Canon EOS 7D Mark II AF Issues

[neuroanatomist]

But how they will act on an actual deal breaker, because reports of a flaw in the af system in a camera you buy for its af system might have a larger backlash as reports are bound to be blown out of proportion?

They issued a service notice for AF problems on the 1D X. I think a few people may have expected good AF performance from that camara.

 

[EvvPhotog]

I finally sent my 7D2 in for service. It should arrive back today and I'll see what they did and I hope it is fixed. I love the camera but couldn't trust it.

Mine was one of the first batches as I had pre-ordered. I've shot at least 50k pictures with it since and always had a very hit or miss focus with it. I assumed it was me for the longest time but it was very frustrating. One weekend I went out on a Saturday shooting birds. Took around 700 pictures and maybe 10% of those were sharp. Next day, nothing had changed mind you, I would get 90% in focus. This would happen a lot. Once I got a 6D I started using it more and more because I could count on it to be sharp, even with the very lacking AF system. So at this point I started realizing that it probably wasn't me since I was using the same lenses on the 6D. Apparently Canon agreed that something was wrong since they did repair it.

Here's to hoping ...

 

[GadgetBoy]

I did other tests with my 7D mk ii and my 17-55. It appears that my focus troubles only appears with the central AF point. I obtain much more repetability and sharp images with AF points arround it although they are supposed to be less accurate.

 

[EvvPhotog]

At first I thought my issues were only related to the central point as well since for birds and wildlife that's the only point I use. So I have my C1 setting setup for wildlife "portraits", central spot, Av, AF settings for erratic subjects (can't remember the exact one off the top of my head), one shot and other specific things set. My C2 setting was for BIF so I used all AF points (flexi zone I think), Tv and AI Servo. Those shots were often not in focus either. Now, when I say not in focus, some were very obvious but others I couldn't tell until I got home and could see how soft they were. At 1/2000 or faster for BIF, I should get most if not all sharp so that also told me something was wrong with the overall focusing system. I would then take my 6D and set things as close as I could to my 7D settings (obviously the AF is WAY different) settings and shoot. Nice and sharp most of the time.

Obviously your mileage may vary but if you have any doubts, the shipping costs back to Canon to have them look at it is small in comparison to how much money and effort you've already spent fussing with it.

 

[GadgetBoy]

Yes you're right. Unfortunately this is already my second 7D mk II. I have already spent 4 months with my first body trying to make Canon France recognize there was a problem. All they wanted to do was to make the AFMA, despite the fact that I spent an hour with a technicien showing the issue and who recognized that something was not working correctly but as he did not know what, he could not do anything for me... After lots of phone call, I finally have my 7D mk II replaced... And same troubles with this new one...

 

[EvvPhotog]

That sucks! I wasn't home for the delivery of mine today so I'll see if mine is fixed tomorrow.

While trying to figure out if mine was messed up or if it was just me, I purchased FoCal and calibrated my lenses. Didn't help. Hell, sometimes FoCal couldn't even get the adjustments correct and I'd end up with an error.

Like I said, I love the camera and I want it to work. For what I shoot 90% of the time it is the perfect camera, if it can focus as advertised that is.

Otherwise I may have to go another route unfortunately. I'm heavily invested in Canon glass though so it would probably be a 5D3 but not sure. I'll cross that bridge later though.

Good luck!

 

[candc]

i know that some are having issues with their cameras and that there seems to be some defective units out there. i am also reading about some af problems that can be attributed to having the settings too high. don't think about the "cases" too much they are just memory presets for the 3 sliders and the descriptions of the cases don't make a whole lot of sense to me.

the af will generally work better if you set things low. only set them higher if you really need to because it will make it erratic.

af point switching doesn't make any difference if you are using single point.

for most bif, ducks, eagles, cars people running or walking turn accel/decel all the way down, to the left.

also turn tracking sensitivity all the way down so it doesn't jump off the subject instantly

overall i think the af is great but it is a bit overly sensitive.

 

[Don Haines]

That sucks! I wasn't home for the delivery of mine today so I'll see if mine is fixed tomorrow.

While trying to figure out if mine was messed up or if it was just me, I purchased FoCal and calibrated my lenses. Didn't help. Hell, sometimes FoCal couldn't even get the adjustments correct and I'd end up with an error.

Like I said, I love the camera and I want it to work. For what I shoot 90% of the time it is the perfect camera, if it can focus as advertised that is.

Otherwise I may have to go another route unfortunately. I'm heavily invested in Canon glass though so it would probably be a 5D3 but not sure. I'll cross that bridge later though.

Good luck!

Assuming you had good lighting and the target set up right, if you could not get consistent results with Focal, would that not indicate that there was something wrong with the camera?

 

[neuroanatomist]

That sucks! I wasn't home for the delivery of mine today so I'll see if mine is fixed tomorrow.

While trying to figure out if mine was messed up or if it was just me, I purchased FoCal and calibrated my lenses. Didn't help. Hell, sometimes FoCal couldn't even get the adjustments correct and I'd end up with an error.

Like I said, I love the camera and I want it to work. For what I shoot 90% of the time it is the perfect camera, if it can focus as advertised that is.

Otherwise I may have to go another route unfortunately. I'm heavily invested in Canon glass though so it would probably be a 5D3 but not sure. I'll cross that bridge later though.

Good luck!

Assuming you had good lighting and the target set up right, if you could not get consistent results with Focal, would that not indicate that there was something wrong with the camera?

...and a stable platform, I had issues indoors on a hardwood floor if anyone was walking around, no issues set up on a concrete slab.

