Gear review - Hands on with the Canon 7D

I have been promising this for a while but have been so busy, plus there has been plenty of other stuff to tell you about as well.

Back in November I did a Canon 1Dmk111 v 7D high ISO test blog for you followed by a test of the AF system on moving subjects, the one area that 1Dmk111 users have had difficulty with, or at least Dave's two cameras did as well as all three of the ones I used or still use, when it comes to birds in flight, in low-ish contrast light.

In this first part of this review, I will cover some of the handling aspects, and cover the things that I like from a user perspective.

The body is quite light and small to hand and the first thing that it needs is the battery grip.  This makes a huge difference to the feel and balance particularly with big lenses on.  As a 1D user, I prefer the feel of a larger body, plus the fact that the controls are replicated when shooting in portrait format.

It doesn't quite have the robust tank like feel of a 1D but is pretty good nevertheless.  The battery compartment will allow for two of the new LP E6 batteries, a spare will cost you plenty, but Amazon are as good as anyone on price.  They last for ages, and a nice touch is the carrier supplied for AA batteries, which gives you a little more flexibility.

One of the things that Nikon have always amazed me with is the seeming random scattering of buttons all over their bodies.  Canon seemed to be following in their wake, with no fewer than 13 buttons on the back.  However for Canon users there is a pattern that is followed, and switching between a 1D and the 7D is an easy thing to do, and I found I wasn't caught out in any way.

Starting at the top left, the mode dial with the on/off switch is a good arrangement and easier than the 1D.  I really like the C1 to 3 settings.  I set the C3 which is the last place on the dial to default bird in flight settings .   This means that if you are shooting ground or static subjects, and you suddenly get a BIF opportunity, you can blindly turn the dial to the end stop and know that the settings will be just right.  This is a great feature and a huge improvement over the 1D.

Sadly, for what is billed as Canon's most technically advanced camera, or at least it was when launched they chose to put a green square on the dial.  Why?  At least they didnt put the silly pictogram settings so I suppose that is a blessing.

Working across, the viewfinder is excellent, full size and really bright.  I noticed this the first time I put one to my eye on a dark grey day. Sadly they chose not to put a viewfinder curtain like they do with the 1D, and supply that stupid bit of rubber on the strap.  This is a real faff as you have to remove the eyecup, which you then risk losing it.

On the top right hand side, the buttons and screen are standard Canon features and well placed, although I would have preferred the light to be on the far left of this group, with the ISO on the far right as the 1D, for consistency.

On to the rear, and starting on the left hand side, there are a number of new buttons.  A RAW + jpeg button which if you press yopu can get both file formats saved.  Not for me really, but I guess OK if you want it.

Then the Q in a square button.  This is an important button as it brings up the shotting settings, which can all be changed using the rear wheel, top wheel and multi toggle.  This makes setting changes very easy,  and I like this feature.

Below this the MENU button is familiar and allows full access to 11 separate pages of options that are colour coded in terms of shooting, playback, general tools, custom functions and my menu settings.  All easy standard Canon stuff here.

Below this is a picture style button so you can easily change this, and access the individual parameters via the INFO button.  As a RAW shooter generally, this is pretty much irrelevant to my needs, particularly as it is easily available via the Q button.  This could have been the Mirror Lock up button that I see lots of requests for, but we know about the listening powers of Canon don't we?

The INFO button can be prgrammed within the Custom functions, which I like.  First push to show shooting settings, followed by the artifical horizon function.  Looks a bit like an instrument that I am used to from my flying days.  When you are level both in pitch and roll axis, you get a green line.  Now I usually use a hot shoe spirit level, but this is a useful feature, and also works in Live View mode so you can do those arms length above the headshots, or low level waist height shots and still get it level.  The third push will take you to the same page as the Q, but you can customise that out if you wish.

INFO works in conjunction with Live View to show data and also live histogram.  This is a great feature that I have really enjoyed with the 1Dmk111, particularly for macro and landscape work.

