Canon EOS 7D Owners Thread

I've had the camera for several months now and can't fault it. The images produced from it are constantly superb, and if Motorsport is your thing the 8fps can't be beaten. I use mine at British superbikes, coupled with a 70-200 and it's excellent.
 
arad85 said:
TBH, unless you prefer the focal range of the 24-105, I wouldn't bother. The 15-85 is a great lens and does very, very well against the L lenses that we have here that cover the same focal length (17-40/24-105).
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Ahhhhh that's interesting - cheers for that Andy :thumbs:

I'm yet to try it on my 7d yet... there again, yet to try much at all :lol:
 
Another :thumbs: for the 15-85. Well worth checking out.
 
I'm going to go against the grain here and vote for the 24-105L. I had a 15-85 for a while and it is indeed a very good lens, however mine was quite inconsistant. It was capable of producing some very great and sharp images, just not all the time, or even most of the time on a pixel peeping level.

I had an opportunity to change for the 24-105L which I jumped at as I wanted a weather sealed lens above all and I was mostly shooting at the 85mm end of the 15-85. The 24-105 is sharper and more consistant, also it seems to produce better colours but that could also be a change in my PP. The only thing I miss about the 15-85 now is the wide end, which I didn't use much but it's still nice to have. I did buy a Tamron 17-50 2.8 non-VC but returned it after a couple of days as it was unbelievably soft wide open, once down to 5.6 it was tack sharp but I wanted the extra speed.
 
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Toggerman said:
I had an opportunity to change for the 24-105L which I jumped at as I wanted a weather sealed lens above all and I was mostly shooting at the 85mm end of the 15-85.
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The 15-85 isn't likely to be as good at the end of its range compared to the 24-105 which has another 20mm or so to go. Clearly, if you need the weather sealing then you have no choice.

The point I was trying to make was that if you're lusting after an L and expecting it to give a better picture overall because it's an L lens you may well be disappointed as the 15-85 is a pretty good lens in its own right. I certainly don't see me swapping ours for anything else as a general purpose walkaround....
 
Not owned the 15-85mm, but I have owned both the 17-55 IS and 24-105L. Below is a quick summary of my feelings regarding both lesnses on a crop body.

Build Quality
The 24-105 wins easily. Everything feels sold and there is a "tightness" about these lenses that the 17-55 comes nowhere close to. The 17-55 is not bad quality, it is just outclassed by L build quality.

Range
Having used both side by sdie for considerable time I can say that 17-55 is much more useful than 24-105 on a crop body, especially if you own a telephoto zoom that covers the >55mm or >70mm ranges. With the 24-105 on my 7D I encountered too many occasions where it was just a tad too long. This was especially the case for indoor or group shots. The 17-55 covers the better range for me.

IQ
Both lenses can produce excellent results, but ultimate sharpness goes to the 17-55mm. It is a tad sharper than the 24-105 at all f-stops, plus adds it's very useful f/2.8 to the mix. Wide open the 17-55 is also very sharp, althought the edges do tend to darken slightly at the widest end of the zoom. Bokeh is nicer on 17-55 and the IS also seems to be slightly more effective.

Overall
If you only own a crop body, the 17-55 f/2.8 IS is the best walkabout lens availaible. It is as sharp as any zoom available in this range, it offers excellent IS, and it is fast @ f/2,8. The only downsides are the price (~£700) and the build quality (when compared to L's). The 24-105 f/4 is a very good lens, but it is far better suited to FF or a 1.3 crop than to the 7D's 1.6 crop factor.

If I could only own one lens for my 7D it would be the 17-55mm by a mile, and I have owned quite a few lenses.
 
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Hello guys

Changing the subject a bit.

Had my 7D for a while now and been struggling with it a bit if I am honest.
Having come from a 40D I thought I knew my way round this digital photography lark, seems not!

It is obvious that the quality is there if everything is spot on but if not, well 18MP is a lot of mush :D

Anyway I stumbled upon this blog where the guy has laboriously mapped the extent of the focus points to see just how far from the squares the focus zones extend.

http://blogs.stonesteps.ca/showpost.aspx?pid=54

Looking a the grey boxes showing the extent of the focus zones it looks a bit odd until you draw them out for yourself on a focus point grid. Then it becomes clear that the central and two outer zones are kept distinct.

Anyway I took a picture at the weekend that had exactly the same problem, as the bloggers CopandBear picture, but only on looking at this blog did it become clear what was wrong. I'll post the picture up later (at work now :nono:).

