Reviews of the Canon EOS 7D

[tkinnj]

Hey,

First, I just want to let you know I appreciate all of the advice on this site. It's been really educational.

I'm waiting for some solid reviews on the Canon EOS 7D to come out, most of what I've seen are previews. I'm a pretty big fan of CNET in general, because they cover a wide range of products and seem thorough. Who else provides respectable reviews?

Thanks,

Tom

[inkista]

You can only get a preview because production models aren't available yet, so those who are testing are using pre-production models. A last round of beta testing as it were. Once the cameras are commercially available, you'll start to see full reviews.

I like dpreview, but they do seem to be unduly obsessed with high iso noise performance these days, which sets off a similar hypercriticism in seemingly everybody who reads their reviews.

Rob Galbraith is the guy if you want to know about Canon gear from a pro POV. He exhaustively covered the 1DMkIII's autofocus issues when they arose.

I also love the Luminous Landscape reviews, since those guys typically shoot medium format and art photography and have decades of experience with a much wider variety of photography equipment than most of the digital-only reviewers out there today. They'll give you more of the feel and gestalt of the thing, than a spec list.

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by tkinnj

I'm waiting for some solid reviews on the Canon EOS 7D to come out, most of what I've seen are previews.

I had already played with one (7D) and was impressed by its new features. It was only some doubts about its high ISO performance and 1.6x sensor that stops me from buying one right away.

Originally Posted by loveDSLR

I found its AF system good but not better than the 1D Mk III or Nikon D3. IQ is good but I had some doubts around ISO 1600/3200. (note the camera is a store demo). I agreed with the salesperson that there is a one stop difference between 7D and 5D Mk II.

Its new features and handling are at par if not better than the Nikon D300. I still have to review the shots I took to come up with my conclusion.

BTW, I used Canon 24-105 f/4 L IS and 70-200 f/4 L IS in my tests. I was looking for how long it took to lock focus, servo tracking (I was shooting customers leaving the store at 8 fps), noise at ISO 1600 and 3200.

[Awinphoto]

I just picked up my production Canon 7D... I've gone from the canon 10D to 30D to 50D to this and so far it's head and shoulders above the rest. The autofocus is awesome (once you get past the learning curve and learn to switch between the modes)... The 50D had very good autofocus given they were all cross points but this blows that away once everything is optimized for your uses. Video is nice if you're into that thing... White balance is as you would expect with previous models and customization... that is one thing that in my opinion makes this superior than most... You can tailor this machine to your liking and then some! Images as far as high noise is slightly better (maybe half a stop-1 stop) better than the 40D and 50D in my opinion once printed. Given that 100% viewing noise are close if not just slightly better and given that it's almost 1.8 times the MP than the 40D and 3 MP more than the 50D, that's a nice step forward. If you're looking for 5D noise quality and IQ, you may be a tad disappointed (even though printed they are really really close) but if you are looking for a solid camera that will outperform the 5d mark II's customization and feature set, as well as outperform almost all of it's cameras in it's class and price range including image quality, then this camera is for you.