There is a new Quick menu button, which does as it says, offering a shortcut to get to the parameters you need to adjust swiftly. One interesting inclusion is a button that switches you into RAW shooting for one frame if you are in JPEG Only or to RAW+Jpeg if you are in RAW already. It’s a brilliant idea and helps avoid forgetting to switch and ending up filling your card in RAW. See a great shot? Well now you can make sure you get it in 14-bit too. Nice. The 7D also features three Custom positions on the dial up top (C1-3) for quickly setting the camera to a group of settings you use frequently.
User feedback is evident in the 7D's feature set
Getting into recording video is now much easier, instead of wading through menus and assigning conditions to be necessary for the Live View. Now there is a Live View/Movie mode switch and start button. It still has the 4GB limit of using the FAT file system. So recordings in HD will tend to end about the 12-minute mark, with only the 480p taking you anywhere near the 29min limit on devices like this.
So is the EOS 7D an important camera for Canon or just a stopgap before something very game-changing appears with better audio in the shape of a 5D Mark III? That is likely to be a little way off and the 7D is definitely a crowd pleaser. Evidently, Canon listened to its users and listened good. Indeed, the features on the stills side would be enough to compensate for the APS sensor size.
Verdict
As a smaller sibling to the 5D Mark II, it was the video capabilities that created the buzz around the EOS 7D. It was the only alternative for sensible frame rates, whilst still being able to take advantage of the huge selection of fast EF lenses and giving that pleasing, filmic depth of field look. With the time between releases getting shorter, this camera now shares the limelight with a cheaper, plastic-bodied cousin, the EOS 550D. While the EOS 7D was very much vital yesterday, it now seems less of the exciting video tool it once was, yet it delivers nonetheless. ®
James Cumpsty is a professional photographer and videographer working in the music industry.
More DSLR Reviews...
Sony Alpha A550 |
Pentax K-7 |
Nikon D300s |
Canon EOS 5D Mark II |
Canon EOS 7D
COMMENTS
Brilliant idea...
"One interesting inclusion is a button that switches you into RAW shooting for one frame if you are in JPEG Only or to RAW+Jpeg if you are in RAW already. It’s a brilliant idea..."
Sure, and it's old too.
My 4 year old Pentax K10D has a dedicated "RAW button" -- you can actually choose whether you want it to last for one shot only or if you want it to stay on the setting you choose. To confirm, from their manual (RAW+ means RAW -- either PEF or DNG, btw -- plus JPEG):
"If you press the RAW button, RAW+ capture and save is exited after one shot.
To continue until the RAW button is pressed again, set [One-touch
RAW+JPEG] in the [A Custom Setting] menu."
I don't know if they invented it either at Pentax, but sure it's old stuff in tech terms.
What will they be imitating next, Sv, TAv and in camera stabilization? :-)
Disagree
If you have time to set up the shot (as in proper amature/college movies), it's perfect, a few minutes for a fixed scene, it is however a bit rubbish for dynamic unscripted scenes, IF it's in focus the quality is amazing on L glass.
Fish i
"Even the 10-22mm EF-S lens produces amazingly flat images and can also, in no way, be called a 'fisheye', infact its a beautiful wide angle lens and well worth the money!"
10-22mm EF-S is equivalent to 16-35mm EF, so at the low end it is fishy, but you're right, definitely worth the £300 it cost me (new, not I didn't get it in the UK, is it worth £600....?).
Also
Having built in HD video capability is handy for when you don't wish to carry a DSLR, it's lenses and a camcorder. Handy when travelling and when photographing the kids.
