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If you read around the internet you would think Canon committed the worst offense in the world by announcing the EOS 7D camera. It isn’t full frame, the megapixels went up, the sensor is smaller and on and on and on.
Do yourself a favor, don’t read or listen to any of that stuff. This camera is an absolute home run. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect, none are, but it is a definite wow!
Canon has been blasted and raked over the coals because of their focus problems. And I say that as a plural word, the 1D Mark III “issue” is just the tip of the iceberg. Canon cameras have a growing reputation in professional circles that they have a little bitty focus problem call “soft images”.
The proof is the rather large landslide of people changing systems from Canon to Nikon. The exact opposite was true only 3 short years ago when Canon rules the airwaves with cameras having the best sensors you could get bar none.
Well – the Canon 7D is Canon’s answer to the last 2 to 3 years of Canon’s turbulent ride. And finally Canon has poured on the muscle, put some power into their R&D department and came out with the 7D.
So it’s not full frame – get over it. For the people that MUST have full frame you can buy the 5D Mark II and you WILL have an awesome sensor, but you will also have the Canon of the last 8 years in focus technology. This is a new day.
My 7D came today, so I don’t have a rich pallet of artsy balartsy pictures to show you – yet. But I can’t let the first day go by without sharing some of the most important aspects of the camera. The camera came from the folks at CanogaCamera.com. They have taken great care of me over the years and they did it again with their delivery of the 7D to me. A big hello to all the folks at CanogaCamera – keep on being the great guys you are!
If you are tired of soft focus images, and you haven’t switched to Nikon, then your ship has come in. Personally, I didn’t switch, but I added the Nikon system to my gear bag and heavily shoot Nikon bodies while still owning my full compliment of Canon gear. Because I was hoping – a lot – that a day like this would come.
Want the best description of how I feel about the new 7D?? When shooting it around the house tonight, I had to turn the camera around and just make sure it didn’t have the word “Nikon” written on the front of it. This sucker focuses well, in low light, in bright light, in dim dim wedding type light – in all ambient light with NO help from any AF Focus assist. I didn’t even have the flash unit on the camera. Just fast, accurate focus – over and over. Take your full frame baloney and shove it up your big toe 
I want sharp pictures when I focus, full frame or crop frame, soft out of focus pictures is soooo darn embarrassing to be showing brides. And you know what – they POINT THEM OUT. Canon has woken up though, and this puppy focuses well and accurate, in regular light and with just a couple of 60 watt light bulbs in the room.
Don’t make any mistake that I am a Canon fan boy though. Just because I am floored with this camera doesn’t mean I am a Canon lover. I am after the picture, if Olympus, Pentax, or Leica gave me a nice solid sharp image time and time again – quickly and in low light and with good high ISO results, I’d be there. I don’t make love to my cameras, they are my tools and they better work well or into the cabinet they go
Okay, let’s not forget about high ISO. Again, a winning solution is on the table here. It’s not the best there is, but it’s a non-issue. Expose this camera right, and you don’t have any high ISO issues that are outside any of the cameras released by Canon or Nikon in the last 2 years. It just isn’t an issue. The photographer is the issue, not the camera.
Here are some shots from inside the house. I shot them in RAW, developed them in Lightroom, made NO CHANGES to the exposure – white balance or anything else. This, my friends is called “straight out of the camera”. I shot them with the 50mm USM lens and the 85 1.8 USM lenses. I took pictures of stuff that is HARD to focus on, these just stump most cameras.
ISO 3200 – I focused on the left eye (right side of the picture) using an off center focus point – no noise reduction, shot in RAW and used auto white balance.
Did the 7D nail the focus? Take a look:
Can you say sharp?? They say it and say it loud The 100 percent crops are NOT sharpened, these are NOT from JPG but from RAW files.
