# 7D Firmware 1.2.5 Posted Again



## Canon Rumors Guy (Apr 26, 2011)

```
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<p>Canon UK has reposted the 7D Firmware version 1.2.5 on their web site. This is the same firmware <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/2011/04/firmware-1-2-5-for-eos-7d/">we previously posted</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Changes in this Firmware

</strong></p>
<p>Firmware Version 1.2.5 incorporates the following improvements and fixes.</p>
<p><!--more--></p>
<ol>
<li>Fixed a rare phenomenon in which there were rare cases where movie files taken could not be opened when repeatedly shooting movies with specific CF cards.</li>
<li>Fixed a rare phenomenon in which there were cases where Ã¢â‚¬Å“Err 02Ã¢â‚¬Â³ appeared when repeatedly shooting still images with specific CF cards.</li>
<li>Fixed a phenomenon that occurred when using high-capacity (32 GB or greater) CF cards: If either a CF card with only a little available space remaining or the battery was removed and then reinserted into the camera, and then the user attempted to start shooting movies immediately, shooting would stop.</li>
<li>Improved the writing/reading speeds when using UDMA 7-compatible CF cards.</li>
<li>Fixed a phenomenon that occurred when custom function C.Fn 4-1 was set to assign IS start to the AF stop button on the lens: When used with lenses that do not have an AF stop button, the IS function would not work.</li>
<li>Corrected some mistakes in the menu screens displayed in Arabic and Portuguese. (This applies to models in overseas markets. The models for the Japanese market do not display those languages.)</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Download Below</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.canon.co.uk/Support/Consumer_Products/products/cameras/Digital_SLR/EOS_7D.aspx?DLtcmuri=tcm:14-835658&page=1&type=download">Version 1.2.5</a></strong> (Windows)</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.canon.co.uk/Support/Consumer_Products/products/cameras/Digital_SLR/EOS_7D.aspx?DLtcmuri=tcm:14-835660&page=1&type=download">Version 1.2.5</a></strong> (Mac)</p>
<p><em>thanks Paul</em></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>
```


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## justsomedude (Apr 26, 2011)

Does it fix the terrible front focusing issues with the AF system? My AF repeatedly focuses 3-4inches in FRONT of the proper focal plane, regardless of lens (Single Shot focus, manual AF Point Selection modes). Ugh... I hate this body. Wish I never sold my 40D. I'd sell the 7D and get something else if it wasn't so damn worthless due to it's now atrocious reputation and garbage quality photos. She goes in for the 3rd time to Canon Service tomorrow -- not that I expect anything to really get fixed at this point.

Thanks for stealing my 1,600 well earned dollars, Canon. There aren't enough words in the English language for how much pain I wish upon your company for selling an "upgraded" camera that is a low level pile of crap.

The salt in the wound is how Darwin Wiggett got better pictures on his XSi. http://darwinwiggett.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/the-canon-7d/

Somebody please come and beat me up. Punch my eyes out, and make me bleed. Maybe the pain of a severe disfigurement would distract me from the utter turmoil I've been in since p*ssing away over a grand-and-a-half to buy this trash of a camera body.

I hate you Canon. I really really hate you.

/rant
/begin cry


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## licht (Apr 26, 2011)

btw, while in the Canon site, check the new eos fcp import plug in, it is available. You have to scroll to "osx", if you select
10.6 nothing appear ... there is also a new version of eos utility (or perhaps did I missed its release few days ago ...)
Laurent


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## hsbn (Apr 26, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> Does it fix the crappy AF system? Ugh... I hate this body. Wish I never sold my 40D. I'd sell the 7D and get something else if it wasn't so damn worthless due to it's now atrocious reputation and garbage quality photos. She goes in for the 3rd time to Canon Service tomorrow -- not that I expect anything to really get fixed at this point.
> 
> Thanks for stealing my 1,600 well earned dollars, Canon. There aren't enough words in the English language for how much pain I wish upon your company for selling an "upgraded" camera that is a low level pile of crap.
> 
> ...



I sold mine for $1575 off ebay. I bought it for a year ago for $1400 (with cashback from Ebates).


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## justsomedude (Apr 26, 2011)

hsbn said:


> I sold mine for $1575 off ebay. I bought it for a year ago for $1400 (with cashback from Ebates).



