Canon 7D Mark II Owners first thoughts

[privatebydesign]

Nice, I was just saying how a collection of little things can make a big difference. I am sure many will never use the flicker feature, but for those that do what a difference in keeper rates!

 

[Flailingarms]

I pre-ordered body only mid October, pick it up 30th. Primary use will be with Sigma 50-500 OS HSM for birding.

Meanwhile (pending decent birding weather) played around with it taking photos of some of my model cars, did
about 100 shots. Don't claim that is any sort of high-end use, but I was pleased with the results. However, that
is not the reason for this comment. I've been trying to find out if the 7DM2 can be controlled via Android using the
Canon EOS Remote app. Web searches, including Canon's site, have turned up nada. User manual has info on
wireless using a card, but that info is not sufficient to conclude a "yea or nay." Info one way or the other will be greatly appreciated.

7DM2 with Sigma 50-500 OS HSM; 70D with EF 100-400 IS USM; 7D with EF-S 18-200 IS; 60D with EF 28-135;
EOS M with EF-M 18-55 IS STM; SX230; S3IS.

 

[Bigjezza]

Still waiting for them to reach Australia,you guys in Northern Hemisphere seem to have snaffled them all up leaving us Downunder to look longingly forums and such

I got one from Teds in Adelaide, they came in about 1100 Monday. They had 6 of them there, and 4 were already allocated to pre orders...
It actually works out cheaper for us to get them locally than from the US because customs add 10% tax.
It's on the front page of Teds November catalogue, so I would expect they will have a healthy supply.

 

[jblake]

Techradar scored the 5DIII a 26 while giving the 7DII a 30. I don't see it. Other comparisons were similar.

I don't see it either. The horizontal lines and numbers from the 5D3 are noticeably sharper than the same blurry lines and numbers from the 7D2. Techradar must use the same logical overall scoring methodology that DXO uses.

 

[fragilesi]

Well I bought the 70D, which I'm actually very happy with but now this will almost certainly be the next body I buy.

What I'm hearing from the people I care about (BIF / Sports / Wildlife shooters) is that this camera delivers.

Pricing is always an emotive subject and sure I'd like it to be a sub 1k body but given these early indicators Canon delivered what they said they would and possibly more. I hate to say it because I just don't have that kind of cash after my wife and daughter have helped me to spend what I do have to buy it. However, given the price will drop I think Canon has it about right.

 

[tcmatthews]

I pre-ordered body only mid October, pick it up 30th. Primary use will be with Sigma 50-500 OS HSM for birding.

Meanwhile (pending decent birding weather) played around with it taking photos of some of my model cars, did
about 100 shots. Don't claim that is any sort of high-end use, but I was pleased with the results. However, that
is not the reason for this comment. I've been trying to find out if the 7DM2 can be controlled via Android using the
Canon EOS Remote app. Web searches, including Canon's site, have turned up nada. User manual has info on
wireless using a card, but that info is not sufficient to conclude a "yea or nay." Info one way or the other will be greatly appreciated.

7DM2 with Sigma 50-500 OS HSM; 70D with EF 100-400 IS USM; 7D with EF-S 18-200 IS; 60D with EF 28-135;
EOS M with EF-M 18-55 IS STM; SX230; S3IS.

I do not think you can do that through an Eyefi card you will likely need the new wireless transmitter. Adorama has listed the following http://www.adorama.com/ICAWFTE7A.html but I could not find any info on Canons website. Without built in Wifi it will most likely need an accessory like the 5D III. Someone that owns a 5D III might be able to answer that question.

Then again I have not been impressed by the Android EOS remote app. Last time I tried to used it it locked up on me. I do not think I would pay for the wireless file transfer unit just for remote shooting.

 

[privatebydesign]

I pre-ordered body only mid October, pick it up 30th. Primary use will be with Sigma 50-500 OS HSM for birding.

Meanwhile (pending decent birding weather) played around with it taking photos of some of my model cars, did
about 100 shots. Don't claim that is any sort of high-end use, but I was pleased with the results. However, that
is not the reason for this comment. I've been trying to find out if the 7DM2 can be controlled via Android using the
Canon EOS Remote app. Web searches, including Canon's site, have turned up nada. User manual has info on
wireless using a card, but that info is not sufficient to conclude a "yea or nay." Info one way or the other will be greatly appreciated.

7DM2 with Sigma 50-500 OS HSM; 70D with EF 100-400 IS USM; 7D with EF-S 18-200 IS; 60D with EF 28-135;
EOS M with EF-M 18-55 IS STM; SX230; S3IS.

I do not think you can do that through an Eyefi card you will likely need the new wireless transmitter. Adorama has listed the following http://www.adorama.com/ICAWFTE7A.html but I could not find any info on Canons website. Without built in Wifi it will most likely need an accessory like the 5D III. Someone that owns a 5D III might be able to answer that question.

Then again I have not been impressed by the Android EOS remote app. Last time I tried to used it it locked up on me. I do not think I would pay for the wireless file transfer unit just for remote shooting.

I have used EyeFi cards, Canon's WFT's and the CamRanger. Get the CamRanger for remote camera control, it works! It reconnects. It is stable. It isn't camera specific.

 

[jpmagero]

I just shot my first soccer game under stadium lights. All I have to say is Holy Sh*T that Flicker function is amazing .... But with the Flicker function and the high ISO I know I chose an awesome upgrade from the 7D.

Here's an example of the Flicker function from a high school football shoot:

Other shots (untouched, straight out of the camera JPGs with various lenses):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/vandarix/sets/72157648657069517/

 

[jrista]

One surprise I found with the 7D2 is that it lets you change the prefix on the file names. On the 60D you cycled from IMG_0000 to IMG_9999 over and over again.... you had 10,000 unique file names...

