Canon EOS 7D Mark II Soft focus

[magmo]

Hi, I have had a Canon EOS 50D for a long time and decided to upgrade to a 7D Mark II since this fitted my need for indoor sports photography. I also purchhased a used Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L USM. But I am not happpy with the images, they are not sharp but have a soft focus. I saw that a focus screen (EH-S) is available suitable for lenses with f2.8. Does anyone have experience of this focusing screen?

The images shoot indoor is usually at 1/800, f/2.8 and ISO 6400

[Ray-uk]

Changing the focus screen will have no effect on the sharpness of your pictures, the EH-S screen is designed to make manual focusing easier with wide aperture lenses. I have one fitted and the difference is minimal and not something I would recommend.

There could be a variety of reasons for your soft images, I think you need to take some ordinary shots (not action or sports) in a well lit situation using ISO 100 and a wide aperture, post one of those on here and we should be able to suggest how to overcome your problem.

[magmo]

Thanks, here are 2 images taken today. Both are shoot with Canon EOS 7D Mark II and Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L USM. Focus point has been on word "Canon" on the lens in the image (not the lens hood)

 f2.8, ISO 100, 1/160 at 200 mm

Second image 
f/4, ISO 100, 1/160 at 200mm

[MikeSowsun]

To me it just looks like low contrast, but the focus may be a little off as well.

Did the problem only start with the 7D Mk II and 70-200 combo?

Did you try Autofocus microadjustment (AFMA) with the camera and lens combo.

Do you shoot jpeg or RAW?

Do you have other cameras and lenses to swap out?   

[magmo]

@MikeSowsun, I have not tested the lens with another camera. The lens has been in for service/repair at Canon and when they checked it out they said the optics where just fine, but also said that I could send in both the lens and my camera for a proper AFMA. I always shoot Jpeg and Raw.

Below is the same shoot but with the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8 L USM 

f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/200




Second image
f/4, ISO 100, 1/100

[Ray-uk]

I think you might get a small benefit from MFA for this lens because looking at the first image the "10" marking is slightly sharper than the "14" which is where you were focused.

However it doesn't look that bad to me and I believe a lot of your problems may be coming from the fact that the 7D2 shots will need slightly different post processing techniques than what you used for your 50D. If you are shooting raw then you can make these changes during PP but if you are shooting jpg then you will need to alter the in-camera settings to acive this.

I use both a 50D and a 7D2 both in raw and do have to treat the shots from each camera differently to get maximum quality, usually in terms of contrast and sharpness adjustments.

[magmo]

Yes, I will send both the Camera and the 70-200 lens to Canon for a professional MFA. I dont think it is neccessary for the 24-70 lens. But in your opinion this is as good as it get and what I can expect from this combo, right?

[Ray-uk]

Yes, the results from the 24-70 look very good, certainly nothing wrong with the camera.

The differences between the 50D and the 7D2 in terms of image quality are not that large under normal conditions, what of course you do gain from the 7D2 is greatly improved functionality.

[magmo]

Maybe I had too high expectasions on the camera. I honestly thought it would perform better in low light indoor shooting. Maybe I should go for the FF 6D Mark II instead?

[ebiggs1]

"...what I can expect from this combo, right?"

Sometimes the hype exceeds reality.  Send it in for piece of mind.  As to whether you should buy the 6D Mk II, there is always trade offs.  You may gain some better high ISO ability with the 6d2 while sacrificing  some resolution.  6 fps vs 10 fps, etc. and so forth.  So you need to weigh both systems to determine which satisfies your goals better. I don't like to, and rarely do, put cameras in a single classification but the 7D Mk II is probably the better sports camera.