Thanks for the idea hsbn... although I hate the crummy "fees" eBay hits you with, this may be my best bet. I'd consider waiting for a 5D mkIII, but considering how bad my "first adopter" experience has been with the 7D, I think it's best I go to the tried and true 5D mkII at this point. 

Lesson learned... Canon's QC on new products has plummeted to levels I'd never thought possible. I would go to Nikon were it not for all the Canon glass I've invested in.

Arrrgggghh!


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## armando (Apr 26, 2011)

Nice update 

I love my 7d and it has created some wonderful images, I got a great copy never had to turn in.

oh...


this must mean the 7d mkii is coming out..lol I had to be the first one to say it'


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## justsomedude (Apr 26, 2011)

armando said:


> Nice update
> 
> I love my 7d and it has created some wonderful images, I got a great copy never had to turn in.



Armando... I'm jealous of you. Really, I truly am. This is what my 7D produces... http://www.akphotodenver.com/images/7Dlenstest.jpg

Center-point focus on the "0m" of "50mm". Portraits are typically useless. Heck... 90% of photos I pull off the card are useless. About 1 in 10 mysteriously comes out sharp. 

Wanna trade bodies?


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## samskr (Apr 26, 2011)

The firmware is now also available on the USA website.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_7d#DriversAndSoftware


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## justsomedude (Apr 26, 2011)

samskr said:


> The firmware is now also available on the USA website.
> 
> http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_7d#DriversAndSoftware



Thanks for the US link samskr. Installing it now... fingers crossed that it does wonders for me!! (not holding my breath)


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## Sdiver2489 (Apr 26, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> armando said:
> 
> 
> > Nice update
> ...



Why don't you MA the body for all lenses equally then?


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## skitron (Apr 26, 2011)

I would agree that maybe micro adjust "all lens" or "body" (can't recall what the menu says). It looks like a bad front focus and probably the 10% good shots are when it "misses"?


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## justsomedude (Apr 26, 2011)

skitron said:


> I would agree that maybe micro adjust "all lens" or "body" (can't recall what the menu says). It looks like a bad front focus and probably the 10% good shots are when it "misses"?



Is that a proper "fix" though? Manual says to avoid MF adjustments unless absolutely necessary. Seems odd that a new body would be incompatible with so many lenses... no?


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## hsbn (Apr 26, 2011)

If you have front/back focus problem, you should bring the camera & lens to them. I had problem with back-focus and brought the lens to Canon. They said they fixed it but I still had problem. So I brought it back with my camera and everything is working perfect now. Turn out it was both camera and lens problem. You should give it a try.


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## Sdiver2489 (Apr 26, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> skitron said:
> 
> 
> > I would agree that maybe micro adjust "all lens" or "body" (can't recall what the menu says). It looks like a bad front focus and probably the 10% good shots are when it "misses"?
> ...



Has nothing to do with incompatibility. A body can be off though. You have two options, keep sending your camera WITH all your lenses to Canon with SPECIFIC instructions to test the camera WITH the lenses and calibrate OR you can just to into the menu, move the focus point for "all" lenses forward a bit and be happy.

The only reason I sent my 24mm F1.4L II back to Canon a number of times is because it was inconsistent and the center point performed differently than those around it. They got it perfect the third time.

If a lens is consistently backfocusing, the fix is easy in my opinion.


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## EYEONE (Apr 26, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> skitron said:
> 
> 
> > I would agree that maybe micro adjust "all lens" or "body" (can't recall what the menu says). It looks like a bad front focus and probably the 10% good shots are when it "misses"?
> ...



It would be better to send Canon all your lenses and body so they can adjust them to match each other. I recently got two new lenses and check the focus to make sure the variances of the body and lenses were ok. Everything checked out. Read the article on the main page "This lens is soft..." Very informative.

Micro adjust will work just fine though. I think it will store the info for 20 different lenses.

I'm sorry you haven't had a good experience with the 7D. I love mine.


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## justsomedude (Apr 26, 2011)

EYEONE said:


> It would be better to send Canon all your lenses and body so they can adjust them to match each other. I recently got two new lenses and check the focus to make sure the variances of the body and lenses were ok. Everything checked out. Read the article on the main page "This lens is soft..." Very informative.
> 
> Micro adjust will work just fine though. I think it will store the info for 20 different lenses.
> 
> I'm sorry you haven't had a good experience with the 7D. I love mine.



