New Canon EOS 7D

Canon recently introduced their newest digital SLR camera, the EOS 7D. The camera sports an astonishing array of new features and might become a huge hit for Canon. To me, the combined weight of these new features might mean that this camera will find its way into my photo bag, replacing my trusty, but aging EOS 20D. In this article, I am trying to point out the various noteworthy features of the camera. Note though that these opinions are purely based on a) the information that's available on the internet and b) my own personal opinion when it comes to all things photo. Also note that I am somewhat comparing apples and oranges here, since my 20D is like the great-great-grandfather of the 7D and the models that Canon released in between (30D, 40D and 50D) each had new and better features than the 20D. But like I said, this is a very personal "preview" of the 7D, and besides, part of the reason for writing this down is that I want to get an overview about the changes that this new camera would into my photographic world. This will not be a useful review for people who decide about upgrading from a 50D, since the "jump" will be less spectacular.

Like I mentioned above, the EOS 7D includes quite a lot of new features, many of which are appearing for the first time in a Canon camera. Some of these functions are brand new, others have been seen in other manufacturer's cameras. Here is a rundown of the new functions and features:

• New 19-point, all cross-type autofocus system: One of the really big improvements in this camera. That is, if Canon can make sure that it works better than in the EOS 1D Mark III, which had severe AF problems when it was first released. I'm sure Canon learned from this incident though. Anyway, the AF system has 19 focusing points spread across the frame in a diamond pattern. Each of these is a cross-type sensor. And this is a big improvement: In the 20D, only the center point is a cross-type AF point. If you switch to the outer points in order to place the focus near the edge of the frame, the "hit ratio" of the autofocus shrinks noticeably. This is especially important for street photos where you have to react very quickly. For those shots (as for almost all other shots), I use the center AF point on the 20D, which results in the majority of photos being focused wrongly, because the subject wasn't in the center. Using the outer focus points (or simply letting the camera decide which one to use) won't help either, because the sensitivity of the outer focus points is not good enough.
• 100% viewfinder with 1.0 magnification: Most current Canon cameras have a poor viewfinder. I have a 1978 Canon A-1 camera, and every time after shooting with it, switching back to the 20D is like going from a movie screen to a television set. A big viewfinder is definitely a plus. Also, most digital SLRs do not have a 100% viewfinder. The 20D has 95%, which means that the image that you capture will be 5% bigger than what you see in the viewfinder.
• Translucent LCD in viewfinder: One of the real innovations in the 7D is that it doesn't use a fixed focusing screen, but a translucent LCD in the viewfinder that can be used to display various data like AF points or alignment grids.
• New iFCL metering mode: I can't say anything about that. I am not that technically inclined. Canon claims that it improves the exposure and image quality by using AF and color information for metering.
• 1080p movie mode with manual settings: The movie mode has become a standard feature in DSLR's by now. It was first introduced by Canon in the EOS 5D Mark II (though Nikon introduced it at about the same time) and was made famous by Vincent Laforet's short film "Reverie", which he shot with a pre-production model of the 5DII. In the 7D, the mode has been extended with more manual settings as well as a selectable resolution and frame rate. If you switch the resolution to 720p, you can shoot films with 60 fps. Instant slow-motion! With many photographers (including Laforet) claiming that videography will become a basic knowledge for photographers, I'd better check that out as well.
• 18 megapixel APS-C sensor: There is a good reason why I didn't place this feature at the very top, as this is deemed the most "problematic" aspect of the 7D. In short: More pixels = more pixels per area = smaller pixels = more image noise (this is the reason why compact cameras have much higher image noise, because they utilize very small sensors). When Canon released the EOS 50D with a 15 megapixel chip (40D had 10 megapixels), many photographers claimed that its image quality (especially in low-light situations) was worse than in the 40D. 15 megapixels was considered to be the maximum resolution for an APS-C sensor. Now, Canon has pushed that frontier once again, to 18 megapixels. The sample images that you can find on the web are not really suitable to judge whether the image quality has gotten worse or not, since they are usually shot in JPG format (as far as I know there is no support for the 7D in RAW converters yet). In this case, in-camera noise reduction and sharpening is applied. To judge the real quality of the raw data recorded b the sensor, you'd have to look at a RAW file.
  
