Canon EOS 7D Mark II AF Issues

[Keith_Reeder]

My own anecdotal personal experience with a 70D (crop) has been awesome.

My 7D was/is fantastic.

My 70D was/is probably even better.

My 7D Mk II us unquestionably better again the the other two.

And all this, with supposedly poorly-focusing Sigma lenses. Shooting birds, birds in flight, fast motor sport, aircraft, field sport. With the supposedly flaky AI Servo...

And I have very high standards.

This "admission" by Canon is right up there with the firmware we were supposed to be seeing...

Everything we're reading about the 7D Mk II's AF is far more easily explained by user error than by anything else.

 

[Keith_Reeder]

but don't assume the rest of us are imagining things or have no idea how to properly utilise the camera's AF system. I have had many years experience with film cameras, the 5D classic and the 5Diii in the sorts of conditions I am u

You might have a faulty camera: but that's a world away from the assertion that starts this thread, that the 7D Mk II's AF is inherently flawed in some way.

Take it from me: it is not.

Either that - or I'm just incredibly, repeatedly lucky in that every Canon body I've ever bought has "miraculously" bucked the trend and focused like a hero...

 

[lol]

If there is a real problem, I'm sure we'll get a "phenomenon" statement from Canon in due course.

I'm not inexperienced but don't claim to be the best, but I just gave my 7D2 a BIF workout earlier this week. I hate to admit I haven't used it much since I got it last year so I'm a bit rusty. I did notice, but not done a detailed test, that my 100-400L mk1 seems to look worse on the 7D2 than 7D1. This is relative to the 70-300L which looks similar on both. I haven't AFMA as historically I haven't needed to on f/5.6 lenses.

As for the BIF hit rate, initially it was horrific. I was using all AF points in servo, and it was tracking pretty much anything in the scene other than the bird. Note the conditions I was shooting in were pretty much worst case. It had a relatively near background so that is always confusing for any camera. Also the birds flying distances were very close, at times coming into MFD and I was in danger of having a vulture in my face if I didn't dodge. After playing about a bit, I switched to AF tracking mode 6 and reduced the AF area to the middle block only. Much better! Now it was tracking the subject, most of the time. I still had some difficulty getting initial lock though. As likely operator error, on review when back at home a lot of shots were ruined with more motion blur than I like, and maybe I should have used even faster shutter speeds (depending on lighting I was around 1/400-1/800).

Discounting the motion blur, the sideways tracking shots had a reasonable accuracy, although it may drift a bit. I was also running out of depth of field. At times the camera was focusing on the nearest wing, the body would not be in focus. The approaching bird shots were much more challenging. Here there was often a bit of lag so the head would not be in focus, whereas the feet would be. With hindsight, maybe I could have stopped down more as again more depth of field would help here compared to shooting wide open.

tldr: there may be some real problems out there, but I wouldn't be surprised if a significant number of reports are down to the user.

 

[Sabaki]

My own anecdotal personal experience with a 70D (crop) has been awesome.

My 7D was/is fantastic.

My 70D was/is probably even better.

My 7D Mk II us unquestionably better again the the other two.

And all this, with supposedly poorly-focusing Sigma lenses. Shooting birds, birds in flight, fast motor sport, aircraft, field sport. With the supposedly flaky AI Servo...

And I have very high standards.

This "admission" by Canon is right up there with the firmware we were supposed to be seeing...

Everything we're reading about the 7D Mk II's AF is far more easily explained by user error than by anything else.

My 1st 7Dii was NOT fantastic

My 2nd 7Dii was NOT fantastic

My 3rd 7Dii is STILL NOT fantastic

I'm really happy for you that you've enjoyed such luck to have never had problems with any of your Canon kit YOU have bought but there are enough of us out there who were not so lucky.

I do concede though that not everybody who blames the camera has a faulty unit but certainly enough people here have posted about shutter boxes and whatnot being replaced to at least suggest there may be problems with some units?

Or can you further qualify your assertion that it's probably user error and has nothing to do with anything else?

 

[dslrdummy]

but don't assume the rest of us are imagining things or have no idea how to properly utilise the camera's AF system. I have had many years experience with film cameras, the 5D classic and the 5Diii in the sorts of conditions I am u

You might have a faulty camera: but that's a world away from the assertion that starts this thread, that the 7D Mk II's AF is inherently flawed in some way.

