5D (Mark 1) Auto Focus Problems

cmjt_uk

cmjt_uk

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Chris
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Hi Guys,

I seem to be having auto focus problems with my 5D. First of all I thought it was me but I've just carried out a few tests and it seems to be the camera.

This is what happens:

Camera set to one shot focus system, all points activated. When i point at an area, with contrast, it hunts quite a bit before resting and sometimes it will not focus at all...:(

Now i have set the following test up, comparing the 5D's performance to my 400D's.

Targets 750mm, 1500mm & 5000m away.
Indoors.
Auto focus: One Shot (all points)
Metering: Evaluative
AWB
Av Priority
F: 5.6.
ISO 400
No custom functions set
All lenses on AF

Both cameras were tested with the following lenses:

24-105 4L
28-135 3.5-5.6
50 1.8

Both zooms were tested through out the range.

The 400D constantly picked up a focal point very quickly, but the 5D was very hit and miss. And if it did it was very slow. It generally only picked up a focal point when I zoomed right in.

Now it is indoors and the lighting isn't great, but I would expect the 5D to hammer the 400D not the other way around.

I have used the 5D outside and the problem is still apparent, but not as bad. I assume this is due to the amount to contrast and light available.

Has any body experienced the same problems with a 5D? Do you have any suggestions for a solution?

Sorry for the long post,
Thanks in advance,
Chris
 
5Ds are infamous for their poor autofocus ability. I've had no end of pictures which appeared ok on the lcd but back on the PC weren't. Usually distant shots that should have been at infinity. Accepting this, I learned to check the lens focus scale after a shot and see if it approximated to what I thought the distance was. Many times I've seen my lens go past the infinity mark for distant shots - hence are out of focus.

It's the reason I never "upgraded" to the 5D mk2. It has the same autofocus mechanism.
 
I've noticed my 5D having some focussing issues recently.

Last night at a fashion show it would randomly stop focussing. I'd have to turn the camera off for 5 seconds or so, and switch it back on to get it working again. Sometimes it hunts like a ***** as well. Very annoying indeed!

95% of the time it's fine for me though.
 
I had a bad run with focussing problems recently until I noticed the contacts on the lens were a bit dirty. Not sure if that was the real problem but after a quick clean all seems fine...
 
I try as much as possible to use my 5D with only the centre focus point but with the assist points activated. That seems pretty well reliable, certainly compared to the outer points. I never have all points activated though. I want to decide what's in focus not the camera.
 
MisterE said:
5Ds are infamous for their poor autofocus ability.
Click to expand...

I think the OP has a faulty camera that needs to be checked.

The 5D's autofocus system comes in for a bit of a slagging, largely due to the D700 :suspect: .. but whilst it's not best suited for sports and fast-moving subjects, it's accurate and it works. The 5D classic is much loved by wedding and landscape photographers.

Think about it.. if it wasn't accurate, owners would be returning their 5D's to Canon in droves, and the camera would have an awful reputation.. which it doesn't, as proved by the boyant market for used 5D's.

A.
 
Interesting stuff here, Ive just acquired a 5d mk 1 about a week ago and loving the image detail and the way my 24-70 f2.8l handles with it, that said I put it onto centre focus point when I got it and have used this only with no issues to date
 
Anorakus said:
I think the OP has a faulty camera that needs to be checked.

The 5D's autofocus system comes in for a bit of a slagging, largely due to the D700 :suspect: .. but whilst it's not best suited for sports and fast-moving subjects, it's accurate and it works. The 5D classic is much loved by wedding and landscape photographers.

Think about it.. if it wasn't accurate, owners would be returning their 5D's to Canon in droves, and the camera would have an awful reputation.. which it doesn't, as proved by the boyant market for used 5D's.

A.
Click to expand...

Have you owned and used one for 5 years and taken many tens of thousands of pictures with one like I have? Nobody has ever said that the 5D autofocus wasn't '"accurate" or "doesn't work". Most of the time it's perfect. I've taken some pictures that could cut your eyeballs with their sharpness [with an L lens]. But the rest of the time it's crap. Inconsistent. And I'm not talking about fast moving sporty pictures either. Stationary landscapes and buildings. And neither am I talking about low contrast or no edges to lock on to that would cause a lot of autofocus systems to struggle. Maybe those who've had no apparent problem haven't used it enough. Try taking 500 shots a day for a month and see the deletions due to focus pile up.

How do you know that 5Ds weren't returned in droves? Canon aren't going to release that sort of information so you're speculating. You've only got to go back to the 5D's early years and the posts on other forums to see that many people had cause for concern. I'm sure a significant number of people did return their cameras for 'repair' - speculating here. But then again there were postings saying that theirs was returned with no fault found. Are you saying that we all just needed to return our cameras and the problem would have been solved? I don't think so.

The other argument that always crops up from the disbelievers and Canon fanboys cast from an Apple mould - user error. Again, from the early years forum posts there were plenty of professional and very capable and competent non-professionals having the same trouble. And neither did I walk in to a 5D from a compact P&S. I had 3 years on a 10D with no autofocus problems, 40 years of film manual and autofocus, and early digital P&S. With the best part of 100,000 shots on my 5D, maybe more, I think I've almost got the hang of things.

No personal attack intended, but when somebody says that any 5D with a less than perfect autofocus should be and can be repaired I do get slightly stressed.
 
I think it would be worth trying to clean the contacts on the lenses and camera body and see if that helps.

If not, I personally would give Canon a call to book it in for a service just to get it checked out.

I used a 5D (mk1) for 9 months and it never let me down focusing. Generally I stuck to the centre AF point or manually selected a different point myself - I don't trust full auto AF. Even doing some sports stuff (equestrian) it never really failed me.

Also, I may be wrong but didn't the very early 5Ds have a AF recall??
 
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