Canon 7D Mark II Owners first thoughts

[photog01]

Using a Canon 70-300 mm L lens, I found the shoots on the 7DII were sharper than the shoots on my 60D. I did the comparison of two RAW images at 200%. Shoot at f7.1 at 1/125. I had enough fun learning to use DPP to see the images that I don't want to try to upload any images.

(Even the 7DII thumbnails look sharper.)

 

[thericyip]

Picked up a Canon 7D mark 2 today. As a fight photographer using a Canon 1Dx, I am very happy with the camera and the results.

I used the camera with a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II at a Muay Thai demo tonight.
Menu system, ergonomics, using the camera, and the results were very familiar. Felt like I was shooting with the 1Dx.

Since Adobe doesn't have an update for the Canon 7Dm2 yet, I shot Raw to CF and Jpeg to SD, which slowed down the buffer a bit. Not sure if this is the same problem as the 5Dm3 where the SD card slot shortens the buffer (if I remember correctly). I'm used to the 1Dx 32 RAW buffer so the difference was new to me.

Here's a Jpeg sample straight out of camera (added watermark). IMO, it's quite good for a jpeg.
The Canon 7Dm2 is definitely a good backup to my 1Dx. I can still comfortably shoot weddings and events with this no problem. I can see why Scott Kelby likes this camera so much.

@3200 ISO it is not bad. Not bad at all. Was NR in camera applied?

I turned off NR.

 

[thericyip]

Picked up a Canon 7D mark 2 today. As a fight photographer using a Canon 1Dx, I am very happy with the camera and the results.

I used the camera with a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II at a Muay Thai demo tonight.
Menu system, ergonomics, using the camera, and the results were very familiar. Felt like I was shooting with the 1Dx.

Since Adobe doesn't have an update for the Canon 7Dm2 yet, I shot Raw to CF and Jpeg to SD, which slowed down the buffer a bit. Not sure if this is the same problem as the 5Dm3 where the SD card slot shortens the buffer (if I remember correctly). I'm used to the 1Dx 32 RAW buffer so the difference was new to me.

Here's a Jpeg sample straight out of camera (added watermark). IMO, it's quite good for a jpeg.
The Canon 7Dm2 is definitely a good backup to my 1Dx. I can still comfortably shoot weddings and events with this no problem. I can see why Scott Kelby likes this camera so much.

Thanks for sharing!
This looks promising, even if its a downsized JPG. Seems to treat skin tones well without any overlaid colour casts.
Did the difference between this 7D Mark II and the 1D X make you do anything different, or did you shoot it as if they were the same?

Aside from the buffer difference, I felt like I was shooing with a 1Dx. I think even more so if I were to add a grip. Quick AF response, ergonomics were great. The new switch around the joystick took some time getting used to though.

 

[candyman]

Picked up a Canon 7D mark 2 today. As a fight photographer using a Canon 1Dx, I am very happy with the camera and the results.

I used the camera with a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II at a Muay Thai demo tonight.
Menu system, ergonomics, using the camera, and the results were very familiar. Felt like I was shooting with the 1Dx.

Since Adobe doesn't have an update for the Canon 7Dm2 yet, I shot Raw to CF and Jpeg to SD, which slowed down the buffer a bit. Not sure if this is the same problem as the 5Dm3 where the SD card slot shortens the buffer (if I remember correctly). I'm used to the 1Dx 32 RAW buffer so the difference was new to me.

Here's a Jpeg sample straight out of camera (added watermark). IMO, it's quite good for a jpeg.
The Canon 7Dm2 is definitely a good backup to my 1Dx. I can still comfortably shoot weddings and events with this no problem. I can see why Scott Kelby likes this camera so much.

@3200 ISO it is not bad. Not bad at all. Was NR in camera applied?

I turned off NR.

Thank you for your answer.
I like the result @3200
btw, great photo!

 

[DominoDude]

Picked up a Canon 7D mark 2 today. As a fight photographer using a Canon 1Dx, I am very happy with the camera and the results.

I used the camera with a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II at a Muay Thai demo tonight.
Menu system, ergonomics, using the camera, and the results were very familiar. Felt like I was shooting with the 1Dx.

