7D II AF Problem

My 1DX is into Canon for cleaning this week, which is giving me some quality time with my 7DII.

Today I was asking a lot out of it—shooting eagles in action here in Washington state. Heavy usage and
a lot of burst shooting, changing from ground to sky a lot. Lens was the 500 f/4 L II - no converter. 

The camera seemed to focus well and could keep up with things, but once in awhile would completely loose af—in like-- the buttons would not function. 
I had to shut the camera off and restart it to regain function. The camera is set to back button focus, focus limiter switch 
was set to distance. I did reset the lens on the camera several times, did not seem to change things.

It was not a huge problem today, more of an annoyance, but I am a little concerned about it. Anyone else experienced this with their 7DII?

Thanks!

Camera also has the latest firmware update.

Is it that focus search on / off thingy in the menu ?

Rob.

Edit . could it be dirty contacts .  

I experienced something similar to this my last two ventures out. In my viewfinder it would denote that it was in manual focus mode which it definitely was not and I wasn't able to trip the shutter. Did you happen to notice this as well ?

Thanks guys,
Rob- I was looking at the menu “Lens drive when AF impossible” It recommends ON not be selected for super telephotos. I have always left that setting ON before, but I guess I will try OFF and see if it makes a difference. Even so, not sure why the AF should lock up?

Mike- I did not notice if the camera was denoting manual focus. I might give it another try today and see if the same thing happens and pay more attention to what is happening.

Thanks!

I had the same problem. Canon did an "18-- Point Canon Maintenance Service," which was covered under the warranty. That was last March and I haven't had this problem since. I would try calling Canon (1-800-652-2666) first and ask to speak to a technician.

Peter

P.W.Post wrote:I had the same problem. Canon did an "18-- Point Canon Maintenance Service," which was covered under the warranty. That was last March and I haven't had this problem since. I would try calling Canon (1-800-652-2666) first and ask to speak to a technician.

Peter

Thanks, Peter. I think I will call and talk to them. I changed AF lens drive to OFF and did not have any problems with the camera today under the same conditions. I was very happy with its performance shooting a lot of continuous action.

Which firmware are you using? I read that there were quite a few users that reported the camera locking up after the upgraded to the new firmware. Maybe it is a firmware bug, or perhaps if the upgrade was not carried out perfectly as directed...

Chris, thank you—that was what I was wondering. I do have the latest firmware installed 1.0.4. I don’t remember anything locking up previous to the update. I did not experience any issues the second time out—and changing the AF lens drive when impossible to OFF. I will call Canon tomorrow just the same.

Thank you.
Bonnie

I purchased a 7dII back in May about a week before the new firmware came out.   I took it to Magee Marsh where the AF performed poorly in general and seemed to get completely confused (i.e. refused to focus on anything)  in some low contrast/busy situations.  On day 4 it locked up.  None of the camera buttons would work.  Had to remove/replace that battery to clear the problem.   Returned it to B&H the following Monday.

After your post I tried turning Lens Drive OFF and ON in my dimly lit basement using an EF300 f2.8 II with an EF2x III. It was not focusing 99% of the time when OFF and focused almost every time when ON. I had updated the firmware. Did not experience locking up or needing to turn off and remove the battery.

Interesting. I did call Canon CPS and talked at length, but there was really nothing they had heard about the problem. I did do a complete factory reset, but have yet to get out into the same conditions —possibly this coming weekend.
I had better success when I turned focus search OFF the second day I went out. It performed pretty much how you would expect and only lost focus
out of range once, but I did not need to restart.
Hopefully, I can test it again this coming weekend when the tides are again right for action.