Canon 10D Focus Problem

[eyegotchaphoto]

I have purchased a Canon 10D camera and Sigma lenses. I am having issues with the AF. Some pictures are perfect, while others are out of focus. Some photo's of two people together one will be focused and the other blurred???? Any suggestions? I have read reports of some folks having to send into factory for focus problems.

[Peter_AUS]

You really need to do some test to see if there is a focus problem. Really I think this issue with the camera was an early in the beginning issue and has been rectified by Canon. I have a 10D and don't think I have an issue with the camera, but I only use Canon Lenses. Get three blocks, light them the same and have the sitting near each other in a line, but slightly to one side of the middle one. So the first one on the left, the second one in the middle and the third one on the right. Then focus on the middle one and see the results. The first one and third one should be out of focus depending on the aperture you are using. Remember aperture is a big key to how in focus objects are. So relating to two people together, what are the specs for the image that you took. Post an example of the image up for people to see and maybe give advice on how to solve the problem. Did one of the people move and is that why it blurred. There is discussions on other boards about the AF might not be fully focusing and tests by some people have shown they need to focus, refocus and then refocus up to 5 or 6 times to get in focus images. A bit strange I know, but might just be the lens they are using, the light is slightly difficult, the colours might be effecting the focusing.

Take all that into account when reviewing your images and see

Best thing, post the image and what the EXIF info is for the image as well.

[Van A]

I have purchased a Canon 10D camera and Sigma lenses. I am having issues with the AF. Some pictures are perfect, while others are out of focus. Some photo's of two people together one will be focused and the other blurred???? Any suggestions? I have read reports of some folks having to send into factory for focus problems.

Take a look at this link:

http://www.photo.net/learn/focustest/

[Sebastian]

First, are you letting the camera pick the AF points? If so, you'll get out of focus pictures.

Second, are you using AI Servo? If so, you'll get out of focus pictures.

Do you realize that the AF areas are marked with brackets that are MUCH smaller then the apparent effective AF area? It's very easy to think the camera is misfocusing when in fact it's focusing exactly right on something that's just outside the bracket, but is being picked up anyway.

My brand new 10D was really weirding me out at first, but with single shot AF, the center focusing sensor and careful selection of what I focus on, I have brought my out of focus shots to almost nothing.

BTW, the Sigma lenses might not be tracking fast enough to keep up with action in AI Servo. Their HSM is nice, but doesn't seem as fast or accurate as Canon's and Nikons own USM and AF-S, respectively.

As for two people in the shot, and one being out of focus, that's depth of field. Stop down the lens and that should bring them both into sharp focus.

[eyegotchaphoto]

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. I am going to run some tests. It may be just me . I have one more question....the on camera flash seems to be stuck in the up position. It will not go down and stay down. Has anyone had this happen?

[Sebastian]

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. I am going to run some tests. It may be just me . I have one more question....the on camera flash seems to be stuck in the up position. It will not go down and stay down. Has anyone had this happen?

Never heard of that. Since it's motorized, I would guess that it's FUBAR. Call them, they might have a solution, but I think it might have to be sent in.

[Michael Viking]

Heya everyone,

Just joined and this is my girst post/reply.

I started noticing some issues with my Canon 10D and its ability to focus. Doing a search on the web for this problem led me here. That's how I found this place.

Anyway, here is the issue.

Since I purchased my 10D (and I love it, even with the issues) I began to notice some of my pictures were out of focus. More specifically, what I was focusing on, was not in focus, while items around the person were. Every one gets an out of focus picture from time to time.. either by slippage or what have you. However, I noticed that with my 10D, there were more than the norm. This past weekend, I had 3 shoots scheduled over 3 days. When I started my shoot on Friday, the issue was hitting the average. However, I noticed that the more images I shot, the bigger the problem became. It got to the point where on Sunday, the last day of the shoot, more than 50% of my images were out of focus. I may as well just threw the models fee out the window at that point.

That prompted me to go back and look more closely at my other images. While the problem wasnt as noticeable, because I didnt have any 3 day shoots, the problem was there. It appears, that the longer the camera is on (I never shut it off during the shoot), and the more images I take, the more predominant the problem is. I normally shoot about 800 images during a shoot. The first 200 or so images... the out of focus problem was almost non existant. By the time I viewed my 600th image.. the problem was a great deal more predominant.

That got me to wondering.. I don't know how hot the camera gets internally.. but if it were getting hot, and parts started to expand some, could that knock the AF out of whack?

Either way, I just wanted to register somewhere that I was having the same issues that other people are having. Ive contacted Canon tech support. I'm sending my camera in to be repaired. Hopefully, I wont have the same issues some other people had with their returned camera. i.e. having to send the camera back multiple times for repairs.. one guy had a 2 inch out of focus problem grow into a 5 foot out of focusing problem. took him 3 or 4 attempts to get a camera that worked.

Oh, one more thing,..

I just recently purchased my 10D. It's about a month old with the latest firmware.

[Sebastian]

Well, I don't know how much help people will be since none of us have had focusing issues with the camera. Like I mentioned above, the AF indicators are much smaller than the actual AF sensors, so if you're trying to focus on small areas, it might be focusing on detail in the proximity of the detail you want it to focus on. You need to fill the AF indicator and then some to get a reliable AF lock on the desired area.

Never heard of AF getting worse as aprts expand, that is taken into account by putting the sensor in the camera, when it's sharp the photo is taken. If something expanded and it wasn't sharp, it would not give a focus lock.

