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.

[KeithR]

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@kcatle wrote:

Also - Does this issue exist on the 7d mark ii. That is my backup plan if I try another 70d and still have the issues that we have all seen.

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There is no "issue". Just - maybe - a small number of faulty bodies, and - definitely - a higher number of users who need to learn how to use a camera.

My 7D Mk II is fantastic, but my 70D is only a hair behind it in terms of AF accuracy.

[Molybdo42]

As I said, fast lenses can work on a 70D, you just have to be aware that if the lens needs a very high AF precision it will not work. By the way that issue isn't limited to the 70D and also happens on my 60D.

On my sigma 24 mm 1.4 lens, if I want to focus manually I have to turn the focus very precisely, no room for error. On my Sigma 30mm 1.4, the lens is softer and the amount of turn is much larger, giving me more room for error.

What are your lenses ? Does the focus scale indicate a number between 1 meter and infinity ? Or is it too short to print a number ? Do you have any hard time hand focusing them ?

What I said depends on three things :

- optical quality of the lens (on a sharper lens focus issue is more visible)

- focal length (longer focal length need more displacement of the lens elements to focus, also maybe that the AF is less precise with wide angles)

- aperture

You only cited your lens aperture...

[Dobbsincrete]

I have an EOS70D with picture quality issues.

Forget all the techno blurb that I keep getting, this is my 70D problem in simple terms:

Set the camera on a tripod.

Take a picture looking through the viewfinder.

Press the start/stop button (live view)

Take a second picture.

Now view the two images.

Zoom in at some point off-centre and compare the quality of the two images.

The first image (using the viewfinder) is very blurry/fuzzy while the second (using the monitor) is fine.

This is at all settings, manual or automatic.

(In fact settings can change between these two viewing options)

Surely.a camera at this price should not take pictures that vary so wildly taken through the viewfinder/monitor.

I am having awful problems with both Canon and the retailer in understanding and taking ownership of my problem.

I bought this camera in good faith but my little SX200 does a better job!!

[TTMartin]

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@Dobbsincrete wrote:

I have an EOS70D with picture quality issues.

Forget all the techno blurb that I keep getting, this is my 70D problem in simple terms:

Set the camera on a tripod.

Take a picture looking through the viewfinder.

Press the start/stop button (live view)

Take a second picture.

Now view the two images.

Zoom in at some point off-centre and compare the quality of the two images.

The first image (using the viewfinder) is very blurry/fuzzy while the second (using the monitor) is fine.

This is at all settings, manual or automatic.

(In fact settings can change between these two viewing options)

Surely.a camera at this price should not take pictures that vary so wildly taken through the viewfinder/monitor.

I am having awful problems with both Canon and the retailer in understanding and taking ownership of my problem.

I bought this camera in good faith but my little SX200 does a better job!!

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That is normal.

You don't understand the problem a few of the early 70D's did have. It has nothing to do with what you are describing.

Research how to micro focus adjust your lenses and do so. I'm partial to the DotTune method of micro focus adjustment.

[Dobbsincrete]

Same body, same lens, same settings - different picture quality just by switching from viewfinder to monitor normal?

[TTMartin]

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@Dobbsincrete wrote:
Same body, same lens, same settings - different picture quality just by switching from viewfinder to monitor normal?

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YES!!! It is normal. That is why your camera has Micro Focus Adjustment (MFA).

Liveview (monitor) AF focuses right off the image sensor. Viewfinder focus uses a completely different focus sensor. Due to manufacturing tolerances in both the camera and the lens the difference between the two AF systems may need calibration with MFA.

Liveview AF automatically compensates for any miss calibration in the lens since it is achieving AF directly off the image sensor itself. While viewfinder AF is using a separate AF sensor that uses a Phase Detect AF (PDAF) sensor at the bottom of the mirrorbox.

The image the PDAF sensor sees follows a different path going through the semi transparent main mirror and reflecting off a secondary mirror downward. Slight difference in the distance of those two paths require that the two AF systems are calibrated to match. Without MFA your only choice would be to send the camera and possibly your lenses to Canon for calibration. With MFA you can do the calibration yourself.

While it is still possible to send your camera and lens (provided it is a Canon lens) to Canon for calibration, if you can do it with MFA why would you?

If you want to read more about this Google 'This lens is soft" and other myths by by Roger Cicala'. Roger is in charge of equipment repair at the best known lens rental company and sees thousand of different cameras and lenses from all manufacturers.

[Dobbsincrete]

My EOS70D has been back to Canon Service & Repair three times now. The first two they just carried out tests and re-calibrations, the third time they replaced the sensor. The improvements were only marginal, so now I must not use the viewfinder if I want good pictures.

[macdaddy]

The defenders of this issue are simply full of it.  When I am able to attain clean and accurate focus using any of the viewfinder squares OTHER than the center square not matter the MFA performed, then there is an issue with the camera.  I've been able to replicate the issue with two Canon and one Sigma lens.  Canon Service refused to acknowledge there was an issue on my body.  So when I want no questions asked quality results, I try to use the live view as much as possible.  And if I am forced to use the viewfinder (to use remote flash because I can't afford Canon's that will work with liveview), I have to use any of the focus squares other than the center one.

To claim that MFA fixes an issue that is limited to a single, but most used, square is simply ridiculous.

[TTMartin]

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@macdaddy wrote:

The defenders of this issue are simply full of it.  When I am able to attain clean and accurate focus using any of the viewfinder squares OTHER than the center square not matter the MFA performed, then there is an issue with the camera.  I've been able to replicate the issue with two Canon and one Sigma lens.  Canon Service refused to acknowledge there was an issue on my body.  So when I want no questions asked quality results, I try to use the live view as much as possible.  And if I am forced to use the viewfinder (to use remote flash because I can't afford Canon's that will work with liveview), I have to use any of the focus squares other than the center one.

To claim that MFA fixes an issue that is limited to a single, but most used, square is simply ridiculous.

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What you describe is different than what the previous poster described. 

If you MFA your center AF point, and then repeat the MFA process for each surrounding AF points and you have MFA settings that vary by more than 8 from the center AF point and the surrounding points you may have one of the very few cameras that actually have an issue. 

While your camera may actually have a problem, not everyone does. 

It is perfectly normal for AF to vary between Liveview AF and the Viewfinder's PDAF. It is not normal for AF to vary substantially between different viewfinder PDAF focus points. These are two different things.

The problem is that far to many people misinterpret the perfectly normal difference between Liveview AF and the Viewfinder's PDAF as being a problem with the 70D's AF.

[Dobbsincrete]

1. Sorry to be a pain on this issue, but to me (not a professional photographer), the viewfinder is the preferential method of viewing the subject, the monitor is for viewing the photograph taken. In the case of the EOS70D, the articulated screen does give you the added ability to view the subject from those difficult angles that would be impossible looking through the viewfinder. Now Canon have produced a camera where using the viewfinder does not take such a good picture. That can't be right can it?