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.

[jeffandellie]

Just wanted to follow-up nd update my experience  with my canon 70D and the center square focus issue that I (and many others) have had. as I noted eaelier - I tested my lenses as per canon's directions with about 6 different lenses, carefully following the directions, and the lens was front focusing with every single lens to the point that the micro adjustments offered in-camera were not near  enough, not to mention that it wasn't consistently doing the same amount every time, with every lense at all apertures.

Canon told me to send it in, and I did - got it back recently and it seems like they fixed it -fingers crossed. i tested it with every lens i have, and while there is still some degree of front focusing on a number of lenses, some are close enough to be on that i won't need to worry about them, and a few i will micro adjust.

dealing with Canon is a different story all together; very frustrating - the local dealer advised me to send it through them, which i did. the day it arrived at canon, i called them to see about turnaround time, etc, and they were very snooty and would not give me any info saying that I should have sent it in directly to save time, and since i didn't, they would not give me any info, but deal only with the store that sent it for me.

frustrated, i called back a couple days later to see if there was any way to get some idea of what they would or were doing, and when it would be finished. I talked to a guy that was actually nice and helpful, who, after advising he couldn't give me any details, told me they had "checked the firmware" and cleaned the sensor  and restested, then sent it back. the store that sent it for me got no details, in fact they got less info then I did, and i was told I would not get any details.

I am cautiously satisfied with the warranty work, keeping my fingers crossed. I absolutely love the overall package of the 70D - the features, the build quality, the specs, all of that, but the whole center square focus issue has really left me with a lingering bitter taste in my mouth. I considered just selling my used 70D and buying  the 7D mk2 or the 5d mk3, but everytime i did, i thought, "what the heck am I doing? the 70D is 'enough' camera for my hobby/enthusiast needs" and really, I prefer the touch screen of the 70d over the dual sensor of the 7D anyway. 

to be honest, if I had it to do all over again, I think I would take the aproximately $7,500 i have spent in the last 15 months for my complete kit and invested it in a mirrorless system, and avoided canon and the 'other' big camera company all together.  now, I am locked into canon unless i decide to sell out at a substantial hit, which in fact goes through my mind often.

[steve70dreinhar]

Hi All,

I recently purchased the sigma 18-35 1.8 lens to suit my canon 70D (purchased in Dec 2013), and found that the same issues as everyone else is reporting. I took my camera to the local camera store and tried it with a brand new out the box 70D (yesterday & sigma 18-35 1.8 lens) we did the exact same testing (granted it was hand held) and experienced the same problem. I have tried resetting the camera back to default but no difference was noted.

My close friend has the same setup and experienced the same issues as me. We are doing similar tests (now on tripods) with the same results. When shot on live view image is clear  vs when shot in view fidner focus is off.

I was advised by the shop to send the body and lens to Sigma (in Australia where we are located) for the lens to be calibrated to my camera body, however, my concern lies that the issue is a body issue not lens issue, can anyone confirm this?

For those of you that have sent away your bodies to canon what was the outcome?

I am about to go on a safari in Africa and was intending on taking a 70-200 f2.8 and am now very aware of the fact that the camera may not be able to handle the lens when shot in view finder.

Any ideas?

Thanks everyone.

Steve Reinhardt

[RobertTheFat]

---

@steve70dreinhar wrote:

Hi All,

I recently purchased the sigma 18-35 1.8 lens to suit my canon 70D (purchased in Dec 2013), and found that the same issues as everyone else is reporting. I took my camera to the local camera store and tried it with a brand new out the box 70D (yesterday & sigma 18-35 1.8 lens) we did the exact same testing (granted it was hand held) and experienced the same problem. I have tried resetting the camera back to default but no difference was noted.

My close friend has the same setup and experienced the same issues as me. We are doing similar tests (now on tripods) with the same results. When shot on live view image is clear  vs when shot in view fidner focus is off.

