7D Mark II Reported Issues

[East Wind Photography]

"Try turning on the function on that says keep searching when AF impossible. If the scene is very out of focus apparently the phase difference is larger than the AF sensors can see, so the camera does not know what to do."

I just saw this on another forum...

Yeah I prefer to leave this on so I'm certain this was on when I noticed the issue. However I will note whether the condition is worse if AF is near or far from actual focus. I wasnt paying attention to that detail during the game.

 

[RumorMill]

If we are talking issues this happened to me this weekend while shooting high school football... I set up my back AF-ON button in the custom config to be AF-OFF instead. So I "half press" shutter button to acquire focus, lock focus with back button while maintaining half press. I noticed that if I shoot a sequence of frames and pause but still maintain half press, then try to press again there is no response from the 7DII - no pictures taken. This resulted in missed shots! I had to physically lift up the shutter button completely in order to take more shots(with the back button completely pressed the whole time). Now I was also using a 300mm L IS at the time and tried using the dedicated defaulted AF-OFF buttons on the lens (instead of back button on the camera) to do the same situation described, and it worked as expected... So has anyone else experienced this issue? I would think this has to be a bug and hopefully fixed in the next firmware update? Or is there something I am doing wrong or a hidden setting to allow what I want. I know the first generation 7d did not have this problem... I used this technique quite often.

I will check this tonight and see if I can reproduce that. I wonder if it's specific to the big whites or does the same thing with other lenses?

I believe this was happening to me on the 7DII along with a 70-200 L is II as well. However there is not a dedicated AF-OFF button on the lens hence why I configure the back button for this purpose. Also I usually configure both the back "AF-ON" button and the "*" to be AF-OFF so as a "miss aligned push" will yield what I want It didn't matter what button here I configured for this technique, the outcome of "no response from 7DII" still occurred.
Also I did send this issue to Canon right before posting here, via the Canon website

 

[freeomega]

Thought I would start a thread today for issues noticed with the 7D Mark II.

I will start with one issue I discovered today shooting a Soccer game. First of all my setup:

7D MKII with 300mm F2.8L IS II [ AFMA +8 ] Ok got that taken care of. The one issue I noticed is a lag from the time the shutter button is pressed to when the AF locks on. No hunting just a noticeable lag in acquiring initial focus. Most may not notice but in sports it can make the difference between getting the shot and not. This condition does not exist on my 5DIII so it's something specific to the 7DII.

I was using center AF point only (though the condition exists on all of the AF area settings I tried).

Hopefully this is something that can be resolved in a firmware update. Hopefully someone here may have discovered a setting which minimizes this issue.

Do you have the anti-flicker feature on? This will change the shutter timing, most likely slowing down your shutter speed and well as the burst rate of the camera...

 

[East Wind Photography]

Given the number of ways that the AF buttons and controls can be custom configured it's easy to imagine that Canon could have overlooked some combination of body and lens configs that results in a bug. Hate it when companies use paying customers for Beta testers but that's just what they do. Sounds like reporting and requesting a fix is the best option. If that's the way you want your gear set up you should be able to do it.

As to the larger issue of overall AF effectiveness, I was at a local Bald Eagle hotspot today where hundreds of photographers congregate. I spoke to a number of new 7D2 owners, although I don't specifically recall any of them using the 300 2.8, and all reported to me that they were extremely pleased with the AF functions of the new 7D. Seems as though these issues may result from a fairly specific case. Users I talked to had pretty much all of the other longer tele's as well as 1, 5 and 7 series second bodies. These are a pretty sophisticated group of shooters who aren't afraid to express their opinion. Often even when you aren't particularly interested in their opinion. However, I can say that on the 7D2's autofocus, sentiment was overwhelmingly positive. As is mine.

Just saying this because with all of the negativity out there, I'd hate to see people get the impression that the 7D2's autofocus isn't effective. I shot a few 20 to 30 frame bursts of flying eagles against complex backgrounds without a single out of focus image and I don't consider myself a particularly advanced BIF shooter.

I'm not trying to minimize your concerns or the seriousness of this issue. In the end, obviously what works for your needs is the only thing that matters.

