Canon EOS 7D Owners Thread

im just about to conduct some research on how to properly photograph the auora borealis and was wondering if any 7d owner has taken theirs to do the same thing and wether they had any advice

it's quite an upgrade from my 1000D so the learning curve is near vertical at the moment so tips or advice on what settings would work nicely for capturing the lights from someone with experience would be really great
 
FightingFigure said:
im just about to conduct some research on how to properly photograph the auora borealis and was wondering if any 7d owner has taken theirs to do the same thing and wether they had any advice

it's quite an upgrade from my 1000D so the learning curve is near vertical at the moment so tips or advice on what settings would work nicely for capturing the lights from someone with experience would be really great
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I've not used an SLR, but one of my pics did make 'picture of e month' in Astronomy Now, so it can't have been too bad.

First, find somewhere dark and cloudless. The first is easy, the second may be quite difficult. Then you'll need; a wide angle lens, preferably quite fast; a decent tripod; a remote shutter release; very warm clothes.

You'll want to have the camera in manual focus and manual exposure. Focus will need to be set to infinity. But just dialling it the way to the end probably won't work. Live view with 10x magnification may let you focus on a bright star or planet.

Your exposure values will depend on just how bright the display is. I'd try wide-open aperture, 15s, ISO1600. I'd check the first exposure, then reduce ISO
until everything was looking good. With a faster lens you'd probably be able to drop the shutter speed as well.

Battery life may be a problem, be sure to have at least one spare and keep it in a warm, internal, pocket.

I went on a coach trip and had problems with idiots firing off their P&S cameras, along with flash! So I ended up trekking through knee-deep snow to get away from them.
 
Got mine a week or so ago, haven't been out with it yet - I am praying for a nice weekend so I can get out there with my new 100-400mm and get a load of shakey blurred pictures of birds - and then puzzle over what I've done wrong :D

Read a few guides and some of the manual, so hopefully I'll have half a clue what I'm doing. I spent last weekend playing with a 550D with the 55-250mm IS (my GF's new camera) and was really impressed on the whole, a big step up for both of us from the Lumix G1's we both had. The G1's were great but I can count on 1 hand the number of decent action shots of birds (or dogs) in flight we've got on them. Already had a lot more success with the Canon kit :)
 
Hello all. Can anyone please advise me as to how to set up the 7D for video shooting? Ive used the camera extensively for stills so far, but my daughter is getting married soon abroad, and I want to capture the ceremony on video :)
 
sgott said:
Hello all. Can anyone please advise me as to how to set up the 7D for video shooting? Ive used the camera extensively for stills so far, but my daughter is getting married soon abroad, and I want to capture the ceremony on video :)
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50mm 1.4! No more needs to be said :)
 
Thanks Gregory - sounds like a good starting point !
 
Im struggling with how to set up auto focussing and the general settings of the camera?
 
bit more to it than that, shutter speed assuming 1080p 24. should be set at 1/50 sec basically shutter speed should be twice frame rate. Aperture can be thought of as just the same as shooting stills DOF. You can control exposure by increasing ISO but that has its limits so your options are add light for under exposed scenes or for overexposed use ND filters. I have everything recorded as a custom function so a select c3 and I'm ready to go
 
sgott said:
Im struggling with how to set up auto focussing and the general settings of the camera?
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what specifically? 7d has a pretty complicated AF system if you want all the features or it can be as uncomplicated as a 450d, 500d, etc. I know this sounds really in helpful but the manual explains all of it really well
 
Thanks Paul I will take a look at setting up a custom function. Never really used my 7D for video yet, and Ive had it a year ! prefer stills shooting. I intend using my 24-105 for the lens choice - do I need to switch off IS if Im tripod mounting it as well?
 
sgott said:
Hello all. Can anyone please advise me as to how to set up the 7D for video shooting? Ive used the camera extensively for stills so far, but my daughter is getting married soon abroad, and I want to capture the ceremony on video :)
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I use a shutter speed around 1/2 the frame rate (so 1/60s for 25fps) and a fairly narrow aperture (for wide depth of field to minimise the amount of focussing required) and auto ISO to keep the exposure correct.