Here is an ISO 1600 and then an ISO 3200, all light from the room lamps and the camera is doing AWB:
And then turned up to ISO 3200:
Here is the overall shot, and this one is the ISO 3200 picture. Focus point is not the center focus point again. I focused on the “S’ in select and chose a focus point that was conveniently at hat spot:
Okay how about focusing on the stuffed animal. This stuffed animal stumps most cameras for focus, even with the focus assist light. the 1Ds Mark III failed to focus well on this, the 5D Mark II failed, the 40D and 50D failed, the Nikon D3X did a mix of focused and unfocused results. The 7D nailed it. By a nose
Here is the full frame, ISO 3200, room light, camera wb:
And a 100 percent crop:
And then the same shot dialed down to ISO 1600:
With 18 megapixels of punch behind every picture from the 7D, these will print large prints (20×30) so nice it will knock you on your rump. You will need the “grain police” to examine the images to see if they are really ISO 3200. You’ve seen the grain police before right? They are the folks that never look at the pictures for their content, but strictly go from image to image hunting down any grain or noise they can find in an image. I think hell for them would be to get put in a room full of large prints from the film days – lol. Ever see a pan or tri x print? There actually may be a little image to go with your grain
Just one more focus though – it is such fun to focus with this camera. All these shots in this quick repoert were done using all DIFFERENT focus points, very few if any at all were taken with the center focus point. Impressive huh . . .
White flowers, hard to get a lock, the 7D did it with ease. This is NOT “focus and recompose”, this is using a focus point on the left side of the viewfinder:
And the 100 percent crop of the above raw file shot – taken at ISO 3200 of course
I can’t help but believe that the Canon 7D is Canon’s best camera on the market today of ALL their cameras. Period. I am not a full frame junkie, I do like it a lot and I shoot full frame for what the wide lenses can do there. (Hello Nikon, where the wide fast primes??? Are you awake over there????) But give me a sharp picture with a high confidence that my camera will get it right and I will just have to take a few extra steps backwards – thank you.
All is not rosy though. Just because I am amazed at the focus of the 7D, there are some very dumb dumb choices Canon makes and they are present right here on this camera too. They are NOT deal breakers though and this is an exciting camera to own. I will discuss more of the “quirks” of the 7D camera as I continue to write about this camera in the next few weeks so stay tuned.
As I am holding and playing with my 7D, I can’t help but think that the chances of the Canon 1D Mark 4 being a triple play home run has just gotten greater than ever. If this is what Canon can do when they flex their muscles a bit, I hope they don’t go back to that mindset of only giving a little bit of goodness out in small doses and making us buy the real advances over a period of 3 or 4 cameras. Nikon treats us like adults – they gave us the good stuff all in ONE camera at ONE time. Canon seems to dish it out in little spoons like we were babies that can’t take a big bite. I hope Canon puts all the good stuff in ONE camera at ONE time like they attempted to do here with the 7D. I can almost feel a little touch of that “drip” mentality in the 7D though with the fact that they went over the top with the focus system and other goodies but dared not take the camera any farther than a 1.6 crop. I think this easily could have been a 1.3 crop camera but that is another story. I am grateful for what the 7D is and I will share in over the next few weeks more impressions and let you know the quirks as I find them.
Special thanks to Chris and the crew at Canoga Camera 1-800-201-4201 in California for going beyond the call in my purchase of this camera. I was already on their “waiting list” and when the first cameras came through they came through like champs in getting me this camera. It is a good thing to have a great camera shop behind you and they are at the top of the list.
Peter Gregg
Peter Gregg started in wedding & portrait photography in the 1970′s and is currently doing wedding and portrait photography, writing freelance articles, and operating ABetterBounceCard.com in Miami Florida USA.
[...] my whole article at ProPhotoHome.com to see the other pictures and my thoughts. More to come [...]
I bought the 7d last week and returned it 3 days later. I thought the camera showed an overall softness, especially when compared to the Mark III with the same lens. I wasn’t satisfied at all, and given that my Mark III has made 5 trips to Canon before finally focusing well enough to be used seriously, I didn’t want to re-live the nightmare all over again with the 7d. I’ll am content to wait till something more reliable comes out…be it Nikon or Canon
Finally Canon have a camera that competes 1 to 1 with Nikon’s D300
I think they were afraid to make this camera, but if you look closely they have ticked many of the boxes from the D300 spec sheet and even better in some cases.