Most likely we'll here of more issues in the coming weeks as these cameras get into the hands of larger numbers of users. No system of this complexity is ever perfect right out of the gate. Hopefully Canon will get this stuff worked out pretty quickly as they can't really afford to drop the ball on this release. Just my 2 cents, probably worth about what you paid for it.

No I agree, I'm not trying to be negative on the AF system. It is for me very nice and I did not have one game shot that was out of focus except for my error. I was simply reporting a slight lag in getting an AF lock.. It wasnt hunting it was just a fraction of a second delay before the AF snapped into focus. Once it locked, the camera went like a bat out of h3ll.

The reason why I started this thread was to share some of the initial issues discovered so that we as a collective can report this issues to Canon so they are aware of a systemic problem or bug. I havent found anything that would give me pause to return the camera. THe issue coud very well be my 300mm or its firmware.

I unfortuntely did not have time to test with my other lenses today so will try tomorrow.

 

[dslrdummy]

From this afternoon. 7D2 with 400 5.6L prime. Last time I shot here was with my 5D2 and nothing was this sharp. I can see the individual drops of water dripping off his tail from 100 yards away. This is a 50% crop with virtually no post or added sharpening. Still not seeing the great results at higher ISO's that others are getting but that could be me. Still, so far so good.

edit..think I need to adjust the color space of my jpgs for this site, I use Pro Photo RGB but my photos in the threads look flat and kind of dark. When I open them into a window here they look fine. I guess I need to convert them to sRGB? Man I hate web color management.

Great shot - as you say, very clear. Nearly pulled the trigger on the 7dii today. Keep this up and I won't be able to hold out much longer.

 

[RumorMill]

Given the number of ways that the AF buttons and controls can be custom configured it's easy to imagine that Canon could have overlooked some combination of body and lens configs that results in a bug. Hate it when companies use paying customers for Beta testers but that's just what they do. Sounds like reporting and requesting a fix is the best option. If that's the way you want your gear set up you should be able to do it.

As to the larger issue of overall AF effectiveness, I was at a local Bald Eagle hotspot today where hundreds of photographers congregate. I spoke to a number of new 7D2 owners, although I don't specifically recall any of them using the 300 2.8, and all reported to me that they were extremely pleased with the AF functions of the new 7D. Seems as though these issues may result from a fairly specific case. Users I talked to had pretty much all of the other longer tele's as well as 1, 5 and 7 series second bodies. These are a pretty sophisticated group of shooters who aren't afraid to express their opinion. Often even when you aren't particularly interested in their opinion. However, I can say that on the 7D2's autofocus, sentiment was overwhelmingly positive. As is mine.

Just saying this because with all of the negativity out there, I'd hate to see people get the impression that the 7D2's autofocus isn't effective. I shot a few 20 to 30 frame bursts of flying eagles against complex backgrounds without a single out of focus image and I don't consider myself a particularly advanced BIF shooter.

I'm not trying to minimize your concerns or the seriousness of this issue. In the end, obviously what works for your needs is the only thing that matters.

Most likely we'll here of more issues in the coming weeks as these cameras get into the hands of larger numbers of users. No system of this complexity is ever perfect right out of the gate. Hopefully Canon will get this stuff worked out pretty quickly as they can't really afford to drop the ball on this release. Just my 2 cents, probably worth about what you paid for it.

No I agree, I'm not trying to be negative on the AF system. It is for me very nice and I did not have one game shot that was out of focus except for my error. I was simply reporting a slight lag in getting an AF lock.. It wasnt hunting it was just a fraction of a second delay before the AF snapped into focus. Once it locked, the camera went like a bat out of h3ll.

The reason why I started this thread was to share some of the initial issues discovered so that we as a collective can report this issues to Canon so they are aware of a systemic problem or bug. I havent found anything that would give me pause to return the camera. THe issue coud very well be my 300mm or its firmware.

I unfortuntely did not have time to test with my other lenses today so will try tomorrow.

