Canon 7D Mark II Owners first thoughts

[digigal]

So far I love the camera--very fast. My 70-200 EF f/2.8 IS II with the 2X TC focuses much faster and more accurately than with the 7D. I'm amazed in the noise improvement. Will take me a while to get used to the placement of the AF change buttons--I was so used to the 7D after using it for 5 yrs. Here's a couple of ISO 12800--yes, 12,800!! taken with the 70-200 + 2X on manual and dev with NO changes in DPP except adding the lens correction. It think they are pretty incredible for the ISO. They would have been so ugly before.

 

[cap7ainclu7ch]

^ Those are fantastic shots! I can't wait to shoot some football when mine comes in. Seems like this camera is performing quite well in real life. You could of told me that those were taken with a 5DIII and I wouldn't have questioned it.

 

[Famateur]

Agreed -- that looks pretty amazing. Am I understanding you correctly? These were processed from RAW in DPP with only lens correction and no additional noise reduction? These aren't out-of-camera JPEGs that have had in-camera noise reduction applied?

 

[digigal]

Agreed -- that looks pretty amazing. Am I understanding you correctly? These were processed from RAW in DPP with only lens correction and no additional noise reduction? These aren't out-of-camera JPEGs that have had in-camera noise reduction applied?

I opened the RAW files in DPP 4.1 (which I downloaded today). It has a standard noise and sharpening setting in its opening settings like Lightroom and I left them on and didn't modify any of the other settings for contrast, clarity, etc, etc. No extra noise reduction was done in DPP and no additional noise reduction programs were run. The files can be converted to TIFFs in DPP and exported to Photoshop for additional modification. I then exported them from DPP as a JPEG to upload to the internet.
Catherine

 

[dtaylor]

Here's a couple of ISO 12800--yes, 12,800!! taken with the 70-200 + 2X on manual and dev with NO changes in DPP except adding the lens correction. It think they are pretty incredible for the ISO. They would have been so ugly before.

Clearly the 7D mark II has improved high ISO over the original 7D. By quite a bit it seems as 12,800 was completely unusable on the original.

 

[Famateur]

Agreed -- that looks pretty amazing. Am I understanding you correctly? These were processed from RAW in DPP with only lens correction and no additional noise reduction? These aren't out-of-camera JPEGs that have had in-camera noise reduction applied?

I opened the RAW files in DPP 4.1 (which I downloaded today). It has a standard noise and sharpening setting in its opening settings like Lightroom and I left them on and didn't modify any of the other settings for contrast, clarity, etc, etc. No extra noise reduction was done in DPP and no additional noise reduction programs were run. The files can be converted to TIFFs in DPP and exported to Photoshop for additional modification. I then exported them from DPP as a JPEG to upload to the internet.
Catherine

Most excellent. Thank you for sharing!

 

[DominoDude]

Got my 7DM2 yesterday and spent all evening trying to program the AF system for flying birds etc. Downloaded DPP 4.1 and shot some RAW test shots with higher ISO than I normally use. Shoot manual and used standard setting in DPP (never used program so unfamiliar with it). Transferred RAW file to PS and converted to highest JPG. Here's the link to the full size file--looks great to me for a ISO 4000 shot! I think the noise could be easily dealt with in post processing and a file like this could be printed. I would not have printed a ISO 4000 from my 7D
Catherine
http://www.pbase.com/mcat/image/158038187/large.jpeg

I ogled those two birds I found there, and the appearance of the noise in those shots - mighty darn nice, I must say! Perceived resolution goes down at those high ISOs, as expected, but I would say that they still maintain a lot of detail. Noise characteristics is overall pleasant, and with a film-like grain to it. Not much discolouration (One suspect cyan speck on the woodpeckers foot.), nor tendencies to banding.

Thanks for your effort and shots that looks very promising! If the 7D Mark II continues to deliver like that, I bet you will be one happy gal.

 

[AlanF]

So far I love the camera--very fast. My 70-200 EF f/2.8 IS II with the 2X TC focuses much faster and more accurately than with the 7D. I'm amazed in the noise improvement. Will take me a while to get used to the placement of the AF change buttons--I was so used to the 7D after using it for 5 yrs. Here's a couple of ISO 12800--yes, 12,800!! taken with the 70-200 + 2X on manual and dev with NO changes in DPP except adding the lens correction. It think they are pretty incredible for the ISO. They would have been so ugly before.

