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

[Roy C]

Enjoying this thread so far, still haven't dived in yet, Im after 7D ll and 100 - 400 ll.

Can someone advise me if prices might fall on 7D and lens? or will they remain around the same price as current?

They probably will not drop while sales are high. You can already get substantial discounts if you buy from a grey importer like HDEW or Panamoz. Many people on this forum have used both these and had good experiences and they both give a three year guarantee (as opposed to 1 year from a Canon UK dealer).

 

[Roy C]

Hallo Roy
A stupid question..... why do the various companies provide expensive BIF modes on their lenses? Is it simply a sales stunt or do they really believe there is merit in the idea? This could be the start of another conspiracy theory!

Colin

Colin, as I stated in my original post on the subject " Using mode 2 for panning a bird flying horizontally in front of you can stabilise vertical shake and ignore any other movement" but remember this is only applicable to panning and you must use mode 2. Canon themselves advocate that if you want the fastest AF speed you should turn IS off.
Another thing to remember is that the post about certain people using IS mode 2 for BIF was pertaining to big supertele lenses where hand holding is much more difficult - for little lightweight lenses like the 100-400 you should be able to handhold easy enough and providing you have an adequate shutter speed sharp images should be no problem.
It is entirely up to the individual as to using IS for BIF but with a little lens like the 100-400 or even the 300/2.8 that I had I would most certainly switch IS off because I want the fastest possible AF speed.

 

[colincurry]

Canon 7D and 100-400 Mk1

Colin, as I stated in my original post on the subject " Using mode 2 for panning a bird flying horizontally in front of you can stabilise vertical shake and ignore any other movement" but remember this is only applicable to panning and you must use mode 2. Canon themselves advocate that if you want the fastest AF speed you should turn IS off.
Another thing to remember is that the post about certain people using IS mode 2 for BIF was pertaining to big supertele lenses where hand holding is much more difficult - for little lightweight lenses like the 100-400 you should be able to handhold easy enough and providing you have an adequate shutter speed sharp images should be no problem.
It is entirely up to the individual as to using IS for BIF but with a little lens like the 100-400 or even the 300/2.8 that I had I would most certainly switch IS off because I want the fastest possible AF speed.

Hallo Roy

I hear what you say. I have already switched to IS mode 2 for BIF.

Firstly, I used this with the Mk3 1.4 tc attached. The results were OK. AF was pretty quick but I think that I have been spoilt by the sharpness with the naked 100-400 Mk2. Whilst the snaps were adequate, I think that I am probably better off cropping from the bare lens. Although I have a tripod and monopod, I am not really a hide bloke as I like to walk around and am not really happy with a long period in a hide and possibly surrounded by others. I do like people but I prefer my birding, not necessarily alone, but relatively quietly. I am not really a miserable old beggar, honest.

Then I again tried the tc on birds in a bush and was much more happy with results. I think the tc will be a handy tool to carry with me should the need arise rather than as a permanent fixture on the camera.

Yesterday, from the garden, I tried BIF with the IS switched off. I could not determine that the AF was any faster than with it switched on. Probably me but I thought that MY results were not so good as with the IS switched on. I note what you say about 'big super teles' but the slightly heavier Mk2 100-400 is as much as I want to tote for five miles and still use with a degree of comfort. I need all the help I can get! It's alright for you youngsters. To echo a point made in a previous post, to keep switching the IS on and off is OK if you remember which setting you currently have. To check the IS status takes time in itself and could easily result in a missed opportunity however the fast the AF is supposed to be - how many times have I rued using the wrong settings for a shot without adding to the variables and confusion.

I did have chance to test the MFD and was pleased to get sharp snaps of a bumblebee on the garage wall. My Mk1 combo was great for dragonflies and butterflies that were not within macro range - most of them, in my experience.

I will try and post a very few illustrative shots but I still have to change image sizes.

Colin

 

[colincurry]

PS I have not consider micro adjusting for the 100-400 and tc at this stage.

Anyone with any experience of this with suggestions, please?

