The 7D has landed!!! (2 Viewers)

[hollis_f]

In a situation like this, shooting raw probably wouldn't help all that much

I disagree, I think that shooting this in raw would have given a perfectly recoverable image with no blown highlights. Here's a link to an example showing just how much you can recover from a grossly over-exposed image with raw.

 

[peteh]

Got my 7d yesterday spent all night microadjusting the lenses and im very happy I did as today was the first day its been sunny for ages and the Red-necked grebe that I found a few weeks back was still in a bay here and it decided to appear directly in front of me, closer than it ever has. I could not believe it.
I had no problems with sharpening in pp as some people have reported. I just did the exact same method as my mk3 and it was spot on. I did notice the major noise problem in adobe camera raw though. In adobe bridge the photo looked rough but in dpp it looked great. Although going into Camera raw and taking off the default contrast and brightness helped it get alot closer to the dpp image.

I was able to test the focusing in terrible light late this afternoon too and was gobsmacked at how well it clung on to Kittiwakes in flight over a grey sea. The light was so bad I was on ISO3200 but the camera had no problems focusing and staying locked on. Very impressive.

I was mainly out to test the video though and will upload what I got later on. Theres a few issues that I have seen so far but Im not sure if its user error or camera limitation. But the sea was jittering and when I was on a high iso dark areas were shimmering on static backgrounds.

Im really really impressed by the 7d, so much so if I could only take 1 camera out my 1mk3 would be left behind.

edit: This is the video I took with the 7d today. Theres lots to learn on the video front! :O Think ive rendered it badly for a start.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq4W-TGk56M

 

[Neil Morris]

Over the last couple of weeks I've been trying out the 7D with a Canon 400mm f4 DO IS USM. I haven't yet microadjusted the focus as it appears pin sharp out of the factory. I have two issues that I am keeping an eye on to see if it is the lens or the camera at fault:

1. Over-exposure - there is a tendency to over-expose images where pale greens are concerned.
2. Lack of contrast - pretty certain this is down to the lens (per posts in other forums) and it manifests itself in overcast conditions and neutral lighting. With good sunlight, the problem is not discernable.

With specific regard to the camera, there are a lot of user definable settings. I have registered the three available custom settings for the following scenarios:
- static birds/wildlife
- flying birds
- static birds/wildlife that might start to move

For each, I have registered different metering and exposure settings, all with aperture priority set to at least one stop above the widest aperture of the lens.

I've attached a few of my early efforts. All five photos are as downloaded from the camera without any photoshop adjustments other than cropping (i.e. there is no sharpening, levels, contrast or any other adjustments made; just the factory default settings in the camera).

• Photo 1 shows the lack of contrast (due to the lens?) in a low light pic of a GBBG
• Photos 2 and 3 show the sharp focussing in pics of BHG and MedG
• Photos 4 and 5 show the full frame and actual pixel size crop of a smithsonianus-looking herring (I don't think it is one, but it's an interesting bird nonetheless) from the Thames Estuary a few days ago.

 

[HokkaidoStu]

I was playing around with the video yesterday and managed this handheld with the 100-400L.

The video is quite hard to use. I had it at ISO 100 and F13 at 1/40 and it was still too bright!

I've taken over 6000 shots with my 7D and am slowly getting the hang of it. I have 3 User settings set aside now:

1. BIFs
2. Video
3. High ISO for low light.

Here are a few recent shots..........

Some over/under exposed but that's my just my general cack-handedness showing through.......

 

[peteh]

Ive sorted out the rendering problem now (changed from .mp4 to .wmv) so the flickering sea issue is solved now I just need to find a decent picture style. The one I used for the grebe video is too soft and lacking in contrast. If anyone comes across a good one for videoing birds post it here please. ta.

 

[Neil Morris]

I was playing around with the video yesterday and managed this handheld with the 100-400L.

The video is quite hard to use. I had it at ISO 100 and F13 at 1/40 and it was still too bright!

I've taken over 6000 shots with my 7D and am slowly getting the hang of it. I have 3 User settings set aside now:

1. BIFs
2. Video
3. High ISO for low light.

Here are a few recent shots..........

Some over/under exposed but that's my just my general cack-handedness showing through.......

Could do with one or two of those putting in an appearance in our neighbourhood! 'Scuse my ignorance but does BIFs stand for "birds in flight"?

 

[HokkaidoStu]

'Scuse my ignorance but does BIFs stand for "birds in flight"?

Indeed it does............

 

[senatore]

Thanks everyone (especially Tim) for the advice on my blown out Goldeneye shot.

