Canon Rumors First Review of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II for Bird Photographers

[Canon Rumors Guy]

<p>Our friend Glenn Bartley has completed his first review of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II through the eyes of a birder. He will be doing a more intensive review once he returns from a 3 week trip to Cuba in December. Glenn is is one of the top bird photographers in North America and is a great resource if bird photography is one of your interests.</p>
<p>Glenn previously <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/reviews/review-canon-ef-600mm-f4l-is-ii/" target="_blank">reviewed the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II</a> for us.</p>
<p><strong>From Glenn about the EOS 7D Mark II

</strong><em>“The Canon 7D mark II brings a lot to the table. Between the fantastic autofocus system, impressive build quality, video features and the improvements in image quality it is an incredible value.”</em><strong>

</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/reviews/review-canon-eos-7d-mark-ii/" target="_blank">Read the full review</a> | <strong><strong>EOS 7D Mark II: <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1081808-REG/canon_9128b002_eos_7d_mark_ii.html/bi/2466/kbid/3296" target="_blank">B&H Photo</a> | <a href="http://www.adorama.com/ICA7DM2.html?KBID=64393" target="_blank">Adorama</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NEWZDRG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00NEWZDRG&linkCode=as2&tag=canorumo-20&linkId=4IHYPE3ZKJN5VL4X" target="_blank">Amazon</a></strong></strong></strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Canon EOS 7D Mark II Setup Guide for Bird Photography by Glenn</strong>

If you have purchased or will be purchasing the Canon EOS 7D Mark II, Glenn’s setup guide for the EOS 7D Mark II for bird photography will be a great way to hit the ground running.</p>
<p align="justify"><strong>The setup guide includes</strong>

The Canon 7D mark II is a phenomenal tool for image making. To ensure that you get the most from your new camera you must be sure to first set it up correctly!</p>
<p>The purpose of this guide is to help you to set up and understand the features, functions and settings of your new Canon 7D mark II. I have tried my best to simplify things and make the choices clear. In some cases the best setting is an obvious one. Other times there are options based on personal preferences. In each case I have tried to make this clear and provide the information that you need in order to get the absolute most out of your new camera.</p>
<p>This guide is for you if you want to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Quickly set up your Canon 7D Mark II exactly like mine</li>
<li>Ensure you have the correct settings</li>
<li>Learn to use your camera to its full potential</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?i=1392471&c=single&cl=260409" target="_blank"><strong>You can purchase the setup guide e-book here for $5.00</strong></a></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

 

[2n10]

I am looking forward to even more from Glenn once he gets out in the field with the camera.

 

[ecka]

Nice review and thank you for samples

There's a typo:

"FEATURES AT A GLANCE
A quick summary of the new Canon 7D mark II features:

2MP APS-C CMOS Sensor"

and noTC vs 1.4xTC vs 2.0xTC sample descriptions are wrong (vice versa).

 

[Jordan23]

I'm looking forward to more reports from Glenn as he uses the camera more.

 

[ftico]

Interesting review... definitely thinking about the camera, but the advantages over the 70D I own, for *my* kind of bird photography, seem to be mostly in the AF & Buffer departments. My 400 5.6L focuses ok with the 1.4x kenko TC, and with the 2x in live view. And in the latter setup, the flip-out&touch screen is very, very useful (if not necessary). You can keep the tripod low for more stability, and touching the screen for shutter induces way less vibrations that the actual shutter. OTOH, I only used the wi-fi a couple of times, I would not miss it that much.

A little thing: I believe the captions for the pics illustrating the magnification of the 600L with/without the teleconverters are swapped?

 

[Click]

Nice review. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Otara]

Interesting review... definitely thinking about the camera, but the advantages over the 70D I own, for *my* kind of bird photography, seem to be mostly in the AF & Buffer departments. My 400 5.6L focuses ok with the 1.4x kenko TC, and with the 2x in live view. And in the latter setup, the flip-out&touch screen is very, very useful (if not necessary). You can keep the tripod low for more stability, and touching the screen for shutter induces way less vibrations that the actual shutter. OTOH, I only used the wi-fi a couple of times, I would not miss it that much.

A little thing: I believe the captions for the pics illustrating the magnification of the 600L with/without the teleconverters are swapped?

I really struggled with whether to get the 70D instead - if I had it already, I would definitely have kept it.

