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.

[thinkdeep]

Hey Everyone from Hungary.

I have the exact same issue. I used different Canon models but with my 70D I deeply disappointed in the brand, not because of the issue, because of the denial.

I took my gear to one of the Canon support, where I paid almost $80 to be checked, and they microadjusted my lenses and the body.

Still the same...

[TTMartin]

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@thinkdeep wrote:
Hey Everyone from Hungary.

I have the exact same issue. I used different Canon models but with my 70D I deeply disappointed in the brand, not because of the issue, because of the denial.

I took my gear to one of the Canon support, where I paid almost $80 to be checked, and they microadjusted my lenses and the body.

Still the same...

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If Canon's checked your gear and found nothng wrong, I would suggest you watch these three videos and see if they help with your issue.

A Look at The Canon Autofocus System Part 1

A Look at The Canon Autofocus System Part 2

A Look at The Canon Autofocus System Part 3

For many those video's make all the difference in the world.

Even if you watched them a few years ago, they are worth watching again.

[jeffandellie]

Hi Tim, are you suggesting that the issue is based on user error? Or are you agreeing that there is a view-finder center square focus problem, but it could also be other problems?

Because my canon 70D clearly demonstrated a viewfinder center square out of focus issue that was FAR beyond the reach of micro adjust, with every lens, at a range of apertures, as demonstrated through a series of pics taken exactly as Canon directed, which were then accepted by canon as evidence of a warranty repairable issue. (took test pics with 6 different lenses at 3 different apertures each and submitted) Canon fixed my 70d through warranty, but would not report back to me what they did to fix it  except "check firmware, clean sensor". The service people (in Canada) were very unhelpful and totally unwilling to discuss anything about it. 

I love the 70d for the features it offers and chose to stay with it for now instead of going to a 7d mk2 or 5d mk3, but i can tell you that had I known the frustration I would face, i would have gone to an entirely different system/brand. At this point I have somewhere between 7,500 and 10,000 invested, and selling out would be too costly. That being said, I am not shy about sharing my frustration about canon with others who ask, including those who are seeking advice about buying a new camera or lenses.

Also – the whole thing with the guys at Magic Lantern discovering that there were to completely different versions of firmware 1.1.1 is highly interesting, and it is not hard to draw conclusions about this that suggest that canon realized there was an issue and quietly changed the firmware without sending a notice to users and avoiding admitting that there was an issue.

I am both skeptical and amused but also agitated when I hear people who have not experienced the issue telling everyone it is user error, or people who don’t know what they are doing, and that there is no issue with the 70d. There is clearly an issue, and the question is why didn't  Canon  just own up to it and issue a public fix.

[TTMartin]

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@jeffandellie wrote:

Hi Tim, are you suggesting that the issue is based on user error? Or are you agreeing that there is a view-finder center square focus problem, but it could also be other problems?

Because my canon 70D clearly demonstrated a viewfinder center square out of focus issue that was FAR beyond the reach of micro adjust, with every lens, at a range of apertures, as demonstrated through a series of pics taken exactly as Canon directed, which were then accepted by canon as evidence of a warranty repairable issue. (took test pics with 6 different lenses at 3 different apertures each and submitted) Canon fixed my 70d through warranty, but would not report back to me what they did to fix it  except "check firmware, clean sensor". The service people (in Canada) were very unhelpful and totally unwilling to discuss anything about it. 

I love the 70d for the features it offers and chose to stay with it for now instead of going to a 7d mk2 or 5d mk3, but i can tell you that had I known the frustration I would face, i would have gone to an entirely different system/brand. At this point I have somewhere between 7,500 and 10,000 invested, and selling out would be too costly. That being said, I am not shy about sharing my frustration about canon with others who ask, including those who are seeking advice about buying a new camera or lenses.

Also – the whole thing with the guys at Magic Lantern discovering that there were to completely different versions of firmware 1.1.1 is highly interesting, and it is not hard to draw conclusions about this that suggest that canon realized there was an issue and quietly changed the firmware without sending a notice to users and avoiding admitting that there was an issue.

I am both skeptical and amused but also agitated when I hear people who have not experienced the issue telling everyone it is user error, or people who don’t know what they are doing, and that there is no issue with the 70d. There is clearly an issue, and the question is why didn't  Canon  just own up to it and issue a public fix.

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If your camera required MFA beyond the range available in the camera then the solution was to send it to Canon as you did and it sounds like they fixed it.

Every single Canon XXD camera has had reported focus issues from the original 10D on up to the 70D.

Any mass produced item will have a few cameras like yours that actually needs service.

The problem is sorting out the ones that are user error, which is the vast majority of complaints, and the few with actual issues.

There is no evidence of a design flaw or even that the majority of cameras have an issue. 

[jeffandellie]

so, the fact that I took the exact same picture in live view versus center square, about 60 times with every lens I have, and the live view focus was perfect everytime and the center square focus was off everytime (by a long shot far outside of the range of micro addjustment) means nothing? there is clearly an issue - you are either in denial for some reason unknowwn to everyone here, or are paid to talk such. 😉  

yes, there have been issues reported as long as there have been cameras, but for one not to see the difference with this issue is quite interesting. 

no comment on the different versions of firmware 1.1.1?

