# 5D and 7D - Switching between the two



## wsgroves (Jul 25, 2013)

Hey all.
So I recently picked up a 5D on ebay that is in great shape and was a good price.

My question is, I have not been able to get some amazing sharp photos on it.
I have tried a bunch of lenses, that are sharp on my 7 D, but they are not so much on my 5D.

Is it the years between the two? Does the 7D just provide a sharper image?
Its not that the 5d Pix are terrible, its just that I seem to get a higher keep rate on the 7D images.

Is this normal?

Scott


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## RLPhoto (Jul 25, 2013)

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=11758.0

Maybe user error?


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## AlanF (Jul 25, 2013)

My 7D is excellent and the 5D III even better in terms of IQ and consistency of AF. So, something appears wrong with yours. Have you AFMAed your lenses with it?


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 25, 2013)

OP said 5D...not 5DIII.

5D doesn't have AFMA, so focus could be the issue here...


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 25, 2013)

That's likely why you found it on ebay. 

The original 5D does not have live view, so its difficult to check the AF system, but it is the likely culprit. Either send it to Canon for a fix, or better yet, return it, since the cost of fixing it might exceed the worth of the camera, if their is major trouble. Even a minimal AF adjustment might run $200 or more.

The 5D can produce very sharp images.


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## Sporgon (Jul 25, 2013)

When you say 'keeper rate' it sounds like you're referring to focus softness rather than a soft file that you know was in focus. 

With regard to the latter, I found the 5D files needed a lot of sharpening. You hear reports around the internet of the 5D having a very weak AA filter, but this is not my experience with that camera. The 5D mkII seems to have a weaker AA filter I'd say.

With the former, focusing, beware of 5Ds that have been dropped. They have no AFMA facility and if the focus sensor is slightly shifted AF with wide apertures is a pain. 

I've got little experience with the 7D but mates tell me it has a reputation for producing soft raw files that require sharpening. However the AF on the 7D is very good and it has AFMA. 

I don't know if you've had a FF before, but it may bs you're experiencing the wonders of the larger format - point of focus is much less forgiving than APS.


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 25, 2013)

Sporgon said:


> With the former, focusing, beware of 5Ds that have been dropped. They have no AFMA facility and if the focus sensor is slightly shifted AF with wide apertures is a pain.



+1 to that. I dropped my 5DII to the pavement once, cosmetically it was unblemished and functionally it seemed perfect. But the AFMA values for all my lenses shifted by 9-10 units to the negative (8 units is a full depth of focus for the lens at max aperture). Without AFMA, the camera would have had to be serviced.


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## wsgroves (Jul 25, 2013)

Thanks for all the replies.
Yea I dont know, it just seems soft is maybe the word. Like its not focusing exactly where it should every time.
Let me see if I can post some examples in a bit.


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## Sporgon (Jul 25, 2013)

neuroanatomist said:


> Sporgon said:
> 
> 
> > With the former, focusing, beware of 5Ds that have been dropped. They have no AFMA facility and if the focus sensor is slightly shifted AF with wide apertures is a pain.
> ...



Yes the camera bodies seem to be very resilient to impact damage with the exception of the AF module - which rather defeats the point of the bodies being otherwise so tough. I'm very wary of knocking my bodies now after a similar experience to yourself - except mine was a mki and had to be repaired.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 25, 2013)

wsgroves said:


> Thanks for all the replies.
> Yea I dont know, it just seems soft is maybe the word. Like its not focusing exactly where it should every time.
> Let me see if I can post some examples in a bit.


 
Canon can fix it, but if it was dropped, it might need a new mirror box and a new lens mount, there can easily be a ton of expensive things, I don't know what you paid for it, they are usually under $600, so the price of fixing it might run up the cost to be over priced.

Also check to see if it has had the Canon mirror fix, Cannon will fix the mirror at no charge. You don't want the mirror flying off.


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## wsgroves (Jul 25, 2013)

Here are some examples of some of the pix I get . If I am just terrible due to me doing something just tell me so I can fix it haha.
I guess looking through my assortment of pix however there are a great deal of keepers. I will admit I am a pixel peeper so if the eye isnt perfect maybe I am too hard on myself?


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## wsgroves (Jul 25, 2013)

And on that note, are these eye acceptable to you?
If they are maybe I need to re evaluate my pixel peeping as they don't look good enough for ME.
I will also add that in windows picture viewer, they look softer. When I open it in photoshop they look sharper, which makes no sense to me probably because im a noob =p.

Thanks as always friends.


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## luciolepri (Jul 25, 2013)

wsgroves said:


> Here are some examples of some of the pix I get . If I am just terrible due to me doing something just tell me so I can fix it haha.
> I guess looking through my assortment of pix however there are a great deal of keepers. I will admit I am a pixel peeper so if the eye isnt perfect maybe I am too hard on myself?



To me, it looks like focusing is not accurate. In the third picture, for example, focus is clearly on the hair just before the ears.


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## eha (Jul 26, 2013)

luciolepri said:


> wsgroves said:
> 
> 
> > Here are some examples of some of the pix I get . If I am just terrible due to me doing something just tell me so I can fix it haha.
> ...



I agree. Your 5D has a backfocusing issue, at least with that particular lens. Since AFMA is not available, there is nothing you can do by yourself to remedy this (apart from using manual focus in which case I recommend fitting the Eg-S focusing screen).


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