EYEONE...

Thank you so much for this post and the reference to the article. I was always apprehensive about MF adjustments, as it was always described to me as a "last resort" type of thing that was a band-aid to a larger problem (lens issue? body issue? etc.).

It seems that manufacturing tolerances are there, and maybe I just got lucky in the past with my 40D. I'm reading up on MF adjustment and plan to do some. I'll report back my results.

Thanks again everyone for the support/posts!


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 26, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> Is that a proper "fix" though? Manual says to avoid MF adjustments unless absolutely necessary. Seems odd that a new body would be incompatible with so many lenses... no?



"Avoid MF adjustments unless absolutely necessary," doesn't mean don't do them at all. The feature is there for a reason. Looking at your image of the 50/1.8 box, I'd say that an adjustment was *absolutely* necessary. 

If you're waiting for a magical, "tried and true 5D mkII," you might be disappointed. I have both a 7D and a 5DII, and my AFMA results are below.

I've calibrated 14 lenses on my 7D, and 13 of them have had some amount of adjustment applied. Obviously, the amount of AF microadjustment needed will be different for each unique camera and lens combo, so these numbers are useless to anyone else, but to give you an idea here they are:

â€“5 EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
+9 EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
+1 EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
+2 EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
+2 EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
+6 EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM + 1.4x
â€“7 EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM
â€“3 EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
Â±0 EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
â€“1 EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
â€“1 EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
+5 EF 135mm f/2L USM
â€“2 EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM
+2 EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

On my 5DII, I've calibrated 8 lenses and all of them have needed some adjustment:

+5 EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
+6 EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
â€“1 EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
â€“3 EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
+4 EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM + 1.4x
+5 EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
+5 EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
+3 EF 135mm f/2L USM

An adjustment of up to Â±2 would probably not be 'absolutely necessary' in most situations. But, an adjustment of Â±4 means that the lens+body combo is off by approximately 1/2 the depth of field for shots at a 'normal' distance (i.e. not close to the MFD or infinity) - that's enough to be noticeable in typical shooting, at least for me.

I use the LensAlign to do my AF microadjustment calibrations (I use the Pro version, which is no longer available; the MkII version is an update to the also-discontinued LensAlign Lite that incorporates the important features of the Pro version).


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## justsomedude (Apr 26, 2011)

neuroanatomist said:


> An adjustment of up to Â±2 would probably not be 'absolutely necessary' in most situations. But, an adjustment of Â±4 means that the lens+body combo is off by approximately 1/2 the depth of field for shots at a 'normal' distance (i.e. not close to the MFD or infinity) - that's enough to be noticeable in typical shooting, at least for me.
> 
> I use the LensAlign Pro to do my AF microadjustment calibrations.



Wow... another awesome post! Thanks neuroanatomist!!!!!!


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## Macadameane (Apr 26, 2011)

I've posted a few times about the camera not reading 1/3rd of my video files. The old ones still have issues, but I did a bunch of test shots and haven't had the problem since 1.2.5

Thanks Canon. Now give me audio gain disable.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 26, 2011)

Macadameane said:


> Now give me audio gain disable.



Don't hold your breath...


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## epsiloneri (Apr 26, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> I'm reading up on MF adjustment and plan to do some.



Dude, if you're interested in trying out micro adjustments, I did some experimentation with it a while ago and reported my experience with it (for both 7D and 5DII) in this thread.


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## skitron (Apr 26, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> skitron said:
> 
> 
> > I would agree that maybe micro adjust "all lens" or "body" (can't recall what the menu says). It looks like a bad front focus and probably the 10% good shots are when it "misses"?
> ...



I found it extremely easy to do with a makeshift similar to a Lens Align Pro (basically a ruler and a small target). Helped a bunch and is totally non-invasive in that its just a setting on a menu that you can undo at any time. I'd sure try it out since it's free and only takes a few minutes...might save you sending all your stuff in to Canon, though I'm sure they'd fix you up. My new 50d seems to be off 5 or 6 clicks since my new 100mm L macro on this body needed +6 and a new Sigma needed +5...so I'm thinking its the body not the lenses...but very simple to fix no matter what is to blame (and who knows what it will be for the next lens?).


