2 thoughts on “Canon EOS 7D Mark II Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)”

1. 47 of 48 people found the following review helpful

   
   A nimble camera with cutting edge AF, November 8, 2014

   By 

   P.K. Frary “Gochugogi” (Space) –
   
     

   This review is from: Canon EOS 7D Mark II Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) (Electronics)

   Shooting with the 7D MKII was immediately intuitive and natural: operation, balance and appearance are similar to my old 7D. While it felt like an old friend in my hands, the 65-point AF array is what got me to laid down my hard earned plastic. Here are my impressions about the 7D MKII after a month of shooting.

   CONSTRUCTION is superb: magnesium body, matte black paint and heavy duty weather seals. Appearance is nearly identical to the old 7D save for the small plastic bump topside for the GPS antenna. In hand it feels confident and solid. The thick textured rubber and finger groove make for a secure grip.

   The 3.0″ 1,040,000 dot LCD is vivid and clear in most light–save for direct sunlight–but only a minor improvement over the old 7D. It’s disappointing Canon didn’t bump it up to a larger size or add touch screen ability.

   The shutter sound is softer than the original 7D but louder than my 6D. Silent drive mode fades operation to pianissimo, but with slower performance, making it ideal for ceremonies.

   CONTROLS: Most controls are the same as the old 7D but with some reshuffling and additions. The biggies are a dedicated “Rate” button, a larger and repositioned DOF button and a programable “spring” lever around the joystick. Controls feel solid and can be operated by feel while looking through the viewfinder.

   The lever is the most useful new control. At default programming, it cycles through the six AF area modes. Its placement next to the joystick makes switching AF modes and subsequent selection of AF points faster and more intuitive than the 7D and 70D. Like the 7D before it, my preferences are user selected single point or zone focus. Trusting a computer to pick the subject is often iffy.

   The 7D2 offers another first: the ability to set up both the AF-On and * buttons so one activates Servo AF and the other One-Shot. Ideal for subjects that move but suddenly stay still, e.g., tracking a bird in flight that lands. This setting is under C.Fn3: Disp/Operation => Custom Controls. Select the buttons you wish to customize, press “Info,” and, finally, make your selection in the “AF Operation” detail. Many other custom AF options are valuable as well.

   AUTOFOCUS: The all cross-type, 65-point AF is the headline feature. Frame coverage is huge, besting any EOS before it. Off-center subjects are a snap: pick any AF point and focus is blazing fast and accurate. Low light AF is also vastly improved: locks in murky light the old 7D struggled in, e.g., dim night club and theatre stages. It drove my EF 300 4L USM and EF 70-200 4L IS USM lickety-split. AI servo and iTR effortlessly tracked brides, runners and bikers across the 65 AF points. Metering is tied to the active AF point and effortlessly adjusts to changing subject light. The keeper rate of moving subjects is nearly double that of my old 7D. And with buffering enough for 30 RAW images (fast CF card), that’s a lot of keepers!

   The only AF nitpick thus far is my existing lenses needed micro adjustment (calibration) for optimal sharpness. Oddly, most of these same lenses were fine at default on my old 7D.

   IMAGE QUALITY: I processed RAW images in DPP 4.1 and was pleased with detail, color rendition and noise control. There is little difference in low ISO noise compared to the 7D. In fact, image quality is very similar to the 7D from ISO 100 to 800, i.e., excellent. At ISO 1600+ the 7D MKII pulls away from the 7D: a level less noise, but that noise is devoid of banding and more grain-like. This type of noise is easier to control with noise reduction plug-ins. I was able to easily squeeze out another stop of acceptable high ISO over my 7D.

   When I got my 7D2 the only RAW converter was Canon’s DPP 4.1. Apple released a 7D2 RAW profile on November 13 for Aperture 3/iPhoto. Results were excellent albeit the DPP default is better baked (reads the Picture Style). Adobe released ACR 8.7 with 7D2 RAW support for LR5 and Photoshop on November 18.

   VIDEO: Contrast detection AF during video and LiveView is a mammoth improvement over the 7D: responsive, accurate and a camcorder-like movie servo mode. Wish it had a touch screen for focus-pulls. That said, the improved contrast detection AF is a great feature.

   VIEWFINDER: The 100% coverage and 1.0x magnification are the same spec as the old 7D but with improved clarity and brightness. Even with a F4 zoom the viewfinder is a joy to use: bright, smooth and vivid. Like an EVF, the transmissive LCD display–transparent LCD over the focusing screen–can display icons, AF patterns, metering patterns, grid and plain matte screens and an electronic level. You can choose not to display most of it. I stick with just the grid and active AF points.

   FLASH: The popup flash is fine for fill and snapshots, and functions as a wireless E-TTL master. My 430EX II worked well as a slave bounced off walls and…

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2. 94 of 101 people found the following review helpful

   
   Worth The Price of Admission, October 30, 2014

   By 

   peter epkarek –

   This review is from: Canon EOS 7D Mark II Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) (Electronics)

   This. Camera. Does. Not. Miss. Focus.

   Period.

   I do not have the resources to pick up a 1D body, I have instead thrown that cash into lenses. The 85 1.2L on my 70d gave me about 30% keeper rate, today I had a 95% keeper rate on my 7dm2 Body. Simply amazing.

   My 70-200 IS 2.8 v1 also would miss on many shots @ f2.8 on my 70d and 5dmk1…that is long gone. The focus system on this body is everything it has been hyped to be.

   High ISO Performance: Images at ISO 2500 look as good as images at ISO 800 on the 70d.

   Battery Life: Buy the grip. Or have several spares with you. **UPDATE** With the BG-E16 grip and 2 3rd party batteries (BM Premium 2-Pack Of LP-E6 Batteries For Canon EOS 60D, EOS 70D, EOS 5D II, EOS 5D III, EOS 6D EOS 7D, EOS 7D Mark II Digital SLR Camera + More!!) I shot 2900 images in the cold, and only ran down to 50% on the batteries. I killed a LP-E6N with 500 shots.

   Buffer: Have a fast CF card if you want the full rate of 31 RAW before slowdown. UHS SD card will get you 24 (advertised 26 but thats not what I’m getting)

   **Update**
   With a fast CF Card (komputerbay 128GB 1066x) I am getting FORTY-SIX (yes 46) Full size RAW files before a big slowdown. SD Card performance is poor, with a 95 M/Bs card I am not doing any better than 24 RAW files before slowdown.

   One Last Thing: Its not in the box, but you can download DPP 4 from Canon, and I find that it gives vastly better results than DDP 3. Too bad you can’t use it with any other APS-C bodies other than the 7d2.

   https://500px.com/photo/88145353/7d2-high-iso-by-peter-pekarek?from=user_library

   The image of the Gorilla was shot with the 70-200 at 2500 ISO, no edits.

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