7D focusing question??

[justsomedude]

I see that the 2 images were taken with the 70-200 2.8... Does this banding show up in every picture with every lens in the same location?  OR, does it come up in a certain lens combination?  That's an interesting phenomenon.

So far I've only seen it with the 70-200, but then again, I haven't looked through enough photos yet to be sure.  Also, it's inconsistent even with the 70-200, and only appears with certain types of lighting.  Odd.  I'll dig some more into my archives and see what I can find.

[awinphoto]

I see that the 2 images were taken with the 70-200 2.8... Does this banding show up in every picture with every lens in the same location?  OR, does it come up in a certain lens combination?  That's an interesting phenomenon.

So far I've only seen it with the 70-200, but then again, I haven't looked through enough photos yet to be sure.  Also, it's inconsistent even with the 70-200, and only appears with certain types of lighting.  Odd.  I'll dig some more into my archives and see what I can find.

Take a look to see if you can see it on any other images on other lenses... perhaps it could be a light leak with the lens but if it is with other lenses, then it could be with the sensor...

[justsomedude]

I see that the 2 images were taken with the 70-200 2.8... Does this banding show up in every picture with every lens in the same location?  OR, does it come up in a certain lens combination?  That's an interesting phenomenon.

So far I've only seen it with the 70-200, but then again, I haven't looked through enough photos yet to be sure.  Also, it's inconsistent even with the 70-200, and only appears with certain types of lighting.  Odd.  I'll dig some more into my archives and see what I can find.

Take a look to see if you can see it on any other images on other lenses... perhaps it could be a light leak with the lens but if it is with other lenses, then it could be with the sensor...

Boom... there it is with the 50mm.  Didn't take much searching in my 7D test archive to find one either.   Note, exposure and contrast have been modified to make the "band" stand out more. http://www.akphotodenver.com/images/7D/50mm_band.jpg 

I'm finding that it's most obvious in any image that has consistent exposure (meaning little detail) along the right side of the frame.  So anything with sky, clouds, or as in this case a uniform wall, it becomes very apparent. 

Man, I just have to laugh at this point.  I really have no idea WTF is going on with Canon QC.  At this point I'm ready to just dropkick this 7D out the window, take the insurance money, and get a 5D.  This is getting f*cking ridiculous.  Although if I were smart, I'd learn my lesson and go to Nikon.  Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment. 

[justsomedude]

Update... 

Canon has had my 7D exactly one week, and I have not yet received a service update from them.  I actually see this as a good sign, because when they did their (in)famous "electrical adjustments to the AF assembly", the entire process - door to door - was ten days.  The fact that they've had it a week already indicates to me that they must be doing some serious work and/or investigating.  In my past dealings with their Irvine service facility, this is the longest I've gone without getting some type of automatic email update. 

Fingers crossed that they are working to get her in tip top shape!

[awinphoto]

Update... 

Canon has had my 7D exactly one week, and I have not yet received a service update from them.  I actually see this as a good sign, because when they did their (in)famous "electrical adjustments to the AF assembly", the entire process - door to door - was ten days.  The fact that they've had it a week already indicates to me that they must be doing some serious work and/or investigating.  In my past dealings with their Irvine service facility, this is the longest I've gone without getting some type of automatic email update. 

Fingers crossed that they are working to get her in tip top shape!

I'm glad they are taking their time with the camera rather than doing a rush job.  I've spent time thinking about your striping issue (banding) and since it's in a particular area, I would hate to think it's a bad sensor... I know they issued (a while ago) a firmware update that dealed with some banding issues, however if you have a fully up to date firmware, then I dont want to do the disservice and make suggestions without really looking at the camera and knowing the situation first hand. 

Fingers crossed and give us updates as you get your camera back. 

[justsomedude]

I've spent time thinking about your striping issue (banding) and since it's in a particular area, I would hate to think it's a bad sensor... I know they issued (a while ago) a firmware update that dealed with some banding issues, however if you have a fully up to date firmware, then I dont want to do the disservice and make suggestions without really looking at the camera and knowing the situation first hand. 

Fingers crossed and give us updates as you get your camera back.

Awin,

Here is my latest, and hopefully final, post on this issue.  The 7D and 50mm arrived back from Canon yesterday, and both are performing well.  A few notes...

1) The 7D was reported to be totally within specification.  However, Canon did note in the service list that "electrical adjustments" were performed on the sensor.  In my first round of tests, the bright vertical band is totally gone.  So whatever the "electrical adjustments" were, it appears to have solved the problem.  I don't know how it can be "within spec" yet warrant "electrical adjustments", but whatever, it's working - so I'm not going to bitch about their reporting details.

2) Since the 7D was JUST in for the AF issue a month ago, I decided to send along my worst Canon performer for this round of service - the 50mm.  It turns out the AF board IN the lens was fried.  Canon replaced it free of charge.

