Recent negative 7D threads

Have we come to the point where Canon has released a non-1D camera that is not for DSLR beginners? I can't help but wonder about this. There have been so many threads about AF issues, sharpness and noise about the 7D and more often than not it has been operator fault or pure ignorance.

The 7D is a big step up from the xxD bodies and really requires the photographer to understand what he/she is doing - in many ways it is an unforgiving camera. Underexpose your pic and you will have more noise than you are used to. Use the wrong settings for the AF and your pictures will come out blurred. Use a not-so-great lens and your IQ will suffer.

Should the advice for new or inexperienced DSLR users be - stay away from the 7D? What do you think?

Stay away? Heavens no.

More like be patient and actually read the manual. And when one's done reading the manual, come here and look at the 7D sticky and go through the links, the tips, the video tutorials.

I think some forget or simply assume that just because one pays $1700, doesn't mean the camera will take better photos for them.

I don't really think it's any different than any other camera. It's been like that since I joined. Every new camera brings on a few folks that have issues. Some are real and some are user error. It was like that with the 50, the 40, and even the 30.

I don't see the 7D being any different or harder to use. It's a step up from the 50D but it's not rocket science. It's also a very easy camera to shoot. I've taught my wife to put it in the green box and shoot away and she knows nothing about the camera of photography and she does just fine.

As far as I am concerned... IMHO some people here are used to being spoon fed on everything... that's why some of them whine over little issues which more often than not, can be solve rather easily if one is just serious enough to find the reason/concern of their complaints.

and even on issues which clearly needs better understanding by the user/buyer, they tend to blame the unit and or canon. thus causing a lot of these threads here lately.

We also can not prevent people from buying the 7D as their first DSLR, but I hope people who are buying DSLR would also care to learn and read much about the technique and hassles that comes with and not expect everything to be spoon fed to them.

jwcdds wrote in post #9786319
Stay away? Heavens no.

More like be patient and actually read the manual. And when one's done reading the manual, come here and look at the 7D sticky and go through the links, the tips, the video tutorials.

I think some forget or simply assume that just because one pays $1700, doesn't mean the camera will take better photos for them.

I think you hit the nail on the head. I've moved off on to subjects that I've never done before (birds) and have been learning about certain features and combinations of features that I had never really used before. With practice and lots of reading here my shots have improved tremendously. Still not on par with most of what is posted over in the birds photo sharing section but I'm working on it.

5Dmaniac wrote in post #9786293
Have we come to the point where Canon has released a non-1D camera that is not for DSLR beginners? I can't help but wonder about this. There have been so many threads about AF issues, sharpness and noise about the 7D and more often than not it has been operator fault or pure ignorance.

The 7D is a big step up from the xxD bodies and really requires the photographer to understand what he/she is doing - in many ways it is an unforgiving camera. Underexpose your pic and you will have more noise than you are used to. Use the wrong settings for the AF and your pictures will come out blurred. Use a not-so-great lens and your IQ will suffer.

Should the advice for new or inexperienced DSLR users be - stay away from the 7D? What do you think?

I think you are wrong.

Underexposing an image will always generate more noise. Using the wrong AF setting will always potentially generate blurry images. Use a not so great lens -- poor IQ.

Does some of the adjustability available to the AF system make it more likely that someone can go in the CF menus and set up a bad situation that yields few keeps? Sure, I could see that. But otherwise -- its a good camera that will take great pictures in the right hands.

It's all true what you guys have mentioned.

I just like to add, that many people still spend too much time pixel peeping (including me), what's worse, pixel peeping bad pictures while ignoring or missing the good samples here. Almost like they had selective vision only finding the bad, OOF, soft-due-to-lens etc. samples. I always say that in order to judge a camera (or a guitar, or a car, etc...) you have to look at the best performance achieved not the worst. If I gave my 4 year old nephew a Hasselblad, and judge the camera's IQ and performance by the pictures he takes with it... you know the rest.

I am a pixel peeper, but I also think whole image too and know how to interpret 100% crops. Some people forget that the 7D is 18mp. Sometimes they want to use the 7D as a telescope not as a camera. "I like to zoom in and see what else is in my picture..." and such comments. I admit I like my 7D because I take lots of nature photos and the 18mp sensor helps me, but it's not a telescope...
They forget that with great resolution comes great responsibility because you're not only magnifying image detail but image imperfections too. People who know this look at the 7D differently.

Hey I just took a couple stupid shots an hour ago and here are some 100% crops. I'm just posting these to counter one common complaint about the 7D, image softness. If my images come out softer than these crops, I know there is some factor in my picture taking process that causes it, most likely me, or my lens but it's not "bad pixels" in my 7D

I have lot more in the 7D 100% crops thread.

gabebalazs wrote in post #9786488
I am a pixel peeper, but I also think whole image too and know how to interpret 100% crops. Some people forget that the 7D is 18mp. Sometimes they want to use the 7D as a telescope not as a camera. "I like to zoom in and see what else is in my picture..." and such comments. I admit I like my 7D because I take lots of nature photos and the 18mp sensor helps me, but it's not a telescope...
They forget that with great resolution comes great responsibility because you're not only magnifying image detail but image imperfections too. People who know this look at the 7D differently.

Hey I just took a couple stupid shots an hour ago and here are some 100% crops. I'm just posting these to counter one common complaint about the 7D, image softness. If my images come out softer than these crops, I know there is some factor in my picture taking process that causes it, most likely me, or my lens but it's not "bad pixels" in my 7D

heheh spiderman!! but yes its true.. and many of those complaining here don't realize it

monk3y wrote in post #9786520
heheh spiderman!! but yes its true.. and many of those complaining here don't realize it

...and I just stopped my stop watch... I thought I'd measure how long it'd take before someone mentions Spiderman

I don't see the 7D as a hard camera to learn at all, on my very first shoot with it most of my photos were in focus and I got some fantastic shots. It really wasn't that much different when compared to how forgiving the 40D was for me, although that's just my experience with it. Here's a full resolution image from my first shoot with the camera, no sharpening and no editing, just a straight RAW to JPEG conversion using Lightroom 2.6.

If others didn't make those posts, which you all are complaining about here, you all would have nothing to complain about (and nothing to write/discuss/visit POTN for?).


:p

That_Fox wrote in post #9786688
Here's a full resolution image from my first shoot with the camera, no sharpening and no editing, just a straight RAW to JPEG conversion using Lightroom 2.6.

Amazing photo, Foxy

speedline_fc wrote in post #9786705
Amazing photo, Foxy

Thank you, I'm glad you like it

Poe wrote in post #9786702
If others didn't make those posts, which you all are complaining about here, you all would have nothing to complain about (and nothing to write/discuss/visit POTN for?).


:p

oh yeah I love it haha... its just a pity... I recently realized that around 1 in 20 or maybe 50 who buys a dslr really try to learn anything about it. most just use the green box and complain haha