Canon 7D Mk II is announced and available for pre-order (1 Viewer)

[John Oates]

The sun has vanished, so here is another high ISO shot in very dull conditions from me. It is at 10000.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnswildlifephotos/15582485918/

 

[stevo]

Another 48 shots this morning, bringing the count on this charge to 118 photos. Minimal replay, very little unnecessary focussing.

Remaining charge now 71%.

Makes me wonder about the fake/copy batteries that will certainly hit the shelves soon these batteries often last longer on a charge because of providing more mili amps than the makers battery.

Steve.:t:

 

[Barred Wobbler]

I wrote to Canon pointing out the poor battery performance last week and I received a most unsatisfactory reply, following which they passed the complaint on further.

I've just had another reply from them which I find almost laughable in its content. A quote below;

'The Canon EOS 7D MK II has several new technologies built in, also many new advanced technologies migrated from 1Dx. Due to this large number of upgrades the camera energy need has increased.

If you compare the screen resolution of the Canon EOS 7D - which has a 7.5cm screen with only 920K dots - to the Canon EOS 7D MKII - has 7.7cm screen with 1040K dots - you can see that the 7D MKII screen requires more battery consumption compare to the previous model. If you look at the focus system of the Canon EOS 7D MKII you will find many similarities to the 1Dx. This more advanced focus system requires more energy, what also decreases the life of the battery. Whilst the 1Dx battery capacity is 2.5 times bigger compare to the Canon EOS 7D MKII, you can still take 1000-1100 shoots on a 1Dx, whilst you can take approximately 600-660 shoots on the Canon EOS 7DMKII with a fully charged LP-E6N battery – with an LP-E6 battery this number will be even lower due to the capacity of the battery.

My advice would be to lower the brightness of the LCD screen and use a Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip enforced with a second LP-E6N battery for the better result. '

I've pointed out to them that it appears from what they say they have brought out a camera with a greater power demand than the one it replaced, but that the upgraded battery they've supplied for it isn't up to providing the power for a similar performance to the 7D.

I've also pointed out that their solution of reducing the screen brightness would have little effect, since (a) the screen is put to minimal use and (b) I'm using a 2 second image review time, as compared to the 4 second image review time I used with the 7D.

I've also pointed out that their claim to over 600 shots on a charge also seems questionable, since before the current spell of gloomy weather set in I have had 119 shots on a fully charged battery on a non-IS lens with minimal unnecessary focusing and one single flash actuation. My battery charge level is now 66%, which indicates that I'll get around 360 shots on a full charge - I'll find out when the sun comes out again.

I've also told them what I think of their 'solution' that I convert my new £1599 camera into a heavier and more cumbersome £1927 camera by spending an additional £79 on a battery and £249 on a battery grip.

 

[senatore]

The sun has vanished, so here is another high ISO shot in very dull conditions from me. It is at 10000.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnswildlifephotos/15582485918/

Great shot John considering the gloom and the high ISO you used.

I assume you were in the back gate coppice at Marsh Lane one of the gloomiest places to take a camera.My 7D would not have coped.

Max.

 

[John Oates]

Great shot John considering the gloom and the high ISO you used.

I assume you were in the back gate coppice at Marsh Lane one of the gloomiest places to take a camera.My 7D would not have coped.

Max.

Cheers Max. It was at the top of the causeway, near the stream. It was very gloomy.

 

[John Oates]

I wrote to Canon pointing out the poor battery performance last week and I received a most unsatisfactory reply, following which they passed the complaint on further.

I've just had another reply from them which I find almost laughable in its content. A quote below;

'The Canon EOS 7D MK II has several new technologies built in, also many new advanced technologies migrated from 1Dx. Due to this large number of upgrades the camera energy need has increased.

