UPDATE (23 Oct.): I have now got the battery grip for the 7D, and this is a MUST!! Much better grip, and I’m looking forward to test it in Antarctica.

UPDATE (15 Oct.): I will take the Canon 7D with me to Antarctica in November and test it under rough conditions regarding water/weather, autofocus and image quality.

UPDATE (1 Oct.): I just received the Canon 7D (not Beta) and will spend the weekend doing more field tests. I have also got the new 100mm IS macro lens for testing, so give me some days and I will be back with some new fresh reviews…

UPDATE (24 Sept): I will get my 7D in the end of next week…

UPDATE (21 Sept): We have just opened this site for Canon Field Reviews. More tests will follow!!

UPDATE (16 Sept): 7D raw-files developed from Adobe Lightroom 2.5

It is now possible to develop raw-files from Canon 7D with Adobe Lightroom 2.5. In the pictures below I have only adjusted the White Balance and Curves slightly (no sharpening or noise reduction). The first picture is without cropping, and the second picture is cropped to show 100% view.

The picture is shot with a beta 7D camera (ISO1600) and the image quality may not be optimized, but I think this looks very promising at high ISO!

UPDATE (14 sept.): Video clips with 7D

Video Feature

One new feature on the 7D camera is a separate switch for video or still images, with a button in the middle of recording video. This is better than the select button on the 5D Mark II.

As with the 5D Mark II (with latest firmware), you have options for manual adjustment of ISO and aperture. This is very usepful!

A big advantage with the 7D is that you can shoot in 24P and 25P, not only in 30P. This is very useful for European photographers. It is also possible to capture in 50P and 60P, which gives you cool effects when playing the movie in slow motion (see the movie clip below captured in 50P). In 50P or 60P mode you can only shot in max. 720P (1280 x 720).

During my filming I didn´t get any overheat warning, which may occur with the 5D Mark II. Maybe I was just lucky, or the manufactor has done a better job…

I had unfortunately not with an external microphone, so I can´t tell anything about improved recording capabilities.

The AF-system in Live View Mode is still not as goos as I want to, so for my filming with long telephoto lenses (300mm and 600mm) I had to focus manually. However, both the 5D Mark II and 7D AF functions for face recognition, but that don´t work with birds etc.

….and the image quality in Video mode is just great!
FIELD REVIEW (10 sept.): Canon 7D (Beta)

Yesterday (10 Sept.), I got the opportunity to test the new Canon 7D camera for 4 hours. The light conditions were not the best, with bright sunlight and harsh contrasts, but testing is testing and fortunately I found some places with shade.

About the Test

This camera test is primarily a field test, where I did not try the camera in all possible settings for ISO etc. I have rather taken the 7D camera and photographed with it as if it were one of my 1DS Mark III or 5D Mark II cameras that I use daily. I have also refrained from thinking too much about it’s 1.6 crop factor, 18 Megapixels etc. and just fired away with it.

The test was conducted with a beta camera, which means that I have not had the opportunity to check the raw files, as I usually do. I have photographed in JPEG format (RAW + JPEG), and set the white balance to 5600K, AdobeRGB color space and “Standard” in the Picture Style. With beta-cameras there might also be features, settings and characteristics of the image quality that is not fully optimized. This must therefore be taken as a preliminary field test until the completed cameras will be released in the market.

Camera Design and Settings

Canon 7D is designed in the same way as the good old analog Canon 1N camera, and should therefore survive in wet conditions. During the 4 hours I tested the camera, there was no sign of rain. I will, therefore, come back with an update on this issue after my photo expedition to South Georgia and Antarctica in November, where the camera should be exposed to rain and salt water…

The feeling of holding the Canon 7D  was in my opinion better than the 5D Mark II but not as good as the 1D/1DS-cameras. The beta camera I tested had no battery grip, so my little finger did not get any rest or grip. This meant that I became a bit more tired when using my thumb on the AF button behind. I´m looking forward to try the camera again with a battery pack, so it will feel more similar to 1D/1DS Mark III.

The introduction of a separate button for recording HD-video force the multi-controller to be places slightly lower than on other cameras. In action shots I sometimes pushed the video button instead of the muti-controller when I wanted to change the AF point. Obviously, this is something you will get used to, but I think it will be better when using the battery grip.

As you can see in the video below, I fumbled a little to find the new button for AF modes, to the left of the release button. In the video below (in Norwegian), I instantly go through some of the most important camera functions with the 7D. Make sure you watch the video in HD and full-screen!

Autofocus

I’m shooting a lot of action pictures of birds, animals, people and other objects in motion, and in the 4-5 last year I´ve been testing all of Canon’s DSLR cameras, especially with regard to autofocus (and image quality). One of the things that are challenging for any AF system is to set the focus quickly and accurately, and not get confused by high contrast backgrounds, light or dark surfaces or other “distracting” elements.

