Canon EOS 7D Mark II announced!

Finally, the rumours have come true and the long awaited EOS 7D Mark II has been announced by Canon.

The leaked/rumoured specs were pretty much spot on, but there were still some surprises under the hood. I hope to get my hands on one of these soon after release, but until then I can only comment on what Canon tell us it can do.

I’ll put a full specification list at the bottom of this post, but first off, I’d like to cover a few of the main differences between this and other models (namely the 5D Mark III, original 7D and the 1Dx).

The price (currently £1599) is where you would expect it to be as a “prosumer” grade cropped sensor DSLR. Technically speaking, it’s way ahead of the 5D Mark III on pretty much everything other than a full frame sensor. Some are saying this is like a mini EOS 1Dx, which can only be a good thing given that it is less than half the price, and still £600 cheaper than the already ageing 5D Mark III.

So, why should you buy this camera if you already have a perfectly capable 7D?

In my opinion, there are many reasons to upgrade, especially if your chosen persuasion is sports or wildlife photography. Here’s my summary:

• Massive improvement of noise levels at high ISO (and this puppy can go up to 16000 before even touching the expanded settings)
• the best Auto Focusing system currently on the market (yes, better than the £4K+ 1Dx)
• 10 Frames Per Second – that’s 4 more than the 5D III and only 2 less than the 1Dx.
• despite taking a new battery, the old LP-E6 ones you have lying around are completely compatible.

If the claims made by Canon are true and this new high sensitivity/low noise sensor produces superb images in low light, then almost all of the benefits of a full-frame sensor are gone. The one exception is if you happen to be a landscape photographer and want to maintain your ultra wide angle shots.

Some other nice features which excite a geek like me but seem to have been overlooked my many of the mainstream reviews are as follows:

• In camera HDR and multi-exposure. This allows you to take up to 5 shots which are merged to HDR, but all the source images can be saved too.
• Built in intervalometer and bulb timer. This allows you to take timed bulb shots (e.g. 30 minutes) or one shot every n seconds for x minutes without 3rd party add-ons or Magic Lantern!
• Improved Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) to allow 2,3,5 or 7 shots, a vast improvement over the 3 possible on the original 7D.
• USB3 port, meaning much faster transfer of files to your computer without needing a card reader.
• CF and SD Card slots – don’t personally like SD cards, but good option for backup I guess.
• GPS with a digital compass. Just in case you want to geo-tag your images.
• Silent Drive mode, allows silent shooting when in quiet locations (or taking a crafty shot of the bridesmaid without getting caught)

All in all, this looks like a really, really nice camera. It is very capable and will be just as much at home in a Pro’s bag as an enthusiastic amateur’s. It is scheduled to be available from authorised canon dealers from November 2014 onwards.

Head over to www.cvp.co.uk for some of the best UK deals.

Here are the full specs, in case I’ve overlooked anything and a few pics of what it looks like.

Source: Canon official Press release.