If you compare the screen resolution of the Canon EOS 7D - which has a 7.5cm screen with only 920K dots - to the Canon EOS 7D MKII - has 7.7cm screen with 1040K dots - you can see that the 7D MKII screen requires more battery consumption compare to the previous model. If you look at the focus system of the Canon EOS 7D MKII you will find many similarities to the 1Dx. This more advanced focus system requires more energy, what also decreases the life of the battery. Whilst the 1Dx battery capacity is 2.5 times bigger compare to the Canon EOS 7D MKII, you can still take 1000-1100 shoots on a 1Dx, whilst you can take approximately 600-660 shoots on the Canon EOS 7DMKII with a fully charged LP-E6N battery – with an LP-E6 battery this number will be even lower due to the capacity of the battery.

My advice would be to lower the brightness of the LCD screen and use a Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip enforced with a second LP-E6N battery for the better result. '

I've pointed out to them that it appears from what they say they have brought out a camera with a greater power demand than the one it replaced, but that the upgraded battery they've supplied for it isn't up to providing the power for a similar performance to the 7D.

I've also pointed out that their solution of reducing the screen brightness would have little effect, since (a) the screen is put to minimal use and (b) I'm using a 2 second image review time, as compared to the 4 second image review time I used with the 7D.

I've also pointed out that their claim to over 600 shots on a charge also seems questionable, since before the current spell of gloomy weather set in I have had 119 shots on a fully charged battery on a non-IS lens with minimal unnecessary focusing and one single flash actuation. My battery charge level is now 66%, which indicates that I'll get around 360 shots on a full charge - I'll find out when the sun comes out again.

I've also told them what I think of their 'solution' that I convert my new £1599 camera into a heavier and more cumbersome £1927 camera by spending an additional £79 on a battery and £249 on a battery grip.

I'm currently using the old 7D battery and it is telling me it has 43% charge left and I've taken 673 shots. I've also done a fair amount of going through the menus and focusing on stuff without taking photos with this charge. My GPS is set to off. It seems to be performing well. I'll check how the new battery performs and also one of non-Canon batteries....

 

[Barred Wobbler]

Additional info that comes to mind - I'm shooting in RAW + small JPG. I don't know if that has a bearing on usage, but I wouldn't have thought so..

 

[BodyResults]

Additional info that comes to mind - I'm shooting in RAW + small JPG. I don't know if that has a bearing on usage, but I wouldn't have thought so..

How many times have you depleted your battery and recharged it since you got it? Sometimes batteries take a few cycles to start holding their charge the expected amount of time.

On my second cycle of the batter I had 1 long session of shooting 131 photos, raw plus large jpgs. This was with the 600 f4 IS ii so image stabilization is active. Battery went from 100% to 90. For my style of shooting I expect to be able to shoot 1000 - 1200 shots on one charge.

Live view shooting I'm sure would greatly use a lot more battery reserves.

 

[stevo]

Lithium ion batteries don't need to be fully depleted in order to work properly.

Steve.

 

[KyleM]

That kinglet is pretty good for 10k iso, and as is the goldfinch. As far as kinglets being hard to get focus on, that is half the fun of the hyperactive buggers. Looks like a lot of improvement was made on the low light side from these gatherings, seeing 3-5k that would match 800-1200....

Battery side is interesting, I have 23% left and 1683 shutters on my mark 1 this charge... Anyone using it with no instant review of shots (I tend to cap a shot or 2, then initiate review myself, rinse repeat),

 

[BodyResults]

Barred Wobbler, any chance you are turning the camera on and off throughout the shooting period? My understanding is that uses a lot more power than the camera going to sleep and coming back on. I think most people turn it on when they go out to shoot and then turn it off when done instead of turning it off and on throughout the day in between shorting opportunities.

Just trying to trouble shoot what be be different in your situation. Possibly the batter is faulty you got. Have you tried any other batteries?

 

[Barred Wobbler]

No, I treat it just like I did my 7D, keeping it switched on throughout. I had no difficulty doing that with 7D. It's my normal practice to switch the camera on as soon as I leave the house and keep it that way, so if I come across a target it's ready to shoot. My preference is to shoot in Manual, so the camera should in theory have less work to do than in Av, although some shots have been taken in Auto ISO with Tv to test the system.

