Is the EOS 7D Mark II the last in the 7D series? We’re told that it is [CR1]

Hector1970

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Mar 22, 2012
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Baseless claims like this amuse me. Tell us...how much research have you conducted to determine the global size of the market for a 7DIII? Surveyed a few thousand people, have you? Examined global sales of the 7-series line as the frame rates increased on the xxD series? Tell us...how many owners of the original 7D upgraded to a 7DII, and how many to a 70D/80D? Of course, the answers to those questions are none, no, no, and you have no clue. But you want a 7DIII and if you don’t get one you’ll either switch to Nikon or stamp your foot and hold your breath until you turn blue, so that means Canon’s bottom line will suffer. Sure.

Consider this: Canon is in the best position to determine whether or not developing and launching a 7DIII vs. an amalgamated 7/xxD body, would benefit their bottom line. If it’s the former, we’ll see a 7DIII...and if not, we won’t. Their goal is not to make people happy, so if you personally buy Nikon or pass out with a blue face, they don’t give a damn.
There is also plenty of evidence of companies who knew all the data about their products and the market they were in but still made very bad product decisions and subsequently lost lots of market share and went out of business. Usually its because they didn't listen to their customers. or anticipated changes in the market . As an investment firm is forced to tell you past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Lots of companies do well in markets until things reach a tipping point . Members here would tend to be hard core and not necessarily representative of Canon's customers at large. However they are influencers. Canon sell alot of low range MILCs and XXD's on the strength of the reputation of its top end gear in terms of camera's and lens. While the lens go from strength to strength the improvements in camera's are more modest. It's probably why Canon are taking their time with the 1DX III or 1DR as they feel its needs to more than equal to its competitors.
 
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Architect1776

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Very glad to see this. I like the idea of Canon going after the RF mount seriously. Yes I like my 7D but really like the direction the RF mount is going. I am hoping IBIS will come soon as that will be the feature that gets me out of the EF system.
Why? Because ALL my FD, FL and R lenses will have IS and not need a glass lens in the mount converter. At least that is my hope. I know Canon would rather sell me the new RF lenses and I am sure I will buy some but what a dream to fully resurrect my old film lenses with IS.
 
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digigal

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I will add that I'm now seeing multiple top international wild life professional photographers and tour leaders switching/adding Sony MILC to their kits. These were Canon diehards for decades with big kits. These are people whose livelihood depends on their photography--not "happy snappers"-- and they have influence on the people who travel with them with lots of bucks to spend on gear who are not buying little starter kits that Canon needs to sell a million of to make a profit on. They're also people who need long lenses too. I have to say I've been quite shocked at how fast this has been happening. It's these "influencers" that Canon also needs to be concerned about.
 
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There is also plenty of evidence of companies who knew all the data about their products and the market they were in but still made very bad product decisions and subsequently lost lots of market share and went out of business. Usually its because they didn't listen to their customers. or anticipated changes in the market . As an investment firm is forced to tell you past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Lots of companies do well in markets until things reach a tipping point . Members here would tend to be hard core and not necessarily representative of Canon's customers at large. However they are influencers. Canon sell alot of low range MILCs and XXD's on the strength of the reputation of its top end gear in terms of camera's and lens. While the lens go from strength to strength the improvements in camera's are more modest. It's probably why Canon are taking their time with the 1DX III or 1DR as they feel its needs to more than equal to its competitors.

Canon does alot of things right. They sell to every segment of the market , and they continue to refresh cameras to every single segment of the market. No other company offers the breadth of cameras lines to consumers and professionals as a whole as Canon does.
Their service and support is top notch (at least in most countries) especially if you compare it against the majority of over camera companies (not naming names but here's looking at you Mr Alpha), and for the most part, outside of a few memorable gaffs, their cameras just seem to work. I think personally that enthusiasts (me included) have an over inflated idea on where we stand in the global marketplace of probably around 40-70 million ILC users.

But back to this thread..

While I get it if this happens, a) there's not enough headroom above an 90D for a 7D Mark III (probably false though - see article on CN) b) there's not enough money between a 90D and what a 7D Mark III could fetch these days (could be a problem) c) Canon is tired of making high end DSLR's and wants to focus their main engineering talent on R's (quite possible). These of course are guesses, but they would seem legit from the sniff test anyways.

