R7 EF 400 f5.6 Focus Issue

ST Colin

ST Colin

Suspended / Banned
Messages
252
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all,

Just back from a very busy 3 days at RIAT. I took my new to me lens, a 2013 EF 400mm f5.6 L USM. It's on a Canon R7. I was very excited to get shooting with this lens having seen amazing results from it over the years, some of those actually paired with an R7. I've always wanted one for aviation photography. So, imagine my disappointment when after a couple of thousand shots with it this weekend, I'm not even sure I have one in focus shot. See example below. This was part of a 6-8 shot sequence. The aircraft is going slowly here (high AoA pass). Good lighting, good contrast. I have AF nailed in the viewfinder, lots of those blue squares all over the aircraft.

My settings are servo, area AF, H shooting (not H+). I was aware of the FPS limit with this combination, hence only on the H burst mode. Using E.FC mode.

SAAB Gripen E Focus Issue by Colin, on Flickr

What could my issue be? I'm really annoyed at the results and I hope it is a setting issue of something I have done wrong myself and not that this lens just doesn't work as intended.

Thanks in advance for the help.
 
I trust you have checked the lens (and camera) on a static target like a distant building, moon etc to make sure it is not some dodgy bashed copy.

It will be sitting near enough close to infinity most of the time so doesn't even really need to do much work...

Btw any uv or cpl on it? This really hates anything. You might get a pass with some top of the range filter but by all means best not to!
 
Yes, did a few test shots and it does focus on a static object, images were fine. No filters attached. I also used my EF 100-400 MkII this weekend which worked as intended, other than a lot of user error.
 
Last edited:
Lens IS on? Just wondering if IS is playing up, or maybe IS and IBIS together?
 
Have you checked where the focus points have hit on the image. I believe you can do this in the free Canon software or there is a plug in for Lightroom rather than just relying on the review screen
 
sometimes you get this atmospheric haze thing, but maybe that is more prevalent near to the ground? This is not my thing.

considering you have 100-400 ii and are getting good results there is simply too much overlap and no need to keep both. You might just put that money towards something else...
 
LongLensPhotography said:
sometimes you get this atmospheric haze thing, but maybe that is more prevalent near to the ground
Click to expand...

That was a fairly big problem most of the weekend, but like you say, closer to the ground. I have similar shots to the above that are sharp.
 
My guess is a compatibility issue with lens and the R7. The lens being an old design and the R7 being rushed in as Canon changed from Dslr to mirrorless. Try the lens on a high end Dslr camera and see if you have the same issue.
 
Thinking some more about this I was going to suggest possible heat haze. Other options might be :
The lack of IS might have introduced some slight camera shake. The R7 has a high pixel density and highlights any issues with technique. What shutter speed was used here ?

What aperture were you using ? I wonder if the camera has focused towards the rear of the aircraft, creating a small depth of field. It's hard to tell from the image size on the forum if this has occurred

Has the image been cropped - cropping in might highlight any drop in sharpness.

Does post processing improve the image ? Happy to take a look at the RAW file if you want to share by something like dropbox
 
taxboy said:
What shutter speed was used here ?

What aperture were you using ? I wonder if the camera has focused towards the rear of the aircraft, creating a small depth of field. It's hard to tell from the image size on the forum if this has occurred
Click to expand...

1/1250, f7.1
 
Not much at all really, I've probably cropped 15-20% of the original image.
 
http://Blog
No idea if this guy is reliable Blog but he lists the EF 400mm f5.6 L USM as 50/50 on compatibility with the R7. If your lens works fine on static subjects it suggests the lens and the camera are fine. Most of the R7 AF issues I have read about relate to pulsing but this results in some shots being out of focus rather than all of them.

Were you using whole area AF and one of the subject tracking modes? IBIS turned on?

Did you get the same results with more brightly coloured aircraft.

Perhaps is was mainly due to the haze on that day. Was this when the temperatures were really high?

I have the same combo and do not have issues but not the same subjects or settings.
 
From everything I've read I think the problem is with the camera. My friends complain about inconsistent focus. The R7 is just that good.
I shoot with the R6 and moving subject are always problematic for me regardless of the lens.
Of course not as bad as your picture, but I'm a perfectionist.
 
trk2 said:
From everything I've read I think the problem is with the camera. My friends complain about inconsistent focus. The R7 is just that good.
I shoot with the R6 and moving subject are always problematic for me regardless of the lens.
Of course not as bad as your picture, but I'm a perfectionist.
Click to expand...
Actually r6 gives amazing results even when you dont expect much. I was very disappointed with 5d3 tracking; just couldn't get anything in focus moving towards the camera. R6 just nails these
 
Its always hard to tell on a web image but it looks to me that the focus is on the tail of the Jet
I dont very often do aviation photography but for animals I always try to get the focus point on the eyes or at least the head
 
LCPete said:
Its always hard to tell on a web image but it looks to me that the focus is on the tail of the Jet
I dont very often do aviation photography but for animals I always try to get the focus point on the eyes or at least the head
Click to expand...
You just pretty much just use animal setting these days and it does the rest. There is also a car thing on R6.. not sure if that includes other tech like planes but you would hope so
 
LongLensPhotography said:
You just pretty much just use animal setting these days and it does the rest. There is also a car thing on R6.. not sure if that includes other tech like planes but you would hope so
Click to expand...
My understanding is that the vehicle setting didn't work that well for aircraft on the vehicle setting - apparently the algorithm looks for a driver. However this may have improved with firmware updates.

Most cameras shouldn't have an issue using just an area focus zone with aircraft though
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top