7D mk2 Auto Focus survey

[bluemoon]

'recently purchased the 7D mk2 and am curious who had to send their back. It seems like majority of ppl are having issues, but we all know that it's just the ones with problems that are bringing it up.

Lets find out what the real numbers are!

pierre

 

[Kristofgss]

Every image coming out of the 7d II looks as if it has a diffusion filter over it. It's not front or backfocus, it's as if the sensor moves or the image is not correctly converted from the camera sensor to image. And it's not user error, we tried different users and direct comparison with 600D and 7D mark I camera. Both the 600D and 7D mark I are razor sharp (with a 24-105 F4L) and the 7D mark II keeps giving diffused images. It has already been sent to canon and came back with a "software reinstalled" notice, but no improvement of the image quality.

 

[machx0r]

Still waiting to get mine back from repair so I'll vote after I've had a chance to play with it...

 

[bluemoon]

interesting, so far we have 6 to 1 in favor of good. It would be nice to get more votes.

Also, the poll allows you to alter your vote if something changes. . .

pierre

 

[Deleted member 91053]

I don't have a 7D2 so I cannot comment from personal experience. I do know a number of 7D2 users and all are pleased or very pleased with the AF performance.
Those who are merely pleased are using them alongside 1D4 and 1DX cameras, so "Pleased" is high praise for an XD body.
Those who are VERY pleased are coming from XD and XXD bodies and are really appreciating the improvements.
No complaints from any of them so far. If the 7D2 had better ISO performance then I would be buying one too!

 

[justaCanonuser]

So far no complaints, but I have my 7D2 now for two weeks only and had no occasion to really challenge its AF system. Next week I will travel for an extended wildlife tour (birding = the real AF challenge, macro, bit landscape). If there is any issue with my 7D2 I gonna hit it for sure (I micro adjusted AF with my main lenses).

 

[justaCanonuser]

No complaints from any of them so far. If the 7D2 had better ISO performance then I would be buying one too!

My main camera is a 5D3, but I am quite impressed by my new 7D2's high ISO performance - much better than my old 7D's. Here is a (cropped) test shot with ISO 4000, RAW and JPEG/TIFF NR completely switched off. The color noise looks much more pleasing, no banding etc. ... Btw the AF worked well, I had only a few seconds to catch the robin.

 

[Jane]

I love my 7DII but I have had autofocus problems in AI Servo (only use it in AI Servo). It seems that in a burst, one or two frames will be out of focus. I usually get plenty of sharp shots but what happens if an OOF one is THE shot? I took a bunch of a snowy egret this morning, some were OOF, most sharp. Fortunately, the one with egret's mouth open and a dragonfly clearly in the mouth, still flying, is sharp. I sent the camera to Canon this afternoon!

By the way, I have also been using a 1DX for a couple of years so I am comfortable with the AF system.

 

[fishprof]

I got a 7DII as an upgrade for my 7D. The camera would not accurately autofocus with my very good Sigma 150 mm macro lens. It produced great, sharp images using manual live-view focusing, but no amount of micro-adjustment (-20 to +20) corrected the autofocus issue. I was using single shot AF, tripod mounted, 10 second release, etc - that is, ideal conditions. In side by side comparison under exactly the same conditions, images fell far short of my 7D, which had never been micro-adjusted. I returned it to B&H for a refund. I really like the features of the camera and I will try again later in the year. Hopefully, Canon will correct these problems and/or issue new firmware.

 

[East Wind Photography]

I love my 7DII but I have had autofocus problems in AI Servo (only use it in AI Servo). It seems that in a burst, one or two frames will be out of focus. I usually get plenty of sharp shots but what happens if an OOF one is THE shot? I took a bunch of a snowy egret this morning, some were OOF, most sharp. Fortunately, the one with egret's mouth open and a dragonfly clearly in the mouth, still flying, is sharp. I sent the camera to Canon this afternoon!

By the way, I have also been using a 1DX for a couple of years so I am comfortable with the AF system.

Af system on the 1DX should have a 95-99% hit rate for this like birds in flight
5d3 about 95%
7d2 about 90-95%

I'll stop there as the less sophisticated AF systems drop off rapidly

 

[dslrdummy]

Still waiting to get mine back from repair so I'll vote after I've had a chance to play with it...

Likewise.

 

[dslrdummy]

I love my 7DII but I have had autofocus problems in AI Servo (only use it in AI Servo). It seems that in a burst, one or two frames will be out of focus. I usually get plenty of sharp shots but what happens if an OOF one is THE shot? I took a bunch of a snowy egret this morning, some were OOF, most sharp. Fortunately, the one with egret's mouth open and a dragonfly clearly in the mouth, still flying, is sharp. I sent the camera to Canon this afternoon!

By the way, I have also been using a 1DX for a couple of years so I am comfortable with the AF system.

My experience is almost identical to yours although I shoot mainly sports in AI servo. Let's see what result we each get from Canon - I'm in Oz so a bit of a test for Canon Aust and their response to such warranty issues.

