7D mk2 problems, please help

[shortyUK]

Hi i really need some help here with my 7d mk2. First of all i think its best to tell you about myself and my experience , and skill level, ive been into photography for about 6 years, and i mainly shoot landscapes . My main camera is a 6D, which i love, the quality of the images are superb, and ive happily shot milky way shots etc up to ISO 6400, and the noise has been minimal. So in short i love the 6D, however ive always loved wildlife , so i bought the sigma 150-600 c, and used it with the 6D, i took some bird photos wich i was quite pleased with, even BIF with the 6D.

However i was having to crop the images so much, and the basic focus system of the 6D was letting me down for BIF, that i thought the answer to all my problems was the 7D mk2.Ive had the camera now about 3 weeks, and to be honest, im having a pretty miserable time with it. Firstly , just can not get the autofocus system to be consistant, on any settings, ive tried all the case scenarios, and tinkered with the individual settings etc, it still gets it wrong more often then not. Then i thought i would try and calibrate the lens, so i bought the spyder lens cal tool, but because the lens is F5, all of the scale is in focus, so im thinking this tool is only any good for fast lenses, maybe F2.8 and wider. The other thing is that an average day here in northumberland in the UK is quite gloomy in the winter, ive taken the camera out a few times lately, and every time i take a shot, im having to go to at least ISO 3200, to get a decent exposure, the image quality on this camera really suffers at this setting, where on the 6D it would be fine. I know i can not expext the same image quality from an aps-c sensor, but im starting to wonder if the 7D is so limited for my use, that it might just be better to sell , and rent good quality canon glass for the times i shoot wildlife.

ps im not a canon hater , or a troll, i love my 6D and all my canon lenses, im a genuine guy thats at the end of his tether, here is my flickr account, where you can see my images, both with the 6D and 7D, thanks, alan

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www.flickr.com

 

[birdbrain]

I had a similar experience with my 7D and the Tamron 150-600 it would just not focus reliably at all. My 5D3 with a 1.4x MkII and the 100-400 MkI focussed better!

The 7D with the 100-400 MkI was perfectly fine as well.

In the end I was given a refund on the Tamron and bought the Canon 100-400 MkII.

Is the 7D2 worse at focussing than the 6D?

You could try the 'Dot Tune' method of AF micro adjustments works very well, videos on YouTube.

Otherwise not sure what to suggest.

Hope you sort it out.

 

[Stakeouttoo]

FWIW there are AF issues with the 7DMkII.. Canon did a Firmware Update --think it was back in September --supposedly correcting AF with certain lenses.. .. I sent my 7DMKII back last July for a refund after 3 weeks because of it and a battery life issue that I wasn't happy with before the Firmware Update came out.. might want to call Canon Repair to see if that lens is on their problem-list

 

[shortyUK]

cheers for that phil, i just dont seem to get the depth of field short enough on this lens for those methods, ive contacted canon, will let you know what they say

 

[shortyUK]

cheers ray,ive contacted canon, awaiting their reply!

 

[riknash]

Hi i really need some help here with my 7d mk2. First of all i think its best to tell you about myself and my experience , and skill level, ive been into photography for about 6 years, and i mainly shoot landscapes . My main camera is a 6D, which i love, the quality of the images are superb, and ive happily shot milky way shots etc up to ISO 6400, and the noise has been minimal. So in short i love the 6D, however ive always loved wildlife , so i bought the sigma 150-600 c, and used it with the 6D, i took some bird photos wich i was quite pleased with, even BIF with the 6D.

However i was having to crop the images so much, and the basic focus system of the 6D was letting me down for BIF, that i thought the answer to all my problems was the 7D mk2.Ive had the camera now about 3 weeks, and to be honest, im having a pretty miserable time with it. Firstly , just can not get the autofocus system to be consistant, on any settings, ive tried all the case scenarios, and tinkered with the individual settings etc, it still gets it wrong more often then not. Then i thought i would try and calibrate the lens, so i bought the spyder lens cal tool, but because the lens is F5, all of the scale is in focus, so im thinking this tool is only any good for fast lenses, maybe F2.8 and wider. The other thing is that an average day here in northumberland in the UK is quite gloomy in the winter, ive taken the camera out a few times lately, and every time i take a shot, im having to go to at least ISO 3200, to get a decent exposure, the image quality on this camera really suffers at this setting, where on the 6D it would be fine. I know i can not expext the same image quality from an aps-c sensor, but im starting to wonder if the 7D is so limited for my use, that it might just be better to sell , and rent good quality canon glass for the times i shoot wildlife.