 

[Don Haines]

That sucks! I wasn't home for the delivery of mine today so I'll see if mine is fixed tomorrow.

While trying to figure out if mine was messed up or if it was just me, I purchased FoCal and calibrated my lenses. Didn't help. Hell, sometimes FoCal couldn't even get the adjustments correct and I'd end up with an error.

Like I said, I love the camera and I want it to work. For what I shoot 90% of the time it is the perfect camera, if it can focus as advertised that is.

Otherwise I may have to go another route unfortunately. I'm heavily invested in Canon glass though so it would probably be a 5D3 but not sure. I'll cross that bridge later though.

Good luck!

Assuming you had good lighting and the target set up right, if you could not get consistent results with Focal, would that not indicate that there was something wrong with the camera?

...and a stable platform, I had issues indoors on a hardwood floor if anyone was walking around, no issues set up on a concrete slab.

.... and a solid tripod....

 

[EvvPhotog]

Yeap! Which is why I sent it back to Canon. I setup everything correctly for FoCal and have the steady things needed.

 

[daniela]

Hi Guys!

Yesterday I was willed to buy a Canon 500mm 4 II L lens and tried it on my 7D MKII in the shop. But the autofocus was not working correct. The lens was trying to become sharp. After several times of focussing in the near and in the far , it stopped hunting for sharpness. We tried it several times to attach the lens new, resetting my body and cleaning the contacts
The lens was working fine on a shop´s Eos 5D MKIII and 6D, but not at mine 7D MKII. So I thought, my body is suffering from an failure. But at home, it works fine on all my lenses. Can you help me, please? Shall I send it to Canon to get this issue fixed?

 

[serendipidy]

Must be a conspiracy. I heard it was a lone gunman, and did you know the moon landing took place on a Hollywood back lot?

It was a conspiracy and all filmed on a sound stage..... if you look closely at the famous "flag" picture of Neil Armstrong, you can see a housecat in the corner....

Wow...I didn't know they took their cat along ;D

 

[candc]

Hi Guys!

Yesterday I was willed to buy a Canon 500mm 4 II L lens and tried it on my 7D MKII in the shop. But the autofocus was not working correct. The lens was trying to become sharp. After several times of focussing in the near and in the far , it stopped hunting for sharpness. We tried it several times to attach the lens new, resetting my body and cleaning the contacts
The lens was working fine on a shop´s Eos 5D MKIII and 6D, but not at mine 7D MKII. So I thought, my body is suffering from an failure. But at home, it works fine on all my lenses. Can you help me, please? Shall I send it to Canon to get this issue fixed?

That is a great combo. I have seen some really fantastic shots on this forum taken with that setup. If you are looking to buy that lens the camera shop should contact canon and get to the bottom of it for you

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I'm still waiting for Canon to start selling refurbs for $1000. To hear all those who have returned theit cameras, their must be 50,000. Of course, some people post on every internet forum, and sometimes start two or three threads, so there might really be only 100 returns.

I'm not afraid to buy one, but I felt the camera was way over priced initially.

 

[Ruined]

I'm still waiting for Canon to start selling refurbs for $1000. To hear all those who have returned theit cameras, their must be 50,000. Of course, some people post on every internet forum, and sometimes start two or three threads, so there might really be only 100 returns.

I'm not afraid to buy one, but I felt the camera was way over priced initially.

Frankly at this point you might have a better chance of getting a good copy with a refurb anyway.

 

[dslrdummy]

The first thing I do when I buy a new (or used) camera is to check the autofocus using all my lenses and FoCal. Every camera acts a little differently, and some lenses are known for a wide variation in AF accuracy. I have had well over 100 EF lenses, and only about 6 or 8 did not meet the Canon specification of being within 5 AFMA points. Only two were off by more than 8 points, my 100mmL which is off about 10 points, and my 35mm L which was off 17 and adjusted by Canon to be right-on.

As for Canon having the right parts, they only need a few hundred. They replace the mirror boxes because its easier, but they replace them with refurbished ones. They likely send out a batch every week to their refurb company in Mexico or Wisconsin or wherever. There is nothing that says new repair parts will be installed in a used camera.

I've just checked AF for my 7Dii using FoCal on the 300 f/2.8ii with and without the 1.4iii TC and got +6 and +5 respectively. I gather from your comment that those figures are within tolerances. I haven't had a chance to check performance yet. Should I notice much of a sharpness difference with those adjustments? Before the AFMA I got my 7Dii back from Canon Aus but have asked them to clarify what, if anything, they found because the service report just says "checked and adjusted AF" - not that helpful.

 

[rpt]

The AF on mine works fine. Very sharp images. No hunting. Both on one shot AF and servo. It never hunted. The blurred images I got were user error - my hand shook.

 

[Vincwat]

Hi,

I am unhappy of my 7Dmk2 images. They lack sharpness. I recently compared images with the exact same settings and lenses (Sigma 150-600 Sport) taken on tripod, between my 7Dmk2 and a 600D. I never managed to get an image as sharp as the 600D. Unfortunately I am leaving for a photography trip in 10days. But when I am back I am sending the 7Dmk2 for repair. There is definitely something wrong.

Vincwat

 

[neuroanatomist]

I am unhappy of my 7Dmk2 images. They lack sharpness. I recently compared images with the exact same settings and lenses (Sigma 150-600 Sport) taken on tripod, between my 7Dmk2 and a 600D. I never managed to get an image as sharp as the 600D. Unfortunately I am leaving for a photography trip in 10days. But when I am back I am sending the 7Dmk2 for repair. There is definitely something wrong.

AFMA?