Up until now I have looked at Canon users like I do Windows users, but this camera changes that. If there are now stumbles out of the gate then today is a new day for Canon and as a Nikon shooter I am excited to see Nikon’s (eventual?) response
I find this document a thoroughly convincing demonstration, and I will be keeping this body in mind for an upcoming project involving macro-photography and the requirements of very precise focus location…. and the unambiguous style which includes objective criticisms is valued…. thus thanks to Peter Gregg.
Canon 7 D awesome I will be trying it out at the MLB Playoffs can’t wait
Well done man!
I like your review, but not sure what kind of bugs should we expect of that new technology, since cameras bugs do not show untill we use them alot.
I am so optimized about the 7d keep on the good work.
Ha. I agree – KIND of. My new 7D still soft focuses. Investigation is continuing.
Also, it has locked up a few times.
I have posted a few times already… last post on my daily blog about the lockups here: http://blog.michaelwillems.ca/2009/10/7/my-new-canon-7d/
thanks so much. was going to wait to buy the 7D, but went ahead and got the 5D2. I have an XSi, that is at Canon for the second time this year for this EXACT problem! poor focus. I had a 1Ds and sold it to to small and light. but everything was so fuzzily focused, I bought a the 5D2 3 weeks ago. my wife’s XSi is much better. I have comparison shots with both bodies, on tripod, mirror lock up, same lens and virtually the same composition. my wife was the first to notice this, but it’s like every picture is almost, but not quite sharp. we thought it was me, then lenses etc we bought them at Christmas and have been going round-n-round since. thanks for your no-holds-barred account of the focus issues.
Mark
Great review !!
But I have used digital slr for weddings for over eitht years now !!
The forst ok/good camera that nikon made for proi wedding use was the
D200- long before that the Nikon slr were junk !!!!!!!!!!
I have a tone of great pictures all from Caon fpr the past eight years: and yes a lot of great 30×40 that I could not do beofr wtih film: Yes 30×40
I have used Nikon from other photogrpahers and even the new Nilon, the only thing that is a little better than Canon is there flash !!
The one series Canon blows everthing away and I have great pictures with the 10d – 20d 30d 40d and now with the 7d and the 7D might be the best camera out there for the price!!
Not familiar with this new 7D; however, doesn’t Canon’s sensors have that anti-aliasing filter sitting on top of it? From all I have read and heard, any photo produced from these Canon sensors ‘require’ some level of sharpening. Not really an issue for anything you intend to ‘process’ for sale or display, I would think. Knowing how and what level of sharpening to apply is probably more important – willy-nilly sharpening has ruined more than a few shots!
Jim, all digital photos from ANY Bayer array sensor require processing – it is because a Bayer pixel can only be one of R, G, or B. The “missing” two colours are interpolated by software either built into or outside the camera, and that makes the image unsharp even if a lens could be “perfect” and the pixels full grid size on an unfiltered sensor.
The need for sharpening isn’t a product of the AA filter; it still has to be done even for sensors without filters. It happens on CCD, CMOS, Canon, Nikon, whatever, so don’t think it’s a failing of Canon (or any other mfg.)
BTW, The degree of sharpening required depends on two factors – the output device, and viewing distance. It turns out that the output can be at least as significant as the camera. I’m including monitors in that too.
“full frame baloney ”
Don’t you think discounting FF based on a few shots you took is a bit immature? There are other advantages to FF such as the larger cells for light capture. There is a lot of disappointment out there because of the 7D’s inability to compete with the 5D2 on noise, especially in video. One review said “it isn’t even close, if you want less noise in low light, get the 5D2″. Sorry, the images posted don’t blow my socks off, in fact, I’m seeing some dynamic range limitation which I don’t like. I’ll keep my FF 5D2 thank you.
As far as focusing, hmmm, well, I can see sports shooters liking it, but focus ‘n recompose is so quick for us all, it’s not a showstopper. I’ve not missed a shot on my 5D2 yet.
And for us who like wide angle, I’m not stuck with less quality lenses like the 10-20mm’s out there. I get to enjoy the full range of my 16-35mm in my huge viewfinder without resorting to less quality glass for wides.
To attack FF like you did is almost odd, I don’t see the point. I DO see shallower DOF when I need it at 2.8 then you’ll ever see on a crop camera however. For some, that’s important.
