So a week or so ago, I promised you all some more detailed thoughts on Canon's new 7D. This is in no way a detailed technical review, there are more than enough sources on the internet to find that information if you want it. Rather, I'm going to give you some of my thoughts on the camera, how I think it handles, what I like and what I don't. Here it comes, beware the faint of heart:
1. First of all I like the look of the camera. From the XXD line it upgrades a bit on the design end. The sharp lines where the pop-up flash rises in the XXD series is smoothed in the 7D, emulating to some degree, the contours of Canon's professional grade cameras. It is perhaps a touch heavier than my 40D without the battery grip. I also very much like that Canon dispensed with the silly pre-set options on the dial (landscape, portrait, close-up etc.) I never used those, and nor should any serious photographer. It is nice to see them gone. I wish it came equipped with a vertical grip such as the 1D and 1Ds series but that, I realize, is asking too much in a mid-line camera. There are also substantial upgrades to the body material, full magnesium alloy which should make it substantially more durable than the XXD line and more equivalent to the 5D.
2. I LOVE the resolution on the screen. It is far and away better than the 40D. Great colors, and sharpness with enough detail to get a solid idea of the noise in an image. An excellent upgrade.
3. I even more love the fact that this camera can shoot full HD video. This opens up a world of possibilities for new creative endeavors, expanding my work into the realm of multi-media. I'm no expert in this regard so can't say how it compares to other cameras, but it is hard to imagine a better image, the files are huge, sharp and detailed. One nit is that I can't seem to get the camera to autofocus while shooting video, I may just not have the settings right, but this is something I need to explore more.
4. The autofocus is an improvement over the XXD line, but the user interface to select among the 18 sensors is a bit cumbersome. Again, maybe I just need to play with this, but so far, I'm only able to figure out how to select a focus point manually by clicking the select button then moving the multi-controller. On my 40D I only had to adjust the multi-controller which took less time. The autofocus does suffer from Canonitis. That being, it is a bit slow and unreliable in low-light conditions.
5. I love that the pop-up flash (otherwise useless) can be used as a commander for off-camera flash. With the click of a few menu selections I can separately control three groups of flashes. The camera seems to seamlessly communicate with both my old Canon 420EX and my new 580EX II. For general portrait and studio work, this saves the hassle and expense of dealing with Pocket Wizards.
6. Noise. This camera is 18+ megapixels in an APS-C sized sensor. That is PACKING them in there so I'm not surprised there is a bit of noise. Low ISOs (100-400 or even 800) are quite acceptable and require relatively little clean-up in Lightroom. However at 1600 and above it starts to get messy. I've gotten decent results at 1600 but that was starting to push it. With good noise reduction software on your side, or small reproduction sizes you might be able to go higher.
Well there you go. As you can see, in general, I like this camera a lot. It isn't perfect, the noise and auto-focus could be improved, but for the bucks, I think its the best camera on the market.
1. First of all I like the look of the camera. From the XXD line it upgrades a bit on the design end. The sharp lines where the pop-up flash rises in the XXD series is smoothed in the 7D, emulating to some degree, the contours of Canon's professional grade cameras. It is perhaps a touch heavier than my 40D without the battery grip. I also very much like that Canon dispensed with the silly pre-set options on the dial (landscape, portrait, close-up etc.) I never used those, and nor should any serious photographer. It is nice to see them gone. I wish it came equipped with a vertical grip such as the 1D and 1Ds series but that, I realize, is asking too much in a mid-line camera. There are also substantial upgrades to the body material, full magnesium alloy which should make it substantially more durable than the XXD line and more equivalent to the 5D.
2. I LOVE the resolution on the screen. It is far and away better than the 40D. Great colors, and sharpness with enough detail to get a solid idea of the noise in an image. An excellent upgrade.
3. I even more love the fact that this camera can shoot full HD video. This opens up a world of possibilities for new creative endeavors, expanding my work into the realm of multi-media. I'm no expert in this regard so can't say how it compares to other cameras, but it is hard to imagine a better image, the files are huge, sharp and detailed. One nit is that I can't seem to get the camera to autofocus while shooting video, I may just not have the settings right, but this is something I need to explore more.
4. The autofocus is an improvement over the XXD line, but the user interface to select among the 18 sensors is a bit cumbersome. Again, maybe I just need to play with this, but so far, I'm only able to figure out how to select a focus point manually by clicking the select button then moving the multi-controller. On my 40D I only had to adjust the multi-controller which took less time. The autofocus does suffer from Canonitis. That being, it is a bit slow and unreliable in low-light conditions.
5. I love that the pop-up flash (otherwise useless) can be used as a commander for off-camera flash. With the click of a few menu selections I can separately control three groups of flashes. The camera seems to seamlessly communicate with both my old Canon 420EX and my new 580EX II. For general portrait and studio work, this saves the hassle and expense of dealing with Pocket Wizards.
6. Noise. This camera is 18+ megapixels in an APS-C sized sensor. That is PACKING them in there so I'm not surprised there is a bit of noise. Low ISOs (100-400 or even 800) are quite acceptable and require relatively little clean-up in Lightroom. However at 1600 and above it starts to get messy. I've gotten decent results at 1600 but that was starting to push it. With good noise reduction software on your side, or small reproduction sizes you might be able to go higher.
Well there you go. As you can see, in general, I like this camera a lot. It isn't perfect, the noise and auto-focus could be improved, but for the bucks, I think its the best camera on the market.
