Canon 7D Mark II 65-point automatic selection AF issue

[nefethael]

Hi everyone,

A little background to start this thread, I had a Canon 7D markII since May 2023 with Sigma 150-600C then I got robbed in december so I just buy once again a second-handed Canon 7D markII with Sigma 150-600C.

Yesterday, I went for bird spotting and I usually use single-spot AF or 65-pt autoselect with initial center point for birds in sky. With my previous setup, I had no issue with those two AF modes, but the "new" 7d is not working fine. 

In fact, when I try to get focus with 65pt mode, AF starts at current lens position then moves until it reaches infinity without getting focus. 

I tried
 - every AF settings (priority, speed vs focus, ...)
- same mode with a Canon 55-250mm
- resetting all settings
- firmware update
- iTR ON/OFF

and problem is still here.

This morning, I was just trying to get focus on the top of a tree at 20 meters, with gray sky behind, with 65pt mode, I had to redo focus at least 10 times to get it  😕
Note that every other AF modes are working fine and when I get focus with 65pt mode, it is also working fine to follow the object.

Any idea of what is going wrong? could it be a faulty 7d body?
Thanks by advance for any help,

Vincent

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

Use a bulb air blower to clean out the mirror box, particularly the AF sensor at the bottom of it.  

If this is a used camera body, then have you gone through the menus and fully reset every item with a sub-menu back to its factory defaults.  You want the camera to be in a known state.

If your camera does not function properly in Green[A+] mode with any of your lenses, then there is likely something wrong with the camera body.

[nefethael]

I'll try to clean the AF sensor part today, thanks for the tip!

(I did a factory reset indeed)

[nefethael]

Hello,

The "bulb air blower to clean out the mirror box" solution seems to work for me, I don't have anymore issues with AF,

Thanks Waddizzle!