During my 4 hour test period I didn´t get the opportunity to test the AF as much as I wanted, but I have some examples.

The options for how you want to configure the AF system is in my opinion much better and easier than on any other camera I’ve used. It´s far more intuitive how to choose between different AF options, and configure custom button functions on the camera should have. This is something many with me will appreciate.

I used the “Extended AF point” setting most of the time, which I think worked really well. In several situations, I quickly put the focus in the eye of a bird and the focus was not distracted by other objects nearby. In the picture example below, you can see a Canada Goose that beats its wings. My experience from other DSLR cameras is that the focus often “jump” to the front wing when it comes near the selected focus – in this case, the eye of a goose. With the 7D, the focus seems more stable and are not so easily distracted and stressed.

I also tested the AF system with subjects where I wanted to keep the focus point in the shadow areas. It is usually difficult to focus accurately when the objects are very dark or bright, especially when objects are moving fast. For example, with the duck below, the camera was able to focus on the duck´s eye, although it is very dark. This is a situation where the AF system of many cameras would rather set focus on the light water droplets.

I also tested the AF-system when shooting a fast moving radio controlled car (gasoline powered). It was pretty hard to follow this car with my 300mm, but the autofocus did a great job. I got many crystal sharp pictures, in situations where the car was heading straight toward me or across in front of me.

As a summary I would say that the new AF-system in the 7D is very impressing, and I will rate it as the best AF system I have tried (including 1D/1DS Mark III). In my opinion it is fortunate that Canon again has developed a AF-system with the highest quality AF point in the middle, rather than 19 AF points that sometimes fight against each other.

Sharpness

As described above, I´m impressed by the new AF system, and the sharpness is also very good. If you are keen to take sharp pictures, the you should consider the 7D.

None of the images shown on this page is sharped (or noise reduced) in Photoshop or other applications! The bottom image of the Greylag Goose shows a cropped view of the image displayed at 100% resolution.

Frame Rate

With 8 frames-per-second, the Canon 7D is one of the fastest cameras on the planet.

During my test I photographed both with RAW + JPEG which decreased the number of pictures before the buffer was full, but the frame rate was 8 frames / second. To illustrate this I took some pictures of water droplets that hit a pond. With limited time and disturbing wind, it was not easy to predict where the drops would hit the surface (especially with my 300mm). The three pictures below shows a sequence of approx. 0.4 second, where one droplet hit the surface during 3 exposures.

Image Quality

The most important priority for me is the image quality the camera can deliver. Even if the technical specifications are outstanding, it won´t help if the image quality is not good. Therefore, I have been very excited about the image quality of the new 7D camera, especially considering that it has APS-C image sensor (1.6 crop factor).

I shall be very careful to say much about the image quality, just based on the JPEG images I have taken with 8 bit color depth. But what I´ve seen so far, it can withstand comparisons with image files from both the 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III, especially with ISO settings below ISO 800. I photographed most of my test pictures with ISO values at ISO 500, but with the water droplets, I used ISO 1600. Even at ISO 1600, I think there are surprisingly little noise, even without any noise reduction. I’ve always been very sceptical with 1.6 crop factor cameras, but I think many with me will be more positive about the APS-C format after the 7D camera.

Image files from the 7D’s 18 Megapixel sensor resulted in RAW files of around 22-23 MB, which is about the same as for both the 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III with approximately 21 megapixels. This was somewhat surprising, but perhaps the reason for this lies in the firmware in the beta-camera. The size of the pictures I got were 5184 x 3456 pixels, which really beat the 1D Mark III (3888 x 2592 pixels). With Canon 7D you can make great 23” (A1) prints from slightly cropped images!

Summary

Canon 7D combine very good image quality with a fast and accurate AF-system. I think this will be a popular camera for shooting action. The camera is in many ways closer to the 1D Mark III camera, rather than the 5D Mark II, and a good step over the Canon 50D. I think many photo enthusiasts and pros will acquire the 7D camera. In my case, this will be the first 1.6 crop factor camera, I will bring in my photo bag on assignments and expeditions.

The picture quality from the 7D pleased and surprised me, and both amateurs and pros can now get a decent action-camera for a reasonable price. I have no doubts about replacing the 1D Mark III with 7D (with battery grip), at least if it is as weather-resistant and sturdy as announced.

If you have questions or comments about the 7D camera, you can use the comment field below. I will also provide updates when I´ve tested the raw files.

Thanks to Einar Breen for filming and helping me on the test day!

Best regard

Ole Jørgen Liodden

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