Colin

 

[hampers]

irstly, I used this with the Mk3 1.4 tc attached. The results were OK. AF was pretty quick but I think that I have been spoilt by the sharpness with the naked 100-400 Mk2. Whilst the snaps were adequate, I think that I am probably better off cropping from the bare lens.

I am coming to the same conclusion with the 400 f5.6 and 1.4. Think cropping will be better than lens plus 1.4. Need to do some more testing to ascertain validity of this. Bare 400 on body is superb, need to see same results with 2.4 before I am convinced. Def good combo for good record shots using the 1.4.

Phil

 

[Roy C]

Hallo Roy

I hear what you say. I have already switched to IS mode 2 for BIF.

Firstly, I used this with the Mk3 1.4 tc attached. The results were OK. AF was pretty quick but I think that I have been spoilt by the sharpness with the naked 100-400 Mk2. Whilst the snaps were adequate, I think that I am probably better off cropping from the bare lens. Although I have a tripod and monopod, I am not really a hide bloke as I like to walk around and am not really happy with a long period in a hide and possibly surrounded by others. I do like people but I prefer my birding, not necessarily alone, but relatively quietly. I am not really a miserable old beggar, honest.

Then I again tried the tc on birds in a bush and was much more happy with results. I think the tc will be a handy tool to carry with me should the need arise rather than as a permanent fixture on the camera.

Yesterday, from the garden, I tried BIF with the IS switched off. I could not determine that the AF was any faster than with it switched on. Probably me but I thought that MY results were not so good as with the IS switched on. I note what you say about 'big super teles' but the slightly heavier Mk2 100-400 is as much as I want to tote for five miles and still use with a degree of comfort. I need all the help I can get! It's alright for you youngsters. To echo a point made in a previous post, to keep switching the IS on and off is OK if you remember which setting you currently have. To check the IS status takes time in itself and could easily result in a missed opportunity however the fast the AF is supposed to be - how many times have I rued using the wrong settings for a shot without adding to the variables and confusion.

I did have chance to test the MFD and was pleased to get sharp snaps of a bumblebee on the garage wall. My Mk1 combo was great for dragonflies and butterflies that were not within macro range - most of them, in my experience.

I will try and post a very few illustrative shots but I still have to change image sizes.

Colin

I was just answering a query that you addressed to me Colin e.g."A stupid question..... why do the various companies provide expensive BIF modes on their lenses? Is it simply a sales stunt or do they really believe there is merit in the idea? This could be the start of another conspiracy theory"

As I had already explained to you about the Panning mode I was surprised that you even asked me this!!!!! but I thought it only decent to answer your query - seems like I would have been better off just ignoring you

My remark about the big super teles was just to illustrate that using mode 2 for panning was much more relevant to big lenses as opposed to small lenses like the 100-400. It is used by some (not many IMO) to aid in keeping the bird 'locked on'.
The fact that you do not want anything heavier than the 100-400 is fine but nothing whatsoever to do with anything I have said so not even sure why you bothered to bring it up.

BTW I have NEVER shot from a hide - in fact I have never even been on a managed reserve to view birds let alone photograph them (the nearest managed reserve to me is over 40 miles away and I would never go that far just to take some bird pics that's for sure).

With regards to having to remember to switch to IS on and off would not the same thing apply to having to remember to keep switching between mode 2 and mode 1 ??????

Not sure why you said this to me "It's alright for you youngsters" I am well past my 'three score years and ten' and have all but given up bird photography as I am no longer fit enough to do a lot of walking.

My last word on this subject is that if you cannot get decent BIF shots with IS switched off then I would suggest that there is something well wrong with your technique.

I will now bow out gracefully from this thread as you seem to take issue with all the friendly advice I am offering. Good snapping Colin.

 

[a_j_steele]

Thinking about dipping into MK2 soonas the grey prices are around my price point but upgrading from a 50D iam sure my battery won't fit it so with the steep cost of spares can anyone suggestion some good 3rd party battery or is just get hit on the price and buying the full cannon ones

 

[dabut101]

i have 4 third party batts and they are 2100mah so better than original of 1850 mah and a fraction of the price

 

[lewis20126]

irstly, I used this with the Mk3 1.4 tc attached. The results were OK. AF was pretty quick but I think that I have been spoilt by the sharpness with the naked 100-400 Mk2. Whilst the snaps were adequate, I think that I am probably better off cropping from the bare lens.

