For a long time with Canon, if you weren’t dropping nearly three grand on a 5D, you were stuck with a vastly lesser DSLR. The $1700 7D is Canon’s first semi-pro DSLR, and actually it’s my favorite yet.

What’s New and Dandy

What makes it my favorite 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 color 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 customizable, so it can be locked with different default focus points depending on whether you’re holding the camera horizontally and vertically orientations. 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 percent 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 color 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 12MP sensor that’s the same physical size (Update: For nitpickers, yes, Nikon’s DX format is marginally larger than Canon’s APS-C sensor, with the D300s’s sensor coming in at 23.6 x 15.8 mm to the 7D’s 22.3 x 14.9 mm.) The the D3 only goes for 12 megapixels on its bigger full-frame (35mm-equivalent) sensor. The 5D Mark II has a 21MP 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 onboard, 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 percent 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.

I’ve got two sample galleries—an array of sample shots, and then another directly comparing the 7D with the D300s in low light situations, using identical settings for photos. 100 percent zooms follow photos in both galleries. Or you can download full size photos from Flickr here and here.

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 legitimized 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 that 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 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 caliber—that is, it’s what you’d mostly expect from a DSLR that sits in between the lower end 50D and the higher end 5DMkII, 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 center.

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 $1700, or full bore to full-frame with the $2700 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 $1000 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

BTW, here are some Giz posts shot w/ the 7D:
• Motorola Droid Impressions
• Motorola Droid Review
• Blood Energy Potion Review
• BlackBerry Storm 2 Review
• S90 Review

Say what you will, but Canon‘s customer service / engineering department definitely looks out for consumers willing to spend just under two large on a new body. Merely days after the outfit made public that a “residual image phenomenon” was negatively impacting EOS 7D images under certain conditions, it has now published a firmware update to wipe all of those woes away. Firmware v1.1.0 specifically “corrects a phenomenon that in images captured by continuous shooting, and under certain conditions, barely noticeable traces of the immediately preceding frame may be visible.” Hit the read link if you’re looking to put said phenomenon to bed. Or don’t. We don’t care.

[Via CNET]

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Canon EOS 7D firmware update cures ‘residual image’ phenomenon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already seen some sample footage from Canon’s new professional EOS-1D Mark IV DSLR (and should be seeing plenty more come December), but a pre-production version of the camera has now turned up at the Canon Pro Photo Solutions 09 show in London, and TrustedReviews managed to get an early hands-on with it. As you might expect, the camera definitely seems to impress in person, with the 1.2 kilogram body providing a feeling of “solid reliability and competence,” while its ergonomics also apparently represent a more subtle but welcome improvement over previous Canon offerings. Unfortunately, the folks at TrustedReviews weren’t able to share any sample shots, but they did get a chance to try out the camera’s 45-point autofocus system, which is said to be “extremely fast,” and its tracking function reportedly had no trouble focusing even in dark, low contrast situations with a 400mm telephoto lens. Hit up the link below for a few more hands-on shots and impressions.

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV lands for a pre-production hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a news flash: Cell-phone cameras be damned, because a significant segment of the population is actually prioritizing sharp, well-exposed images over ultimate convenience. Since the introduction of the first Canon Digital Rebel in 2003, this quality-conscious segment has been turning to interchangeable-lens digital SLRs (DSLRs) to take the best possible photos.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, we saw a similar movement, as more and more consumers purchased film SLRs. However, as small auto-everything 35mm point-and-shoot cameras began to be able to create SLR-like images, SLR sales dwindled. We’re on the precipice of the same thing happening in the digital world. Consumer DSLRs are going down.

It’s fat. It’s $500. It takes fantastic photographs.

The G11 is Canon’s top-of-the-line point-and-shoot. It occupies a sorta strange spot, towering over the average point-and-shoot in basically every metric—image quality, size, weight and price—but sits just below entry-level DSLRs and more recently, micro four thirds cameras.

So, there are two ways to look at the G11: It’s an amazing street camera. More discreet than a DSLR, but more powerful than a run-of-the-mill point-and-shoot. You can’t stuff it in your jeans pocket, but that’s fine, because you want to sling it over your shoulder anyways. The other way is that you can buy a more versatile entry-level DSLR that’s not much larger for around the same price, especially if you step back a generation or so.

It’s all about your priorities.

H-h-h-h-hardware

Everything about this camera is just—solid. The full-metal jacket makes it feel indestructible, while the shape evokes the classic cameras you feel like you’re supposed to be taking photos with. It’s thick, remarkably so, in part because of the flip-out swivel LCD screen. And it’s definitely more along the lines of a rangefinder-style camera than a typical point-and-shoot.

