Canon 7D Calibration.

[walker]

As we have plenty of 7D users on this forum, I thought I'd drop this one on the table and ask if anyone has returned their 7D back to Canon and asked for it to be Calibrated, If so, was the camera noticeably different once returned ?

I would just like re-assurance that the AF system on mine is accurate, however I've never returned anything to Canon so unsure of the process, especially when its a dodgy subject like Auto Focusing.

Cheers
Mark

[the black fox]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

are you sure its not a micro adjust problem with your lens combo .a bit more info would be helpful

[Paulstw]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

My understanding of a situation would be that you send a lens back to be calibrated. Sometimes even the camera and lens be sent back, however, that's usually so that the lens can be calibrated to the camera.

In a less complex manner right enough, like Jeff mentions above, you can do small changes to the plane of focus in the 7D if the lens of back or front focussing. It can mess things up if not done right though.

[S_J_P]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

IIRC for around £120 Canon can "calibrate" a camera to a standard lens, or ideally to a user-lens which is sent with the camera, however this will merely match the specific camera to the specific lens and may in some instances result in other lenses being further awry than they already were.

You may be better off investing £40 in something like Fo-Cal (I think it was Riggers who uses the software) to micro-adjust all your own lenses individually yourself and to assess AF performance using the software tools. If something is found to be awry, then is the time for a visit to Elstree.

[Riggers]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

Yes I use Fo-Cal and have been very impressed with it.

[S_J_P]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

Yes I use Fo-Cal and have been very impressed with it.

Which version do you use Lee?

[wayne2418]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

Hi Lee ... which one did you get the 'fo cal' standard .. plus ...or pro ..? I'm thinking of getting one too.

[wayne2418]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

opps sorry I see its just been asked ...

[walker]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

Busy day in the office so no chance to reply. I guess I'm just not happy with the number of in focus shots [pin sharp] shots, to the number of not so sharp. This is not necessarily just tracking motion, also includes static shoots. In the past I've just worked with what I have, but looking forward, I'd like to try and rectify the issue as it can be a pain..

I've not tried for the micro adjustment, and as I have a few L lens I may first try the FoCal software as a 'cheaper' alternative. Be interested what version others have used, looks like it's between the Pro and Plus..

[walker]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

Oh, and I asked the question to a friend with 1DXs and he said he'd just sent his camera's back with the lens, no micro-adjustment, hence why I was asking about the calibration and not micro adjustment

[Papathanassi]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

Try this for free, simple and very effective!

http://arihazeghiphotography.com/MA-web/

Papa.

[Riggers]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

Hi Lee ... which one did you get the 'fo cal' standard .. plus ...or pro ..? I'm thinking of getting one too.

I use pro.

[the black fox]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

i think you might have settings issues here ,something that has been screwing my brain up for a couple of weeks ,got my lad to sort mine out last week and a day out today on a instruction run with him sorted out final issues ,i have to admit my personal dislike for the 7d has now been tempered and most problems were down to my own user errors .
as i said before without knowing your lenses and your settings and seeing exif images of pics its really hard to say .might be worth the effort and save you quiet a few pounds .
for the record i,m no newbie to either photography or digital having cut my teeth on most cameras and lenses from nikon/canon/sigma/tamron etc over the last ten years so today was by way of a revelation

[walker]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

I can't rule out that it could be a user problem.

But the micro adjustment will help rule that part out and help me narrow down the issue.

[Paulstw]

Re: Canon 7D Calibration.

Here's a handy AF calibration chart you can print off

http://www.squit.co.uk/photo/files/FocusChart.pdf

One thing that gets me is that on every tutorial it mentions that you need to have the chart at 50 times the focal length. With the 400mm I'd need to have the chart 2000cm away. That's a long way lol