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## skitron (Apr 26, 2011)

neuroanatomist said:


> I've calibrated 14 lenses on my 7D
> 
> â€“1 EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
> 
> ...



LOL, pretty much a smoking gun in my book for body tolerances...seems like if any lens would have tight tolerances for "right" (whatever that is), this would be the one.


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## justsomedude (Apr 27, 2011)

Thanks for all of the info and advice everyone! 

This kind of feedback is certainly reassuring, and helping me come to terms with my 7D purchase. Perhaps my 40D was just right on the tolerance line with my set of lenses. I had the 7D boxed for another trip to Canon Service, but I'm going to unbox her instead and do some MF adjustments tonight. Heck, they already made "electronic adjustments" to the AF assembly, probably not worth a second trip at this point.

I'll whip up a chart and calibrator tool and see what I come up with. Thanks again! I'm already feeling a heck of a lot better!!


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## Admin US West (Apr 27, 2011)

skitron said:


> LOL, pretty much a smoking gun in my book for body tolerances...seems like if any lens would have tight tolerances for "right" (whatever that is), this would be the one.



A click on one body does not appear to change the AF the same as on a different model. I recall a statement from Canon confirming this, but I'm not going to search for it.

I have a 5D MK II and a 1D MK III, and at least a dozen lenses. 

On my 5D MK II, my 24-105mm L required a +2 , but it really didn't matter much. However, with my 35mmL which also required a +2, it made a huge difference, probably due to the shallow depth of field.

On my 1D MK III, only the 35mmL required a +17, while all the others are fine. I just bought a 2nd 35mmL, it did not require any adjustment on the 5D MK II, but I haven't tested it on the 1D yet.

You definitely cannot assume the same correction on different bodies, I believe the firmware as well as body tolerances are in play.


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## epsiloneri (Apr 27, 2011)

scalesusa said:


> You definitely cannot assume the same correction on different bodies, I believe the firmware as well as body tolerances are in play.



I tested this assumption by comparing MAs for a 7D and for a 5D2, for 7 prime lenses, and got the following correlation plot:







In this particular case, there appears to be a linear correlation MA_5D2 = MA_7D + 9.7, with an error in the mean of 1.3 and a scatter of 3.2. In principle this means that there is a "body MA" and a "lens MA" that are additive, and if you are lazy you can determine body+lens MAs for all lenses on one body, and then apply the "body MA" difference and apply the determined MAs on the second body. E.g., in my case I could measure the MA for a lens on the 7D and then just add 9.7 to get the MA on the 5D2. As seen in the graph, however, this isn't 100% fool proof, and there appear to be irregularities I cannot explain but may depend on a number of things. Also, the correlation is even less obvious for the 7D/5D2 numbers neuroanatomist find (which show overall smaller corrections [3 to 4 compared to my ~9]; he must have a better lens collection than I do).


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## obsoletepower (Apr 27, 2011)

I have a 7D with a bunch of lenses including the 17-40mm f/4L which I have micro-adjusted to -4. At that point I have tested the AF by taking 10 shot with the AF and 1 shot with MF and all 10 shots are consistent and exactly the same as my 1 shot with MF. Micro-adjustment goes a long way and you do not need that $120 calibrating tool. I used the box of my 7D to take photos of the serial number while on a tripod; works just as well.


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## adamdoesmovies (Apr 27, 2011)

neuroanatomist said:


> Macadameane said:
> 
> 
> > Now give me audio gain disable.
> ...



I was coming here to beat this dead horse myself. Seriously Canon, it can't be -that- difficult. Within a week or two of having access to the firmware, amateur hackers are able to do this kind of thing.


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## awinphoto (Apr 27, 2011)

Micro Adjust was put in the 7D so people can make their own adjustments as needed instead of constantly sending them into canon. Also keep in mind you may want to occasionally recheck you lenses every so often. Changes in temperature, humidity, elevation, etc can slightly change how the lens functions, hence why most lenses will let you focus past infinity. So feel free to play around with it and if it still is soft, then send it into Canon. Canon Rumors posted an article not long ago about variance in body models and lens models and how they mesh up. Sounds like it applies to this. I've found to the 7D in similar settings to show higher sharpness than the 50D, 5D m2, and most of my previous cameras. It can be slightly noisier than older models like the 20D to 40D, but just slightly but sharper nevertheless. There is a ton of Up-side of this camera but you need a lot of patience to learn to harness all of it's power to get the most out of it.


