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02/23/2010 12:46:41 PM · #1 |
Just in case this is useful to anyone, I thought I would post my (very long winded) thoughts on having used a 7D for 10 days now after upgrading from a 20D. I know there are lots of review places out there but sometimes random thought might help some people.... I am not going to post 3 thousand images at different settings cause you can find that in lots of other places especially were pixel peepers live.... If it's not for you then hit that back button :-)
Have done mostly playing around with the kids and a one portrait session so your mileage may vary. I only shoot RAW, so have no comment about the 4 billion picture styles and what not options (or maybe that was a comment) cause I just don't use them.
Overall
* Hands & away it's more responsive then the 20D - except writing to the cards (see in a bit).
* Fast.... I always have multi shot turned on for the shutter button and as much as I hate to admit, it's too fat still.... as I am still sometimes getting 2 shots instead of 1... Initially it was always 2-3 shots before I could get my finger off the trigger - just a matter of getting used to it. If you set low speed repeat it's fine but I am not going to do that.
* Screen on back is much better for viewing if you care. I shoot left eyed and the larger screen just collects fog from my breath & crap from my face.
* It's death & destruction on CF cards.... My largest card is 4Gb and the file sizes are 25Mb per image so it burns thru in no time (yeah I will order some larger cards after the credit card cuts for the camera).
* I have a 50x, 80x & 133x card and it takes forever to finish writing the images... faster card needed (although I see udma does not help raw like jpg/movies, so just a faster card).
* There is more buttons near the thumb & eyepiece and that is annoying compared to the 20D for a while.... less room for those of us with larger hands.
* Customising is great!... about time Canon started to get a better interface.
* ISO range is just great.... although the expanded 12000 whatever is not good... I find 3200 great and 6400 seems not too bad.
* To my surprise I am liking this auto ISO - far more then I expected.... Set the camera in manual and let the ISO wander up and down is quite handy sometimes (I generally set it where I want and shoot in AV but I might change because I like this option a lot). I don't see a limiter which might be useful but otherwise seems good.
Focusing & Image Quality
* Have not used servo yet, so this is just the regular focus & lock stuff.
* This is not in the 1 series league for focus in the night but it's good at getting focus... far far better then the 20D which drove me nuts at times.
* It's more complex with the options of various zones, points e.t.c. so that takes some getting used to.
* There are a couple of focus options disabled by default - seem useful options so I would suggest enabling them and playing.
* I sometime have issues with the zone picking the wrong point in the zone but this is mostly getting used to the options and using the right one.
* There is a custom option to use different focus points in landscape & vertical which is a nice option and worth a play. So rather then getting the point moved, it flips to the same side (80% of the time as the other 20 I have not figured out a pattern... need to pay more attention to work it out).
* Image quality generally does not seem as sharp as the 20 but I think that is 2 things... 1) The nut behind the camera 90%.... I see the images getting better and I know I generally take a bit to get comfortable with the camera... The images that are sharp relly are sharper then the 20 and 2) The urge to look at the zoomed in image so your not comparing apples to apples.
Lenses
* I already posted about my 50f1.4 that I always thought was meh.... some playing with the lens adjust has it turning into a great lens all of a sudden. This is a great option to have!
* I played with the lens adj and find the lenses all over the place; not sure what to make of that but it's changed what lenses I prefer from the 20D which is interesting.... 50f1.4=+9, 85f1.8=+2 and nothing for the Tammy 28-75 or 70-200L and as for the lensbaby I cannot seem to get focused at all :-)
* That tammy is focusing correctly but the lens is soft on the 7D whereas the 20D it was sharp as a tack.... I guess it might be the resolution but no clue what to make of that.... putting down to user error for a while and see what happens.
* I got the kit 28-135IS because it was only $90 more then the body alone.... Seems ok lens and have whacked it on the 20D as a walk-around type of deal (although am planning on getting a cheap 50f1.8 and using that for the oldest kid as he is interested in more then his P&S that he has now).
Video
* I did a few weddings years and years ago but have not been in that world for a long time, so I am tainted by that ok.
* I find video on an SLR body awkward at best - it's just not the right ergonomics and suffers with more shake as a result.
* The built in mic is completely useless... real video needs an external mic to remove the camera operation noise which is picked up badly with the internal one and an SLR is NOISY compared to a real video camera.
* The so called focus in video mode is completely useless... I was surprised how bad it is when Canon have other things that do this better. As for the quick focus where you flap up the mirror to use the real AF system.... that mirror flap is not exactly unnoticed in the sound and the black-out on the video is problematic :-/ This could be a lot better!