But it's not as easy as merging the lines together and making a "90D" like the old 50D of years gone by (that was another article if you haven't read it), there's alot of considerations to that.

I personally will think it's the end of an era if they dump the 7D line as I wrote on our article about this rumor. I started with the 20D after leaving film from my beloved EOS-3 and purchased every xxD up to and including the 50D, then moved to the 7D series. Even though now I use mirrorless, the xxD / 7D line has a special place in my past and heart.
 
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Since Sony A7III apears, I've been waiting Canon's respounce. Someting to replace my 7D MkII. Maybe a new body with more focus points, better AF or eye tracking, tilting or variable angle touchscreen, a better sensor, and of course, more speed, with a reasonable price.

But Canon simply insists on low specification bodies with high prices.

Maybe is time to change for Sony and forget about Canon.

Canon's response to the A7 III is the EOS R. The A7 III and Nikon Z6 are the best full frame hybrid shooters. The Canon is better for ergonomics for photography and being able to shoot some video when needed. There's some who shoot with both the A7 III. And there's a reason they still have the Canon in their arsenal.


One thing I really like about the EOS R for nature is really being able to take a silent shot, as well as switch between video and stills with the viewfinder, use zoom mag as a telescope etc. Dont know how much that plays into other wildlife photogs, but thats why there isnt much likelihood a 7d3 would interest me now.

Add in the fact that the higher megapixel full frames are coming with pixel density to match the APS C and even M43. The digital crop will result in equal or better focal lengths and give more wiggle room reframe a shot. Crop shooting more should also be possible for those not wanting to deal with large file sizes(even though memory cards and large drives are dirt cheap).
 
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MartinF.

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It makes a lot of sense. Being a 6D shooter myself, I think we will neither see a 6D mkIII as well. A guess that there will be a 1DX mkIII, and maybe a 5DmkV and that will be last two fullframe DSLRs. And then now the last prosumer X0D/7D in one body. But hey - it will be 10+ years from now before they are obsolete or worn out. I my inner I do hope for one generation more, but I doubt.
The future is mirrorless, I quess we all know that. The next two years will tell us a lot more about speed of the transition.
 
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The 80D already had some weather sealing, but dual cards has got to happen...the D7100 had them back in 2013, followed by the D7200 and D7500 - all of which come at the same price point of the 80D.
D7000 started the trend of dual Sd slot on mid range dslr and then with D7500 dual slots and battery grip support was dropped by nikon.
 
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Nord0306

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Nov 11, 2018
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I am extremely happy with my 80D, yes I know there are advantages that the 7Dii has and I wish I had, specifically the frame rate, but I get by. I'm happy not to have a huge heavy body around the same size sensor. I'm happy I have a flippy touchscreen and other things that I use all the time. It would be nice to have a joystick, but I use a combination of buttons, dials and the touchscreen to navigate much faster than the joystick for most things. I almost always leave the 5Diii home unless I know I'm shooting at high ISO. I also like the built in flash for fill so I don't have to carry one all the time. This is going to be the biggest hurdle for me going to FF is nobody puts a flash on one.

I'm happy to wait another year for a RP body to replace the 80D, I just hope it has better AF and a faster frame rate otherwise it won't be an upgrade for me.
 
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Count me in as a sceptic about this latest piece of gossip (it doesn't even deserve to be called a rumour).

For a start, Canon has no other top of the line APS-C system (system meaning not only bodies but lenses as well) for shooting sports and wildlife. The EOS-M system is certainly in no position to replace the 7DII. Nor is it likely that Canon will start an APS-C line of R mount cameras—even if they did, there would be no lens system in place for shooting sports and wildlife.

Secondly, there is a point of an SLR APS-C system and it lies in that there is a wider spread across the viewfinder of focus points. These focus points come from a dedicated off-focal plane PDAF sensor which guarantees ultra fast capture in a way that on-focal plane PDAF struggles to keep up with.

