Canon has provided an amazing experience to the users since the launch day, September 2014. 7D Mark ii or 7DM2 is Canon’s professional grade DSLR. Here are some specs:
- 20.2 MP APS-C CMOS sensor
- Dual DIGIC 6 processors
- 100% Viewfinder coverage
- Up to 10 Frames per second
- Up to ISO 51,200
- 65 Point all cross-type autofocusing system with double cross-type at the center
- 252 Zone color sensitive metering
As you can imagine, it is quite stunning DSLR. However, are those numbers actually reflect to real world performance? I can happily say yes. I brought 7DM2 with Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L to Henderson Bird Preserve and shot some birds.
Autofocusing
7DM2 has similar autofocusing system as Canon 1DX, and is just miraculous. Autofocusing is super fast and accurate. 7DM2 feels like it’s autofocusing almost instantly to the subject, while 7D searches for the subject then focus, especially when there is a busy background. However, 7DM2 maybe tricky to use for the beginners due to variety of autofocusing modes. There is 51 pages long guide from Canon to correctly set your autofocusing system. This may be the draw back of 7DM2’s stunning autofocusing system.
Image Quality
There isn’t much I can talk about image quality because image quality is very subjective matter. Image quality to me is the sharpness. How sharp are the images? I think it’s ted sharper than Canon 7D, but it makes sense because 7DM2 has 2 more megapixels than 7D.
Another important part of image quality is the dynamic range. How well does the sensor perform when recovering shadows? Dynamic range is important especially to the wildlife photographers because there will be a shadow on the subject, such as under the wings or neck. Without doing any technical calculation of my own, I immediately realized 7DM2 has greater dynamic range. When I was recovering the shadows of the Canadian geese, I noticed much less noise than 7D usually did.
ISO Performance
Canon always gets the criticism of lack of ISO performance compared to Nikon. Unfortunately, I was unable to spot major differences between 7D and 7DM2. Even though 7DM2 do have much cleaner noise, it is not big of a difference for someone to realize at the first glance.
Conclusion
Canon 7D Mark ii is not a cheap DSLR. It costs $1,400 at the time writing this article. Is it worth it? I can happily say yes. It has incomparable autofocusing system within entire Canon DSLR lineup, exception of Canon 1DX which is $4,600. If you are serious about your wildlife or sport photography, Canon 7D Mark ii is must have body. 10 Frames per second with accurate autofocusing system, there is no other DSLR at this price range.
This setup is well known within wildlife and sports photographers. It’s considerably cheaper than any other configurations.
