Canon Eos 7d Focus
Help! My Canon EOS 7D’s AF doesn’t focus at all!?
You know how the focus lens spin a bit when you auto focus? Mine doesn’t spin anymore! It also feels like that part of the lens lost its grip and it’s gotten very loose. I tried to AF on all the modes but none of them works. In manual settings, everything works perfectly (except the looseness when adjusting the lens to focus).
So when I try to take a picture in AF mode, the shutter snaps open and shut rapidly and red squares appear. I can STILL take a picture if I press it down long enough but the focus is really bad. What should I do?! Is it broken? How do I fix it? Where do I fix it? (Sydney)
THANKS SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!
Starting from the obvious. Is it possible to do a full reset of the camera, and make sure the physical AF/MF switch on the lens is in the AF position. If that doesn’t cure it, then the lens (not the camera) will need to be serviced. If the lens does need service get a quote first to make sure it is an economical viable repair.
Your choice regards lens repair would be either the lens manufacturer (Canon Aus?) or a good local camera shop could suggest a repair location.
Canon Eos 7d Focus
Cheap macro lens for dslr?
I’m looking to buy a macro lens for my Canon eos 550D.
I’ve found a lens on eBay but I honestly don’t know a thing about macro lenses.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tokina-AT-X-Pro-35mm-f2-8-Macro-1-1-7d-1d-500d-550d-600d-40d-50d-60d-Canon-/300696062221?pt=AU_Lenses&hash=item4602e1c90d#ht_500wt_1413
How close could that thing go? I’m assuming that macro lenses are just able to focus on closer subjects than normal ones.
Any help would be appreciated 
If you know of any particular lenses, or sites (preferably Australian) to get them cheap from, that would be awesome.
Cheers!
No such thing as a cheap macro lens. The tokina 35mm f/2.8, while probably the least expensive macro lens you’ll find, is also the most useless macro lens for practical macro photography.
Generally speaking, the shorter the focal length, the closer the minimum focus distance is, which is just 5 and a half inches- from the imaging plane, which means you’ll have to have the front of that lens 2 or 3 inches from what you’re shooting to get 1:1 magnification, which one may assume is the whole point to macro photography. But close focus isn’t the only attribute that differentiates macro lenses from normal lenses. The attribute that is more important than focusing closely is magnification. And that is what makes a macro lens special. Not only that it focuses closely, but that it magnifies. The thing about DX macro lenses like that tokina is that they aren’t true macro lenses. That is why they are so cheap. Sure, it will get you close, and it will magnify to 1:1, but only due to the crop factor of your camera, and the front focusing group of the lens, which will put you too close to whatever you photograph. For subjects like insects- butterflies, bees, and other creepy crawlers, close isn’t what you need, which is actually true for many other subjects of macro photography due to the one thing that most people don’t think about when shooting macro. They see f/2.8 and think, wow….that’s a fast lens! But aperture speed is the least relevant aspect of macro photography for one simple reason- depth of field. The closer you get to something, the less you have. And because that tokina is so short, and you have to be VERY close to what you’re photographing in order for it to be magnified to the ratio of 1:1, you’ll be shooting that lens at f/22 or smaller because detail is a major aspect of extreme close-up photography, and by using such a small aperture, you’ll have to use artificial light (flash) because the camera/lens will be blocking most of the ambient light. Good luck finding a macro ring flash that will work for that lens.
For anything beyond laboratory work, practically speaking, you’ll want a macro lens at least 100mm in focal length. For example, the canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, shown here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/194451-USA/Canon_4657A006_100mm_f_2_8_USM_Macro.html is a $600 lens, among the cheapest actually of all *real* macro lenses, has a wider aperture range- it goes from f/2.8 to f/32 (the tokina only goes to f/22), a 12 inch minimum focus distance- which gives you more working distance, a secondary aperture, internal focus- which is more convenient, allowing you to more precisely measure the 1:1 focus distance- the tokina has a front focus group that moves in and out of the lens, thereby increasing the probability of sucking dirt into the lens, and is generally considered one of the best macro lenses available for canon shooters for the price. Better still, is the sigma 150mm f/2.8 OS, http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/755344-USA/Sigma_106101_150mm_f_2_8_EX_APO.html more working distance and optical stabilization.
Though more expensive, the two examples I’ve given offer better capability than the tokina. Of course, that is my opinion. I’ve shot my share of macro, and I’ve tried many different macro lenses, including DX and AF-S short focal length macro lenses, and I all I can tell you is if you don’t believe me, buy the tokina from a place you can return it to in at least 30 days, use it for a day, and you’ll understand what I mean. Yes, it is technically capable of macro photography. But macro photography is more complicated than that. I recommend you also familiarize yourself with macro photography before you start. You will save yourself a lot of frustration, and give you the knowledge that it isn’t as simple as most people think it is.
Canon EOS 7D – A day in life, featuring David Stoecklein – Performance 7/9