Review of Canon 7D

[nesschris]

Thank you for the review as I have been considering the 7D for some time now. Much Appreciated.

[trigger]

Having had the 7D for about 2 months, its been in my pack / car every day to work.
Been using it as a candidate to replace both my 1D2Ns.
How good is it? every thing above Tricky mentioned.

With the addition of the below observations.

-Built in flash / Wireless flash - +2 to Canon to finally putting his feature in. Saves from having ST controllers or a massive 580ex master on the camera itself!

-AF Fast. But still not as good as the 1D2N series which is about 6 years older?
Did a test in low light and the 7D just didnt cut it vs the 1d2N aging AF.

Now thinking about letting go of the 7D as a longish / high FPS replacement for the 1D2N. sign...

[Perfectoarts]

Well I sold my 20D & 40D and purchased the 7D as a second body. What a joy to use and yes, I agree, the AF system is something to learn for sure. Not for the beginner I'd say.
My other beast of course is 5D MKII - which I love to death.
Cannot give any further review at this stage as I have only used the 7D twice now.

[Speedway]

I have had my 7D for 8 months (15000+ actuations) now and agree with your review except I find the camera very easy to hold coming from a 400D with grip. I have not added a grip to the 7D as yet as the battery life is phenomenal at 1200+ actuations with my 18-250 Sigma OS fitted. Also the camera may not fit in the backpack with the grip attached (I have trouble closing it now). I can't give any comments on the video side as I have never used it and also wish they had left it off to reduce the price. In closing I am very pleased with this cameras performance and I am still learning new options.

[nesschris]

I have been considering purchasing the 7D. Does anyone have any opinions on the best walk around lens to buy for it? My interest is mainly landscape but also now spend a lot of time taking portraits of the kids. I am using an EOS 350D at present with the basic kit lens. I have now outgrown this lens and camera especially when it comes to portraits. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Alysia]

I've been thinking about upgrading to the 7D. Thank you for the reviews, has helped me make up my mind on the camera..

[blissful]

I have been considering purchasing the 7D. Does anyone have any opinions on the best walk around lens to buy for it?

I have the EF-S 15-85mm and consider this lens a great all-around lens for the 7D - equates to 24-136mm on a full-frame sensor.
It's wide enough to do justice to landscape photography and covers a good range for any portrait and family pictures. It's not inexpensive but I don't think you'd be disappointed with it at all.

[Pinarelloman]

Of couse there is now the 60D to compare with the 7D.

[Elogosha]

The Canon 24-105mm L f/4 IS USM is the best walk around experienced yet. It's lighter than the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L. It can also do Macro if forced but wouldn't match a true Macro lens.

The 7D is truly a marvelous camera for its price at the top end of the APS-C's. THe 60D would be most practical for those who do more videos.

[nesschris]

thanks Mike for this advice.

[Jordan Compte]

in regards to the audio with video.

I'm going to be purchasing one of these, and if you want good HD audio files to go with the HD video I highly suggest you investing in one of these:

H4n
http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h4n/


I found that this is one of the best microphones before getting a Rode microphone.

[jdreamer]

I find that having the microphone with me is helpful. I 'loaned' my friend's 7D for a weekend over a project and the microphone definitely boost the quality a lot!

[Tricky]

Some 18 months after my original review and I still think it holds true...

However, I think I've learned a bit more since then about my own shooting habits:
- don't shoot much that utilises the 7D's trick AF system (eg birding or sports)
- shoot most of my macro with the MPE-65, where diffraction kicks in pretty early (anything above f/11 is visibly affected) on a tightly packed sensor such as the 7D's...

The above is leading me towards a full frame camera... either a 5D2 or maybe hold on for the elusive future 5D3...

[Ozspeed]

I too have now upgraded to the 7D Tricky.

I found when shooting at a race circuit for the first time, it was easier to go back to the 40D until I had figured out why the camera was soooo sensitive. Any change in light eg: when panning, the exposure went haywire, I was shooting in shutter priority.

In a 30* pan, the exposure changed by nearly 2 stops . I've since found its easier to shoot action in manual, I just can't get my head around the way it evaluates exposure.

Must be something in the settings ey?

[etherial]

Have you tried the different exposure metering settings? It will behave differently to what you are familiar with. I actually prefer centre weighted average on my 7D, it seems to get me more predictable results.

[Woody08]

Interesting thread, thank you.

I've just bought a 7D and have only a dozen or so shots so far. It is so much different to my 450D. I think I will have to retire to find the time to learn its nuances.

Cheers,

John W

[Speedway]

The 7D does take a bit of time to get used to but the more I use it the more I learn and the more I like it. After over 18 months I have found using the spot focus best for birding and motor sports, in fact I use this for most of my photography moving the spot around to suit the subject. Shooting Go Karts I can pan up to 200°. For motor sport panning I use Tv @1/90th. For birding I use Av @ F8 and adj. the ISO to suit conditions for both.
Keith.

[Adam Randell]

Great bit of info here guys & gals, I shoot with a 50D & looking to get a second body, hard to decide between the 7D & 5dmkII.
The biggest thing in going to 7D is that all my current lenses will go straight on. If I go full frame I need a new landscape lens...Doh!!
I good to read all the positives here though!!

[flashc]

I've had my 7D for over 12 months now and after using a 300D since 2003, the 7D is the best camera I've ever owned. My previous film SLR cameras were Olympus OM2n OM1 OM2sp OM10.
I don't like digital camera noise so I always try to shoot at 100 ISO. Last night I shot a rodeo at 12800 ISO f5.6 -f4.0 1/60-1/125 sec. It was a case of use it or have no photos.
I'm still waiting for a digital SLR with no noise up to 6400 ISO. Maybe the new 5D release will work towards this. Depending on what happens with the next version of the 5D, I may buy another 7D as a second body.

[ricktas]

I've had my 7D for over 12 months now and after using a 300D since 2003, the 7D is the best camera I've ever owned. My previous film SLR cameras were Olympus OM2n OM1 OM2sp OM10.
I don't like digital camera noise so I always try to shoot at 100 ISO. Last night I shot a rodeo at 12800 ISO f5.6 -f4.0 1/60-1/125 sec. It was a case of use it or have no photos.
I'm still waiting for a digital SLR with no noise up to 6400 ISO. Maybe the new 5D release will work towards this. Depending on what happens with the next version of the 5D, I may buy another 7D as a second body.

Interesting! You don't like digital camera noise, but film grain (noise) would have have been definitely worse at ISO6400 (not that film was readily available at that speed anyway). I think digital handles higher ISO much cleaner than film ever did.