What’s New and Dandy

What makes it my favourite Canon so far is actually everything that’s completely new to Canon — DP Review has a nice summary here in pictures. But in short, while this might sound weird, it shoots more like a Nikon than any Canon DSLR I’ve used. This is primarily because of the new 19-point autofocus system and the colour-metering system that goes with it. You’re able to select AF zones — clusters of AF points — while in the past with Canon you’ve been limited to a full AF blast or picking out a single point. The system is also more customisable, so it can be locked with different default focus points depending on whether you’re holding the camera horizontally or vertically. Against Nikon’s D300s, Canon’s new AF system mostly kept up and definitely performs better than autofocus on the 5D Mark II.

The new viewfinder now provides 100 per cent coverage, unlike previous Canons in this range, and it uses a new polymer LCD network for the graphical overlay to display AF points, grids and other displays, so it’s more flexible and feels more fluid. (It also just looks swankier, and again, more Nikon-like.) Your other viewfinder (when you’re shooting video, anyway), the LCD screen, is a 3-inch, 920k dot display like the 5D Mark II and it’s still excellent, with a wide viewing angle, nice colour and the right amount of crispness.

Sensor and Image Quality

Truthfully, I’ve been mildly surprised at the quality of photos that’ve come out of the 7D, which uses an absolutely stuffed 18-megapixel, APS-C sized sensor. (So there is a 1.6x crop factor.) For comparison, the D300s has a 12-megapixel sensor that’s the same physical size, while the D3 only goes for 12 megapixels on its bigger full-frame (35mm-equivalent) sensor. The 5D Mark II has a 21-megapixel full-frame sensor. And typically, the more pixels you try to cram on a sensor of a given size, the more the image quality degrades, especially when it comes to low light, high ISO shots.

I was expecting a noisefest, or at best, seriously noticeable noise reduction employed by the camera’s software. It is clear that Canon’s using incredibly sophisticated noise reduction algorithms with the dual Digic IV processors on board, though the effects are less drastic than I expected. It’s most apparent, actually, when you directly compare photos taken with the D300s. Looking at photos taken with the 7D and D300s at 100 per cent crops, the D300s’s images are noisier, but they also preserve more detail. For web-sized images, the 7D’s images look better, with less noise and more smoothness.

Video

You can get sense of Canon and Nikon’s philosophical differences with the difference in their buttons for video: Canon makes a distinction between Live View and video mode, while Nikon is ready to start shooting video as soon you tap the live view button on the D300s. Creating video is a separate, dedicated event for Canon, in other words, and there is a semi-serious video camera that happens to be built into a DSLR. Nikon’s D300s, on the other hand, is a DSLR that happens to shoot video.

With video, the 7D simply has the upper hand — video is very much a legitimised use of this camera, not a secondary one like the D300s. (As expected from a company with an entire wing dedicated to camcorders for pros and consumers.) Not only does it have full manual controls, I find that it’s slightly easier to use the D300s while shooting video — not to mention the whole shooting in a real video codec at 1080p, yadda yadda. Three clips here: A melange of video above, and then by two videos, one from the 7D, one of the D300s, that mirror each other. Both were shot at ISO 6400, and you should be able to catch them at full res if you click over to Vimeo.

Build and Controls

The 7D is heavy, heavier than the 5D, but it’s also slightly sturdier, with a build quality and weatherproofing that’s slightly in between the 5D and Canon’s definitely pro 1D. It feels about the same in your hand, though. And it’s roughly comparable to the D300s.

Controls aren’t radically different from other Canon DSLRs of this calibre — that is, it’s what you’d mostly expect from a DSLR that sits in between the lower end 50D and the higher end 5D MK II, though it’s a bit closer to the latter. While the menu system feels completely unchanged — leaving more advanced features, like the orientation autofocus a bit inscrutable — a few things are new on the outside: The power switch is up on the top left, under the mode dial; there’s a dedicated button for switching to RAW/JPEG; a quick action button; and a new toggle switch for Live View and video, which you engage by pressing a start button in the centre.

You Already Know If You’re Going to Buy This

The real question for Canon users who want something more than the lower end 50D is whether they go for the 7D, at $US1700, or full bore to full-frame with the $US2700 5D Mark II. The 7D has a 1.6x crop factor which is useful for sports, a better autofocusing system, shoots faster, is slightly more rugged, and is $US1000 cheaper. The 5D is full frame — which I suspect is the real consideration for folks — and takes slightly better photos at higher resolutions.

Obviously, if you’re locked into Nikon, with thousands of dollars in lenses, you’re not going to jump to Canon, or vice versa. But Canon’s dedication to DSLR video is proving formidable in carving out a new kind of market that Nikon might have some trouble competing in, since they’re a dedicated still-camera company, not a video company, too, like Canon. Really, both the D300s and 7D deliver for the money, though I think the 7D delivers more, since it’s packed full of newer technology and for the people who want it, the video component is truly killer. Either way, it’s proof that competition is good — it clearly wouldn’t exist without the D300, and the D400 will be that much better because of it.