Since Adobe doesn't have an update for the Canon 7Dm2 yet, I shot Raw to CF and Jpeg to SD, which slowed down the buffer a bit. Not sure if this is the same problem as the 5Dm3 where the SD card slot shortens the buffer (if I remember correctly). I'm used to the 1Dx 32 RAW buffer so the difference was new to me.

... (cleaning up the thread to keep it shorter and more readable)

Thanks for sharing!
This looks promising, even if its a downsized JPG. Seems to treat skin tones well without any overlaid colour casts.
Did the difference between this 7D Mark II and the 1D X make you do anything different, or did you shoot it as if they were the same?

Aside from the buffer difference, I felt like I was shooing with a 1Dx. I think even more so if I were to add a grip. Quick AF response, ergonomics were great. The new switch around the joystick took some time getting used to though.

Thanks!
Sounds like it's as promising a package as I thought and hoped.

 

[AprilForever]

I have been waiting for one of these for years and eons upon end... soon, my savings will be adequate!

 

[ashley]

I took the 7d2 (what shorthand are we actually going to use, 7d2, 7dmII, etc?) down to the Isle of Wight today to see what it could do.
First thoughts... its very, very fast!
The autofocus seemed to snap very quickly to its target and stayed locked consistantly, i think this is going to be very useful. I left it in auto ISO mode to see what settings it chose and also set the lowest shutter speed at 1/250 or 1/500. In retrospect I should have made it higher as I tend to wobble the camera a bit ( I blame it on old age )
I left the GPS on, logging mode enabled and set for 10 sec update. looking at the track afterwards it seems very accurate, even in a couple of wooded areas I walked through. I used a fully charged battery which after seven hours and 1,921 photos inc GPS logging was at 1 bar left at the end of the day. I shot RAW to the CF card and JPEG to the SD card and didn't notice any problems in burst shots (Both Sandisk, SD - Extreme Pro, CF - Extreme marked as 60MB/s) . I was able to fit 1,348 RAW shots onto a 32Gb Sandisk card. I used a Sigma 18-200 lens, not my best lens so shots aren't great but its size is good for the aeroplane cockpit.

A few resized snaps are below, the gallery with untouched pix can be viewed here (I may add more later)
http://ashleymiddleton.zenfolio.com/p785421704

No PP has been done to these so they don't look their best. They are JPEG as I use Aperture which doesn't have a RAW converter yet for a 7d2

IMG_0047

IMG_0393

IMG_0620

IMG_1247

IMG_1746

IMG_1862
This was shot just after sunset so is quite dark but is much better than my old 40d would do
This was at 4000 ISO at 1/250 sec

I hope this has been of some help to you. I certainly learnt a lot about this camera from testing it today. I think a better lens would certainly improve my shots and I'll try this when I get some time

Ashley

 

[digigal]

I've been ploughing through the full manual about setting up this camera since my prior experience is with the 7D, it's quite a different setup. Here's what I've done: I've programmed my 7DMII for 2 types of shooting by using custom settings for 2 different rear focus buttons: The AF-ON button is set for AF for rapidly "moving objects/flying birds" focus using the zone tracking and I set the AI Servo AF characteristics to Case 5. The Star button is also set to AF but is to concentrate on immobile to slowly moving objects and the AI Servo AF is set to Case 1 (Multipurpose) and the AF area selection mode is from center point to the expanded center point. This seemed to be the simplest and easiest way I could figure out to go between the two very different styles of shooting without pushing a lot of buttons or going through a lot of menus. Didn't get a chance to test it before it got dark. Does anyone have any suggestions or improvements for this?
Catherine

 

[freeomega]

I've been ploughing through the full manual about setting up this camera since my prior experience is with the 7D, it's quite a different setup. Here's what I've done: I've programmed my 7DMII for 2 types of shooting by using custom settings for 2 different rear focus buttons: The AF-ON button is set for AF for rapidly "moving objects/flying birds" focus using the zone tracking and I set the AI Servo AF characteristics to Case 5. The Star button is also set to AF but is to concentrate on immobile to slowly moving objects and the AI Servo AF is set to Case 1 (Multipurpose) and the AF area selection mode is from center point to the expanded center point. This seemed to be the simplest and easiest way I could figure out to go between the two very different styles of shooting without pushing a lot of buttons or going through a lot of menus. Didn't get a chance to test it before it got dark. Does anyone have any suggestions or improvements for this?
Catherine

It's not a bad setup at all, but I'll tell you what I did for my 5D (I don't know if it's feasible for the 7DII though).