I am in total agreement also....the 7DII is an awesome camera! Having a 300L 2.8 is ver. 1 along with this camera, I have taken some amazing sports shots day and night(under stadium lights!!!!)... And for the issue I seemed to stumble upon, I can probably work around due to the many other feature this camera provides, achieving the desired results. But being that I work in the area of software and firmware development, I can "smell" a bug when it occurs... and just trying to get conformation on what I find.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Given the number of ways that the AF buttons and controls can be custom configured it's easy to imagine that Canon could have overlooked some combination of body and lens configs that results in a bug. Hate it when companies use paying customers for Beta testers but that's just what they do. Sounds like reporting and requesting a fix is the best option. If that's the way you want your gear set up you should be able to do it.

There are not enough days in the century to test every possible combination of controls, where as a few hundred thousand users can test them in a few months.

Its just impossible to test everything.

Expect to hear about obscure bugs a few weeks down the road. And then, there are always those who take photos with the lens cap on.

 

[tron]

Another issue that can slow down AF is the use of Spot AF. Canon used to warn about that.

Yes I considered that but found the lag in all AF modes. I was performing a AFMA on my 24 1.2 II last night and I did not see the lag as I did on the 300. I will try my 70-200 today and my 600 tomorrow (Need to find a vacant football field)

Interesting! My 5D3 is fast even in spot AF (with AFMA)...

 

[AcutancePhotography]

One of the reasons I prefer to wait a while before buying stuff. I am appreciative of the consumers who volunteer to be the company's beta testers... ;D

It is sort like a walking through a mine field... let someone else volunteer.

 

[2n10]

One of the reasons I prefer to wait a while before buying stuff. I am appreciative of the consumers who volunteer to be the company's beta testers... ;D

It is sort like a walking through a mine field... let someone else volunteer.

But then you lose the sense of adventure, the adrenaline rush and all that stuff. I am a Beta tester this time BTW. So far so good...knocks on wood.

 

[AcutancePhotography]

But then you lose the sense of adventure, the adrenaline rush and all that stuff. I am a Beta tester this time BTW. So far so good...knocks on wood.

I find that when I am spending MY money, I get a lot LESS interested in adventure. ;D

 

[Steve]

edit..think I need to adjust the color space of my jpgs for this site, I use Pro Photo RGB but my photos in the threads look flat and kind of dark. When I open them into a window here they look fine. I guess I need to convert them to sRGB? Man I hate web color management.

Yeah, looks fine to me when I open it but flat and dark embedded in the thread. That's common for a lot of forum software that allows attachments. Sometimes its better to use img tags or paste in from flickr or wherever you are hosting from.

Is that in Haines, Alaska? Its eagle festival time, I guess...

 

[candc]

Here is a minor issue I have encountered. I have the thumb nubbin set to live switching af points. I have the thumb rocker set to live switch af modes. Its a great setup, you can do everything quick with your thumb without pressing anything else first. if you move the af point off center you can move it back to center by pressing the nubbin, you can keep toggling between the points by pressing which is great but if you toggle it to the center position and then change modes later it jumps back to the last off center position. It also memorizes the position for different modes so you can get into a situation where the af position jumps all over the place when you toggle modes. It was driving me crazy until I figured out what was going on.

 

[East Wind Photography]

Another issue that can slow down AF is the use of Spot AF. Canon used to warn about that.

Yes I considered that but found the lag in all AF modes. I was performing a AFMA on my 24 1.2 II last night and I did not see the lag as I did on the 300. I will try my 70-200 today and my 600 tomorrow (Need to find a vacant football field)

I used the 7d2 today pretty extensively with my 600 F4L and I did not have any AF lag in any of the AF modes or other combos. I ran into some conditions where the Zone AF would not pick up a heron in flight...just wouldnt get a lock but with center and spot AF I did not have any issues. Could have been my AF case though I was messing around with tracking sensitivity to ignore some tree limbs that were in my way. I'll test that more to see if it happens again.

I also tested last night with the 70-200 F2.8L II and saw no lag.

So now I'm scratching my head a bit and now need to go back and reproduce the issue with the 300 2.8L II.

Just to keep it all real, I'm really liking the 7D2. Getting some really nice images for a crop sensor. Though DPP is really annoying, I can live with it until the other raw processors get up to speed.

