EOS 7D Replacement Coming for CP+? [CR1]

[jrista]

When you get it back from the shop, does it ever perform better? I had a tripod head break in Dec. 2012. My 7D and 100-400mm lens dropped about 3 feet or so to sand. At first, I didn't notice anything wrong. Turned out, the lens ended up getting misaligned from that, and I had to send it in for repair. I have not sent the 7D in for repair yet...I honestly haven't really noticed any major differences before or after that incident...but maybe it actually exacerbated the whole AF jitter problem.

Anyway...would be nice to know what your experience is with sending the 7D in for repair, whether it was effective or not.

Yes, but it seems to "backslide" with use. I also use a 300 F4 L IS (bought new) that has been in five times due to AF issues (it's in with the 7D now). I actually had to order a new camera this winter while on the road (a 6D). While the focus issues occasionally popped up on the 6D with the prime, they were far worse on the 7D, even though the 7D was calibrated with the prime last year by Canon. It's pretty much a yearly thing...send in, get fixed, system backslides with use (unpredictable misfocus that can't be micro adjusted). The 7d works really well with anything under 200, but when it "slips" any telephoto is completely inconsistent (300 prime, 100-400, 200-400, etc).

Do you use CPS, or do you pay for repairs each time you send it in? When I sent my 100-400 in, it cost me about $420 for all the work they did (apparently, they had to disassemble the lens, realign the elements, fix some issue with the AF drive (they discovered that once it arrived), clean, reassemble, and finally test the alignment and AF repairs.) I had expected it to cost about $200 based on their original estimate, and I was a little surprised by the final bill (and I had shipping on top of that.) I don't qualify for CPS myself (sucks, in the US, you have to be a full time professional...something like two thirds of your income must come from your photography, and at the moment I'd say about 1/10th of my income comes from photography), but I would really love to have it...would save me a ton of money on repairs and yearly cleanings and the like.

Irritating when other images in the burst, are tack sharp! I mean, if I can't hold the AF point on target, well I won't blame the camera, but it's aggravating when one tracks the target and STILL has an OOF shot! Grrr.

I agree. It's not a good feeling. I basically switched out the 7D this trip with the new 6D, and it smoked the 7D in every way in the field *except* for suddenly having to lock onto birds in AI Servo. If you knew the bird was coming, no problem. If it surprised you and took off at a strong angle, focus acquisition is longer than 7D.

It is the one thing about the 7D I think is bad. Everything else about the camera is phenomenal, especially the ergonomics (I absolutely LOVE the button layout.) I am hoping that once I get a 5D III, I'll have a lot better consistency. I don't think the loss of frame rate will matter all that much given how inconsistent the 7D is...I only get 4-6 keepers per second as it is anyway, so if I can consistently get 5-6 keepers per second with a 5D III, that's actually an improvement.

 

[MichaelHodges]

Do you use CPS, or do you pay for repairs each time you send it in?

All of the repairs have been free due to the track record of the equipment. I appreciate that, but it doesn't quite make up for the unreliability a month into shooting the Rocky Mountain Front.

When I sent my 100-400 in, it cost me about $420 for all the work they did (apparently, they had to disassemble the lens, realign the elements, fix some issue with the AF drive (they discovered that once it arrived), clean, reassemble, and finally test the alignment and AF repairs.) I had expected it to cost about $200 based on their original estimate, and I was a little surprised by the final bill (and I had shipping on top of that.) I don't qualify for CPS myself (sucks, in the US, you have to be a full time professional...something like two thirds of your income must come from your photography, and at the moment I'd say about 1/10th of my income comes from photography), but I would really love to have it...would save me a ton of money on repairs and yearly cleanings and the like.

I'm not a CPS member, but I do have a business that relies on my work in the field. I'll have to check their full requirements.

It is the one thing about the 7D I think is bad. Everything else about the camera is phenomenal, especially the ergonomics (I absolutely LOVE the button layout.) I am hoping that once I get a 5D III, I'll have a lot better consistency. I don't think the loss of frame rate will matter all that much given how inconsistent the 7D is...I only get 4-6 keepers per second as it is anyway, so if I can consistently get 5-6 keepers per second with a 5D III, that's actually an improvement.