The only other difference in use is that I'm using a 2 second image review rather than the 4 seconds my 7D was set for. When I've finished this battery charge check (if the sun ever comes back out - heavy rain all day today following 5 days of cloud with more to come), I'll be doing away with the image review altogether to save power, but I don't want to change the settings in the middle of the assessment.

I don't use live view, only check the odd photo in playback for focus/lighting and my lens is non-IS.

I've used it with my old Canon 7D battery and a third party battery that I also used with my 7D - not impressed with any of them.

 

[redeyedvideo]

I've used it with my old Canon 7D battery and a third party battery that I also used with my 7D - not impressed with any of them.

Have you considered the possibility of a faulty charger or do you charge your old batteries with a different charger?

 

[tdodd]

£1,349 plus £9.99 delivery at Hdew including three years warranty....

http://www.hdewcameras.co.uk/canon-eos-7d-mk-ii-body-2679-p.asp

 

[Vespobuteo]

MkII looks pretty good to me, or whats your thoughts?

here is a side by side with 7d MK1, D7100 and Df,

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/ima...=1&x=-0.9277092319308934&y=0.5148612572913369

 

[eddy the eagle]

D7 MK 11 1200 pounds in Gibraltar.
D5 MK 111 1800 pounds in Gibraltar.

 

[johnf3f]

No, I treat it just like I did my 7D, keeping it switched on throughout. I had no difficulty doing that with 7D. It's my normal practice to switch the camera on as soon as I leave the house and keep it that way, so if I come across a target it's ready to shoot. My preference is to shoot in Manual, so the camera should in theory have less work to do than in Av, although some shots have been taken in Auto ISO with Tv to test the system.

The only other difference in use is that I'm using a 2 second image review rather than the 4 seconds my 7D was set for. When I've finished this battery charge check (if the sun ever comes back out - heavy rain all day today following 5 days of cloud with more to come), I'll be doing away with the image review altogether to save power, but I don't want to change the settings in the middle of the assessment.

I don't use live view, only check the odd photo in playback for focus/lighting and my lens is non-IS.

I've used it with my old Canon 7D battery and a third party battery that I also used with my 7D - not impressed with any of them.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the % charge remaining readings as these are fairly approximate. Lithium batteries have a pretty flat discharge curve so the voltage difference is quite small - hence the reading will only be approximate. Additionally the temperature has a big affect on these batteries.
Take a fully charged battery, don't let it get too cold, and the endurance should be OK. If it "Beeps" out before a decent number of shots then that is the time to complain.
I have found Canon battery life specs to be fairly conservative - however I don't have a 7D2!

 

[HokkaidoStu]

Well I've decided not to get stressed out by battery issues..................although after a full day's shooting it still reads 49% full.

Here are some high ISO shots from today. All ISO 1600 except for #3 which is ISO 3200. All lightly processed in DPP4 (with default Noise reduction dialled down a bit) and cropped/sharpened very lightly and resized in Photoshop.

 

[KyleM]

How was the 3200 (#3) no touchup / NR? I understand the untouched is technically meaningless but do enjoy objective comparison.

 

[HokkaidoStu]

How was the 3200 (#3) no touchup / NR? I understand the untouched is technically meaningless but do enjoy objective comparison.

I didn't do much postprocessing to be honest. The NR was the default setting in DPP. Luminance at 6 and Chrominace at 4. I dropped the latter to 3. It was in the standard picture style and I dialled back the default fineness (down from 4 to 3) setting in unsharp mask.

I didn't do any NR or selective sharpening in photoshop. I just exported the jpegs from DPP and resized them in photoshop, brightened them a little with the levels slider and just before I saved them I sharpened them very very lightly using smart sharpen (strength 100, radius 0.1 I think).

I don't know the DPP/Photoshop workflow that well and I'm sure I could have made the pics look better. Can't wait for Adobe to get off their a***s and update Lightroom. It'll save me a lot of faffing around.