When will canon fix the focus issues with the 70D?

[Photogirl55]

I was "T.H.I.S." close to buying the 70D.  I have read WAYYY too many posts about issues with the focusing on the 70D.  How is Canon handling the issue?  I would love to buy this camera, but not willing to gamble with that much money.

[macdaddy]

I received my new 70D a week or so ago and have been doing a ton of trials with it and definitely have experience the focus issues.  I've been shooting for 15+ years and there is no way this is a "user error" issue.  If I use the center focus point on my model's eye and shoot, it's blurred.  If I use the next spot (in either direction) from the center on her eye and shoot, her eye is razor sharp clear.

Looks like I'll be sending this in for repair/service to Canon and, if that doesn't fix it, I'll be returning it.  This is inexcusable and no amount of MFA will help.  And this is nothing I've ever experienced before with any other equipment.  My guess is the dual-pixel technology has some issue with viewfinder focusing.  I'm tired of digging through the hundreds of posts about it to see no explanation of a user-based fix and a select few posts making it sound like this is "user error" from experienced photographers.

I'm sorely disappointed and somewhat frustrated but have hope that Canon can recalibrate this if I send it back.  <crossing fingers>

[macdaddy]

So I sent my camera back and Canon claims there is no problem.  So apparently I somehow unlearned how to point the camera at a target, achieve focus lock confirmed by the beep and AF point flash, and get completely out-of-focus shots.

I'm struggling to contain my frustration as I await the return of my 70D body in order to do more testing to relearn how to use single-point AF (something I've been fine with for 15 years prior to the 70D).

smh

[macdaddy]

<sigh>  

Canon said nothing was wrong and did not do anything to repair/calibrate the focus.  I conducted a fixed test and pasted the 100% crop of the results here:  www.flickr.com/photos/darkeyedredhead/16197146217/sizes/o/

All were single-point focused, f/5.6 400 ISO 1/80 on a tripod.  It is undeniable that every other point (even when above and below the target line on the 45-degree slanted chart) were better focused.  And the focus points immediately to the left and the right are tack sharp crystal clear perfect.

No problem with the center point focus?  Bull.....

Since Canon won't help, I sent mine back to the retailer for an exchange of defective product.  I am sincerely hoping my $2,500 total cost of changing to the Canon ecosystem (lenses, accessories, etc.) was not a mistake.  I am now wondering if the Nikon D7100 would have been the better choice after all.  I'm crossing my fingers the next unit will perform properly so I can stick with the 70D.  I love everything about it...except for the major focus flaw built into it.

[jeffandellie]

Hi, i see there are many pages of responses and many people with this issue. I thought i was hueey myself, until i trested it, and i was stunned to find the exact same issue. putting my 70D & f1.8 lens on a tripod, i snapped a series of pictures, starting with the center square focus in the view finder and then the live view focus. I also tried the left 2 and right 2 swuares, and upper and lower squares, then i also tried the center zone auto focus as well as manual focus. I was stunned to find the focus off of the center square was so far off that i had to retry to see if there could have possibly been another issue.

So my question is - what do I do? I bouth this camera last may and have loved it as an upgrade in features from my t4i, but I have had pictures that were out of focus, and I just assumed it was me. noww I don't believe most of them were, as i do use the center focus square almost exclusively.

As others have noted, i am sure, this isn't an issue with lenses up at the f5.6 range... as i have taken some exctemely satisfyingly sharp pics with the 70d and various lenses.   I hope you have a solution, because  I have invested many thousands in the last year to jump into  the canon 70d, picking up the 24mm stm, 40mm stm, 18-135mm stm, 50mm 1.8, 70-300 IS, 24-105L, a sigma art series and tokina wide angle, grip, speedlite 430ii, and many other accesories.

I am all in so to speak with canon, yet now feeling like i am in shock.  please - do not say photographer or lens error - this is an extemely well document isse, but well documented by a profesional here:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA6JnzYSDJE

[macdaddy]

Here are prime examples.  One tripod mounted, one handheld.  It is undeniable that there is a center spot focus issue.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkeyedredhead/16197146217/sizes/o/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkeyedredhead/16385178945/sizes/o/

[adrock318]

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@Photogirl55 wrote:

I was "T.H.I.S." close to buying the 70D.  I have read WAYYY too many posts about issues with the focusing on the 70D.  How is Canon handling the issue?  I would love to buy this camera, but not willing to gamble with that much money.

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I am in the exact same boat as you. I was about to pull the trigger and then happened to come across all of these reviews and then forums and then videos about this issue. There are WAY too many to think this was an isolated issue with only a few models. I see it is almost a year since your post and I still cannot seem to find any additional information. What's most scary to me is that Canon does not seem to admit there is an issue and readily come up with a fix. Did you ever end up buying the camera? Is there an update to this problem as far as you know?

[raybez59]

Once again I wanted to chim in on this issue. I am a 70d owner with the same issues, and some other annoying issues with some simple stuff that canon left out, like a frame counter. But I will focus on the issue at hand. Yes, there are issues with this system dispite what canon and some owners may say but since we are stuck with them we can make the best of it.

I know that multiple focal points are one of canons selling features but I have found that they only serve to confuse the system. Use one focal point. You can move it anywhere in the frame you want but only use one.  Second, it is not a full frame camera so we will naturally loose a stop (about, as a guess). In addition the focus is not as precise as we are led to believe. So my solution is to forget about any apeture larger than f8. F8 seems to give me the same depth as about f5-ish. I get about the right depth for a good portrait but still get a sharp subject. My science my be a little suspect but trail and error results seem to work well.

The 70d is not as versital as I really need and I still use my 5d Mk1 for almost everything, but it can be used. Trying to snap the white board for a custom white balance never works, and it has a few other annoying issues but at least I can work with that one.

[joylinjoslin]

Hi plz help

I am also facing a same problem , what should i do ? can i sent it back for service ? i took loan from bank and purchased it , i dont have money to purchase some other camera, plz help i am confused . i bought it nearly 8 months back.

[jeffandellie]

definitely send it back. Go online to the cannon service and repairs and fill out a repair ticket.
I sent mine in and got it back - they are very vague about what they do to it, and i have had it back for a week+ and haven't had a chance to recheck it, but i will redo the test this week and see if it is still doing the same thing. I know how yo ufeel - these cameras are not cheap! I am new to photography as a "hobby" and have have invested about 7500 into building a canon kit from scratch, otherwise I would be changing to a different system. I plan to keep sending it back until it works 100% or until they replace it. (it may be working now, havent had a chance to reproduce the tests).

[adrock318]

Keep us updated.