[talljak]

I am looking into getting the Canon 7D to replace my 40D which would go into a backup mode and I would get rid of my current backup the 30D.

I am looking for some users who own or have had hands on experience with the 7D to share their thoughts on it. The good the bad & the ugly.

David S I know you have been using a handful of 40D or 50D and wonder if you have had any time with the 7D?

Looking forward to hearing back from all 7D users

Thanks

 

[Yaamon]

talljak, I previously had a 40D & 50D.

To me the 40D had good image quality and the 50D had nothing over it.

The 50D did have the better lcd screen and the micro adjust feature.

I shoot raw and found the 50D was good at iso 100 & 200 with no noise reduction. From is0400+ you had to start using noise reduction.

The 50D had more chromo noise than the 40D.

I sold my 50D to get a 7D and the picture quality is better than the 50D with lower high iso noise.

The 7D can resolve some good detail with good lens.

Compared to the 40D, I would think the 7D is a good upgrade. If you have access to the latest Photoshop or Lightroom 3 the raw noise reduction software is excellent that using the 7D @iso3200 is good.

 

[talljak]

The 7D can resolve some good detail with good lens.

I only use L lenses & the 50mm F1.4
With my 40D I very rarely go to ISO 1600. Mostly I stop at 800. But maybe with the D7 now I can go to 1600 & 3200
How do you find the AF on the 7D? It is supposed to be amazing from what I have read in reviews.
Do you find the 8fps makes a big difference over the 6 or so FPS of the 40D?
Do you use the HD movie mode at all?

Anyone else with input please feel free

 

[David Susilo]

talljak,

I've been using my 7D since February 2010. I absolutely love the body. 40D was very near perfect for me (except for the common-to-Canon-let's-shift-to-the-left-histogram metering system). 7D "fixed" that problem.

Here are some links to picture WITHOUT any touch-up using 7D and 17-55 f/2.8IS lens

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...269541575123_821585122_14702452_6395502_n.jpg (ISO 3200, JPEG native)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...151420025123_821585122_11518748_1891262_n.jpg (ISO 6400, JPEG native)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...494274470122_821585122_11010478_2315597_n.jpg (ISO 6400, JPEG native)

all the pics above were taken with only available lights, handheld, JPEG Medium Resolution with lowest compression available in the camera (approx 5MP resolution... I'm not into the MP race)

 

[gordonb]

I looked seriously at the 7D and it is a nice camera.

For what I do (portraits & landscapes) I ended up getting a used 1Ds Mk II for the same amount of money. To me it was the need for full-frame.

The 7D focused accurately & the 8fps was appealing but I found the 4fps on the 1Ds adequate for the kids soccer. I also wish I had the LCD on the 7D.

Uberchuckie - anything to add?

I'm actually looking for a used 40D to replace my Rebel XTi as a backup - David - do you still have any?

 

[David Susilo]

Sorry, Gordon, I sold all 4 of my 40D in order to get 2x 7D. a 230EX flash and a replacement fake-GaryFong lightsphere II (which is actually better than the original Lighsphere II)

 

[springle]

A Little Feedback

I picked up a 7D in early May and have taken in excess of 15,000 images with it.

It has not been a disappointment to me. There were no surprises in either a positive or negative sense.

I tend to stress the camera. By that I mean that I use it at extreme settings. For example, I use a micro spot setting for autofocus. To find this setting you have to dig into the manual and turn off some other focusing choices. The manual states that autofocus may not function properly at this setting. I have found that admonition to be valid. Sometimes I turn off the autofocus on my lens and focus manually. The default autofocus settings are just not good enough for me.

Sometimes (in wildlife photography) I stumble upon a subject that I know is not going to wait for me to fine tune the camera's settings before I take an image of it. So I fire the shutter and later do some fine tuning in Canon's DPP software. I have had a few glitches when making such adjustments. The 7D has much less leeway than does the 5D II. I can't compare to other models than the 5D II. In fact, on some occasions I have taken both bodies with me and have switched them when I am entering an area where the light levels are too low for the 7D.

The big advantage of the 7D for me is in the reach. A 600mm lens becomes a 960mm lens on the 7D, but remains a feeble 600mm on the 5D II. I can crop more on the 5D II and close this gap a little. And even though the 5D II has an older focusing system, when it finds the subject in spot focusing, it is more accurate than the 7D.

