Popular Photography - February 2015 USA

LAB * DSLR TEST CANON EOS 7D MARK II
19-point system did. The broader
coverage makes it easy to find a
selectable focus point near the
edge of the frame.
Even the AF points farthest from
the center are effective at f/5.6,
so you can use them with a tele
extender mounted on fast f/2.8
zooms. The center point allows
the use of lenses with an effective
maximum aperture of f/8, letting
you use tele extenders even
on slower long primes without
completely losing autofocus.
With a well-shaped grip that
has a subtle ridge on the inside
for stability, the body feels good in
the hand. The shutter button sits
at an intuitive forward-pitched
angle, and the smoothly arcing
cutout for the shutter release lets
your index finger fall naturally.
Plenty of dedicated buttons make
changing settings simple. Current
Canon shooters should have no
problem adapting to the layout, as
it follows most of the norms set by
previous bodies of this class.
We missed the touchscreen,
having used the EOS 70D’s to great
effect in conjunction with Canon’s
Dual Pixel CMOS AF. However,
if you’re not shooting long
video takes, you should do well
controlling the AF with the small
joystick on the camera back.
We were glad Canon added a
speed control to the Dual Pixel
CMOS AF. While the 70D operated
at only one speed, the 7D Mark II
lets you select from five with this
innovative AF system, a boon to
videographers who want better
control of focus during a take.
Video shooters in particular
might regret the lack of an
articulating LCD. But the 7D
Mark II is built to be rugged, so a
twisting screen wouldn’t fit that
profile. Serious videographers may
likely opt for an external monitor,
anyway, making a fixed screen the
more sensible choice.
At any rate, the video footage
68 POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY FEBRUARY 2015
we captured using the 7D Mark II
looked as good as we have seen
from a DSLR, showing little in
the way of visual artifacts or the
dreaded Jello effect.
Burst shooters should love the
10 fps continuous drive mode.
Even when using a standard CF
card, you can get 130 Large, Fine
JPEGs per burst, but with a UDMA
7 card, you can up that to 1090
frames per burst. The benefit of
this higher-speed card format is
less pronounced when capturing
RAW files, but a UDMA 7 card will
let you grab up to an impressive 31
RAW frames per burst.
If you often shoot with focus
tracking and plan to use Canon’s
iTR AF mode, you should note
that the burst speed drops to 9.5
fps when this system is employed.
(This mode uses the 7D Mark II’s
150,000-pixel metering sensor in
conjunction with the 65-point AF
to track subjects based on shape,
color, and varying distance info.)
We’re baffled by the decision to
build in GPS while omitting Wi-Fi,
but you can use an Eyefi Mobi SD
card to transfer images to your
smartphone for connectivity.
The Bottom Line
Canon has made a meaningful
upgrade to the top of its APS-C line
with the EOS 7D Mark II. While the
main image quality improvements
are modest, the strong enhancements
to its capabilities add up
to a camera able to handle more
diverse shooting situations with
an ease that you should expect
from a camera in this class. It’s a
no-brainer for any sports shooter
at a college newspaper or website
(despite the lack of Wi-Fi).
If you shoot in tough conditions,
want super-fast bursts, or need
the robust tracking of this DSLR’s
65-point AF system, you’ll be hard
pressed to find a camera that
provides what the 7D Mark II does
at its price. —Philip Ryan
The benefit
of Canon’s
Dual Pixel
CMOS AF for
enthusiast
video
shooters
is huge. No
other system
gives such
a smooth
transition of
focus with
this level of
control over
focus speed.
IMAGING: 20.2MP effective,
APS-C sized CMOS sensor captures
images at 5472x3648 pixels with
14 bits/ color in RAW mode
STORAGE: CompactFlash stores
JPEG, CR2 RAW, sRAW, mRAW,
and RAW + JPEG files
BURST RATE: Using a UDMA 7 CF or
UHS-I SD card: Full-sized JPEGs (Fine
mode), up to 1090 shots at 10 fps; RAW,
up to 31 (CF) or 26 (SD) shots at 10 fps;
RAW + JPEG, up to 19 (CF) or 18 (SD)
shots at 10 fps
AF SYSTEM: TTL phase detection with 65
illuminated focus points (all cross-type,
center dual-cross at f/2.8); single-shot and
continuous AF with Predictive AI Servo
focus tracking. Tested sensitivity down
to EV –2 (at ISO 100, f/1.4); Canon rated
sensitivity down to EV –3.
LIVE VIEW: Dual Pixel CMOS AF system
SHUTTER SPEEDS: 1/8000 to 30 sec,
plus B (1/3-, 1/2-, or 1-EV increments);
200,000-cycle rating
METERING: 252-zone TTL metering using
150,000-pixel RGB+IR sensor; evaluative,
centerweighted, partial (approx. 6% of
viewfinder), and spot (approx. 1.8% of
viewfinder). EV 0–20 (ISO 100).
ISO RANGE: Normal, ISO 100–16,000
(in 1- or 1/3-EV increments); expanded,
ISO 100–51,200
VIDEO: Records at up to 1920x1080p
at 60 fps in MP4 or MOV format with
selectable IPB or ALL-I compression;
built-in mono microphone; stereo minijack
input; clean HDMI out; maximum clip
length: 29 min 59 sec
FLASH: Built-in pop-up with E-TTL II
autoflash and wireless control of
optional flash units, GN 36.1
(ISO 100, feet); flash sync to 1/250
sec; dedicated Canon hot-shoe
VIEWFINDER: Fixed eye-level pentaprism
LCD: 3-in. TFT with
1.04 million dot resolution
OUTPUT: USB 3.0, mini HDMI video,
composite video and analog audio
BATTERY: Rechargeable LP-E6N Li-ion,
CIPA rating 670 shots (with optical
viewfinder) or 250 shots (live view)
SIZE/WEIGHT: 5.9x4.4x3.1 in., 2.0 lb
with a card and battery
STREET PRICE: $1,799, street, body only
INFO: usa.canon.com
VIEWFINDER TEST: Accuracy, 100%
(Excellent); magnification, 1.0X (Excellent)