Popular Photography - February 2015 USA

0.36 0.38
0.42 0.44
TEST RESULTS
IMAGE QUALITY ISO 100–1600
above our cutoff of 2500 lines for
an Excellent rating. At ISO 800,
resolution remained strong with
2625 lines. At ISO 3200, it finally
fell just below the threshold for
our top honors, with 2490 lines.
As sensitivity rises, noise and
the effects of noise reduction
technology—which we apply at
default settings using the RAW
conversion software that ships
with the camera—conspire to
reduce resolution. The 7D Mark
II hit 2100 lines at ISO 12,800 and
2000 lines at its top standard
sensitivity of ISO 16,000. In its
expanded ISO range, resolution
dropped to 1950 lines at ISO 25,600
and 1800 lines at ISO 51,200.
This pattern shows in our noise
tests, in which the 7D Mark II won
our best rating of Extremely Low
at ISO 100 and 200. It stepped to
Very Low at ISO 400, then to Low
at ISO 800 and 1600. From there
noise builds steadily, scoring
Moderately Low at ISO 3200 and
climbing through Unacceptable
range at ISO 6400 and above.
Compared with Canon’s original
7D, the new model produced
cleaner shots at all shared ISOs
save ISO 6400 but reached an
Unacceptable noise rating one
stop earlier. Looking closer,
though, the cameras straddle our
cutoff of 3.0 for this rating: The 7D
scored a 2.8 at ISO 6400, while the
7D Mark II turned in a 3.2. Sony’s
A77 II can’t match this Canon’s
noise control at lower ISOs, but
beats it at ISO 800 and higher.
The 7D Mark II proved cleaner
than both the Nikon D300s and
the Pentax K-3 at all shared ISOs.
Jumping to a 65-point AF
system from 19 points, the 7D
Mark II showed consistent if
modest improvement in speed.
The best increases occurred in
brighter light, mostly between
EV 10 and EV 4. The camera
barely breached the 1 second
mark at the very dim level of EV
–1 and showed above average
consistency at EV –2.
This may be due to higher
sensitivity: the new AF system
is rated to work in the neardarkness
of EV –3. This surpasses
the meter we use in our tests,
which stops at EV –2, but when
we dimmed the lights further, we
were impressed that the 7D Mark
II still focused reliably.
In the Field
While the 7D Mark II’s increase
in focusing speed might seem
nominal, the real benefit of the
new AF system hits home once
you take it out shooting. Its 65
points cover a significantly larger
portion of the frame than the 7D’s
While some
people
might want
to quibble
over the 7D
Mark II’s
imaging
test results,
there’s no
denying that
Canon’s vast
system of
lenses and
accessories
is one of the
best you can
find.
POOR
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
RESOLUTION ISO 100
1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
POOR
2660
COLOR ACCURACY
HIGH
NOISE
UNACCEPTABLE
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT 7.5
HIGHLIGHT/SHADOW DETAIL
LOW
EXTREMELY LOW 0.8
EXTREMELY LOW 1.0
VERY LOW 1.3
LOW 1.6
LOW 1.8
MODERATELY LOW 2.3
UNACCEPTABLE 3.2
UNACCEPTABLE 3.5
UNACCEPTABLE 3.9
UNACCEPTABLE 4.8
UNACCEPTABLE 6.5
EXTREMELY HIGH
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
AT ISO
100
200
400
800
1600
3200
6400
12,800
16,000
25,600
51,200
3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5
EXTREMELY LOW
EXTREMELY HIGH
CONTRAST
HIGH
LOW
EXTREMELY HIGH
AF SPEED
0.51
0.59
0.68
0.84
1.02
1.19
SHOWN WITHOUT LENS