Review: Canon EOS 7D Mark II by Fro

[Canon Rumors]

<p>Jared Polin has posted his review of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. It is a 35 minute real world video review. The review pretty much covers everything you’d want it to, he even had the opportunity to shoot an NHL game with the camera, which is a perfect setting for it.</p>
<p><iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UX6gK0bkq3g?start=89&feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Jared has also completed his educational video <em><strong>The Complete FroKnowsPhoto 6-Hour Guide to DSLR Video</strong></em>, which is currently half price. “Now you can learn the fast track system used by a world class photographer and videographer to shoot, direct, and produce any type of video with a DSLR, regardless of your current skill level.”</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://crguy.froknows.hop.clickbank.net" target="_blank">You can check out a preview here</a></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

 

[DominoDude]

Re: Review: Canon EOS 7D Mark II by FroKnowsPhoto

I have a few minutes before the sun sets under the horizon - will surely take a look at Fro's review later tonight - but now it's hasta la vista while I shoot some.

 

[infared]

Re: Review: Canon EOS 7D Mark II by FroKnowsPhoto

The "Bad Jersey" aspect of this really turns me away. 8)

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Re: Review: Canon EOS 7D Mark II by FroKnowsPhoto

No big surprises. The 7d2 looks like a pretty good camera.

 

[Famateur]

Re: Review: Canon EOS 7D Mark II by FroKnowsPhoto

More a comment about Jared than the camera...

The first few videos I saw of his seemed a bit over-the-top. As I've watch over the last year or two, though, he's grown on me. He keeps it real -- and entertaining. His YouTube page is now bookmarked with some others in my browser.

Being a Nikon guy, the fact that he not only took a look at the 7DII but even purchased one for himself tells me he's more interested in what you can do with a camera than what badge is on the front. That gives him a lot more credibility in my view.

Interesting comments about the focus just "missing" sometimes. I find my 70D does the same thing..quite often. I tend to shoot more in Live View (DPAF really helps here) when I need critical focus because I just can't trust that the PDAF will be on -- even after several attempts at wide/tele calibration using FoCal. I'll be watching to see if he finds a solution/explanation in the coming weeks or months...

 

[bgosselin]

I agree with you. He matured a lot as a professional photographer. It was difficult for me to take him seriously 2 years ago but now found his opinion valuable. I did subscribe to his channel.

I'm curious with that comment that the 7D mark ii didn't nail focus at times. Specially when he say that it's a Canon thing and other Canon users experience de same thing with other Canon cameras.

Is it a lens microadjustement problem? Is it the shooter inexperience with Canon settings? Would like to get comments from others.

I do a lot of sport shooting and I don't feel that my 5D mark III doesn't get the focus right. Yes something my image are out of focus but I know the blame is probably on me or my lens. I shoot with a 200mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.2. Both lens are knowed for slow focusing.

 

[Maui5150]

Gotta love Fro Though...

"Put your phone away, DB!!!"

I wonder if AFMA would have helped and maybe his 70-200 was just off a smidge. It seemed consistent just to be a hair off

 

[DominoDude]

(a few hours later...) Watched it all, and - as always - he's trustworthy, and delivers interesting views of anything he reviews. No big surprises, a few confirmations of thoughts I have heard from others.
From the first time I got solid info about the camera, I have had some minor doubts about the battery life, and the feedback I got earlier on was of the diplomatic kind from a journalist. It still looks as though the batteries won't last just as long as they did on the 7D Mark I.

If I considered upgrading/renewing my APS-C, the 7D Mark II would still top the list of options.

 

[Sabaki]

The soft focus phenomenon is precisely why I returned my first copy of the 7Dii.

The thing is, I'm not quite sure the softness is due to AFMA, more than it may be something off on the software managing the focus.

It's almost like an electronic 'hiccup' that softens the image somewhat.

Hopeful that my replacement unit arrives before the weekend and I'm going to shoot until the battery dies. Hopefully it's not an issue affecting the entire production line.

 

[DominoDude]

I have had some minor doubts about the battery life, and the feedback I got earlier on was of the diplomatic kind from a journalist. It still looks as though the batteries won't last just as long as they did on the 7D Mark I.

For some reason the battery life of mine has steadily improved. Not sure why. I was trying to kill the battery yesterday using GPS and a lot of live view and it seemed fine to me. Can't say how it compares to the 7D. He was complaining about only being able to shoot 1000 Raw + JPG with a single battery. He must shoot a pro body because I don't think that's unreasonable for one of those LP-E6's.

*nods* I bet some can be done by tweaking ones own settings and to chimp a little less. (As you get used to a camera, you will find smarter ways to accomplish things and that should also lead to increased battery life.) I also believe that a few tweaks of the firmware can increase the battery life to some degree, and deal with a few other issues yet to be discovered - bad coding can waste CPU cycles and wreck even the best intentions.

A tad shorter battery life could be a benefit to both Canon and users; Canon will sell more batteries, and users are more likely to buy that backup battery they otherwise wouldn't consider. Most of the time they won't need to change to that spare, but it won't hurt to carry it with you, and it would ensure you could go on for just a while longer if push comes to shove.

 

[max]

I have had some minor doubts about the battery life, and the feedback I got earlier on was of the diplomatic kind from a journalist. It still looks as though the batteries won't last just as long as they did on the 7D Mark I.