Case in point: I shoot at ISO 3200 often when the situation arises. Here’s a side-by-side of the 7D and 5D (7D on the left):
http://www.cameratown.com/reviews/canon7d/assets/ISO3200_5DMKII_vs_7D.jpg
Not e v e n CLOSE.
Wonder how that compares to the 1D and 1Ds?
Here’s a 3200 ISO image from the 7D:
http://blog.michaelwillems.ca/2009/10/09/3200-iso-jpg/
I also love my full-frame 1Ds MkIII. But the 7D has the edge in a few areas. Among them:
- Better AF system
- Useable live view
- Video
- Many of the other new menu functions.
If it were full frame it would be a home run. But that’s why it isn’t – and that’s why it is even $1,000 cheaper than the 5DII.
I received my 7D on a Friday, and then sent it back on Monday. I’ll preface by saying there’s a chance I had a dud off the production line, but my experience left me unimpressed. I didn’t see much difference in noise between 200 and 1000 ISO, and the camera had a heck of a time producing sharp images—focus was way too soft, even with added sharpening. My 30D, which is nearly 5 years old, produces sharper images and ISO was comparable up to 800 or so. I’m not here to bash Canon. I may have had a dud. But I was really hoping the 7D was going to be a show-stopper. To my standards, it wasn’t, so I’ve sent it back and have ordered the 5D Mark II.
Phooye!
5D MkII rulezz!
As owner of rapidly aging Canon pro DSLR’s, I’m angry that Canon didn’t implement 7D’s focusing system on the 5D2. Also, after D3 stealing pro’s away from Canon both left and right, Canon still had the nerve to bring out a 1.3x crop camera. I really waited and wanted Canon’s “D3″ in the form of markIV, but the crop sensor ruined my wait. Of course 1Ds4 will be out eventually, but not for a price a freelance newspaper photographer could afford. That’s also one of the main reasons I’m not already shooting Nikon. I don’t have means to change my whole system and I prefer Canon glass. ( I occassionally borrow D3 and big Nikkors from work, so I’ve been able to thoroughly compare the lenses.)
Your point of Canon spoon-feeding us and ripping us off by introducing lots of cameras with little improvements is so true! I only ask for one Canon body that can compete with D3 both performance and price wise. The 1D4 would’ve been that camera, but only with a FULL-FRAME SENSOR!
Well I’m angry that Canon continue to dissipate their corporate energy on producing an ever-increasing collection of different models, rather than fewer models but which actually meet the market need. We can buy a 5D to give us good IQ but with crap focus for demanding situations, a 7D with good focus but not-so-good IQ. A 50D that doesn’t provide either. A 500D that doesn’t seem to lack anything much compared to a 50D. A 1000D for the bottom bottom end. A 1D4 that provides speed but cropped image, a 1Ds that provides full frame but not the speed. There’s even talk of a 3D. It’s out of control, how about 4 models that incorporate all of what we need at 4 different price-points? Then Canon could stop wasting their efforts on a never ending raft of new models, all with limitations related to date of release, and concentrate on getting less models but ones which work and don’t carry limitations.
More megapixel, more Megapixel, when will it ever end, as an event photographer I was hoping this was going to be less pixels smaller files and noise on a par with Nikon, (WRONG) Part of my event photography is sport , boxing, I have to load my images onto my laptop in between fights so that I can get them to the press while the next fight is going on, with files this size its impossible unless you reduce the file size which means poorer quality images, and not shooting raw at anytime, and laptops with the power of an IBM super computer. When you have parents waiting for you to load images of their child taking part in gymnastics, so that they can leave to travel home 200 miles away and it is 10pm at night , loading time is crucial . If this had been a 10-12 megapixel camera like the Nikon D3 and noise to match I would have bought one
RS
The more images I see posted online the less likely I want this camera. The images are just not “sharp” there is a softness to them that I do not prefer.
It also looks like some purple fringing on the letters in the zoomed image of the dog food bag.
I could live without 8FPS but my 5D MkII could really use the focusing system in the 7D. Do I hear 5D MkIII?