Not sure what thread you are referring to. The start of this thread reads as follows:
We’re told by a couple of people that Canon has internally acknowledged an autofocus issue with the EOS 7D Mark II. No official announcement will be made by Canon until they determine whether or not the issue can be resolved with a firmware update or if it will require the camera to visit a service center. All signs point to the former, but the issue has yet to be fully resolved.


There was no mention whether or not the AF issue affects all cameras, and we don’t want to speculate on this either.


More to come…
Seems like Canon might recognise a problem, even if you have been lucky enough not to experience it. The indication is that there is a recurring problem, not that every unit sold has the problem.

 

[Nathalex]

Hello everyone,
I am not sure this topic exactly deals with my issue but still...
My problem with 7D2 is that I am not able to trust the AF even for very simple images. Look at the example I just shot : same settings, same (very still) model and yet, one is sharp enough for me and the other is not.
20 shots : 3 or 4 definitely out of focus for a still subject !

I never felt I lacked confidence with my previous cameras (4 Canon DSLRs between the 350D and the 7Dm2)

 

[neuroanatomist]

Seems like Canon might recognise a problem...

Yes, based on what 'a couple of people' told a rumors site.

Certainly there are defective units in any mass produced product line, but much of this may be user error.

Firmware issues affecting some users but not others is another possibility, based on a seemingly unrelated setting. For example, the 1D X AFMA bug occurred only if you had the orientation linked AF point setting active.

 

[Lee Jay]

Firmware issues affecting some users but not others is another possibility, based on a seemingly unrelated setting. For example, the 1D X AFMA bug occurred only if you had the orientation linked AF point setting active.

I don't remember that one. What was it?

 

[neuroanatomist]

Firmware issues affecting some users but not others is another possibility, based on a seemingly unrelated setting. For example, the 1D X AFMA bug occurred only if you had the orientation linked AF point setting active.

I don't remember that one. What was it?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_brain/7600237574/in/album-72157624587295692/

 

[CanonOregon]

My issue is not like any I see posted here- my 7d MkII was simply freezing or giving me the 'Error 01 Lens Error' way too much, with a Canon 300mm f4 L, but it also did it with the 24-105mm f4 L. On the second trip they got it to repeat and felt it was something wrong with the lens and replaced the diaphragm assembly, free, under the CPS program. It repeated, even worse, after a week or two. This time they replaced the entire lens mount on the camera after being unable to duplicate the problem there. As I understand it, error messages are stored somewhere so they could see it really was happening. Next week I travel to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon so that will be the real test for the camera- also rented the 100-400mm to see if I want to go that way and if there's something else with the lens or...who knows what but sure frustrating to be tracking bird, getting great shots and ....FREEZE- nothing happening or I see the error message- I'm standing right next to a marsh, removing the lens (don't drop it!), powering the camera off and on...and of course the bird is LONG gone!
Hey, I can't complain about the crew at CPS- they're working hard on this but...
My 7d MkII was one of the first released, by the way.

 

[Scooter]

Thanks SlydeR! Yes, it's the original 100-400L. My favorite lens has to be the 70-200 f2.8 II. It's magical for shooting through the nets and fences.

 

[entoman]

As a pro wildlife photographer with 10 years experience of Canon cameras (40D, 50D, 7D, 6D, 5DMkiii, 7DMkii with L lenses), I can assure the doubters that there are definitely some AF issues with the 7DMkii.

My body, (8000 shots since purchased in January), works fine in some situations but terribly in others, despite lots of experimenting with multiple variations of AF settings. My 5DMkiii, on the other hand, which uses exactly the same system of "cases" does NOT suffer from any these issues.

The first issue:

My 7DMkii focuses extremely rapidly when set to one-shot or AI focus, with any focus "case", and any focus area selection. However while the end result is razor sharp, the image in the viewfinder is slightly out of focus, which is rather disconcerting. When manually focusing via live view, the live view focus and sensor focus are obviously in sync. The problem cannot be compensated for by AFMA - it lies with a slight misalignment between the viewfinder focus screen and the sensor plane.

Some other 7DMkii bodies apparently don't have this issue, so it is unlikely to be a design fault, more likely an assembly and quality control issue.

