Why jump from 19 to 61 points? 19 is good.
Yup...19 is "good". Not great. As someone who spends nearly every weekend and as much of each weekday as he can with his 7D, I know the 19 point AF system intimately. It is good, but FAR from great. It could really use an improvement. I'd LOVE to have 61 points like the 5D III. However, I'd be happy with something like a 41pt reticular AF system with 21pt cross type, if that is all that would fit in the APS-C frame. Part of the problem with the 19pt AF system is the points are still fairly widely spaced, and there are areas where no AF points exist at all due to the diamond shape. A reticular, more rectangular shape to the AF point array would be a VERY WELCOME improvement to the good 19pt system.
To really make it "great" though, I think the AF drive firmware needs to be improved. The thing that drives me the most crazy about my 7D is the jittery AF. You can NAIL focus right on a birds eye, and the bird can be PERFECTLY STILL...and the 7D AF system will still jump around by microscopic amounts in AI Servo. If you hold the button down, or press, release, press, the AF system is always "trying" to re-lock. Sometimes, even when a solid AF lock is already held, on a stationary or moving subject, the 7D will suddenly start hunting. Most annoying quirk of an AF system ever. I blame it partly on the widely spaced points, and mostly on the recent firmware update (which seemed to make the problem worse.)
