# 7D mk2 Auto Focus survey



## bluemoon (May 5, 2015)

'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


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## Kristofgss (May 5, 2015)

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.


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## machx0r (May 5, 2015)

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


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## bluemoon (May 5, 2015)

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


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## Deleted member 91053 (May 5, 2015)

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!


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## justaCanonuser (May 5, 2015)

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).


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## justaCanonuser (May 5, 2015)

johnf3f said:


> 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.


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## Jane (May 5, 2015)

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.


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## fishprof (May 5, 2015)

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.


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## East Wind Photography (May 5, 2015)

Jane said:


> 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


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## dslrdummy (May 6, 2015)

machx0r said:


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


Likewise.


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## dslrdummy (May 6, 2015)

Jane said:


> 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.


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## streestandtheatres (May 6, 2015)

Kristofgss said:


> 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/


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## Northbird (May 6, 2015)

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


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## Big_Ant_TV_Media (May 6, 2015)

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


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## unfocused (May 6, 2015)

Northbird said:


> 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.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



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


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## justaCanonuser (May 6, 2015)

Northbird said:


> 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.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



nice yellowthroat!


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## justaCanonuser (May 6, 2015)

East Wind Photography said:


> 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...


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## Aglet (May 6, 2015)

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.


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## geonix (May 6, 2015)

East Wind Photography said:


> 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 )


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## rshachar (May 6, 2015)

I got mine a few weeks ago. I am getting very sharp photos and some photos which are not without any good explanation. The image is not in focus and I do not seem to find any point in it which is (in focus). I am going to modify case 2 to see if I can get better results.
Other than that it is a pleasure to use.


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## Sabaki (May 6, 2015)

I'm on my third 7Dii and I'm still not satisfied with my BIFs while using AI SERVO mode

I've come up from a 500D and I took some satisfying images with that. The only time I manage to get 7Dii quality images, is when I'm shooting macro. For the record, I do macro in manual mode and 'walk into' my subject, therefore the AF system is not active.

My images are not 100% and crisp. Even shots taken in a controlled manner. But this is most evident when shooting birds and smaller, moving subjects. I shot a motorcycle event and the larger subject seems to photograph a helluva lot better than birds for instance.

Those who remember my complaints about the 7Dii will remember me contending that Canon's marketing revolved around wildlife and sports photography. I'm sticking my handup as a birding photographer and asking why does my 7Dii behave this way?

For those wanting to know: My 1st two bodies were returned to Canon. Both were verified by Canon's technical services as being faulty and that they were unable to correct the issue, hence me getting new bodies all the time.
I also got feedback from Canon pros who took the cameras out and got the same issues I did.

I'm praying this is a software issue as hardware problems would be a killer blow for me


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## geonix (May 6, 2015)

Sabaki said:


> I'm on my third 7Dii and I'm still not satisfied with my BIFs while using AI SERVO mode
> 
> I've come up from a 500D and I took some satisfying images with that. The only time I manage to get 7Dii quality images, is when I'm shooting macro. For the record, I do macro in manual mode and 'walk into' my subject, therefore the AF system is not active.
> 
> ...




If it is a software issue canon could have fixed it with a firmware updade. Which was rumored to come last week and didn't. A hardware issue would be less likely. Also it is strange that no test of the 7D II mentioned problems with AF. Not dpreview not the several youtube experts not any professional magazine I know.


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## Northbird (May 6, 2015)

unfocused said:


> Northbird said:
> 
> 
> > 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.
> ...



Thanks geonix. The 7D II is a highly configurable and sophisticated camera, I believe at least some of the issues people have with the camera are related to configuration problems. Certainly there may be a few flawed ones out there but my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. 

In terms of technique; patience, knowing your subject matter, knowing your camera inside and out go a long way towards being able to create good images. Here's another of an owl in flight shot with the 7D II. 




Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) by Tony Varela Photography, on Flickr


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## RGF (May 6, 2015)

had problem with BIF far away with 200-400 but with the 100-400 everything seems okay.

Could have been poor light.

Need to run it through Focal.


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## Pelican (May 6, 2015)

I used the 7D (with 300mm f/2.8 IS) before the 7D mark II and took about 160.000 expo (mostly birds).
I haven't noticed any advance in the AF system of the Mark II (took 20.000 expo with the same lens)
I used the 1DX a couple of times and that has a much better AF.
Even with the same settings the mark II is not even close.


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## Sabaki (May 6, 2015)

geonix said:


> Sabaki said:
> 
> 
> > I'm on my third 7Dii and I'm still not satisfied with my BIFs while using AI SERVO mode
> ...


There's a good few reviews I've read which mirrors my experiences. 

Check Michael Maven and FroKnowsPhoto as two examples.


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## lol (May 6, 2015)

Pelican said:


> I used the 7D (with 300mm f/2.8 IS) before the 7D mark II and took about 160.000 expo (mostly birds).
> I haven't noticed any advance in the AF system of the Mark II (took 20.000 expo with the same lens)



That's kinda my experience so far. What the 7D did, the mk2 does. What the 7D didn't do, the mk2 also doesn't. But, and there's a big but, I haven't tinkered at all with the AF tracking modes available. Maybe if I bothered looking at those the success rate will increase.

As a side comment, the 7D + 100-400L was my most used combo. I also got the 70-300L as backup and the two lenses were near enough the same performance on the 7D. Now with the 7D mk2, I think the 100-400L images look softer than the 70-300L ones, but still need to do more real world testing. I wouldn't have thought the small MP difference would be enough in itself to make the difference. Or is this just a poor excuse to justify looking at the 100-400L mk2


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## mehaue (May 6, 2015)

So far the AF does not disappoint me on the 7D Mark II... still a huge learning curve but I do have a lot of keepers with it's AF system


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## geonix (May 6, 2015)

Sabaki said:


> There's a good few reviews I've read which mirrors my experiences.
> 
> Check Michael Maven and FroKnowsPhoto as two examples.



Hi Sabaki

I just looked the 35min video from Fro, his real life review of the hockey game and some shots from a concert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX6gK0bkq3g
In general he seems very positive with the camera to me. He points out several times that the the focus is slightly of on some shots and on others it is pin-sharp. 
To me that is exactly what should be expected. Even more if you shoot in low light with high ISO. The most "severe" issues for me were his shots of the musician and the trainer were he said he was on single AF and it was still missing. But than again, the light contidions where bad and still he managed to get some shots sharp. 

To sum this review up: The AF of the 7D2 is not perfect (which I never expected it to be) but in total it works very good. Michael Maven I haven't seen yet, but I will soon. 

That said I don't want to say your problems with the 7D2 are imagined or exaggerated. If I could, I would lent you mine for a day but I guess you don't live in Switzerland do you? 
Next week I will be in Scotland for bird and landscape shooting and I will put my 7D2 to extensive use there. 

I hope you will finally get one which is functioning as you expect. Maybe there will be a firmware update eventually.


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## machx0r (May 7, 2015)

Got my camera back from repair yesterday. They said all the hardware is within spec and that they adjusted and checked the focus. It was late in the afternoon and very cloudy so I haven't had much of an opportunity to determine if it's working better now or not.

Took a bunch of shot during lunch and was amazed with how many keepers I ended up with. Here's a few I quickly processed. Nothing spectacular but miles apart from what I was getting before:


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## machx0r (May 8, 2015)

PS: I voted wrong and can't change it now


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## Aglet (May 8, 2015)

machx0r said:


> Got my camera back from repair yesterday. They said all the hardware is within spec and that they adjusted and checked the focus. It was late in the afternoon and very cloudy so I haven't had much of an opportunity to determine if it's working better now or not.
> 
> Took a bunch of shot during lunch and was amazed with how many keepers I ended up with. Here's a few I quickly processed. Nothing spectacular but miles apart from what I was getting before:



out of curiousity, how noisy is that osprey when it's flying over in that mode?..


