1DX Focusing Issues... Please share your experiences...

[neuroanatomist]

Unfortunately FoCal is only for PC. I am on a Mac. 

I'm a Mac user, too - I run FoCal in a Windows virtual machine (Parallels) on my 17" MBP. Works great.

Also, they should have a Mac version soon.

[clicstudio]

Unfortunately FoCal is only for PC. I am on a Mac. 

I'm a Mac user, too - I run FoCal in a Windows virtual machine (Parallels) on my 17" MBP. Works great.

Also, they should have a Mac version soon.

Yes I saw they have a Mac version coming.
Thanx!

[Richard Lane]

Hopefully the 24-70 II will be better as well...

This is my first Full Frame camera and I am kind of regretting it. Basically a cropped sensor has the best part of the sensor. The other 30% is the vignetting and distortion that nobody needs.

I see what you mean her face looks soft, but it looks like her left foot is in focus.  So, perhaps it's just a focal plane, AFMA issue.  I don't think you made a mistake at all switching to full frame.  It's not that the crop sensor uses the best part of the sensor, it's actually that the crop sensor doesn't use the worst part of the lens.  So, you didn't give up anything by switching to FF, however, you are just more aware of the limitations of your lens now.  I'm pretty sure that once you AFMA your old lens or get the new lens, then your problem should go away. I also wanted to reassure you that the 1DX is a much better camera than the MKIV and once you get the new 24-70mm II, I think you will be thrilled.

Rich

[JimKarczewski]

I don't seem to have a lot of issues with the 1Dx but I rarely use the 24-70 on it unless absolutely necessary.   Typically I'm using a 70-200IS (v1) or that with a 1.4x TCIII or  the 16-35/2.8II.

The problem I've had with focusing is a weird one with the 1Dx.   If it's an L lens, focus (l was second shooting a wedding and playing around as I could!) sharp, quick and a dream in a very dark hall using only single shot mode with a 580EXII attached set to NOT fire but using it only for the AF assist beam.

Throw on a 50/1.4 or 85/1.8 and it would take upwards of 4-6 seconds to lock focus and even then it wasn't always right.    

While I know this doesn't help, I'm still trying to figure a lot of this out as well.. Since I've had my 1Dx for about a month as well.  At least my sports shooting has gone from 20% keepers for focusing to 80%!    That's a hell of a complete and complicated focus system!

[DrDeano]

I too was a bit worried about the focusing prowess of the 1DX. Tried to manually AFMA, just as bad... Then I picked up FoCal and spent a weekend tuning all my lenses. Now, focus hit and it hits accurate.

For reasons I cannot explain, the 1DX seems to be much more sensitive to needing accurate AFMA settings than the 5DII. If I might hypothesize, I would say the focus is so much more accurate than previous systems that if your lenses are not tuned to the body, you will get poor results. The 5DII seemed to be more about luck with focusing, the 1DX is about precision.

[rafaelsynths]

What the heck is an AFMA? Is that like a configuration feature on the camera so the camera gets the lens comfortable with the new sensor?
Help out a newb please?

[pwp]

AFMA. It an acronym for autofocus microadjustment. The term has recently jumped into common usage. Newer Canon DSLR's have the built in function that enables accurate calibration of lens to body. Rather than go into a full explanation here, Google it and read up.

-PW

[Caleb Luke]

What the heck is an AFMA? Is that like a configuration feature on the camera so the camera gets the lens comfortable with the new sensor?
Help out a newb please?

Here you go, sir: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Photography-Tips/AF-Microadjustment-Tips.aspx