The second issue:

When set to SERVO focus (and focus priority for first and subsequent frames) my camera is slightly less reliable when shooting single shots, and absolutely useless when attempting to shoot in continuous mode. Even at 3 fps silent continuous drive, it can't keep up with even a large slowly moving subject! Setting the camera back to AI FOCUS immediately improves the hit rate, but is still nowhere as good as the 5DMkiii, and is more on par with the 6D.

The third issue:

My camera, when set to 65pt wide area focus, and set to AI FOCUS or ONE SHOT mode, always focuses on the closest object, regardless of its position in the frame. However with the same 65pt wide area focus, and no other changes, apart from setting SERVO focus, it acts totally differently, always focusing on an object in the centre of the frame, regardless of whether there is a closer object to the left or right.

Issues 2 and 3 seem to indicate a firmware problem.

 

[Lee Jay]

On my 7D Mark II, the center 25 points in any position, and all points in landscape seem to work well. The one issue I'm having is when using the side 20 points on either side while the camera is in portrait. This is in AI servo with focus priority and all Canon lenses. In that configuration I'm getting about 20-30% out of focus.

AI servo in focus priority is my main area of concern too, shooting sports. Have sent the camera in to Canon and waiting for the response.

What I don't get is why portrait versus landscape would matter unless there's something loose in the AF optics or in the lens. It's somewhat lens-dependent, but not a lot. I'm getting about 95% in-focus in one particular test with the camera in landscape and about 75% in portrait with those side points using the same lens. With the center points, it basically doesn't miss in either orientation. I don't get that.

 

[Lee Jay]

Certainly there are defective units in any mass produced product line, but much of this may be user error.

Firmware issues affecting some users but not others is another possibility, based on a seemingly unrelated setting. For example, the 1D X AFMA bug occurred only if you had the orientation linked AF point setting active.

I recently shot a model airplane float fly with my 7D II. 743 shots, 32 out of focus. I was able to positively verify that 30 of those were user error of one sort or another (some were intentional based on playing with settings). All of those used the central 15 AF points.

On the other hand, using the right edge points, I'm only getting 75% in focus in portrait mode, on a far, far slower subject. Again, on the same subject, I'm getting essentially 100% in focus from the center block of focus points.

I've tried various settings and adjustments, and can't seem to figure this out. All of my lenses do it to one degree or another, and supporting the lens barrel on the thinking that gravity is causing a lens barrel slop problem doesn't seem to eliminate it.

Based on what you said above, I removed orientation lined AF point selection, and it didn't seem to help. I also have tried 12 points, 1 points with expansion, and single point, all with about the same results.

Weird.

 

[East Wind Photography]

As a pro wildlife photographer with 10 years experience of Canon cameras (40D, 50D, 7D, 6D, 5DMkiii, 7DMkii with L lenses), I can assure the doubters that there are definitely some AF issues with the 7DMkii.

My body, (8000 shots since purchased in January), works fine in some situations but terribly in others, despite lots of experimenting with multiple variations of AF settings. My 5DMkiii, on the other hand, which uses exactly the same system of "cases" does NOT suffer from any these issues.

The first issue:

My 7DMkii focuses extremely rapidly when set to one-shot or AI focus, with any focus "case", and any focus area selection. However while the end result is razor sharp, the image in the viewfinder is slightly out of focus, which is rather disconcerting. When manually focusing via live view, the live view focus and sensor focus are obviously in sync. The problem cannot be compensated for by AFMA - it lies with a slight misalignment between the viewfinder focus screen and the sensor plane.

Some other 7DMkii bodies apparently don't have this issue, so it is unlikely to be a design fault, more likely an assembly and quality control issue.

The second issue:

When set to SERVO focus (and focus priority for first and subsequent frames) my camera is slightly less reliable when shooting single shots, and absolutely useless when attempting to shoot in continuous mode. Even at 3 fps silent continuous drive, it can't keep up with even a large slowly moving subject! Setting the camera back to AI FOCUS immediately improves the hit rate, but is still nowhere as good as the 5DMkiii, and is more on par with the 6D.

The third issue:

My camera, when set to 65pt wide area focus, and set to AI FOCUS or ONE SHOT mode, always focuses on the closest object, regardless of its position in the frame. However with the same 65pt wide area focus, and no other changes, apart from setting SERVO focus, it acts totally differently, always focusing on an object in the centre of the frame, regardless of whether there is a closer object to the left or right.

Issues 2 and 3 seem to indicate a firmware problem.

