Canon 7D Mark II Owners first thoughts

[AshtonNekolah]

I can happily say that the gps flashing icon do take a way from the battery life when off, I left it on all night into the day and latter checked the battery it was still went from 100% to 86% but all the bars were full making it look like its still 100%, this battery is the same battery that i have bin using since my 5D Mk 2 that is 4 years 4 months old. I would say that its pretty good drain on a battery that is always being used. So I assume that if yours is new it could be anywhere from 98 to 96% (im making a wild guess) mine was in this mode for 12hrs. Nothing I would worry about, since should be used only when you want to tag your images.

 

[dolina]

I need more face time with the camera. ;D

 

[AshtonNekolah]

here is a little word from a guy that uses the 1dx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2ljRc-glN4

 

[bichex]

Good Morning

I am new to the forum. I do not speak good English, only Spanish.

I live in Argentina where it is very difficult and expensive to purchase items Photography.

Basically I do nature photography.

I started with a sony H2, good camera, even when the shutter button would be broken.

I spent a Canon 40D, great camera indeed.

5 years ago I bought the 7D, gave me great satisfaction, but I gave intensive and can no more.

A few days ago I have the 7D mark II. After reading the manual, an initial settings and did some tests.

The camera feels great, looks very well built.

To test the AF I went to a place where there peregrine falcons. Although the rate photo is somewhat greater focus to the original 7D, when oncoming almost all the pictures came out without focus.

I have not even updated my PC so I can not process the raw files, so I've taken in raw + jpg.

I also took some pictures in high speed and highly efficient AF camera performed well, back when the hummingbirds move sideways but when oncoming, little or nothing in focus.

The photo attached is the jpg as it exits the chamber, without editing, I just downsized and gave a minimal approach in PS.

I do not do scientific tests, but the image quality seems not much higher than the 7D, even so for my needs, is more than enough. The baterçia seems to last quite a bit even with the GPS turned off.

I have friends who use 1D mark IV and Nikon D4, the 7D is far from those cameras in every way.

For limited budgets, the 7D Mark II seems a good option and is a step on the original 7D, but nothing that dazzle in my opinion.

I usually use 300 2.8 IS, so a FF body is no option for me.

Among the positives, this compatibility with batteries, cables, flashes and triggers flashes.

regards

 

[East Wind Photography]

Good Morning

I am new to the forum. I do not speak good English, only Spanish.

I live in Argentina where it is very difficult and expensive to purchase items Photography.

Basically I do nature photography.

I started with a sony H2, good camera, even when the shutter button would be broken.

I spent a Canon 40D, great camera indeed.

5 years ago I bought the 7D, gave me great satisfaction, but I gave intensive and can no more.

A few days ago I have the 7D mark II. After reading the manual, an initial settings and did some tests.

The camera feels great, looks very well built.

To test the AF I went to a place where there peregrine falcons. Although the rate photo is somewhat greater focus to the original 7D, when oncoming almost all the pictures came out without focus.

I have not even updated my PC so I can not process the raw files, so I've taken in raw + jpg.

I also took some pictures in high speed and highly efficient AF camera performed well, back when the hummingbirds move sideways but when oncoming, little or nothing in focus.

The photo attached is the jpg as it exits the chamber, without editing, I just downsized and gave a minimal approach in PS.

I do not do scientific tests, but the image quality seems not much higher than the 7D, even so for my needs, is more than enough. The baterçia seems to last quite a bit even with the GPS turned off.

I have friends who use 1D mark IV and Nikon D4, the 7D is far from those cameras in every way.

For limited budgets, the 7D Mark II seems a good option and is a step on the original 7D, but nothing that dazzle in my opinion.

I usually use 300 2.8 IS, so a FF body is no option for me.

Among the positives, this compatibility with batteries, cables, flashes and triggers flashes.

regards

Very nice photo. There seems to be some issues with the first series of cameras where you need to Micro Focus Adjust to the lens first. I can see in this picture that the front edge of the flower seems to be in better focus but maybe it is due to your PS processing. I have also noticed some servo AF issues in my copy which I hope will be addressed in a future firmware update. I am trying to get Canon to admit to an issue but so far I think they are just working on it. It is one of the problems with owning a new camera right after the initial release. I am pretty confident that this and other issues will be addressed in the not too distant future.

 

[AshtonNekolah]

Is anyone using wifi noticing some bodies have a white blinking wifi connection and other have a grey icon even when it's connected?

 

[JoFT]

Having the 5DMkII quite a bit of time: It´s met my expectations. It is a great camera, a clear step further from the original 7D... And maybe 2 or 3.

I do love that the HMI is similar to the 5DMkIII which was not the case between 7D & 5DMkII

The Autofokus is just mind blowing

The image quality is exactly what you can expect from a crop sensor. It allows you to extend your possiblities based on the lenses you have...