The next two buttons are the playback and bin buttons, so nothing new there.

In the middle is the wonderful new screen - big, bright, and very sharp.  Makes the 1D screen look very poor -  a great and overdue update, although to be fair the 50D and 5Dmk2 have had these for a while too.

On the right hand side, there is a stop/start button, with a integral toggle.  This allows you to switch from either camera  Live view to movie mode.  Top right three buttons are standard Canon AF point selector, AF -ON and Exposure lock.  These can be customised and I switched the * and AF-ON as I use back button focussing as this replicates the mk111.

The multi function toggle and rear wheel are standard, although the wheel on/off button has changed.  I have heard others say they like this, but I never had any problems with the previous style, so no issues there.

So in summary, the handling and set up is easy coming from the 1D experience.  There are some great new features, plus a few superflouous buttons.

It definitely benefits from the outrageously expensive battery grip - £200!!!! - some on Canon stop ripping us off..

I like the mode dial which has definite benefis to wildlife shooters, particlularly the customisable options of C1 to C3.

The screen is great and the method of setting selections via the Q button is also easy.

In the next part, I will talk about the AF system, and some of the other new functions in a bit more detail from wildlife shooters perspective.

Martin

   

Gear we use and abuse - Dave's Kit Review

My current photographic equipment:
Bodies:
Nikon D3 -Full Frame
Nikon D300-Cropped Sensor
Lenses:
Nikon 14-24F2.8
Nikon 24-70F2.8
Nikon 200-400F4 VR
Nikon 600F4 VR
Sigma 180F3.5 Macro
Nikon 1.4x extender
Nikon 1.7x extender
Flash-Nikon SB900 and Better Beamer
Binoculars-Nikon Monarch 10x36
Gitzo 1548Tripod with Gitzo self levelling base
Wimberly Mk2 Gimbal head
Arca Swiss B1 ball head

Lenscoat protection to Nikon 200-400 and 600 lenses
Bags-Lowepro Pro trekker and Nature trekker
For landscapes-Lee filters Polariser and ND Grad filters 1, 2 and 3 stops
Studio Equipment:
Elinchrom D Lite 4 kit with Elinchrom 135cm Octa softbox
Sekonik 358 handheld light meter

I changed from Canon to Nikon in Sept 2008 for many reasons but mostly as had been an early adapter of the Canon 1D MK3 , I had all kinds of problems with the AF which has been well documented, Canon Suisse (I lived in Switzerland at the time) were next to useless in dealing with the problem and it was only after I showed files from the 5D against the MK3 did they exchange the body. I had had the body over a year by then and it was too little to late as far as I was concerned-a real shame as when I got it right it was a terrific camera. The other reason I changed was that I was about to move Stateside and decided it would be better to sell all my equipment in Europe and with a healthy exchange rate buy new in the States.

This then gave me options as I had a fist full of dollars and could choose what would suit me best at that time-which turned out to be Nikon. A decision that wasn’t taken lightly as I had shot with Canon for 14 years and knew the camera like the back of my hand but its just a tool and one that you need 100% confidence in. Nikon's wide angled lenses have always been great as is their flash system but with the new D3 body and new Long lenses (if you can get them) meant that they had a total system. I am awaiting the new 70-200 F2.8 to fill the gap I have in my lens collection. The current model will work perfectly with the D300 but isn’t so good with the new Full Frame models, but as I would like it for general photography and portraiture as well as wildlife I will wait.