ps im not a canon hater , or a troll, i love my 6D and all my canon lenses, im a genuine guy thats at the end of his tether, here is my flickr account, where you can see my images, both with the 6D and 7D, thanks, alan

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www.flickr.com

Trying to shoot wildlife that moves in poor light can cause issues with noise or, blurriness if attempting to lower shutter speeds. Using a slow f/5.6 to f/6.3 lens will make it difficult to balance all the parameters and still have a successful image. Using a crop sensor to get the reach, also means that pixel-peeping will look far worse with the 7D II. You should do just fine with static photos of birds and mammals but observe that BIF photos look soft.

Although I haven't used the Sigma 150-600 C, I suspect it is a much slower focusing lens than the Canon 100-400 II along with Optical Stabilization less capable than the Image Stabilization of the Canon. Stabilization is required when pushing the shooting parameters, needing a slower shutter speed and relying on accurate tracking by you to minimize blur on the birds body and head.

Then there is the challenge of accurate ai-servo AF tracking of the camera with lens, which is just as important as everything else. There are documented cases on this forum of poorly functioning bodies. Id send in the body to Canon if you can't get it to properly focus on static subjects.

 

[birdbrain]

OK

Hope it gets sorted for you.

 

[shortyUK]

Thanks riknash, yes , you described my experience perfectly, Im thinking maybe for winter in my area, i will only get the best from this camera with fast canon glass, and thats a bit out of my budget, i havent tried the 100-400 mk2, but i have used my friends mk1 and the sigma was faster to focus than that, i havent been able to shoot BIF at above 1000th /sec just now, as the ISO was getting too high

 

[Hoogineer]

I'm not experienced enough to provide a helpful reply regarding 7D Mk II AF, but I had to post to say that your landscape shots are gorgeous! I take it those are with the 6D and what lens? (Oh, and your BiF shots are quite nice, too.)

 

[canuck dave]

" So in short i love the 6D, however ive always loved wildlife , so i bought the sigma 150-600 c, and used it with the 6D, i took some bird photos wich i was quite pleased with, even BIF with the 6D. However i was having to crop the images so much, and the basic focus system of the 6D was letting me down for BIF, that i thought the answer to all my problems was the 7D mk2.Ive had the camera now about 3 weeks, and to be honest, im having a pretty miserable time with it. Firstly , just can not get the autofocus system to be consistant, on any settings, ive tried all the case scenarios, and tinkered with the individual settings etc, it still gets it wrong more often then not."...........

I own the 6D (coming from a T2i) and I shoot birds mainly. I feel there is a lot of hype about focus and focus points, and that skill comes into play more often than not. I have (bird photographer) friends who use the 7D2 and are often frustrated with the AF, especially for BIF, and particularly in lower light. Both are good cameras, but the 6D is superior where it counts, in image quality.

I was concerned about the loss of the 'crop factor' with my 400L going to the 6D. After much use I find the RAW files are as good cropped, and many times extensively, compared to APS-C files.

I concur that you have some beautiful work on your Flickr site.

 

[ssdsigns]

Get a refund if you can and buy a used 1D4 based on what Kris in CT says in this thread if you want to stay with Canon. There may be some better options with Nikon's D500 in a few months which would be more money. I understand if you want to stay with Canon. It has been my experience that Canon has the edge in lenses and Nikon with bodies.

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Also based on the level of your landscape work which is well above average. I think you will not be pleased with the results no matter what you do. To me the cases didnt make a difference. I switched from Nikon(long end) for the 7D2 because of Nikon's refusal to make a D400. I used the Canon 400 2.8 IS with the 7D2. Images looked good on the LCD screen but when I viewed them on the computer too many were just a tad soft. This negated the benefit of 10 FPS in my opinion. I got some good images with the combo but too many in a burst would be OOF.

There were a number of good photographers that gave up on this body even after exchanging bodies. If I hadnt been able to sell the Canon 400 2.8 I would have saved up for the 1DX.

Not trying to start an argument. Just trying to give you the advice I wish I had gotten before I made my move a year ago. One AP photographer that I shoot D1 football with warned me but I didnt take his advice and listened to the hype.

