Topic: New Toy has arrived!

Hi All,

The new toy has finally arrived. I'll post some thoughts etc when I've had a bit of a play with it



TTFN,
Neil

Nice

Just out of interest Neil, what reason for the 7D over the other Canon models?


Mark

Hi Mark,

The superior AF that the 7D has over the 50D. I didn't want to go any further up the Canon 'ladder' because that meant going to the 5Dii - Full Frame territory. I wanted to keep a cropped sensor so I didn't loose any of the zoom lenes focal length. If I was into landscape type photography the 5Dii would've probably been the camera of choice.

TTFN,
Neil

Nice one Neil! I'll be interested in your impressions, it does read as a very good lump.

MP

Reminder to self, don't give in to temptation and buy a 5D MkII

You WILL crack and give in to the power of Canon ! 

Reminder to self, don't give in to temptation and buy a 5D MkII

Oh go on, you know you want one.   

How are you getting on with your MkI Tony?

Reminder to self, don't give in to temptation and buy a 5D MkII

Just stepping in to help here Barry. You need an angel to balance those two demons   on your shoulder.

Resist the lure of the dark side.  

Do let us know how you get on Neil.  

How are you getting on with your MkI Tony?

Not really had much of a chance to use it yet, hence no entries for last months comp. Initial impression's are good though.

Tony

The honest part of me knows that you should get that 5DII

The jealous part of me thinks you should stick with what youve got and stay away from nasty Canons with thier horrible "L" series ghastly white lenses

 

Hi Guys,

First impressions? - The first thing you notice is the weight of the box - it ain't light! I would say the weight of the body is slightly heavier than the 50D + 28-135mm lens. The build of the camera looks very good with a lot attention put into the small details, like spring loaded battery & card covers - makes for easier access in those rushed moments when you need things to happen quickly. The whole camera has a far more solid, robust feel to it. In the past I've always felt it was very unfair to compare the 50D to the D300 mainly because of the price comparison, if nothing else. You would expect more from a camera that's several hundred pounds dearer to have the edge. However, the 7D is aimed right at the D300s so in future there can direct comparisons & I ain't going into another C Vs N debate. I'll leave that for those who have plenty of time & need a bit of stimulating banter

The next thing you notice, if you've owned previous Canon cameras, is the thickness of the instruction manual - its about 30% thicker than the 50D's. On the plus side if you've got a 40 or a 50D most of the controls/functions are very similar, so learning the camera basics will be no big deal. However, the fun looks like setting up the AF to give you best setting for the type of photography you want to use the camera for. There really seems to be an infinite amount of variations - this is something that's going to need a fair amount of T&E to turn a good camera into a great one!

Like all good things last night was really crap at work so I didn't have a chance to give the 7D a good look over I was going to try & take a quick nigh time shot of all the Sunseeker boats in Poole harbour (our Poole depot is next door) but just didn't have time.

Hey Rich () you know you'd love a 5DII - I see the 5DII is What Camera mag's "Camera of the Year" - ahead of the 7D & D300s. As for those lovely big white lenses - don't they look great

TTFN,
Neil

PS Hot of the press - the new Canon 550D
Canon Consumer Products
Canon EOS 550D / Digital Rebel T2i Hands-on Preview: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

Hi All,

Finally got out with the cameras today. Went to Barkston to take pictures of Rich Scarborough's new L39. The weather was bloody awful! Low cloud, drissle etc all the best things that make a picture crap!! Ideal to test the new 7D & I have to admit I'm bloody pleased with it. I took 140 frames & had only 2 that were slightly soft focus - a pretty good success rate. With the 50D I took 160 frames & had 26 soft focus shots. Bear in mind, too, that the weather conditions were worse for the 7D than the 50D. I was also being a whossie & wore gloves

Another very noticeably thing with the 7D is the rear screen - very clear, far, far superior to the 50D. Something else that's very noticeable is the view through the view finder. The 100% view makes a big difference. As for the AF that is superb! I took some pictures which should've been virtually useless because of the appalling light. I tried the centre spot AF point with assist & then the zonal AF both worked very well. It took a few minutes to get used to the way the zonal AF points moved around the screen keeping the subject highlighted all the time (I add that the two soft focus pictures were with the centre spot AF).






& this onetaken with the 50D shows how bad the conditions were - no Photoshop adjustments at all



TTFN,
Neil

That looks like a pretty miserable day (conditions wise)
But you have some great pin sharp pics there . Looking like you will get on well with that new toy 

Hi Shane,

The 7D is every bit as good as the reviews say it is. Bloody superb & no mistake

TTFN,
Neil

Hi All,

Just found this one - check out the engine detail. I think this shows the power of the new Canon AF system that's in the EOS 7D.



TTFN,
Neil

Excellent stuff Neil! Glad you like it.

Thanks, Barry. Yes I really like the 7D - for anyone with a 40 or a 50D it feels very similar. I think I still have a bit of fine tuning to do, though. I took most of the settings from a guy on the Lowfly site - that alone has saved me a lot of messing around. One of the things I would've cocked up on would've been the AF sensitivity. I would've increased it, this makes the camera hyper sensitive & the AF would checking to many objects. This gives some soft focus shots because the AF is checking to many things. He suggested decreasing the sensitivity, which I did. When using the Zonal AF points, its a bit like watching a disco dance light machine the way the different squares keep tracking  the moving object. However, it does seem very efficient.

TTFN,
Neil

It's a shame they didn't fit the same AF to the 5D MkII, then again if they had they wouldn't have sold any 1Ds MkII's if they had...

But think of the number of 5DMKII's they would have sold

Serious blunder if you ask me...a pro tog will always want a pro lump for shutter life, build and options....but the advanced amateurs and second bodies....

I would not have even considered the D700 and would have bought the 5DMkII.

Canon blundered there big time.

Hi All,

Just found this one - check out the engine detail. I think this shows the power of the new Canon AF system that's in the EOS 7D.



TTFN,
Neil

looks fuzzy to me


lozza

You're getting old mate, you obviously need glasses.    

Congrats Neil. 

Hi loz,



I've got a spare pair of old glasses I can let you have 

TTFN,
Neil

Hi All,

Just found this one - check out the engine detail. I think this shows the power of the new Canon AF system that's in the EOS 7D.



TTFN,
Neil

Engine's fantastic but the camera missed the pilot Neil.

Stuey, old mate, I get enough earache from lozza. The pilot was so bloody cold he was hiding deep in the cockpit  I have mentioned it to Alan & next time there should be a pilot in place - I hope No pilot does spoil what is a bloomin' good model

TTFN,
Neil