Ukyou reviews: The Canon EOS 7D

I have had the pleasure of using the 7D for quite a while now. The EOS 7D is the latest instalment in the pro-sumer DSLR range offered by Canon.

The whole existence of the 7D started with some very wild rumors of a new Full-frame DSLR to fit under the 5DMKII. Many speculated a 5DMKII killer that would change the way we look at Canon. So has this happened. Did we get the king of Pro-sumer DSLRs? Well in way, no, but in another way a definite yes!!

First of all the 7D is an APS-C sensor camera. For those unacquainted, this means that the sensor size is smaller than the size of a normal 35mm film exposure. This crop has its advantages and disadvantages that are way beyond the scope of this simple review. Other than that, the big shocker was that it is an 18MP sensor! Now, many have very negative views on the ongoing Pixel race in the DSLR world and many have lambasted the 7D for cramming so many pixels in one sensor (giving way to theoretically high noise and poor high ISO performance due to the physics of optics and electronics). So did the 7D bust?

Actually no in my opinion! Though I am not really qualified to give a quantitative, scientific, end-all judgment; for my personal tastes, the 7D does quite well considering the sensor it has. I felt that the Low light and high ISO performance was actually marginally better than the 40D and taking in fact the extra resolution makes this quite an achievement. The new sensor of course is not without its booboos as I did feel that the low ISO noise is a bit higher, but not so intrusive as to affect picture quality.

The 18MP really help in croping and Macro!

The sensor makes it clear this is not a 5D MKII killer by any means, but surely a40D killer!
What really makes the 7D shine is the fact that it is the most fully featured, fully customizable camera from Canon. Anybody who has used a Nikon body knows, the feeling of being spoiled by great accessability to every aspect of the camera. This is what the 7D is all about!

High ISO perfromance @ Low ligh is quite nice (ISO 1600/ ISO 3200 Samples)

The other great thing that is a BIG, BIG, BIG plus for the 7D is the AF system. 19 fully selectable all cross point sensitive AF points that can be accessed in a multitude of ways! Single, Single Spot, Full Auto, Zone, AF expansion! WOW, these did not exist out of the 1D universe. Also the sheer customization options of the AF really makes this a baby 1D AF system. Nikon dudes will say that this was already there with the Nikon 51 point AF. But for us Canon boys, this is like a blessing from heaven! The AF behaves quite nice, but still need some rigorous testing before any judgement. The fast 8fps continous burst makes this a great sports backup camera!

OK, so the sensor is not bad at all, the camera is a customization monster, the AF is advanced and rather quick. Is that all? Actually no!

The 7D has 1080p @ 24fps, 720p @ 60fps Video! This alone could have been the 5D MKII killer feature. I have played around with the Video feature and the HD coupled with the DSLR virtue of interchangeable lenses makes form some quite cool effects. The lack of continuous AF in Video is a bummer, but real movie makers don't AF, they go the distance to think of carefully choreographed focus scenarios that make movies the creative marvels they are! Of course I am no cinematographer (I am barely a mediocre photographer) so I will have to complain a bit :P

Note the dedicated Video Switch!

Excuse the crappy Video quality! I still need some work on better encoding the Videos.

So there you have it! The 7D is a great camera worthy of the Canon APS-C king throne. If only the 5DMKII had the 7D AF and features, it would have been the perfect camera! Maybe the 5D MKIII is just that!!