New 7D2 'studio version' released?

[TeT]

It is to make it sound fancy, when in reality it is aimed at the photographic equivalent of ambulance chasers.

Real studios would likely never use the "studio version".

so Mall photo studio's are not real... They probably out produce almost any "real" studio you can name, followed closely by Target, K-Mart, JC Penny's (if they still do it) Sears. Theme parks or School picture day ppl probably outproduce all of em by themselves.

This get up is a huge PROFESSIONAL workflow management tool. Those places usually utilize workflow solutions so they can have only one employee handle it ALL.

BTW:Most of these outfits use APC Which is why you wont have to worry about seeing it on your FF ...

Of course it could be Brian's annual 04/01 offering...

 

[RustyTheGeek]

The problem is that they do it time after time after time. When do they plan to release a product that I actually do have a use for?

That's your problem, not Canon's.

There is zero reason why this sort of functionality could not have been built in from the get go. After all it is supposed to be a pro camera. They don't need to release a dozen variants of the same camera.

As usual, you and your ilk always think you know better than Canon how Canon should spend Canon's money and how Canon should formulate Canon's business strategy.

There's 'zero reason'? Gee, Canon must be idiots to do it the way they are, right? I mean, it's not like they might have any data to support their strategy here, say things like market research or even something simple like how many units of the SV version of the original 7D were sold, and whether that version yielded a positive return on investment. Where are your data showing that you know better?

Oh, and yes, I get that you probably meant 'no technical reason' it can't be built in. If so, I guess you think typical users need multiple levels of password controls, recovery options, etc., and that a barcode solution suitable for medical/forensic use is going to come in handy for lots of photographers. If Canon users really wanted 40 extra menu choices to sift through, they'd switch to Sony or Nikon.

Honestly Neuro, I don't understand your negative post replies above. I was thinking roughly the same thing as Tugela. Why does this feature demand a special camera body? These camera body settings appear to be software only items. I'm willing to bet they are already hidden in the firmware on existing 7D-2 bodies. All that needs to be done is have an extra menu item in Custom Settings that enables the Photo Studio Mode (and necc sub menus). In fact, I see no reason why "Photo Studio Mode" settings couldn't be available on ALL of Canon's 5D, 7D and 1D series cameras that most pros use. Then Canon gets to sell all the extra side hardware needed to curious/interested customers.

Don't most studios use FF? (At least studios that can afford to buy a whole dedicated body just for barcodes and would probably buy at least TWO or THREE to protect workflow and potential downtime at a big event.) Why make folks buy a whole other crop body? Seems pretty redundant and will probably discourage most pros that might otherwise try out a barcode approach if all they had to buy was a set of the extra hardware to test the approach with existing camera bodies. Most pros already probably have a customer/product ID/tracking system that works for them and this isn't going to be worth the investment if they have to buy all new bodies and hardware to boot. In most cases, if it ain't broke....

 

[ahsanford]

Why does this feature demand a special camera body? These camera body settings appear to be software only items. I'm willing to bet they are already hidden in the firmware on existing 7D-2 bodies. All that needs to be done is have an extra menu item in Custom Settings that enables the Photo Studio Mode (and necc sub menus). In fact, I see no reason why "Photo Studio Mode" settings couldn't be available on ALL of Canon's 5D, 7D and 1D series cameras that most pros use. Then Canon gets to sell all the extra side hardware needed to curious/interested customers.

As someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, this is Bluetooth related. You can't tack that on with firmware unless it's been sitting on the 7D2 this the whole time without our knowledge.

- A

 

[unfocused]

The 7D2 is lacking modern features but this is disgusting,,,,sad,,,,sad

You must feel so personally wounded that Canon released a product for which you have no use. :

I am surprised that someone who is so close to Canon's development team and has so much inside knowledge about future products wasn't aware of this already and didn't have the opportunity to influence the design.

But, then I am also curious what "modern features" the 7DII lacks.

 

[unfocused]

... They probably out produce almost any "real" studio you can name, followed closely by Target, K-Mart, JC Penny's (if they still do it) Sears. Theme parks or School picture day ppl probably outproduce all of em by themselves.

This get up is a huge PROFESSIONAL workflow management tool. Those places usually utilize workflow solutions so they can have only one employee handle it ALL.