* The image quality however is really good and the buttons fairly well layed out for video.... which surprised me actually..
Misc
* FINALLY we have a compare functionally to the Nikon remote flash controller.... although far less well designed from the small amount of use I have had on the Nikon system. The ability to have a remote flash controlled by the on board flash is great.
* It took a bit of digging but having the main light remote with nothing or a small fill from the onboard is very handy when I don't want to bother with the manual flashes & wireless controller e.t.c.
* God damn those Canon batteries are expen$ive.... I went for the chipped canon one over my usual sterlingtek but to be honest, not sure what it gave me apart from the camera can tell you how many shots are left on the battery (not sure if it's correct or not). Not sure I would do that again.
Grip
* Magic in comparison... MUCH better feel and texture.
* Just as much a brick for vertical shooting as always - Canon really need help on this aspect.
* New thicker camdaptor straps are MUCH better then the old ones (yeah nothig to do with the 7D but I love it, so you get that comment anyway :-) ).
* RRS is not great for the plate but the old one from the 20D grip fits fine.
* The shutter button is a tad more sensitive then the camera one - would be nice if they had identical feel. |
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02/23/2010 01:25:48 PM · #2 |
Well, I found that very interesting and useful , thanks for posting.
Mike
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02/23/2010 03:32:46 PM · #3 |
| I got to pet a 7D today at the camera shop. I have to go sit in my room now and cry now because I can't have one. |
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02/23/2010 03:44:30 PM · #4 |
| Useful and very thoughtful. I would love to see more of these personal usage comparisons. |
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02/23/2010 04:12:57 PM · #5 |
I'm starting to use the servo mode more and am finding it works very well.
Agreed on the autofocus during video mode, so what I usually do is prefocus in camera mode and then switch to video and start shooting. That helps, at least until the subject starts moving... |
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02/23/2010 05:10:13 PM · #6 |
Nice write up, Rob! I'm strongly leaning toward this as my next body...I love the fact they've built in speedlight control.
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02/23/2010 05:31:01 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by david_c:
Nice write up, Rob! I'm strongly leaning toward this as my next body...I love the fact they've built in speedlight control. |
It would be a good stepup from the 450D; I went from the 40D to 7D and didn't expect a huge difference, I was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately Adobe Raw Converter isn't quite 7D friendly and Canon DPP does a great job but is very limited on what it can do. |
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02/23/2010 05:57:31 PM · #8 |
I've been craving a 7D for some time - then Canon went and announced the 550D. While the smaller camera would be better for my hands, there are features that the 7D has that I would have to give up. At the same time there are some features in the 550D (like better exposure compensation) that I would really like. I think now I might have to wait for the next upgrade. Just as well I can't afford a new camera right now:)
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02/23/2010 06:10:26 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by robs:
as for the lensbaby I cannot seem to get focused at all :-) |
Use LiveView and it'll be fine - I struggle eith the LB a lot but LiveView helps see the focus area a lot! |
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02/23/2010 09:21:49 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by Nuzzer:
Use LiveView and it'll be fine - I struggle eith the LB a lot but LiveView helps see the focus area a lot! |
Yeah, I made that comment as a joke on the lens adjustment thing but that's not a bad idea for using the LB. I have never had live view (20D does not have it) and have never used it on the 7D either.... I grew up with that 4-letter dpc word called "film" (go ahead google it, I'll wait... it's near the page on stone tablets) so never got into the habit of checking every image or using it to frame so it just didn't occur to me :shrug: Those LB's are cool hey... got one for xmas and I wish I knew why I like it so much.... there is something about it....
Oh by the way..... I see a lot of discussion on video needing a fast card but I have had zip issues with my slow cards apart from using the high res 60fps on the 50x card..... I saw the bar that indicates it's starting to fill the buffer for a few seconds once but not enough to stall it and on the 80x/133x have never seen it - not saying a faster card would hurt just not the discussion that I see around the place and those fast cards are expensive.
The biggest hassle with video is the .mov wrapper and the codec issues (hit google for the k-lite codec's as they helped a little)... just a mess on a windoze machine..... :-/ |
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02/23/2010 10:14:59 PM · #11 |
Nice write up
was looking at a 7D before i sold all my canon gear and bought the D300s
One thing i noticied in the ovreall secution is about the cards and size of photos.
That would be normal if your using RAW or even TIFF
I know i accidently changed my camera to take photos in TIFF and after a few shots my card was empty
I think you will that to be the case on any SLR camera |
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