The first thing I did was to setup back button focussing. I like keeping the star for metering lock, but it all depends on your needs I guess.

Also, I mainly shoot with only the center focus point to control where the camera focusses, but I customized the "DOF preview button" to "Switch to registered AF Func" with options such as all 61 point and other tracking options (all customizable). The button is located at the front of the camera, on the shutter button side allowing to quickly switch when needed by just holding it.

It takes about 5 minutes to get used to remembering to press the buttons when all focus points are required. Unless I know that I won't be shooting moving subject, I always shoot in AI Servo since letting go the AF will make the camera stop focussing anyway...

Another thing I did to is to setup C1 for birding locking the shutter speed @ 1/2000, auto ISO, 61 point focus and C2 with AV control, with Auto ISO and Auto shutter speed. These are mainly used by my wife to shoot birds, but I use them sometimes too.

I hope this helps.

 

[DominoDude]

I've been ploughing through the full manual about setting up this camera since my prior experience is with the 7D, it's quite a different setup. Here's what I've done: I've programmed my 7DMII for 2 types of shooting by using custom settings for 2 different rear focus buttons: The AF-ON button is set for AF for rapidly "moving objects/flying birds" focus using the zone tracking and I set the AI Servo AF characteristics to Case 5. The Star button is also set to AF but is to concentrate on immobile to slowly moving objects and the AI Servo AF is set to Case 1 (Multipurpose) and the AF area selection mode is from center point to the expanded center point. This seemed to be the simplest and easiest way I could figure out to go between the two very different styles of shooting without pushing a lot of buttons or going through a lot of menus. Didn't get a chance to test it before it got dark. Does anyone have any suggestions or improvements for this?
Catherine

This configuration sounds jolly good to me. Keeping it as simple as possible means the chance is higher that one remembers to use it correctly. The way of having BBF doubled would probably take me some time to get the hang of, but it should be convenient as soon as that learning period is over. And, after all, it's just a roll of the thumb slightly to the left or right to correct any initial errors.

 

[RustyTheGeek]

Quick Q: Did Canon cripple the camera like they did on the 5D3 by putting a dead slow SD slot in it and then slowing down the CF slot in the process if you use the dead slow SD slot simultaneously?

Thanks in advance for your answer in the form of a research paper searching for a grant on the subject and the countless hours of in depth testing you will no doubt perform using the scientific method with multiple cards, testing software and electroshock therapy to discover this! I'll keep an extra beer in the fridge for you!

(Or I'd also be happy with you just putting two cards in, firing it off and then removing the SD and firing it again to see the difference!)

 

[rocksubculture]

I actually ended up with two new pieces of gear arriving the same day on Thursday (by coincidence) - the 7D Mark II and the 300 2.8 II... (a good day)

Anyway, I was off to Vegas to shoot the Erasure concert from the soundboard, so it was good timing. I literally fired off a few shots before I left (to make sure it worked) and set up a basic manual profile and I was off. So I never really shot either until I was at the concert.

Luckily, I was able to shoot the full set of the opener to dial things in a bit, then had just three songs to shoot Erasure. I tried a few things within that time to analyze later - shot the 300 on the 7DII bare and with the 1.4X extender, and also shot the 300 on one of my 5DIIIs with the extender. I didn't have time to get to the 2X extender.

I shot both RAW and JPEG (JPEG to quickly use for my article and RAW in case I wanted to mess with after LR updates). I thought I had set up the 7DII to shoot RAW to CF and JPEG to SD, but it ends up I had both going to the CF (which filled, then moved to SD).