Exactly. As has already been pointed out, Canon released a studio version of the original 7D. They must have sold enough to justify making a new version.

It's clearly a specialized tool and those who don't need it don't have to buy it. But really, I can't understand why so many people on this forum feel the need to nitpick and second guess everything Canon does.

 

[biscuit]

Thx for clearing that up. Why a 7D and not a FF studio rig? Do 1D or 5D bodies get this similar treatment, or does the sealed top inhibit the possibility to do this?

Not really sure. This kind of functionality is more suited to on the go guest (like theme parks) or assembly line style (mall santa) photography than it is to studio stuff IMO, so the name is a bit odd. I'd imagine people using 1 series bodies in an actual studio setting are just shooting tethered with ethernet for speed and reliability.

Yeah, also class photos and such. It appears the main feature of these "studio versions" is that almost all camera features can be selectively locked or unlocked, allowing, ehm, limited-skill professionals do repetitive routine shooting without worrying about accidentally changing settings. Presumably the "studio" in the name is mostly a marketing euphemism.

Maybe "7D2 - mall Santa version" wasn't a hit with marketing.

 

[ahsanford]

The 7D2 is lacking modern features but this is disgusting,,,,sad,,,,sad

You must feel so personally wounded that Canon released a product for which you have no use. :

I am surprised that someone who is so close to Canon's development team and has so much inside knowledge about future products wasn't aware of this already and didn't have the opportunity to influence the design.

But, then I am also curious what "modern features" the 7DII lacks.

I will not speak on Rick's behalf (and this is not aimed at him), but here's the aggregated 7D2 gripe list I am aware of:

• Those jerk FF sensors keep outperforming my 7D2 in low light. That's BS. I want to shoot a feeding bat in total darkness at 1/8000th of a second.
  
  
• Those jerk mirrorless setups have more AF points than I do. That's super BS. I want my AF to lock on things even if they are out of frame. My 7D2 should know better and take care of it.
  
  
• Other crop cameras released after my 7D2 have newer technology that I want! I want apps and automated AFMA and low interest rates on a new car.
  
  
• It's the 7D2's fault that I don't have a 200-500 f/5.6 IS for $1400 like Nikon does.

Did I miss any?

- A

 

[ahsanford]

Maybe "7D2 - mall Santa version" wasn't a hit with marketing.

The kids say LOL, I'm told.

Well done.

- A

 

[RustyTheGeek]

Why does this feature demand a special camera body? These camera body settings appear to be software only items. I'm willing to bet they are already hidden in the firmware on existing 7D-2 bodies. All that needs to be done is have an extra menu item in Custom Settings that enables the Photo Studio Mode (and necc sub menus). In fact, I see no reason why "Photo Studio Mode" settings couldn't be available on ALL of Canon's 5D, 7D and 1D series cameras that most pros use. Then Canon gets to sell all the extra side hardware needed to curious/interested customers.

As someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, this is Bluetooth related. You can't tack that on with firmware unless it's been sitting on the 7D2 this the whole time without our knowledge.

- A

??? Bluetooth? ??? Let me get this straight... I have to buy an external wireless transmitter to attach to this camera body and then I'm forced to buy a SPECIAL 7D camera body just so I can get BLUETOOTH? (Along with some simple menu items and a fancy battery door.) No offense to you ahsanford but that is the biggest waste of money and insulting rip-off I've seen in a long while. I mean, if we're already hanging an expensive bulky wireless module off the camera that makes it unstable on a tripod and more fragile with wires sticking off the side, why can't we just hang more crap off the side for bluetooth while we're at it? Canon could charge another $200 for that module too! :

Things like this hurt Canon's image because it makes photographers that endorse, support, promote and otherwise like their products feel exploited and taken advantage of. Offering an expensive, less than elegant band-aid parts system like this to photographers when there is clearly a better way to design/offer it for less is a joke. It's one thing to offer the extra parts/modules to add to an existing body. But since that isn't the case here...

IMHO - If Canon wants to offer a dedicated "Photo Studio" body that is practically identical to the 7D body many pros already own then they should get all the essential wireless hardware built into that body and sell it as a package with the external barcode reader and software. (AND make that special body work with most other industry barcode solutions.) THAT would at least make it appear that they are trying to justify buying an expensive dedicated body that is otherwise redundant.

