Gizmodo reviews the Canon 7D Mark II

[Maui5150]

I think when you look at some of these reviews and reviewers, you have to understand what the PURPOSE and Audience of a camera is. It is evident that while many people can general judge something, whether those judgements have any real value remains to be seen.

The 7D MK II is targeted as a Prosumer / Pro Crop camera.

If I am shooting sports, I want the 1Dx... well now with the 7D MK II, The pros may want this as a backup, just as for the Prosumer level a few years ago the 5D MK II and the 7D was a solid combo for the more economically minded.

While Nikon has raised the bar as of late in some of their FF offerings, their crop offerings are MEH! Comparing the 7D MK II to the 7100, only think Nikon has is a few extra MP, other than that, the Canon has twice the FPS and probably 10x with buffer. AF? Canon. Low-Light? Canon. Weather sealing and construction? Canon.

I like the video of my 5D MK III but will probably wind up using the 7D MK II more for the AF feature, especially with the customizable rack focus features.

I think there may be some nice video capable P&S and Camera phones out there, but having watched the Canon "Cello" one thing became apparent, just how nice using a ton of lenses is. Not as helpful if you are doing single-camera continuous shooting like some events, etc, but in terms of producing a "film" the number of quality lenses and their contribution to a NLE environment can't be understated.

The 7D MK II appears to be well on its way to being the King of the Crops. Does make me excited because I do have a feeling the Canon has 3 other beasts in the wings, a high MP, and upgrades to the 1Dx and the 5D MK III. I think these will be substantial improvements and also highlighting a trend of more deliberate products. With Nikon there seems to be faster turnover and more of what the hell did I just buy. D800 was quickly replaced with the D810, I would have been pissed to have my camera mothballed in just over a year. The D750 seems solid, and only took Nikon 2+ years to compete with the 5D MK III, but I have a feeling it is about to be upstaged.

The 7D MK II seems to be a serious beast when it comes to not only AF, but the serious amount of not only fow fast it shoots, but how long it shoots... Seriously... Grind up some Viagra, Crystal Meth and swirl that concoction and go on a serious romp. This is a hard pounding, gear-jamming, balls-to-the-wall buffer.

That also tells me Canon has been taking a serious look at bottle necks and some of their core architecture is being improved.

I expect in the next 3 Canon releases we will be seeing similarly improved buffers as well. I am expecting RAW bursts to be over 5sec, and looking at the JPG burst on the 7D MK II... a minute and a half? That is insane

 

[Khufu]

To be honest, most 7D users I've met over the past few years have been people using them for applications for which a FF camera would be much more suitable: street, start-up event shooters, architectural/touristy or Urb Ex types, Fine Art students etc.
Simply, here in the UK we don't see too many Full Frame models in the bricks and mortar stores. The 7D had lots of "you are an awesome and creative pro for buying this camera" promo here and I noticed in Hong Kong too, being there in late 2009 - whereas the 6D, when and to whom its promo penetrates, is plagued with words like "entry level" and comparisons which certainly don't leave it on an "end user is awesome" pedestal. I've convinced one person who seemed genuinely interested in bettering his work to buy a 6D over the 5D2, some others insist they want the "higher end" 5D2 but I imagine they're the type who bought a 7D for super-awesome street shooting and I cbf interacting with them for too long.

I guess my input here is that I really do feel this kind of reporting is for the kind of people who'll buy 92% of these 7D2 units.
It's fantastic that there'll be lots of clued up folk out there loving their 7D2 and 600mm Tammy/Sigma shooting, dropping their robust kits off the jeep and into puddles out in the wild, these specs will do you good, I'm sure, but you're kidding yourselves if you believe the 7D2 club is going to be an exclusive Sports & Wildlife elite alliance... now lets get out there and sell, sell, sell!

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

The original 7D had a huge amount of hype, and it was a good camera, but when the dust settled, it was over priced and could not match my used 1D MK III. As for sports and kids running around, I've never had a problem except with the old extremely slow to focus and open the shutter point and shoot bodies. Its all dependent on the user, of course.

Once the hype is over and reality sets in, it will be seen as a camera for special purposes, and over priced for 99% of new DSLR users who buy a DSLR, then don't like the shallow depth of field, and put it in a closet. This forum has lots of camera enthusiasts, but is not representative of the average DSLR buyer who goes to Best Buy or Amazon and buys one that looks impressive.

 

[Don Haines]

... try to track playing kids

That's wildlife
At least with my kids ;D

or the cat trying to catch that elusive red dot....

 

[monkey44]

QUOTE: "... they'd rather buy tech that places them on the bleeding edge than with the herd.'