  The step up to 18 megapixel is especially irritating because Canon rcently introduced its new G11 compact camera with 10 megapixels resolution, compared to 14 megapixels in its precedessor, the G10. Plus, the G11 features a bigger sensor than the G10. All this results in less image noise and thus, a massivly improved low-light capability. For the 7D, I was hoping for a similar approach: going back to 10 or 12 megapixels in order to improve image quality and stop the nonsensical race for megapixels. But surely the development of an SLR camera takes a lot more time than that of a compact camera, so it might be possible that when Canon decided to end the megapixel madness, the 7D was already too far into the concept stage to change the sensor. The future will tell whether Canon will comepletely change direction when it comes to resolution. The G11 is probably a field test for this.
• Integrated Speedlite transmitter: Until now, to trigger off-camera flashes, you had to use a master flash on the camera which then would trigger slave flashes via infrared. That means that you had to get two flashes in order to use one of them off-camera. Nikon has had transmitters integrated into their camera for a long time, and now finally, Canon jumps on the bandwagon. This will be a huge benefit for flash photography and a real money-saver.
• 3" ClearView LCD screen: 3" screens have been used for quite a while, but this one features a new technology intended to reduce reflections when used in sunlight. I don't have any experience with the 3" screens on the 40D or 50D, but I think that the software was also improved. On the 1,8" screen of the 20D, it is nearly impossible to judge a photo's sharpness, because the camera doesn't work with the full-size image, but a smaller version which displays faster. When you fully zoom in though, the small image gets enlarged and you can actually see interpolated pixels. I hope (and guess) that the chips in the newer cameras are fast enough to handle full-size images.
  
  What I would have liked to see is a swiveling display. According to come rumors on the web, Canon is actually looking to introduce swiveling displays in their SLR's. I frequently run into situations where one of these would be really handy, like when you have to lay down flat on the ground to get a very low angle.
• Weather sealing: I never missed this. And I don't tend to use the camera in extreme weather. That said, the 7D body is bigger and heavier than the 20D, in fact it's even heavier than the 5D Mark II (though not as big).
• 8 fps shooting: Honestly, I couldn't care less. I used the continuous drive just a couple of times on my 20D. I am not a sports photographer. That said, 8 fps is pretty fast.
• Electronic bubble level: Yesterday I went out to shoot at night using a tripod, but I forgot my bubble level at home and thus, I had a hard time getting the tripod head into the right position. With the 7D, you can leave the bubble level at home, because it is integrated into the camera: It can be displayed in the viewfinder using the AF selection points or on the read LCD in live view mode, in which case it almost looks like a HUD display in airplanes.
• 15mm internal flash coverage: Nice to have for when you don't have an external flash with you, but still want to use flash together with a wide angle lens. I encountered these situations a couple of times.
• (Somewhat) silent shutter: From a video that I found on the web it sounds like the shutter has a nice quiet sound, like Nikon cameras have had for quite some time. The 20D's shutter is very noisy. Why care about the shutter noise? There are situation where a less-noisy shutter helps a lot. For me, this is street photography, where you don't want to attract too much attention (another classic example is wildlife photography, which I don't do though).

Furthermore, there are functions that have become standard in cameras in the recent years:

• Live view
• Face detection
• Automatic sensor cleaning (which can sadly never remove all dirt though - sensor cleaning is a real chore)

All in all, the 7D sounds like a very promising camera. I am going to have an eye on upcoming reviews concerning the image quality, though I can hardly imagine that Canon will produce a camera which lacks in image quality. Until now, Canon was always able to push DSLR technology forward, and I don't expect the 7D to do otherwise.

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