 

[East Wind Photography]

Another issue that can slow down AF is the use of Spot AF. Canon used to warn about that.

Yes I considered that but found the lag in all AF modes. I was performing a AFMA on my 24 1.2 II last night and I did not see the lag as I did on the 300. I will try my 70-200 today and my 600 tomorrow (Need to find a vacant football field)

I used the 7d2 today pretty extensively with my 600 F4L and I did not have any AF lag in any of the AF modes or other combos. I ran into some conditions where the Zone AF would not pick up a heron in flight...just wouldnt get a lock but with center and spot AF I did not have any issues. Could have been my AF case though I was messing around with tracking sensitivity to ignore some tree limbs that were in my way. I'll test that more to see if it happens again.

I also tested last night with the 70-200 F2.8L II and saw no lag.

So now I'm scratching my head a bit and now need to go back and reproduce the issue with the 300 2.8L II.

Just to keep it all real, I'm really liking the 7D2. Getting some really nice images for a crop sensor. Though DPP is really annoying, I can live with it until the other raw processors get up to speed.

I'll actually add one more thing about ZOne AF. On the 5D3 the zone AF would lock onto the closest thing within the zone range (great for BIF). I'm noticing that on the 7D2 that's not always the case. I'm not sure if it's color or contrast sensitivity that is different but it seems to operate a bit differently than the 5D3. In one sequence I was tracking an eagle and the zone AF appeared to be locked onto the eagle as the active AF point would track the eagle but the images all focused on the background and not the eagle. I had a similar issue with a heron.

Zone AF worked fine the other day when I was shooting a soccer game so not sure what is happening.

Other modes seem to work just fine.

Trying to find out of Canon changed the algorithm for zone AF in this model.

 

[RumorMill]

If we are talking issues this happened to me this weekend while shooting high school football... I set up my back AF-ON button in the custom config to be AF-OFF instead. So I "half press" shutter button to acquire focus, lock focus with back button while maintaining half press. I noticed that if I shoot a sequence of frames and pause but still maintain half press, then try to press again there is no response from the 7DII - no pictures taken. This resulted in missed shots! I had to physically lift up the shutter button completely in order to take more shots(with the back button completely pressed the whole time). Now I was also using a 300mm L IS at the time and tried using the dedicated defaulted AF-OFF buttons on the lens (instead of back button on the camera) to do the same situation described, and it worked as expected... So has anyone else experienced this issue? I would think this has to be a bug and hopefully fixed in the next firmware update? Or is there something I am doing wrong or a hidden setting to allow what I want. I know the first generation 7d did not have this problem... I used this technique quite often.

I will check this tonight and see if I can reproduce that. I wonder if it's specific to the big whites or does the same thing with other lenses?

I believe this was happening to me on the 7DII along with a 70-200 L is II as well. However there is not a dedicated AF-OFF button on the lens hence why I configure the back button for this purpose. Also I usually configure both the back "AF-ON" button and the "*" to be AF-OFF so as a "miss aligned push" will yield what I want It didn't matter what button here I configured for this technique, the outcome of "no response from 7DII" still occurred.
Also I did send this issue to Canon right before posting here, via the Canon website

Just wanted to describe my findings on this issue that I am having, if anyone else is running into this, or following... After 5 emails back and forth from Canon, asking to reset everything and take battery out for 5 minutes and try again... they came to the conclusion that this is how it is designed on the 7dII. Frustrated since this works on the original 7D, I went back to the 7DII and tried again paying close attention as to what I was doing. It turns out I was wrong about my comment that it works with the "dedicated AF-OFF button" on the 300mm L is lens. It is the same as with the 70-200 L is II. Here is what I found: If you push any "AF-OFF button" configured(either on the lens body or a custom configured back button) BEFORE pushing the shutter button, multiple volleys of frames taken, with a pause in-between, from the "half pressed state" to "shutter release" works. Now if you press the shutter button first to "half press" and then push any "AF-OFF button" configured, the first initial volleys of frames taken will work, but the second and subsequent presses from the "half pressed state" to shutter release will produce no pictures taken - unresponsive 7DII. One might think that I am anal about this ... But it was very frustrating when you are out in the field trying to figure out why the camera won't take pictures, granted in this weird set up state So in the process of figuring out this issue I noticed a new button custom config that I can use on custom back button that solves my issue even better than the original 7D... it is the "*AF-OFF" customization. This locks metering and AF! So the continual "half press" is not needed anymore.... But if I am am shooting a football game and I am using both the 7dII and 7D, I am going to get confused while trying to use this technique... But the price you pay for an awesome camera

