Canon 7D soft images, does Canon have a problem with some of it's 7D's???

[darrenm]

a few weeks back i sold the 2nd Canon 7D i had bought in Febuary due to being unable to get the camera to take sharp wildlife shots no matter how i tried or to put it bluntly the camera was unable to get sharp shots of wildlife no matter what i tried........... and i tried everything!!!

Speaking to others in the last few months while working in my new role and coming across a lot of DSLR users i have met three other people who are all very experienced DSLR users who have had the same problem with a Canon 7D and two like myself sold theirs after months of frustration and heartache and the other just leaves his at home and takes his old camera out instead.

It would appear to be a problem with the sensor on some models and some are producing pin sharpe images constantly and others sparodically and others not at all

It would also appear that some 7D's are spot on and sharp most of the time but some are downright rubbish and i now wonder if you have to buy three or four to get a good one

I have had no such problems with my Canon 40D or 60D and both produce pin sharp images. So what is the problem with the 7D??? and why should people have to shell out good money in order to take such a risk.....come on Canon sort this out!!!

[nutmeg]

Did you return your cameras to Canon for checking?

Mine is fine and any unsharp images are most likely through my technique - as the more I've used it the sharper they've become . In fact, I apply no in-camera sharpening and find that even JPEGs require little sharpening in post-processing. I guess I might have one of the 'good' ones then!

[eeyore]

the usual cause of soft images in the 7D is not setting the AF up correctly (there is virtually no chance of it being a sensor fault - the sensor just records the light hitting it - sharpness or otherwise is determined by movement, shake/antishake, focusing, and the lens)

the AF on the 7D is much less forgiving than the focus on the xxD and xxxD models and this often catches people out

see here

Setting Up Your New Canon 7D by Guest Contributor Doug Brown | Deep Green Photography

and here

Canon DLC: Article: EOS 7D: Sophisticated, Customizable AF System

If after doing all that your images are still soft with more than one lens send it back to canon for an exchange - but note that stats show that less than 25% of returned 7Ds actually have anything wrong with them.

[darrenm]

25% of a the returns does answer my question and i wont be buying another 7D in order to risk finding out

[GTH]

I had my 7D calibrated at Canon Elstree and have been wowed by the results ever since.

Geoff

[matt_xyz]

Darren, did you test your 7D using both manual focus and AF and on a static subject using a tripod? Presumably it is most likely that any fault would relate to the AF in which case MF should produce sharp shots? Or not? Just curious. I've always been very pleased with my 7D.

Matt

[eeyore]

I'm also curious as to the fact that you sold your camera because it had a 'fault' - i bet the buyer was really happy about that (unless the fault was with your set up of course) - usual protocol would be to return faulty kit to canon or the dealer for a refund or repair

[squishy]

Can I just check, which RAW converter do you use (if you shoot raw)?

Because is saw a couple of reviews when the 7D was new that showed some raw converters handle 7D files very badly which results in softness. I think there have been updates since, but if you're using an older version of something, that might be an issue?

Worth checking.

[darrenm]

The camera was sold back to the dealer both times..... and protocol was maintained...... but the price was not on both of the models i bought one i had for two months last year and the other was bought in the spring earlier this year. I ended up about £600 out of pocket on each purchase.

I tried everything that was possible including different RAW converters I also read and re-read everything published i could on the 7D to see where i was going wrong.

The first model produced soft images from the start and the 2nd started out producing sharp shots and then became progressivley soft over time. I even had a two people who teach Wildlife photography for a living look at the 2nd model and they both agreed it wasnt up to scratch.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by darrenm

The camera was sold back to the dealer both times..... and protocol was maintained...... but the price was not on both of the models i bought one i had for two months last year and the other was bought in the spring earlier this year. I ended up about £600 out of pocket on each purchase.

I dont get why they were sold back rather than just going back for repair replacement under waranty/ 'not of merchantable quality', that way you wouldnt wind up out of pocket