I have also fiddled with the wireless flash feature. I have used an off-shoe cord for the 580 II flash on a stroboframe, but it simply snapped into two pieces twice (the current model is supposed to be weatherproof, but it is cheap plastic and the connecting piece to the flash just breaks when it is side-mounted. So now I have been using the wireless transmitter. The 7D is supposed to support using the 580 II as a slave when the popup is engaged and appropriate settings are made. However, the separate wireless transmitter allows for second curtain and Hi-Speed synch, whereas the popup control doesn't allow for such settings. ETTL works for both.

In general I avoid such discussions as the value one puts on a product is directly linked to that person's individual utilities and these vary from person to person. Hence, what is important to me may not be important to you and vice versa. That is, qualifiers such as "good", "bad", "best", "worst" are all subjective in nature and linked to one's utilities.

 

[talljak]

Thanks for everyones input. I am going to keep researching for a bit & wait for a decent sale at Christmas time I think.
Sad that the 7D uses different batteries & grip from my 40D. That adds a price increase

 

[David Susilo]

I don't know about the battery grip today, but when I bought the battery grips for both my 7D, I had to go through more than 10 battery grips because the buttons were too sensitive (I can just brush my finger across it and it triggers the shutter).

The new battery... I love it a lot. Yes it's much more costly, they last much longer than 40D batteries. When I brought the 7D to my trip to the US for 2 weeks, I didn't even finished up 2 batteries whereas with my 40D, for the same duration and approximately the same number of shots, I had to recharge the batteries mid way.

I don't know the battery consumption is due to the body or due to the battery pwoer rentention itself.

 

[uberchuckie]

I think I need to send my 7D for adjustment. When the focusing is working right, it's very sharp. At first I thought it's user error but when I went back to my 30D, I was consistently getting good AF.

The image quality at ISO 1600/3200 is very good also. The wireless flash trigger for hotshoe flashes is a good addition.

 

[talljak]

David, thats quite the ordeal to get a good grip. I hope to get a good one straight away. I need to use a grip due to my large hands. I think the camera and the new battery are the reason for the extended life. More mah and less drain.

Chuck. Did you check if perhaps accidentally micro lens focus adjustment was altered? I had that issue once my self.

 

[David Susilo]

yeah, I was actually a bit ticked off by Canon because of that. How can they have an entire batch like that? Reminder: when 7D was released, most smaller stores only get about 3 sets each, so essentially I bought 2 out of the 3 cameras and when I brought the grip home, one is working perfectly and the other one was faulty... and the one at the store was faulty too. So I had to wait for almost a month before I can get my 2nd grip due to Canon's allocation for smaller stores.

 

[Smoothfonzo]

I've been very pleased with the 7D. My Dad and I are both into astrophography, and so we needed something that would be good for shooting in the dark with low noise.

A few examples of this:

If you want to see more of what I've taken with the 7D in general, you'll find them on my flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

 

[David Susilo]

Smoothfonzo, the star image is amazing!!! You've got PM!

 

[Smoothfonzo]

Thanks, David! Don't know where the PM's gone though. I didn't seem to get one.

 

[David Susilo]

I'll try again.

Once again. Amazing, amazing picture of the night sky!!

 

[Smoothfonzo]

We were comet hunting for Comet Hartley that night. Our account though is that it's very dim and hardly shows, though if you see a fuzzy blob in the upper part of the image, that might be it. I need to do some more verification though.

 

[The_Penguin]

I've been considering the 7D to upgrade my 40D.
I'm happy with the image quality of the 40D, but would really love the performance (AF in particular) of the 7.
The 50D and 60D do nothing for me. The 50D seemed to have more noise than the 40, and the 60, seems a bit of a step backwards.
My hesitation is that I've read that the 7D needs more post-processing (particularly sharpening) than other bodies. I really don't like the thought of having to process the crap out of images. I will do some real tests of my own before deciding.

'course if I spent as much time out in the field with my 40D as I do reading about other cameras, I'd probably get much more enjoyment

 

[David Susilo]

Agree on the 50D. It does have more noise than the 40 which was the reason I didn't upgrade to 50D at the time.

If anybody say that 7D needs more post processing, they just don't know how to use the camera. For the very first time in my life, I've NEVER had to do any kind of post processing when I'm using the 7D. So far about 1,000 frames on each body and not a single post processing (other than minor cropping here and there) was ever needed.

I spend more time taking pictures and enjoying them now than ever.

 

[Smoothfonzo]

Yeah, I agree with David. The only time you really need to do any post-processing is with astrophotography, and even then it's entirely optional, and it's in the method of stacking images together to get even more out of them and bring out details. It's a general process and not limited to any camera in particular like the 7D. This is something I'm experimenting with currently. I was out again tonight taking pictures of Comet Hartley. 40 15 second exposures that will be stacked to make a single picture.