Canon 7D II

pwp

Oct 25, 2010
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This is precisely my setup. My pair had been a 5D3 and a 1D MkIV but recently added a gripped 7DII. I'm liking it more and more. Shooting a swimming championships last week I had a higher keeper rate from the 7DII than I ever had from the 1DIV. The 7DII has been described by some as a mini 1DX and while that should be read with caution, it's a very, very good action camera.

I've always liked to have a FF body and a crop body for a variety of reasons, but it's never been APS-C, always APS-H. About the only area the 7DII doesn't best the 1DIV is above 1600 iso.

Another benefit of a 5DIII/7DII pair is that the handling, control placement and menus are practically identical. They look so similar I've had to put different straps on them so as not to pick up the wrong body.

-pw
 
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I use a combination of a 1DX and a 7D2 and find them a very good match.
One thing to note is that the 7D2 has a reach advantage but it is not as much as it first appears. This is mainly because your FF camera will stand much heavier cropping before the image falls apart - so there is an advantage but just not as much as the crop factor would suggest.
If you have the need for a "faster" camera then the 7D2 would seem like the natural choice. Whist it is not as good as your 5D3 for high ISO or pure IQ (though not far behind), it is a very fast and responsive camera that is better suited for moving subjects and it is currently quite reasonably priced.
My 7D2 is exceeding my expectations and is shaping up as something of a "Mini 1DX". No it's not as good, but most of the time it is very very good and SO much cheaper!
 
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I had the 1D MK IV and 5D MK III for quite a while. I bought the 7D MK II a year ago November. I sold the 1D MK IV last summer. I do travel, wildlife, nature, and landscapes so I bought the 5DS R last summer. The 7D MK II is a great wildlife body, the 5DS R is a great landscape and travel body. The 5D MK III does both very well so acts as a spare for the other two bodies.. I like the common batteries for all of them. I never liked carrying the big charger and batteries for the 1D MK IV. The only disadvantage to the 5D MK III is the lack of exposure compensation when I shoot in Auto-ISO. I have found a workaround for that so I'm happy and the 5D MK III has generally required less MFA for all my lenses. I haven't had any of the problems that are rumored for the 7D MK II. It's my first APS-C body since my first digital Canon, the D60.
I highly recommend the 7D MK II, especially at the prices you can find them for now.
 
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The 7d2 is good enough to be your first body or even only body.

The two common arguments against it are - a) relatively weak high ISO performance and b) relatively lower image detail compared to the 5D3.

The way around ISO performance is to use a tripod and shoot at low ISO. Voila ! It's as good as the mark III. Now I know for people shots that's not always possible but then at moderately high ISO (~1600) its performance is more than acceptable. It's actually quite good. As for image detail, use quality L lenses and it's the same as the mark III unless you are making poster sized prints.

The 7d2 can do everything the Mark III does. But the Mark III cannot do everything that the 7d2 does. It cannot properly video focus, shoot at high fps, track focus fast enough or have as many focus points. The 7d2 is also a more refined camera than the 5d3, though not by a whole lot, and it will become obvious from the moment you pick it up and start shooting with it. It's not the absolute best in any particular aspect. But because it excels in many different things, imo it's the best general purpose camera ever made by Canon.
 
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neurorx said:
I have a 5D Mark III and wanted to get input on the 7D Mark II as a second body. Besides the focal length and fps, are there any other reasons to consider this as a second body? Are there situations you use one more so than the other?

Thank you!

I currently own the 7d2 and previously owned a 5d mark iii. I recently traded it in for a 5ds R as after careful consideration of what i shoot, i prefer the the higher resolution sensor vs additional low light sensitivity. But that wasnt your question...the 7d2 makes an excellent 2nd body but mostly becuase it is so different than the 5d3. The 5d3 will give you slightly better image quality, sharpness, and dynamic range. The differences are slight and the pixel density of the 7d2 makes up for a lot of it.

I use the 7d2 mostly for sports and wildlife and my 5dsR has become my 2nd camera. As noted by others, my main reason are for fps and the additional reach i can get without extenders....however i use my 7d2 mostly with my 300mm f2.8L IS II with and without the 2xiii extender. The combination is just astounding in a hand holdable package. As a 2nd for sports, i pair it with a 70-200mm f 2.8L IS II for when the action is close.

In a nutshell, the 7d2 is different enough from the 5diii that it makes sense to have it.

The 5diii will definately have slightly better IQ and thats because it is a full frame sensor with larger pixels. Theres a lot of science and physics behind it which has been discussed in other threads here in excruciating detail. the only other body i might consider at this point is a 1dx mark ii and i have a few months to save up $$$ for that. At that point i would likely sell or trade in my 7d2.
 
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Own both 5DM3 and 7D2 ... w/ 16/35, 24/105, 70/200, 100/400 -- that combination gives a range of 16 >> 640 (inc crop factor, if you believe in it?) and with an 1.4 extender, anything farther than that I'd not even try to shoot ...

I usually keep the 100/400 v2 on the 7D2, and use the 5DM3 as more the 'walk-around' lens when I'm in the field ... I shoot mainly wildlife and outdoor sports (some indoor basketball) ... I find that combination allows me the fastest access to the lens I need because the 7D2 stands ready for the sudden/surprise wildlife shot you don't want to miss, and the 5DM3 with a couple lenses at the ready is much more versatile when I have a little more time to choose.

I like the fact that both have almost identical controls ... This camera combination is difficult to beat when using a two-camera set-up - at least in primarily outdoor situations. I rarely shoot indoors, so cannot comment it.
 
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If I wanted to maximize reliability, I'd prefer two 5DIIIs than a 5DIII/7DII split. Shooting with the "same" camera is easier. Most of us also don't have multiple copies of the same lenses, so getting the having two different lenses on the same size sensor is often easier than taking the 1.6x factor all the time when shooting with two cameras.

Occassionally I use the 7DII for video and use the 5DIII for stills at the same time. The EF-S lenses are more suited for video than L lenses (cheaper, wider focal length range, IS, etc.), and they're a lot less expensive if you're not "all in" on video.
 
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RGF

How you relate to the issue, is the issue.
Jul 13, 2012
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pwp said:
This is precisely my setup. My pair had been a 5D3 and a 1D MkIV but recently added a gripped 7DII. I'm liking it more and more. Shooting a swimming championships last week I had a higher keeper rate from the 7DII than I ever had from the 1DIV. The 7DII has been described by some as a mini 1DX and while that should be read with caution, it's a very, very good action camera.

Another benefit of a 5DIII/7DII pair is that the handling, control placement and menus are practically identical. They look so similar I've had to put different straps on them so as not to pick up the wrong body.

-pw

I have 1Dx, 5D M3 and 7DM2. 5DM3 and 7DM2 are very similar. I have had problems with the keeper rate on the 7D M2 but I think that was due to a hardware problem which hopefully CPS has fixed.
 
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