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Is 7d focusing systems that complicated?

Started Feb 4, 2013 | Discussions thread
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Re: Is 7d focusing systems that complicated?
In reply to riknash, Feb 7, 2013

riknash wrote:

ammac12 wrote:

crazybadger wrote:

Which might explain what happened around here when the camera was first released. There were days when the forum was FULL of "my 7D camera won't focus" threads on here. Some days half the threads here seemed to be "the 7D is a dud", or "please help can't focus" etc etc. So, either the 7D was a dud with many bad copies (which I don't believe), OR people were getting themselves into trouble and were too reluctant to learn the system? I wonder if that's why the 5Diii has a simplified 4-5 shooting conditions type options to choose from? Maybe a response to the 7D "issues" people were having?

Cheers Mike

This is what I am referring to. I am leaning towards the notion that people didn't take the time to understand what they had and thus produced poor pics. At the moment, I will continue to learn with my T3i and review the functionality of the 7d. I am starting to peek at the 5diii, but that's another discussion all together. Until then, I am investing in glass. However, I greatly appreciate the responses about how good the 7d is, in the right hands. It makes me more comfortable knowing that with some effort you can take control of the camera and deliver excellent results. I'm not afraid!


You will always have opinions all over the map about how good or bad the camera is. Someone saying they don't believe there were many bad copies has no basis for that since they weren't there experiencing the frustrations by those who struggled with the poor auto focus. Its rather wrong and extremely inconsiderate to make a statement discounting folks who had those issues. What's really interesting is that the 5DIII which has been out for an entire year doesn't have anywhere near (practically none) the AF complaints as the 7D, something those who quickly cried "user error, user error" predicted happened with every new camera. The 5DIII simply just works as it should. The complaints never happened. Why perhaps Canon finally got the AF right on the 5DIII and their flagship 1DX? The AF snaps into pristine sharp focus and as some have stated, it has given new life to a lens which failed to responsively AF on their previous camera models. That's something the 7D doesn't do well, even with it's dual Digic 4 processors.

Having owned two copies of the 7D that exhibited noticeably different AF responses along with different handling of noise (second copy had worse vertical banding than the first), having pushed the AF to extremes in low light and oncoming small birds, I have been disappointed at all the photos that could have been but weren't quite there, opportunities that were once in a lifetime but due to my poor technique along with less than stellar AF performance from the 7D, have been lost to the delete bin. The idea is that the camera (technology) allows even those who are not "one with the camera" to still be able to execute and succeed with stunning results, something the 5DIII and 1DX do far better.

It's not to say the 7D isn't a great camera. If one uses it with only reasonable limited expectations, the camera performs very well, but so too does a T4i which actually might have a better sensor and in some cases maybe even better AF. The advanced AF features of the 7D may or may not deliver. When it doesn't, you could speculate about what the correct AF mode should have been but unfortunately, you will never be quite sure. The 7D is a first generation prosumer high performance model. Likely its successor with second generation revisions will have the refinements that will simplify and improve the focusing system for everyone. I'm looking forward to the 7DII.

Where did I say there were NO bad copies. Every sophisticated piece of equipment such as a camera will have a certain number of problem copies. And I am sure the 7D was no different with its fair share. My point was that I did not believe that there were any more "bad copies" for the 7d than any other camera. If you had a bad copy then I am sorry you got one. But I also saw a LOT of people coming here, ranting about a bad 7D, when the problem was obviously behind the camera. And then these people would pop up again and again, on every thread saying "it is the camera, the 7D is a dud, take it back". Without ever taking the time to really try to figure out what was going on.

I remember one situation where one guy, a known troll who used to claim that he was here because he wanted to protect new posters from abuse from the "7D fanboys", poppoed up in a thread telling someone to return their camera because the 7D was a known lemon. Anyway...after several pages of people taking the time to help the OP, the OP finally returned to the thread to post that he had solved his problem and that the lens was at fault. The troll, along with several of his followers and yes men, then showed up in another thread referring back the original as proof that the 7D was a dud. When I pointed out that the OP in that thread had returned to say the camera was fine and that the lens was actually at fault, he started calling me a lier and then started calling the OP deranged and confused. So much for wanting to "protect new posters".

Why was this an issue that bugged me. Simple, because just as "fanboys" may have been a problem, so the "haters" who were only interested in fueling the "7D is a dud" mantra almost made porblems. in fact I almost quit this hobby because of it. Let me explain. When I purchaed my 7D in the first weeks of its release I was a little lost. I was not long back in this hobby and had just upgraded from my 40D. I was hoping for so much but dissappointed by what I was getting. I came to these fourms looking for help and trying to figure out what was up. But the threads at the time were full of "the 7D is a dud send it back" crew. Was it me? Was it the camera? Was this new $2000 investment really a dud. I didn't know? I was confused looking for help and being drowned out by people going on and on fighting their little fanboy/hater wars (yes both sides were at fault). So I actually stopped coming here and decided to ignore the forums for a week or two. I took 1-2 weeks to sit down and really learn my camera and work on my technique. Long story short things worked out fine. It was my technique. The camera was fine I just had to be much more careful in what I was doing. Now if I had listened to the whiners I would have probably given on on photography. Seriously. I had a camera that I couldn't return (too late). I was getting trully frustrated. As it was I just needed to spend some time to figure things out, have confidence in my ability to work the problem, and by doing so become a better photographer.

So...if you thought I was saying there were no problem 7D's, then i am sorry it came across like that. That was not my intent. But if you are saying that the 7D had more problems/bad copies than any other camera then on that point we'll have to dissagree.

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