Archive for: EOS 7D
Only one more body in 2013?
From a good source, we’re told that an EOS 7D Mark II will not be released in 2013. We could get an announcement sometime in this calendar year, but availability will be next year.
The only DSLR still to come in 2013 from Canon is the EOS 70D. The same source does say “several lenses will be coming in 2013″.
2014 will be the year for high-end DSLR cameras from Canon, consider this a down year for bodies.
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*UPDATE 2*
The battery does help a camera body autofocus an EF lens faster.
From Chuck Westfall… “In addition, the EOS-1D X achieves a higher lens motor drive speed with select L-series USM telephoto lenses than the 5D Mark III because of the 1D X’s more powerful battery pack.” [source]
Thanks Edwin
*UPDATE*
Some discussion has come up about AF performance being affected by battery voltage. The LP-E4 style batter in the 1D series is 11.1 volts, while the LP-E6 is 7.2 volts. I do not have the technical papers of the relationship between voltage and AF performance on for EF lenses. If such an article exists, I would love to see it. We were passing on information that came to us from a new source.
What to expect?
We’ve received some interesting information about the development of the EOS 7D Mark II.
We’re told at least one variation of the camera being developed has an integrated grip, really making it a “Baby EOS-1D X”. We’re told that the larger battery seen in the EOS-1D X is part of the reason it will autofocus bigger lenses better than a camera with say an LP-E6. If this is going to be targeted at sports and wildlife photographers, the bigger battery makes a lot of sense. I would expect the camera to be somewhat smaller, as the mirrorbox and prism wouldn’t need to be as large. It’s sounding like Canon is really going to test how much people are willing to spend on an APS-C body.
It is a 2013 camera by all indications, most likely the late summer/early fall.
No other specifications were mentioned.
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Canon used to make 320 gigapixel image….
To see the gigapixel image and share your favourite views of London visit:http://btlondon2012.co.uk/
An amazing image of London taken from the top of the BT Tower has set a new record for the world’s largest panoramic photo. The image shows a full 360 degree view of London in incredible detail.
The 320 gigapixel image, taken by expert photography firm 360Cities, comprises more than 48,000 individual frames which have been collated into a single panorama by a powerful workstation. It is the first time that an image of this magnitude has ever been attempted, and it took several months to create due to the scale of the endeavour. If printed at normal photographic resolution, the BT Tower panorama would be 98 meters across and 24 meters tall, almost as big as Buckingham Palace. In comparison, the last record attempt for a London panorama was 80 gigapixels, taken from Centrepoint in 2010.
The images were taken after the end of London 2012, the first digital Games. Londoners, tourists and those who work in the capital are now being asked to share their favourite views of the capital, as a permanent record of London’s year in the global spotlight.
As the official communications services partner for London 2012, BT played a vital role in ensuring the Games were the most connected ever, with millions of people enjoying sharing their experiences of the sporting and cultural action via social media. BT Tower played its part in the celebration, sharing news of every single medal won, live stats and scores on its giant 360 degree LED screen.
Suzi Williams, director, BT Group Marketing & Brand, said, “The BT Tower is such an iconic London landmark, and became a focus for the capital’s celebrations in 2012, what better way to capture that remarkable year than with a full panoramic photograph taken from its roof. This isn’t just a world record for the BT Tower, it’s for London and the people who live, work in or visit the capital. Take a look, and share your favourite London places and landmarks.”
Steve Hercher, director, 360Cities, said, “We were honoured to be chosen by BT to attempt this world record panorama and make our own contribution to commemorating the wonderful London 2012 Games. So many unknowns and variables had to be addressed in the planning of this unprecedented shoot, really the first of its kind. Software and hardware were pushed to the limits, and rain, wind and other potential stumbling blocks had to be dealt with. Our photography team of Jeffrey Martin, Tom Mills and Holger Schulze did an amazing job and not a single individual frame from the more than 48,000 planned was missed.”
Rainer Fuehres, Head of Consumer Imaging Group, Canon Europe, said: “The goal of empowering people to take the next step on their personal photographic journeys drives every product we create, and this breath-taking image truly takes this philosophy to the extreme. Since its launch, the EOS 7D has caught the imagination of enthusiasts around the world so we were pleased to support such an exciting and challenging project with a camera that so many people are using to capture their own moments of inspiration.”