[TTMartin]

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@jeffandellie wrote:

so, the fact that I took the exact same picture in live view versus center square, about 60 times with every lens I have, and the live view focus was perfect everytime and the center square focus was off everytime (by a long shot far outside of the range of micro addjustment) means nothing? there is clearly an issue - you are either in denial for some reason unknowwn to everyone here, or are paid to talk such. 😉  

yes, there have been issues reported as long as there have been cameras, but for one not to see the difference with this issue is quite interesting. 

no comment on the different versions of firmware 1.1.1?

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It means you had a defective camera.

It doesn't mean every 70D is defective.

It also doesn't mean that every person who has a 'focus issue' has a defective camera.

Just like with every advanced camera there are a few with manufacturing issues, and many more with users who have issues getting optimal results from the camera. Unfortunately, those users often read about the few cameras with actual issues, and blame the camera instead of taking the time to learn how to optimize their results, and just blame the camera.

Happens time and time again ever since the advent of the Internet.

No comment on the firmware, because I'm not familiar with it.

[70Downer]

Yes it means he has a defectiove camera.

Almost every 70D I have seen so far has the bounce flash issue that canon has done nothing about.

Not every 70D has a focus issue, but FAR more 70D's have legitimate focus issues then would be normal for a "random problem".

Funny how you claim every advanced camera has problems and users blame the camera. Except in this case there really is a problem with many 70D's and canon is doing nothing to fix them most of the time.

Just curious TTMartin, do you even own a 70D? 

[jeffandellie]

Exactly.... you have to wonder if he owns one, and even more, what his agenda is when so steadfastly sticks to the notion that all these issues are "user" problems. if .01 to .1 percent of the bodies have an issue - it's common manufacturing anomaly, but when you get the volume of these - in Germany it looks like 20 or 30 percent (I saw a comment on the number/%, but don't remember) then you have to admit there is an issue - and of course, the whole firmware thing is very fishy. why is there different versions of firmware 1.1.1???

here are links to the first two test pics i took that lead me to contact canon, who then had me take a series of photos as per their specific settings, which I did. These pics were taken on a tripod, no change in settings between except to change the focus, first in viewfinder center square, then in live view. (Hopefully this sight supports links)

https://www.facebook.com/jeffandellie/media_set?set=a.10204662252970438.1073741849.1059032902&type=3

[Molybdo42]

I think I found out in which case the 70D will fail : it's if you use a wide angle lens (roughly below 35 mm, depends on the lens).

There are several things that can improve your focus results :

- The first is being aware of how wide and where the focus sensitive areas are and that sometimes these focus sensitive areas are decentered.

- The second is that the camera seems to pick the brightest element in the focus sensitive area,

So with those two things in mid, be extra carrefull when framing your shot.

I recently found out that wide angles (that I often use because I'm on a crop sensor camera) simply don't work well beyond a few meters.

Unfortunately, this seems to be a known issue present in other dslr : http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/How_to/m_Mastering_Wide-Angle/m_Mastering_Wide-Angle.html

This isn't a design fault, it's a limitation of the phase detect system. It will also depend on the way the lens is manufactured. If you look at the focus scale of your lens, you will see that most of the time, compared to telephoto lens,  on a wide angle lens the amount of turn between 1 m and infinity is extremely small. So any errors from the AF system will result in very blurry pictures.

[jeffandellie]

well, don't mean to be a wet blanket on your theory, but when canon had me test my camera, i used every lens I have, and at 2 or 3 different aperatures each. i tested with canon 50.. 1.8 mk2, canon 40mm 2.8 stm, canon 24mm 2.8 stm, canon 18-135 stm (at about 30 and at about 50mm, don't remember exactly), with the canon 24-105 L, and with the canon 70-300. (also tested with the sigma art series 18-35 but did not test with my tokina 11-16) I tested exactly per canon instructions, on a tripod, changing focus inbetween shots so the camera would be forced to refocus. every single viewfinder center square pic was out of focus, and in most cases far beyond the reach of micro adjust. (for the record, i was curious and also took the same pictures using the viewfinder with the other squares - those to the left, right, top, and bottom of the center square. better results then center square, but still not good.)

Why do you not believe that there was an issue, as reported by many thousands of users, but instead insist on blaming user error?  are you suggesting that canon cameras cannot be used  handheld with center focus below 35mm without risking having 100% of the pics out of focus? I was personally at the point where i would not take any pics except in live view for fear of out of focus or soft focus, which happened ALL the time with viewfinder center square.

I mean, if I am paying 1200 for a high end prosumer camera body and anywhere from 500 to 2500 per lens (I'm well over 7500 spent now) and yet cannot expect to get more then a very small percentage of pics taken with viewfinder at under 30mm in focus - that's silly. why not just admit there is an issue with some of the bodies?