Canon EOS 7D Defective Focus / Soft Focus

Tvstaff, unfortunately I have been in the same boat as you with the 7D. Take my advice, send it in, exchange it , or dump it. All this garbage about your lack of skill et al is just the idiots that for some unknown reason that feel the need to defend a mass produced piece of plastic and circuitry. I make my living solely with a camera, I don't think many of those "helping" you do. The bottom line is that you just want a camera that does what it is supposed to, you paid you hard earned money for it and it should work. Yours, like mine, doesn't and didn't. If you decide to dump it and stay with Canon you should consider the 60D, very good without all the baggage of the 7D. If you have had it with Canon, then the Nikon D7000 is also very good, if you just want consistent no fuss results then consider a used Nikon D300 from KEH here in Atlanta. We use D300s and a few D5100s in our business and have never had an issue. My friend uses 60Ds and is very happy, he also tried the 7D and ended up returning the 10 he purchased due to the same problems you are having. Good luck!