My favourite lens is the 24-105 as its almost parfocal (the focus doesn't change as you zoom).

As you may have gathered, I'm a lazy videographer and don't try for anything complicated.
 
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Thanks Frank - that sounds about my limit too - givem me food for thought though now, and something to start with :)
 
Hi all!
Bought a 7D few days ago :lol:

Upgraded from a 1000D so finding it a little odd to use at the moment.
Sold all of my lens beside 50mm 1.8 so i currently have around £700 mark for some new glass!

Any suggestions?

ALSO- Is there any settings i should change on my camera?

Thanks
Sam
 
Any lens is goodfor portrait work if your good with the camera :-)

Its more for landscapes though i must admit and i would also be lost without mine :-)
 
OK, I am just starting out reading this thread, which will take me some time....
However, can anyone offer me any advice based on experience..
I have a 5d2 but find myself struggling with lenses - my 24-70 f2.8 is too short on a FF body, my 24-105 f4 is a little too short and can be too slow so I am wondering about a 7d as it will get me in closer with its crop factor sensor, but how good is the 7d in lower light ? I know there are a million people who say that one is way better than the other etc, but as actual owners, can any of you give me first hand experience of having both and how they compare up to around 3200 ISO ?
Any other thoughts would be much appreciated, but meanwhile I'll start wading my way through the 346 posts in this thread....
 
Craft said:
A 7D wont be as good as your 5d2. Maybe your solution is a 70-200 2.8 ?
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agree with all this. 5d mk2 is far better at high ISO although images become softer because of the built in noise reduction from the back to back reviews I've seen
 
sgott said:
Thanks Paul I will take a look at setting up a custom function. Never really used my 7D for video yet, and Ive had it a year ! prefer stills shooting. I intend using my 24-105 for the lens choice - do I need to switch off IS if Im tripod mounting it as well?
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yep turn off IS
 
This morning I ordered myself a 7D. :)
I've been waiting on some money coming in and it's tied in nicely with the current price drop at Jacobs to £999 (+ 3% cashback through Quidco). Now to start planning my next upgrade!
 
Hi guys, picked up my 7D the other day along with the 24-105. Love it so far but still in the middle of setting up my Custom functions for videoing etc. Anyone have any good setups for video that i can program onto C1? :)

Other lenses i use are the nifty fifty and 70-200 F4, incase i need any distance!
 
A good place to start is twice the frame rate, so if at 24 fps then 1/50 sec, I set mine manually for aperture and experimented with Auto ISO, which worked reasonably well in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIzxULLcEiU
The thing is to experiment, if you want to use a wide aperture for a shallow DOF you may need ND filters, I've just bought a variable ND but haven't tried it yet. A look at the Digital Video section of the Forum may prove useful.

It's in the editing that most of the work is done, and the time taken, shooting is the relatively easy bit :D
 
Thank you Ken I will have a look on the digital video section, and trial your set up as well.
 
Hi all,

Got my brand new Canon 7d body yesterday.
Upgraded from the 600d, which is a lovely camera and served me well in my first 6 months of learning the very basics of photography.
I'm still a beginner though and have a lot to learn.
My main lens is a Canon 24-70L, but I also enjoy using the 10-22mm for landscapes.

This thread is a bit quiet, I hope there are enough people out there with a 7D. Coming from the 600D, it seems there is a steep learning curve to step up and get the full potential of this body.

Loving it so far though, the AF and metering system seem noticeably more advanced than on the 600D. The processing power is also a clear improvement, and the sound of that shutter is just something else! The 600 is lovely, this one is a beast! :-)
 
Ollieeee said:
Now the proud owner of a 7D after a trip to Focus on Imaging yesterday. Blown away by the amount of features compared to my 450D, and the difference in quality. The manual's taking a bit of getting through!
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What stand and how much?
 
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