topic Re: 60d transition to 7dm2 in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

60d transition to 7dm2

harshclimate — Fri, 12 May 2017 23:17:28 GMT

I encountered issues with my 60d which lead me to purchase the 7dm2. The 60d, started to give me somewhat out of focus shots which I couldn't figure out why. I thought maybe I had gotten a soft lens (24-105mm), but after trying my 50mm and a 70-300mm tamron lens they were also coming out rather out of focus. What would cause a camera or sensor to deteriorate? Is that even possible or are my eyes all outta whack?

Using the 7dm2, so far, has been a dream. I also got the 100mm macro lens and the combo of the two have reinspired me to practice photography. It's my passion and having a camera like this makes it so much more fun because I don't have to fight my way to a good photo through photoshop. I have yet to try it with my other lenses but I'm sure they'll perform well.

I do miss my 60d's (i have two bodies) and I really super miss the titlty twisty screen. The 7dm2 is going to be a pain to learn and master but as long as I get the quality shots that I'm looking for, I'm not gonna stress over it. I do love the heft and size of the 7dm2. In a way it seems like that helps me stabilize the shot a little better.

Are there any tips and tricks that you all use with your 7dm2? Namely for macro/landscape photography?

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

Waddizzle — Sat, 13 May 2017 00:16:37 GMT

Tricks? Um, no. Once you become one with the camera, there no tricks. I use my 7D2 mostly for action shots, where it can really shine, although I don't think I have full figured out the AF modes.

Use a very fast focusing lens with it. EF 100400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM.

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

cicopo — Sat, 13 May 2017 02:21:11 GMT

Other than learning all you can about the AF modes (more important if you shoot moving targets) it's really not that different to learn than any other Canon DSLR.

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

RobertTheFat — Sat, 13 May 2017 03:40:26 GMT

@harshclimate wrote:
I encountered issues with my 60d which lead me to purchase the 7dm2. The 60d, started to give me somewhat out of focus shots which I couldn't figure out why. I thought maybe I had gotten a soft lens (24-105mm), but after trying my 50mm and a 70-300mm tamron lens they were also coming out rather out of focus. What would cause a camera or sensor to deteriorate? Is that even possible or are my eyes all outta whack?

Using the 7dm2, so far, has been a dream. I also got the 100mm macro lens and the combo of the two have reinspired me to practice photography. It's my passion and having a camera like this makes it so much more fun because I don't have to fight my way to a good photo through photoshop. I have yet to try it with my other lenses but I'm sure they'll perform well.

I do miss my 60d's (i have two bodies) and I really super miss the titlty twisty screen. The 7dm2 is going to be a pain to learn and master but as long as I get the quality shots that I'm looking for, I'm not gonna stress over it. I do love the heft and size of the 7dm2. In a way it seems like that helps me stabilize the shot a little better.

Are there any tips and tricks that you all use with your 7dm2? Namely for macro/landscape photography?

Did you have the OOF problem with both of your 60D's or just one?

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

harshclimate — Sat, 13 May 2017 04:29:41 GMT

Both of them, actually.

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

Waddizzle — Sat, 13 May 2017 14:42:23 GMT

@harshclimate wrote:
Both of them, actually.

What focus mode are you using, One Shot or AI Servo? Which initial AF point are you using? I advise using the center one.

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

harshclimate — Sat, 13 May 2017 14:47:40 GMT

I usually use one shot since I'm taking macro and I always use center point.

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

RobertTheFat — Sat, 13 May 2017 15:24:22 GMT

@harshclimate wrote:
Both of them, actually.

If it happens with all lenses on both cameras, it's hard to pinpoint the cause. Is there anything in common, like a macro rail, that you're using on all the bad shots?

Have you run any tests to rule out consistent back- or front-focusing?

Do you know for a fact that it's a focus issue and not camera shake?

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

Waddizzle — Sat, 13 May 2017 16:33:51 GMT

@harshclimate wrote:
I usually use one shot since I'm taking macro and I always use center point.

What sort of macro shots. You can get very narrow DOF at very short shooting distances.

Is the shot below similar to what you're seeing?

I used the EF 100 f/2.8L to take a series of photos of a dime, just to practice technique of stacking photos. The above photo may appear to be OOF, and for most of the dime's surface, it is out of focus. But, notice how there is a narrow band running across the center of it that is in focus.

I wound up taking a series of photos, each shot captured focus on a different part of the dime's surface. I had to allow for the focused areas to overlap a bit, so that the image stacking software can do its' job.

I wound up taking shots at 10 different angles. Not exactly a perfect job, but I was trying out some new focusing rails.

[EDIT] I should add that I manually focused the lens, too, while tethered to my laptop. Like I said, it was an experiment.

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

harshclimate — Sat, 13 May 2017 20:56:46 GMT

That's awesome! Best looking 10 cents I've ever seen 🙂

I was taking macro shots of some cacti out in my front yard, but I would think it'd be super hard to focus stack that because in the wind, it might be pretty hard to do. I mostly shoot handheld, and I used to think that I have a pretty steady hand, but I guess in the case of macro, it'd be best to use my tripod. Now, in contrast, when I use tripod to take photos of landscapes (this is with the 60d) my shots were still somewhat soft.

I'll have to dig up some photos to put up here so I can give you an example. I am, however, able to get really sharp pics with the 7d2 handheld. I just ordered a monopod for ease of use rather than a tripod.

Do you think over some time, the 7d2 sensor will eventually become soft like the 60d did? Sensor or shutter... I'm not sure which might have failed.

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

Waddizzle — Sat, 13 May 2017 21:52:55 GMT

@harshclimate wrote:
That's awesome! Best looking 10 cents I've ever seen 🙂

I was taking macro shots of some cacti out in my front yard, but I would think it'd be super hard to focus stack that because in the wind, it might be pretty hard to do. I mostly shoot handheld, and I used to think that I have a pretty steady hand, but I guess in the case of macro, it'd be best to use my tripod. Now, in contrast, when I use tripod to take photos of landscapes (this is with the 60d) my shots were still somewhat soft.

I'll have to dig up some photos to put up here so I can give you an example. I am, however, able to get really sharp pics with the 7d2 handheld. I just ordered a monopod for ease of use rather than a tripod.

Do you think over some time, the 7d2 sensor will eventually become soft like the 60d did? Sensor or shutter... I'm not sure which might have failed.

Digital electronics fail in one big ball of flames. Unless there is an analog component somewhere in the logical signal path, you will never see a degradation in image quality. It should always be a pass/fail scenario.

Landscape shots with a wide angle lens tend to be more forgiving of camera motion than longer focal lengths. Your shutter speed sometimes needs to be fairly high for landscape shots, simply because of the wind moving everything around.

Also, your aperture settings can create a shallow depth of field. Learn to be familiar with the hyperfocal distances of your lenses.

Re: 60d transition to 7dm2

Waddizzle — Sat, 13 May 2017 22:20:28 GMT

Here's a handheld HDR shot, taken at 16mm. Unfortunately, the 5MB file size of the forums means a slightly blurry looking shot. I used a fairly high shutter speed because the wind was blowing the trees around slightly. Leaves were almost waving.

Here's a panoramic shot taken at 85mm, and shot from a tripod. I rotated the camera to portrait mode.

I took an initial shot in Av mode to get initial camera settings, which I used as a starting point for a manual settings. All of the shots in the panorama were shot with identical focus and exposure settings, which is critical for success. The above image is actually a 40MB file, but I had to compress it under 5MB to post it to the forums.