 

[NancyP]

Thank you Glenn. I am waiting for the Adobe Camera RAW 8.7 codecs so I can shoot RAW and work in Lr. I will stop by and get that set-up e-book when I am about to buy it. I think that the camera will be a serious shock to my system after having shot birds with 60D for past 4 years, and recently shooting "everything else" (mostly landscape and macro) with 6D (and I rarely AF on the 6D). Others reading this, Glenn's e-book on tropical photography has some interesting ideas and is very well done, so I would expect his other e-books to be good as well.

 

[Khnnielsen]

It looks like a a lot of camera for your money, but it isn't suited for video, so I in that regard I disagree with the review.

Sometimes I wonder if, Canon ever will get around to putting peaking and zebras inside a DSLR body(without Magic Lantern).

 

[Jane]

I bought Glenn's eBook but I'm disappointed with it. 13 pages of menus with many settings saying PP which I guess is personal preference. Don't believe I learned anything. Perhaps someone coming from an XXD might find it a valuable book. There are 2 pages advertising his photography tours. Glenn's other ebook about post processing is very good - has more meat.

 

[Marauder]

Thanks for the review! Photographing birds is what I'm seeking as the primary use for the 7D Mark II. Great knowing how well the AF works!

 

[AccipiterQ]

This is actually what I was waiting for

 

[Tugela]

“The Canon 7D mark II brings a lot to the table. Between the fantastic autofocus system, impressive build quality, video features and the improvements in image quality it is an incredible value.”

Clearly the reviewer is not up to date with video technology, otherwise he would know that the 7D2 is archaic in that respect. There are far superior solutions that can take damned good stills as well.

 

[Tugela]

It looks like a a lot of camera for your money, but it isn't suited for video, so I in that regard I disagree with the review.

Sometimes I wonder if, Canon ever will get around to putting peaking and zebras inside a DSLR body(without Magic Lantern).

There is absolutely no reason for them not to include it, because it is pure software. And it is not as though they don't know how, because effective versions of those tools have been included in their consumer camcorders for about 5 years. The main reason it appears is that they just don't take video seriously in DSLRs in spite of what their marketing smoke and mirrors claims.

 

[Marauder]

“The Canon 7D mark II brings a lot to the table. Between the fantastic autofocus system, impressive build quality, video features and the improvements in image quality it is an incredible value.”

Clearly the reviewer is not up to date with video technology, otherwise he would know that the 7D2 is archaic in that respect. There are far superior solutions that can take damned good stills as well.

Certainly there are better video cameras. But that doesn't negate the review's position at all that the 7D Mark II has substantial video capabilities in addition to being a GREAT stills camera for the action shooter. Personally, I am impatiently saving for the 7D2 and looking forward to using its superb AF system for action stills, such as BIF. Hats off to Canon for stuffing much of the 1DX's capabilities into a camera I can actually afford! There quite simply isn't a better option for action/sports/wildlife at this price point than the 7D Mark II. I don't use video much, but what video I do require will be more than amply handled by this camera's advanced DPAF system. And that, I believe, was the reviewer's primary point. If you want a GREAT stills camera for fast action, with the addition of decent video -- get the 7D Mark II. If you want a great video camera, with the addition of a fairly decent stills camera -- by all means get something else!

 

[Sabaki]

It looks like a a lot of camera for your money, but it isn't suited for video, so I in that regard I disagree with the review.

Sometimes I wonder if, Canon ever will get around to putting peaking and zebras inside a DSLR body(without Magic Lantern).

There is absolutely no reason for them not to include it, because it is pure software. And it is not as though they don't know how, because effective versions of those tools have been included in their consumer camcorders for about 5 years. The main reason it appears is that they just don't take video seriously in DSLRs in spite of what their marketing smoke and mirrors claims.

Could a software upgrade enable these features?

 

[Khnnielsen]

It looks like a a lot of camera for your money, but it isn't suited for video, so I in that regard I disagree with the review.

Sometimes I wonder if, Canon ever will get around to putting peaking and zebras inside a DSLR body(without Magic Lantern).

There is absolutely no reason for them not to include it, because it is pure software. And it is not as though they don't know how, because effective versions of those tools have been included in their consumer camcorders for about 5 years. The main reason it appears is that they just don't take video seriously in DSLRs in spite of what their marketing smoke and mirrors claims.

Could a software upgrade enable these features?

Well of course. And someone have already done that, except it wasn't Canon. The nice and clever people who created Magic Lantern have given us a lot of features(such as these) just by making changes to the Canon firmware.

Unfortunately Magic Lantern doesn't work on all Canon DSLRs, so it would be very nice of Canon, if they actually could be bothered to put the most basic video features in a DSLR, where they have the nerve to emphasize its video features.