Canon 7D Mark II Owners first thoughts

[Don Haines]

In many cultures sticking your tongue out is seen as offensive, a deep insult, and even a challenge to war.

It seems subtleties like that are lost on many of you, ...

Although I sit here confident that I am surrounded(in the U. S.)by an expansive area (as large as, or larger than all of the many tongued countries of Western Europe,) in which I am likely to be correctly understood by the inhabitants wherever I might go, ...it is terrifying to imagine that in some corner of the world, near or far, my facial expressions, phrasing, sense of humor, pronunciation, body language, or other habits or mannerisms could conceivably be considered rude or offensive.

Heaven forbid!

So here I sit, ...mute and paralyzed, fearful that I might be observed via the internet, even in my own home and country, by that remote, potentially offendable "someone".

I have good news and bad news for you.....

The bad news is that the country you could incite to war by sticking your tongue out is Canada...

The good news is that if you are caught sticking your tongue out, all you have to say is "I'm trying to catch a snowflake, eh" and you will be forgiven....

WARNING!!!!! DO NOT TOUCH YOUR TONGUE TO A METAL OBJECT IN WINTER!!!!!

 

[Larry]

I suggest you don't travel, because otherwise you almost certainly would start a war, or an international incident at the very least, when an ignorant lout fails to understand that their personal behaviours are not the standard everyone else lives by.

This "ignorant lout" has survived quite well and peacefully in many places, thank you.

There is a difference between "understanding" that personal standards are not the everywhere-norm, and worrying that a tongue-sticking emoticon could maybe/perhaps/"start a war" when used in the internet-forum venue, where it is part of the native language among net-geeks, at least those who frequent this particular forum. ( See: PBD's focus in his remark which prompted this exchange, ...i.e. the fact that his warning/edification was triggered by observing the tongue-out emoticon.)

Congrats, though, on your perceptive acumen, which enables you to make character judgements on patently skimpy evidence.

 

[Besisika]

The good news is that if you are caught sticking your tongue out, all you have to say is "I'm trying to catch a snowflake, eh" and you will be forgiven....

I will try that with my co-workers this winter and let you know.
Funny stuff here on CR. You made my evening.

 

[RodS57]

Well, like most people here I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new 7D2. The expected arrival date was Nov 10 but it arrived yesterday, Nov 3. As I was at work at the time my daughter signed for the package. She was gone out when I got home so I didn't even know the camera had arrived until 10pm last night.

Needless to say I was in a bit of a panic when I received an email stating that my camera had been delivered. First thought was who has my camera. Then I found out it was in my house. As it is now dark when I get off work I can't really try any test shots but I did get the battery charged up and put on the 18-55 kit lens for a quick try.

First impressions (as compared to my current T3i)
it looks huge although it is not physically that much bigger
figured out how to set it to continuous shooting, left everything else as is, and ran off about 10 shots of a map on my wall in several short bursts. Sorry, don't have a cat which seems mandatory for first test shots. Decided really fast that the 10fps is way too fast for a static object so set it to slow speed 3fps. Pictures in default fine jpg format.

Lighting is provided by a 40 watt bulb (fluorescent) in a pot light so no direct illumination. Downloaded the pics and most were in focus with the blurred ones probably do to camera movement as I was only a couple of feet away. Camera on Av: 1/80 sec; F7.1, ISO 4031.5 (auto of course). Color rendering etc was good. Pictures looked very much like actually looking at the map. Had to pixel peep. Based on my monitors resolution and the window size I use full view of the pictures was about 20% zoom. At 50% they still looked quite good. At 100% not so much.

Went through all the menus and figured if I can get all this in my head I should have no trouble operating the space shuttle. All in all pleased so far. Have to try a few daylight shots tomorrow while I'm home for lunch (with better glass). also have to read at least some of the manual. 35mm film was so much easier

Rod

 

[RustyTheGeek]

OK, so nothing left to see here... I suggest we return the thread to the original topic... discussing, dissing and praising over priced cameras, specifically the 7D2.

 

[Dylan777]

About weather sealing and build detalis


http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2014/11/cracking-open-the-7d-ii

This is why I don't buy used stuff from them

That makes no sense, they probably take more time, with more care and attention, than the person who put it together originally.

