If you have been following news about the 7D recently, it is impossible that you missed all the 7D reviews and comparison with the 5DMrkII. I wont even link to them, there are too many! The two most popular comparison points being the rolling shutter and the noise.

As shown in the Neutral Day post, the 7D is noisier than the 5dMrkII. Of course, everyone expected that. Still, it performed quite well as long as it stayed away from the top ISO levels. At least, that is what I thought after reading the post (and looking at pictures taken with my friend 7D).

Now, Karel Donk posted an inflammatory post against the 7D on his blog. Calling the 7D noisier than the 40D (we all know why he skipped the 50D!) and flaming Canon for its quality control. The read is interesting and offers a counter point to all the positive reviews we usually read.

While I disagree with some of the content (like why we need more megapixel), I think it is a must read for anyone thinking about buying a 7D.

That being said, should you still buy a 7D? Of course! It might not be perfect, but no camera offers so much value in the HDSLR world.

Stu, from Pro Lost fame, just published a list of gear under the 7D Cine Kit label. Go and take a look. Nothing new for the regular visitors of this site or Canon5DTips, but it is good to know that Stu endorses my gear selection.

My only complain is the presence of the 24-70L2.8 in the list. The 7D, as a EF-S body is able to use the incredible Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS. While this lens is not as good as the 24-70L2.8, it is still regarded as one of the best lenses one can get. It has about the same focal range as the 24-70 on a full frame, same aperture and adds IS!

My other suggestion would be to replace the hoodman with a real view finder, either the LCDVF or the Z-finder from Zacuto.

I am also working on a gear list for 7D users but it is taking a bit more time than expected due to some side projects.

Last weekend, I did a few test shots on a new location I was exploring with my friend Robert and we took the time to do some 7D vs 5D tests. Most of our conclusions can be read in the previous post on the subject.

Here is the video of the moire pattern test we did. Most camera would have had some issues with all the overlapping vertical bars but the 7D handled it surprisingly well.

Note: this was our first test with the 7D on the Glidecam and, while it was balanced, it was not heavy enough. We have corrected the issue since by adding some serious weigth.

I have a 5D vs 7D clip coming soon. Both taken at the same EFL, something no one seem to have done yet!

An anonymous donor gave Hudson (they guy who created Magic Lantern, the 5dMrkII firmware hack) a 7D (source: Twitter).

What can we expect? My guess is a port of the current features (audio gain, rack focus, etc) to the 7D, which would turn it into an even better camera.

With some luck, Hudson might be able to figure out how to add 24p to the 5DMrkII, which would qualify him for a Nobel prize.

We shot a few clips yesterday with a 16-35L mounted on a 7D to compare it with the 5DMrkII with a 24-70L. I dont have the clip in my hands yet (will get them tomorrow), but from our initial tests, it seems like the 7D low light capabilities at higher ISO is about 1 1/3-1 2/3 stop lower than the 5D. Basically, ISO 1250 on the 7D looks about the same as 3200 on the 5D.

The increase of noise is not linear. By that I mean that ISO 800 on both camera is about the same, it is only above 1250 that we can see a difference.

Scott Boune who did his own mini review of the video of the 7D does not seem to notice the difference between the two. It is probably because he did not go high enough in the ISO chart.

Is this something you should worry about? No. Unless you are shooting in very dark places (or at night @ f2.8 and smaller), ISO 640 should be enough for most shots. Also, to correct Scott, the 5DMrkII also has the auto focus feature for video and it works the same way as with the 7D: it only works in live view: while you are not recording.

Our tests also show something very interesting: the 7D seems to process moire pattern much better than the 5D and the jelly effect is much less noticeable. This is probably thanks to the 7D smaller sensor, being smaller, it takes less time to fully scan it. What ever the reason, it makes the 7D much more desirable for fast moving subjects.

As I said above, I will get the footage from this weekend tomorrow and should be able to put it online soon.

We also did some steadicam shots at 60p, I am very curious to see how these will turn out, especially since I am the model walking around like an idiot…

If you are planning to buy a 7D on Amazon US, please use this link. All profits made by affiliates links are reinvested in the site to add content.

I will have access to a 7D this weekend. I already planned a few tests to compare it to the 5DMrkII. Anyone has an idea of a specific test you want me to perform?

If you are in Canada! Seems like all the big photo stores in Montreal have stacks of 7D waiting to be sold. A few of the people I know who ordered one online have canceled their initial order and picked one in the store.

While I was expecting a shortage, it seems like Canon did not want to repeat the events of last year with the 5dMarkII where people had to wait for weeks to get their camera (like I did!).

Now that you have your cameras, go out and shoot something original!

Canon has release some new official sample of 7D pictures. You can look at the here. All of these shots highlight the ability of the 7D to shoot action scenes using the AI Servo mode.

Lets just say that I am impressed. In none of the picture the AF seemed to get lost or focus on something else than the subject. Of course, if it happened, Canon would have probably just taken another shot… But still, the focus seems to be right on the action which is a nice change compared to my 5DMrk II which always always seem to focus on the wrong element, no matter how small it could be as you can see below.

Philip Bloom shot these video portraits with his 7D. It is not specified how the slow motion effect was achieved but I asked and will update the post once I know more…

Edit: it was 60p slowed to 24p.

This variable frame rate features opens a lot of possibilities.

As I said previously, once the 7D is available at large, I am already forecasting a deluge of ’slomo test’ clips on Vimeo… Still, this is cool.

Just saw this 7D Field Review on CanonRumors.

While the guy is a photographer and approach the product from this perspective, it is interesting to see how well the camera was performing. He even goes as far as saying that it could replace his 1DMrkIII!

Lots of screenshots, go take a look.