 

[East Wind Photography]

If we are talking issues this happened to me this weekend while shooting high school football... I set up my back AF-ON button in the custom config to be AF-OFF instead. So I "half press" shutter button to acquire focus, lock focus with back button while maintaining half press. I noticed that if I shoot a sequence of frames and pause but still maintain half press, then try to press again there is no response from the 7DII - no pictures taken. This resulted in missed shots! I had to physically lift up the shutter button completely in order to take more shots(with the back button completely pressed the whole time). Now I was also using a 300mm L IS at the time and tried using the dedicated defaulted AF-OFF buttons on the lens (instead of back button on the camera) to do the same situation described, and it worked as expected... So has anyone else experienced this issue? I would think this has to be a bug and hopefully fixed in the next firmware update? Or is there something I am doing wrong or a hidden setting to allow what I want. I know the first generation 7d did not have this problem... I used this technique quite often.

I will check this tonight and see if I can reproduce that. I wonder if it's specific to the big whites or does the same thing with other lenses?

I believe this was happening to me on the 7DII along with a 70-200 L is II as well. However there is not a dedicated AF-OFF button on the lens hence why I configure the back button for this purpose. Also I usually configure both the back "AF-ON" button and the "*" to be AF-OFF so as a "miss aligned push" will yield what I want It didn't matter what button here I configured for this technique, the outcome of "no response from 7DII" still occurred.
Also I did send this issue to Canon right before posting here, via the Canon website

Just wanted to describe my findings on this issue that I am having, if anyone else is running into this, or following... After 5 emails back and forth from Canon, asking to reset everything and take battery out for 5 minutes and try again... they came to the conclusion that this is how it is designed on the 7dII. Frustrated since this works on the original 7D, I went back to the 7DII and tried again paying close attention as to what I was doing. It turns out I was wrong about my comment that it works with the "dedicated AF-OFF button" on the 300mm L is lens. It is the same as with the 70-200 L is II. Here is what I found: If you push any "AF-OFF button" configured(either on the lens body or a custom configured back button) BEFORE pushing the shutter button, multiple volleys of frames taken, with a pause in-between, from the "half pressed state" to "shutter release" works. Now if you press the shutter button first to "half press" and then push any "AF-OFF button" configured, the first initial volleys of frames taken will work, but the second and subsequent presses from the "half pressed state" to shutter release will produce no pictures taken - unresponsive 7DII. One might think that I am anal about this ... But it was very frustrating when you are out in the field trying to figure out why the camera won't take pictures, granted in this weird set up state So in the process of figuring out this issue I noticed a new button custom config that I can use on custom back button that solves my issue even better than the original 7D... it is the "*AF-OFF" customization. This locks metering and AF! So the continual "half press" is not needed anymore.... But if I am am shooting a football game and I am using both the 7dII and 7D, I am going to get confused while trying to use this technique... But the price you pay for an awesome camera

I've found that sometimes you dont get the resolution you want or expect over the phone or by email. I had a similar experience a while back but rest assured the report is in and it will work its way up to development where the firmware guys will taks a look at it. IT could get fixed if its fixable...just have to deal with it for a bit.

 

[East Wind Photography]

Another issue that can slow down AF is the use of Spot AF. Canon used to warn about that.

Yes I considered that but found the lag in all AF modes. I was performing a AFMA on my 24 1.2 II last night and I did not see the lag as I did on the 300. I will try my 70-200 today and my 600 tomorrow (Need to find a vacant football field)

I used the 7d2 today pretty extensively with my 600 F4L and I did not have any AF lag in any of the AF modes or other combos. I ran into some conditions where the Zone AF would not pick up a heron in flight...just wouldnt get a lock but with center and spot AF I did not have any issues. Could have been my AF case though I was messing around with tracking sensitivity to ignore some tree limbs that were in my way. I'll test that more to see if it happens again.

