What an amazing outcome. After the untimely (but fixable) death of my Canon EOS 6d, I managed to acquire, one of the arguably best sports cameras Canon produce the Canon EOS 7dii. This update from the 7d has all the features the 7d had but is augmented to a modern platform. My review of the Canon EOS 7dii Review
I admit I may be a bit biased with this camera as its amazing.
7dii features
- 20MP Dual-Pixel AF CMOS Sensor
- 10 fps continuous shooting with autofocus
- 65 all cross-type autofocus sensor
- 150,000 RGB + IR pixel metering sensor
- Dual Digic 6 processors
- Enhanced environmental sealing
- Compact Flash (UDMA) and SD (UHS-I) slots
- USB 3.0
- Built-in GPS
- Larger-capacity LP-E6N battery
- Shutter speeds up to 1/8000th seconds
- Shutter rated to 200,000 cycles (vs 150,000 on 7D)
The shutter is something out of this world. Being used to the shutter speed the 6d had and then the 550d, the 7d’s shutter is like a Maclaren whereas the 6d is alike to a sports Citroen hatchback. What makes this even better is the 1/8000 capacity. Being able to shoot with higher shutter settings and a larger ISO range has just made everything that extra bit tasty.
Another mouthwatering feature that I fell in love with instantly must be the autofocus settings. With its 65-point AF for stills, the 7d has a range of sports settings as well applied to suit best static and dynamic sports. In this AF, borrowed from the 1dx, ‘Intelligent Tracking and Recognition’ (iTR). The iTR allows the photographer to initiate a point of focus, depress it with the shutter button and track the movement in the forefront of focus, wherever the initial subject ends up on the focus points. Pretty neat really.
Comparison
Examples of photos from the 550d(left) and the 7dii(right) in dressage. The 550d being a good beginner DSLR needs a lot of attention with the slightest change of light and colour. the 7dii with the right settings needing no post-production and beautiful quality images from the get-go.
Another comparison, this time, line outs in rugby. The 6d (right) has an amazing depth of colour that can be exaggerated in post-production but due to the slow shutter, it’s harder to get “the” moments. The 7dii(left) adapts well to light changes, although has not got the same capacity for low light and colour as the 6d.
Overall
Although the 7dii is an amazing camera, and I do love the quality of images it can produce, the low lighting is definitely inferior to the 6d. The low light colour quality of the 6d without the need for a flash really means I can concentrate less on adjusting my settings constantly and more on the subject matter. With the 7dii, I definitely found the lowlight aspect a constant challenge. In conclusion, I am happy I have the abilities of both!
Link to my sports photography:
