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Having trouble with autofocus on 7D mark II

Reaston
Contributor
I cannot seem to get auto focus to work in any kind of tracking for stills or video and I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. I have my camera set to AI Servo mode, but it doesn't follow any action. I can auto focus by half depressing the shutter, but then have to keep doing that to refocus. When I first got the camera, this seemed to work, I can't imagine what I did or what I'm supposed to do to get it working again. I have tried playing with the AF-ON button, the M-Fn and that new toggle switch on the back, but nothing seems to engage it. I really want this to work for video, but as I said, I can't seem to get it going for stills either. I'm sure it is something really stupid on my part. Any help would be appreciated. And yes, my lenses have been set to AF!
56 REPLIES 56

Ow sorry... its working! It was a joke because of a detailed answer is never so quick.... sorry to distub in this case

No problem! We just wanted to make sure it's all working as it should be so our contributors have an easy time posting. Thanks for letting us know!

Thanks for posting the examples...

 

I suspect it's as Wadizzle suggested, that the focus ended up on her elbow, instead of her face. (Are you entirely certain you don't accidentally have one of the Expansion or Zone focus patterns selected? Either of those could definitely explain this problem. I looked at the image EXIF data, but can't tell what focus pattern was set.)

 

Spot Focus might have worked better than Single Point, in this case. The AF point used in Spot Focus is much smaller than in Single Point.

 

This is a good example of very shallow depth of field. The 50mm lens at f/2.0 and, I'm guessing, about 6 foot working distance, will render roughly 4 inches deep sharp plane of focus. Anything closer than 5.84 feet or farther away than 6.17 feet will drop off dramatically in sharpness. Even slight focus errors will be very noticeable, with those settings and that lens at that distance.

 

The second shot, of the statue and wall, appears even closer, which would make for even shallower depth-of-field. It too might have been mis-focused because of the size of the AF point... or because the lens is not calibrated properly to the camera. Just be sure to read and follow the procedures carefully, if you decide to make Micro Focus Adjustments.

 

FYI: there are online depth-of-field calculators. I can't post a link here (forum won't allow it), but you can find them with a search. The one I used is called DOFMaster.

 

It may be that your lens needs Micro Focus calibration on that camera or that using Focus Assist (from either the onboard flash or an accessory flash) would have helped, as was suggested.

 

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Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2) some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & EXPOSUREMANAGER 

"FYI: there are online depth-of-field calculators. I can't post a link here (forum won't allow it), but you can find them with a search. The one I used is called DOFMaster.

 

It may be that your lens needs Micro Focus calibration on that camera or that using Focus Assist (from either the onboard flash or an accessory flash) would have helped, as was suggested."

 

 

I posted a link to the DOFMaster table in an earlier post.  It is a very useful and insightful link.  I use it frequently to select lenses, or to review what a given zoom can and cannot do.

 

I wondered about AFMA, too, but didn't mention it.  The posted shots do make it seem as if the camera body, or the lens, could be front focusing.  I think that possibility can be confirmed or denied by testing a different lens. 

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"The right mouse button is your friend."

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this case there is a small statue on the wall where I focused before the shot and the focus was on the side of the wall at the endtest2_focus.jpgwrong_focus2.jpg

iris
Enthusiast
7Dii

iris
Enthusiast
I have just finished watching Grant Atkinsons set of you tube videos on how he sets up his 7D ii for shooting bird images. So I have copied his settings. I am getting wonderful single shots in focus and wonderful continuous shooting images, 2hat I can't seem to pull off is for the camera to take over after I get an initial focus and follow that focus point on its own. Perhaps I'm not handling the shutter release Button correctly when I want the tracking focus to follow,

I just came to know this video because of your comment. Thank you

On the first fideo I was possible to identify 2 configurations that may be the problem.

So let me do some tests and them see about how many pitcutes I loose or not...

 

Thanks again

Hi,

 

I have 7D mark ii (FW 1.1.2)  with 24-70mm f/2.8L version i with old canon battery LP-E6N (purchased in 2015).

 

The battery is 80% charged and with my lens was set as "AUTO" and it was working fine for about 50 photos, then it suddenly the LCD screen display "FOO" and then I power off and then power on, I also tried removed the battery and re inserted the battery.

 

I can't not "AUTOFOCUS" and it display as "MF", the lens still in auto mode. Why?

 

I just power off the camera for the rest of days. And next time all working fine.

 

Any idea?

 

Do you have any similar problem like this on 7Dii?

 

Thank you

 

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