7D focus fix

<p>Hi All, <br>

Has anyone successfully had the notorious 7D focus issue corrected? Either by Canon repair or by using the "hard start" approach?<br>

Did your fix "take hold"? That is to say, was it a permanent repair, or did the camera slip back into its old ways?<br>

I'm sure I don't have to tell you why I'm asking...<br>

JD</p>

<p>What is the notorious 7D focus issue, other than failing to understand the camera's AF settings?</p>

<p>I was never able to get mine to act notorious but it was a dad burn reliable camera for the 5 years I owned it. Hard to get it to miss focus. I recall some bitch 'n cry about AI servo problems at the FM forums but I was so used to the crappy focus of my 10D/20D the 7D seemed like the hand 'o God. Perhaps there were good 'n bad batches 'o 7D.</p>

<p>Other than missing focus and not being able to shoot, once in a blue moon, there's been no notoriety about my 7D, it's a real work horse. As it happens, the 7D2 will miss focus occasionally and will shoot out of focus, is that a resolution?</p>

<p>The focus issue, unfortunately, is a well-documented problem with the 7D. Certainly only a small percentage of bodies display it, you're lucky if yours is among those that don't, but it's a real issue with some cameras. I was an early adopter of the 7D and it may only be the earlier batches that exhibited this malfunction.<br>

I have several friends with 7Ds that were purchased about the same time as mine that have had no issues, but that's not been the case with my 7D body. I do know how to operate the camera, and have never had anything similar with any of my other cameras.<br>

I appreciate you taking the time to respond but my reason for starting the thread was to see if those who had also experienced the problem had been successful in having it resolved. Hopefully, someone who has actually experienced this frustrating problem will have an answer for me.<br>

JD</p>

<p><em>The focus issue, unfortunately, is a well-documented problem with the 7D</em><br>

<em> </em><br>

Can you cite a reference for this issue? Not a problem I've ever had with mine either. Canon are normally pretty good about fixing things like this, but a 7D is almost certainly going to be out of warranty coverage at this point (and 100% for sure with early adopters).</p>

<p>Did you have the issue on day one or did it develop over time?</p>

<p>A quick Google search for <em>7D focus issue</em> will turn up plenty of information. Also, Darwin Wiggett did a review when the camera was released and finally gave up on it when he was unable to get sharp images with any lens.<br>

The problem with my camera seems to have been sneaking up on me. It reached the point where the focus is totally off. The camera is, as you suggest, long out of warrantee but as a 30+ year member of Canon CPS I have no qualms about sending gear in to Canon for repair. They're quick, and usually nail it first time. They billed $175 for the repair, a lot cheaper than replacing the thing and the camera is in transit to me and hopefully is repaired.<br>

When the issue first surfaced Canon did seem to be in denial about it, I'm hoping that's no longer the case.<br>

I'm just trying to find out from others who have had this problem if the repair is usually a permanent one.<br>

The fact that no one has piped up yet who has experienced, or for that matter even heard of the issue, makes me think it was a limited to a batch of early cameras.</p>

<p>JD </p>

<p>Hmmmm, I purchased a 7D shortly after they were introduced and never had any AF issues nor have I heard of anything notorious about it. I have since upgraded to a 7DII and 5DIII combo as AF systems continue to evolve. Still have and use the original 7D.</p>

<p>One source of information is: </p>

<h1 id="description">Canon 7D Auto Focus problem acknowledgement & resolution.</h1>

<p>They distributed a petition at one point, not sure of the date, and collected some 587 signatures of people having the same issue as I am.<br>

But...my camera is back from Canon, they improved the performance, I did the hard start as described on the above site, and it improved even more, the camera is now useable.<br>

My only question, and the reason for this post was...is this is a permanent fix or will the problem likely re-appear in the near or long term.<br>

JD</p>

<p>Mine's good, purchased in 2010, use it for BIF. Only failures have been because I haven't kept the focus point on the bird. I do use back button focus and centre point only. I do find the 6D's AF more surefooted, but the 7D's is not bad.<br>

No issues at all with stationary subjects.</p>

<p>.</p>

<p>I guess I'm also in the lucky bunch: I got my 7D in the Mexican presale, and never had a problem with it since Canon Mexicana delivered it (a few weeks later than promised, supposedly because they had a delay in the importation process... perhaps they were actually fixing the early bugs before delivering bad copies in the Mexican market).</p>

<p>Joseph,<br>

I have had my 7D for about 4-5 years and have had it back to Canon twice. Tried the "hard start" multiple times and still it takes a slightly blurry image. At Jamesburg repair center they kind of admitted that some customers have a issue but he would not say it is a Canon problem. They would only offer to calibrate my lens to the camera. Sounds good but they will only do my Canon lens and not my 3rd party ones. I have tried everything that I have read over the last three years to try to fix this. Images, I do admit have gotten better but I have to use the single point focus and still that only works about 60% of the time. I will admit that the camera is a step above my Rebel and that part of the problem I am sure is user error but my wife is an accomplished photographer and illustrator. She has the same problem with it and one of the reasons I got it was for taking shots for her art subjects. We have gone back to the old Rebel for most of my photo work and have a expensive body that I wish would work better then it does. It has forced me to use manual focus and I guess that is a good thing for my learning curve.</p>