I also tested last night with the 70-200 F2.8L II and saw no lag.

So now I'm scratching my head a bit and now need to go back and reproduce the issue with the 300 2.8L II.

Just to keep it all real, I'm really liking the 7D2. Getting some really nice images for a crop sensor. Though DPP is really annoying, I can live with it until the other raw processors get up to speed.

I'll actually add one more thing about ZOne AF. On the 5D3 the zone AF would lock onto the closest thing within the zone range (great for BIF). I'm noticing that on the 7D2 that's not always the case. I'm not sure if it's color or contrast sensitivity that is different but it seems to operate a bit differently than the 5D3. In one sequence I was tracking an eagle and the zone AF appeared to be locked onto the eagle as the active AF point would track the eagle but the images all focused on the background and not the eagle. I had a similar issue with a heron.

Zone AF worked fine the other day when I was shooting a soccer game so not sure what is happening.

Other modes seem to work just fine.

Trying to find out of Canon changed the algorithm for zone AF in this model.

I also had a similar experience in zone af (15pt center zone) where it locked focus on the background and stayed locked there for a 7-8 frames burst while I tracked a landing cormorant. It may have keyed on a highlight coming off the water. Only happened once but ruined the sequence. I was experimenting with this mode as I'm usually a five point expanded spot shooter. In general I thought it was quicker to acquire focus and lock in zone AF than in expanded spot but I guess you give up a little accuracy with that. I'll keep an eye out for similar in the future. I've been using case 2 tracking so once it locks focus, for better or worse, it doesn't correct. I still have a ways to go to get this thing dialed in for moving subjects.

I'm hoping I can manage with just 3-4 of the 7? AF area modes so I don't have to scroll though all of them using that new thumb lever. Since it's not bi-directional I don't want to scroll through all 6 just to back up one mode. If that makes sense. Spot, micro spot and expanded was nice but I think I need Zone AF as well. 4 Should be manageable. Micro spot, or whatever its called, is nice for small perching birds. I can focus right on the highlight in the eye.

Being a 5D3 user since day one, I can assure you that this is not how its supposed to work. The 7d2 docs definately state it is supposed to focus on the closest object in the zone. This is something worth paying attention to as I use that mode frequently for BIF. On the 5d3 it seems to be the most reliable for tracking birds flying in front of a tree line.

 

[East Wind Photography]

Here is a minor issue I have encountered. I have the thumb nubbin set to live switching af points. I have the thumb rocker set to live switch af modes. Its a great setup, you can do everything quick with your thumb without pressing anything else first. if you move the af point off center you can move it back to center by pressing the nubbin, you can keep toggling between the points by pressing which is great but if you toggle it to the center position and then change modes later it jumps back to the last off center position. It also memorizes the position for different modes so you can get into a situation where the af position jumps all over the place when you toggle modes. It was driving me crazy until I figured out what was going on.

Do you happen to have oriention link disabled? That is can you set different AF modes in portrait or landscape mode?

Seems like this could be a "feature" for some and an annoyance for others. Wondering if there is a setting that would disable this? Maybe a custome mode could be used in the mean time which would reset to Cx mode defaults each time you select the mode. Might be a work around until you cn get to the bottom of it.

 

[East Wind Photography]

Ok lets summarize some of the things we are looking at for those that dont want to read through all of this:

1) Fraction of a second AF lag(lock) on half press (w/300mm F2.8L IS II)
2) Shutter not firing 2nd volley when rear AF-ON set to AF-OFF and pressed first
3) Manual AF point selection is retained seperately for each AF mode (can default be set back to center?)
4) Zone AF not always locking on closest subject in the zone

If anyone can reproduce these issues or have discovered a solution, please share/confirm your findings so we can all report them to Canon for resolution.

If I forgot something let me know.

And for those that are reading this and think these are show stoppers, they are not. Pretty much everyone here is amazed by this camera and these issues should not sway you to purchase something else unless you plan to go full frame.