susceptible to the slightest movement so you need good steady technique, or as said you can load the dice in your favour and raise your shutter speed slighlty. Pixel peeping isn't always the best way to appreciate this camera :)
 
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