Which of course, makes them the first ones the lions eat ...

 

[Sportsgal501]

I like the if you shoot animals or athletes comment, I'm all in since l shoot skateboarding and love a heavy DSLR.

 

[fragilesi]

No real surprises here. It's a camera made for sports and wildlife. If you shoot anything other than that there are better choices.

Or air shows or children playing or indeed anything that doesn't just sit there in front of you . . .

 

[Lee Jay]

... try to track playing kids

That's wildlife
At least with my kids ;D

Or sports.

 

[dstppy]

Edit: Sorry - got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning... I shop at Best Buy - not sure why I threw them under the bus. ;D

Please keep admissions like these to yourself

You were right on the first shot! ;D

 

[Don Haines]

Edit: Sorry - got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning... I shop at Best Buy - not sure why I threw them under the bus. ;D

Please keep admissions like these to yourself

You were right on the first shot! ;D

the local best buy is better than the local camera store

 

[Quasimodo]

The original 7D had a huge amount of hype, and it was a good camera, but when the dust settled, it was over priced and could not match my used 1D MK III. As for sports and kids running around, I've never had a problem except with the old extremely slow to focus and open the shutter point and shoot bodies. Its all dependent on the user, of course.

Once the hype is over and reality sets in, it will be seen as a camera for special purposes, and over priced for 99% of new DSLR users who buy a DSLR, then don't like the shallow depth of field, and put it in a closet. This forum has lots of camera enthusiasts, but is not representative of the average DSLR buyer who goes to Best Buy or Amazon and buys one that looks impressive.

While I am the first to admit that I am to fault for not being able to get a good keeper rate of my kids on any given dslr, the 1Dx´s did however for me help quite a bit.

"and over priced for 99% of new DSLR users who buy a DSLR"... Well, first it not targeted for them, nor is it likely for them to cough up that kind of cash for any type of camera.

 

[unfocused]

...Once the hype is over and reality sets in, it will be seen as a camera for special purposes, and over priced for 99% of new DSLR users who buy a DSLR, then don't like the shallow depth of field, and put it in a closet. This forum has lots of camera enthusiasts, but is not representative of the average DSLR buyer who goes to Best Buy or Amazon and buys one that looks impressive.

I think you underestimate Canon's market research.

I doubt if they ever considered new DSLR buyers to be a major market for the 7D and even less so for the 7D II.

"Overpriced" – Of course that is in the eye of the buyer. But, I doubt if serious action shooters, wildlife and bird shooters will consider it overpriced if if gets them pictures they could not get without spending $7,000 on a 1Dx or might not be able to get by spending $3,000 on a 5DIII.

Canon does an exceptional job of researching the market and then pinpointing their products to buyers. This is clearly targeted to some lucrative markets.

A few:

Helicopter parents who are willing to spend almost any amount in order to preserve their children's high school sports careers, which for most high school athletes, will be the pinnacle of their sports careers. Take the number of starting players in any sport, multiply it by the number of sports offered at your average high school and then multiply that by the number of high schools in the United State's alone...then add in all the high school yearbook advisers who will need this camera for their student photographers. Just selling the 7DII to a fraction of that market will make it a best seller.

Birding is one of the most popular and fastest growing outdoor activities, especially among the burgeoning and high-disposable income baby-boomer generation. Couple this body with either the Tamron or the Sigma 600 zooms and birders finally have a package that allows them to take pictures of the same quality as they see in publications. (and yes...Canon is missing out by not offering an alternative to the Tamron and Sigma...yet)

The newspaper business may be dying, but the ones that remain are increasingly reliant on web galleries and print sales to boost income. Most smaller papers expect photographers to buy their own cameras and don't pay them enough to buy a 5D, much less a 1Dx. The 7D will become the tool of choice for small market photojournalists.

Whatever else you might think about the 7DII, you can't really argue that Canon has once again pinpointed a market and crafted a product that meets that market's needs. 5DIII -- tool of choice for wedding and event photographers; 6D -- step up camera for those wanting to move to full frame; and now the 7DII perfectly targeted to its audience.

 

[dstppy]

Edit: Sorry - got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning... I shop at Best Buy - not sure why I threw them under the bus. ;D

Please keep admissions like these to yourself

You were right on the first shot! ;D

the local best buy is better than the local camera store

That sucks. Camera shops should be like the hobby store or liquor store where it's cool just to stop in and shoot the breeze.

 

[DominoDude]

... try to track playing kids

That's wildlife
At least with my kids ;D

Haha Too funny, and mostly too true. ;D

 

[Maximilian]

already 2 errors in the review.. 22MP and Dual Digic6+ (PLUS). No, it's a 20.2MP and it has Dual Digic6. Let's read onward..

