Canon 7D soft images

[Tristan944]

I know this is an old topic but I was wondering if anyone has figured out a "fix" or anything. Maybe the soft images are the result of 18mp crammed into a small APS-C sensor. Sometimes I get tack sharp pictures, but usually I just get average pictures, not as sharp as would be expected. Ive played around with the micro adjustment and it didn't seem to help. Main lenses I use are the 18-135, 50mm 1.8, and 70-200 f4 is usm.

[bycostello]

maybe try CPS to calibrate your camera and lenses?

[Marsu42]

I know this is an old topic but I was wondering if anyone has figured out a "fix" or anything.

Is there an older thread from you? If not some more information would be nice, or some full size sample shots (and a description what exactly you expected), are you shooting raw or jpeg - "soft" could be due to jpeg and high noise reduction, too.

If it's a hardware issue shoot a fine pattern @low iso with tripod+70-200 and focus with live view (so afma isn't needed), and people with the 18mp sensor can probably tell you if that's what to expect. The other possibility: grab the 70-200, go to a camera shop or ask a friend with a 7d, shoot something with your 7d, then swap it for another 7d and compare.

[Pagesphotography]

I've been plagued by this issue for the longest time with my 7D...still haven't found an answer yet

I'm getting ready to send it to canon, as nothing I do seems to help.

I've calibrated every single one of my lenses with it, and no matter what, I end up with soft images.  My wife shoots with a 60d, and the same lenses, and her pictures come out sharp.  We've swapped camera's, raised shutter speeds, tried different focus points and nothing seems to help.

We've even tried removing both batteries for 30hrs, that didnt seem to work either.

When I first got the camera, pictures were sharp, but it seems to be getting worse as time goes on.  However, I just picked up another 7D+17-55, so I'll have that to compare directly.  Ill post up results in a few days/weeks if I remember

[grenwick]

I have a 7D, 50mm 1.8 Mark l, 70-200 IS USM and 17-85 EFS IS and find that after some sharpening in PS or DPP the images are sharper than with my 40D. I am loving my 7D 

[Marsu42]

and find that after some sharpening in PS or DPP the images are sharper than with my 40D

:-) I think the op was talking about sharpness straight out of camera, you can generate digital sharpness from any source like a mobile phone - but it makes a visible difference in the details. But generally your are correct, the current 18mp sensor on 60d/7d/... is of course able to generate sharp shots with good lenses, i.e. not the op's 50/1.8 wide open.

Btw: Welcome to the forum :-)

[jondave]

That's a focusing issue.

1. Focus manually, take a photo.
2. Turn on AF, take a photo.
3. Compare photos.

If it's a lens issue, if you can't correct it with AFMA then have it serviced. Hope it's not your camera that has a faulty AF module.

[CharlieB]

I got a 7D not too long ago... same thing.  Soft.

Went nuts trying to make corrections with the AFMA - which worked, but only for one distance at a time.

That is, I could dial in very close, medium close, moderate distance or long range/infinity, but ... it would throw the other distances all to hell.

Using about a dozen different non-L and L lenses, zooms and fixed focal lengths... they all did the same thing.  All were very good, with minimal corrections on my 5Dii

Sent the camera to Canon, got it back in my hands 9 days later.   They replaced .. I cant remember... it was a lot of stuff, and its a night and day difference.  The lenses still need a good bit of AFMA, but.. its all good, as they focus from very close to infinity with no problems.   

I'm happy with it - in fact for the majority of my work, I can see the 7D being the go to camera.

[Kristofgss]

I had the same with my 7D, turned out it was an issue with the focus system. The beast way to see if you have the same is to take the same picture once with live view and once with normal autofocus. The lieve view would be spot on, the normal focus would randomly miss the subject with several meters. I sent it to canon for repairs within the warranty period and it's always spot on ever since; I now keep 9/10 images, while I used to get only 5/10 in focus. with the ones missing now being hard to catch subjects or due to too long shutter speeds.