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## machx0r (May 8, 2015)

Aglet said:


> out of curiousity, how noisy is that osprey when it's flying over in that mode?..



We're right on the flight path out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar so we get lots of airborne traffic. The Ospreys aren't much louder than any of the helicopters and much quieter than any of the jets.

When these guys fly over we have to pause meetings 




HN8A3965_DxO by machx0r, on Flickr


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## bluemoon (May 8, 2015)

machx0r said:


> PS: I voted wrong and can't change it now



glad to hear about the camera!

'not sure why you can't change the vote, I did specify that as an option when setting it up. At this point I can't change anything, maybe an admin can help make the adjustments.

Does it give you an option to clear your vote?

pierre


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## rshachar (May 8, 2015)

My test shot is shooting a person walking towards the camera. Conditions are bright daylight, iso 100, 1/1000 shutter speed in Tv mode and I'm using a 17-55mm f2.8 Canon. I'm set on case 2 with tracking sensitivity set to -2. I'm using AF point expansion with 8 expansion points, AI servo AF and continuous high.
I'm getting most of the images in focus but in some I just can't find anything in focus at all.
I've set the 1st and 2nd AI servo AF image priorities to focus, but are they just a recommendation? I'm telling the camera not to take a shot if it is not in focus and still I get these out-of-focus images.
I'm not sure if this is a problem with the camera or whether this is to be expected?


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## East Wind Photography (May 8, 2015)

rshachar said:


> My test shot is shooting a person walking towards the camera. Conditions are bright daylight, iso 100, 1/1000 shutter speed in Tv mode and I'm using a 17-55mm f2.8 Canon. I'm set on case 2 with tracking sensitivity set to -2. I'm using AF point expansion with 8 expansion points, AI servo AF and continuous high.
> I'm getting most of the images in focus but in some I just can't find anything in focus at all.
> I've set the 1st and 2nd AI servo AF image priorities to focus, but are they just a recommendation? I'm telling the camera not to take a shot if it is not in focus and still I get these out-of-focus images.
> I'm not sure if this is a problem with the camera or whether this is to be expected?



Same issue I was having. I sent it to Canon and they replaced the mirror box and AF assembly plus recalibration. It's fine now. Call them and send it back. They may even pay for shipping both ways.


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## derrald (May 8, 2015)

Some of you have seen my experiences with the autofocus on my 7D II, which you can read here:

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=25534.msg508478#msg508478

When going back to review my testing, I remember I did do a manual focus test which did not produce good results. The interesting thing is that I am now using the same combination - 7D II, 500 f/4 II, 1.4 tc, 1/1000 sec., f/5.6 handheld and getting awesome results. 

This leads me to believe that there is some vibration problem with the camera. Why mine worked itself out after about 5-7k actuations is beyond me. Maybe it's like breaking in your car....


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## rshachar (May 8, 2015)

East Wind Photography said:


> rshachar said:
> 
> 
> > My test shot is shooting a person walking towards the camera. Conditions are bright daylight, iso 100, 1/1000 shutter speed in Tv mode and I'm using a 17-55mm f2.8 Canon. I'm set on case 2 with tracking sensitivity set to -2. I'm using AF point expansion with 8 expansion points, AI servo AF and continuous high.
> ...



Thanks! I will probably hold off with sending it back to Canon to see if there's information now that this rumor is out http://www.canonrumors.com/2015/05/canon-eos-7d-mark-ii-af-issues/


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## Sabaki (May 8, 2015)

geonix said:


> Sabaki said:
> 
> 
> > There's a good few reviews I've read which mirrors my experiences.
> ...