Also, our old friend Buzby is hiding in the gigapixel image too. Find him, and you could be one of three winners in our competition. People are selected at random, the first winner will receive an iPad, a year’s free broadband, and a trip to the top of the BT Tower to see the view in person. Second and third place win an iPad. Full terms and conditions, please see http://www.btplc.com/gigapixel/
Project by numbers:
• 320 – the number of gigapixels in the photo
• 48,640 – the number of individual images shot
• 3 – the number of days it took to shoot all the individual photos
• 3 – the number of months over which the computer processed the final result
• 60,000 – times bigger than an iPhone 4 photo
• 98 – the number of meters long if printed in normal photographic resolution
• 24 – the number of meters high if printed in normal photographic resolution
• 29th – The floor at the BT Tower where the photos were taken
• 20 – number of miles distant to the viewable horizon
Technical photographic information, and how the photo was taken:
• Working over a period of three chilly days in 2012, the 360Cities team spent hours on the 29th floor outdoor platform of the BT Tower working with four cameras to record the 48,640 images comprising the panorama.
• Four Canon EOS 7D cameras with EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM lenses and Extender EF 2x III teleconverters were mounted on Clauss company Rodeon VR Head ST robotic panorama heads and positioned in four secure locations around the 29th floor platform.
• The Clauss company robotic panorama heads are capable of 72,000 steps in a single 360 degree arc, and in this case were set to fire four frames a second.
• Laptops monitored a live preview of the progress of the shoot, which was accomplished in the teeth of sub-freezing temperatures and occasional 50 mph winds high above London.
• The 360Cities photography team of Jeffrey Martin, Tom Mills and Holger Schulze ensured that not a single individual frame from the more than 48,000 planned was missed.
• The raw images were then processed over a multi-week period using Fujitsu Technology Solutions’ Celsius R920 workstation with 256GB of RAM and 16 cores at 3.1GHz, and Autopano Giga panorama stitching software from Kolor.
• The resulting online interactive version of the photo is presented in multi-layered, tiled resolution that permits zooming in to view extreme details, and is composed of millions of individual image tiles.
Buy the: Canon EOS 7D | EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM lenses | Extender EF 2x III teleconverters
EOS 70D
Canon’s Masaya Maeda let it be know that a Canon EOS 70D would be coming “some day in the future. Without fail.” I’d expect one to be announced in the next 45-90 days depending on which report we go with.
What to expect feature wise? I’ve been told two contrasting theories about the upcoming camera.
One, that it will be a relatively lateral upgrade to the EOS 60D, a few subtle improvements and priced around $1000.
The other reports that have leaked in, is the xxD line would return to where the 50D was in terms of build quality and size. We’d be going back to a more semi-professional style camera. If this happens, that would definitely change the EOS 7D’s place in the lineup.
EOS 7D Mark II
There has been little talk about the next “pro” APS-C camera lately. I’m of the belief, if and when one comes, it will be a new segment for APS-C performance and features, and probably at a higher price point. If the 70D returns to its roots, is there room for a high performance $2000+ APS-C camera? That question could probably be debated for a while.
I don’t see a return of APS-H, it needlessly raises the cost to manufacture the camera due to the larger sensor, and we’d still have the inability to get a true wide angle perspective with lenses.
If a pro APS-C camera comes, I can see it borrowing heavily from the EOS-1D X as far as framerate and AF performance go. Build quality would also be quite stellar.
Both Nikon and Canon must be hard at work trying to redefine the segment. The D300 came out in 2007, with a minor “s” upgrade in 2009. The EOS 7D came to us with a lot of fanfare in late 2009. We could be approaching 6 years and 4 years respectively before we get to see what both companies have up their sleeves.
The future is probably full frame across most of the EOS line, but we’re not at that point yet.
*UPDATE*
During my current travels, I missed an interview Masaya Maeda gave in Japan about the 7D’s successor. Below is a translated part of the interview that talks about the EOS 7D Mark II. It does reaffirm our thoughts that the 7D Mark II will enter new territory.
DKW: As for the readers of DigiKame Watch, there are many who are waiting for the EOS 7D’s sucessor. Up through the release of last year’s major firmware update, there were many who felt that a new model with even better specs would be released shortly…
MM: Yes, they would be correct. For us, it’s about looking at what the camera has the potential to be and then adding that to what it can currently do. I do think the current model is still very attractive to buyers. And while we are, of course, developing its successor, it’ll be one that incorporates a certain number of innovative technologies. We will not be putting out a product with merely better specs, but one that has evolved into new territory. But then again, we’re not talking about something a long time from now either.
