Canon EOS 7D

Opinion: Why review it if you haven't used, or even seen someone else use it in the flesh? If you HAVE used one, and want to say "this camera sucks" or "don't waste your time and money" why not post the basis of your eloquently-worded conclusion?

I'm sick of trollish one-liner reviews from $BRAND-X fanbois. Don't be a fan of a brand; DSLRs are tools, and picking a DSLR is a matter of picking the right tool for the job. Sometimes Nikon is the best tool, and sometimes Canon, and other times, Hasselblad. You need to take performance, reliability, and price all into consideration. Every camera is going to be a compromise in some way so PLEASE stop posting the moronic one-liner troll "reviews" to slam your "rival" camera brand. It's childish; just stop it. If you've never touched a particular model camera, or at least haven't even witnessed it in action, you have NO business posting a "review" of it.

I was a Nikon DSLR fan. I still am. However, every few years Canon and Nikon leapfrog each other, just like AMD and Intel do in the CPU world. The EOS 7D and 5D had so many great reviews that I had to try them out. After debating for weeks, I finally decided on the EOS 7D. After using it for a few days I am very confident in my decision. A few years from now in the $1,500-$3000 price level, I'm sure Nikon (or even Pentax? It could happen ;)) will leapfrog Canon. It happens.

For me, what tipped the scales in favor of the 7D over Nikon's offerings, or even the 5D? A lot of things; here is a list of a few of the top features from my perspective (most important features for me marked with an asterisk(*)):

- Incredibly low noise; although it may be noiser than the 5D in some respect, it is only slightly so
- The quick menu provides all settings at a glance
- the new autofocus algorithm - 19 cross-type AF sensors - and I am not disappointed*
- the HD video recording features that are vastly improved over the 5D
- the continuous burst rate (8 FPS - and yes, it does fire shots off unbelievably fast!)
- Excellent high ISO performance*
- wireless flash control (the built-in good for fill with a 420EX II and 580EX providing background and key lighting, respectively)
- 100% viewfinder coverage*

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Price:

This camera is not expensive; the price is unbelievable as competitors' offerings can't hold a candle to this camera's combination of performance, construction quality, and price.

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Also, the included "kit" lens is actually a mid-to-high end (but not L-series) lens and is a very good lens. It's an EF lens though, intended for FF cameras so you will have to contend with the 1.6 crop factor. This means the lens is approximately equivalent to a 44.8-216mm lens so you WILL need a wider lens to complement the kit lens.

I was getting soft photos at first. I didn't do an AF microadjust at first because I knew the biggest factor was technique. After spending two solid days playing with the camera and RTFMing in between (still not through the manual yet) I started getting reasonably sharp photos, so I did the microadjust procedure. I am now getting perfectly sharp photos out of this awesome camera.

I think a lot of the "focus problems" people are claiming to have with the 7D is either not having the patience to learn how to use it (remember, a camera is only one factor in getting a good shot and is NOT the largest contributing factor) and not doing the AF Microadjustment because they believe the manual's claim that "Normally, this adjustment is not required." In actuality when the tolerance for focus on such a small sensor is on the order of microns, it's likely that AF Microadjust is required for each and every lens you have, if you want razor-sharp photos.

