7D to 7D II. Real world experiences.

I have been shooting a couple 7D's over the last years with nice results. Since acquiring a 5D Mark III last year, the old 7D's have not seen much action, even shooting sports.
With the Mark III's higher and cleaner ISO capability and clean file, I have learned to adapt to the slightly slower Frame rate compared to the trusty 7D. The reach of the 1.6 certainly has it's pluses and minuses.
Now with the release of the 7D Mark II, I would love feedback from those with the original 7D who have made the upgrade.
Thanks.

Not to many are around that can provide that feedback
We shall have to wait few more weeks

Nick5 wrote in post #17304641
I have been shooting a couple 7D's over the last years with nice results. Since acquiring a 5D Mark III last year, the old 7D's have not seen much action, even shooting sports.
With the Mark III's higher and cleaner ISO capability and clean file, I have learned to adapt to the slightly slower Frame rate compared to the trusty 7D. The reach of the 1.6 certainly has it's pluses and minuses.
Now with the release of the 7D Mark II, I would love feedback from those with the original 7D who have made the upgrade.
Thanks.

It seems the basic consensus is as such, based on my involvement in many threads, as well as Clarkvision research, and my own raw analysis.

- The JPG out of camera is much, much better (of course, as Canon finally upgraded their very old JPG and NR engine some time back after the 7D)
- The Raw is about 2/3 better, especially at the higher ISO, if you consider both the amount of detail left and lack of pushed shadow noise when compared to the 7D.
- The 7D2 has the lowest shadow read noise of ANY Canon camera at this point, including the 1DX and 6D, making it the best astrophotographical tool to date in the Canon lineup.
- The AF system takes some getting used to, and there may be some copies with issues that require Canon's attention, but it is not model-wide.
- It is the best sealed APS-C (and perhaps APS-H) body to date.

I agree with TeamSpeed's observations. The 7DII is superior to the original in a number of significant respects, and is almost certainly overall the best crop sensor camera currently available, regardless of brand.

I recently upgraded from the 7D to the 7DII and so far I'm liking it a lot. So far the positives include:

Way less noise, close to 5DIII in some cases
My 100-400mm seems better, my 7D hated it
10 fps
Feels very much like my 5D III when in my hand
Focus speed and accuracy are excellent

Negatives:

GPS is active even when the camera is switched off if enabled

All in all very happy with it

I liked my 7D a lot when it was new. It was a heck of a jump up from my 30D. From the start, I realized it was pretty much limited to ISO 800 and below. That said, then I also purchased the 5D MkIII. )ver time, I noted that the 'feel' of the detail of the 5D MkIII images was far superior. Not really noise, just transition between pixels and colors.

Now I also have the 7D MkII. ISO 1600 is no problem. While probably not equal to my 5D MkIII in image quality, it's very close. More importantly, the new focusing system blows away my 5D MkIII which blew away my 7D, which blew away my 30D. There is just no going back to my 7D. I have it out in my truck with a basic lens in case I see something while driving down the road. .... but if I'm planning to go out and shoot, I'll only be taking the 7D MkII and the 5D MkIII>

I found myself shooting alongside a Pro recently who had a 7D2 on trial from Canon. Also like many others I have been reading a lot about this camera.
Anyway I got the chance to have a brief discussion with him about his camera. Overall he was quite impressed with the 7D2 and rated it as the best APSC camera (Sports/wildlife) that Canon have yet made. Here in the UK the 7D2 is not much, if any cheaper, than a decent used 1D4 I asked him how they compare (his normal cameras are a 1D4 and 1DX) - he immediately said to get the 1D4 as he rated it slightly better is pretty much all respects.
The above is his opinion, not mine as I haven't used a 7D2 enough to say any more than I rather liked it.
You mention the extra reach, well there is more reach - but not much and certainly not as much as the 1.6 crop factor would suggest, and the high ISO performance is not as good as your 5D3.
If you are looking at something faster than your 5D3 and have the funds for a 7D2, might you be better off selling your 5D3 and combining your funds to get a 1DX new or used?

P.S. I forgot to mention that when the light started failing he started packing away his gear (7D2 + 200-400 F4 L IS) whilst I was still quite happy at F8 on my 800mm F5.6 L IS and 1DX. So I think the densely packed sensor may not give the ISO that some of us want - just food for thought.

Andy Rouse (a very well known UK pro) has been posting some very complimentary comments on the 7D2 and the 100-400 Mk2. Have a look at his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.c​om …610698753/?type​=1&theater

Or his mini review here:
http://www.foto-buzz.com …page&id=77&type​=fotoskool

Hope this helps.

I upgraded from the 7D to the 7DII and will echo the positive comments from buddy4344, stevet20, etc. A significant improvement over the 7D! The 7DII is a game changer at its price point IMO.

It gave me the two things I wanted. Lighting fast AF acquisition and a high ISO improvement.