Why do Canon not make this information public knowledge?, it would relsove a lot of the "my 7D focussed on XXXXXX" complaints.

David
 
Have a look at the 3 part video lecture from a Canon rep HERE

The 3 vids are well worth a watch and the guy does actually cover the fact that the AF points do extend outside the AF rectangles.
 
Just got my 7D delivered today from hdew cameras, cant wait to get home and have a play with it now.

Thinking of getting a 17-55 but most of the comments here have been about the 15-85 and the 7d.

How well does the 7d and 17-55 go together? Any better suggestions (I need wider than 24mm)
 
Dark Knight said:
Cheers Roger, Ken, Russ, Andy, Orville, David and CT - Some great incites to your experiences... I will give my 15-85 a good work out and see how it goes, I must resist the urge, I must resist the urge.......
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I had a 24-105 on my 7D and changed it for a 15-85. I can't say I've noticed any difference in the quality of the images and I find the 15-85 range more useful, particularly at the wide end. :thumbs:
 
wealthysoup said:
Just got my 7D delivered today from hdew cameras, cant wait to get home and have a play with it now.

Thinking of getting a 17-55 but most of the comments here have been about the 15-85 and the 7d.

How well does the 7d and 17-55 go together? Any better suggestions (I need wider than 24mm)
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You may find: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-S-15-85mm-f-3.5-5.6-IS-USM-Lens-Comparisons.aspx

useful.

As to suggestions... If you need/want f2.8, the Tamron 17-50 non-VC is supposed to be the best budget alternative. The 15-85 is a very good all-rounder and the IS system is superb so you can handhold down to ridiculously long shutter speeds if you want to take photos of static objects. No good if you need/want f2.8 though :)
 
Willid1 said:
Anyway I stumbled upon this blog where the guy has laboriously mapped the extent of the focus points to see just how far from the squares the focus zones extend.

http://blogs.stonesteps.ca/showpost.aspx?pid=54

Looking a the grey boxes showing the extent of the focus zones it looks a bit odd until you draw them out for yourself on a focus point grid. Then it becomes clear that the central and two outer zones are kept distinct.
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Blimey, so going by that, it's even more important to fill the frame with the main subject, otherwise there's a pretty good chance the focus will be off/missed, or switch to spot AF when the subject is too far away to mostly fill the frame :thinking:
 
Jackwow said:
I had a 24-105 on my 7D and changed it for a 15-85. I can't say I've noticed any difference in the quality of the images and I find the 15-85 range more useful, particularly at the wide end. :thumbs:
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Excellent to hear... can't wait to get out Sunday to give mine a proper go :)
 
Have to agree with most of this, although I have no real problem with the build quality. Mines had the odd bump and is almost permanently attached to my 7D.

Orville said:
Not owned the 15-85mm, but I have owned both the 17-55 IS and 24-105L. Below is a quick summary of my feelings regarding both lesnses on a crop body.

Build Quality
The 24-105 wins easily. Everything feels sold and there is a "tightness" about these lenses that the 17-55 comes nowhere close to. The 17-55 is not bad quality, it is just outclassed by L build quality.

Range
Having used both side by sdie for considerable time I can say that 17-55 is much more useful than 24-105 on a crop body, especially if you own a telephoto zoom that covers the >55mm or >70mm ranges. With the 24-105 on my 7D I encountered too many occasions where it was just a tad too long. This was especially the case for indoor or group shots. The 17-55 covers the better range for me.

IQ
Both lenses can produce excellent results, but ultimate sharpness goes to the 17-55mm. It is a tad sharper than the 24-105 at all f-stops, plus adds it's very useful f/2.8 to the mix. Wide open the 17-55 is also very sharp, althought the edges do tend to darken slightly at the widest end of the zoom. Bokeh is nicer on 17-55 and the IS also seems to be slightly more effective.

Overall
If you only own a crop body, the 17-55 f/2.8 IS is the best walkabout lens availaible. It is as sharp as any zoom available in this range, it offers excellent IS, and it is fast @ f/2,8. The only downsides are the price (~£700) and the build quality (when compared to L's). The 24-105 f/4 is a very good lens, but it is far better suited to FF or a 1.3 crop than to the 7D's 1.6 crop factor.

If I could only own one lens for my 7D it would be the 17-55mm by a mile, and I have owned quite a few lenses.
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My 7D is in Colchester Camera Repairs after dying last Saturday. Was shooting my wife's horse riding club's AGM and luckily having just finished the last couple of shots, it just froze. I turned it off, removed the grip and batteries, counted to 100 and replaced everything and Nothing!!
So its been in a week and hopefully I'll hear something this week but not impressed on a 10 month old camera.
Just have to see what they find.
 