Peace.

Ricky

 

[shortyUK]

Hi , thanks very much, yes they are with the 6D, well most of them anyway, i find it fantastic for landscapes, ive never found the lack of DR a problem, and most of my work is a single shot from lightroom, no blending etc, the lens most of the time is the 17-40 F4 L, and sometimes the 24-105. my night and astro shots are with the samyang 14mm 2.8, and samyang 24mm F1.4, thanks again , Alan

 

[shortyUK]

thanks for the input dave, yeah , i think its hard after been used to FF, when you see a really noisy image at ISO 1600, however , im going to give the body a chance, looks like ive got to learn a whole new set of skills lol, i agree though, i think the AF system has been overhyped, the way they sold it it was so good every shot would be in focus, its certainly not the case!!!

 

[shortyUK]

Cheers ricky, yeah , i have lowered my FPS, until i get the hang of this thing, all i was doing was getting more and more OOF shots to look at in lightroom, Im that happy with my 6D i wouldnt change systems just now, im thinking maybe full frame, canon glass and TC for the future, but im def going to give this body some more work when we get the weather, cheers mate

 

[shortyUK]

Just took some time to read this thread, does not sound too promising!!

 

[Stakeouttoo]

cheers ray,ive contacted canon, awaiting their reply!

good luck..hope they find an answer for you

 

[RogerZoul]

thanks for the input dave, yeah , i think its hard after been used to FF, when you see a really noisy image at ISO 1600, however , im going to give the body a chance, looks like ive got to learn a whole new set of skills lol, i agree though, i think the AF system has been overhyped, the way they sold it it was so good every shot would be in focus, its certainly not the case!!!

Before you give up please find (rent/borrow) a Canon telephoto like the 400 f/5.6L or the 100-400 mk2 to test your camera. I have the Tamron 150-600, the 400 f/5.6L and the 100-400 mk2. Getting sharp BIF on the Tamron is much harder than doing the same on the Canon lenses. You can do fine with perched birds, but flying birds are another matter. I also don't know how useful Canon is going to be in finding a solution for your 7Dm2 with a third party lens.

There are those of us out here with 7Dm2's that actually do work. However, determing whether yours has issues or not can be a task and if you are not using first party gear it will be even harder.

 

[Alastair Norcross]

Great shots in your Flicker site. If I were you, I'd keep at it with the 7DII. It's capable of stunning results for wildlife, at least that's what I've seen from others. I use mine more for sports and general people shots (where it's also stunning), but I'm trying to do a bit more wildlife. At high ISO, it's about a stop behind the 6D, but that difference disappears if you have to crop a fair bit. It is important to handle the noise well in Lightroom (or other software). I've found LR's masked sharpening to be invaluable. The AF system of the 7DII is Canon's most complex yet, so it can certainly take a lot of fine-tuning. I don't know whether it was overhyped, but no AF system can guarantee every shot in focus, especially not in challenging condition, like BIF. Have you looked at Canon's AF guides (pdf and videos)? The only Canon camera with an AF system to match is the 1DX (until the 1DX II, of course). The 1D IV was a fine camera, but the AF wasn't as good as the 7DII, and the IQ is not any better, especially after the extra crop. It's possible that there's a problem with your body, in which case I'm sure that Canon can fix it. But it's also possible that it's just a matter of the learning curve.

 

[shortyUK]

thanks alistair, yes it probably is the moron behind the lens, i do feel though that all the marketing claims have been a bit over the top, after all it sems most BIF shooters are using centre point or expanded centre point focusing, does this not defeat the object of such a complex system, that should be able to detect fast moving objects entering the frame etc?, Im going to stick at it though, i think when the weather improves , i will rent a good canon lens, and see how it turns out

 

[ssdsigns]

Here is what I predict you will find after you rent better glass. The lens/ camera combination is going to lock on to your subjects and after looking at the back of the camera you will think you have nailed the shot....until you get in front of the computer and they will be just a tad soft which you will not be happy with based on what I saw with your landscape photos.

I have been at it for over a decade shooting wildlife and sell prints that I print on my Epson 9900 printer. Believe me I really wanted the 7D2 to work because high end used Canon glass can be bought at a discount to Nikon's glass. If I can figure how to send you a private message I will send you the link to my website so that you can see that I have been doing what you are trying to do with your 7D2. Due to stolen images I dont like to post my website on forums.