Canon 7D - Focusing... WHOA!

sunnyside_up

sunnyside_up

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Wow... ok, so I made the switch from Nikon to Canon, upgraded from my little D90 to a Canon 7D... got myself a nice piece of glass to go with (24-70 L 2.8)... Now I know how to use a camera, and I know how to focus, I understand it... at least I thought I did! I've been googling everywhere, learning and digging deep within it's menu system, and the one thing the guy said to me that I bought it from was 'make sure you learn and understand the intericate focusing system'... blimey, he wasn't kidding! I'm seriously struggling to get the sharp focusing that I used to be able to get with my trusty Nikon. So I ask...

Has anyone got any 'best settings' that they can recommend for this camera? I've got it on single point focus. I used to focus and recompose, but have been told that's not the best to do with the 7D and to use the 'joystick' to move my focusing point around... which I'm doing. But I'm still going wrong. Don't get me wrong, my pictures aren't way OUT, but they're not pin sharp as they would normally be. Can anyone give me some advice?

I shoot portraits by the way... nothing fast moving.

Thanks in advance

B
 
To be honest I don't see anything wrong with focussing and recomposing on the 7D, I've taken thousands of photos on mine doing that and find it much quicker and easier than messing around with the joystick when I have the thing to my eye! When you say they're out, how far out are they? Could it be that it needs a little micro-adjusting rather than you actually missing focus?
 
What do you mean by best settings? do you mean focusing mode or tracking options or just the general settings?
 
Maybe you need to micro ajust the AF to your lens.
Do you have better results if you use MF?
 
Micro adjustment... Ok, googled that. So now I need to see if its front focusing or back focusing... I think further testing is required.
 
I'm almost in the same boat, have a 7D with a 10-22, had a god with the micro adjustment and worked great for me.
 
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I don't know what everyone is doing wrong, because my 7D has always produced lovely images. I got the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 today (OMG lens pr0n lol) and the images I'm getting are beyond sharp. They make my eyes bleed!
 
Danzaroonie said:
Can you confirm the lens you normally used on the Nikon for your portrait work? could be that you just need to get used the 2.8 factor if your shooting wide open.
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Would with shoot with a sigma 24-70 2.8 normally or a Nikon 17-55 2.8,, sometimes a 50mm 1.8... To be fair, I wouldn't have them so wide open, but shooting around 5.6.-11, depending on my setup. Starting to wonder perhaps if this lens is just soft wide open? I know the Sigma sure was...
 
Eddzz!! said:
I don't know what everyone is doing wrong, because my 7D has always produced lovely images. I got the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 today (OMG lens pr0n lol) and the images I'm getting are beyond sharp. They make my eyes bleed!
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Lol!! Nice!
 
Danzaroonie said:
Do you have any examples we can look at....
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Yes, I'm going to try to get some examples up today.

I just wondered really if there were a 'best settings' type thing really that would allow for the most accurate focusing, not knowing the canon menus/system very well, especially camera specific for the 7D.
 
FYI, micro adjusted by +1.. Perfection. I didn't know you could do that... Good to know though! Thanks for everyone's help!
 
On the same note, how common is it to have to micro adjust? Would you normally have to do this with most lenses? And if you do, does that beg the question of is there something not right with my cameras calibration?
 
sunnyside_up said:
On the same note, how common is it to have to micro adjust? Would you normally have to do this with most lenses? And if you do, does that beg the question of is there something not right with my cameras calibration?
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Quite common and lets face it, if it should never really be necessary, it wouldn't be an available feature on the camera. All these pieces of kit are made to within tiny tolerances for accuracy straight out of the box, but even within those tolerances, there are so many variables that can make a difference, hence you have micro adjustment.
I am not sure if the D90 had the feature, though I think the answer is probably, but it is certainly available on the nikons I have albeit that I haven't yet had to use it with any of my lenses. :thumbs:
 
sunnyside_up said:
FYI, micro adjusted by +1.. Perfection. I didn't know you could do that... Good to know though! Thanks for everyone's help!
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Pleased you got to the bottom of it. I've recently joined the 7D club and have the 17-55 and it's taken a while to get used too, but as you've found out the best way is to be familiar with the settings (RTFM) and then get out and use it. I went to Le Mans two weeks ago and whilst the 17-55 didn't have the reach for on track action, it was great for general shooting. Spending an entire weekend experiementing with settings and how the effected the shot was really, really helpful.