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## justsomedude (Apr 27, 2011)

Hey all...

I did some MFA's last night and got +16 and +14 on my 50mm f/1.8 and my Tokina 11-16 f/2.8, respectively. The results are now damn sharp, but these settings seem VERY high to me. Especially when I see people posting most settings in the 2-5 ranges. 

Does this seem normal? :-\

UPDATE: This is weird... My EF-S kit lens (18-55) came in perfect - zero adjustments. I have an important shoot scheduled next week so I need to hold on to my body and lenses for now, but I think I may send the 50mm in with the body after that. That +16 and +14 bothers me a little.


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## skitron (Apr 27, 2011)

That does seem high but on the otherhand if it works why sweat it? Obviously Canon felt the range needed to be +-20 to cover "reasonably expected cases" and that is why they made the range the way they did. But I can understand wanting it to take less and sending it in to get it closer.

Anyway, very good news and glad you have a camera that can do this adjustment!

Also, consider the fact that you can adjust both the "body" and "individual lens". So in your case maybe do the "body" +7 then your kit lens would be -7 the other two would be +9 and +7.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 27, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> I did some MFA's last night and got +16 and +14 on my 50mm f/1.8 and my Tokina 11-16 f/2.8, respectively. The results are now damn sharp, but these settings seem VERY high to me. Especially when I see people posting most settings in the 2-5 ranges.
> 
> UPDATE: This is weird... My EF-S kit lens (18-55) came in perfect - zero adjustments. I have an important shoot scheduled next week so I need to hold on to my body and lenses for now, but I think I may send the 50mm in with the body after that. That +16 and +14 bothers me a little.



It does seem high - likely the body and those two lenses are 'off' in the same direction, leading to a large adjustment for the combination, whereas the kit lens is 'off' in the opposite direction. 

With adjustments that large, I'd definitely consider sending it in. Might want to send both Canon lenses in, lest they adjust the body to match the 50/1.4, and you end up needing a -16 for the kit lens...



skitron said:


> Also, consider the fact that you can adjust both the "body" and "individual lens". So in your case maybe do the "body" +7 then your kit lens would be -7 the other two would be +9 and +7.



It doesn't work like that - the AFMA C.Fn has three options: 

0: Disable
1: Adjust all by same amount
2: Adjust by lens

#1 is the 'body adjustment' and #2 is the 'lens adjustment', but your suggestion would require the ability to set the C.Fn to 1+2, and you can only make one selection.


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## skitron (Apr 27, 2011)

neuroanatomist said:


> #1 is the 'body adjustment' and #2 is the 'lens adjustment', but your suggestion would require the ability to set the C.Fn to 1+2, and you can only make one selection.



I could have sworn I did it on my 50d...I'll double check it tonight.


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## Grendel (Apr 27, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> UPDATE: This is weird... My EF-S kit lens (18-55) came in perfect - zero adjustments. I have an important shoot scheduled next week so I need to hold on to my body and lenses for now, but I think I may send the 50mm in with the body after that. That +16 and +14 bothers me a little.



I have a 50/1.4 that needs similar amounts on my 5DII (and a bit less on my 7D.) I wouldn't worry about the numbers unless you have some L lenses that dial in at similar values. Be carefull w/ the zoom BTW. You need to measure it at different zoom settings. If the values differ, choose a setting that corrects the long end better since the MA is less critical on the short side.


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## justsomedude (Apr 27, 2011)

Thanks for all the additional posts guys... I think I'm definitely going to be sending her in next week.

In addition to the +16, it seems that AF only works reliably about 45-55% of the time... which is still an improvement over the neutral setting. Using the 50mm, focus is still random on some photos. That is, sometimes images are focused, then a few are not. I'm getting a combination of both front and back focusing still, even with the MFA set. Very very weird.

With 50% consistency, it's better than the 10% I had earlier, so I can get by with this for the time being. But I think I'm going to take neuroanatomist's advice, and send the body and all of my Canon lenses in for testing/calibration (when I have the time). Something definitely seems amiss here.