I was advised by the shop to send the body and lens to Sigma (in Australia where we are located) for the lens to be calibrated to my camera body, however, my concern lies that the issue is a body issue not lens issue, can anyone confirm this?

For those of you that have sent away your bodies to canon what was the outcome?

I am about to go on a safari in Africa and was intending on taking a 70-200 f2.8 and am now very aware of the fact that the camera may not be able to handle the lens when shot in view finder.

Any ideas?

Thanks everyone.

Steve Reinhardt

---

The 70D has autofocus microadjustment, so by all means try that before you give up and send it to the Sigma shop.

And if that works, you may need to make the same adjustment for the 70-200. But my experience is that such adjustments can usually be made in a half hour or less.

[steve70dreinhar]

Hi Robert,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me. It really is appreciated. What values do I enter in to micro adjust my lens? I assume you are referring to the autofocus settings on page 13 of C.Fn II : Autofocus MicroAdjustment??

Kind Regards

Steve

[RobertTheFat]

---

@steve70dreinhar wrote:

Hi Robert,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me. It really is appreciated. What values do I enter in to micro adjust my lens? I assume you are referring to the autofocus settings on page 13 of C.Fn II : Autofocus MicroAdjustment??

Kind Regards

Steve

---

It's a trial an error process. You take a picture at a sequence of settings and pick the one that gives the sharpest picture. If going in one direction makes it worse, you try the other direction, etc. There are many articles on the subject, which can be found by googling. Some will tell you to buy targets, etc., which are unnecessary. The best results occur when you pick a subject with a lot of depth. Then it's easier to tell whether the autofocus point actually marks the sharpest part of the image (which is, after all, the objective).

[TTMartin]

---

@RobertTheFat wrote:

---

@steve70dreinhar wrote:

Hi Robert,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me. It really is appreciated. What values do I enter in to micro adjust my lens? I assume you are referring to the autofocus settings on page 13 of C.Fn II : Autofocus MicroAdjustment??

Kind Regards

Steve

---

It's a trial an error process. You take a picture at a sequence of settings and pick the one that gives the sharpest picture. If going in one direction makes it worse, you try the other direction, etc. There are many articles on the subject, which can be found by googling. Some will tell you to buy targets, etc., which are unnecessary. The best results occur when you pick a subject with a lot of depth. Then it's easier to tell whether the autofocus point actually marks the sharpest part of the image (which is, after all, the objective).

---

DotTune: Autofocus fine tuning in under 5 minutes

[Matt8275]

Hello all,

I have the same autofocus issue with the 70D. All my pictures with the Viewfinder are blurred while they are sharped with the Live viewer. The autofocus with the View finder doesn't work properly. I checked with different lenses, different speeds, lights. 90% of my pictures are blurred with the Viewfinder.

I went to Canon. They say that there's no issue. According to them, all pictures are sharped which is wrong.

How can I do if the brand denies the evidence?
What are the resorts to solve the issue ?

Thanks for your help

Matt

[steve70dreinhar]

Hi Matt8275,

I had the same problem, canon tried to sell me a 5d III to rectify it - I bought the new Sony A7II instead. Its much better and so much clearer. Its just incredible. 

[Matt8275]

Thanks Steve.

You have been refunded ? 

I'v been said by them that the refund is not possible. 

How did you manage to convince them there was a problem ? 

From my side, they don't want to recognize there's an issue...

Matt

[steve70dreinhar]

Unfortunately for me, Canon refused to accept liability on the soft focus issue. I personally think it has to do with the dual pixel system as it is geared more towards film then high grade sharp images. I think the lenses cant cope with it. I spent many hours at canon and spoke to some senior techs/managers who agreed with this theory but couldnt and wouldn't do anything about it. 

The problem extends (from my testing) to the 7d MII, and 760D all with the same focus problem. 

I voted with my feet, when they offered to upgrade me to a 5d III and 24-702.8 II combo for $4800 Aus to resolve the issue. 

Regards

Steve