7D: Quick test with Exchanged body

[AndrewCCM]

I finally got my 7D exchanged with a new one and "so far" I am pleased with the results from shooting around the house in servo. I'll be testing it out tonight more thoroughly during the Dallas Stars game, but thought I'd share a pic from my front porch a few minutes ago. This is infinitely better than my previous 7D body in Servo.

Full shot and a 100% crop.

Shot with 7D, 135L, F4, 1/640th, ISO 100

[GypsyHighSide]

I am glad you got your replacement and it seems to work great.

So can we expect to see some fantastic Stars photos posted tomorrow? smile:

[CaptainTom]

I'm glad you got the new body and it seems OK.
Had me worried, but I know you'll put it through it's paces at the game.
Needless to say, post the results.

This is a very complicated system and I think we all need to figure out it's strengths and weaknesses.

[garykohs]

I had to return my first 7D also. The AF was simply all over the place with AI Servo and manual select center point. [Not at the same time, however. Mine would be fine for a whole series of shots. Then after turning the camera off and on again, front focused. etc.]

My second one - which came with the 1.09 firmware - seems to be just fine. But I'm still reserving final judgment.

[andyz]

You have these birds on retainer for test shots?

I hope y'all keep posting about this. If I saw in focus and then out of focus shots, I'd just blame myself. I blamed the camera a lot when I started. It was a mild case of operator headspace though. I largely have that fixed, I think??? :)

[garykohs]

I'm not a rookie, Andy.

If you shot 625 pics and 620 were great. Then you shot another 100 shots - with exactly the same settings - and ALL of them were hugely front focused. Then you turned the camera off for a few minutes and back on again and - without changing the settings - got good results again.

After that you would conclude that you are incompetent and the camera is fine?

Once again, I haven't had any problems with my 2nd copy of the 7D. Lord willing, I won't find any. But if the 7D is designed to operate like the first one I had, I certainly cannot use it and do not want to own it.

[andyz]

Those are pretty dramatic numbers. I was thinking more like a couple out of focus. Still, I'd first wonder if it were me as my experience and confidence level isn't what yours or Andrew's is. I'm very much still learning here.

Thanks for the info, and I hope this one stays in shape. How long did it take for your first copy to show error, or was it the first time you shot under those conditions? (In the latter it is easier to test if no break-in period is needed.)

[garykohs]

Thanks for the kind reply, Andy.

Actually my first pics with my first camera showed front focus, but I thought it was me and I dismissed it when I got the awesome results with basketball - the 600 out of 625 I mentioned before (and actually it was better than that because the OOF shots were obviously user error).

Then I did another mass shoot of a swim meet and, because I was switching between my A700 with flash and my 7D w/o, I saw that the AF was just not being consistent at all.

I shot some at home and at Mercer Arboretum with single shot with my 2nd body and they all look great. Then I shot some basketball practice shots using all conceivable combinations of AF settings - and turning the camera off and on - and they all look great. [Well, some on the auto AF are not what I'd want but I can see what the AF system is doing and it's doing what it is advertised to do according to the manual.]

[AndrewCCM]

Well I got a chance to give it a test last night at the Stars game. Definitely better results. I did still get some soft/OOF images, but the sharp ones were sharp (not ghosting/blur) like the previous body.

One thing that I am learning about the 7D, it's initial AF acquisition is a bit sluggish... For instance, I can instantly lock on (in servo) with my 1D3 and fire away with great results. The 7D, if I mash the AF-On and fire immediately, it almost always seems like the first 1 or 2 frames may be OOF... Kinda reminded me of shooting the 1D3 early on when I'd leave the IS turned on...When the IS would spin up, it would cause a frame or 2 to have blur....

This is not a killer for me, but it is something I noticed specifically last night when reviewing shot sequences. I will probably have to start shooting a little differently with this body than I normally do. I am not a shooter that bursts long sequences at sporting events. I typically fire off 2-4 at the peak of the action. This works well with the 1D3. With the 7D, I found that if I bursted a bit longer (and started a little sooner) I got better results.

FWIW. I'll post some examples later... (Silly me deleted the bad shots already...but I still have my CF cards to go back to).

[AndrewCCM]

Here are some unprocessed images from a sequence of many that seemed to behave this way. Longer you tracked, the better the focus became.

[Jim Victory]

Have you had the time to do any MA? I noticed a marked difference once I MA'd my lenses.

BTW congrats on getting your replacement. I hope it works for you.

Although I have been impressed with the 7D it is still not a 1 series. It does however leave the xxD series behind.

After playing with the 1DIV at Photoplus I'm looking forward to its release. I doubt I will jump on it when it is released but I'm anxious to see how it fairs in the field before picking up a copy. I'm also a little miffed at the 5K advertised price. It will have to drop from there before I buy and with the 1DMKIII selling for reasonable prices it might be a better bet for awhile.

[andyz]

Have you experimented with the C Fn III-1 servo tracking sensitivity? Many of my shots from last night's football game were softer to me than I thought they should be. I had it at the mid point. The night before I had more sun to start with, but had it left one notch. I think I liked that better. But I'm not sure what the light had to do with it.

[AndrewCCM]

Originally Posted by andyz

Have you experimented with the C Fn III-1 servo tracking sensitivity? Many of my shots from last night's football game were softer to me than I thought they should be. I had it at the mid point. The night before I had more sun to start with, but had it left one notch. I think I liked that better. But I'm not sure what the light had to do with it.

I did the same... I had it middle last night. My 1D3 is one notch left... My previous 7D was one notch left as well. I do think that is probably would be something to experiment with.

@Jim - No I haven't bothered with MA yet... I found that with my 1D3 MA didn't do a lot for me with zooms. I am using the 70-200 mostly at NHL games and at every focal length known to man... MA at the extremes didn't seem to help previously. I probably will try it with my Primes however. My 300L is set at -10 on my 1D3....

[PIC]

Originally Posted by andyz

Have you experimented with the C Fn III-1 servo tracking sensitivity? Many of my shots from last night's football game were softer to me than I thought they should be. I had it at the mid point. The night before I had more sun to start with, but had it left one notch. I think I liked that better. But I'm not sure what the light had to do with it.

You can custom auto focus to your hearts delight but may always get softer images.
You might want to read this and decide if you really took the right path ...
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/820707/0

[andyz]

FM has some good info, but I didn't expect the 7D to out perform the 5D on IQ. But the 7D has better ISO for shooting sports in poor light and I appreciate the 8 FPS. I don't get that on the 5D.

Thanks for the link.