Canon EOS 7D - Page 2

Here's a sample from the dimmest concert I've ever been to.

Had to shoot wide open at f/1.8 at ISO 6400 and was still only getting 1/30 second.

Noise reduction settings still the default Lr2.

Turns out though this wasn't even the most challenging part of the night. The headlining band used strobes, images from a projector and light dimming. Wasn't easy keeping up, but I think one approach would be to just focus on one light situation at a time (e.g. shoot for the strobe effects, then shoot for the peak illumination, then the projector light).

Wow, that's pretty solid, given the dim lighitng condition.

Agreed. The low light capability of the 7D is among the best I've seen for a 1.6X crop camera (full frames handle low light better but cost significantly more). Couple it with the amazing denoising capability of Lr3, Photoshop CS5 or a standalone program like DeNoise and the low light results can be astounding!

How's this for noise quality?

What are we looking at?  Is that out of the camera with no processing?

It's a very underexposed shot with Lightroom doing an auto adjustment.

I'm not sure that last shot will sell any 7D's, Cameron.

Here are a few shots from last night's Plymouth Whalers "Pink Out" game to benefit the Karmanos Cancer Center and breast cancer research. These were with the 7D and 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens @ ISO 6400. I applied a little NR when converting from Raw to jpeg in Canon DPP.

This one was only at ISO 1600, but shows the players with their pink hair.

Has the street price for the 7D (body-only) always been $1599?  I ask because I thought it streeted around $1499, and that there was a $400 difference between the 60D and 7D.  But, I'm now seeing a $500 difference between the 2 models, and was confused.

I paid $1,500 for a 7D from B&H a couple of months ago, and have seen it at other reputable online sources for around the same price, but I have not looked in awhile. Also, Newegg had a deal earlier this week (not sure if it's still going on) for a 7D plus the EF-S 18-135mm lens for $1,500 after applying an electronic coupon. That's not a well-regarded lens, but it could probably fetch a few hundred dollars on ebay.

Canon may be offering rebates now. When they do that sometimes the "before rebate" price of the camera is raised some to offset part of the rebate. That may be what you are seeing, but I am only guessing.

Okay, so I'm not "crazy" for thinking the 7D was going for $1500 previously.  Whew!   I'll look around to see if there are promotions that explain away the price bump, or if the new 60D is actually pushing the price of the 7D upwards after people have seen the plastic body of the 60D, and how the better-built 7D is driving its demand upwards. 

Maybe China's announcement about rare earth elements has had an effect?

Oct 19 NY Times: "China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted some shipments of those materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said this week..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/business/global/20rare.html?_r=2&ref=global-home

Crap!  Maybe I'll have to dip my toes back into the used camera gear market.

Canon also has a Customer Loyalty program where you can turn in any old, non-functioning camera for a refurbished camera. I believe the 7D is under $1,200 via this avenue.  All you need is some broken, cheap Canon point & shoot digital camera and you are all set.

I used to have some old Canon point-n-shoot digital cameras, but they got stolen almost 2 years ago.  I'd rather hang on to my other 2 Canon point-n-shoots because they have the articulating flip LCD screens that I find invaluable at times.

But I'll check out that loyalty program, and see which models qualify for the 7D promotion.  May check out some pawn shops for a cheap Canon camera...

  I'm upgrading from a T1i to a 60D. While ur discussions on the merits of the 7D are quite convincing, I am still bound to the almighty dollar. I don't think I can justify another $400 on top of the 60D when I can easily get a nice lens for that money (actually have a Sigma 10-22 f4 in mind). I'm hoping to sell my T1i to fund the new camera, then another year or so down the road, sell off stuff again to upgrade to an 8D.....maybe...when that's out....

The 60D looks like a fine camera, Eric. Since you have a Rebel Ti1, you are already invested in SD memory cards. I think the 60D is an excellent upgrade for anyone coming from the Rebel line. In my case, I was upgrading from a 40D, and the 7D's feature set was a better fit for me.