Some great pics being taken now by you chaps.I'm impressed.I must catch up!!!!

Max.

 

[Jaff]

New review - http://blog.gsmarena.com/canon-eos-7d-review-bridging-a-gap/

Try doing this with a 40D - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gyG0VuYbAM - not forgetting you can pull 2MP stills from 1080p video.

I'm gonna get get a load of flak for this and I don't care cos I'm going to say it anyway. Just give me chance to get my flak jacket and duck for cover!

Can someone provide a link to a nature video taken with a 7D (or any video capable DSLR) that was actually worth doing in video? This is absolutely nothing personal against those who've done video but all I've seen (which isn't many, granted) is perched birds and birds that aren't really doing much in general. Stuff which would look just as good and probably better as still images.
Case for the defence, what is this giving us that a single well taken image can't, except far less room on a memroy card. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY-dpsqd1bM&feature=related

If someone can get/show me a good quality video of some good action or a Bird in flight using a video capable DSLR I will retract all my previous criticism and gladly eat humble pie.
Adam

 

[JohnZ]

Some nice pics on your blog Max.

 

[peteh]

I'm gonna get get a load of flak for this and I don't care cos I'm going to say it anyway. Just give me chance to get my flak jacket and duck for cover!

Can someone provide a link to a nature video taken with a 7D (or any video capable DSLR) that was actually worth doing in video? This is absolutely nothing personal against those who've done video but all I've seen (which isn't many, granted) is perched birds and birds that aren't really doing much in general. Stuff which would look just as good and probably better as still images.
Case for the defence, what is this giving us that a single well taken image can't, except far less room on a memroy card. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY-dpsqd1bM&feature=related

If someone can get/show me a good quality video of some good action or a Bird in flight using a video capable DSLR I will retract all my previous criticism and gladly eat humble pie.
Adam

How about this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmdrjcbXMPs

 

[graham catley]

took a bit of a GND today which is quite nice but at 148MB and with no software? how do I get it down to a web sized snippet?

 

[peteh]

windows movie maker on windows can do it I think.

Im using Sony vegas for my stuff though.

 

[tdodd]

windows movie maker on windows can do it I think.

I'm running Windows 7, which does not have Movie Maker included, so I had to download Windows Live Movie Maker (WLMM). At first the software was unable to interpret the files from my 5D2 or my 7D. I downloaded various software, some with its own CODECs, and fiddled around and at some point WLMM magically was able to recognise and process the files. Sadly I don't know exactly what I did that resulted in it working. I've since removed all the additional software and still WLMM is working OK with the files, which seems very odd.

One particular thing I tried, based on something I read on t'internet, which may have been the root of the success was to rename one of the clips from .MOV to .mp4 and it was following that procedure that WLMM seemingly sprang into life. I renamed the file back again and still WLMM continued to work.

If you can't get WLMM to work then I have found that the free Any Video Converter software seems to do a decent job of converting between formats, dimensions and frame rates. Normally I have used it in the past to download and shrink YouTube clips to fit my MP4 player, but it has come in handy as well for processing my 5D2 and 7D files, at least until WLMM started working of its own accord.

 

[tdodd]

How about this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmdrjcbXMPs

I think these show the potential offered by video - not only do you have the full sense of movement/action, but also the soundtrack too....

Stags rutting : http://www.vimeo.com/7251025

Polar bears : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68vvlOJ_N6Q

Flocking birds : http://vimeo.com/8115254

 

[senatore]

Some nice pics on your blog Max.

Thanks John.

Max.

 

[paulhillion]

One from this afternoon, an example of the 7D @ 800iso, which is pretty much the max I tend to use. This is approx a 50% crop from the original and apart from converting to a jpeg and slight compression for the upload it's unprocessed. After using the 7D for a few weeks now I'm extremely impressed with it ||

 

[Tim Taylor]

Great shot Paul. Glad you're enjoying your 7D. Mine works well the your old 500...

 

[Jaff]

I like the Polar Bears one. That's what I'm talking about!

Taking it with a 400mm lens seems a bit risky though! :eek!:

 

[postcardcv]

One from this afternoon, an example of the 7D @ 800iso, which is pretty much the max I tend to use. This is approx a 50% crop from the original and apart from converting to a jpeg and slight compression for the upload it's unprocessed. After using the 7D for a few weeks now I'm extremely impressed with it ||

I'd be interested to know the settings for this shot as the EXIF doesn't seem to be on it, also what lens are you using? I am curious about the lack of detail in the breast, it doesn't seem to be caused by motion blur so I was wondering if it might be in camera NR at work.