On the 7D2 you have 25,600,000,000 possible different file names. even if I go to a scheme where I call the files D14Axxxx, then D14Bxxxx, D14Cxxxx.... and next year start up at D15A0000, this gives me a scheme for 260,000 unique file names per year. A great improvement!

You have been able to do that to 1 series camera files for a long time, just a FYI.

It's funny, I have been a 1 series user for years and there are so many of these silly little things I took for granted, none of them are that consequential, but when you add them up it does make a difference.

A lot of little things do add up to a big difference. I have handled a lot of cameras from several makers (but not a Canon 1 series), and my impression when I first picked up the 7D2 is that this is one solid piece of gear. I'm still learning it, but so far I am very impressed. I shot some test photos at ISO6400 and they are far better than the 60D... I think you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between it and the 5D2.

Sounds like the DIGIC 6's are doing their job, then. I think in-camera RAW NR is the way of the future...

Well it means Canon are now playing the same tricks that Sony, Nikon and Pentax have been playing for a while.

Well, I don't think this kind of NR has been employed much. I know the A7s does it, and I know that prior Canon cameras with the DIGIC 6 did it. Nikon's NR was more along the lines of a secondary CDS (which is exactly what the Exmor Nikon uses does as well...both analog and digital CDS), but I don't think they did additional NR after the signal was digitized. The other thing that Nikon, Pentax, and Sony do is clip to the black point, rather than offsetting to the black point. That also reduces some noise, but it is also throwing away some potentially usable signal.


I think the BionzX/DIGIC6 digital signal NR is something a little newer.

 

[privatebydesign]

jp, that is very impressive.

For pretty much every sports shooter I can imagine that is a vastly more important feature than a stop or so of DR!

 

[Loswr]

Here's an example of the Flicker function from a high school football shoot:

Very impressive!

jp, that is very impressive.

For pretty much every sports shooter I can imagine that is a vastly more important feature than a stop or so of DR!

What a silly suggestion... Moreover, it almost sounds as if you're suggesting Canon is innovating, but we all know that can't be true. : : : :

 

[jpmagero]

Some other sample shots:

1/1000 sec, f/4.0, ISO 5000, handheld

1/1000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 400, handheld

1/1000 sec, f/4.0, ISO 6400, handheld

0.8 sec, f/8/0, ISO 6400, handheld (leaning)

1/60 sec, f/3.5, ISO 500, handheld

1/25 sec, f/3.5, ISO 5000, handheld

 

[Don Haines]

Nice, I was just saying how a collection of little things can make a big difference. I am sure many will never use the flicker feature, but for those that do what a difference in keeper rates!

I tried it last night. Without it, the brightness of my test shots varied by about two stops. When I turned it on, they were all the same. Nice feature!

 

[quod]

What a silly suggestion... Moreover, it almost sounds as if you're suggesting Canon is innovating, but we all know that can't be true. : : : :

.... and even if they didn't innovate, you'd surely be touting their superiority. : : : :

 

[JMeneses]

I got mine last week and I am in trouble. I have Windows Vista in my PC and can not install the EOS software that comes with the 7D Mark II. The Zoom Browser of the of 5D Mark II opens both JPEG and RAW files of the 7D Mark II but the DPP of 5D Mark II just opens the JPEG files. So for the moment I can not work with RAW files. Any suggestions to overcome this situation that will be met surely by other people?
Thanks

 

[ajfotofilmagem]

I got mine last week and I am in trouble. I have Windows Vista in my PC and can not install the EOS software that comes with the 7D Mark II. The Zoom Browser of the of 5D Mark II opens both JPEG and RAW files of the 7D Mark II but the DPP of 5D Mark II just opens the JPEG files. So for the moment I can not work with RAW files. Any suggestions to overcome this situation that will be met surely by other people?
Thanks

Honestly... Get rid of Windows Vista. I know many people who longs Windows XP, but I never saw a human being homesick Windows Vista.

 

[2n10]

Techradar scored the 5DIII a 26 while giving the 7DII a 30. I don't see it. Other comparisons were similar.

I don't see it either. The horizontal lines and numbers from the 5D3 are noticeably sharper than the same blurry lines and numbers from the 7D2. Techradar must use the same logical overall scoring methodology that DXO uses.

You are looking for moire as the lines on the chart get smaller. The point that you count less than 11 lines is where you read the number. It is another measure, but one that does not take into account lack of fuzziness.

 

[kmhanika]

I just shot my first soccer game under stadium lights. All I have to say is Holy Sh*T that Flicker function is amazing .... But with the Flicker function and the high ISO I know I chose an awesome upgrade from the 7D.

This is one of the features that I'm most interested in. Does it seem to affect the shooting speed? In other words, is the camera timing the lights before taking the shot or does it provide a sort of auto exposure/white balance?

Kathleen

 

[2n10]

I got mine last week and I am in trouble. I have Windows Vista in my PC and can not install the EOS software that comes with the 7D Mark II. The Zoom Browser of the of 5D Mark II opens both JPEG and RAW files of the 7D Mark II but the DPP of 5D Mark II just opens the JPEG files. So for the moment I can not work with RAW files. Any suggestions to overcome this situation that will be met surely by other people?
Thanks

Read the system requirements. Vista and below are not supported. OS upgrade time.

 

[2n10]

I just shot my first soccer game under stadium lights. All I have to say is Holy Sh*T that Flicker function is amazing .... But with the Flicker function and the high ISO I know I chose an awesome upgrade from the 7D.

Here's an example of the Flicker function from a high school football shoot:

Other shots (untouched, straight out of the camera JPGs with various lenses):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/vandarix/sets/72157648657069517/

This post is a great sales tool for the anti-flicker mode. Canon should buy it from you.