Gordaen's Blog

If you’re too lazy to read the whole review, it comes down to this: If you don’t have a need for purchasing a new full-frame camera, but you are serious about your photography, buy the Canon EOS 7D. I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the camera from the moment I first held it in my hands.

I won’t bother to list the full specs, but some of the key features are a 19mp sensor, 8fps drive, and full 1080p video. This isn’t a full-frame camera, so the 1.6 FOVCF applies. That’s a good thing for people interested in medium- to long-range photography. If you’re doing a lot of close-ups, such as professional portraits, you’ll probably be better off with a full-frame sensor. However, for most uses and especially for nature photography and long sports shots, this is a great camera.

A lot of people have been raving about the video capability (see an example), but really that’s an awesome bonus for me that wasn’t a major factor in my decision to buy this camera. The benefit of it being able to handle 1080p at 30fps is that you also see the speed of the dual DIGIC 4 processors when you shoot stills at 8fps, even with full-sized raw images. A lot of the time, I end up changing it to the lower 3fps setting, so I don’t accidentally take 2-3 shots every time I push the shutter button.

The first thing I noticed picking up the Canon 7D was the solid feel. It’s nearly 2lbs (about 12oz heavier than a Rebel XT), so you’re looking at 4lbs with a 24-70mm f/2.8 Canon lens and more with a flash. The viewfinder coverage is 100% (which may take some adjustment, if you’re used to the 95% in the other non-full-frame Canon cameras), but the first thing you’ll notice after taking a shot is the amazing LCD (specifically, it’s a TFT) screen. It’s 3 inches, 920,000 pixels, and amazingly vibrant. I’ve even had non-photographers comment on how clear it is in the short time I have had this camera. For the first time, I actually feel like the LCD will give me a reasonable indication of color saturation and sharpness when previewing images.

An updated firmware (1.0.9) for the Canon 7D is available, which is supposed to correct AF accuracy. I haven’t had any problems with autofocus; it’s been extremely accurate and very fast for me. I like that I can have the points of focus highlighted when I review images. This camera also features live view, which lets you watch the LCD screen rather than looking through the viewfinder. This can be very useful in some cases, but I prefer the viewfinder.

Here is an example of a 1024×683 section from a full-size JPEG shot taken with the 7D. I took it indoors as a quick snapshot, playing around with my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. This section comes from the full photo, which was taken at 200mm from roughly eight feet away. I did no post processing on this image.

If you’re curious here is the full photo from which the previous image was cropped. It is 6mb, so click at your own risk!

Honestly, I tried to come up with some negative things to say, and I haven’t found much. The image quality is maybe a tiny bit noisier than expected, but the sensor gives you a lot of pixels to crop out, so I am very pleased. The 7D also has quite a few buttons, but they’re fairly easy to figure out, and you can customize them. As a side note, I noticed that the 7D is taking photos 1/3 brighter than the Rebel XT with identical settings.

Since this is such a great camera, the one big consideration when purchasing this camera is the 1.6 FOVCF. Essentially, that means the sensor is smaller than in a full-frame camera, so it doesn’t use the full image coming in from the lens. That gives you an advantage when your pictures are primarily longer range, but it’s not ideal for close portraits. That means the 24-70mm lens that many people use as a general purpose lens is like a 38-112mm lens on a full-frame; for some people, that’s too wide. There are EFS lenses (e.g., the 17-55 lens, which is like a 27-88), but they do not work on full-frame cameras. That can make the lens choice a bit tougher for some people. Fortunately, most of my photography is not significantly affected by this, and my two primary lenses (24-70mm and 70-200mm f/2.8) cover 99% of what I need.

Bottom line: This is an awesome camera. I am so extremely impressed with it that I still get excited every time I use it. This camera is a great deal when compared to the Canon 5D II, which costs $1000 more. Many people will probably consider buying the Canon 7D and putting the extra $1000 toward an L-series lens, because good glass makes a world of difference. Anyway, the Canon EOS 7D is amazing, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of great photos from it popping up on sites like Flickr.