Archive for December, 2009

Sunset in Valdres, Norway

After a heavy snowfall and some cold clear weather I’ve been shooting some magical winter landscapes not far from home. During the Christmas break I have also been thinking about what this web site should provide. As a photographer I am much more interested in creating pictures than testing camera equipment. My question for you: Do you only want field reviews of Canon cameras and equipment, or do you want information about how to use your equipment for creating better pictures?

I’ve already started taking some HD-video clips on location to show “behind the scenes” and I also talk about how I take pictures in different settings. Is this information interesting and informative? Will this just be a waste of time producing video tutorials and “How to do” articles?

I appreciate all of your comments!

OJL

UPDATE (22 Dec.): I’ve done a new test with the Canon 7D today. A new video and information about the frame rate is now available.

Canon 7D in cold weather. Video filmed on Canon 5D Mark II. NB: View it in full screen mode!!

TYPE OF TEST: CFR-2 (What does this mean?)

I´ve had many questions regarding the Canon 7D’s operation in cold temperatures. Last Friday was the perfect opportunity to test the camera for 3 hours in -23 °C temperatures. I dressed warmly and prior to testing I put the 7D and its batteries out in the cold for about 1 hour. This isn’t the smartest thing to do as I always recommend removing the batteries and keeping them warm when the camera is not in use. For this test I wanted to cool down the camera and batteries.

I have some favorite shooting places close to my office and I took along my dog “Chilli”. I wanted to test how well the 7D AF-system works in the cold. My question: Is the 7D a great action camera when the weather is really cold?

AF tracking

As you can see from the images in the above video, the 7D AF follows the running dog very precisely. The situation of a light dog, surrounded by white snow and the sun as back lighting, is a challenging situation for the AF. I think the camera did a great job following the dog. A few times the AF lost track of the dog, but it was fast getting focus back and following the target dog as it approached me. The camera´s fast tracking ability was not hampered by the cold temperatures. I also tried the Canon 1DS Mark III with the same setup, and it was not faster than the 7D (1.6 crop factor) even if it is a full frame camera. The situation in sub-zero temperatures and difficult tracking situations impressed me.

Canon 7D with 70-200/2.8L IS and 1/2000 sec at f/6.3 and ISO 400. No cropping.

Canon 7D with 70-200/2.8L IS and 1/2000 sec at f/6.3 and ISO 400. 100% view.

Canon 7D with 300/2.8L IS and 1/1000 sec at f/5,0 and ISO 400. Distance: 7,37 m. No cropping

Frame rate

The Canon 7D shoots very fast in cold weather. During this test I was shooting up to 8 fps for a total of 32 images in 5 second. This is very effective when shooting fast moving subjects.

It’s very important to use the correct settings to use the high frame rates. First of all you have to select drive mode “high”, not low or single. This can be confusing since the Canon 5D Mark II has a symbol for high frame rate, that is the same as the low frame rate symbol on the Canon 7D. The symbol for the low frame rate in 1D / 1DS Mark III is marked with «L» which makes it very clear. When I´m out in the field I usually use all the 1DS Mark III, 5D Mark II and 7D, and in the heat of the moment it can be very confusing with different symbols for drive modes on each camera. This was the case during my first field test in the cold, when I didn’t get 8 fps, because it was set to low drive mode.

Secondly, you must deactivate noise reduction on high ISO. Even with a setting of ISO 400 you can only shoot 8 frames before the buffer needs a break.

Conclusion

The Canon 7D has absolutely no problems in cold conditions and works as expected. The batteries are really very good, and you can shoot for hours in cold winter weather without recharging the batteries.

OJL

Thanks to Bob Baillargeon for copy-editing!

PS: In my next blog postings I will test the 7D AF and Image Quality

Canon 7D in a snow blizzard on South Georgia Island, November 11.

TYPE OF TEST: CFR-2 (What does this mean?)

One issue I´ve been very interested in regarding the new 7D, is how well it performs under tough weather conditions. Some of my assignments and expeditions take me to extreme parts of the world, where cold temperatures, snow, rain, sand, or a mix of fine sand, rain and a splash of sea water are the norm. On my recent expediton to Antarctica I had a great opportunity to really test how well sealed and rugged this camera actually is. The other two cameras in my camera bag were the Canon 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III.

