As I blogged about the other day, there’s been a lot of speculation about this camera for a few years and today is finally the day that Canon have announced the elusive 7D.
It fits into an entirely new position in their SLR lineup, right between the current 50d and the 5dMKII and comes in at the VERY attractive price point of $1699 US or $2099 CDN for the body only.
Specification run down:
- 18 megapixel APS-C 1.6x Crop
- 8fps
- Dual Digic IV, new 14-bit ADC circuitry
- New 19-point AF circuitry
- 100% viewfinder with LCD overlay, allowing a level and gridlines to be projected on the screen
- New 63-zone metering system
- Exposure compensation is now +/- 5 stops
- FULLY weathersealed, Not half-weathersealed like the 5D Mark II
- 3″ Rear screen, upgraded version of the one in the 50D and 5D Mark II
- Video is 1080p at 24, 25 or 30 fps, or 720p at 60/50/30/25/24 fps, has manual controls, gridlines and the virtual level available
- ISO 100-6400, extend to 12800
- Internal ETTL flash control (this is a big addition!)
- Uses the same battery as the 5dMKII lp-E6
- New battery grip
Canon has made some extraordinary advances with this camera and I think it’s going to be a huge bit with action sports and adventure photographers such as myself. Having a camera that shoots with the speed of a 1-series camera but in a smaller, lighter package is something I have dreamed of for a long time. There are a few subtle differences in there too which are quite exciting. The 19-point focus system has all 19 points as more accurate cross-type sensors with lenses of 5.6 and up. Great news for people using f4 lenses, the old system only had cross-type function for lenses of 2.8 and up. This should mean greatly improved autofocus speed and tracking even if you are using a teleconverter on an f4 lens. The LCD overlay on in the viewfinder sounds like a great way to display info too. Canon have also finally added ETTL control of external flashes meaning no more ST-E2 transmitter to remotely control and trigger external Canon flashes. I might finally get some use out of my old 580EX now!
As you can see from the photos there are several ergonomic changes too. A dedicated button for liveview and video recording is a welcome addition and also a programmable button next to the shutter release which can be assigned to any function such as mirror lockup.
Cramming 18 megapixles into a 1.6 crop sensor has a few people worried though, this has by far the biggest pixel density of any camera out there right now but has apparently been done with some new technology and should not effect the noise levels. I guess we’ll have to wait and see on that one….
For me this is an exciting introduction. It improves on my current 1dMKIIN in nearly every way and does so in a package that is half the size. Alongside my 5dMKII this will make a formidable combination and I have already added myself to the waiting list to receive one of these cameras as soon as they come into Canada in about a months time.
For the video guys out there the 7d finally adds multiple frame rates with 24p, 25p and 30p in HD and 60p in 720p resolution.
hi,
did you really switch to the 7d?
i am asking myself which would be better an 1d mk2n or a 7d… the new features are very cool but i quite like cameras to be heavy and big, they just feel better in my hands.
it would be great to see some kind of comparison between these to cameras since you are not just shooting lame and boring things like other reviewers.
i am not asking for test shots or side by side noise levels, but it would be great to know how it is to use everyday in the winter.
greets from austria, dominik
Hi Dominik,
Yeah I did switch to the 7d. I will certainly post shots when the winter comes.
I know it is nice to have a weighty feeling camera. But for me its not nice to carry that weight all day so that is a big reason why i made the change. Right now im just waiting for it to snow. WHen it does I will post pictures.
Thanks for reading,
dan
hi,
thanks, i’m looking forward to see your shots.
do you know how heavy your gear on a usual park shooting day is?
i haven’t got that much gear yet, but maybe the day will come when i have to fight every gram.
cheers, dominik
No i dont know exact figures. It varies all the time. Especially if i am carrying strobes. IN that case I am carrying 2 VERY large packs.
sorry for asking again, but i got 2 last questions:
i am doing my stuff with a 30d and the shutter lag of this camera varies quite a bit and it is just annoying if i got the feeling: yes that was the perfect moment this shot must be sick but on the computer it’s nothing. the other way around happens to: shit too early but the pic is great.
how responsive is the 7d compared to the 1 series? until now i thought that a 1d is the only way to have a constant shutter lag.
the second question is how does the viewfinder blackout feel at 8fps? it should be a little bit longer than on your “old” 1d.
ok, that’s it… i hope^^
thanks, dominik.
I really havent used the 7d enough to comment yet. I have been working on other things. I will post info once I have given it enough testing. My initial thought though is that it is not noticeably different from the 1d.
I would say though that I have not heard of such variances in shutter lag before… i used to used a 10d quite successfully when i first started. Perhaps a camera fault?
the 1d cameras should have 40-55ms shutterlag, but i didn’t find such numbers for the 30d oder 7d (maybe nobody takes care of it), but it just feels like it’s not always the same.
i think it is also possible that the release button isn’t that accurate.
anyway i got time, the winter isn’t here yet and i will have too earn some money before i can buy one of those.
thanks for your help and i won’t miss your blog updates.
have a nice day, dominik