Opinion: First a little bit about my camera history. Before digital I used Canon EOS 1 and EOS
5 film cameras, moving to first a Canon 300D, then a 450D and now a 7D.
On first handling the EOS 7D my impression was this was a serious camera, very
reminiscent of the Canon film cameras that I owned and used. A good solid feel
with the right amount of weight in the hand. As a camera it fitted my hands much
better than the 300/450 D models being that bit larger. I actually liked the extra
weight it seemed to me that the weight aided the control of the camera.
Controls were all very familiar and although some were placed differently, to what I
was used to on the 300/450 D models, one quickly got used to the new layout. I
found the menus quite intuitive, although there are more of them than on the
300/450 D models.
Making some adjustments to the menus I was ready to shoot some pictures. I got
the 7D with the EFS 15-85 f3.5/5.6 IS lens. I think it worth mentioning something
about this lens. Again like the 7D the lens feels solid, has a nice action and the
image stabilisation is quite amazing. I was impressed with the IS of the 100-400
mm L lens, but this was something else. Holding the camera to the eye and looking
through the viewfinder and the world became completely still when you pressed the
shutter.
Being a dull day with the odd snow flurry I decided to try the auto ISO setting, I
also selected the peripheral illumination control as well.
Some of my first shots were inside, so fairly poor available light, the auto ISO
selected 1600 and the shot was taken with a shutter speed of 1/25. Looking at the
result on the cameras screen I was stunned by how good it looked. I would have
thought ISO 1600 to be quite horrible but it wasn’t the picture looked well great. I
tried a few more shots inside again at what I would have thought were ridiculously
slow shutter speeds and very high ISO settings. Yet back home on the computer as
I processed the RAW files I was most impressed.
Moving outside I took some more photos and the auto ISO was now selecting ISO
125 to 200 with the increase in available light. The camera was a joy to use the
viewfinder bright and informative.
The lens just continued to impress, the IS proving to be a knockout feature on the
lens for me.
So once home and on the computer I opened the RAW images with Canon’s Digital
Photo Professional. Processing the pictures I found a breeze and for most of the
shots the camera settings proving quite ideal in most cases. (Perhaps I should try
saving RAW and jpeg, might save me some time?) I had the lighting optimizer
option on and I found that for the shots I had taken it proved very effective. But
like the peripheral illumination control you could either tweak it in DPP or remove it
if you wanted.
So all in all I am very impressed with my first foray out and about with the 7D. I
look forward to taking a lot more pictures with it and using my other two lenses on
it, my 10-22mm and the aforementioned 100-400mm IS L series lens.
I would like to mention a couple of things, reading some of the discussions around
one would be forgiven for thinking that there may be some problem with the
focussing on the 7D. All I can say is in all the pictures taken so far I can’t fault its
focussing. I even sat down with the camera tripod mounted and with the 100-
400mm lens tried out the focussing. Again I could find no fault.
Also there seems to a lot of discussion about noise, yes looking at some of the
pictures I have taken at ISO 1600 at 100% you can see noise. But looking at the
picture approaching more, shall we say, 'normal' sizes I did not find noise a
problem. The slight noise you might get in some low light shots at high ISO to me
can help the shot. In the days of silver halide some photographers used the 'grain'
to enhance their shots.
Also there has been mention of substantial vignetting with the EFS 15-85mm IS
lens, especially at its widest setting. Well I could not fault it, yes there may be a
little bit but nothing that would cause undue concern I would have thought. You
have the peripheral illumination option available anyway which you can fine tune in
DPP or turn off all together. So I can see no reason for vilifying this lens to the
degree that some do.
The only negative point I would make is about DPP, it is a great programme for
tweaking your RAW images but why does it take so long to convert to jpeg?
So all in all the 7D is quite some camera offering the user the ability to obtain some
superb photo’s using available light with it’s auto ISO setting. Build quality would
seem excellent, features again are excellent and handling well excellent again, so I
think all in all an excellent camera. Well done Canon.
Phil

Opinion: I'm on my second 7D body in five months - the first one was faulty (autofocus problems - the store diagnosed as the sensor not fitted properly). I bought this camera based on web reviews, magazine reviews and handling the unit. I am not happy with it. Image quality is soft and noisy with whatever lens / aperture / ISO I use (I have to perform major post processing on raw images using DxO Optics and Photoshop). Colour quality is average. Autofocus is fast but iffy. 8fps is great for taking 8 iffy focussed pictures per second. Video mode - not my area of expertise. Lens micro adjustment - no difference between +20 and -20 adjustment using LensAlign Pro. Exposure - iffy. From the reviews I keep reading, this should be a great camera and I want to love it but I think I am going to have to take it back as it is destroying any enjoyment of my hobby.

Opinion: This is a great camera. It is expensive, but it is very quick, both in AF and FPS. All features work well, it is very customizable. Sensor is sharper than my older 40D. It is not perfect per pixel, but it is sharper than what I had overall. It has a high pixel density for cropping ability. I use ISO up to 6400 with acceptable results. Movie mode is great except for the moire.