Canon 7d review

Great review Darwin, thanks for posting the link. Very interesting results for sure.

Thanks much Darwin.

Thanks Darwin and Samantha, a new camera is in my near future and work like this is much appreciated.

Thanks for the link. I'm about to upgrade and this really has me thinking. I'm kinda confused because I haven't found sharpness to be an issue in any other review i've read.

This review from DPReview doesn't indicate any issues with sharpness.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos7d/

In fact, here, it seems sharper than the D300s and the 50D. Interesting.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos7d/page28.asp

Thanks for sharing this interesting and surprising review Darwin and Samatha. I am looking forward to your test of the 1Dmk4 when you get your hands on it (if at all you are planning one).

I'm thinking of upgrading from my Canon XTi mainly because I don't care for the way its controls are laid out. I had (and still have) a 10D which was/is a much better designed camera but I want higher resolution and lower noise than the10D. I'd been looking at the 50D or the 5D Mk II (would need to go in debt for the latter) and then the 7D came out to confuse matters further. I was skeptical about an APS-C sensor with 18MP. DP Review gave it good marks, posting resolution that beat the 50D and several competitors (they didn't compare it to the XSi) and now Darwin posts a review with results which are essentially the opposite.

I'm not interested in another Rebel model. I'd be stuck with virtually the same control layout that I dislike on the XTi. Initial image contrast isn't a huge concern to me. I shoot RAW and would rather have a slightly flat starting file than one that tended toward higher contrast. I can always increase contrast but if the mid tones aren't there in the initial capture you can't get them back. I am concerned with resolution, noise and handling.

I find myself wondering if the fault in Darwin's tests is in using the Live View screen to focus instead of the viewfinder or autofocus. Is it possible that the flaw is in the screen view on the 7D rather than the sensor?

Hi Jim,

Confusing to be sure! Our best advice is to take nobody's advice and test the cameras yourself. For a little extra fee, you can be happy with your final purchase. I know The Camera Store in Calgary, Alberta lets us apply the rental fee of the camera we eventually purchase to the cost if we buy the camera within a certain time period.

As for your Live View question, why would this be an issue only for the 7D and not the other three cameras? If it is the Live View that is at fault (which we use extensively in landscape photography because we have tested it and generally find it more accurate than focusing through the viewfinder or autofocus), why would you pay for a camera with poor Live View performance when there are others that are better out there?

Samantha asks "As for your Live View question, why would this be an issue only for the 7D and not the other three cameras?"

Answer: I really don't know. The only live view cameras I've owned were 'pocket' cameras (a couple of Olympus models and a G10) but I've never trusted the live view on them for focusing and it seems to me that looking through the viewfinder you are seeing what the lens sees whereas the live view on the screen is a digital interpolation. Of course if the spacing of the mirror, prism etc. are off relative to the sensor that might not be accurate either.

I've read that the 50D focus can be adjusted by the user (I've seen a target tool for doing that). Can the 7D be similarly adjusted? Was the problem you experienced one of soft focus or lower contrast than the other cameras? I'm just puzzled that you got the opposite result from what DP Review got and thinking that there has to be an explanation.I'm also thinking if it was due to live view focusing, that wouldn't be a problem for me since I don't use live view for focusing. One of my jobs before I retired was as a network admin so when things don't make sense my first reaction is to try to figure out why.

I've been leaning toward going into debt for the 5D Mk II and getting a 24-105mm L lens. Sadly there are no camera stores within about hundred miles of me and the nearest places that rent (NYC) are several times farther away. Getting my hands on any of them for testing will be a challenge. Maybe there is a shop in Ottawa that would rent to an American. That's only a two hour drive.

Jim have you read this?

http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0408/dw0408-1.html

Darwin

I appreciate the review and found it useful. We'll see how the concerns you raise stand up over time . . . whether they are verified, solved by a firmware update (somehow), or instead attributed to some other fault. I found many of the comments following your review (not here at NPN, but over at your site) quite amusing!

Very interesting Darwin. Good (in a way) to see that the softness is on close objects too. The previous discussion where you had first noticed this only in distant objects didn't make sense to me, since subject distance shouldn't matter.

Anyway, thanks for a very nice review. I'm left wondering if they overcooked the AA sensor or something. In all fairness, for most photogs at most print sizes/screen sizes, you probably wouldn't notice the detail difference. But I'd certainly be looking closely if I was about to drop money on a 7D.

Darwin, No I hadn't read that critique of auto-focus. I think it was the auto-focus that I read was adjustable on the 50D, one of the things that attracted me to it. My XTi doesn't have that. If the 7D was and it was a focusing problem (vs a contrast problem) I'd still consider it. BTW The tool for calibrating auto-focus on cameras that allow for it is at http://www.lensalign.com/index.html and all three Canon models that I am considering are micro-adjustable.

As I said I have limited experience with live view. What experience I have had is that the view on the screen often looks sharp but when I got it home on the computer I found it wasn't sharp. There is a magnifier feature for focusing on one of the Olympus cameras that I've used and on the G10 but that is only a partial spot in the center of the screen and (power) manual focus on either is accomplished in jumps that I don't like/find difficult to control. What I do like for critical focus is turning the focus ring on my DSLR with a magnifier on the eyepiece. Old school I know but hey, I started photography on 4x5s over 50 years ago so I stake out my right to old school. Besides my once perfect vision ain't what it used to be. My eyes don't focus as well as they did and I have floaters (fuzzy grey patches that wander about my field of vision) that make focusing a challenge sometimes.

Does live view use the jpeg settings for displaying the image or is it WYSIWYG--sure would make a difference? I too would be interested in whether the lens adjustment was made like on the 50D if that is a 7D feature. I know it made a big difference for me once I calibrated the camera for each of my lenses--Larry

Manually focusing in live view takes the inaccuracy of the lens out of the equation. You are already compensating for that. The micro-lens adjustment really only applies to autofocus.

David--good point, Darwin did say that he used manual focus so that removes the AF from the equation. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out--Larry

http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=166729