Canon 7 D

<p>I am new to Canon and trying to figure out the 7d... i have the kit with the 18-135mm lens... I know the 7d has 19 points of autofocus.. and i know the best mode to shoot on when doing portraits is one shot... i enabled all of the focus points in the camera but it is stilll doing something i am not happy with. Because of the enhancement of this camera and its ability to select such a small focus point, i am loosing focus of other things i would like to keep just as sharp. I am wondering if there is a way to completely get rid of the ability to select such a small focus point and increase it so that the focus is on someones whole face.. may be a dumb question but i have read the manual and experimented for a few days.... i just cant seem to be getting the clear picture id like. one eye will be in focus but the other will be slightly not as sharp.. i want the whole face to be clear and sharp and i want to be able to do this in atleast 1.8.. i had no problems before with my nikon equipment... this is just giving me a hard time. I just returned my sigma 1.4 because i thought that may have been the problem... because there has been a recall on a few sigma 1.4 lenses.. but experimenting with a friends 50mm 1.4 lens i found the same problem. any advice would be appreciated on how i can expand my focus point and get rid of such a small one!</p>

<p>This isn't a "7D" issue, Jean - it's basic photography.</p>

<p>If you're focusing on a face and some of it is in focus and some isn't, pounds to pennies you simply need to reduce the aperture ("stop down"), which gives you greater <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field">Depth Of Field</a> (DOF) - the more DOF, the more of the subject is in focus.</p>

<p>That you say you were able to do what you're trying to achieve with your Nikon kit is not really relevant - it's actually more likely that the extra pixels in the 7D sensor are making the shallow DOF you're currently getting, and its attendant DOF issues, more obvious.</p>

<p>Simply put, if you want an entire face to be in focus and you're currently not getting it at f/1.8, you need to stop down - you can't have 'em both. This is unavoidable physics, not Canon...</p>

<p>Oh, and get off "all AF points activated" - select the AF point that covers whatever is most important in the scene. It's not necessarily true that "One Shot" is the best mode for portraits either.</p>

<p>One more thought - paragraphs make things easier to read..!</p>

<p>Your plane of focus is too narrow to have all features in focus. If you don't want to stop down, you need to move farther from your subject and then crop the final photo. For example, your 50mm at f/1.8 has a DOF of 0.2 feet at 5 feet from the subject, which is only 2.4 inches. At 10 feet, that increases to 0.81 feet, which is nearly 9.75 inches. The 7D has fine resolution, which should allow you to make a decent crop at that distance.</p>

<p>The brand of camera you use will have nothing to do with DOF, it's physics. Everything in the plane will be in focus to the ends of the sensor, regardless of where the camera actually focuses (although lenses do tend to get soft at the edges wide open, but that's a different issue). Perhaps on your Nikon you were using a different focal length of lens. The 30mm you returned would have had a greater depth of field at f/1.8 than the 50mm.</p>

<p>I'd like to amplify on Ken's comments- yes, the focusing concept is a component of the basic tenants of photography, but you have added to the complexity by choosing a 7d. The 7d offers the most customizable and usable focusing methods I've yet to see, but you must spend time acquainting yourself with the different modes and understand the time and place for each technique. I found the Canon tutorials on the first link here to be invaluable, a general overview is found on the second link. <br>

Stick with the 7d- once you figure it out, you'll love it. And keep in mind, DOF at 1.4 is TINY!<br>

http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=3167<br>

http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=3049&productID=329&articleTypeID=5<br>

Good luck,<br>

Robert</p>

<p>Most of us shoot wide open so everything is blurry save a razor thin plane of focus (usually eyes in portraits). It's a popular and flattering technique for portraits and the Sigma 50 1.4 is oft used for that very purpose. If you want everything in focus it ain't gonna happen without extreme measures. As others have written you need to stop down considerably and use a shorter lens. F11 on a 17mm lens will sorta emulate the DOF you typically get with a point 'n shoot. If you're close it won't be flattering as faces broaden and noses grow...</p>

<p>There are some other ways to make the focus less specific on your 7D. You could set the focus mode to choose a group of focus points, instead of a single one -- yes, the camera might end up selecting a single focus point in the group, but it would not be the pinpoint one. It would be the square focus point and not the square-with-a-dot-inside focus point (have you examined the various focus modes?).</p>

<p>You could also shoot in live view. The focus point would just be the large square in the center of the LCD screen.</p>

<p>If the problem is really depth of field (as others have noted above), you could shoot from farther away from your subject. And if you still wanted a tight shot, you could crop the picture. The 7D has plenty of pixels to work with. If you shoot your portrait from father away, both eyes will be in focus (depending on various factors, of course), and then you can crop the image down as necessary.</p>

<p>The best practice, though, is to shoot with a narrower aperture. You can raise the camera's ISO to compensate for the loss of light.</p>

<p>The 7D has an excellent AF system, I struggled a little at first, more options = better.<br>

Certain settings will work best for certain subjects:</p>

<p>For portrait use, set the camera to one shot AF (AF button on top of camera) Select the centre point as the active point (this is the most senstive point on the camera, although all are pretty hot) make sure it is the single point selected and not a zone or a cross.</p>

<p>Place the centre spot over your subjects eye, half pres, wait for focus confirmation (circle in bottom right of viewfinder, red flash at AF point and or beep) keep a constant pressure on the shutter release. Recompose, shoot.<br>

This will work at f1.8, though be warned, the models iris can be sharp but the eye leashes out of focus it is so critical, especially if the model is filling the frame more (head shot rather than head or shoulder shot) so using a less extreme aperture such as f2.8 makes things a little more pracitcal and is actually where the lens is approaching its sharpest.<br>

The 7D AF needs to be learned. I have found it to be an excellent system. If you want a camera that works right out the box then trade it for a rebel.</p>

<p>"i know the best mode to shoot on when doing portraits is one shot... i enabled all of the focus points in the camera but it is stilll doing something i am not happy with."<br>

I would definately not enable all the focusing points when shooting portraits. You need to enable just one focusing point then point it at the eyes of your subject, or better yet, right between the eyes. Since the camera is usually pointed in a verticall position when shooting portraits, I would chose the top most focusing point(when shooting vertically), and not the one in the middle. </p>