Gizmodo reviews the Canon 7D Mark II

[RocklandDragon]

http://gizmodo.com/canon-7d-mark-ii-the-best-dslr-for-sports-and-wildlife-1648374725


Take it for what it's worth. "It's a niche product." Well, I'm part of that niche group so it's all win for me.

 

[bchernicoff]

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

 

[Maximilian]

[quote author=CanonRumors]
...especially with comments like “It’s still a large and heavy DSLR that is a pain to carry around” & “focusing is fast as hell “, they should probably stick to reviewing smartphone cameras.
[/quote]
*lol*
That made my day. ;D

I was especially annoyed about important technical things Mr Michael Hession said wrong and had to be corrected by readers. (see comments)
If this is his way to do reviews (speed over accuracy) I know how much worth they are. :

 

[Davebo]

Hopefully this will help to end the ' 6D/5D Mark III or a 7D Mark II....help me decide' posts.

 

[PhotoPRO]

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

Exactly. I like the price and the fact that they tried to outdo the 5dmkiii's af, rather than doing the usual 'canon cripple'

 

[PhotoPRO]

Hopefully this will help to end the ' 6D/5D Mark III or a 7D Mark II....help me decide' posts.

+1 I mean '6D or 7Dmkii?' REALLY??? It shouldn't even be a question.

 

[iron-t]

Feels like many on this forum could have put together this review in about 10 minutes without ever putting their hands on the camera.

 

[whothafunk]

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..

 

[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 also wrote that the camera has a weight of 4 pounds - without lens. :
But he was able to recognize and correct that after a reader did point it out.

 

[bchernicoff]

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!"

 

[Quasimodo]

Only for wildlife and sportsshooters...? While I am neither (other than on occasions), he should try to track playing kids

 

[Maximilian]

... try to track playing kids

That's wildlife
At least with my kids ;D

 

[Quasimodo]

... try to track playing kids

That's wildlife
At least with my kids ;D

LOL, mine too

Btw. I had a 5DII and was not able to track my kids in AI Servo. When I got the 1Dx the 70-200 II became a new lens for me with much more versatility. I am looking forward to the 7DII as my camera number two. While I will read reviews (my nerdy nature), I will buy it and enjoy it regardless. A friend of mine who is a professional photographer has used the original 7D for work with great success, and this can only be better in my book

 

[gsealy]

Not knocking the review, but just a few comments:

"Canon DSLR video is at risk of becoming a relic of the past. Besides the large lens ecosystem, I don't see a reason to buy a Canon DSLRs for video these days."

This is exactly why I use Canon DSLRs for video. I want the option of using different lens for different situations.

" timelapse intervalometer ... The de-flicker option is super useful for preventing the sharp jumps in exposure that happen when recording timelapses with auto-exposure."

I never shoot time lapse with auto-exposure. Does anybody shoot time lapse with auto exposure? You want smooth transitions of light changing especially in sunrise/sunset situations, so you have to go full manual.

 

[mnclayshooter]

Like it or not, this review is targeted at one significant sector of the audience who will be buying this camera. -- People who shop for electronics at Best Buy... and the young, hipster, upper middle class, neo-techies, etc. They wrote it exactly the way that group thinks and talks.

No offense intended but this quote seems to fit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOZBaD-48fk


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

 

[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,

 

[PLIV1974]

At least with 7D i could take wedding pictures, but this one seams to be very limited! !

I agree with MNCLAYSHOOTER, luckily there are better post about 7Dmk2 coming with better and more detailled analysis, for me who broke in many parts my 7D+120-300 sport this weekend (oups, they clearly don’t like 6ft fall), i will anyway buy the 7Dmk2 because it is matching 100% my needs.
i loved the 7D even if it was not the best camera ever produced (blablabla), it was taking nice pictures and that is the most important for a non pro like me!
And apparently, Matt Granger said that it can also take some wedding, portrait and landscape pictures!

Weight: i have around 10 pounds extraweight, and my wife never complained! LOL

Thank you CR for good website! Continue like this, i check for your new post every day!

 

[unfocused]

Trying to get this straight: according to the review the original 7D was a great all-purpose camera.

The 7DII comes out and it does everything the original 7D did, plus it has more features, better low-light performance, better autofocus, etc., etc. all for the same price. But according to this review it's not an all-purpose camera?

What exactly do they think you could do with the 7D that you can't do better with the 7DII?

 

[ahsanford]

Believe it or not, reviews by these Gizmodo, Engadget, etc. types are helpful -- though fluffy and anti-technical -- in that they speak to the bigger picture of the camera in a much larger ecosystem. The Best Buy shopper comment is spot on.

If you have a cabinet full of lenses, you realistically only have one or two camera bodies to consider, so the original 7D2 announcement either sent you immediately reaching for your credit card or immediately back to the forums to pine for Canon's next camera down the road.

But if you aren't heavily invested in a specific mount, and if you are in the market to do so, and if you are a gadget guy/gal and you want to stay on 'top' of the latest tech, the buzz around mirrorless is deafening in comparison to 'yet another SLR with slightly better specs'. These folks would rather own a Tesla than a similarly priced Mercedes or Cadillac. The tech these folks buy is an extension of their worldview, and (provided the quality is comparable), they'd rather buy tech that places them on the bleeding edge than with the herd.

So as non-technical and populist as this review is, he makes a fair point. The value proposition of SLRs continues to wane as mirrorless gets smaller form factor, gets more 'pro' options/components, better EVFs, etc. Further, comments like 'the only reason to get this is high burst rate with AF tracking' -- given that he called the stills only marginally better than the 70D -- is damning.

I still am an SLR person. It's OVF or bust for me. And yes, I eagerly await Bryan Carnathan and other respected reviewers to kick the tires like the professionals that they are with a killer review in our terms, in our language, etc.

- A

 

[ahsanford]

Trying to get this straight: according to the review the original 7D was a great all-purpose camera.

The 7DII comes out and it does everything the original 7D did, plus it has more features, better low-light performance, better autofocus, etc., etc. all for the same price. But according to this review it's not an all-purpose camera?

What exactly do they think you could do with the 7D that you can't do better with the 7DII?

It's not that -- it's what else is available in comparison these days.

In 2009 (?) when the 7D came out, enthusiast mirrorless digital was in its infancy and was really only suited for basic walkaround shooting. So, relatively speaking, the 7D stood out above all other [APS-C] options as the clear best in class on many, many fronts.

Now, in 2014, what the 7D2 does better than everyone in the APS-C market is... well... less. Burst and AF are best in class and the rest (IQ, low light, etc.) needs to be proven out by the pro reviewers. But now, instead of just the single best in class Nikon APS-C as an alternative, now Canon has a slew of mirrorless competitors. The 7D2 will only resoundingly beat them in action photography and build quality -- non-action IQ, video quality, etc. are not clear wins for Canon anymore.

We all know the 7D2 is not a direct competitor to the Fuji X Pro 1 (soon to be X Pro 2), Sony a6000, or Panasonic GH4 as they serve different needs, but to the gadget community, this distinction is lost. They often just see high-level specs and form factor and size it up as they see it. Sadly, Gizmodo and Engadget probably have 1,000 times the page views of CR, and for better or worse, control more of the general mindshare on this topic.

- A