EOS 60D Images Blurry with AF, but sharp with Live View

Discussion in 'Technical Troubleshooting' started by dcottingham, Nov 6, 2020.

  1. dcottingham

    dcottingham New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2020
    Messages:
    4
    Equipment:
    EOS 60D
    Hi All,
    My EOS 60D has suddenly started taking blurry shots, and I can't work out why.
    I've tried:
    • Two different lenses.
    • Upgrading to the latest firmware.
    • Erasing all settings.
    • "P" and fully automatic modes.
    • Cleaning the mirror, sensor (blowing air onto it), and automatic sensor cleaning.
    • Cleaning the contacts of both the lenses and the body.
    What does *not* work:
    Taking a shot in normal light, sensible ISO settings etc. where AF is set to "One Shot" and the lens is set to AF (with image stabiliser mode enabled). The focus point lights up, the image is clear in the viewfinder, but when I look at the image that has been captured it's blurry.

    What *does* work (i.e. sharp images):
    Taking the same shot where I focus the lens manually (i.e. there's no AF involved).
    Using Live View to take the shot, where the sensor is used to focus the image (again, not using the AF sensors in the camera).

    This leads me to think that the mirror is fine (because the image through the viewfinder is fine, and it's not involved in actually taking the shot anyway); the lenses are fine (because I can get sharp images using Live View and MF); the sensor is fine (ditto). Which makes me suspect the AF sensors themselves.

    Playing with this further, it turns out that out of the nine different AF points, only one (the "lowest" one in the viewfinder) works reliably (i.e. sharp images result with using AF). All the others yield blurry images.

    Does anyone have any suggestions for what I could do to somehow clean the AF sensors, or is this a case of "send it to Canon"?

    Thanks in advance!
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2020

  2. porkphoto

    porkphoto Well-Known Member Site Supporter

    Joined:
    May 9, 2017
    Messages:
    904
    Location:
    Southern California, USA
    Equipment:
    Cameras 1DmkIII, 1DSmkII, 50d, 7d, 6d, 70d, 5Ds ,90D , R7, R5
    Lens 17-40 f4L, 24-70 f4L IS, 100 f2.8L IS macro, 200 f2.8L, 300 f4L IS, 300 f2.8L, 100-400 f4.5-5.6L IS, 500mm f4L IS
    First things first...clean the contacts in the camera and in all the lenses, careful not to damage the pins.
     
  3. dcottingham

    dcottingham New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2020
    Messages:
    4
    Equipment:
    EOS 60D
    Did that too (have now added to the original post -- thanks for the reminder!).
     
  4. BBzone28

    BBzone28 Member

    Joined:
    May 7, 2017
    Messages:
    53
    Location:
    Broomfield, CO, USA
    Equipment:
    Canon FX, A-1, AE-1, AL-1, T60, T90, F-1, new F-1, EOS Rebel II/G/2000/T2, EOS Elan IIe/7N, EOS 50D/20D/10D, Digital Rebel XS/XT/Original
    I'm wondering if you've accidentally adjusted menu settings that "correct" focus problems for some lenses?
    Have you done a factory reset of the menu settings? I don't own a 60D so I don't know all the details about how that's done.
    Most of the prosumer cameras now have features that allow you to fine-tune adjustments to correct focus errors for lenses that have problems with things like "back focus" when mounted to that specific camera.
     
  5. Caladina

    Caladina Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2020
    Messages:
    1,847
    Equipment:
    Canon M50
    Canon 18-45mm m, Canon 18-150mm m, Canon 55-200mm m, Canon 22mm m, Canon 28mm m macro,
    Sigma 100-400c ef, Sigma 18-35mm art ef,
    7artisans 7.5mm m, Laowa 100mm macro ef, laowa 9mm zeroD m, Vintage M42 Lenses:
    Ashi Super - Takumar 1.8 / 55mm,
    not completely sure on the design of the 60d but it sounds like a problem with the secondary focusing mirror or the af chip.
    have you tried micro adjustment to see if its in the tolerance of the adjustment?
    sudden loss of af sounds like something failed though.
    the micro adjustment of the camera as i understand it realigns the af chip and main sensor so the light path focuses correctly as there are two paths of light. the results you were getting make sense if the micro adjustment is out for some reason.
    of it could be something else........

    as i said, not sure on the 60d design, if its anything like this it could be one of those.

    canon af chip.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2020
    dcottingham likes this.
  6. porkphoto

    porkphoto Well-Known Member Site Supporter

    Joined:
    May 9, 2017
    Messages:
    904
    Location:
    Southern California, USA
    Equipment:
    Cameras 1DmkIII, 1DSmkII, 50d, 7d, 6d, 70d, 5Ds ,90D , R7, R5
    Lens 17-40 f4L, 24-70 f4L IS, 100 f2.8L IS macro, 200 f2.8L, 300 f4L IS, 300 f2.8L, 100-400 f4.5-5.6L IS, 500mm f4L IS
    Since the 60D does not have micro focus adjustment...hmmm...I hate to say this but it might be hello Canon time.
     
  7. dcottingham

    dcottingham New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2020
    Messages:
    4
    Equipment:
    EOS 60D
    I wondered that, but yes, I cleared all settings to no avail :-(.
     
  8. dcottingham

    dcottingham New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2020
    Messages:
    4
    Equipment:
    EOS 60D
    I strongly suspect you're right: I'm not sure if there's a way to perform a micro adjustment on this body. Will have a hint through the manual...
    Thanks for the diagram!
     
  9. Caladina

    Caladina Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2020
    Messages:
    1,847
    Equipment:
    Canon M50
    Canon 18-45mm m, Canon 18-150mm m, Canon 55-200mm m, Canon 22mm m, Canon 28mm m macro,
    Sigma 100-400c ef, Sigma 18-35mm art ef,
    7artisans 7.5mm m, Laowa 100mm macro ef, laowa 9mm zeroD m, Vintage M42 Lenses:
    Ashi Super - Takumar 1.8 / 55mm,
    maybe time for an upgrade :)
     
  10. Caladina

    Caladina Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2020
    Messages:
    1,847
    Equipment:
    Canon M50
    Canon 18-45mm m, Canon 18-150mm m, Canon 55-200mm m, Canon 22mm m, Canon 28mm m macro,
    Sigma 100-400c ef, Sigma 18-35mm art ef,
    7artisans 7.5mm m, Laowa 100mm macro ef, laowa 9mm zeroD m, Vintage M42 Lenses:
    Ashi Super - Takumar 1.8 / 55mm,
    looking on youtube i found this
     

Share This Page