The Canon EOS-7D Mark II AF Grid Void

[mackguyver]

I have my eye on getting a 7DII at some point, so I wanted to know if any of you have run into the issue that Arthur Morris is talking about:

The Canon EOS-7D Mark II AF Grid Void

 

[Loswr]

That does seem rather annoying!

 

[Don Haines]

I noticed that too.

It is annoying.

 

[Dylan777]

My 6yrs will be joining golf team next month. There are two options come to mind

1. CPW-street price 600mm II
2. Cheaper way - 7d II + current 400mm f2.8 IS II

???

 

[mackguyver]

My 6yrs will be joining golf team next month. There are two options come to mind

1. CPW-street price 600mm II
2. Cheaper way - 7d II + current 400mm f2.8 IS II

???

That's sort of my thought as well, and eventually the sun rises high enough in the sky to use lower ISOs than my 1D X

This AF issue really seems to be annoying Art Morris, but I wanted to see if anyone else has been annoyed.

 

[DominoDude]

I have my eye on getting a 7DII at some point, so I wanted to know if any of you have run into the issue that Arthur Morris is talking about:

The Canon EOS-7D Mark II AF Grid Void

Hmm... That seems like a lapsus by Canon. If it's possible to have the option to "roll around" when you hit the far edges of the AF area, it certainly should be possible to directly skip over to the nearby part of the AF area.
It would really tick me off if I encountered a similar situation.

 

[Don Haines]

My 6yrs will be joining golf team next month. There are two options come to mind

1. CPW-street price 600mm II
2. Cheaper way - 7d II + current 400mm f2.8 IS II

???

That's sort of my thought as well, and eventually the sun rises high enough in the sky to use lower ISOs than my 1D X

This AF issue really seems to be annoying Art Morris, but I wanted to see if anyone else has been annoyed.

It's annoying, but in a minor way.

 

[privatebydesign]

My 6yrs will be joining golf team next month. There are two options come to mind

1. CPW-street price 600mm II
2. Cheaper way - 7d II + current 400mm f2.8 IS II

???

Having shot some adult golf with a 300 f2.8 with and without 1.4TC on a ff camera (I have the 2x but never used it even though I had enough light and don't even take it now), I would suggest the 600 on ff might well be overkill especially for a more modest distance player, I'd try your 400 on the 1DX first.

Not trying to talk you out of getting stuff though

 

[tphillips63]

Ok, good points! I noticed this when I got my 7D Mk II but it did not register right away. Not really until now, I just thought the gap was pretty large and has a weird look, anyway maybe for the thirds rule sine the area are fully across the frame and divided that way.

Not sure but something to watch out for in use.

 

[East Wind Photography]

So this has not annoyed me at all. Has not presented itself as an issue that I cannot compensate for. The spacing could likely be due to the arrangement of the phase detect sensor lines.

I have my speculation based on AF characteristics and other anomalies I noticed that the phase detect sensors may actually be the same size as the ones used in the 5d3 and perhaps 1dx. They occupy more real estate due to the smaller sensor size. That could mean that even though the subject is magnified by 1.6x, the AF works no better than that in an respectfully reduced subject size in a full frame counterpart.

Does not really answer the gap issue other than perhaps the AF sensor spacing issue is also magnified by a factor of 1.6.

Thoughts?

 

[raptor3x]

Isn't this really more of a cosmetic issue since the actual AF points cover a larger area than the boxes show?

 

[takesome1]

I am not annoyed by it, but honestly on still and slow moving subjects I keep thinking 65 points on a crop sensor is a bit of overkill.

I find other things to complain about with the AF system though. Precision being the most prevalent and the ability to pick up a small point the next.

The comparison was made that it is the 1 D x's little brother. I hate car comparisons but the 7D II to the 1D X is more like a fully loaded Volt compared to a fully loaded Tahoe. Both will get you where you are going, with AC and XM radio, but if you have driven both you definitely notice the difference.

 

[East Wind Photography]

I am not annoyed by it, but honestly on still and slow moving subjects I keep thinking 65 points on a crop sensor is a bit of overkill.

I find other things to complain about with the AF system though. Precision being the most prevalent and the ability to pick up a small point the next.

The comparison was made that it is the 1 D x's little brother. I hate car comparisons but the 7D II to the 1D X is more like a fully loaded Volt compared to a fully loaded Tahoe. Both will get you where you are going, with AC and XM radio, but if you have driven both you definitely notice the difference.

Yes and I've even heard some of the reviews state the AF system may even be a touch better than the 1dx. That is clearly not the case. A lot of hype at the outset. The AF system is great for larger subjects such as soccer players and motocross.

I am well experienced in case usage and settings having used the 1dx and own the 5d3 since release. I have tried various settings to maximize bird in flight success and so far most of the results are dismal. For BIF coming toward you at any rates of speed the AF system loses lock or can't keep up and best case you get about 5 to 10 percent in focus. With the 5d3 you get about 90 to 95 percent in focus. With the 1dx it's even higher...closer to 100%.