I am coming to the same conclusion with the 400 f5.6 and 1.4. Think cropping will be better than lens plus 1.4. Need to do some more testing to ascertain validity of this. Bare 400 on body is superb, need to see same results with 2.4 before I am convinced. Def good combo for good record shots using the 1.4.

Phil

Good to see people's opinions on this and they are the same as mine. I spent all day Saturday birding with the camera over the shoulder with the 1.4 tc attached (1600 images) and all day Sunday (2100 images) without, mostly in poor-very poor light. The IQ is notably worse with the tc and the AF was quite a bit slower with few shots sharp in fly-by series.

So whilst the tc will give a bit more reach on a sunny day for stationary birds (not many of mine are), it will stay in the bag!

cheers, alan

 

[David Whitaker]

Thinking about dipping into MK2 soonas the grey prices are around my price point but upgrading from a 50D iam sure my battery won't fit it so with the steep cost of spares can anyone suggestion some good 3rd party battery or is just get hit on the price and buying the full cannon ones

As far as batteries go you pay’s your money and takes your choice. Just make sure that you invest in ones that are chipped to work with the 7D2, even having done that there is always a danger that Canon will issue a non-reversible firmware upgrade that will stop third party batteries working correctly. I got caught out with a pair of batteries. They work fine in my old 7D but in my 5D3 the will work but as soon as the camera goes into standby mode they cannot waken it up again without switching the whole thing off and on again. Also beware of fake Canon batteries. I brought a ‘Canon’ battery to pair with the original in my 7D equipped with a grip. No problem until I did a firmware upgrade. Since the every time that I put the battery in after recharge I get a message telling me that the battery is not a Canon battery do I still want to use it. Answer yes and everything is fine. I paid around £40 for the fake, two or three time what you would for third party batteries. You need to look minutely at it to see any external cosmetic differences. Also watch out for fake memory cards. I got an SD card from Amazon for use in a trail camera. It was a 'Sandisk' which arrived with absolutely no packaging other than the Amazon cardboard envelope. I kept it as it wasn’t a big deal if it packed up but I certainly would have returned it if I had wanted to use in a DSLR. Saving a few pennies can sometimes cost you pounds.

David

 

[BodyResults]

Just received this today from Canon CPN Newsletter (Canon Professional Network (CPN) is the website for Canon pro photographers). Fairly obvious really but nice to know that Canon themselves advocate this.

Image Stabilizer lenses and autofocus
When shooting with an image stabilised lens, especially a long telephoto, if you don’t need to use the IS because your shutter speed is fast enough to avoid camera shake, try turning it off for even faster autofocus. This is especially useful for fast moving subjects where absolute AF speed is important.

Thanks for bringing this up Roy. This was also just brought up on birdphotographers.net on a 100-400 IS II thread. Arash Hazeghi was notified of this and he plans to ask Chuck Westfall from Canon what this means.

 

[dandsblair]

Low light

One of my reasons for buying Mk ii and 100-400 Mark ii was to hopeful get some shots that I would otherwise miss. So while not brilliant I am quite pleased with these shots of a Yellow-headed Picathartes not many people get good shots in dark forest near a cave when the birds only appear late in the day. So shots taken at 1/20 and 1/40 sec at ISO 12800 are acceptable to me.

White-spotted Flufftail is another bird rarely photographed and it is just too quick to get a great shot in these sort of low light conditions but again pleased just to get the shot.

I'll post some better (good light shots) later, I haven't used any NR and these are just adjusted slightly in DPP.

 

[lewis20126]

One of my reasons for buying Mk ii and 100-400 Mark ii was to hopeful get some shots that I would otherwise miss. So while not brilliant I am quite pleased with these shots of a Yellow-headed Picathartes not many people get good shots in dark forest near a cave when the birds only appear late in the day. So shots taken at 1/20 and 1/40 sec at ISO 12800 are acceptable to me.