For some reason the battery life of mine has steadily improved. Not sure why. I was trying to kill the battery yesterday using GPS and a lot of live view and it seemed fine to me. Can't say how it compares to the 7D. He was complaining about only being able to shoot 1000 Raw + JPG with a single battery. He must shoot a pro body because I don't think that's unreasonable for one of those LP-E6's.

*nods* I bet some can be done by tweaking ones own settings and to chimp a little less. (As you get used to a camera, you will find smarter ways to accomplish things and that should also lead to increased battery life.) I also believe that a few tweaks of the firmware can increase the battery life to some degree, and deal with a few other issues yet to be discovered - bad coding can waste CPU cycles and wreck even the best intentions.

A tad shorter battery life could be a benefit to both Canon and users; Canon will sell more batteries, and users are more likely to buy that backup battery they otherwise wouldn't consider. Most of the time they won't need to change to that spare, but it won't hurt to carry it with you, and it would ensure you could go on for just a while longer if push comes to shove.

I shoot with a 5D3 and get like 1200-1400 pics, with basically very little screen usage during a wedding. I don´t have lenses with IS that might require extra energy. But 669/0,75=892 which seems lame.

 

[DominoDude]

I have had some minor doubts about the battery life, and the feedback I got earlier on was of the diplomatic kind from a journalist. It still looks as though the batteries won't last just as long as they did on the 7D Mark I.

For some reason the battery life of mine has steadily improved. Not sure why. I was trying to kill the battery yesterday using GPS and a lot of live view and it seemed fine to me. Can't say how it compares to the 7D. He was complaining about only being able to shoot 1000 Raw + JPG with a single battery. He must shoot a pro body because I don't think that's unreasonable for one of those LP-E6's.

*nods* I bet some can be done by tweaking ones own settings and to chimp a little less. (As you get used to a camera, you will find smarter ways to accomplish things and that should also lead to increased battery life.) I also believe that a few tweaks of the firmware can increase the battery life to some degree, and deal with a few other issues yet to be discovered - bad coding can waste CPU cycles and wreck even the best intentions.

A tad shorter battery life could be a benefit to both Canon and users; Canon will sell more batteries, and users are more likely to buy that backup battery they otherwise wouldn't consider. Most of the time they won't need to change to that spare, but it won't hurt to carry it with you, and it would ensure you could go on for just a while longer if push comes to shove.

I shoot with a 5D3 and get like 1200-1400 pics, with basically very little screen usage during a wedding. I don´t have lenses with IS that might require extra energy. But 669/0,75=892 which seems lame.

Oui, I shoot with 7D Mark I and get over 1000 on that, if I don't have Magic Lantern activated. I don't have the need to chimp any longer (well, mostly) and I can have the camera on for a week and go out to shoot on several occasions without bothering about if it's sufficiently charged.
I believe that Jason was in a different position with a slightly unfamiliar camera and that had an effect on the drain rate. But I still think that the 7D Mark II will get less shots on one fully loaded battery compared to the Mark I.

 

[Cosmicbug]

Nice video review...
However, I think his slight out of focus issue could be fixed with AFMA.
There are reasons why AFMA exists!

 

[mb66energy]

Nice video review...
However, I think his slight out of focus issue could be fixed with AFMA.
There are reasons why AFMA exists!

It's not necessarily a focus issue: On the examples in the video I had problems to see SOMETHING sharp so I wouldn't have the chance to decide between front- and backfocus.

Perhaps it's some hidden noise reduction setting in the JPEG engine: I had the same trouble with my 40D and 2.0 100mm. Some shots where unbelievable sharp, most of them were mushy ... until I found a setting for noise reduction in the RAW files: usually it was activated, sometimes the camera decided not to activate that switch. After deactivating the noise reduction all photos appeared much sharper (except some technically minor images).

So let's wait for well developped RAWs ...

EDIT: By the way: A very interesting review because Jared Polin pointed out the characteristics of the 7D ii as A TOOL for TAKING PHOTOS ...

 

[JMZawodny]

There is probably some validity to his issues with the autofocus. It may be that the focus damping needs some tuning. Using servo seems to mostly correct the problem but it should be able to nail focus in one shot with fast lenses. I'm not a big fast-lens/wide-open shooter so I'll leave solutions for that to others with more experience.

I have the same general impression that using servo does a better job of nailing focus. Overall I found the review matches my experience.

 

[Lee Jay]

The big problem with this review is that most of his problems were due to not reading the manual. Using it as he did, taking single shots in AI servo, he should have set it to focus priority.

 

[Old Sarge]

Although his style might take some getting used to, I have enjoyed some of his other videos. This one I felt was a good ten minute video stretched to thirty-four minutes by repeating the same sentences, in differing sequence, over and over again.

 

[Northstar]

I've had the exact same experience with my 1dx...I'll have a tack sharp Image followed by an image where nothing is tack sharp, but in general the image is pretty sharp, just off a smidge as Jared says.

It's definitely a minor issue with my 1dx that I've just learned to live with. I'm glad Jared talked about the issue.

Anybody else notice this issue?

 

[StudentOfLight]

The big problem with this review is that most of his problems were due to not reading the manual. Using it as he did, taking single shots in AI servo, he should have set it to focus priority.

I was going to mention this as well.

P.S. What was painful for me to watch, was the choice to overexpose the ice in the video and in the stills. With Canon's live-view you get live RBG histograms at the touch of a info button so you can expose to the right easily quite easily.