I published some more informations and images on

http://delightphoto.zenfolio.com/blog/2014/11/7d-mark-ii-the-beast---reloaded

 

[daniela]

If I compare the results of the 7D to my brandnew 7D Mark2, I am diappointed. The body itself is great (like the 7D is). But I can not see an major improvement in the picture quality. I can see highlighted (looks "artificial") edges, a lot of noise and mushy colours. On the positive side, the AF is superb and working well on fast objects.
Another point to critisize is the movie mode. The movies are a lot worser, than the 7Ds´. I will decide it after the weekend, if I send it back.

 

[East Wind Photography]

If I compare the results of the 7D to my brandnew 7D Mark2, I am diappointed. The body itself is great (like the 7D is). But I can not see an major improvement in the picture quality. I can see highlighted (looks "artificial") edges, a lot of noise and mushy colours. On the positive side, the AF is superb and working well on fast objects.
Another point to critisize is the movie mode. The movies are a lot worser, than the 7Ds´. I will decide it after the weekend, if I send it back.

Not sure what you are looking at. I just photographed an indoor soccer game this weekend all at ISO 12500 and after a little PP the shots look better than the old 7d at ISO 800. I also did a video at 29fps at a concert and it was all as good as my 5d3 and I didn't have to worry about manual focus. Dual pixel AF kept the subject in focus as I moved about the stage.

The 7d2 is an amazing system once you get a good copy.

 

[AshtonNekolah]

If I compare the results of the 7D to my brandnew 7D Mark2, I am diappointed. The body itself is great (like the 7D is). But I can not see an major improvement in the picture quality. I can see highlighted (looks "artificial") edges, a lot of noise and mushy colours. On the positive side, the AF is superb and working well on fast objects.
Another point to critisize is the movie mode. The movies are a lot worser, than the 7Ds´. I will decide it after the weekend, if I send it back.

Strange he used the word mushy, that's what I thought only to find out its human error. I thought my first body was no good but it seems that this camera has a steep learning curve. All in all I'm very happy with these bodies.

 

[Keith_Reeder]

If I compare the results of the 7D to my brandnew 7D Mark2, I am diappointed. The body itself is great (like the 7D is). But I can not see an major improvement in the picture quality. I can see highlighted (looks "artificial") edges, a lot of noise and mushy colours.

You're doing something very wrong with your conversion and/or PP, then.

I've been shooting my 7D Mk II for about a month now, and it's spectacularly good: the image quality improvements over the 7D leap out, and (I'll post some examples tonight) at say 4000 ISO (and above), conversions from Photo Ninja are literally noiseless at 100% view.

 

[daniela]

If I compare the results of the 7D to my brandnew 7D Mark2, I am diappointed. The body itself is great (like the 7D is). But I can not see an major improvement in the picture quality. I can see highlighted (looks "artificial") edges, a lot of noise and mushy colours. On the positive side, the AF is superb and working well on fast objects.
Another point to critisize is the movie mode. The movies are a lot worser, than the 7Ds´. I will decide it after the weekend, if I send it back.

Strange he used the word mushy, that's what I thought only to find out its human error. I thought my first body was no good but it seems that this camera has a steep learning curve. All in all I'm very happy with these bodies.

The "he" is a "she" and knows how to use the basic functions of this camera.
Since yesterday I am not able to get JPEGS on the card, only RAW files can be stored.
On Friday I go to Munich again and get this problem fixed in the shop.
I know it is not intellegnt to write critics on new products in such an forum, where the critique gets bashed hard by the hardcore fans. But why to be not honest?

 

[luckydude]

I'm a super crappy photographer, nowhere near 99.9% of the people here. I got the 7DII yesterday and have been putting pics up here:

http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/7DII/index.html

Also playing with the Canon 35mm f2 IS because Dustin convinced me.

These are all jpegs right off the camera.

 

[Yoyomalu8]

Is anyone using wifi noticing some bodies have a white blinking wifi connection and other have a grey icon even when it's connected?

Yes,i was noticed,i don't know why?





--------------------------------------------------
coque galaxy alpha
coque samsung galaxy alpha

 

[fragilesi]

If I compare the results of the 7D to my brandnew 7D Mark2, I am diappointed. The body itself is great (like the 7D is). But I can not see an major improvement in the picture quality. I can see highlighted (looks "artificial") edges, a lot of noise and mushy colours. On the positive side, the AF is superb and working well on fast objects.
Another point to critisize is the movie mode. The movies are a lot worser, than the 7Ds´. I will decide it after the weekend, if I send it back.

Strange he used the word mushy, that's what I thought only to find out its human error. I thought my first body was no good but it seems that this camera has a steep learning curve. All in all I'm very happy with these bodies.

The "he" is a "she" and knows how to use the basic functions of this camera.
Since yesterday I am not able to get JPEGS on the card, only RAW files can be stored.
On Friday I go to Munich again and get this problem fixed in the shop.
I know it is not intellegnt to write critics on new products in such an forum, where the critique gets bashed hard by the hardcore fans. But why to be not honest?

daniela, who are you accusing of lying?