Hi Geonix

No offense taken bro

I've been in this situation for three bodies now and I have learnt that a good number of fellow togs do take the stance of discrediting the user's ability/knowledge of how to operate a camera. 

I'm not accusing you of trying to do the same but I do have a purpose to telling my tale. 

The main reason is to put it out there for others to see that maybe their issues are not unique and the more persons we have discussing these glitches, hopefully the sooner a fix is found. 

The other reason is more selfish I'm afraid. Partly to vent but to mainly to prove I'm not totally useless with a camera, which was a major financial outlay for me. 

Would love to borrow your copy but as you're in Switzerland and I'm in South Africa...at least our two countries are responsible for the greatest male tennis player ever!

I just read the rumour that Canon have acknowledged the AF issues. Let's hope we see that fix sooner than later 

Hope you get some great shots with your 7Dii mate


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## aceflibble (May 8, 2015)

I think the fact that some people have sent their 7D2s into Canon and Canon have actually bothered to replace the sensor and mirror boxto fix the AF says that yes, there _is_ a mechanical fault with some 7D2s (maybe one specific production run?) and no, it can't just be written off as user error.


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## Andrewccm (May 9, 2015)

geonix said:


> East Wind Photography said:
> 
> 
> > Af system on the 1DX should have a 95-99% hit rate for this like birds in flight
> ...


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## East Wind Photography (May 9, 2015)

Andrewccm said:


> geonix said:
> 
> 
> > East Wind Photography said:
> ...



I don't take anything personally. It is true if you use a lens with slow AF speed or has sloppy backlash your hit rate will drop considerably. The metrics above are estimates using canon equipment and lenses suitable for bird in flight photography and that proper AFMA has been at least verified. In addition, the amount of light available will have an impact on AF speed and AF accuracy.

The AF systems are similar but not the same between versions. 7d2 has extra AF features that the 5d3 does not have and requires more cpu head room to execute those functions. 1dx has its own dedicated processor for just AF no matter how you configure it.

One should use the referenced percentages as a guide as to what to expect between models...and as a matter of scale, a faulty 7d2 AF system will yield about 10% success rate. If you are a poor photographer you may always have only a 10% hit rate!


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## Keith_Reeder (May 9, 2015)

Where's the "never had to send it in, and it's _bloody fantastic_" option?

I can do this all day long. Slow shutter panning too - about as tough a test for AF as you get.


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## Keith_Reeder (May 9, 2015)

johnf3f said:


> If the 7D2 had better ISO performance then I would be buying one too!



100% crop of 4000 ISO from mine. As-is from the converter, in noise terms - no additional PP NR applied.

If a 7D Mk II's end-results are noisy, the user doesn't know how to convert the files properly, or - most likely - is using a crappy converter (and yes, that includes Lr/ACR).


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## Keith_Reeder (May 9, 2015)

justaCanonuser said:


> 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...



I routinely shoot shoulder-to-shoulder with a 5D Mk III user.

And I _do_ get more keepers than him.


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## CanonOregon (May 9, 2015)

My issue seems different than others but I did have a 'mushy' looking focus on some images at first but mine was returned for 'Lens Error 01' or it would simply freeze and nothing happening. I mentioned the 'mushy' image issue to them as well and that did seem improved afterward but the lens error issue continued. After the 3rd time in they decided to replace the lens mount, just got it back two days ago so it won't be tested for that issue until today. I guess there must be something that stores camera error info as they knew I had a problem although they couldn't get it to repeat, this time. Last time they were sure they 'fixed' it with the replacement of the diaphragm assembly in my 300mm f4 L, but it came back. Repaired that free, under CPS- worth every penny spent on that!


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## bluemoon (May 9, 2015)

Keith_Reeder said:


> Where's the "never had to send it in, and it's _bloody fantastic_" option?
> 
> I can do this all day long. Slow shutter panning too - about as tough a test for AF as you get.



Huh? Option 3!!!

Pierre


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