Also in zone AF modes the system is supposed to lock on the closest object in the zone. 90 percent of the time zone AF will lock onto the background.

I'm hoping some of this is just a firmware tweak in the phase detect software.

Short of that the 7d2 is a great camera but with only about 10% success rate for what I shoot its probobly going to spend more time in the bag and used for still subjects.

 

[mackguyver]

East Wind & takesome1, thank you for your perspective as 1D X owners. I had a feeling it wasn't quite as great as hyped (compared to the 1D X), but it still sounds like a huge leap over the 7D. I think I'll keep an eye out for a refurb down the road, but the 1D X and 5DIII serve my needs just fine.

Also, keep in mind that Art Morris has pretty specific needs when it comes to AF, so I'm not surprised that he's more annoyed by this than most people.

 

[tphillips63]

I did get a lot of soft images compared to my 1Dx last weekend but this is the first time I used the 7D Mk II a lot so I figured it was me, still probably is but the 1Dx for sure hits focus nearly all the time.
I don't think the gap between zones bothered me much till I read about it.
I also had two different lenses, 7D had the 17-55 and the 1Dx had 70-200 f/2.8L IS II the 85 f/1.2L II. I'll need to compare with the same lens and see if I still notice a difference.

 

[East Wind Photography]

East Wind & takesome1, thank you for your perspective as 1D X owners. I had a feeling it wasn't quite as great as hyped (compared to the 1D X), but it still sounds like a huge leap over the 7D. I think I'll keep an eye out for a refurb down the road, but the 1D X and 5DIII serve my needs just fine.

Also, keep in mind that Art Morris has pretty specific needs when it comes to AF, so I'm not surprised that he's more annoyed by this than most people.

Personally I think the 7d2 format offers. A Few advantages over the 1dx. However if it can't produce an In focus image even 50 percent of the time, it's not really worth it. A t2i produces more keepers. Just to put it Into perspective.

 

[photo212]

I received my Canon 7D Mk II on Halloween. I do not find the gap annoying at all, but that could be since it is the first step up from a nine point AF system.

Also, the in the article's photo, the focus is on the eye. Adding the blue-dotted points might have caused the focus to switch to the beak.

 

[East Wind Photography]

I received my Canon 7D Mk II on Halloween. I do not find the gap annoying at all, but that could be since it is the first step up from a nine point AF system.

Also, the in the article's photo, the focus is on the eye. Adding the blue-dotted points might have caused the focus to switch to the beak.

With this camera even using spot on the eye would not work. It lacks the precision to lock on just the eye at this magnification.

 

[Nelu]

Yes and I've even heard some of the reviews state the AF system may even be a touch better than the 1dx. That is clearly not the case. A lot of hype at the outset. The AF system is great for larger subjects such as soccer players and motocross.

I am well experienced in case usage and settings having used the 1dx and own the 5d3 since release. I have tried various settings to maximize bird in flight success and so far most of the results are dismal. For BIF coming toward you at any rates of speed the AF system loses lock or can't keep up and best case you get about 5 to 10 percent in focus. With the 5d3 you get about 90 to 95 percent in focus. With the 1dx it's even higher...closer to 100%.

Also in zone AF modes the system is supposed to lock on the closest object in the zone. 90 percent of the time zone AF will lock onto the background.

I'm hoping some of this is just a firmware tweak in the phase detect software.

Short of that the 7d2 is a great camera but with only about 10% success rate for what I shoot its probobly going to spend more time in the bag and used for still subjects.

Well, I`m glad to see that it`s not just me because this is exactly what I noticed about the 7D Mark II compared to the 5D Mark III. I returned it after three days...
Yes, the 5D Mark III is not as fast as the 7D Mark II but the focus precision is way better. For me, in indoor sports (basketball, soccer) it is around 75-80%. Of course, outdoor is even better.
I returned the 7D Mark II because I also got around 10-15% of the difficult shots in focus. Frankly, for me it was not much better than the 7D I just sold on ebay...
I will miss some features 7D Mark II has and 5D Mark III doesn`t but those are only user interface related.
I have to say, the 5D Mark III is a better camera in any way...at least for me.

Thanks,
Nelu

 

[takesome1]

East Wind & takesome1, thank you for your perspective as 1D X owners. I had a feeling it wasn't quite as great as hyped (compared to the 1D X), but it still sounds like a huge leap over the 7D. I think I'll keep an eye out for a refurb down the road, but the 1D X and 5DIII serve my needs just fine.

Also, keep in mind that Art Morris has pretty specific needs when it comes to AF, so I'm not surprised that he's more annoyed by this than most people.

Personally I think the 7d2 format offers. A Few advantages over the 1dx. However if it can't produce an In focus image even 50 percent of the time, it's not really worth it. A t2i produces more keepers. Just to put it Into perspective.

For my use the only advantage is the small increase in resolution the 7D II provides. It is only an advantage on very small subjects like birds and then only if they are static. (focal length limited situations). I do not trust it yet as a body for pictures of animals and birds that are rare opportunities or action. So for my purposes it is a tweety bird and bunny rabbit camera only.