Maybe. However mine suffered from the same issues. Had the mirror box and AF assembly replaced and everything Recalibrated. The camera now works fine without a firmware update.

Carefully document all of your concerns, sample shots if you can supply them, and open a ticket with canon support. They will instruct you to send it in for eval and testing. They are turning them around fairly quickly. I got mine back in a week.

 

[neuroanatomist]

What I don't get is why portrait versus landscape would matter unless there's something loose in the AF optics or in the lens. It's somewhat lens-dependent, but not a lot. I'm getting about 95% in-focus in one particular test with the camera in landscape and about 75% in portrait with those side points using the same lens. With the center points, it basically doesn't miss in either orientation. I don't get that.

Firmware is plausible. On my 1D X, and I think also on the 7DII, it can set AF mode based in just orientation, e.g., it's in One Shot for landscape, rotating to portrait switches to AI Servo.

My point isn't that the orientation linking setting is the problem, but rather that the camera can treat the different orientations differently in terms of AF, and that may be part of the problem.

 

[sanj]

And they took 5 years to release the camera. Af was supposed to be the main highlight.

sanj, so what, S___ happens! point is sounds like they are taking a pretty honest customer caring approach to this no?

Surapon, that last photo is just wrong ;D ;D

Haahahaha. Yes S__ happens. I sympathize. But when it happens after 5 years it st__ks bad. Although I feel it is not a design issue, I feel it is a production issue. But what do I know.

 

[ashmadux]

Good to know im not crazy. After YEARS of Af issues on the 7d, 6d, a rented 7d2, AND a disastrous 70d refurb (canon direct) with nonfunctional AF so bad, i almost chewed off the canon rep's ear.

(Ps- that same 70 was posted on this site several weeks ago as a 70d deal. Hope you didnt buy it.)

Too many photogs get on these forums act like they know so much (many do, but..) - the lack of critical thinking is puzzling and sad, and hurts the entire community. I posted about Af issues on the 7d2 rental, and the feedback was incredibly dismissive - even with a wealth of shooting experience. It wouldn't focus a damn. Good luck on anyone believing you. Ridiculous.

Ultimately, its not that hard to use a camera. Point it, shoot it (with correct settings) and AF should just 'work'. Thats the whole point of AF.

 

[andrewfusekpeters]

I am a pro wildlife photographer - shot with 7d and Tamron 150-600 and was shortlisted for British Wildlife Photagrapher of the Year - got 1dx and big white {wonderful life-changing tools} but was then keen for the reach of 7d2 to give my 500 more reach...- found what a lot of people are saying - for still and portrait, quite good, but moment anything moved ie BIF or even the easiest shot in the world - ie a hovering kestrel - right settings - all OOF. Finally it is now with Canon and we shall wait and say - bought a grey import so they are telling me despite it being a real 7d2 made by Canon, they will charge me for what is a faulty product. Even my sharpest shots with this camera do not touch what i have done with 1dx and I am aware they are different bodies at diff price points, but my keeper rate is crazy low for even the easiest tracking shots - ie Marsh Harrier flying right past me, Gannets cruising past etc - I love this body for the reach but I hope they sort it out as summer is passing by and there were Merlins zipping past me today and I need the reach to get them.

 

[East Wind Photography]

I am a pro wildlife photographer - shot with 7d and Tamron 150-600 and was shortlisted for British Wildlife Photagrapher of the Year - got 1dx and big white {wonderful life-changing tools} but was then keen for the reach of 7d2 to give my 500 more reach...- found what a lot of people are saying - for still and portrait, quite good, but moment anything moved ie BIF or even the easiest shot in the world - ie a hovering kestrel - right settings - all OOF. Finally it is now with Canon and we shall wait and say - bought a grey import so they are telling me despite it being a real 7d2 made by Canon, they will charge me for what is a faulty product. Even my sharpest shots with this camera do not touch what i have done with 1dx and I am aware they are different bodies at diff price points, but my keeper rate is crazy low for even the easiest tracking shots - ie Marsh Harrier flying right past me, Gannets cruising past etc - I love this body for the reach but I hope they sort it out as summer is passing by and there were Merlins zipping past me today and I need the reach to get them.

What I don't understand, as a pro wildlife photographer with 1dx and 500mm, why you opted to buy a grey market item to save a few hundred bucks?