Right. I pretty much love the layout, build, feel, and other intangibles of the 7D. But with the issues I've had, it really takes away from that love. And of course, misfocus exaggerates noise even more, especially when shooting in dim winter conditions.

Also, the drop in FPS did not hurt me on the 6D. In fact, the 6D, IMHO, is a better wildlife camera than the 7D. Why? Well, most wildlife comes out in crappy light. The 6D is much better at shooting in these conditions, and the image quality is superior to the 7D. You can shoot at ISO 3200 with the 6D at dawn and dusk and not worry. The color and sharpness is also on another level. Also, if a raptor flies over you and is back-lit, the ability to recover the feather detail is much better on the 6D.

The 5DIII would make an even better wildlife camera with its advanced auto focus, but, side by side for two months in the Montana wilds, the 6D beat up on the 7D for wildlife. Bad. In good light, when everything goes right, the 7D is a gem. But that's a lot of if's in a hostile, light-fleeting environment full of animals that don't really listen to what you want them to do.

 

[Aglet]

Sensor tech is getting close to the ceiling imposed by physics for high ISO.
Improvements here are more about computational processing.
Fuji and others can show them the way to do it.

Canon sure has a lot of room to improve the low ISO end tho.

I'm eager to see what the 7d2 sensor will perform like... it's the only reason I've held on to my 100-400L lens until now.
Even at that, I'm tempted to dump it and get the new Tamron 150-600 for my D800 for similar crop performance with an already excellent 3D AF system which would likey to a better job of tracking BiF than the sparse AF of the 7D.

 

[2n10]

Are we not tired of discussing 7DII over the last full year again and again?

Ummmm, let's see.....No freaking way!!!!!! ;D

 

[sanj]

[/quote]


In fact, the 6D, IMHO, is a better wildlife camera than the 7D. Why? Well, most wildlife comes out in crappy light.
[/quote]

So true.

 

[sanj]

Are we not tired of discussing 7DII over the last full year again and again?

It's likely the closest new Canon camera due for release. What else are we supposed to rumormonger about?? Seriously...

DR. Of course! Hahahahaha.

 

[jrista]

Are we not tired of discussing 7DII over the last full year again and again?

It's likely the closest new Canon camera due for release. What else are we supposed to rumormonger about?? Seriously...

DR. Of course! Hahahahaha.

Yeah....you really want more DRivel, instead of some legitimate rumormongering?!? Seriously!? ;D :

 

[dufflover]

Well as soon as Canon has some competition equalling DR then we'll stop rumouring over it lol
It'd be nice to get some bang-for-buck there for once.

 

[jrista]

Well as soon as Canon has some competition equalling DR then we'll stop rumouring over it lol
It'd be nice to get some bang-for-buck there for once.

I agree. I have this tiny little knot in the corner of my stomach, though, that tells me it will first arrive in a $5000+ package...so maybe not exactly more "bang for the buck", as the saying goes.

 

[Efka76]

I really do not have big expectations from 7DII. Take a look at rumours before 6d release and real camera. In new 7dII i expect the following:

- the same sensor as in 70D
- slightly better autofocus ( worse than in 5dIII)
- slightly higher fps (maybe 10)
- wifi and gps

Forget about better DR and high ISO performance. Canon does not want aps-c camera to match FF camera in performance (i guess it is not possible technically if you do not develop new sensor, which is smaller in size than in 5dIII but is much better).

Canon does not have new sensor, which people expect. When such sensor is ready it will be introduced in 1d camera body for which Canon will rip customers by asking to high price.

All these talks about 7dII remind me rumours about iPhone 5s when people had very high expectations but received practically the same phone. Canon is milking the same cash cow and doing that quite well. What is the purpose of introducing cutting edge technology when you doing so much cash without significant investments in R&D. That's the sad truth.

 

[Quasimodo]

Has there been an official announcement from Canon that they have abandoned the APS-H line? If they have indeed done so, official or not, then the 7D II would be THE (given that the specs are what people are hoping for) wildlife camera. Would not spotmetering at any focus point be essential? (like pretty much any Nikon camera has). If they even throw in the ability to AF on F8 with a TC, - we would have a killer camera!