Lastly, although I have said this many times before, I will repeat this prediction once again. Once EVFs improve to the point that viewfinder lag becomes imperceptible to the human eye, Canon will reintroduce the pellicle mirror design of SLT cameras to the EF mount. Canon last had a semi-translucent pellicle mirror in their 1995 EOS-1N RS (production ceased in 2001). This will allow the on-focal plane sensor dual-pixel PDAF to be integrated with the off-focal plane PDAF points. You will have nearly everything that "mirrorless" cameras have (e.g. exposure preview, and a wide spread of PDAF points) without having to abandon decades of SLR lens development. It will also eliminate mirror shock, important once frame rates reach closer to the 20fps mark (and beyond), as you start to push the limits of the ability of a mechanical reflex mirror to move up and down.

N.b. the term "mirrorless" is a problematic term. There is nothing new about cameras without mirrors. In fact, the earliest cameras in the 1820s were "mirrorless" designs. Rangefinders are mirrorless cameras. The only real innovation with digital "mirrorless" cameras is the EVF. The real question is when EVF technology will mature sufficiently to the point that a professional sports photographer will be unable to notice viewfinder lag, at which point the technology will be mature enough to put into an SLT camera.
 
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Jan 12, 2011
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Totally discouraging. My 7DMII has 350,000 clicks and has been to every continent and a picture from it currently hangs in the Nature's Best exhibit in the Smithsonian. It's a workhorse and takes any abuse and lets me handhold my 100-400 II and get equivalent pictures of shooting with a 600 mm lens on a FF body which I could never manage weight wise. I guess I'll buy a new one while I still can and wait to see what unfolds over the next several years.

Would love to see that picture! :) Post for us or point us to it if you can...or at least tell us what it is so the next time I'm in DC, I can check it out.
 
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Kharan

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Nov 9, 2018
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Sorry, but the tail doesn’t wag the dog.

Oh, it's lovely to see you spout such oblivious nonsense! This isn't just "a tail" - some ancillary part that Canon can let fall by the wayside - it's literally how they took the #1 spot away from Nikon. Highly advanced bodies with sophisticated features, a futuristic lens mount, and the best supertelephoto lenses on the market; this is how they came to rule the roost.

Letting such a market slip away will prove fatal for them mid- and long-term. I can assure you 100% that Canon are absolutely committed to avoid this trap - the question is, will they succeed?
 
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Oh, it's lovely to see you spout such oblivious nonsense! This isn't just "a tail" - some ancillary part that Canon can let fall by the wayside - it's literally how they took the #1 spot away from Nikon. Highly advanced bodies with sophisticated features, a futuristic lens mount, and the best supertelephoto lenses on the market; this is how they came to rule the roost.

Letting such a market slip away will prove fatal for them mid- and long-term. I can assure you 100% that Canon are absolutely committed to avoid this trap - the question is, will they succeed?
Canon took over the ILC market because of photo-safari leaders? Yes, that certainly qualifies as oblivious nonsense. I mean, it couldn’t have had anything to do with the first sub-$1K DSLR, right? Have you noticed that it’s 2019, that Canon has been the ILC market leader for 16 years, that 2019 – 16 = 2003, or that 2003 was the year the Digital Rebel / EOS 300D launched at $899? Meh, that’s all just coincidence. :rolleyes:

As for the high end, if the sidelines at major sporting events stop being decorated with a sea of Canon lenses, then Canon can worry. Not that that’s likely to happen any time soon. If photo-safari leaders switch, 6-10 people at a time will notice. That’s the ‘tail’ to which I referred.

Next time you might consider responding to what is posted, instead of your (over)interpretation of what is posted. That might help you spout less oblivious nonsense in the future.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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With camera sales dropping, and Canon offering a growing line of mirrorless models, they are likely making the tough decision, drop the less profitable models.Although I had three 7D's, I never warmed up to the 7D MK II and went to FF instead. The ability to gather more light was the reason for me.

There will be some who will be disappointed, but I won't miss it. If there is a plan to provide the functionality in a mirrorless body, then there is something new waiting in the wings as far as processors and sensors.
 
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Aussie shooter

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This is massively disappointing news if true. Depending on how good a 90d is of course or how good an evf they can produce for a mirrorless. The big fear thougg is the robust build quality of the 7d2 and the professional ergonomics. The xxd series just don't have this and I find it hard to believe a mirrorless replacement could manage it either. For me however it won't be a situation where I consider changing brands as there is no other brand(even nikon(who are the next best) that I find even remotely comfortable or intuitive to use. Lets hope it is an incorrect rumor and that in about 2 years I will have an upgraded model to replace my mk2
 
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