What AF mode were you shooting in?
Which sensor were you using?
What was the subject?
Post some samples.

[azonicbruce]

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. I am going to run some tests. It may be just me . I have one more question....the on camera flash seems to be stuck in the up position. It will not go down and stay down. Has anyone had this happen?

Does it physically just not go and stay down or are you saying you put it down and it pops back up when you go to take another shot? If the latter is the case then you're probably in Fully Automatic mode or in one of the "Scene" modes and the flash it trying to come up automatically. Put the camera in Program or any of the Priority modes and it will stay down.

If the flash simply won't stay down at all after physically pushing it down, then there's seems to be a problem. Hope that helps.

[Michael Viking]

Well, I don't know how much help people will be since none of us have had focusing issues with the camera. Like I mentioned above, the AF indicators are much smaller than the actual AF sensors, so if you're trying to focus on small areas, it might be focusing on detail in the proximity of the detail you want it to focus on. You need to fill the AF indicator and then some to get a reliable AF lock on the desired area.

Never heard of AF getting worse as aprts expand, that is taken into account by putting the sensor in the camera, when it's sharp the photo is taken. If something expanded and it wasn't sharp, it would not give a focus lock.

What AF mode were you shooting in?
Which sensor were you using?
What was the subject?
Post some samples.

I don't know how much help anyone will be either. I simply wanted to add my .02 about this particular issue. I know others are having the same problem.. I know I know how to photogragh my subjects, so thats not the problem. I don't experience these problems with my other 2 canon camera's (D30, D60). I use the same lenses on all 3 camera's and they work just fine on the other 2, so I know its not the lens.

I was shooting in one shot mode
I was using the center sensor (I used a custom function to lock it in)
The subjects are nude women. Before I post some samples I will need to read the TOS for this forum. I don't want to post images that are/may not be welcomed.

I can say that because I noticed this issue getting progressively worse, I started to take 3 to 4 images of the same pose.. just to make sure I at least got one of them. Focusing on the exact same point on the subject, 3 of the 4 were out of focus.

[Sebastian]

I don't experience these problems with my other 2 canon camera's (D30, D60).

You wouldn't, the AF systems are completely different from the D30/D60 and the 10D.

I was shooting in one shot mode
I was using the center sensor (I used a custom function to lock it in)
The subjects are nude women. Before I post some samples I will need to read the TOS for this forum. I don't want to post images that are/may not be welcomed.

We are not opposed to nudes, we just ask that it be clearly stated in the subject line that a nude photo is attached. We also ask that the nuditiy be tasteful, no pornography and such.

I can say that because I noticed this issue getting progressively worse, I started to take 3 to 4 images of the same pose.. just to make sure I at least got one of them. Focusing on the exact same point on the subject, 3 of the 4 were out of focus.

Hmm. A lot of people that do have problems have said that sending in their lenses with the body for recalibration solved the issue for them. Even though the other lens/body combos work, sometimes things just get goofy with the 10D.

Like I said though, the only problems I have encountered personally have been due to the sensor are being overly large. Wish I could help more than that, but I can't since I didn't experience it.

I would still like to see samples. If you have RAW files that exhibit this, it would be great to also get a screenshot of the Viewer Utility screen wth the focus areas superimposed over the image.

[Sandee2]

I have purchased a Canon 10D camera and Sigma lenses. I am having issues with the AF. Some pictures are perfect, while others are out of focus. Some photo's of two people together one will be focused and the other blurred???? Any suggestions? I have read reports of some folks having to send into factory for focus problems.

I haven't had a problem focusing my 10D. As long as you keep the one and ONLY focus point in the middle, you should be ok.

[mikishots]

I haven't had a problem focusing my 10D. As long as you keep the one and ONLY focus point in the middle, you should be ok.

There are some Sigma lenses that are not compatible with your camera. Here's two:

28-200 f3.5-5.6 Aspherical IF
28-300mm 1:3.5-6.3

I've used others that cause focusing difficulties, but never with a Canon EF lens.

[vvorobeychik]

I bought this camera 2 days ago. I have 4 lenses (all Sigma): 28-105, 135-400, 17-32 and 100 Macro.

The only lens worked acceptably (not perfect!) is 100 macro. All three other did not deliver a good picture and the fish-eye lens gave an awful result where all objects were blurred extremely much! The lens 28-105 locked the camera with the error 99. This lens worked only in the "time" mode.

I tried all lenses on another camera body in nearby store. All of them worked without problems!

[Peter_AUS]

Was the other camera body in the nearby stor a Canon 10D or something completely different. If a different camera, you need to check them on another 10D body. If they then work OK on the a different body, then it is the camera, if not then it is the lenses.

[vvorobeychik]

Was the other camera body in the nearby stor a Canon 10D or something completely different. If a different camera, you need to check them on another 10D body. If they then work OK on the a different body, then it is the camera, if not then it is the lenses.

Yes, it was Canon 10D also. The difference was in the firmware: my camera had 2.0.1 and the nearby store one had 1.1.0 or something similar.

[Peter_AUS]

I don't think the firmware would be the problem, sounds like you need to have your camera checked out.

[vvorobeychik]

I don't think the firmware would be the problem, sounds like you need to have your camera checked out.

Thx, I already sent this camera back to the company and waiting for another one. I hope there will be no problem.