Canon 7D

[Micktheexbiker]

Im used to using only full frame canon cameras using at present a second hand 1DSMK3 i got one year old from a rich guy for almost %50 less than new. He must have been mad. Anyway, ive always shot full frame and love the 1D as it handles like a brick in all weathers. But, as ive just started portraits im also bitten by the wildlife bug. Now ive tried my 1D with a 1x4 and whilst the image quality is excellent, its still way of compared to APSC. I wont buy a new 1D4 as its a compromise not full frame, not APSC, all be it a good compromise but wondered if anyone had used a 7D for wildlife? The rreason i ask is my friend is a Nikon user with a D700 and D300 and goes on about how good the Nikon low light high ISO performance is compared to Canon. Ok his shots dont match my detail quite but they are very low noise and as bird shots tend to be speed speed speed high ISO performance is a must. Ive checked out the review and the 7D looks good (and ive spotted a almost new one at a third off) and its only for wildlife shots.





Mick

[Keith B]

The 7D pretty much trumps the D300s in all categories (including low light) except the amount of AF points. I think Nikon puts all those in for marketing. 7D has plenty.


D700 has more features and better AF but 5DmkII image quality is on par and actually better when scaled to the 12MP equivalence of the D700.


When comparing Nikons to Canons I think you need to take in account that with Canon you are getting comparable noise and low light capabilities with many more smaller pixels which is quite an accomplishment.


PS


The 7D is great!

[Brendan7]

all be it a good compromise but wondered if anyone had used a 7D for wildlife?

I do! I bought the 7D as my first DSLR and it's been great...very sharp most of the time, great AF, ergonomics, and features...


I've only had the 7D for three months or so and I can say it's awesome.


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.36.40/IMG_5F00_1726.jpg[/img]


brendan

[scalesusa]

I sold my 1D MK II and bought a 7D to use for wildlife along with my 5D MK II for lower light use. I found that I much preferred the 5D MK II to the point that the 7D just didn't get used, so I returned it while in the grace period. Later, I found a nice 1D MK III which I now use for wildlife.


The real issue for shooting birds is to get a long lens. for small ones, it can be very difficult to fill the frame. Most of the long lenses do not focus closely enough. I found that 400-600mm is not really enough for small birds unless I can get within 10 ft, so I've been using TC's with my 70-200mm F4/L until I decide which longer lens I can afford. I had a 400mm F/5.6, and without IS, it is not practically to hand hold.


This finch was captured from about 10 ft using my MK IIIand a 70-200mm F4/IS withboth a 2X and a 1.4 TC, Iwill probably have tosettle for something like a 100-400mm plus TC, or a 300mm F/4 plus TC. Both these lenses have close focusing (Relatively)

[Jordan]

Well Mick,


I bought my 7D about a week after it was released. I've been using it ever since and absolutely love it! To cram an 18MP image onto a 1.6x cropped sensor does produce more noise, but it being a newer camera and all, there are great counterbalanced for that. It's 8fps which is great for wildlife such as birds, and it's the ONLY non 1D-Series Canon camera to be weatherproof (of course when using a weatherproof lens and filter). I was in Nice (France) last November and shot some seagulls right on the Mediterranean sea. Included in this post is one I shot with, believe it or not, an EF 24-105 f/4 L IS USM. Haha!! I actually sold that lens as I wasn't convinced of it's clarity, felt like a weird range on a cropped body (I don't own any FF bodies) and it's not weatherproof.


Anyhow, with that lens and the 7D I got this beautiful shot of the bird. It was taken at 1/800sec, f/8 at ISO 160. This might not be the best ISO example. I have found there to be some noise in night images, but I regularly take photos at ISO 1600 with very little image degradation. I even take ISO 3200 now and then, though you can certainly say those images aren't up to par with the rest. I try to stay below ISO 800 normally, and if I do, the images look superb. I also have a 50D and find the image quality about the same on that one. The 7D is faster, weatherproof, higher MP and newer controls, plus takes video. Feels better in the hand too.


I hope this helps!





- Jordan


www.freshphotohawaii.com