Any chance for a 7D Mark 'II+'?

[greger]

Instead of a 7Dii+ Canon could release a firmware update like they did to the 7D in August 2012. That would give the 7Dii a longer lifespan until a vs 3 is released in a year or two. This keeps everyone happy! If they include the new wifi sd card in the 7Dii package when you buy. The only people upset are the people who bought the 7Dii before the card became available. A $50 or $60 add on is not really upsetting as a 7Dii+ might be. To come out with an update to a product without releasing a new version model is not a good customer service plan. This would only create bad will.

 

[Deleted member 91053]

Given that this is a sort of wish list thread, do you think that Canon would make me a 7D2+/7D3 with a fixed screen without the "Touch" facility, no Wi Fi, no GPS, no Dual Pixel AF, no video etc etc?

I don't mind paying a little extra to keep these "Features" out of my cameras.

 

[Mikehit]

Why would you pay more to not have a feature?
Just turn it off.

 

[Pascal Parvex]

Firmware update

What Canon could do is some Firmware update love. I once stated, that they will add 4K to the 7DII, to stay competitive with the D500 from Nikon. It has Dual Digic 6 processors, so the raw power is there. 4K recordings would be limited to five minute clips as on the D500, to keep overheating under control.

 

[benkam]

The 7D2 has been through its drop in price, from 1600 GBP at launch to recent price of 1200 GBP. The 7D3 will probably launch at 1800 (maybe a bit more). If the 7D2+ as you suggest were to be launched it would have to be closer to the 1800 than 1200 with it being a new camera. That is quite a different proposition.

That's stacking the price argument a bit.

I'd look at it this way: I see the 7D2 is currently GBP 1380 at major UK retailers. Now, the 5D4 launched the same as the 5D3, so it would be reasonable to expect an interim update to the 7D2, being not even a 7D3, would at most top off at the 7D2's launch price of 1600 GBP. So there's the comparison for buyers: the 7D2 no touch, no wifi at 1380 GBP or a "7D2+" with touchscreen and wifi at 1600 GBP. Me personally and maybe some other would rather spend the extra 200 quid for the latter instead of never ever having a touchscreen and paying another 50 for a wifi adapter while losing the SD slot. YMMV.

If Canon do this in 2017, I'd expect them to try to clear stocks on the 7D2 and shift production to this "7D2+" until they release the 7D3 in late 2018 or even 2019.

Canon will not upgrade just for the touch screen. Even the 650D to 700D had a different sensor but the 7D is aimed at a far more discerning market - bringing in a new model whose only difference is a touch screen will be (rightly IMO) panned. Are you able to point to any manufacturer whose only reason to upgrade has been touchscreen facility? I very much doubt it.

The 650D and 700D have the same sensor, don't they? I can point to Canon itself as one manufacturer that upgraded a version for *less* than just putting a touchscreen: the aforementioned 650D to 700D they just tweaked a dial, put in a new "texture". A touchscreen concerns something so basic as interacting with a camera -- whether that's navigation or reviewing images or taking full advantage of DP AF -- that adding it would be a small but certainly noticeable change. Secondary to this, built-in wi-fi lets you recover that SD slot.

Again, if Canon called a 7D2 with touchscreen and built-in wi-fi a Mark III, then they'd be rightly panned. That's why, I'd suggest such a hypothetical patch upgrade should be a "Mark II+".

You've made it quite clear in other discussions that you find flip-screens and touch screens to be a major issue for you. What you don't get is that others place those down the list of priorities and Canon do as well. I am pretty sure the 7D3 will have a touch screen but that will be an addition to other, more significant, upgrades. The way their sensors have developed I go with comments by unfocused that the 7D3 development cycle will be quicker than for the 7D2: if rumours at the time were correct, the 7D2 was actually delayed 8-9 months to introduce a better AF system and iron out other bugs so if you look at it that way the 7D3 could be much quicker than 2019.

It's not just me, mate. You yourself said you'd appreciate a touchscreen if it was there. As I said at the start, if the 7D3 is coming out soon, as in 2017, then that's it, brilliant, obviously no need for this patch upgrade.

But, if Canon are holding out until 2019 or late 2018 if their product cycles are to go by, then Canon would be doing potential 7D2 buyers in 2017 not a disservice, but a favor if they came out with a 7D2+ with touchscreen and wifi. Nobody will be forced to buy anything anyway, right? So it would be good, not bad, to have that choice.