Are these 100% crops or are they the whole image resized down 3-4 times.

 

[photennek]

So far I love the camera--very fast. My 70-200 EF f/2.8 IS II with the 2X TC focuses much faster and more accurately than with the 7D. I'm amazed in the noise improvement. Will take me a while to get used to the placement of the AF change buttons--I was so used to the 7D after using it for 5 yrs. Here's a couple of ISO 12800--yes, 12,800!! taken with the 70-200 + 2X on manual and dev with NO changes in DPP except adding the lens correction. It think they are pretty incredible for the ISO. They would have been so ugly before.

Are these 100% crops or are they the whole image resized down 3-4 times.

If you look DominoDude's previous reply, and click the link there, you get to see 100% size versions of these birds. The ones shown on this page were obviously resized down. (Edit: you have to navigate a bit there, but sure you'll find your way...)

And have to say, impressive quality.

 

[tayassu]

I think Canon has really landed a homerun here... Image quality, AF, handling, everything comes together...
A true 7D

 

[justaCanonuser]

...

• Playback zoom control is so frustrating, because you cannot use the thumb buttons (AE lock & AF Point Selection) like on the 7D. You have to zoom using the magnifying glass button and then use the Main dial.

...

The same as on my 6D. This is so annoying and will not get better over time. Every time I use a 5D I feel liberated while reviewing images. Do the AE Lock & AF Point do anything on the 7d while watching images or is it just as silly as on the 6D (where the buttons would be completely free to do all the zooming I would want them too)...

Same as 5D3, so the good news is that Canon finally uses now a unique interface on those cameras - even I'd preferred they layout of the old 7D, too. Sometimes this drove me mad when I switched between my 5D3 and 7D and pressed again the wrong buttons when I wanted a quick chimp.

 

[justaCanonuser]

So far I love the camera--very fast. My 70-200 EF f/2.8 IS II with the 2X TC focuses much faster and more accurately than with the 7D. I'm amazed in the noise improvement. Will take me a while to get used to the placement of the AF change buttons--I was so used to the 7D after using it for 5 yrs. Here's a couple of ISO 12800--yes, 12,800!! taken with the 70-200 + 2X on manual and dev with NO changes in DPP except adding the lens correction. It think they are pretty incredible for the ISO. They would have been so ugly before.

Nice shots, I like the woodpecker (would have been even more interesting if it would show more of the defocused flying bird in the background). But wow, those ISO 12.800 images show definitely a huge improvement over the old 7D!

 

[Canon1]

Agreed -- that looks pretty amazing. Am I understanding you correctly? These were processed from RAW in DPP with only lens correction and no additional noise reduction? These aren't out-of-camera JPEGs that have had in-camera noise reduction applied?

I opened the RAW files in DPP 4.1 (which I downloaded today). It has a standard noise and sharpening setting in its opening settings like Lightroom and I left them on and didn't modify any of the other settings for contrast, clarity, etc, etc. No extra noise reduction was done in DPP and no additional noise reduction programs were run. The files can be converted to TIFFs in DPP and exported to Photoshop for additional modification. I then exported them from DPP as a JPEG to upload to the internet.
Catherine

I don't use dpp but my understanding is that it opens a raw file and applies all if the "in camera" settings. So if you had turned on high ISO NR, dpp would have that level of NR defaulted. You could of course set the NR sliders to zero to be a more accurate example of what the actual noise is like. It does not take much NR to totally eliminate the noise and make a high ISO image look awesome for web viewing. Will it print huge is the question. (I doubt this). Thanks for sharing.

 

[AndreSilva]

So far I love the camera--very fast. My 70-200 EF f/2.8 IS II with the 2X TC focuses much faster and more accurately than with the 7D. I'm amazed in the noise improvement. Will take me a while to get used to the placement of the AF change buttons--I was so used to the 7D after using it for 5 yrs. Here's a couple of ISO 12800--yes, 12,800!! taken with the 70-200 + 2X on manual and dev with NO changes in DPP except adding the lens correction. It think they are pretty incredible for the ISO. They would have been so ugly before.