Even I don't follow the logic of this, but after finding that my nifty fifty was broken, as it was a pressie from my wonderful hubbie last Christmas he offered to replace it with something more robust, and somehow that turned into him giving me the money to upgrade my 50D to a 7D, so it has been ordered and I am waiting for it to arrive next week. I have bought the Field Guide to try to get up to speed a bit before it arrives, and can see that the autofocus options will take some getting used to!

I am not excited at all. Honest! :lol::lol:
 
Congrats, the AF is pretty intuitive do wont take to much getting used to :)

It's a great piece of kit, enjoy :)
 
My 7D has just been delivered. Waiting for the battery to charge :)
 
MadWoman said:
Even I don't follow the logic of this, but after finding that my nifty fifty was broken, as it was a pressie from my wonderful hubbie last Christmas he offered to replace it with something more robust, and somehow that turned into him giving me the money to upgrade my 50D to a 7D, so it has been ordered and I am waiting for it to arrive next week. I have bought the Field Guide to try to get up to speed a bit before it arrives, and can see that the autofocus options will take some getting used to!

I am not excited at all. Honest! :lol::lol:
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Doca said:
My 7D has just been delivered. Waiting for the battery to charge :)
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Congrats both. And lets see some pics soon :thumbs:
 
FightingFigure said:
i'm looking to pick up a 7d asap and with a trip to iceland looming on the 20th for a northern lights tour

what wide angle lenses are particularly good with the 7d?
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While I wouldn't recommend it for landscapes (where the Canon 10-22 Is better) for the aurora I'd take the Tokina 11-16 just because it's f2.8 and will allow shorter exposure times.
 
thanks for the advice but looking at the price i think im jumping the gun a bit and will just rent something for now

i tend to get a bit excited and spend money on things i want but dont really need :D
 
hollis_f said:
While I wouldn't recommend it for landscapes (where the Canon 10-22 Is better) for the aurora I'd take the Tokina 11-16 just because it's f2.8 and will allow shorter exposure times.
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You wouldn't recommend what for landscapes? The 7D or a 10-22mm lens? :thinking:

Both are great and shooting from a tripod will allow for longer exposures.
 
Blasted said:
You wouldn't recommend what for landscapes? The 7D or a 10-22mm lens? :thinking:

Both are great and shooting from a tripod will allow for longer exposures.
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Hollis-f post should read that for the northern lights he would recommend the tokina over the Canon as it's slightly faster.

Bernie I saw your post along with the Swans, what weren't you happy with?
 
Hi Hoolio

It wasn't those ones I was so unhappy about, it was some of the others, very grainey.
However, I tried again today, and they are a lot better, so I must have done something very wrong. It also helped I spent some time setting it up, as well as committing that male sin, of all else having failed read the handbook!

Bernie
 
Bernie174 said:
Hi Hoolio

It wasn't those ones I was so unhappy about, it was some of the others, very grainey.
However, I tried again today, and they are a lot better, so I must have done something very wrong. It also helped I spent some time setting it up, as well as committing that male sin, of all else having failed read the handbook!

Bernie
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Ah, I understand that.
 
FightingFigure said:
thanks for the advice but looking at the price i think im jumping the gun a bit and will just rent something for now

i tend to get a bit excited and spend money on things i want but dont really need :D
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I've got the Tokina 12-24mm f/4 which churns out some lovely images when on my 7D - also a fair bit cheaper than the Canon, although not quite as wide, but believe me that 12mm is still very wide! Am taking it with me to NY next week along with my 24-105, but don't think the 24-105 will get too much use!!!
 
got my 7d yesterday from jessops and about to go for a wander in oxford before the light starts to fade

as a side note - the extreme cf cards in jessops:
the 16 gig card was 74 pounds i believe (my memory is pretty bad) and as i was after a deal i got my phone out and discovered on amazon they're THIRTY POUNDS cheaper!

after some decision making and him calling his regional manager he said they'd knock 20 pounds off the 8 gig memory cards bringing them down to £30 each so i bought 2 and saved 40 quid from the in store price :lol:

just thought i'd let you know you can haggle with them if you've got your phone and cheeky enough to show them they're rip off merchants ;)
 
Having bought my 7D a couple of months ago, it is just an amazing camera!!! I absolutely love it. Much better then the 400D I used to have :D
Just need to save my money together and buy some nice lenses!
 
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