Wildlife Photography across the Water: Gear Review

Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Gear Review - More on 7d v 1Dmk111

The dpreview review (yes that is right) on the 1Dmkiv made comparisons with the 7D as part of the review. It fairs very well, particularly if you consider you can get three! of them with grips for the same price as just one 1Dmkiv.

Dave also sent me this link comparing the 7D with the 1Dmk111 with specific considerations for bird photographers.

Now if you have been following my reviews on the 7D here, here, here and here you will have seen that I am coming to the conclusion that this is a good piece of kit for 'wildlifers' on many counts. I have still yet to do another part to my review which will cover off noise and high ISO, and how to process for best effect.

As you will have seen in this post where I got some images of Crossbills, and also yet to be posted images of Sparrowhawk in my garden, the 7D is increasingly the body of choice, with the 1Dmk111 being relegated to that of back up.

So when I see forum posts that say 'Would the 7D be a good back up to my 1Dmk whatever?'. I would say no - more likely your 1D will be a good back up to your 7D. Of course, I will caveat that specifically for bird photography at distance, which is where I have been testing it.

But the key is you need to test for your genre of photography, and not just believe others, in particular Canon's marketing spin.

Martin

1 comment:

Julian25 February 2010 at 23:21
Thanks for the update Martin.

The link to Alan's article was very useful in that he attempts to "level the playing field" between the sensor differences on the 7d with the 1D3. This logic concurs with my own which I discovered through one of Juza's recent 7D articles, where he explains IIRC the combined "reach" effect (against 1DS3 etc) of a cropped sensor coupled with a more densely populated sensor asin 7D. This got my mind thinking that perhaps an upgrade to a 7D would "allow" my 300L2.8+1.4x to gain a comparably-sized image to a 40D + 500f4 (with the obvious net savings). Conversely, the 500f4 on the 7D may be comparable with say a 900f4 on a 40D. Mouth watering! Martin's experiences appear to echo this, and is quite ground-breaking in the possible effect on ultra-long lens (>300) purchases going forward (?) - possibly not because I guess you can never have enough reach in wild bird photography, as the shy Crossbills testify.

The 7D is still a very attractive upgrade to me, and Alan's level playing field assessment of noise was especially thought provoking. Here, I feel the noise is very similar to the 1D3 and is very encouraging for me as it seems to negate the immediate concerns (reported elsewhere) of the noise susceptibilty of a densely packed sensor like the 7D.

To me the 7D now appears to offer an incredible amount for the money, and it is encouraging to learn that you (Martin) have purchased a 7D which is used in preference to 1D3 in certain circumstances. How this ranking develops over the next few months and in what scenarios would be useful to readers curious about new 7D versus used 1D3, like myself.

Thanks for a good series of articles of what appears to be both quite a complex and highly capable camera.

Best regards
Julian
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.