Thanks Dave C for this update
Source: [DPR]
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The next EOS body
CP+ in Japan is coming up on January 31, 2013 and we haven’t heard a thing about Canon making a product announcement for the show.
That being said, there are lots of reports of 60D stocks being low. We’ve been told previously that a 70D will appear before a 7D replacement. It’s said to be an incremental upgrade from the 60D. Although, we’ve heard that wifi and gps will be added to the xxD line with the 70D.
The image sensor may remain at 18mp as Canon separates the 7D Mark II with a new, higher performing APS-C sensor. This makes a lot of sense as I think the APS-C segment needs a jolt and not more of the same.
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From Adorama
Adorama has some deals on current Canon goodies. We’re now seeing the EOS 6D drop below $2099, to the $1999 mark that it should have been at launch. The EF 50 f/1.8 II is also being reduced heavily by retailers, perhaps a replacement on the horizon? The EOS 7D is also being heavily discounted by retailers, we should see a replacement of the camera in the first half of 2013.
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From eBay
You can now get the Canon EOS 7D for $1129 shipped within the USA or buy it with the EF-S 18-135 IS for $1249. Both are a great deal.
Buy the Canon EOS 7D Body for $1129 via eBay
Buy the Canon EOS 7D w/18-135 IS kit for $1249 via eBay
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Things just got a bit more pricey
Canon is starting the enforcement of their MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) pricing rules today. Some camera bodies and lenses will see an immediate increase in their base price. Below are a few examples of the price increases, not including the current rebate program that expires on November 24, 2012.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III $3,499.00 from $3,149.00
Canon EOS 5D Mark III w/ EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS $4299.00 from $3949.00
Canon EOS 5D Mark II $2,199.00 from $2,099.00
Canon EOS 5D Mark II w/ EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS $2,999 from $2,899.00
Canon EOS 7D $1,499.00 from $1,457.00
Canon EOS 7D w/ EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Kit $1,899.00 from $1,699.00
There are a lot more examples through the Canon lineup. It’s going to be quite important to take advantage of rebate programs, as retailers are going to be unable to give their own deals via web sites. We may also see a lot more bundle deals coming down the pipe to add value to a purchase. Use our Pricewatch pages, and if you see a lower price somewhere, you should probably jump on it immediately, as it may not last long.
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Get Magic Lantern for you Canon EOS 7D
Below is information provided by the Magic Lantern team.
- it was primarily tested on one 7D, and a few days on three other 7D’s;
- during those tests we took 1000 photos and gigabytes of videos;
- there were no crashes or strange behaviors during our tests;
- this release will not alter any data in your camera’s permanent memory;
- this release will not directly alter any so-called “properties” (persistent camera settings);
- this means, some functions like HDR photos, HDR videos, bulb ramping etc will not work yet;
- it is not a firmware upgrade, despite the camera saying “Firmware update program”;
- we have disabled all features that are not yet working perfectly;
- please don’t beg for adding feature XYZ, it will be added as soon as it works without issues.
Features
- Audio meters while recording
- Zebras
- Focus peaking
- Magic Zooom (via half-shutter, or focus ring)
- Cropmarks, Ghost image
- Spotmeter
- False color
- Histogram, Waveform
- Vectorscope
- Movie logging
- Movie auto stop
- Trap focus
- LiveView settings (brightness, contrast…)
- Level indicator
- Image review tweaks (quick zoom)
- and a lot more
Visit the download page for Magic Lantern
Buy the Canon EOS 7D at: Adorama $1499.00 | Amazon $1499.00 | B&H Photo $1499.00
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Magic Lantern on the EOS 7D?
Yes, that’s true. Our young team member g3gg0 did the impossible, and solved the 7D puzzle within days of receiving the camera from Trammell Hudson (on September 12).
Background: Trammell Hudson started to port Magic Lantern on 7D three years ago. While he was able to run user code using the firmware update procedure, he was not able to run it in parallel with Canon firmware – which was required for Magic Lantern to run as an add-on software, without replacing the main firmware. Since then, we had little or no idea about how to solve this puzzle, until last week, when g3gg0 had an Aha! moment and discovered how to load Canon firmware from autoexec.bin code.
The first analysis shows that porting is straightforward (more or less), and most features will work without major code changes, as Magic Lantern does not have to run on both DIGIC processors. Basic features such as zebra and focus peaking are already working, so you may expect an alpha version to be available soon.
Are there any of you still interested in a Magic Lantern port for the 7D? Please let us know by supporting our work!
More Coverage at Planet5D | Visit Magic Lantern
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