Sharpness of my 7d Mark II

[kshark343]

Hello Guys,

I bought a 7d Mark Ii last year and started to learn photography since then. However when compared with those photos on the 7d Mark ii review articles or videos, I always feel mine are less sharp than them. By sharp I mean when they zoom in the image, I can see the finest detail like grain of the wood or the feather of the bird. I understand it will make a huge difference depending on the lens used on the camera body. But recently I heard someone need to microadjust the AF on the 7d Mark ii to achieve a good AF. Unfortunately I am not 100% sure the IQ is caused by the difference of lens or there is a potential flaw on my camera, or it is just normal. 

Thus I wonder if anybody here can kindly check my photos and give me some idea. The bird is taken with EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM and the tree is taken with EF 50mm f/1.8.  

1. https://www.dropbox.com/s/a3th73vsgiyaw5o/20151223-Melbourne-395.dng?dl=0

2. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ho3xdud4a03x1kk/20160111-auto%20focus-010.dng?dl=0

This is my first post here, so if I did not ask the question in appropriate way, please fogive my ignorance. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks

Fanpeng

[ebiggs1]

From what you have done, you have learned nothing.  You must repeat the test using the suggestions from above.  Virtually every lens made is pretty sharp at f8.

Also when shooting BIF use a single AF point.

Be careful reading so many reviews.  Most of those people don't know what they are doing either.  Try to get suggestions from good reliable sources.  From folks that actually own and use a certain lens.  There are a lot of 'keyboard photographers' here and everywhere on the net.

The lenses you have are not even in the same zip code as the Sigma 35mm f1.4 Art lens.  But be warned if you don't know what you are doing and how to do it, MFA will make things worse.  Much worse

[jrhoffman75]

http://learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2014/eos7dmk2_afGuidebook.shtml

[TTMartin]

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Also when shooting BIF use a single AF point.

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Especially with the 7D Mk II this is bad advice.

When using AIServo and auto AF point selection the camera starts out with a single AF point and hands it off to neighboring AF points.

The 7D Mk II's AF is tied to not just the AF sensor, but, the also the 150,000-pixel RGB+IR Metering Sensor. The using color and infrared the metering sensor assists in tracking of birds in flight.

With the combination of it's 65 all cross point AF sesnor and the metering sensor it is truly amazing how well the 7D Mk II can track birds in flight even with cluttered backgrounds.

I do own the 7D Mk II and am speaking from experience, not just what I've read on the internet. Nor am I a former photographer spewing stale information based on experiences with old tech.

[ebiggs1]

I guess we are going to disagree, .... again. It isn't "bad advice" especially if you care what part of the bird is in critical focus.  Does multi-point work, sure but so does single.  In the right circumstance you can make use of it.  But with single you know where and what is happening.

With subjects like these two samples, I use a single focus point.  You are free to use what you wish but you can't say it's "bad advice".

Even a person that likes multi-point is going to shut off must of them as the subject gets larger.  And, the background more cluttered.  Both of those were single point.

I think you folks that didn't grow up using fully manual cameras with no auto focus have differing opinions.