Anyway, my main take away was that it shot like a much faster (in terms of number of photos/FPS) 5DIII. I felt like I could keep taking as many pics as I wanted without choking the camera.

I'll play around with comparisons this week, but for me I am definitely convinced that this new 7DII is a winner.

Jason

 

[markesc]

Which 500mm lens were these taken on?

I'm considering probably the 7dmkii + 500f4 ii as a still hikeable all day birding setup.

I received my 7DII today, I took an hour off in the afternoon to stop by lake Washington to try it on some birds. Weather was mostly cloudy with some on and off drizzle - typical Seattle weather this time of the year.


The camera felt very solidly built. The buttons and controls are laid out the same way as 5DIII which made it easy to use. Focusing was wicked fast, at least as fast as 5DIII. Tracking large to medium size birds at f/4 worked really well. Noise wasn't as good as 5DIII, but that to be expected from an APS-C camera; however, it is much better than 60D & 7D. The AF mode lever was a bit stiff to use to switch between focusing modes, maybe it needs some break in. The shutter release is noticeably quieter than 5DIII which is great.

 

[Quasimodo]

I actually ended up with two new pieces of gear arriving the same day on Thursday (by coincidence) - the 7D Mark II and the 300 2.8 II... (a good day)

Anyway, I was off to Vegas to shoot the Erasure concert from the soundboard, so it was good timing. I literally fired off a few shots before I left (to make sure it worked) and set up a basic manual profile and I was off. So I never really shot either until I was at the concert.

Luckily, I was able to shoot the full set of the opener to dial things in a bit, then had just three songs to shoot Erasure. I tried a few things within that time to analyze later - shot the 300 on the 7DII bare and with the 1.4X extender, and also shot the 300 on one of my 5DIIIs with the extender. I didn't have time to get to the 2X extender.

I shot both RAW and JPEG (JPEG to quickly use for my article and RAW in case I wanted to mess with after LR updates). I thought I had set up the 7DII to shoot RAW to CF and JPEG to SD, but it ends up I had both going to the CF (which filled, then moved to SD).

Anyway, my main take away was that it shot like a much faster (in terms of number of photos/FPS) 5DIII. I felt like I could keep taking as many pics as I wanted without choking the camera.

I'll play around with comparisons this week, but for me I am definitely convinced that this new 7DII is a winner.

Jason

Thanks for sharing your experience

 

[Sportsgal501]

How's the battery life?

If you had to cover a sporting event for three hours, occasionally using the 10FPS could it last on that one full charge for the three hours?

 

[Monchoon]

Has anyone used the LP-E6 battery's with the 7Dm2? If they work well do they provide a lot more power than the LP-E6N?

 

[digigal]

Over the last couple of days while programming my 7D2 I've been using the regular batteries from my 7D and I've been noticing that the 7D2 loves to chew right through them and these are batteries that I could use to shoot a whole 32 G CF card with 1000 RAW files. Normally I keep the screen off all the time and only use it to check focus or exposure when shooting so this may not be a fair test for what to expect when shooting. Last week when I was flying back from Japan I went thru images on my 7D screen for several hours and never had to change batteries so I do have a feeling that the 7D2 will go through them faster. I haven't paid attention to the difference between the new battery and the regular one yet so can't answer that.
Catherine

 

[Sandrine]

This camera fundas galaxy note 4 is really starting to look good. I think we may funda galaxy s5 have a winner

 

[Bigjezza]

My first impressions coming from a 7Dc in no particular order

Faster
Quieter
The lock button on mode dial is a godsend
Love the minimum shutter speed setting for P and Av
Focus while live view is significantly quicker, same with movie.
Level in VF is miles ahead of 7Dc and can be always active
Edge AF points sure are handy

Might have to do a quick and dirty low light comparison indoors tonight on my cat haha between 7Dc and 7DMKII b4 my 7D finds a new home

 

[quod]

How's the battery life?

I actively shot it (stills) for 2.5 hours in somewhat cold conditions (about 40 degrees Fahrenheit) and the new battery blinked twice when I first put it in the charger. My guess is 25% to 50% spent. I chimped a little bit but not extensively. I did not shoot in LiveView. I took about 900 shots.