Canon EOS 7D

Opinion: I love my EOS 7. I bought it 2 years ago and I am not able to see its limits... The limits are me.

(I am french... excuse my english)

Opinion: This camera is an exelent product. Its like 5D MKII but with APC-S sensor and money can buy it :) !

Opinion: I take Macro photographs of cut and uncut gemstones and for years have used an Olympus SP-570UZ. It has worked great and I get great detail and sharpness. Many times my lens is ½ to ¼” from the subject and lens shadow highly restricts lighting possibilities. This coupled with the lens extension occasionally knocking over the subject and the fact that Megapixels are limited to 3 in Macro mode; I decided to seek something better suited to what I do.
I researched and bought the Canon 7D and the 100mm F2.8 L IS USM lens and initially found it to be great with the exception of soft edges and noise in the photos. I started out taking Photos of items like manual lenses and other photography equipment. Not totally satisfied with the 7D, I started into the Macro side of what I do.
I tried taking photos of rough (Uncut) gemstones. These gems run in size from several inches to about ¼”. I am highly consumed with the depth of field and since I have always used manual focus for the Macro gem shots, I proceeded as normal and set the lens to f32 and began to manually focus these shots.
What I found was that my areas of focus were certainly closer to being in focus, but appeared grainy when examined at 100% in Photoshop. Ultimately there wasn’t one spot on any of my pics that was sharp. I tried the auto focus just in case of operator error, but the results were always identical. The lens has been great and allows for many lighting setups, but I am now using my Olympus SP-570UZ to take the gemstone photos. The mind boggling thing to me is that the 7D is an 18 MP camera that comes nowhere near the quality of the Olympus which is normally a 10 MP, but in Macro mode the Olympus is restricted to 3 MP. For internet display I show my photos at 1600 x1600 px and there is no comparison between my 7D photos and the same photos taken with the Olympus SP-570UZ.
I took photos of the same gemstone with the two different cameras. I will try to post them. The photo with the blue background is the Canon 7D photo. The background is bluish because I set the white balance so it would show up on the blue side. The second photo is from the Olympus SP-570UZ. Neither was edited other than to crop them too 1600x1600 px.
If anyone has comments, please let me know.

Opinion: I pre-ordered the 7D immediately after it was announced and I'm still happily using it. I jokingly call it the EOS-1D Lite - it's that good. I shoot mostly outdoor action sports where auto focus is my number one requirement and the 7D's AI-Servo AF is excellent. I shoot skiing, snowboarding and cycling and it's nearly as good as the EOS-1D Mk IV, which I've also used a lot. In fact, unless I use the two cameras back-to-back, I don't miss the improved performance of the 1D at all. And I definitely don't miss the size and weight of the 1D when I'm on my mountain bike or ski touring in the back country.

My only real issue with the 7D is the resolution. I wish Canon had of applied whatever processing and sensor wizardry they had at the time to the 15-megapixel sensor from the 50D. That would have given the 7D better low light performance. I think it's very good up to ISO 800 but at ISO1600 you have to be right on with your exposure and you can't push the files hard in post-processing without getting noticeably noisy images - and I'm not a pixel-peeper, either.

I also use the 7D a lot in the studio for product photography. Image quality isn't an issue there since I'm almost always using a tripod. But since I'm working on a tripod, I do wish the 7D had a tilt-swivel LCD display. An adjustable LCD display is a godsend for my back when I'm doing tabletop product photos or even landscape on a tripod. I keep thinking about buying a T3i / 600D just for the tilt-swivel LCD. Plus, I don't need the speed or AF benefits of the 7D in the studio. A T3i would work just fine.

Opinion: Voilà, je poste une très brève review en français !

Pour moi cet appareil est simplement parfait pour un APS-C.

J'ai testé beaucoup d'objectifs avec ce boitier et je me suis aperçu que certains objectifs comme le tamron 17-50 F2.8 faisaient régulièrement l'erreur :"erreur de communication entre l'objectif et le boitier".