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## awinphoto (Apr 27, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> Thanks for all the additional posts guys... I think I'm definitely going to be sending her in next week.
> 
> In addition to the +16, it seems that AF only works reliably about 45-55% of the time... which is still an improvement over the neutral setting. Using the 50mm, focus is still random on some photos. That is, sometimes images are focused, then a few are not. I'm getting a combination of both front and back focusing still, even with the MFA set. Very very weird.
> 
> With 50% consistency, it's better than the 10% I had earlier, so I can get by with this for the time being. But I think I'm going to take neuroanatomist's advice, and send the body and all of my Canon lenses in for testing/calibration (when I have the time). Something definitely seems amiss here.




Send it in if it'll help ya sleep better at night... read this article http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths/ 

It talks about how if the body is just slightly off and the lens is just slight off in the other directions, (but within the acceptable range of variance) then the amounts can seem dramatic. Also remember these can change slightly depending where you are and how much humidity, elevation, and frankly how much you use your lens and so the MA could be 15 one week, 18, the next, 10 the other. It's a moving target, however that's why they put that in there to begin with. Canon can definitely fine tune each and make sure they are closer to the sweet spot but dont forget even after that, the MA could change just to much even after, it's not really a defect in the lens as much as it's a change in the surrounding conditions affecting the lens. I hope this helps and I'm glad it's functioning a little bit more reliable than before.


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## justsomedude (Apr 27, 2011)

awinphoto said:


> Send it in if it'll help ya sleep better at night... read this article http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths/
> 
> It talks about how if the body is just slightly off and the lens is just slight off in the other directions, (but within the acceptable range of variance) then the amounts can seem dramatic. Also remember these can change slightly depending where you are and how much humidity, elevation, and frankly how much you use your lens and so the MA could be 15 one week, 18, the next, 10 the other. It's a moving target, however that's why they put that in there to begin with. Canon can definitely fine tune each and make sure they are closer to the sweet spot but dont forget even after that, the MA could change just to much even after, it's not really a defect in the lens as much as it's a change in the surrounding conditions affecting the lens. I hope this helps and I'm glad it's functioning a little bit more reliable than before.



Awin, thanks for the link - a good article indeed.

So let me ask you - do you think I'm being OCD? Too much of a pixel peeper? I guess I'm just having a hard time reconciling the performance of the 7D compared to my 40D where, with the same lenses, everything was sharp. Granted - that was 10MP vs. 18MP - so I realize some details were missing on the 40D. So perhaps it's not the best comparison.

What do you honestly think? Is it worth the send-in, or should I just leave it be?

UPDATE: I've just discovered that lighting plays a key role in the focusing accuracy issue on my 7D. In broad daylight, and well lit interiors, focus is almost spot on at +16 --- and VERY consistent. However, the misses start occurring in any kind of "less than perfect light". This is even in a moderately lit room, with some natural light. I did some tests in my office at work where I have some big fluorescent ceiling lights, and a large window. It's not "dark" by any means (especially on a day like today in Denver, where I'm getting a lot of sunlight), but it's definitely not broad daylight. In that scenario the misses start popping up, even when focusing on high contrast areas (e.g. book bindings on my bookshelf). It seams as when the light gets "flat", the AF system really starts to struggle... severely. But hard sunlight really helps for providing sharp and consistent focus. Anyone else have this experience?


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## Admin US West (Apr 28, 2011)

justsomedude

New 7D owners are often suprised to get oof photos after owning a 40D (My Case). It took a little learning to set shutter speeds about twice what I used for the 40D or 1/ 2 X focal length.

Some of the Canon notes mentioned the need to set faster shutter speeds as well. I returned my 7D after I realized that it was just going to sit while I used my 5D MK II. Eventually I picked up a good used 1D MK III for $2100 and it gets lots of use, particularly outdoors.

If I was going to be a wildlife or bird photographer (Long Range ones), I'd say the 7D or a used 1D MK III are your best bet in that price range.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 28, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> I've just discovered that lighting plays a key role in the focusing accuracy issue on my 7D. ...But hard sunlight really helps for providing sharp and consistent focus. Anyone else have this experience?



Perhaps not quite that bad, as I had no real trouble achieving a focus lock (and good focus) indoors at night under 'normal' tungsten lighting (~120 W overhead, maybe with a 60 W floor lamp or two). But when the light gets rather dim, the 7D struggles (whereas the center AF point on my 5DII has no trouble).