Digigal, amazing photos. If you have the time, could you try some ISO 3200 or 6400 RAWs? My limit to bird photography on the original 7D was ISO 1600, I would like to see how well can they be one or two steps above.

Thanks for you time!

Regards

Andre

 

[Roo]

Great work to all those that have offered up their photos The 7Dii is really looking like my 60d replacement early next year

 

[docsmith]

Congrats to all the knew owners. All the shots I have seen here and in other forums are impressive.

But keep'm coming.

 

[Maui5150]

I'll have one in my hands tomorrow at the PhotoPlus Expo in NYC at the Canon Exhibit, it may not be mine but just to hold one which I'm sure will not be much different than my 7D but I can run it thru it's paces with an expert from Canon to show me the in's and out's of it. Almost like getting a crash course on it before getting my own. Enjoy your cameras guys.

I messed around with one at the expo for about twenty minutes, I like it but now I'm undecided after also playing with the Canon 5D Mark III. I'm getting ready to transition to karate/taekwondo tournaments indoors and the Canon rep said the 5D Mark III would be a better fit. :-\
I'm going back tomorrow..........

7D MK II

I love my 5D MK III and shoot sports with it, some triathlons, especially the bike portion. It is not built for that and especially with a lot of movement, the AF does not track enough to my liking. Could well be user error, but if you are looking to get sharp action with movement, I think the 1Dx is the top choice, when budget comes into play, I would go 7D MK II over 5D MK III.

5D MK III will be better low light, but not so much AF tracking. I would rather have an image with slightly more noise that is tack sharp than a out of focus one with less noise.

YMMV

 

[AcutancePhotography]

I love my 5D MK III and shoot sports with it, some triathlons, especially the bike portion. It is not built for that and especially with a lot of movement, the AF does not track enough to my liking. Could well be user error, but if you are looking to get sharp action with movement, I think the 1Dx is the top choice, when budget comes into play, I would go 7D MK II over 5D MK III.

5D MK III will be better low light, but not so much AF tracking. I would rather have an image with slightly more noise that is tack sharp than a out of focus one with less noise.

YMMV

I am rather surprised at this. I thought that focusing was the thing that the 5D3 was good at.

 

[Canon1]

I love my 5D MK III and shoot sports with it, some triathlons, especially the bike portion. It is not built for that and especially with a lot of movement, the AF does not track enough to my liking. Could well be user error, but if you are looking to get sharp action with movement, I think the 1Dx is the top choice, when budget comes into play, I would go 7D MK II over 5D MK III.

5D MK III will be better low light, but not so much AF tracking. I would rather have an image with slightly more noise that is tack sharp than a out of focus one with less noise.

YMMV

I am rather surprised at this. I thought that focusing was the thing that the 5D3 was good at.

It is. I have owned a 7d, 5d2, and 1d4. My 5d3's have better AF than all of these and it is noticeable. I shoot a lot of BIF and work in low light all the time.

 

[photennek]

I love my 5D MK III and shoot sports with it, some triathlons, especially the bike portion. It is not built for that and especially with a lot of movement, the AF does not track enough to my liking. Could well be user error, but if you are looking to get sharp action with movement, I think the 1Dx is the top choice, when budget comes into play, I would go 7D MK II over 5D MK III.

5D MK III will be better low light, but not so much AF tracking. I would rather have an image with slightly more noise that is tack sharp than a out of focus one with less noise.

YMMV

I am rather surprised at this. I thought that focusing was the thing that the 5D3 was good at.

It is. I have owned a 7d, 5d2, and 1d4. My 5d3's have better AF than all of these and it is noticeable. I shoot a lot of BIF and work in low light all the time.

I guess the point is, 5d3 is good, but apparently 7d2 is now even better. I'm curious if someone can give a number (metrics) to how much autofocus tracking has improved in practise. I don't know if there is existing comparison (metrics) how much better 1DX is compared to 5d3 in autofocus tracking... apparently 7d2 should be the best of all these three.