Canon 7D

[Camera man]

Just wondering if anyone else has done any shooting with the newest model yet. I have someone who really wants to buy my 40D but im just not ready to give it up yet. Have looked at other fourms but to much bashing going on. I just want a up front honest opion from a user here. I dont need all of the BS just consistant opions. Thanks, your input would be very helpful.

[Photo-John]

I don't know if you've seen the stuff I've posted, but I picked up my 7D last week and I had a pre-production unit from Canon over Labor Day weekend. I was not impressed with the changes between the Canon EOS 50D and the 40D. But I am very please with the 7D. Despite what some have said, I think the image quality is a solid improvement over the 50D and so far I the auto focus performance seems to fall somewhere between the 40D/50D and the 1D Mk III.

It was the new AF system that got me to jump in so fast. My main subjects are cycling and snow sports and I was a bit frustrated with the 40D and 50D. I was starting to feel like I might need to buy another 1D (I had the very first EOS-1D) for the auto focus. But the 7D seems like a good compromise since I only need the 1D AF performance a small percentage of the time.

Here are links to the stuff I've posted so far:

Canon EOS 7D Beta Camera Studio Sample Photos >>
Canon EOS 7D Preview Article >>
Canon EOS 7D Sample Photo Gallery >>
Canon EOS 7D Action Photo / AF Tests >>
Canon EOS 7D Video Sampler >>

Just curious - what kind of bashing are people doing? Is it legit at all or just the usual Nikon vs Canon crap? We don't do that much here, for what it's worth. But I'd like to know if there are any serious arguments against the camera so I can test it myself. So far I've found it to be much better than I expected. After replacing my 40D with a 50D I was pretty skeptical. But I was pleasantly surprised by the 7D. I think Canon has done a very good job with this one.

[Camera man]

Alot of the the same old crap nikon vs Canon and how much better ones skill can be. Also have seen samples of high ISO samples in low light 1600-6400 and have they have been awful. Not canon quality at all. Some with 200 f/2L lens have been bad. Low light soccer games. Was so graniey that it makes you wonder how much they croped in on it or did someone use a point and shoot and say it was 7D. I really wnt to se excited about ths camera and the AF was the same thing that drew me to camera as I do alot of birding but would also like to use camera for portrit and landscape photography. Would like to have markII but not the shutter speed I want.

[Photo-John]

Also have seen samples of high ISO samples in low light 1600-6400 and have they have been awful. Not canon quality at all.

Not having seen the samples I can't comment on them. But you can look at the full res samples I've posted and judge for yourself. They're straight out of the camera JPEGs with no adjustment. Keep in mind that whenever you look at images on the computer at 100%, you're not seeing them as they were intended to be viewed or at their best. Viewing at full size on the computer is useful for comparing noise levels. But you have to consider resolution as well. If you view a 10-megapixel file and a 20-megapixel file side to side on the computer and they look the same, you have to remember that the noise in the larger file will be effectively minimized at a normal viewing size.

What kinds of subjects do you shoot? I'm interested in the 7D because I shoot action. If I didn't and low light shooting was a priority, I'd definitely be looking at the 5D Mark II. It's a great camera. But it's not a great sports camera.

[byjamesderuvoDHQ]

One feature I really like is the ability to alter the frame rate in the HD video recorder to 24 fps. If only it were full frame.

[Camera man]

Hello again, I really like the challenge or shooting BIF, and all nature scenes. For right now I do alot of family events and what ever else might happen along. I do agree with low light preformance of 5D mark II and the detail it gathers is amazing. But have also spent money on 70-200 f/L IS and 300 f/4L IS. I think if I tryed to run the 5D past the wife I might get taken out back, and well you know the rest of the story. Go to dp review and look at postings and samples of 7D Thats where I saw them john.

[Photo-John]

Go to dp review and look at postings and samples of 7D Thats where I saw them john.

Heh heh. No need for me to go look at what people are posting there. I made my own controlled samples in the studio. You can compare them back-to-back with the studio samples from the 5D Mk II. They're unprocessed and carefully made. They can be trusted

[AgingEyes]

Heh heh. No need for me to go look at what people are posting there. I made my own controlled samples in the studio. You can compare them back-to-back with the studio samples from the 5D Mk II. They're unprocessed and carefully made. They can be trusted

But have you tried it with BIF shots? You know, flying raptors with clustered/noisy background, flying swallows, etc.?

[Camera man]

Best info I have got yet. Let me ask you this? What is the low light preformance of the 7D compaired to the 40D. Just wondering if I should sell my 40 to my friend or hang onto it. I did check out the samples of jpeg 7D shots. COOL MAN! really liked the detail for jpeg. Are you going to post any raw shoots? Or did I miss a link to check them out? Also contrast and color of jpeg shoots are good.

[Camera man]

Was alo wondering about software for the 7D for post prosessing. I have been using Canona Digital photo prof program with my 40D. I just down loaded Corel program as it has some really nice help menus without pages and pages of useless info that I will never read. Im not very strong in this area at all but would like to be at some point. Does a large jump in megapixles mean more headache in this area. With canon software I can just convert my raw over to jpeg and print with pics from my 40. I want to keep this as simple as possible but if it is going to be a big hassle in this area it could be deal breaker for me. Thank you for what you have shared so far. Very helpful.

[John Q. Camera]

Was so graniey that it makes you wonder how much they croped in on it or did someone use a point and shoot and say it was 7D.

I'm going to make a slightly OT comment here regarding possibly misleading information posted about images - and something that may help you discover if the images were actually shot the way the individual says they were (ISO, speed, aperature, sometimes even the camera model, etc...).

If you use Firefox when browsing you can get an EXIF viewer plugin that is quite handy, it will tell you all kinds of information about the photo - provided that the information hasn't been wiped out by picture editing software before it was posted.

Pretty handy, I use it fairly often when I see a picture that I want to know more about.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3905

[Photo-John]

Best info I have got yet. Let me ask you this? What is the low light preformance of the 7D compaired to the 40D. Just wondering if I should sell my 40 to my friend or hang onto it. I did check out the samples of jpeg 7D shots. COOL MAN! really liked the detail for jpeg. Are you going to post any raw shoots? Or did I miss a link to check them out? Also contrast and color of jpeg shoots are good.

I think the 7D is a very solid upgrade from the 40D or 50D. I did not feel the same about upgrading from the 40D to the 50D. Performance, image quality and features are all significantly improved over both the 40D and the 50D.

I never post RAW sample files because you'd need special software to view the files. Usually I shoot the tests in RAW and then convert to JPEG in Lightroom or the manufacturer's software, with no adjustments. However, the studio samples for the 7D were shot with a pre-production camera and I didn't have RAW software for the camera yet. I haven't re-shot the tests because the JPEGs from the pre-production camera looked so good. It's just safe to assume that the RAW image quality from a production camera is going to offer better ultimate image quality. Before I do my final review I probably will shoot them again and compare. If the production camera and RAW files show a significant difference I will repost the new samples.

[ianjenn]

Just wondering if anyone else has done any shooting with the newest model yet. I have someone who really wants to buy my 40D but im just not ready to give it up yet. Have looked at other fourms but to much bashing going on. I just want a up front honest opion from a user here. I dont need all of the BS just consistant opions. Thanks, your input would be very helpful.

The 7D is VERY GOOD! It has killer color retention about the same as the old 5D. I shoot studio images 40+ hours a week and the 5D used to be my go to. Well no longer. The ISO looks pretty good also at 3200 and it seems to track very well moving objects.

I think they made the focusing system a little too complex but that just me.