This trip was almost the same 3.5 week photo expedition to Antartctica as last year, where I had a 50D and Canon HF10 HD video camera for testing. On that trip I destroyed the video camera on my first day at South Georgia, and the 50D camera had a one day “hangover” after a wet landing. After a few days I put the 50D away because it was not suited to those conditions. 3-4 photographers with Canon 30Ds and 40Ds broke their cameras during last year’s expedition. NB: My workhorse, the 1DS Mark III worked flawlessly, even after 2 “baths” in cold sea water. After these experiences, I wasn’t sure if the 7D and 5D Mark II would survive for the duration of the expedition this year.

Weather resistant

When I´m shooting I’m very focused on my subject and technique. The cameras and equipment experience extremely hard use. When shooting wildlife I´m usually laying on my stomach, with the camera in direct ground contact. This works great with most cameras if the ground is dry, but in Antarctica the ground is almost always wet, muddy or covered with snow or sand. On my recent expedition it snowed almost every day, and at times wet snow, which is worse than rain.

Rough weather conditions = rough images. This Antarctic Fur Seal was photographed with 7D and 300/2.8L on South Georgia.

I always use the 7D with the attached battery grip because it gives me a much better grasp of the camera. Some 5D Mark II users who use the battery grip have reported some problems with water leaking between the camera and battery grip. The battery grip for 7D is new and seems tighter and better sealed. In my case the 7D had absolutely NO problems with snow, rain and water (sea spray). This was just as I had hoped. I’ve also used the 7D on rainy days in Norway, without any problems. The 7D easily passed the rain and wet conditions test.

My 7D in heavy rain.

Wet snow in South Georgia. These conditions might destroy cheaper cameras after a few hours. I used a ThinkTank “raincoat” for my 300mm, but nothing over the camera.

So, what about the two other cameras?
My 1DS Mark III is built like a tank and is heavily weather sealed. I didn´t drop it into sea water this year, but used it without worry or protecting it from bad weather. It worked as expected, without problems.

The big surprise was the 5D Mark II. I used this camera as hard as (but not as much) the 7D and it performed superbly. I didn´t use any protection from rain or snow. The camera was used without the battery grip, which might have helped. The 5D Mark II has been on 2 expeditions to Svalbard (Arctic – 80° North) and one recent expedition to Antarctica without problems, so the weather sealing is robust enough for most conditions.


Conclusion
All three cameras performed very well  for the whole Antarctica expedition. The 7D performed as I had hoped, surpassing 10,000 exposures without a problem. I must admit that the 5D Mark II surprised me as well with its build quality. The 1DS Mark III camera is the most rugged and best weather sealed, but the 7D and 5D Mark II (without battery grip) performed 100% in my opinion.

I have not tried to drop the 7D or 5D Mark II “by accident” into salt water, but I don´t expect them to survive as well as the Mark III / IV cameras. It will be interesting to hear your opinions regarding your use of these cameras (especially the 7D) in extreme weather. Have you had any different experiences, or mostly the same as mine?

OJL

Thanks to Bob Baillargeon for copy-editing!

I´m working my way through 10.000+ images (and some HD-video clips) taken with the Canon 7D on my recent photo expedition to Antarctica. This expedition was not meant as a test evaluation of the 7D, but the 7D was used together with the 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III to get the best possible images overall. This expedition with the Canons, was mainly for stock agencies, magazines, books and fine art prints. I didn’t have the opportunity to test all of the different settings of the 7D such as ISO values, AF settings, and many of the other features. I used the 7D to get great images. For me there were four extremely important issues I wanted to check with the 7D:

1) Weather sealing – Would the 7D survive the rough conditions with rain, snow, sand, sea water and wind of the Antarctic climate?

2) Autofocus – Is the 7D AF system really fast and accurate, and does it perform in difficult lighting conditions with fast moving birds?

3) HD-Video – How does the 7D HD-video option operate in the field?

4) Image quality – How does the 7D perform compared to Canon 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III?

I’ll break my 7D field review into these four articles, instead of one very large article.

OJL

Thanks to Bob Baillargeon for copy-editing!