Seriously, just like they offer Camera Bodies with or without a Kit Lens. Same thing. 7D-PS Kit (with Barcode Gun & Software) or 7D-PS Body only.

Please understand that I'm not trying to be insulting or negative. I'm trying to be practical and pragmatic and I think a dedicated body really isn't necc to give Canon's user base what they need. And Canon can still make money on it in other ways that are more practical.

 

[brad-man]

The 7D2 is lacking modern features but this is disgusting,,,,sad,,,,sad

You must feel so personally wounded that Canon released a product for which you have no use. :

I am surprised that someone who is so close to Canon's development team and has so much inside knowledge about future products wasn't aware of this already and didn't have the opportunity to influence the design.

But, then I am also curious what "modern features" the 7DII lacks.

One of these...

 

[ahsanford]

As someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, this is Bluetooth related. You can't tack that on with firmware unless it's been sitting on the 7D2 this the whole time without our knowledge.

- A

??? Bluetooth? ??? Let me get this straight... I have to buy an external wireless transmitter to attach to this camera body and then I'm forced to buy a SPECIAL 7D camera body just so I can get BLUETOOTH? (Along with some simple menu items and a fancy battery door.) No offense to you ahsanford but that is the biggest waste of money and insulting rip-off I've seen in a long while.

I am neither a Canon spokesperson nor fond of this product. I'm just answering your question based on a plausible theory why this isn't a firmware opportunity.

In fairness, I haven't even verified this theory. I thought the 7D2's wireless file transmitter actually had some form of bluetooth connectivity, didn't it?

- A

 

[Don Haines]

The 7D2 is lacking modern features but this is disgusting,,,,sad,,,,sad

You must feel so personally wounded that Canon released a product for which you have no use. :

I am surprised that someone who is so close to Canon's development team and has so much inside knowledge about future products wasn't aware of this already and didn't have the opportunity to influence the design.

But, then I am also curious what "modern features" the 7DII lacks.

I will not speak on Rick's behalf (and this is not aimed at him), but here's the aggregated 7D2 gripe list I am aware of:

• Those jerk FF sensors keep outperforming my 7D2 in low light. That's BS. I want to shoot a feeding bat in total darkness at 1/8000th of a second.
  
  
• Those jerk mirrorless setups have more AF points than I do. That's super BS. I want my AF to lock on things even if they are out of frame. My 7D2 should know better and take care of it.
  
  
• Other crop cameras released after my 7D2 have newer technology that I want! I want apps and automated AFMA and low interest rates on a new car.
  
  
• It's the 7D2's fault that I don't have a 200-500 f/5.6 IS for $1400 like Nikon does.

Did I miss any?

- A

The 7D2 does not have built in WiFi. It does not have an ap for phones/tablets that lets you remote control them. This is a huge disappointment.... a deal breaker... it makes the camera obsolete before it was released..... and yet somehow I was tricked into buying this camera despite knowing how the lack of that feature made it a worthless POS..... and even worse, the camera has performed flawlessly summer and winter, rain and sun, and even lets me adjust the exposure by 5435434 stops (well, really only about 4) when I take a picture with the settings wrong. I know that this is just Canon mocking me! I will have my revenge!

 

[Don Haines]

you just have to assume this is an April Fools joke....

If it was real, instead of basing it on a 7D2 and an external (and very expensive) WiFi transmiutter, they would have gone for the much cheaper 70D or 80D WITH BUILT IN WIFI!!!!!

 

[ahsanford]

you just have to assume this is an April Fools joke....

If it was real, instead of basing it on a 7D2 and an external (and very expensive) WiFi transmiutter, they would have gone for the much cheaper 70D or 80D WITH BUILT IN WIFI!!!!!

I could entirely be mistaken, but specialty rigs like these trail the bleeding edge of Canon's development work. Astro rigs are similarly announced on not-exactly-spanking-new models, aren't they?

Hell, they may have even farmed the product development work outside as a 2nd or 3rd tier priority.

- A

 

[Bennymiata]

Having done school photos, and very busy events, the features could come in handy.
What does surprise me is that the wireless box has to be connected to the camera with an exterior cable that could cause lots of problems.
As the wifi tx is a dedicated box, why don't they have contacts on the bottom of the camera instead of that cable?

That is just poor design IMHO.