What I will say is that when doing an AFMA calibration, having bright, consistent lighting is a must. With my LensAlign Pro, I aim a 150 W-equivalent gooseneck lamp at the focus target from a distance of about 2 feet, and separetely light the DoF ruler (with a continuous light at an appropriate angle to avoid reflection, or more recently with a PocketWizard-triggered off-camera Speedlite).


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## awinphoto (Apr 28, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> awinphoto said:
> 
> 
> > Send it in if it'll help ya sleep better at night... read this article http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths/
> ...



justsomedude, I'm glad you found that link useful. To answer your questions, without with you or seeing your camera and lens and settings, it's hard to say either way. What do you shoot? Do you shoot at the high burst rates (8 frames a second) or do you have your burst rate the lower (3 frames a second) or single shot? What arsenal of lenses are you pairing with this lens? How old are the lenses? What focus modes are you using and what in what shooting conditions do you primarily shoot. Should I assume you shoot all manual or do you occasional switch to the green program mode or full auto mode? 

To be honest, with my 7D, the lenses I pair 99% of the time with it is my sigma 10-20mm (architecture only), Canon 17-40 L (on my camera most of the time as a walk around lens), Canon 50mm 1.4 for portraiture and when I'm in extreme low light situations, and Canon 70-200 F4. Lenses I've also used with this camera either through Canon CPS or lenses i've sold were the sigma 135-400, Canon 24-70 L, Canon 24-105 L, Canon 35mm L, 50mm 1.2 and the 24mm TS. As far as shooting indoors low light, as with just about, try to use the widest aperture you have in your personal because the camera (all cameras) requires the most light possible to accurately get the AF motor to give the best results. 2.8, in some instances, can be not wide enough in which I break out the 50mm or borrow from CPS. That being said, I even have been able to get razor sharp images focused with my 17-40 of my son sleeping in the middle of the night with his light off with no lamp assist (trying not to wake him up) and the thing got focus even though I physically couldn't see squat through the viewfinder. That should be seen as an exception of the rule, but for what it's worth... 

7D settings to keep in mind, I dont know offhand what number it is, but in your AF custom settings there's a setting on focus priority or speed priority (i have mine on focus priority) and also assuming you aren't shooting fast action, I would recommend using your spot focus with the small focus spot within the focus spot. When you need critical focus, that can be hard to the keep the camera steady with such a small focus spot, it's probably the most accurate. The regular single point focus is ok for 90% of the time. In motion or fast action I may bump it up to the single but 4 surrounding spots that looks like a plus sign. On the 9 point focus or the full auto af I'm sure it works good, however I have just enough OCD in me to know better. 

As I said on several forums, when I got the camera (an early adopter) the first shots taken with it when I slapped on my 17-40 were OOF (defaulted at full auto). Not even close. But then I kinda dug into the manual, got settings the way I liked them, learned to cycle through the AF modes which wasn't as intuitive for me at first to learn, however I quickly enough learned to grasp that, and made sure my shutter and ISO were realistic then I was happy. At my kids daycare, I've had a contract to do the school spring and fall photos and used the same lab and over the scope of 3 years I have used the 30D for my first shoot, 50D for a year, then got the 7D and from the 30D to 50D, I never was blown away with the 50D prints... They were ok, but not as clean as the 30Ds, however with the 7D comparing to my 30D (RIP) there's no comparison, the 7D photos are far superior in focus, almost too good if you get my jest. Keep in mind between the 30D and 7D, the 7D will show far more imperfection in the lens and focus issues at 100% than the 30D could even hint at, so lens selection can be more critical. 

Should you send yours in, only you can answer that. I cant be there with you however if you wish, feel free to email me if you want to talk more about the 7D and if you want to arrange a time for a call if you feel you need it. I dont know how much canon charges for a repair of the MA and MA of each lens in your set, and I believe you said you were an early adopter, so I assume your 7D is just out of warranty so whether you feel the cost would be worth it, I dont know. 

On full disclosure, I shot a rock group at a local venue here at night with the horrible stage lights alternating between the 35mm 1.4 and 50mm 1.4 and while the 35mm L had more keepers than the 50mm 1.4 with the micro motor, the 50mm wasn't anything to sneeze at either. I would assume at that low light venue shooting at 1.4-1.8 I had a combined keeper rate of around 70-80% with a few front focused/rear focused and a few soft (not fast enough shutter, however not a camera problem, an operator problem). I would probably say that's a more realistic stress test for the 7D's auto focus, at most photos ranged from ISO 1000-1600.