Their core business is not based on camera sales, it is based on camera reliability, every lens they sell comes with a bench test result and it is adjusted to be as good as it can be, something no production EF lens gets.

I guess you didn't see my

As always, I enjoy reading their reviews and tear down articles.

Do you REALLY think lensrental has:
1. test procedures for 7D II, similiar test in Canon production floors or Canon service centers
2. Trained by Canon to repair 7D II
3. All hardware torque specs
4. All ESD protection while removing sensitive parts
5. New gasket for unit that they opened
6. etc.............

 

[Don Haines]

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!

 

[privatebydesign]

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.

P.S. The 1 series will also allow you to enter the first three digits and the fourth will be an automatic file size indicator.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Utterly Pointless Flaming!

 

[docsmith]

Both RAW ISO 400. Techradar scored the 5DIII a 26 while giving the 7DII a 30. I don't see it.

Those numbers look correct to me. See how far left you can go and still count the correct number of lines (counting 9, instead of 11, means aliasing, and doesn't count).

I see what you are saying. I will say, while I can count the lines further with the 7D2, I still like the 5DIII image (constrast, etc) better. Even after cropping and resizing the images. Granted, this is at the pixel peeping level. In a way, I am very impressed at how comparable they are.

 

[Don Haines]

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.

 

[Deleted member 7828]

Not an owner (yet, I will be soon) but I did play with one briefly in a store this afternoon. Feels a lot like the 5D - a slightly smaller, lighter version of it that is. What also struck me is that the viewfinder seems to be a bit brighter than other Canon crop DSLRs I've used...

Shutter sound is noticeably quieter than the 7D (nice)...

Thing is FAST (although the slow-speed continuous mode seemed to chug along at its own pace at times?)

Feels nice in the hand, I have big hands so I've always been a fan of the larger cameras, they feel better to me...

Unfortunately could not test image quality or AF performance but I like what I see so far.


Can't wait to pick up one of these things to shoot some ice skating...and other stuff...

 

[-Gamer-]

Was able to finally shoot with my 7D Mark ll for about 7 hours today and it worked fantastic aside from a few moments where it didn't focus but I'm guessing its cause the bird and background were both really out of focus so the autofocus didn't have enough contrast to focus onto i'm guessing, no problem, I did a slight manual focus and then the AF locked on.

If you photograph wildlife, I was photographing birds, then I think you'd be really happy with this camera and the way it performs. I used the 400 f/5.6L and it performed great mated to the 7D Mark ll. After I changed two custom button settings I didn't have to move the camera away from my eye while taking a pic of a perched bird or bird in flight which was really nice. Just select custom settings and select the AF select lever and the Multi-controller, I forget which choice to pick in the two but scroll thru the options for each and you'll figure it out. Now you'll be able to while looking thru the viewfinder change the AF modes with a flick of the AF lever and select any of the focus points with the Multi-controller all without taking the camera away from your eye or having to first press another button first to activate either

I have the battery grip using dual batteries and by the time I was done the remaining battery power was down to 3 bars if I remember correctly but I was also viewing my images on the LCD screen so your battery life may differ but either way I would recommend bringing a spare battery just in case if you're gonna be out for several hours.

I shot only in raw so no pics they are still on my memory cards until Lightroom updates
Overall I'm really happy with the camera and had a fun time shooting with it and despite some of the negative comments directed at Canon on various sites/forums I think Canon did a great job with this camera for whom its marketed at.

 

[GaryJ]

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

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

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

That's a bummer. They overcharge you and then can't deliver, a double whammy. You can likely get one from Hong Kong.

 

[Otara]

Im in Melbourne Oz and have had mine since saturday. More arriving this week with Teds, so cant be all gone.

 

[RustyTheGeek]

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

That's a bummer. They overcharge you and then can't deliver, a double whammy. You can likely get one from Hong Kong.

Yeah, we're already using them for door stops, paper weights and paint scrapers here in the states. Sorry man! :-\

 

[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...

 

[privatebydesign]

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.

 

[Smitty Of One]

I just shot my first soccer game under stadium lights. All I have to say is Holy Sh*T that Flicker function is amazing. Out of about 1000 pics I had 3, yes 3 that were off. I will link examples later. But with the Flicker function and the high ISO I know I chose an awesome upgrade from the 7D.