So its all still new to me and I still find myself trying to twist the lens the wrong way when talking off the camera and zooming out rather than in but I am getting there and am so far extremely impressed with the overall quality feel of the equipment and the results that I have been getting from it. The D3 was an easy choice as its had such rave reviews, with consistant AF , great build quality, good ergonomics (once you get used to it) and a battery that lasts forever. The downsides so far are a loud shutter (I miss the quiet mode of the Canon), no dust removal (The Canon wasn’t perfect but every little helps) and no live histogram which is a feature that I loved on the Canon (if there is one can somebody tell me where it is please) - All in all though a truly great camera body. The image quality is top notch and the high ISO is legendary, but I needed a back up camera and after spending weeks deliberating I decided on the D300 as seemed a well spec’d camera at a reasonable price with the advantage of having a cropped sensor for more distant subjects. The thing that really surprised me was just how good the D300 really is. The image quality is excellent and now with the latest firmware upgrade the AF is as good as the D3 with the added benefit of the AF points covering a larger part of the frame-great for composing a shot. The AF really is excellent and from people who have both Canon and Nikon systems working side by side they say that the D300 out performs anything Canon currently has on offer and I have to agree-for the money it has to be the best camera on the market. Now nothing is perfect and I will only shoot the D300 up to ISO 800, above this and its D3 territory which excels at ISO’s up to 1600 and above without need for noise reduction software. When I go out for wildlife I find that I take the D3 attached to the 600 and have the D300 attached to the 200-400 and add extenders if required
.

If the birds are distant then a quick swap over of the bodies gives maximum reach. The 200-400 has been around for some time and has always been regarded as a brilliant lens, I have never understood why Canon hasn’t bought out a similar model and feel they are really missing out here. It was one good reason to change to Nikon. A pricey lens like all Nikon Pro lenses but for wildlife its brilliant, as it is light enough to handhold and with a very good range for general wildlife shooting, working well with extenders and has great IQ-What more could you want in a lens. The 600 is a true beast of a lens-huge is one word and after using a 500F4 for years bulky-not for handholding unlike the 500 and not the best lens if you hike, but the new Nikon 600F4 VR (nano crystal model) focuses down to 5m which is an incredible feat and a bonus for shooting small birds from a hide. It is incredibly expensive but the quality shines through in both IQ and build quality-will last for many years unlike my back. Both cameras work well with a 1.4x attached but I find that the 1.7x does slow the AF down enough to be a pain for birds in flight and try to avoid using it in those situations.

I have only used the wide lenses for interiors and portraiture and a couple of sunsets so haven’t really had a chance to put them through their paces. What I can say is that in a studio, the 24-70 is a dream giving great portraits with lots of detail and great sharpness when used with the D3. You can see the sunset taken with the 24-70 in the blog. The 14-24 has had rave reviews from everybody that use it and even some Canon photographers are using it with an adapter, I have only had a play really and have shot some interior images and some test shots which are really sharp right to the edges but will need to use it more to give a better review. The down side of having this lens is the bulbous front element making use of filters next to impossible. The only chance I have had of using the Sigma 180 Macro was when my dog walked in from the garden with a preying mantis stuck to his beard, I managed to get the mantis onto a stick and take a few shots before it went on his way. Depth of field is incredibly small when using this lens at 1:1 so a very small aperture needs to be used so make sure your D3 sensor is clean (its only real drawback) but the images proved to be very sharp and have a nice contrast. Why the Sigma and not the Nikon? -well I have seen some truly great images taken with this lens on forums that I visit and know some pro’s that use it and at the price it’s a bargain.

Nikon have always had a good reputation for their flash system. The SB900 came out as I was about to make the switch and while it seemed expensive, you do get diffusers and filters with the gun which you don’t get with other makes and its also large compared to the previous version the SB800. What limited time I have had using the gun with a Better Beamer have given good results but as I say I haven't used it enough to get a good feel from the gun. There have been reported problems with over heating and am sure that it will sorted soon, it’s a problem I have yet to encounter. I have plans to shoot the possum and grey fox that hang around my garden at night so will be needing to purchase at least another 2 flashguns but will either get second hand SB800 or 600 models for this.
So to round up, so far so good - everything works better than expected and I had high expectations, I feel that I made the right choice at the time of purchase. No system is perfect but for me this as close as it comes. As time goes on I will add to this general over view of the system and see what else shines or doesn’t. Keep watching this space.

Dave