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## jsb (May 1, 2011)

justsomedude said:


> Thanks for all the additional posts guys... I think I'm definitely going to be sending her in next week.
> 
> In addition to the +16, it seems that AF only works reliably about 45-55% of the time... which is still an improvement over the neutral setting. Using the 50mm, focus is still random on some photos. That is, sometimes images are focused, then a few are not. I'm getting a combination of both front and back focusing still, even with the MFA set. Very very weird.
> 
> With 50% consistency, it's better than the 10% I had earlier, so I can get by with this for the time being. But I think I'm going to take neuroanatomist's advice, and send the body and all of my Canon lenses in for testing/calibration (when I have the time). Something definitely seems amiss here.



Reset the camera to its default value sometimes help solved the problem for me(on 50/1.2 and 50/1.8). 17-40 is a pain in the axx for me on 7D too.


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## justsomedude (May 12, 2011)

My 7D body arrived at Canon Irvine facility this morning at 10:22 am for another round of service. I'll post up next week after I get her back. Hopefully I'll have good news to report.


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## technogeekchris (Jul 23, 2011)

So in a simple answer for a newbie like me...

Does the Firmware 1.2.5 FIX the autofocusing issues on 7D? YES OR NO...

Please reply and confirm. For Im planning to buy CANON 7D soon as an upgrade for my nikon d90. I keep seeing this 7d issues on teh net and worried if buying the canon 7d is the right thing to do. THanks..


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## autochrome (Jul 23, 2011)

technogeekchris said:


> So in a simple answer for a newbie like me...
> 
> Does the Firmware 1.2.5 FIX the autofocusing issues on 7D? YES OR NO...
> 
> Please reply and confirm. For Im planning to buy CANON 7D soon as an upgrade for my nikon d90. I keep seeing this 7d issues on teh net and worried if buying the canon 7d is the right thing to do. THanks..



I never had any AF issues, pre-1.2.5 or with 1.2.5. You do have ample room to configure the AF system with countless options, but shortly, i don't think the 1.2.5 firmware fixed any AF issues, it fixed some UDMA transfer issues with latest generation cards and some translation quirks, there weren't AF issues to fix (in the firmware changelog).


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 25, 2011)

technogeekchris said:


> I keep seeing this 7d issues on teh net and worried if buying the canon 7d is the right thing to do. THanks..



You keep reading that, 'eh? Does your Nikon D90 have AF issues? If you believe the internet, your current camera is more likely to have AF problems than the 7D. A Google search for "Nikon D90 AF issues" yields over 3 million hits, whereas searching "Canon 7D AF issues" pulls up half as many pages (1.5 million). 

The 7D's AF system is excellent, and not known to have 'issues' despite what you've apparently read.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 25, 2011)

neuroanatomist said:


> technogeekchris said:
> 
> 
> > I keep seeing this 7d issues on teh net and worried if buying the canon 7d is the right thing to do. THanks..
> ...



My refurb 7D arrived last Friday, and I took it to a night time local small town rodeo Saturday. I was pretty pleased by the AF performance, I also have a 1D MK III, but wanted something lighter and more portable. I found the low light high ISO to be poorer than I had hoped for, but its not far off the 1d MK III.

I'll post some images once I cull out the 1000 or more.


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## PXL_Pusher (Jul 25, 2011)

neuroanatomist said:


> technogeekchris said:
> 
> 
> > I keep seeing this 7d issues on teh net and worried if buying the canon 7d is the right thing to do. THanks..
> ...




I'm going to have to second that. In my real world experience with my 7D the AF actually performs very well. Although it is affected by what lens is used and the amount of light you are working with (as one can expect).

It might seem like cliche' advice, but you can't just base the purchase of a piece of equipment solely on online reviews (unless it's a trusted source. Otherwise, you could encounter mis-informed reviews based on user error...etc.). Your best bet is to rent the equipment or otherwise get your hands dirty with it and see how it suits your shooting style and all that good stuff. Even if it's a matter of making a trip to your local camera shop and picking it up and taking a few shots with it. In my case, that's all it took and I sold off my 50D and made the upgrade to the 7D. It was a great (and the right) decision for me and my current shooting needs.


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