 

[streestandtheatres]

Every image coming out of the 7d II looks as if it has a diffusion filter over it. It's not front or backfocus, it's as if the sensor moves or the image is not correctly converted from the camera sensor to image. And it's not user error, we tried different users and direct comparison with 600D and 7D mark I camera. Both the 600D and 7D mark I are razor sharp (with a 24-105 F4L) and the 7D mark II keeps giving diffused images. It has already been sent to canon and came back with a "software reinstalled" notice, but no improvement of the image quality.

I upgraded from a 600d to a 7dii, and I half know what you mean. I'd say that I need a faster shutter-speed with the 7dii (maybe because it's heavier?), but I wouldn't say it's at all fuzzy. If I drop the ss to what I used with the 600d, then I get fuzzy. I would also say that it's making me much more aware of exactly where I put the focus. Out of focus looks awful, and I'm now much more aware of this (but I wouldn't say the 7dii was worse at focussing).

It's difficult to say what the focus hit rate is. If I'm focussing on a kestrel, and it's flying past, I hardly expect to get a shot when it's at speed. The AF system works very well when the bird's filling the frame, and really not so well if it's small. But that's to be expected, right? If the bird is 50% or more of the frame, I end up with endless in focus shots (of wing tips, eyes, bodies, etc etc), even if its not exactly the part of the bird I'd like the camera to focus on.
Surfing photos are all perfect. No problems at all.
People shots with the Sigma 35 1.4 are more approximate. At 1.4 I increasingly feel like I'm taking my chances (and sometimes a single point on the eye seems to yield an in focus shoulder, for reasons I don't understand).
Take a look: https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelhooper/

 

[Northbird]

A 7D II replaced my original 7D after about 70K actuations. LOVE the camera for wildlife shooting and I've been completely satisfied with autofocus performance, frame rate and ISO & DR performance. Sure, a 1dx would be better but at significantly higher investment in cash, size and weight.


Common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) by Tony Varela Photography, on Flickr

 

[Big_Ant_TV_Media]

i love my 7D2 use 55% of the time i still use my 5d3 45% of the time
my 7D2 keeper rate is 60-70% yess it has flaw but im at peace with it i had a chance too get extra insurance but didnt too late)
(i dnt use the big white lenses for sports i find the stm lens focus faster and a are a pinch sharper, just using my 24-105 F4 and my 24-105 F 3.5 STM lens along my travel 55-250mm stm lens) of my photos those 10fps add up too alot images i can use and some are decent
i mainly been shooting football,track and field and some baseball sparingly

 

[unfocused]

A 7D II replaced my original 7D after about 70K actuations. LOVE the camera for wildlife shooting and I've been completely satisfied with autofocus performance, frame rate and ISO & DR performance. Sure, a 1dx would be better but at significantly higher investment in cash, size and weight.


Common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) by Tony Varela Photography, on Flickr

Love your bird pictures. Please fill us in a bit on your technique.

 

[justaCanonuser]

A 7D II replaced my original 7D after about 70K actuations. LOVE the camera for wildlife shooting and I've been completely satisfied with autofocus performance, frame rate and ISO & DR performance. Sure, a 1dx would be better but at significantly higher investment in cash, size and weight.


Common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) by Tony Varela Photography, on Flickr

nice yellowthroat!

 

[justaCanonuser]

Af system on the 1DX should have a 95-99% hit rate for this like birds in flight
5d3 about 95%
7d2 about 90-95%

I'll stop there as the less sophisticated AF systems drop off rapidly

So, if this is true, you'd get more good keepers when you shoot BIF with a 7D2 than with a 5D3, because the 7D2 shoots 10 fps, the 5D3 only 6 fps...

 

[Aglet]

no category for, "Yes, mine had AF problems and I just plain returned it cuz I don't want to beta test with my money at stake."
Was pleased to see much improved file quality coming out of it tho, no more FPN issues like my 7D/60D/50D/5D2, etc.

 

[geonix]

Af system on the 1DX should have a 95-99% hit rate for this like birds in flight
5d3 about 95%
7d2 about 90-95%

I'll stop there as the less sophisticated AF systems drop off rapidly

Such generalisations are hokum to me (please don't take this personally).
As you cannot specify the situations in wich people shoot. Birds or bats or pigs in flight are not standardised procedures. Even as a maximum hit rate this percentages are not really reliable. Besides, the 7D2 has the autofocus system of the 1DX, so why should it be only equal or less good than the 5d3?

It should also be mentioned that the autofocus hit rate depends highly on the lens AF capabilities.
I tried a tamron 150-600 on a 5d3 and at 600mm f8 (max apt. f6.3) in continious AF it didn't even come close to 95% hit rate. But that was the lens (or my) "fault".

And with the 5D3 Tamron combination I had to do manual AF adjustment. Quite a lot of adujstment to be honest, it had enormous back focusing before. My 7D2 did not need any manual AF fine tuning with any lens I put on it so far (100mm f2.8; 100-400mm L II, Tamron 70-200 f2.8 )