7D Sharpness Issues

[jbee]

I never use 19 point AF with the Camera deciding which bit should be in focus and can't think when i ever would. If I'm taking a photo I know which bit I want in focus. I have no issues with my 7D at all. It's capable of way more than I can make use of. A great Camera.

[Art Vandelay]

Yes, beautifully. Apart from a touch of microfocus adjustment being needed, but I can do that!

Part of me says ignore the poor focusing with 19-point AF, I'm not going to be using 19-point AF in my work flow and the more sophisticated modes work fine.

Other part of me says it just got harder for my dear wife to use the camera for occasional shots, and that *was* part of the plan for this camera. And hey, it's the *default* AF mode, you expect it to work on simple subject matter!

For what it's worth, I doubt you'd ever use the 19 point default mode. Most don't seem to either. Mine is even disabled in the menu so it's quicker to flick through the ones I use... But that's not really the point. I agree, it should work. If you're getting good focus in other modes, and you've tested all possiblities in this mode and it's not just a couple of random misses, then you're best taking it back. That's what warranty's are for.

Just double check it's actually having time to get focus before you're pressing the shutter all the way down. Is it focusing in the view finder ? Out of interest, you may also narrow it down a bit and try it in AI servo as well as the one shot AF. If it's in AI servo it doesn't beep or highlight the focus point when it's got focus like it does in one shot mode.

[ving]

silly question, but whats the in camera sharpening set to and would this go part of the way to fixing the problem?

[Arg]

Hi David, I am using the standard picture style which has sharpening value of 3.

I have decided to get more photos under my belt, more experience with the camera/other lenses/ bigger database of photos to see if it is just plain bad at focusing in auto-area-select mode.

I especially tend to be aware that the single point focusing is working, so the focusing system itself is working and it is probably that the auto-area-select algorithms are not all that wonderful. I am a moderately advanced camera user and I will be using the more advanced AF modes for my photography, and they seem to be working to the extent I have used them so far.

Thanks to everyone for their input.