RRS Loc: Not sure

Love my 600 but it is heavy.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

The 7DII has the latest form of Micro Focus Adjust... Using MFA you can fine tune focus accuracy with a zoom at two extremes: You can make two adjustments, one each at the shortest and the longest focal length settings of the zoom.

I'd make sure the camera's firmware is up to date first. You can't do anything yourself about the lens' firmware, that has to be done by Tamron.

A quick way to test is to take set everything up securely on a tripod and with a well-lit, detailed, and contrasty target (such as a weathered fence or brick wall) that should be easy to focus upon. Now set the viewfinder-based AF system to focus in One Shot mode, select a single AF point manually, then focus on your target... After that's achieved focus, be careful not to manually change focus and switch the camera to Live View... thend re-focus. See if the focus changes. If so, most likely the viewfinder-based AF is out of adjustment. Repeat several times to see if the error is consistent. (The reason this works is because Live View uses a different AF system that's usually more accurate, although a little slower... so this test procedure gives you a good comparison.)

If just off a little, you can use MFA to correct it.

If the amount of adjustment needed is more than is possible with the camera's MFA feature, either the camera or lens or both may need professional adjustment. If other lenses work okay on the camera, then it's most likely the lens. Another way to test it would be to go to a shop that has a demo copy of the same Tamron lens and give it a try on your camera.

Have you changed anything else, such as starting to use a "protection" filter on the lens? If so, try without.

Have you changed techniques, such as using multiple points in the 7DII where you used to use single point in the 60D? Have you set up AI Servo focus priority versus shutter release priority? There are two of those on the 7DII: 1st image and 2nd/subsequent images. If set to prioritize shutter release (for fastest bursts and minimum shutter lag), focus precision might suffer.

Or, have you changed techniques where you are zooming the lens after focusing... the Tammy 150-600mm is probably a varifocal zoom, which means it won't maintain focus when the focal length is changed. It needs to be re-focused after any zooming.

Have you accidentally set AI Focus? If so, the camera may be responding differently than you think. AI Focus is nto really a focus mode, per se. It's supposed to detect whether or not a subject is moving and then switch to using whatever the camera "thinks" is the correct mode... either AI Servo or One Shot. Testing with a stationary subject it should use One Shot, which requires different re-focusing-after-zooming technique than AI Servo.

Also, the 7DII has a whole lot more AF points than the 60D. 65 points instead of 9 points. The area covered by the AF point array may differ, too. If letting the camera auto-select the AF point it's using, it will usually focus on whatever is closest and covered by an AF point. You should review your test images with the Canon software to see what AF point is

Lens focusing mechanisms do wear with use and can get out of adjustment over time. So it's possible that a lens used without any problems some years ago would not focus as accurately today... but there are a lot of variables. The whole idea of testing is to narrow down the problem.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

First off washy, you should post a picture so we can see an example of what you're talking about. Don't forget to use the store original check box and don't remove the metadata. We need that to see things such as the shutter speed etc.

Now you said that the lens is sharp when shooting stationary subjects but not BIF. BIF are not easy and take practice and skill, not to mention you need to really know your camera and the best settings for BIF. Even the most skilled photographers probably won't get an entire series of shots in perfect focus of a Bird In Flight. If you get half of them tack sharp, you are doing good. If you are only getting 1 or 2 out of 10, you need practice, to possibly correct your number of focus points, or to change your focus settings in the 7D II. This camera has the most sophisticated focusing system made but you need to understand it to get the best results. Each lens has a sweet spot too. I hear that most Tamron 150-600's shoot best at 500mm and that at 600mm they are a little soft.

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

First could you post one of your images, and don't forget to check "store original?" Then we can see exactly what the problem is. Be sure to post a image with fore ground, and background, like a bush. That will show front/back focus. With my experience with the Tamron 150-600 it is difficult to set the micro adjustment using the old ruler trick. I use a British program "FoCal". It is a quick and easy program to set-up, and shoot a target. If you buy the most advanced version, it will set the numbers automatically into your 7D Mark II. With this program, you will need a strong tripod. The program will make the camera take many shots of the target, so use a fully charged battery. Remember, the 7D Mark II came after the Tamron lens, so Tamron will have to put the focus logarithm into the lens to really get pin sharp focus. If you have sent the lens in to Tamron, and mentioned the Canon Mark II, and the Lens, they will do it for you. I found after sending my lens back, and telling them which bodies I'll use it on, they removed all the non-essential camera bodies logarithms, and just installed the 7D MII, and 6D. I then reset the front/back focus, using FoCal. I also found, that running the lens to 600mm against the stops can cause a problem with focus. Drop the zoom back just notch, and focus.

B

washy Loc: Dorset UK

The lens was fine with the 60D it's just the 7Dmk2. Mind you I tried a Canon 6D with the 100-400 Mk2 Canon lens on the Canon stand at the photography show last month and that lens was all over the place with that body, when it was switched to a 5Dmk3 it was great. the main problem I have is the images look sharp in the cameras LCD monitor but blown up they are not sharp. Also if for example I shoot a barn owl at 50 yards at a slow shutter speed the wings are nicely blurred giving a hover effect but the face is not sharp, which is annoying. when shot at faster speeds the images are still not sharp. After tomorrow things may improve when the lens is micro calibrated to the 7Dmk 2 body. If that does not work it can go back to Tamron for the 2nd time, stating the lens is unfit for purpose with a view to getting a replacement. Thanks for you comments

Psergel Loc: New Mexico

Both.

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

Thx. I was wondering whether it had to do something with the full frame vs. the crop. I really am not very happy with the 7DII, the images are just a little soft even if they are in focus. I know there is no comparison in price, but I am really happy, by comparison, with the 1DX, even with a crop to bring the image to relatively the same equivalent size to the crop of the 7DII.

Thanks for responding. Been down to Bosque lately. I've only been there in January, about the time of the Crain Festival. I wonder what the spring is like?

Psergel Loc: New Mexico

I'm actually pretty happy with my 7DII. I'm a little ISO spoiled from using the 6D but I certainly haven't noticed any softness if I'm using my 24-105. my 100 macro or my 70-300.
The only time I get soft images is with the Tamron.

I too was at the Bosque in January. The winter is definetly more active than the spring or summer. You kind of have to hunt for the birds as it gets warmer.
I may try a day or two in the very near future .

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

Thanks for the info on Bosque. I hope to get over there next winter. Hoping for the right wind and good am liftoffs.

Stevenwillemse Loc: Canberra Australia

Interesting because i have both the canon 6d and 7d mark2 and this lens works well on the 6d but intermittently on the 7dm2 now use the canon 100 to 400 on 7dm2 and tammy for the 6d exclusively.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

A friend of mine went through 3 - 7DII bodies before he got one that focused properly on BIF - with the CANON 100-400 ! He returned 2 to B&H.

Stevenwillemse Loc: Canberra Australia

Thank my lucky stars I got one that is sharp the only problem is the operator