Happy shooting :thumbs:
 
hollis_f said:
And this produces a difference that is actually perceptible in a normal image (I.e., at normal size, not blown up to be 5 foot wide)?
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Wide open, yes... if eyes aren't pin sharp, files hit the cutting room floor.
 
sunnyside_up said:
Wide open, yes... if eyes aren't pin sharp, files hit the cutting room floor.
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Seriously Beth, if you had significant focusing issues before microadjusting by +1, then they will still be there.

Shooting portraits, there are much greater variables than that, eg any slight fore-aft movement of subject or camera, or focusing technique with a new lens that maybe has less depth-of-field than you're used to.

The complexities of the 7D's AF system really only relate to servo-tracking action.
 
HoppyUK said:
Seriously Beth, if you had significant focusing issues before microadjusting by +1, then they will still be there.

Shooting portraits, there are much greater variables than that, eg any slight fore-aft movement of subject or camera, or focusing technique with a new lens that maybe has less depth-of-field than you're used to.

The complexities of the 7D's AF system really only relate to servo-tracking action.
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Yes, I understand that.

Perhaps the difference I'm seeing is all in my head. :shrug:
 
sunnyside_up said:
Yes, I understand that.

Perhaps the difference I'm seeing is all in my head. :shrug:
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LOL It might be, if you're looking at 100% on screen, but focusing errors are best detected with a 3D subject so you know where you focused, and can also see where the sharpest plane actually is. On a portrait focused on the eyes with shallow DoF, check nose and ears and hair, look at shoulders etc.

I often find that with solo head & shoulders there's less DoF than I think there is. Eg, 7D with your 24-70 at f/2.8, maybe at 4ft for a tight head shot, DoF is less than 30mm. Check here http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

If you're using focus-recompose and don't keep checking and rechecking almost constantly, it will drift out. For something like that, I would select the the focus point over the eyes and keep it there, then switch to back-button AF and keep pressing that on a very regular basis. If subject is actually moving around a bit, laughing/joking maybe, then consider servo AF. You can set that so the camera will only fire when in focus (ie focus priority, rather than speed priority).

The other thing is the inherent error with focus-recompose technique when using the centre point but then recomposing with the eyes positioned towards the edge of the frame. The problems here are often exaggerated (if you google it) but a) if you're very close, b) subject is off-centre, and c) using a low f/number, there will be a small error. Easily fixed by using the appropriate focusing point.

If you're using auto AF point select, then focus can be all over the place. And bear in mind that if you check the AF point position when reviewing images, that only shows which point was used, not necessarily where it was on the subject when focus was set.
 
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HoppyUK said:
LOL It might be, if you're looking at 100% on screen, but focusing errors are best detected with a 3D subject so you know where you focused, and can also see where the sharpest plane actually is. On a portrait focused on the eyes with shallow DoF, check nose and ears and hair, look at shoulders etc.

I often find that with solo head & shoulders there's less DoF than I think there is. Eg, 7D with your 24-70 at f/2.8, maybe at 4ft for a tight head shot, DoF is less than 30mm. Check here http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

If you're using focus-recompose and don't keep checking and rechecking almost constantly, it will drift out. For something like that, I would select the the focus point over the eyes and keep it there, then switch to back-button AF and keep pressing that on a very regular basis. If subject is actually moving around a bit, laughing/joking maybe, then consider servo AF. You can set that so the camera will only fire when in focus (ie focus priority, rather than speed priority).

The other thing is the inherent error with focus-recompose technique when using the centre point but then recomposing with the eyes positioned towards the edge of the frame. The problems here are often exaggerated (if you google it) but a) if you're very close, b) subject is off-centre, and c) using a low f/number, there will be a small error. Easily fixed by using the appropriate focusing point.

If you're using auto AF point select, then focus can be all over the place. And bear in mind that if you check the AF point position when reviewing images, that only shows which point was used, not necessarily where it was on the subject when focus was set.
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:thumbs: Beauty...

I have actually been trying to get comfortable with back focusing as well.. that's helped a bit.

I've found that my methods that I used on my Nikon kit don't seem to work so well on the 7D.

Thanks for the advice above... :)
 
You're welcome Beth :)

Forgot you've just changed from Canon to Nikon. They're both as good as each other but it takes a bit of time to familiarise yourself.

Back-button AF was something I was unsure about at first, but it's probably the single best change to quick and instinctive operation you can make. IMHO, though most folks agree. I use a lot of different camera for work and switching to BB-AF is the first thing I do.
 
Yeah, I also highly doubt that an MFA of +1 will result in the shift from unacceptable images to perfect ones. I'm sure you could do this quietly on most people's cameras and they wouldn't even notice.
 
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