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7d Mark ii Live View Focus Problems.

skirkersamtian
Contributor

Hello,

Hoping someone can help me. I shoot with the 7d Mark ii and I shoot in live view exclusively. Earlier this year I went to a local photographer who calibrates lenses. They calibrated my 85 1.8 and 70-200, which I reset those back to zero because things seemed to be worse. I have since learned calibrating them doesn't do anything for shooting in Live View anyways, so I just wasted my money I guess. Earlier today, before I learned that, I used a calibration tool to check my lenses in Live View. the 85 and 70-200 were both front focusing, I tried my 50 1.8 and it was blurry through out. I shot on a tripod with a two second timer so I wasn't touching it. Center focus,  lowest aperature like the tests say to do, 100 iso and shutter speeds at about 1/800. If the lens calibration doesn't have anything to do with Live View, what is my problem? My 85 used to work amazing, now everything seems to be soft/blurry. My 50 is new and I haven't had a sharp photo yet. Even with a higher f-stop I still have problems. I use one shot and single point autofocus. 

9 REPLIES 9

Waddizzle
Legend
Legend
If your lenses front or back focused using Live View, then your measurements may have been flawed.
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"The right mouse button is your friend."

jrhoffman75
Legend
Legend

Welcome to the forum. 

Are you saying that you do not get sharp images when focusing via Live View?

John Hoffman
Conway, NH

1D X Mark III, M200, Many lenses, Pixma PRO-100, Pixma TR8620a, Lr Classic

skirkersamtian
Contributor
@waddizle Can you explain the measurement meaning please? I used the dslrkit with the angled ruler.

skirkersamtian
Contributor
@John that is correct.

I am confused. 

Front focusing and back focusing are terms used to describe the situation where the optical viewfinder focusing system does not properly focus on the sensor, such that an object in front of or in back of the object being focused on is in focus (rather than the target object). 

When using Live View focus is measured on the sensor. If the image is in focus on the LCD I don't understand how the file can be out of focus. It could be possible to have motion blur (which will give an unsharp image) if shutter speed is to slow.

 

Can you post some images with EXIF data included?

John Hoffman
Conway, NH

1D X Mark III, M200, Many lenses, Pixma PRO-100, Pixma TR8620a, Lr Classic

skirkersamtian
Contributor
Thank you for the welcome!

skirkersamtian
Contributor
That's what I thought too, so I was using the calibration chart to check and my two main lenses were focusing on the 1/2 section. And when I shoot portraits those are never completely in focus. I'm away at work for a few nights, when I get home I'll attach images with the EXIF.


@skirkersamtian wrote:
That's what I thought too, so I was using the calibration chart to check and my two main lenses were focusing on the 1/2 section. And when I shoot portraits those are never completely in focus. I'm away at work for a few nights, when I get home I'll attach images with the EXIF.

John summarized the facts very well.  

 

Front or back focusing really should not enter into the discussion when using Live View. I always tell people that performing lens calibrations are deceptively difficult.  I am not saying it is complicated to do, but it is not quite as simple and straightforward as it might seem.  

 

The process is just as much a test of the photographer as it is the gear, which you seem to have recognized by making use of the shutter delay timer.  

 

But, there are other factors that can come into play.  The type of ambient lighting can a play a major role.  Calibrating indoors with artificial lighting, and then using the lens outdoors in sunlight is a recipe for soft images.  The distance to the focus target is another major factor.  When you post your images, try to state the distance to the target, and the focal length being used on the zoom.  

 

Calibrations should be performed under the same shooting conditions for when the gear will be used.  If you will be shooting outdoors, then do the calibration outdoors.  Place the focus target at distances similar to where your subjects might be. 

 

A generic calibration should be performed in the sunlight, because sunlight contains a full spectrum of light frequencies.  The distance to the target should be 25-50x the focal length in use.  I like to compensate for crop factor when determining the distance to the target.  The focus target needs to be of sufficient size for super telephoto lenses, which you are not using.  Most of the off the shelf calibration kits provide a target that is sufficient sized for lenses up to 200mm.

 

You did not state which focal length that you used when you tested the 70-200mm.  The distance to the target should have been checked for the different lenses.  The 50mm should not have been tested at the same distance as the 70-200mm when it was set to 200mm.

 

Please post images with EXIF data, or upload them to Dropbox or somewhere.  State the focal lengths for the zoom, and the distance to the targets, too.  Thanks.

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"The right mouse button is your friend."

Hello! I appreciate you guys trying to help me. I haven't had a non-windy or stormy day yet. 

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