CR newsletter - 7D II refreshment

[xps]

CR wrtites: "Canon EOS 7D Mark III coming sooner than expected?

We're told that Canon will be updating the EOS 7D Mark II a lot quicker than the last product cycle, which was 5 years. It will be the first APS-C canon DSLR to shoot 4K video and we should expect it in the first quarter of 2018"

(with an wrong link.... to an lens)

This rumor gets an big "+1" from me.
I use the 7DII as often as ma 5D MK IV for birding and wildlife.
My wishes: Lesser noise at higher Iso and.... more DR (in sum:better IQ)!!! , and an little raise in MPs. And: F8 on all points
AF performs fine, speed is accurate. Maybe an faster card support

What would you like to see?

 

[Aussie shooter]

As I only recently got a mk2 I am more than happy not to see the 3 too soon. BUT, if it comes out we would obviously like to see as much improvement in high ISO and DR as is possible with a crop sensor(likely not much). Couldn't care less about 4k. Touch screen would be nice but doesn't have to be articulating. Bigger buffer. Plenty of f8 focus points

 

[Otara]

Given the D500 I guess it makes sense. Cant see it being enough of an improvement Id sell my 7d2 either barring some big surprise improvement.

 

[greger]

I was hoping for a refresh this fall and I think the Mark 3 will have all the things that I want and more. An articulating touch screen, wifi and 4K video would be what I want.

 

[IglooEater]

It makes me wonder if the timing of Canon's release of recent, new-and-improved sensors was somewhat of a marketing strategy. Like, hold on to the old tech as long as possible to make compelling upgrades for current users a little later.
otoh, these later sensor seem improved more at low iso's rather than at the high iso's where the 7D user base probably wants the improvement the most.
Dunno

 

[Sabaki]

Highly interested in a mark III but I will not be an early adopter.

I'd wait to see if there are less negative consumer feedback regarding AF performance like with the mark II

My expectation regarding the mark II was for it to be a 1DX Mini and bottom line, no it wasn't. But hopefully Canon has learnt from what the man on the street has said about the mark II and deliver a magnificent machine that surpasses and APS-C body for wildlife and sports

One major change I'd like to see is the inclusion of an ITR specific chipset to handle subject/colour recognition.

 

[unfocused]

Well, I would certainly feel vindicated if it did come in 2018, as I've been predicting a fairly early refresh.

Wifi, Bluetooth, NFC, touch screen, multiple f8 points are all givens.

Higher frame rate, larger buffer and autofocus improvements are all highly likely.

Articulating screen, not so likely.

The deal maker/breaker will be the sensor's high ISO performance. Dynamic range isn't a big deal to the 7D crowd as it's not a camera that gets a lot of use at base ISO. Also don't see more megapixels as a big plus. I'd even be happy going down to 18 mp if it meant less noise at ISO 6400.

 

[AlanF]

As igloo eater intimated, don't expect any significant improvement in noise or DR at high iso. Noise at high iso is limited by fluctuations in the number of photons, and the efficiency of sensors doesn't change much from camera to camera. Full frame has a 2.56x advantage in area over crop and collects 2.56x more phtons.

 

[geonix]

I find it actually logical that Canon will update the 7DII sooner than 5 years after release. The time between 7D I and 7D II should have nothing to do with the date of a 7D II successor.

Acutally almost every EOS body has already been updated since the introduction of the 7D II. Next, most likely, will be the 6D and than it would be time for the next 7D line body. The 5ds/5dsR have been released in 2015, maybe they will be updated before the 7D II. But still it would make sense to plan the 7D II successor for next year.

 

[geonix]

But still it would make sense to plan the 7D II successor for next year.

But i hope they won't wait until next photokina to come up with it

 

[geonix]

I forgot the inital question

In the 7D II successor I would like to see:
- 24-30 MP sensor
- 1stop improvement in low-light performance
- improved AF
(a lot of people find the 7D II AF unrelyable, with too many AOF images - for many of these complaints it might be a user problem, but the AF is definitly far from flawless and also not as good as the AF of the 1D series)
- 4K Video (no or almost no crop)
- good quality 120p HD video
- hybrid viewfinder
- really silent silent-mode
- 11-12 fps / buffer of 40 raw images
- CFast

I know some of these are more likley than others and all of these wishes together are rather unlikely

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

The original one was delayed, as I recall due to problems with a earthquake, and was ready for production well before it was announced, they just could not start the production.

Sales determine, to a big extent, the timing of a new model. I expect that long lead production has already been underway for the replacement model, some of the tooling takes a very long time to complete, so the design is frozen over a year in advance of the announcement, likely close to two years.

I'm expecting further big advances in DPAF. Canon is depending on it to give them a edge. Obviously, on processor A-D conversion reduces low iso noise and is overdue.

I wonder if backside illumination is ready yet? 4K video seems like a given, but I am not a DSLR video person. I might become one if all the pieces finally drop into place such that someone like me can do it.

The new Canon CEO has stated that he wants to speed up the production cycles, I hope that happens. Canon has lots of good inventions that take far too long to make it into a product.

 

[Aj6627]

Having used the mk ii for a littler over a year now, my biggest wishes would be (as stated by many others) better noise levels at higher ISO and wifi instead of GPS. (or in addition to)

I have never used the GPS once since I bought it, but I would use wifi if it had it. The EOS Remote app is quite handy with my 70d.