Announcement

**MX5** · 09-01-2014, 16:48

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

Paul, for reference what are the following set to:

C.Fn III-1
C.Fn III-2
C.Fn III-3

**Paulstw** · 09-01-2014, 16:54

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

They are the defaults. I reset my camera when I got the 400 prime.

C.Fn III-1 - between slow and middle
C.Fn III-2 - 0:AF priority/Tracking priority
C.Fn III-3 - 0: Main focus point priority

My understanding of this set up would be a hit on burst rate in favour of keeping the subject in focus.I also must ad that I didn't use burst for any of these pictures. Just single clicking.

**the black fox** · 09-01-2014, 17:13

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

it seriously looks like a back or front focus issue paul ,you can easily micro adjust your lens to your camera but you do have to know what your doing .top of my head if your not sure of this phone up A.R JOHNSONS in glasgow and ask if they could do it for you .they should be able to do a while you wait on it if you ask nicely ..

do you have the lens switched to 3.5 mtrs to infinity to .as this can throw things if the targets to close .i have to admit i struggled with these sort of issues as well so can feel for you .

the other answer of course is e/bay and a 1d3 this is the 2nd one i have now used and focus spot on as far as i can tell

**Paulstw** · 09-01-2014, 17:19

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

Last week I set up the camera on the tripod. I had it connected to live view on EOS Utility and had a target placed in my kitchen. I took shots from -20 MFA to +20 MFA in 5 step intervals. Defocussing the lens after each shot. I couldn't really tell them apart in LR so I did it another way.

I used Live view in Eos Utility and performed AF. I then clicked the little single arrow for find focus (zoomed into 200%) to see which was sharpests. I used a B&Q magazine that had black and white writing on it so it was a good contrasting edge.

After a few attempts I came to the conclusion that +8 was the best. It took me about 3 hours to do it. I was all happy with myself but then after that went back out and it wasn't any different. That's when I set it back to zero again just for kicks and giggles.

I only seem to get sharp shots in One Shot AF.

**Paulstw** · 09-01-2014, 17:28

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

I've been reading that the 7D has a predictive AF Algorithm so tracking your subject for a few seconds first should help. Still baffled because I stand and watch my subject for ages sometimes while tracking. I should buy binoculars lol

Could also be that I'm not using the sensitive AF points anymore due to the lens being 5.6 max aperture.

**Muscat** · 09-01-2014, 17:36

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

Paul, are you only having issues with one lens i.e. the new 400 or are other lenses causing problems as well? If it only one lens then have one of your mates try it on their camera and see if they have the same issues. If the issue is the same on another body then I would suggest that you have a problem with the lens and would send it back to Canon.

If it is only the one lens causing the probem and it is only on your 7D then I would suggest that it is most likely a micro-adjust problem.

When I micro adjusted my lens I found it, like you, almost impossible to assess what was sharp when I only had a single vertical target to work with, to get around the problem I made a simple target out of photo mount board which had a vertical target in the middle which was about 8" x 8" which was fixed to a raking base set at about 30 degrees, on the raking base I had a uniform scale of bold black lines every 5mm. This then allowed me to see where the lens was actually focusing and check it by changing the micro-adjust settings. You also have to make sure that you manually defocus the lens between each test shot, as I am sure you did.

**Nathaniel** · 09-01-2014, 17:37

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

Paul,

I am just a hobby photocatcher and to my very simple mind, I think ,to put it bluntly, you are "messing" about too much with your adjustments. I might be totally wrong here but I have in mind what our good friend Colin C mentioned sometime ago, that you really don't gain much from micro adjustments etc. I have never bothered with micro adjustments of my lenses since I started on photography, which is quite a long time ago, and I have had very good results todate.

I am sure other members will have their own opinons on this matter.

**Paulstw** · 09-01-2014, 18:03

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

Originally posted by Muscat View Post

Paul, are you only having issues with one lens i.e. the new 400 or are other lenses causing problems as well? If it only one lens then have one of your mates try it on their camera and see if they have the same issues. If the issue is the same on another body then I would suggest that you have a problem with the lens and would send it back to Canon.

If it is only the one lens causing the probem and it is only on your 7D then I would suggest that it is most likely a micro-adjust problem.

When I micro adjusted my lens I found it, like you, almost impossible to assess what was sharp when I only had a single vertical target to work with, to get around the problem I made a simple target out of photo mount board which had a vertical target in the middle which was about 8" x 8" which was fixed to a raking base set at about 30 degrees, on the raking base I had a uniform scale of bold black lines every 5mm. This then allowed me to see where the lens was actually focusing and check it by changing the micro-adjust settings. You also have to make sure that you manually defocus the lens between each test shot, as I am sure you did.

I was having the same issues with the 70-200 2.8 at the 200 end. I ended up using the lens at F/4 all the time as a result. Seemed ok after that.

