Canon 7D auto focus custom III menu question

[nancy hazen]

I do not think I have my camera set up with the best settings on the AF menu. I have a book for the 7D, but still find the many options confusing. Does anyone know of a good source to check those settings? I also fell holding the camera, and wonder if the camera and lens got damaged, thus affecting the AF. Before I send both to Canon, I want to make sure it isn't a setting problem.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Nancy

[Ian Cassell]

Doug will probably chime in and post this, but here is his setup guide:

http://www.deepgreenphotography.com/...-new-canon-7d/

[nancy hazen]

Thank you Ian. I think you gave me this link before, which I have followed. However, in the CnIII there are a bunch of options that are not discussed and I think I may have those set incorrectly. Thanks so much.
Nancy

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Nancy,

Artie published a 7D guide it is helpful and not expensive. Call the Birds as Art site tomorrow and talk with Artie or Jim.

https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=285

[nancy hazen]

Thanks Jeff. Ian told me about the book too. I have another book by D. Busch and I think I have the settings right now. I am going to check out Artie's book. I'd love a book that discussed settings that are helpful for bird photography.
Thanks
Nancy

[Ian Cassell]

Here's a Canon article on the subject

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resou..._article.shtml

[Grady Weed]

You also might try to reset the camera functions back to the factory settings. That will clear any and all functions you may have changed. Then if you still have issues, you might have to send it in.

[nancy hazen]

Thank you Ian and Grady. I did think about go back to the factory settings. One setting I had wrong was I disabled the continuous focus search. I thought disabling this would help the lens focus better, but it gave me some trouble.

Thanks again for that link too.

Nancy

I went to Santee Lakes and got some good shots. I'm hoping that's an indication that the camera and lens are not damaged.

[Doug Brown]

Hi Nancy. It would help me if I better understood the problem that you are having with your 7D AF. In the meantime, I can go over C.Fn. III with you.
C.Fn. III-1 AI Servo tracking sensitivity: this setting determines how readily the AF system will give up focus on whatever you're tracking and refocus on another object that comes between you and your subject. This setting assumes that you are continuously depressing the AF button. I typically set this to slow. I don't normally want the camera to refocus on a tree that the bird I'm tracking flies behind. C.Fn III-1 will make your AF system twitchier, but it won't affect the speed of AF acquisition.

C.Fn III-2 AI Servo 1st/2nd image priority: this setting is all about your shooting priorities. Is it more important to get the shot at all costs or is it more important to achieve AF before taking the picture. I have this set to the default 0 position.

C.Fn III-3 AI Servo AF tracking method: this setting sounds a lot like C.Fn III-1. I'll be honest. I'm not 100% certain about how this C.Fn works. It looks to me like this setting is useful when you are letting the camera select the AF point (either 19-point AF autoselection with AF point expansion or Zone AF). But I never use either of those AF modes. Regardless, I have it set to option 1.

C.Fn III-4 Lens drive when AF impossible: this setting is designed to prevent super telephoto lenses from becoming grossly out of focus while they are attempting to acquire focus. I have this set to the default 0 position of Focus search on. If my lens becomes grossly OOF I can always get it close by manually refocusing. I don't ever want the camera to stop trying to focus.

These are the big four settings that pertain to AF performance. If you would like additional settings clarified, please let me know.

[nancy hazen]

Hello Doug,
Thank you so much first for the instructions you gave on your website, they helped a lot. I was having trouble getting the t he camera to focus on objects even a medium distance away. I did not have the C.fn III on the continuous focus setting. When I moved it back to that, the camera focus worked better. I am pushing the capabilities of this lens by trying to get shots that are a bit out of reach for the 100-400. My main concern when I was having the focus problems was that the camera and lens got damaged when I fell with in in Nov. The camera and lens hit the ground with me. It didn't get too hard of a knock, but I know it takes very little to damage the lens and camera. I am getting some sharp images, and when I don't I wonder if it is technique or damage.
Understanding and fixing some of these AF settings has helped very much .

Thank you so much Doug and Happy New Year.
Nancy

[Jonathan Ashton]

I hope this helps clarify a little:

CFn III 0 assumes the main selective points have focussing priority i.e assumes subject remains in the same position in the viewfinder. The camera will keep trying to focus on the main focus point.
CFn III I In this mode the original subject focussed is given priority. Even if the subject moves its relational position or something comes in the way the focussing system will track to other points in order to keep the subject in focus. This can be useful eg. if the animal is in grass which intermittently comes in front of the subject.

Not always an easy choice to make. Do you tend to retain the subject in the same position in the frame as you follow it or does the subject's relational position as you move the camera? In practice I would suggest it is both so I suspect one could make a case for using 0 or I.

There is a DVD I can recommend produced by www.experience-seminars.co.uk called Making the Most of Your 7D, it is very thorough indeed and goes through every single item in the 7D hand book.
Having said that the first thing I did when I got the 7D was to use Doug's set up, that was nearly two years ago and I have made very few changes to it since then, the main thing I have added is all the focus modes and I can choose which one I need very quickly using the "Q"button, though the main one I use is single point expansion.

[nancy hazen]

Thank you for your input Jonathan. I am sorry I missed your reply earlier. I will check out that seminar. Thanks again.
Nancy

[Steve Uffman]

I used Doug's setup as well when I first got my 7D and have made few adjustments since. One thing I had with my camera was that it was back focused. I did not realize it until my wife and i were both taking images of a duckling and a hen. The duckling was in front of the hen. Both of us focused on the duckling with the same settings...her duckling was in focus. My hen was..Canon adjusted and made a difference. Later I had a battery issue on the 7d. Sent it back to Canon. they fixed the battery issue but reset all settings to factory defaults. What was interesting is the camera now front focused. Weird. I ended up making micro adjustments on the 7D and 5DII with all the lens combos, and it made an amazing difference.

I did make one change by reprogramming the middle back buttons to trigger AF.

[nancy hazen]

Thank you Steve. I am going to do some more experimenting with checking for rear and front focus. I think many of my focus problems may be operator error.
Thanks for the help.
Nancy

[Steve Uffman]

Thank you Steve. I am going to do some more experimenting with checking for rear and front focus. I think many of my focus problems may be operator error.
Thanks for the help.
Nancy

early on, I had a fair amount of frustration on which AF strategy I used. Curious which method you use most often? I rarely use the ring of fire as I got mixed results depending on various situations. I reduced the problems with using 1 of the other 4 methods depending on the scenario