Mis à part ça je n'ai jamais eu d'autre soucis, pas même besoin de régler le microfocus.

Je trouve la précision de l'autofocus exceptionnelle même avec le Sigma 120-400 qui n'est pas "terrible" l'autofocus est nettement meilleur qu'avec un 500D ou un 60D.

La qualité des images en ISO élevé est impressionnante, les couleurs sont respectées et le bruit relativement bien contenu, ainsi que le contrast et la dinamique sont aussi très bons.

La vitesse en rafale de 8fps est aussi très impressionnante. On a l'impression que l'on peut "mitrailler à l'infini" grâce au dual processeur d'image.

La qualité de fabrication est aussi à un niveau impressionnant. il ne redoute pas la pluie ni le sable du bord de mer. je n'hésite plus à le caler avec du sable ou de la neige pour avoir un angle de vue original.

Merci CANON.

Opinion: I had the Canon 450D about 2 years & it, ok. When I got the Canon 7D, it is the best DSLR camera I brough about $1800 (Australia) body. I used the Sigma 17-70ml & canon 55-250ml lenses (I'll get the Tamron 18-270Ml PZD lens soon) and it's a brilliants camera. I photograph buses, train even they moves when I used the Tv mode the 1/400, 1/500 & even 1/640 sec with 800 or 1000 ISO & at night time I used the Av mode with 4.5 with 6400 ISO, I find out it is a little graining But it worthy.

Opinion: I've used the 7D now for going on two years, and it has performed spectacularly, with two exceptions. First the good news: no focus issues, great firing rate, clean images with fast glass (I own mostly fixed f2.8 lenses, zoom and fixed). I recently picked up the Canon 15-85mm zoom and it also performs very well on the 7D and vice-versa, and therefore has become my walk-around setup. Yes, I gave up some f-stop but the range is perfect for any of my personal, non-pro shooting.
Recently stressed the 7D in two situations, both very wet. First, went to Niagara Falls and traveled out on the Maid of the Mist boat to the foot of the Horseshoe falls, tons of watter falling out of the air around me. I shot with the 7D and the Canon 15-85 lens until the water collecting on the front of the lens filter started to blur the view, at that point autofocus completely failed (as might be expected), which prevented any shots, but otherwise camera was fine.
Second, hiked the Watkins Glen Gorge amid waterfalls throwing plenty of water around and was careful to protect the 7D and keep wiping the lens filter clean but some moisture must have gotten into the camera body because it went berserk. First an error msg appeared that said the camera could not fire, and telling me to stop/start the camera and possibly reload the battery. Then, even with the power off, the shutter fired nonstop for 2 secs until I could pull the battery. No damage to the storage card, none to the camera as I dried everything with a clean, dry handkerchief, reloaded the battery and then the 7D worked fine.
BTW I was never "under water" or being deluged in either situation, just lightly sprayed here and there and protected the camera with my body and rain jacket. So for those of you who shoot in high moisture situations, be aware that this camera needs protection, and the lens has to be clear and unblurred in order for the camera focus to work and allow you to release the shutter.

Opinion: I have had my 7D for about 18 months now. I bought it new. There are times when I have enjoyed the images from this camera, but more often than not... images are just overly soft. The problem is the autofocus on my camera. It has been back to Canon and is no better for it. Haven't really decided what I'm going to do with this $1700 paperweight.

I can get great output by using live view and manually focusing, however this camera is supposed to be built for speed.

I have no doubt that there are 7Ds out there that work fine, perhaps even great. There is also no doubt that there are many lemons out there... so buyer beware, even if you buy it brand new.

My lesson learned is that I will never again buy a newly released Canon camera. I will wait for the new model to be released and then will upgrade to the camera that it is replacing.

Opinion: I "upgraded" to the 7d from a 40d. I bought it because of the 18megapixels and liked the features. However, the ISO noise is AWFUL. Even at ISO 200. The focus and clarity are so-so . I bought a Rebel 2TI and I think I actually like it more. Hoping to dump this camera soon. Pay more for the 5D or check out the Rebel 2TI.