Originally posted by Nathaniel View Post

Paul,

I am just a hobby photocatcher and to my very simple mind, I think ,to put it bluntly, you are "messing" about too much with your adjustments. I might be totally wrong here but I have in mind what our good friend Colin C mentioned sometime ago, that you really don't gain much from micro adjustments etc. I have never bothered with micro adjustments of my lenses since I started on photography, which is quite a long time ago, and I have had very good results todate.

I am sure other members will have their own opinons on this matter.

Nat It would do me great pleasure to not have to mess with the MFA on my camera. I don't think that when I spend �2K on camera gear I shouldn't need to. It should just work as it was intended, however, I don't actually tinker with my camera at all. The 7D is supposed to be set up given different shooting situations. If you were to read the AI Servo guide for a 1D series camera it tells you what settings to use for exact situations, however, 7D owners just need to wing it and hope for the best. You can adopt some of the same settings, but my question would be, what is the point in having complex AF settings for given situations on a camera if you're not meant to mess about with them to get the right result?

I have the book David Busch's guide to the 7D and the AF settings make perfect sense to me. I set them up based on how I want the AF to behave. I know there is paparazzi mode where you sacrifice accuracy for burst rate, which is the opposite of what I want. I don't care for 8Fps. I just want the camera to track and do what it's meant to :)

On further reading though, it seems that the AI servo processing threads in the CPU are actually shared with the lens operation. Knowing how a CPU works its clear to me that while the lens is being operated the AI Servo tracking system sits in a queue until it's processed. It then hands back to lens operation. A 1D camera has extra power to the AF module and has it's own processor to handle AF operation.

Someone also said that a subject coming across the frame of a shot requires a different AI Servo speed than something coming towards you.
Across the frame you need slow to medium and coming towards you needs faster AF tracking intervals.

Surely this would then highly restrict what you decide to shoot? For instance, a bear running across the scene decides to turn and run to you lol. You can't just change it from slow to fast as you decide whether to run slow or fast ha ha

Does this sound remotely true?

**the black fox** · 09-01-2014, 18:04

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

your doing that micro adjust all wrong ,the target needs to be set at a 45deg angle ,use a ruler if possible .then set your camera on a tripod and locked down the focus onto the 6 inch mark .the lens needs to be wide open and the camera set in single shot mode to .shhot a series of shots from + 20 in 5 set moves through to -20 ,review on computer (write down the order you take them in ) and pick the sharpest ,then go 3 either side of this number and deduce the sharpest set it and leave it .

AH just had a memory jog mine as you know was playing up exactly the same way before xmas .a couple of weeks ago i cured it by doing a HARD RESET. well worth a try ,remove your battery from the camera ,then just inside the battery compartment there is a little door that hides the back up battery a 2016 i think round cell.carefully remove the battery and its holder as well .leave camera for a hour to drain itself down and then replace both batteries .reset date etc and hopefully this will cure it .if you look on u-tube its a common 7d problem . it did actually work on mine but i still hated the camera

**Paulstw** · 09-01-2014, 18:10

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

I did that hard reset last week. I read your post on it and remembered. Left it all day in work with no battery in it.

TO be fair when I did it before on my 70-200 at the 200 end as thats where I used the lens a lot, I used a steel rule propped up against the wall at 45 degrees. I'll give it a bash with this one. Only problem is the distance it needs to be away.

Thinking of just buying FoCal Pro.

**the black fox** · 09-01-2014, 18:33

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

nearly negative by blackfox wildlife and nature imaging, on Flickr

**the black fox** · 09-01-2014, 18:38

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

can't edit that post 503 error again ,anyway don't want to rub it in ,but first time out with the 1d3 and 400mm f5.6 no adjustments done or needed IMHO ,if i was in your shoes i wouldn't throw it in the river but throw it on the bay.
conditions today grey with heavy overcast turning to spits of rain shady lakeland valley with hardly any natural light worth talking about .

**Paulstw** · 09-01-2014, 18:49

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

Crikey I can't even get that IQ on my camera on a tripod. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

**Papathanassi** · 09-01-2014, 18:52

Re: There's something really going wrong here. 7D

Originally posted by Paulstw View Post

I did that hard reset last week. I read your post on it and remembered. Left it all day in work with no battery in it.

TO be fair when I did it before on my 70-200 at the 200 end as thats where I used the lens a lot, I used a steel rule propped up against the wall at 45 degrees. I'll give it a bash with this one. Only problem is the distance it needs to be away. Thinking of just buying FoCal Pro.

Hello Paul, I have a 500mm tuned at 10 meters, 400mm tuned at 8 meters, 300mm tuned at 6 meters! All tuned using the EOS utility, when Canon say tune at 50 times the focal length they are covering all sorts of photography including Whales and Elephants. MFA makes a big difference, so I would suggest you do yours at around 10 Meters.
Papa.

Announcement

There's something really going wrong here. 7D

There's something really going wrong here. 7D

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment