Canon 7d users revisited ?

I read with interest the (All 7d users) posts back in March 2010. 7 months have now passed.

I am thinking of buying the canon 7d (it's within my budget) and keep and use my 40d as a backup.

Any new opinions on the pros and cons, will it be worth the upgrade? Has there been any firmware upgrades for issues.

My two primary lenses are, Ef 24-105L IS and the 100-400L IS. Hopefully they will improve image quality by not using kit lense?

I read one review by a consumer that he was disapointed, stating it has shutter lag? Anyone notice this?

Before I jump, I am looking for feedback from those that have had a chance to use it over the past summer!

As always this forum is great!

Thanks for any insite and responces.

Dave

My wife and I have been using the 7D since it came out last October. About 9,000 clicks. We love it. We shoot a variety of subjects and find the AF is great. Mostly use center point AF. Always use back button AF. ISO up to 1600 is excellent if you expose correctly and at 800 and above use a bit of Noiseware Pro. We have printed reasonably cropped images up to 13 X 19 with excellent quality.

The body has seen the dusty environment of the Serengeti and the sensor cleaning is fantastic. We have not had to do a sensor cleaning with a brush or swab. We have had it in rain with L lenses and find it very reliable.

Be prepared for large file size, but this really does give you good cropping ability.

We highly recommend this camera.

I'm still liking mine too. Coming from a prosumer background it really does seem like a big step up, in terms of focus and of course, frames-per-second. Ed mentioned the sensor cleaning, and I'll echo that it's worked well for me too (including an Africa trip), but my 40D performed well in that area as well. The mid-range ISOs still seem slightly noisy to me, but nothing to complain about... and I'm convinced high ISO performs much better than my older Canon bodies.

Video's a lot of fun to play with too, and thus far I've been pretty happy with the footage shot with my amateur hand.

Max

I got a 7D as I couldn't reliably get good bird photos with my 40D and 100-400 - due to focussing problems. The 7D is hugely better, I can now get reliable focus both for BIF and BOB (birds on branches). The spot focussing is excellent for picking a bird out among branches and leaves and my BIF success rate is hugely better. I think I can crop a lot more than before too. I usually have the 7D attached to the 100-400 but also sometimes use it with my 24-105 and 10-22, but have kept my 40D and usually use it with these lenses.

I have never heard of shutter lag on ANY DSLR and find it hard to believe. I guess anything is possible but that would cause me to question all the content of whoever said that. As regards everything else, I am still delighted with my 7D. It did take some getting used to as it really is a redesign and not just an upgrade. Going 20D to 30D to 40D were upgrades and still basicly the same camera (skipped 50D) but the 7D is a new camera with many new features and it works great. The only thing I'd worry about now is that it's been out for a while now and it may not be long before IT gets an upgrade. If you've waited this long, perhaps you can wait a while longer? Good luck.
JR

I am very happy with my 7D. The only problem I've had is an occasional "freeze up" (camera locks up) which is easily cured by momentarily removing the battery. Canon's email help has been very helpful in efforts to isolate the source of the problem (lens, card or camera). We have it down to the camera, probably a malfunction of the "sleep" mode and I will be sending it in for repair.

I'll second the sensor cleaning praise. I'd seen zero, zilch, nada dust marks on any of the 7D photos I've taken.

Thanks for your replys, I took the plung and ordered one, can't wait for newer camera to come out on the market. I am one that waits to see how others like a product first. Hopefully I will get it before the weekend.......

I have had my 7D for almost a year and I echo John's comments that this is a new camera with a lot of new technology and it takes a while to master it. I just came back from a photo trip in the northern B.C. wilderness shooting grizzlies and eagles, and my images are the best I have done to date and much of that is due to the proper micro-adjustments in the menu, proper AF use, and, of course, great L lenses. It took me a while to put it all together. The fast frame rate is a huge bonus when shooting wildlife and the instant (and accurate) AF allows you to capture the moment (@ 30MB/shot I might add) and some great shots. It's a learning curve but it's worth it. The biggest issue I had was noise - even at 800 or 1000 ISO, but what I discovered is that if your images a even a little soft, noise is more predominant and almost impossible to clean up; but if your images are razor sharp and properly exposed, the noise that a 2000 or 2500 ISO image creates can easily be handled where you don't even notice it by the time you get to the JPEG or print stage. Below is an image shot with a 500mm, f5, 1/800 at 3200 ISO. Is that acceptable?

Again thanks for everyones input and the photo. I just got my 7D last night, did some test shots and I am highly impressed. I will test it more this weekend....I do need to learn more about the micro adjustment though...is this used on manual fosus or also on auto focus?

I'll learn, again thanks

Dave

Congrats on your new acquisition Dave. I'm sure it will be a long lasting and fruitful relationship. The micro adjustment applies to both manual and AF and applies to the lens used. Attach a lens and set the micro-adj after running many tests then leave it on the best setting. The camera will remember that setting when you attach that lens and adjust automatically. You can have a different setting for each lens and the camera will remember all of them. It's a lot of work but it's worth it.