It sounds to me that either you have a problem with your camera or you need to know a little bit more about how to use it (maybe, we have no idea just how good you are and we've all misunderstood things in the past). Why not post some of the pictures? There are plenty of people who would be happy to make suggestions about what the problem might be.

None of us like to think about anyone being unhappy with their camera so let's see if we can help you. Just a change from arguing might do us all some good .

 

[jrista]

I've been shooting my 7D Mk II for about a month now, and it's spectacularly good: the image quality improvements over the 7D leap out, and (I'll post some examples tonight) at say 4000 ISO (and above), conversions from Photo Ninja are ***literally*** noiseless at 100% view.

Literally? Really?


You want to provide some visual evidence to back that up, buddy? I just love these internet anecdotes lacking any form of physical evidence whatsoever, especially when they seem to go against the laws of physics.


Can you provide a direct conversion, no additional edits, full size 100% crops no scaling at all, to demonstrate what "literally noiseless" means in your vocabulary?

 

[East Wind Photography]

I've been shooting my 7D Mk II for about a month now, and it's spectacularly good: the image quality improvements over the 7D leap out, and (I'll post some examples tonight) at say 4000 ISO (and above), conversions from Photo Ninja are ***literally*** noiseless at 100% view.

Literally? Really?


You want to provide some visual evidence to back that up, buddy? I just love these internet anecdotes lacking any form of physical evidence whatsoever, especially when they seem to go against the laws of physics.


Can you provide a direct conversion, no additional edits, full size 100% crops no scaling at all, to demonstrate what "literally noiseless" means in your vocabulary?

I would have used the term virtually. I used 12500 the other day for a soccer game. That would not have been possible on the 7d. After post processing the images were about as good as the 7d at 800. The noise cleans up much better than the old model.

Yep there was noise...yep there was loss of some detail. But it was a soccer game and I was able to shoot at 1/1000 second and faster. Next time I will target M42... A real test.

 

[jrista]

I've been shooting my 7D Mk II for about a month now, and it's spectacularly good: the image quality improvements over the 7D leap out, and (I'll post some examples tonight) at say 4000 ISO (and above), conversions from Photo Ninja are ***literally*** noiseless at 100% view.

Literally? Really?


You want to provide some visual evidence to back that up, buddy? I just love these internet anecdotes lacking any form of physical evidence whatsoever, especially when they seem to go against the laws of physics.


Can you provide a direct conversion, no additional edits, full size 100% crops no scaling at all, to demonstrate what "literally noiseless" means in your vocabulary?

I would have used the term virtually. I used 12500 the other day for a soccer game. That would not have been possible on the 7d. After post processing the images were about as good as the 7d at 800. The noise cleans up much better than the old model.

Aye, I'd have used 'virtually' as well. To be literally noiseless would mean the image was devoid of noise, which is physically not possible. You can never have zero noise...you CAN reduce noise to the point where it may not necessarily be visible at a cursory glance, you can reduce noise to the point where you have to zoom in and scrutinize to see any. If you REALLY put some effort into it (i.e. stack 1000 frames of a still subject) you might even be able to reduce noise to the point where you cannot see it with the naked eye...however the image is still going to have noise. You can't eliminate it...only reduce it. ;P

Yep there was noise...yep there was loss of some detail. But it was a soccer game and I was able to shoot at 1/1000 second and faster. Next time I will target M42... A real test.

M42 is a great dynamic range test...that thing is such a beast when it comes to DR...from the brightest spots in the Trap to the dimmest outer regions it's gotta be pushing 18-19 stops or so.


I would say a better test is something with lower surface brightness. Maybe California Nebula. THAT would be a real test of the 7D II. Elephant Trunk would be another good one. There are actually probably a bunch of dim targets in Cepheus that would make a good test of the 7D II (like Iris).


I've been poking around with the math, and I am not really sure that the 7D II's low dark current is really going to be a benefit this time of year (at least, not in the northern hemisphere). The cold at night keeps the sensor cool enough that read noise dominates, and there is only a small difference in read noise with say the 7D. For any given exposure, you have about 0.6e- less read noise with the 7D II, however that only amounts to a few ADU at higher ISO. Say ISO 1600, 2.4e- 7D II vs. 3.0e- 7D.


The dark current levels of either camera at 30-40°F is low enough that you barely accumulate that much dark current noise for the kind of exposures you'll use at ISO 1600 anyway. Your going to be exposing the background sky to about 1/3rd of the histogram most of the time, 1/4 at the very lowest (but to 1/3rd is recommended for best results). At either of those levels, you are going to so totally swamp the read noise and the dark current noise on either the 7D or 7D II is going to produce the same results during cooler temperatures (winter, early spring, late fall), as were then talking about a several hundred ADU signal level. That's going to swamp read noise and dark current noise, and any amount of banding as well.