 

[Ricku]

Well as soon as Canon has some competition equalling DR then we'll stop rumouring over it lol
It'd be nice to get some bang-for-buck there for once.

I agree. I have this tiny little knot in the corner of my stomach, though, that tells me it will first arrive in a $5000+ package...so maybe not exactly more "bang for the buck", as the saying goes.

Canon's high DR high MP sensor will most definitely arrive in a big ass elephant camera with a premium price tag.

They'll market it with words like groundbreaking, revolutionary and amazing, even though SoNikon had their's since 3 years ago, at a much smaller price.

 

[Marsu42]

Canon's high DR high MP sensor will most definitely arrive in a big ass elephant camera with a premium price tag. They'll market it with words like groundbreaking, revolutionary and amazing, even though SoNikon had their's since 3 years ago, at a much smaller price.

The "price" question will be if Canon "only" bangs up the metapixies value, leaving the sensor design the same - essentially making a ff sensor with crop pixel density - or if they introduce some new technology. If the latter and there's 4k video, more dynamic range and a steady 1dx-like dr curve vs. iso plus good high-iso capability the thing might have an introductory price of $10000+.

 

[Eimajm]

More consistent autofocus for tracking moving subjects and a little yellow border around the histogram I would want, pro style body would be nice too. I don't have too much of an issue with high iso performance but any improvement would be welcome. Not that I would upgrade until my current 7d dies on me...

 

[candyman]

Are we not tired of discussing 7DII over the last full year again and again?

Yes. And I am selling my 7D to buy something totally different: a Panasonic HC X920

 

[Gorku]

...I believe it when I see it - until then .... :-X

 

[Don Haines]

Has there been an official announcement from Canon that they have abandoned the APS-H line? If they have indeed done so, official or not, then the 7D II would be THE (given that the specs are what people are hoping for) wildlife camera. Would not spotmetering at any focus point be essential? (like pretty much any Nikon camera has). If they even throw in the ability to AF on F8 with a TC, - we would have a killer camera!

APS-H is DEAD!

It only existed because yields on FF sensors were so low.... That reason has gone away... In fact, with economies of scale, it is probably now cheaper to make the FF sensors than a smaller production run of APS-h sensors.

You can only use FF lenses with an APS-H sensor, so why not go FF? One of the appeals of APS-c is lower cost, both body and lenses.....plus " reach".... With APS-H you don't get the reach, you don't get to use the lower cost lenses, the body will cost more, and you won't get the IQ of FF.

You end up with all the disadvantages of both systems and none of the advantages of either..... It's DEAD!

 

[Woody]

I really do not have big expectations from 7DII...

Forget about better DR and high ISO performance.

+1

I've given up hoping for new sensor technology from Canon.

 

[cellomaster27]

I really do not have big expectations from 7DII...

Forget about better DR and high ISO performance.

+1

I've given up hoping for new sensor technology from Canon.

What about DPAF?? Sure it doesn't help with stills not through live view... Basically a video tool. But that is an improvement on the sensor. MP, I have no doubt that that will increase. Anyways, I disagree on the sensor tech non improvement.. But I think we can all expect a new sensor in the 7DII regardless of what that improvement is.

One thing that better be there (IMO) is dual cf slots. Not sd. Dual!!! :

 

[Don Haines]

One thing that better be there (IMO) is dual cf slots. Not sd. Dual!!! :

Right now, an 18M sensor shooting RAW makes about a 25Mbyte file.. the larger sensor in a 7D2 will make a larger file, let's assume around 30Mbytes.

Go SD card... the fastest card on the market can write at 90Mbytes/second. The camera could sustain a burst speed of 3 frames per second....

Go Compact Flash... the fastest cards have a write speed of 150Mbytes/second. The camera could sustain a burst speed of 5 frames per second....

Go Cfast Pro.. the INTRODUCTORY! cards have a write speed of 350Mbytes/second. The camera could sustain a burst speed of 11.7 frames per second....

BTW.... from the Sandisk site.... The SanDisk Extreme PRO CFast 2.0 memory card was designed in parallel with leading-edge camera manufacturers. This is good clue that it is coming on "pro" cameras....


I am hoping for dual slots, one SD for convenience/interoperability, and the other Cfast for blazing speed.