3) As of now, all of my Canon lenses focus very well with my 7D, and I am now a very happy 7D owner.  The Tokina AF is still atrocious, and I have just packaged it for a trip out to THK in California.

This AF board issue leads me to wonder - am I frying my AF boards as a function of my own usage procedures?  I realize that it is considered VERY bad practice to swap lenses with a camera body powered ON.  However, the primary concerns with swapping a lens with a body in the ON position is attracting dust on a positively charged sensor (at least from what I could find).  The second biggest concern I could find through my searching seems to be limited reports of frying IS systems on high end IS lenses.  The least reported issue is frying an AF board (I actually found no reports of this issue due to hot-swapping lenses, so I guess I'm reporting it now). 

I know I am not the most diligent at turning OFF my body when swapping lenses, but I am thinking I may have fried the AF boards of my Tokina and 50mm by swapping my lenses out improperly.  What are your thoughts on this?

[neuroanatomist]

The 7D and 50mm arrived back from Canon yesterday, and both are performing well.  ...I am now a very happy 7D owner.

That's great news!

I know I am not the most diligent at turning OFF my body when swapping lenses, but I am thinking I may have fried the AF boards of my Tokina and 50mm by swapping my lenses out improperly.  What are your thoughts on this?

I'm also not terribly diligent about avoiding hot-swapping, but it hasn't (yet) caused any apparent issues.  At least they fixed it gratis - I'd be annoyed to be charged a few tens of dollars to repair a lens that only costs a few tens of dollars...

[awinphoto]

I'm glad they got it to work well with your canon lenses... Regarding the AF board... a year/year and a half ago or so I sent in my 7d and 17-40 in to be cleaned through CPS and asked for them to double check focus to make 100% I was getting the sharpest images with the lens, might as well... When they came back, the camera was notated that it was within specs however they said there was an issue with the computer chip with the 17-40 and they replaced it/fixed it for free.  I dont recall bad focus before i sent it in, i just wanted to double check it, however it is fixed and i haven't had problems since.  Regarding the computer chips goes, (AF chips), computer techs treat electricals with gloves and sterile environments, however we, as photographers, aren't nearly as protective of our lenses (especially the electrical contacts) nearly as much.  That being said, I'm 100% confident the contacts are protected to an extent to account for this.

Your 50mm 1.8... is that a metal mount or a plastic mount?  I've heard of the AF motor frying.... the 50 1.4 is infamous for that (for people who shoot constantly with that lens)... and that lens is almost 3x the price of the 1.8.  So... given that, with this lens I wouldn't be as concerned as I would if it happened to my 17-40 or 70-200, etc...

Lastly, I wouldn't lose sleep over the turning off your camera when changing lenses, etc... I dont do that, but then that could account to my 17-40mm never mind.. haha.  But then again I haven't had problems since so who knows.  Use your best judgement.  If you're in a dry climate with a lot of static electricity, then by all means... if you're in a moist climate, then maybe not so much... You know denver better than I do but keep us updated as you see fit.  Keep in touch with your ventures. 

[justsomedude]

Thanks for the replies Neuro and Awin.  I have a few projects in the coming days, maybe I'll post up the results... in happier threads.

[DarStone]

Hmm, sounds like a problem my brother had with his 7D, ultimately he sent it in to Canon,they updated the firmware and said something about a motherboard issue, it corrected his focus problem and they covered it under warranty.

[ronderick]

Thanks for sharing the experience justsomedude.

My gears will probably go in for maintenance sometimes in June, and I think I should ask the techs to specfically exam my camera's AF (getting a few front-focusing issues recently - don't know if it's just my bad focusing skills or problems with lens/body).

[maharzan]

Cool. I would love to see the new results.

[K3nt]

Just thought I'd chip in with some worthless information. 
Hot-swapping lenses is mostly electrically ok, not the safest way but shouldn't be the culprit. The connectors are protected. What I would worry about is how does the camera react to the change in focal length vs AF motor drive current.
Some of the AF motors require a slightly different power level, if the camera does not detect this properly when hot-swapping you may indeed burn out the AF motor or associated control electronics.
Sometimes I forget too, but then I just switch the camera off with the lens off and when attached I switch it back on.
This may or may not be the issue but I have seen this same thing with other 'hot-swappable' electronics when the current requirement changes between components.

[justsomedude]

Cool. I would love to see the new results.

As promised, I'm posting a follow-up shot from my 7D with a 50mm f/1.8 lens after returning from Canon service.  Focus point was on the vertical part of the kettlebell handle, and auto-focus was used.  The hand and handle are all damn sharp.  This was shot at f/5 - in hindsight I should've stopped it down more to get the entire kettlebell in the DOF.  Oh well.  100ISO, with a very tiny amount of USM applied in post.

click for full-res


Sorry for the watermarks, but since I'm selling it as a stock image, I have to limit useage.

[unfocused]

Nice shot. How'd you light it?