New 19-point autofocus and metering systems plus the new viewfinder rock

Excellent 1080p video with full manual controls

Not full-frame, which might put off some people

I’d like a secondary SD card slot, like the D300s

Noise reduction can get pretty aggressive at higher ISO speeds, obscuring detail

The 7D feels like Canon took the results of a survey they handed out to people about what they wanted in a camera and crammed ‘em all into one product targeted at semi-pros. Full HD video with manual exposure in 24, 25 or 30 frames per second, check. More rugged, weatherproof body than 5D, check. Customisable buttons, including a new multifunction button, check. A dedicated button for switching to RAW+JPEG mode. Um, check. Electronic axis level? Also check. It has dual DIGIC IV image processors, the first model outside of the pro 1Ds line with dual image processors for fast burst shooting: 8FPS with 94-shot JPEG bursts (124 with UDMA card) or 15 RAW shots, all at full resolution with 14-bit A/D conversion.

But, it’s not full-frame: They’ve crammed 18 megapixels into an APS-C-sized sensor (like in the Rebel series or 50D, versus full-frame in the 5D) with an ISO range from 100-6400, and a Hi setting of 12,800. Canon says they’ve shortened the distance between the photodiodes in the sensor, which decreases light falloff, supposedly translating into better high ISO performance.

We got to shoot with a beta pre-production model for a little while in midtown using a couple of Canon’s new EF-S lenses—a 15-85mm ($US800, coming in October) that’s replacing the old 17-85mm, and a 100mm macro lens ($US1050, out in September)—so you can see some of the low-light results, along with other samples, below. (Again, Canon would like us to reiterate that the pictures are from a pre-production sample, i.e. not final product.)

Video
It might just be the best video on a DSLR yet: Manual exposure from the get-go, and oh yeah, the ability to shoot 1080p video at 30, 24 or 25 frames per second. If you cut it to 720p, you can shoot up to 60FPS. Also, video is encoded using H.264 now. There’s a dedicated switch to flip from shooting stills to video that encircles a start/stop button for recording, so it’s much easier to get right to shooting video than the 5D. You can see some sample videos below:

Everything Else
Okay, so what else? Focusing system has 19 cross-type points, with a new way to focus in addition to the usual full-blast autofocus vs. single-point—zones, which are clusters of points. You can also lock different default focus points for horizontal and vertical orientations, so you can turn the camera back and worth without having to repick your focus point. (Setting it up is a little confusing—even the Canon rep took a minute to make it happen.) AI servo focus is supposedly smarter, so it tracks moving objects better, and it works with a new light-source detection system that adjusts for flickering light. (We didn’t get a chance to check that out.)

The viewfinder provides 100 per cent coverage, like the 1Ds, and it uses a new polymer LCD network with a different graphics overlay than the 5D—that’s a lot like what Nikon’s got in the D300, actually—so it can do things like display the neat new 3D-axis electronic level in the viewfinder (which feels like an iPhone tilt game from hell if you’re holding the camera by hand trying to level it on both axes). In a first for Canon, the built-in, wide-coverage flash can command other wireless flash modules.

Oh, did I mention a ton of new buttons? Seriously: A dedicated RAW+JPEG button that’ll shoot your next shot in RAW+JPEG if you’re only shooting one at the moment. A new start/stop live view button with a control ring to quickly switch from live view to video mode. There’s also a new multi-function button on the top right. Aaand another for the custom controls menu, where you can assign different features to different buttons if you want.

Honestly, a lot of the deep customisation and new interface commands were confusing, at least in the short time I spent with the camera—like setting different autofocus points for whether you’re holding the camera vertically or horizontally. There was some other shortcut that required pressing and holding two buttons at once on the camera. And I never quite understood how to use the multifunction button or pick what graphical display showed up in my viewfinder. I think you would learn a lot of that stuff in time, though. In terms of overall handfeel, I slightly the ergonomics and weight of the D300, FWIW.

Final Thoughts
While we can’t give any final judgements on this in some ways odd camera until we get a review unit, one thing seems certain: The value proposition for Nikon’s $US1800 D300s—which might’ve already seemed dicey, given that it’s the guts of a two-year-old camera with a dash of limited 720p video—just got a lot less enticing, simply on account of the 7D’s fairly wide video powers. That’s before you even take anything else into consideration, like more pixels for more crop potential (if the pixels are good ones, that is). Obviously, we’ll be head-to-heading these two as soon as we can. Which should be shortly, since the 7D is due by the end of next month, at $US1900 for the kit with an 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, or $US1700 body only.

AU: Local pricing is still TBC for the camera and the new lenses, unfortunately. –NB

It’ll have a 18MP sensor (which is kind of overkill), dual DIGIC 4 processors, ISO from 100 to 6400 (and some crazy 12800 mode), a 3-inch LCD in addition to the 100 per cent coverage viewfinder and of course HD video capabilities like its siblings. It looks like it’ll compete most directly with the king of prosumer DSLRs, the Nikon D300s. Past rumours have suggested it’ll cost around $US2700, but we’ll wait and see: We wouldn’t be surprised if it was actually a lot less. [Engadget]

This isn’t the first time we’ve been teased with glimpses of the 7D, but now we at least have details on the lenses which are a EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens and a longer EF-S 18-135m f/3.5-5.6 IS [canonrumors via Engadget]