The real magic of this camera lies in the dedicated control dials. You’ll fine three on top—exposure compensation, ISO speed, and shooting mode. They feel cramped and tiny, at first, but the snap they make as as you rotate them is surprisingly deep and satisfying. Having these settings at your fingers at all times is so much of why the G11 feels like a camera that’s a step above point-and-shoots, a tool for creating photographs.

The back dial is the most frustrating part of controlling the camera—a ring surrounds a four-way d-pad with a button in the center. Ultimately, you wind up pressing buttons on the d-pad when you’re trying to rotate the dial to adjust shutter speed or aperture, or simply pressing the wrong button because it’s so small. The menu system, otherwise, is a pretty standard Canon setup, which looks a lot like the G10’s—it’s not dead simple, but it’s not overly complicated either, and a couple minutes of fiddling will reveal all of its secrets.

The viewfinder is utterly depressing. I want to use it, badly. It just feels intrinsically wrong to hold a camera of this caliber out in front of me to shoot, not up to my eyeball. Meanwhile, the G11’s viewfinder is so small, and the coverage is so bad (you can see the lens through it!), that it’s nigh useless, like trying to compose through a pinhole.

One of the shooting modes, quickshot, sounds like a good idea on paper, but is ruined by this viewfinder. The camera constantly adjusts parameters while waiting for you to take the photo, so you can fire off instantly without worrying about missing the shot. Unfortunately, you have to use the minuscule viewfinder in quickshot, and I wound up botching far more photos than I did nailing them.

So, you’re pretty trapped to using the decent flip-out swivel LCD display. Honestly, I probably would’ve preferred the static-but-larger 3-inch version on the G10, to the 2.8-inch, 461,000-dot display on the G11.

The LCD is really bright, though, and perfectly usable in direct sunlight, with a wide viewing angle to boot. But the video feed is not quite crisp enough on it to use it for manual focusing—in this mode, a zoomed in box appears in the center of the display as you spin the back dial to bring it into focus. The experience of focusing becomes a bad iPhone game.

Can we talk about the photos please?

With the G11, Canon pulled the bold maneuver of cutting megapixels—to 10, from 14 on the G10—in order to get better quality and low-light performance. It was the right move. Low-light images are definitely improved, and more detail is preserved up through ISO 800. Shots at ISO 1600 are definitely usable at web resolutions, which is pretty impressive for a compact camera. You should stay away from the special “low light” shooting mode, though, which cuts the size of pictures in half to try to extract every ounce of light possible—it produced uniformly bad pictures.

The G11 has a wide-angle zoom lens with the same basic specs as the G10, starting at 28mm and going up to 140mm, which is versatile enough to shoot just about anything you’d want. I’m not sure, however, if it corrects some of the problems at the wide-end with the macro mode, though, since I didn’t have a G10 to compare it with.

The runthrough of the ISO range goes a couple ways—on programmed auto, letting the camera figure out what to make of the ISO setting I picked, and then another set where I dictated shutter speed, so you can see how much you gain (or lose, depending on your point of view) as you ratchet up the ISO setting.

Like past G series cameras, you can shoot in RAW, but if you do, you’re stuck with using Canon’s software to process it for the time being. In the full sample gallery above, I’ve marked the handful shot in RAW.

In a world where phones and gadgets the size of a jumbo pack of Juicy Fruit shoot 720p, the fact that video’s limited to 640×480 resolution on such a stacked camera gets a big frowny face. But, the video the G11 produces at that resolution is generally excellent (just compare to the video-shootin’ iPod nano). That’s because it’s packed with data—the bitrate averages around 10Mbps, which is more than the Flip Mino HD, at 9Mbps for 720p video. That’s why it looks so vibrant compared to a lot of the 720p video out there. Sure, 720p out of this would be nice, but I’d take VGA video that looks great over HD video that looks like crap.

Okay, but do I buy it?

I like this camera a lot. It’s what I’d reach for whenever I wouldn’t feel like tugging along a honkin’ DSLR, and I’d feel like I wasn’t sacrificing too much. The real question, I think, it how it stacks up against Panasonic’s Lumix LX3, which is in the same demographic—a lauded $500 point-and-shoot—and outgunned the G10 in many respects (though the G10 tried to cram 14 megapixels onto the same-sized sensor the G11 only squeezes 10 megapixels onto). The slightly cheaper S90 offers the same sensor as the G11 as well, and inside of a pocketable body—though you lose perks like the dedicated control dials and a viewfinder, as far as that’s a perk on the G11.

If you do buy the G11, you won’t regret it—you’ll be too busy taking pictures.

Photographs are top-notch for a compact camera


Solid low-light performance


Built to smash into people’s spaces and live to smash again


It’s huge


The viewfinder is basically useless

[Canon]