For anyone thinking of upgrading to either a 60D or a 7D (and keep in mind I'm a 7D owner), I would say to ask yourself this question: are you going to be using the "movie mode" at all? If so, you may want to wait until Canon releases a DSLR that implements full-time focusing. Neither the 7D nor the 60D do that, but the newly announced Nikon does. Nikon has really upped the ante with that feature, and my guess is that Canon will be forced to respond by including that feature in whatever new DSLR they announce.

If you are not going to use movie mode much, or you're okay without the full-time focusing, and your main concern is photograph quality, then by all means jump in. I've loved my 7D since I upgraded from the 450D.

Good ;point, Carlo. Personally, I have not used the movie mode on my 7D, except to try it out to make sure it worked. I'm not really interested in video -- I never use our camcorder, either, and let my wife play with it when we travel (she's not very good at shooting video, though). I hate editing the footage afterwards.

To me the main differences between the 7D and 60D, in order of importance, are:

1. Much more advanced auto focus on the 7D

2. Extra joy stick control on 7D, over integrated control dial on 60D (which a Rebel owner will not even notice)

3. Compact flash vs. SD (xxD owners will have CF, while Rebel owners will have SD)

4. Built-in electronic level on 7D (I do not think this is on the 60D, but may be wrong)

5. Fixed vs. articulating LCD (I prefer fixed)

6. 8fps vs. 5.3fps -- not that big a deal unless you are a very serious sports shooter

7. Magnesium vs. plastic body -- both should be durable, but they feel different. Not a big deal, either, IMO.

  Yeah, the AF on the 7D is heaven as well as the burst shooting. The articulating LCD is gonna be fun though I doubt I will be using it much. The 60D has that electronic level thingy though but I have to find the use for that myself. I have handled a 7D and its size it nice, making me think I have something substantial. Its the reason why I got a battery grip for my T1i.

  As for video, I occasionally use it. We still have our DV Sony camcorder working which hasn''t seen any action for the past 5 years I think.

  One thing I wanna ask u guys though, does the bracketing on the 7D differ than the 60D? I do a lot of HDRs and bracket my shots. Having more than 3 would be nice.....

Bracketing on the 7D is a burst of 3, I haven't seen the ability to change that setting.

Thanks Carlo for that. Guess, I will definitely be happy with this new toy of mine!

excellent device

Here are a few shots from last week in South Carolina. 7D and 100-400mm L.

Hmmm, if only I had money to get one of them "white" lenses....Maybe Xmas...

Nice shots, Scott!

I hate the white lens look on the L lenses, but I know that you can buy more subdue "lenscoat" covering for the length of the lens body to help it blend in, without the white drawing attention to itself.

http://www.lenscoat.com/canon-covers-c-2.html

Thanks, Patrick.

The white color of the "L" lenses does not bother me -- I also own a white 70-200mm f/4 IS. I occasionally get asked a dumb question from a non-photographer, but I get some of those with my black 17-55mm f/2.8, too.

I took the first two photos at Huntington State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC, which is at the southern end of the Myrtle Beach "Grand Strand" area. I actually had a very pleasant chat there with another photographer, who began the conversation by asking how I liked the 7D. Turns out he was a professional studio photographer -- he had a full frame 5D, but did not own any "L" telephoto lenses, since he did not use them for his studio work. He was instead using a Tamron 28-300mm super-zoom with his 5D.

  Is there a reason why Canon made some of them white, the zooms are the ones that are white right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Samonte 

  Is there a reason why Canon made some of them white, the zooms are the ones that are white right?

Not all the "L" zooms are white. The 24-105mm f/4 and 24-70 f/2.8 come immediately to mind. Also, the longer "L" telephoto primes (anything longer than 200mm) are white.

I believe it is to keep the lens elements cooler -- white reflects sunlight, while black absorbs it. It is used on the larger lenses only for this reason.

  Yeah, I know the black ones are L lenses when they have those red line going around them. Seems kinda trivial for the reason but do they actually get hot or warm at all during use? I haven't tried one yet, only held once or twice....

I can understand the white for the real monster teles, but it does seem trivial for ones like the 70-200 2.8.