He may or may not be right on this one...he did note in his intro that he was reviewing a 'pre production' camera. The camera Canon gave him may have been equipped as such. There was more than one pre production version floating around. There were other reports of 24MP versions for test,too. Canon has obviously settled on the 20.2MP sensor with Dual Digic6's for the 7D Mark II. Maybe a Digic6+ exists and Canon decided to save it for a future camera.......OR maybe he's just plain wrong,

And this preproduction camera had a weight of 4 pounds? (without lens!) Cool! : : :
Sorry! But Mr Michael Hession simply didn't do his home work.
And by failing to do so, he put himself out of the game!
Game! Set! Match! 8)

 

[Sabaki]

I'm just thinking, folks like us do huge amounts of our own research before buying our gear so why would Canon put a pre-production model into the hands of a less than capable reviewer, such as Gizmodo?

Maybe there's a market Gizmodo reaches that Canon have identified as target market?

I will wait for the usual suspects to review the 7Dii but I will already have mine by then

 

[Davebo]

already 2 errors in the review.. 22MP and Dual Digic6+ (PLUS). No, it's a 20.2MP and it has Dual Digic6. Let's read onward..

He may or may not be right on this one...he did note in his intro that he was reviewing a 'pre production' camera. The camera Canon gave him may have been equipped as such. There was more than one pre production version floating around. There were other reports of 24MP versions for test,too. Canon has obviously settled on the 20.2MP sensor with Dual Digic6's for the 7D Mark II. Maybe a Digic6+ exists and Canon decided to save it for a future camera.......OR maybe he's just plain wrong,

And this preproduction camera had a weight of 4 pounds? (without lens!) Cool! : : :
Sorry! But Mr Michael Hession simply didn't do his home work.
And by failing to do so, he put himself out of the game!
Game! Set! Match! 8)

I initially gave him the benefit of the doubt....thinking his pre production unit had the specifications he stated. He did admit he made a mistake on the weight,so I'll excuse that mistake. However.....I noticed he has now (quietly)changed the '22MP', to '20.2MP', but still claiming Dual Digic6+!
I am now inclined to agree with you....he hasn't done his homework (or needs to proof read before publishing).
More concerning is how someone who lacks attention to detail gets a pre production camera in the first place!

 

[Nethawk]

Gizmodo took a major quality of content slide a few years ago. I largely ignore them now. Way too many bait-click stories along the lines of "Ten most bad-ass BLAH BLAH", "Incredible, mind-blowing device invented! It makes coffee for you!"

Agreed. I've removed them from all of my feeds. You're more likely to gain valuable tech information from the Sunday comics than from most of the writers at Gizmodo.

 

[ahsanford]

I'm just thinking, folks like us do huge amounts of our own research before buying our gear so why would Canon put a pre-production model into the hands of a less than capable reviewer, such as Gizmodo?

As stated before, large gadget/tech sites like Gizmodo, Engadget, Wired, CNET, etc. have massive readerships -- likely far in excess of even the most visited photography writing sites/blogs. So I'm not surprised at all that they got a pre-production model. I'd imagine that tech editors at other established institutions like Consumer Reports, NY Times, etc. were given early access as well.

To answer your question, why does a great band with a loyal fanbase choose to tour as an opening act for a much larger band? Exposure, exposure, exposure. Canon didn't need to push much message at folks like us -- I'd gather some 50% of the CR forums' folks who were in the market made a call on buying a 7D2 solely from the spec sheet being confirmed by Canon's announcement, while the rest of us are waiting for detailed reviews.

Remember, Canon doesn't need to court us, it needs to court new users --> enter broader appeal tech sites like Gizmodo and company to push their message further.

Not everyone who sees pre-production equipment is a legendary safari photog or Olympic sports shooter. There's great value in seeing the market for what it is -- lots of different shooters with different needs -- and sampling your wares with them prior to launch. Now I doubt a lower-on-the-totem-pole sort of reviewer/blogger could offer major feedback that would change the design, but I imagine that they would be excellent guinea pigs for sizing up marketing messaging, prioritizing the most impactful / least well understood features, etc.

- A

 

[Otara]

Im buying it, and I generally agree with the review. I dont carry my 7D much now unless its for birds or underwater, I bought a 6D for people, but even that with lenses is starting to feel relatively heavy, given what image quality you can get with smaller cameras now for walkaround photography.

The market has changed, and most people wont want what this camera offers in exchange for the downsides for your average joe - if they just bought it on the basis of the plaudits it will get without realising its relative specialisation in todays market, they would be shortchanged.