White-spotted Flufftail is another bird rarely photographed and it is just too quick to get a great shot in these sort of low light conditions but again pleased just to get the shot.

I'll post some better (good light shots) later, I haven't used any NR and these are just adjusted slightly in DPP.

Great performance on that ISO - I've been to that cave and couldn't get that with the 7D mk1. It's good to see how the camera performs in extreme conditions.

Heavy crop from 2013 I think: http://www.surfbirds.com/gallery/share_photo.php?imgname=20130408071638473.JPG

cheers, alan

 

[Barred Wobbler]

One of my reasons for buying Mk ii and 100-400 Mark ii was to hopeful get some shots that I would otherwise miss. So while not brilliant I am quite pleased with these shots of a Yellow-headed Picathartes not many people get good shots in dark forest near a cave when the birds only appear late in the day. So shots taken at 1/20 and 1/40 sec at ISO 12800 are acceptable to me.

White-spotted Flufftail is another bird rarely photographed and it is just too quick to get a great shot in these sort of low light conditions but again pleased just to get the shot.

I'll post some better (good light shots) later, I haven't used any NR and these are just adjusted slightly in DPP.

Same with me.

Here's another one for the 'I wouldn't have got that with the 7D Mk1' list.

Hotel Beira Mar in Goa, on an abortive dusk attempt to see the fabled (but apparently now-departed) cinnamon bittern.

It was half an hour before sunset, so quite dull in the open, when I noticed movement in the very deep shade under the vegetation surrounding the small pool below the wall. It wasn't the hoped-for bittern, but a very close white-breasted waterhen.

This is a slight crop, taken 1/1000 sec at ISO 12800. Unedited apart from the crop and a slight white-balance adjustment - no 'levels', no sharpening and no noise reduction.

Noise is there, but tolerable and what would the Mk 1 have done with 12800?

 

[hampers]

I experimented at 4000 on a blackbird today and thought it was very acceptable, well more than but there again the light was good. Having seen these at 12800 I am amazed, well done. I'm pleased that I can go above 800 with plenty of scope to go even higher.

Phil

 

[colincurry]

Canon 7D and 100-400 Mk2 and 1.4 tc Mk3

Firstly, I would echo previous comments on the improved handling with the 7D Mk2. I use custom settings for BIF and birds in the bush. With the BIF setting, I limited the ISO to 800 to alleviate noise problems. Usually, I had to use Photoshop to brighten snaps. Now I use a high shutter speed and auto ISO with much better results.

As I explained previously, I used f8 aperture as I did not realise that this combo would AF up to f8.

Here are some f8 shots. Having re-visited them, I was pleasantly surprised at the relative quality of the BIF snaps.

Colin

 

[colincurry]

Canon 7D Mk2 100-400 Mk2 1.4 tc Mk3

Here are some more f8 shots except for the bumblebee. This was just a test using the MFD to see how it would perform

Colin

 

[colincurry]

Canon 7D Mk2 100-400 Mk2 1.4 tc Mk3

Roy C kindly suggested to me that the combo might work better stepped down to f9, 10 or even 11.

Somewhat hypocritically, I went to the one local hide where I knew there would be a supply of fairly distant birds.

Here are some f10 snaps; although the first oystercatcher shot is a crop without the tc, for comparison. I used IS and all shots were handheld. I rested the combo on the window sill for the Oystercatcher pics.

I did take a lot of shots and found that, even with the extended reach, it paid to wait until the birds were relatively nearby. I also found that the combo was much more effective when panning side to side rather than with oblique or head-on shots. Using this combo with BIF I found it even more important to take plenty of shots to be able to pick out possible keepers.

Colin

 

[colincurry]

Canon 7D Mk2 100-400 Mk2 1.4 tc Mk3

Here is the final tranche.

The first two are still f10.

The flying gull shots were taken with f11, resulting in an ISO of 2500. This was a real test for the combo to pick out a distant bird not against the sky and moving obliquely towards me. OK as record shots and more experimentation needed.

Colin

 

[redeyedvideo]

A squirrel shot at ISO 6400 and cleaned up a bit. Not great but no bad either, what do you think?