A few other things. Finally Canon gave me an option to program alternate buttons to switch from one shot to AI Servo instead of the DOF button. Wish my 5D3 had that as I could use it more on that body. The Q button is in the same location as my 5D3 so that makes it convenient if you are flipping between two cams. The new AF mode select lever is handy. The 65 AF points and a nice surprise that it will AF at f8 now.

A fellow made list at DPreview.

New autofocus working up to -3 EV
New autofocus working with lens+TC combinations up to f/8
New autofocus with metering integration iTR (like 1DX)
New autofocus with 65 cross type AF points spread much wider than original 7D.
New autofocus algorithm with easier configuration and more reliable tracking..
New 150,000 pixel metering sensor with full color capture - thus metering more precise.
10 fps (configurable freely between 2 and 10 fps)
Dual card slots
improved viewfinder with exchangable focusing screen
flicker synchronization for shooting action under artificial light
better weather sealing (4 times better than original 7D - verified by http://www.lensrentals​.com …1/cracking-open-the-7d-ii )
video up to 1080/60p, clean HDMI out
headphone jack for video audio control
video autofocus via DPAF
improved customization of buttons and dials.
shorter shutter delay
shorter viewfinder blackout time
shutter now rated to 200,000 actuations
new AF mode select lever around joystick.
exposure compensation in M mode with auto ISO.
configurable shutter speed/auto ISO interaction including the ability to modify the classical 1/FL rule governing the shutter speed in aperture priority.
GPS
improved ISO noise at all ISO levels
Eye-Fi compatibility
ability to drive selected lenses at double the normal speed during the 1st second of focus acquisition.
2-way level with separate display overlay in the viewfinder (without abusing the AF point display thus visible even when focusing).

I upgraded a few weeks ago and am loving the 7d2. I've shot two rugby games so far and have found the following:

AF system is far far better. once it locks on the keeper rate is much higher. It took me a while to get used to it (so it would lock on and track properly; I'm now mostly using case 4 with tracking at -1), but shot a game last Sunday and had a keeper rate of about 80%.

10FPS means little or no action is missed.

NR on jpgs is fantastic. I was shooting with a 70-200L 2.8 IS with a 1.4 II extender at 1/1000 and f4 with auto ISO +1/3. It was a grim day last weekend, and as the light faded the ISO was getting up over 10,000 and I have plenty of usable shots which are perfectly acceptable printed at 10x8.

RAW files have less noise and no banding so it's easier to get rid of.

I've seen criticisms of battery life but in real world scenarios I'm shooting up to 1,000 shots and having 50% or more left. This includes GPS on and updating every 5 minutes. No review time.

Some of the little features make me love this camera even more. In walk around mode I generally use Av, single shot, single point; the ability to use the AF-On button to switch to AF Servo with Zone AF is so handy to have. The flash popup button also brings up the flash control menu (I use the built in flash as a remote). Multiple My Menu tabs. The list goes on.

I'm tempted now to update my 70-200 to the MkII, but will probably go for the new 100-400 first as I am reach limited once the action is down the far end of the field.

Longtime 7D user here, rented 7D2 for a week. Agree with TeamSpeed.

Took about 1000 RAW images, primarily birding and indoor sports ( gymnastics ). 7D2 is superior to 7D in all aspects; high ISO ( about 2/3s f-stop ), AF in good and low light, flexibility of AF system, etc. Silent shutter mode is really nice for wildlife work, focus at f/8 is really nice as well ( using a 300 f/4L with a 2X converter is actually possible now in the Northeastern US in the winter!). Anti-flicker mode is really nice for indoor sports in the usual badly lit HS facilities.

Really hated shipping the camera back, was sorely tempted to purchase on the spot, had to make myself quit comparing images shot under similar conditions with my 7D.

I have used a 7D for sports for several years. I purchased the 7D II and am very pleased with it so far.

I can't add much to what has been already said. But I used both the 7D and 7D II at a basketball game a week or so ago. A few things that I knew but definitely was evident using them side by side. First, I didn't realize how much faster the AF at acquiring focus of the 7D II was over the 7D until I was using both. Basketball can be a fast moving sport and I got shots with the 7D II that I would have missed with the 7D.

Another thing, I didn't realize how loud the shutter of the 7D was until I was using them side by side. Of course, the FPS is faster.

There is a lot of other things but that was the ones that were most noticeable for me.


Doc

I've read thru most of this thread. Am I understanding this correctly....There is NO banding noise in RAW files when shadows are pushed?

ptcanon3ti wrote in post #17307970
I've read thru most of this thread. Am I understanding this correctly....There is NO banding noise in RAW files when shadows are pushed?

Read this, it sounds promising, and others seemed to have seen no banding as well.

http://www.clarkvision​.com …ws/evaluation-canon-7dii/