I'm surprised that it's got an APS-C sensor (that 1.6x crop thingy again) despite being 18Mp. I used to hate having to live with that on my old 10D and 20D and can't imagine going back to it.

According to the blurb Canon reckon they've spoken to '5000 photographers worldwide' to give them the camera that they really want. Did they really want an APS-C sensor?

Here is another review and hands-on-preview from Imagine Resource:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1251777601.html

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E7D/E7DA.HTM

The hands-on-preview also includes some sample images:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E7D/E7DA7.HTM

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E7D/E7DTHMB.HTM

A quote from dpreview:

Quote

The 5D Mark II is a great camera, but I really feel that the 7D (with the exception of sensor size) is what the 5D Mark II should have been.

From what I have read so far, most people agree with this sentiment, but what they mean is that the new 7D has a lot of bells and whistles.

On the other hand, many people don't like the smaller sensor.

With the higher frame rates (8 fps) and the 1.6x sensor, this seems to be geared towards nature / birding / sports.

In my opinion, this camera really should have been named a 70D.

It's not a surprised that they went with the APS-C sensor (it's a new sensor btw, supposed to handle the noise better). For me, the 7D is to the sports/wildlife shooters what the 5D is to the Portrait/Wedding/Product shooters.

You have high framerate, a new AF system that looks very good and 2 digic IV processors. That screams wildlife and sports.

At this price range, it will compete with the D300.

I think they chose well for the number too because I don't see it as an evolution of the xxD line but as a completely new type of body. Read the specs ;P

18 MP on APS-C. That's not gonna fly, really. I mean look at the 50D, it's far more noisier than 40D, less dynamic range and all that. What are they thinking? At least if they would've made it 1.3x crop.
I can barely wait to see iso 800 shots with this camera.

It's not a surprised that they went with the APS-C sensor (it's a new sensor btw, supposed to handle the noise better). For me, the 7D is to the sports/wildlife shooters what the 5D is to the Portrait/Wedding/Product shooters.

This is my first thought also.  For wildlife shooters the perceived "extra reach" in the 1.6 crop factor would be a plus. 

Personally I love my 5DII.  I would never be tempted by the 7D, but for a wildlife shooter it might be just the thing.

Has some nice stuff the 5DII should have had. The 5DII could use more focus points and FPS. And for the love of god please add some configuration options for the Auto ISO.

After FF I don't see me going back to crop sensors anytime soon.

Like Geo said this seems like it should have been a 70D

It is very odd that Canon changed the xD lineup from a 36 x 24 mm full-frame sensor to a 22.3 x 14.9 mm 1.6x crop sensor.  They normally keep the sensor size consistent in each of their lineups.

No, they don't. 1DIII is 1.3x crop, wile 1DsIII and 5DII are 1.0x.

This looks like an excellent camera from Canon. Lots of resolution, lots of speed and lots of reach, and an abundance of features. It won't be the king of high ISO, but there's the 5DII for that. If I hadn't been a Nikon user already, I would have been very tempted with the 7D   

I'm pretty happy with mine. The features are pretty much what I wanted from a bird photography point of view.

Here's a shot at ISO1600 with some cropping (maybe about 10-20% cropped off). NR done on the background, but not on the bird.



Cheers,
PTLee

Nice shot ptlee - looks very clean. Care to share your thoughts about the camera so far?

cclapper, according to Canon, the sensor on the 7D is an improvement over the 50D, in that the distance between the microlenses to the photodiode is reduced, so light focuses better on the photodiodes. So noise 'should' be better controlled. In any case, I would usually shoot at ISO 100 for MS, esp when I'm shooting (desktop) studio shots, landscapes I would usually use a tripod and opt for low ISO as well.

Noise is an issue for birding, esp where I come from, the birds are found in the dense rainforest, under challenging light conditions, we'd be lucky to be able to shoot at ISO 400, and to be able to shoot at ISO 1600 while keeping the feather details as shown in my Tiger Shrike shot is really great!

Thanks holgs. I've the 40D for birding, and always longed for better AF and more AF points for BIF shots, and Canon answered with the 7D, on top of that the 100% viewfinder is an added bonus. I'm surprised that Canon is able to pull off a usable (I wouldn't say miraculously noise free) 18megapixel 1.6x crop sensor, so I can crop and still easily retain over 10megapixel of useful data with details that the 40D has.

In terms of lower ISO noise (eg ISO 400), I've read some feedback that it's not good though, which is ironic somewhat, given that everyone has been looking at it's ISO 800/1600/3200 performance. I'm still testing out the camera under various conditions as they come (I don't do specific tests), and initial thoughts about the ISO400 noise isn't too bad, but not much to cheer about either. AF is great, some in flight shots were done with decent results, and the zonal/AF expansion is something I've started using and starting to get use to.

Overall, I think the 7D is much what I hoped for in a wildlife/birding camera, without the hefty price tag of a 1D mkIII (or mkIV if it is to be launched soon). Still have one gripe about AF ability with an f8 lens (eg a 1.4x TC on a, say, 400mm f5.6L lens), but that can be 'solved' with taped pins and good light.

That's my initial thoughts, I like the 7D for it's on-the-field usability (better AF, faster frame rate, 100% viewfinder), noise issue the verdict isn't quite out yet, but as long as I can keep it under control with NR filters, I would be happy. I don't expect a miracle in the noise department, 5D mkII is still the benchmark, and I doubt if any crop sensor can compete with the FF sensor of 5D.

For my MS shoots, it probably won't make much difference to me, for birds and wildlife, and probably sports, 7D would definitely be quite useful.

Cheers,
PTLee

traveler1116, I'm not exactly a video person, but the 7D, comes with very impressive video features that I will probably be tempted to start to dabble with it, once I get a better desktop PC to deal with the post processing.

I'll probably be taking some 'lessons' from a friend who is a video expert, and has taken top quality video with his 5D mkII.

So I'm not sure if I'm the right person to recommend you to switch systems, but if video is what you're after, the 5D mkII should probably also be on your radar.

Cheers,
PTLee

Sorry I was asking Holgs if he was interested in switching (he's an Olympus guy now), but you shouldn't need to great of a computer to handle the video.  I have a 5D mark II and am using my laptop to edit (basic editing only) while traveling, when I get home next year I'll get a new pc to try my hand at more in depth editing.  I love the video so far it's much better than my HV30, I just need some sales to justify it.  The video also looks great at higher ISO which I would assume is pretty similar on the 7D.