 

[Deleted member 91053]

Why would you pay more to not have a feature?
Just turn it off.

Some "features" may require more sophisticated (and harder to run) firmware and may still impact on processor speed even when they are off. If they are not there then they will not! There are also impacts on camera and body design (eg. plastic tops to cameras for GPS), internal volume occupied be sensors etc etc. If they are not fitted in the first place then there is no impact on design/construction.

I don't mind paying a little more for fewer compromises and peace of mind.

Please bear in mind that I am something of an eccentric as regards photography, in that I buy my cameras to take still images. I know that is a little weird these days, but these are a lot of us out there!

 

[Josh Denver]

The 7D2 has been through its drop in price, from 1600 GBP at launch to recent price of 1200 GBP. The 7D3 will probably launch at 1800 (maybe a bit more). If the 7D2+ as you suggest were to be launched it would have to be closer to the 1800 than 1200 with it being a new camera. That is quite a different proposition.

That's stacking the price argument a bit.

I'd look at it this way: I see the 7D2 is currently GBP 1380 at major UK retailers. Now, the 5D4 launched the same as the 5D3, so it would be reasonable to expect an interim update to the 7D2, being not even a 7D3, woul

Canon will not upgrade just for the touch screen. Even the 650D to 700D had a different sensor .

650D (T4i) and 700D (T5i) have the same imaging sensor. An 18 Megapixels Canon-made 1.6x sensor with In-chip phase detection AF pixels.

(The phase detection AF pixels are the only difference from the sensor in the 2009 7D, 550D, 600D, 60D, 100D, M1, M2, M10, 1200D, 1300D, I can go on)

There are speculations that Canon upgraded the 650D due to the pealing of the grip leather that some users experienced, especially since the 700D few upgrades include and I qoute "upgraded finish for a luxurious feel", and indeed the 700D has a stronger texture and feels more secure from an extremely dense leather texture on the grip, more than on the 7DII. So it might have been the entire reason.

But this is all simple speculation. No one knows for sure. The D600 Nikon and D610 share a similar speculation.

 

[tron]

I believe the short answer to this question is no and the long answer is no way! It is much better to put resources to introduce a new 7D sooner rather than spending them on insignificant upgrades...

 

[Aussie shooter]

Def no chance of a 7d2+. so the question remains. When will the 7d3 appear and more importantly, when? I am guessing that as I am about to fork out for a 7d2 it will be about 6months after that 8)

 

[tron]

Def no chance of a 7d2+. so the question remains. When will the 7d3 appear and more importantly, when? I am guessing that as I am about to fork out for a 7d2 it will be about 6months after that 8)

Since I am in a hurry to upgrade my not so ... bad 7DII I would like to ask politely that you get one as soon as possible. 6 months later I will be able to upgrade my 7DII to 7DIII ;D ;D ;D

 

[Don Haines]

I believe the short answer to this question is no and the long answer is no way! It is much better to put resources to introduce a new 7D sooner rather than spending them on insignificant upgrades...

You MIGHT see a new firmware with a couple of new functions (something developed for the 7D3?) and that would be about as much as possible..... but even then, I doubt it.

 

[tron]

I believe the short answer to this question is no and the long answer is no way! It is much better to put resources to introduce a new 7D sooner rather than spending them on insignificant upgrades...

You MIGHT see a new firmware with a couple of new functions (something developed for the 7D3?) and that would be about as much as possible..... but even then, I doubt it.

Me too. The last firmware update was the wifi card support update which finds me indifferent. Anyway I cannot think of a firmware upgrade that would seriously improve 7D2. Even buffer depth is decent already.

 

[reef58]

Not interested in upgrading for a touchscreen and wifi. Would upgrade immediately for a less noisy sensor.

 

[tron]

Not interested in upgrading for a touchscreen and wifi. Would upgrade immediately for a less noisy sensor.

+1

 

[Ozarker]

I don't think they'd put all the development work into a new model just to give it a touch screen and wifi especially as (in your own words) it would be 'a bit more future proofed'. If they are getting a MkIII then development will already be well advanced now and rushing something to market just for those enhancements would be a distraction. It is not a simple case of 'while we develop the full 7D3 we'll just throw out 7D2 MkII to keep the punters happy' - it is a major undertaking.