 

[jebrady03]

This is basically just FW and supplemental hardware, right? Why not just allow people to pay for a FW update to their camera(s) when they buy the supplemental hardware, and have the FW apply to ANY EOS camera? Seems to me, a more customer friendly solution.

 

[RickWagoner]

The 7D2 is lacking modern features but this is disgusting,,,,sad,,,,sad

You must feel so personally wounded that Canon released a product for which you have no use. :

I am surprised that someone who is so close to Canon's development team and has so much inside knowledge about future products wasn't aware of this already and didn't have the opportunity to influence the design.

But, then I am also curious what "modern features" the 7DII lacks.

No reason to third party test this as it is a software update if anything. If it is real i would have no doubt not many people outside of Canon HQ knew anything about it.

WIFI is a feature that should of been in the 7DII, if it was present one would not need a bulky scanner or transmitter. Just connect your phone and use your phone's camera to scan the barcode..

Also a modern feature that it lacks is its sales, so bad dealers are giving them away for $1000 WITH a printer. Little ole 70D is still only $200 off release date price, has much more competition in the marketplace and even has it's replacement shipping now but sales are still amazing. Still curious on how no WIFI, Touch Tilty Screen can be considered a modern feature?

 

[Loswr]

Honestly Neuro, I don't understand your negative post replies above. I was thinking roughly the same thing as Tugela. Why does this feature demand a special camera body? These camera body settings appear to be software only items.

It may very well not require a separate body, for only a firmware difference (assuming that's true). But it's different firmware, that means a different product. Do you think it's a good idea to give all users the ability to lock themselves out of their camera settings? I'm sure Canon support knows that's a very bad idea. Separate firmware means separate development and testing (as we've seen, apparently unrelated settings changes can expose bugs). Selling a separate version at a modestly higher cost makes perfect business sense.

Don't most studios use FF? (At least studios that can afford to buy a whole dedicated body just for barcodes and would probably buy at least TWO or THREE to protect workflow and potential downtime at a big event.)

As the ensuing discussion shows, most studios – the high volume ones that would drive this model – shoot crop. Chain portrait studios (Portrait Innovations, Kiddie Kandids, mall anchor stores, etc.), school photography outfits (LifeTouch), etc., all shoot crop. What advantage would FF offer to a high-volume studio? They have strobes in softboxes, they have backdrops – ample light, no need for thin DoF, that means a crop sensor and f/8 on a kit 18-135mm lens delivers perfectly good shots. The only thing FF adds is higher cost.

In most cases, if it ain't broke....

Exactly my point – Canon released a 7D SV in 2010, they have nearly 6 years of sales data to know if it was broke, and clearly the fact that they're releasing a 7DII SV says it ain't.

 

[Don Haines]

you just have to assume this is an April Fools joke....

If it was real, instead of basing it on a 7D2 and an external (and very expensive) WiFi transmiutter, they would have gone for the much cheaper 70D or 80D WITH BUILT IN WIFI!!!!!

I could entirely be mistaken, but specialty rigs like these trail the bleeding edge of Canon's development work. Astro rigs are similarly announced on not-exactly-spanking-new models, aren't they?

Hell, they may have even farmed the product development work outside as a 2nd or 3rd tier priority.

- A

You are probably right.....

 

[d]

Geez - what's all the criticism, vitriol, and fury here about this announcement? You'd think Canon had just announced a bunch of features were about to be automatically and permanently disabled in the 7DII's firmware, judging by some of the reactions here.

Did anyone actually watch the video through to the end to properly understand what this does?

Up until recently, I was managing a large commercial studio responsible for shooting catalogue and ecommerce images for several large retail clients, and I would have picked up a couple of these setups in a heartbeat if they'd come out last year.

My studio was contracted to shoot approx. 80,000 images a year for one particular client, with five or six photographers working full time, along with a number of stylists and other support staff. When shooting long racks of garments body-form or as flat-lays, being able to scan a barcode to be embedded directly into the meta-data of an image file is a great time-saver, and helps cut down naming/identification errors later on which then require time to track down and fix (trust me, I've spent many hours doing this!)

I can think of numerous scenarios where the features of the 7DIISV would save time, which saves money - this thing would pay for itself very quickly in my former studio. Yes, it'd be great if the add-on transceiver was better designed and implemented, or if bluetooth were already built into the camera, but those of you who can't see point of this version or are angered by it somehow - don't buy it! Easy!!

d.