A new sensor, faster drive, integrating new Digic processors, 4K, just any *one* of those would be a major undertaking but I'm not asking for any of those in a "7D2+". Just that Canon-staple 3" 1.04M-dot touchscreen that has for a years been on all their other APS-C bodies except the top-end 7D2 and bottom-end 1200D/1300D. Plus throw in built-in wi-fi too, but the touchscreen foremost.

The reason 80D has a touch/pinch screen and the 7D2 does not is that the 80D was released about 18 months later.

The earlier 70D already had a touchscreen, released over a year before the 7D2. The entry-level SL1/100D and the t5i/700D were also released a year before and likewise came with touchscreens.

Now that the 5D4 has come with a touchscreen, Canon's engineers are out of excuses that they can't put a touchscreen in a weather-sealed body in 2017.

If lack of a touch screen and wifi are the only thing wrong with the 7D2 it must be a bloody good camera.

Oh yes, it is bloody good. Just with two annoyingly small but noticeable omissions, which if addressed would make it fully current as Canon's top-end crop body for the expected next couple more years while it's developing a Mark III.

Maybe a 7D Mark "II+" (again, not a full Mark III) patch upgrade in 2017 isn't so far-fetched as I now recall Canon when it made the change from the 650D to 700D, the biggest thing it added really was a touchscreen.

Patch upgrade? Ya ain't gonna get a patch for a touch screen or built in wifi.

 

[xps]

Instead of a 7Dii+ Canon could release a firmware update like they did to the 7D in August 2012. That would give the 7Dii a longer lifespan until a vs 3 is released in a year or two. This keeps everyone happy! If they include the new wifi sd card in the 7Dii package when you buy. The only people upset are the people who bought the 7Dii before the card became available. A $50 or $60 add on is not really upsetting as a 7Dii+ might be. To come out with an update to a product without releasing a new version model is not a good customer service plan. This would only create bad will.

Personally I hope there will be no "lifespan" update via firmware. Maybe you can fix some problems or introduce some options. Maybe an better noise algorithm. But an firmware upgrade will not change the hardware shortcomings (compared to D500 or other competitors). Like other brands change their porducts quite more frequently (e.g. 6300/6500 from Sony), I hope Canon will implement new technology to the Mk III and this body will appear some month earlier than planned.
But:
Yes, the noise of the D500 is (much/visibly) lesser above Iso3200, but who shoots at this Isos, if he is interested in an good IQ? This was the answer from an Canon salesman at Cologne this year. Sophisticated photographers use 5DIV or most frequently the 1DX series. So, I do not believe Canon will react on the newer competitors as they sell the 7DII still quite well (Germany) - it is cheap and fast. The users who buy this body know the shortcomings and I fear they accept them - otherwise the sales would have gone down.

 

[tron]

I have no need for wifi or gps (not saying they shouldn't exist just I do not care for them and would leave them to off). If only they could keep the same number of mpixels in the next iteration and focused on improving IQ they would make a super tool for wildlife. As it is now it comes close to being one. So improving IQ even a little would make the ultimate wildlife camera.

 

[Deleted member 91053]

I have no need for wifi or gps (not saying they shouldn't exist just I do not care for them and would leave them to off). If only they could keep the same number of mpixels in the next iteration and focused on improving IQ they would make a super tool for wildlife. As it is now it comes close to being one. So improving IQ even a little would make the ultimate wildlife camera.

I too would like to see the next generation of all Canon cameras keeping the Pixie level where it is now. Every time they make advances in sensor technology they (Nikon/Canon etc etc) insist on banging up the MP count at the cost of other, more important, aspects of sensor performance.

I am reasonably happy that my 1DX is 18mp (Do NOT want any more!) but my 7D2 is crippled (though still a very good camera) by it's 20 Mp. If they had kept it to 10/12 Mp with current sensor technology then it would have been a far better camera for my wildlife/birding uses.

As to WiFi, GPS, Video etc etc? I am happy to pay more for a camera/sensor that isn't compromised in any way to allow these features(???).

 

[greger]

I have been reading lots of web pages about what and when the 7Dlll will be. It may end up being a camera with a lll badge and ll+ specs.

 

[Mikehit]

Isn't that like saying the 1Dx2 has a II badge and 1Dx+ specs?