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Do I need to up grade my camera
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Jan 12, 2019 10:18:45   #
bkr2 Loc: Hackettstown,New Jersey
 
I replace my Canon Reble SXi camera with the Canon 7D. That was back in 2013. I have a lot great pictures.And not so great pictures. I think that sum of the not so great pictures failed becouse of the
19 point focusing in the camera.
Do I rely need to get the 7D mark III when comes out.
Here is a sample.

Do I just need more practice.





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Jan 12, 2019 10:25:55   #
Vietnam Vet
 
switch to just one focus point and see what happens

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Jan 12, 2019 10:28:04   #
xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada
 
No...

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Jan 12, 2019 10:31:00   #
PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago
 
bkr2 wrote:
I replace my Canon Reble SXi camera with the Canon 7D. That was back in 2013. I have a lot great pictures.And not so great pictures. I think that sum of the not so great pictures failed becouse of the
19 point focusing in the camera.
Do I rely need to get the 7D mark III when comes out.
Here is a sample.

Do I just need more practice.
Yes. You have a great tool. Learn to use it.Consider joining a local camera club.

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Jan 12, 2019 10:32:57   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
I wouldn't get a new camera. (I'd guess you might wind up in the same situation with a different camera.)
I concur with trying a single point focus,
and more practice.

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Jan 12, 2019 10:34:42   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
What lens(es) are you shooting? That's probably the more relevant consideration.

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Jan 12, 2019 10:38:15   #
Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan
 
Well, most would say you can get great images with that camera. And it would be true.
However, bird in flight pictures which you have shown you can do (and well) are some of the most challenging in photography. And you just might profit from a faster frame rate which could be a consideration.

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Jan 12, 2019 10:39:41   #
Old Timer Loc: Greenfield, In.
 
As some one who had the same cameras that you describe I made the same move and purchased the 7d. The learning curve of the 7d is steep but worth the effort I made some post on trying to get the hang of 7d. If you go back to my topics and check I had some good suggestions and stuck with it. It is yet my favorite camera but you have to learn to use and practice and then practice some more I now have 5dii but action shots I still prefer the 7d. I would like to move up to the 7dii or 5div but at 83 I doubt I do it. Go to youtube or check my topics for some of the suggestion that I got. I can not off hand remember his user name but a gentleman from Ca. help me a lot. You have one of the most advanced focus systems at the time there was. It is like buying a car with all the bells and whistles and not taken advantage of them. If you have not mastered the old camera the new one will be more confusing if you do learn to use it. Most of us never master the cameras we have before we get a G.A.S. attack. You will not do not do any better with the new one.

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Jan 12, 2019 10:40:09   #
BebuLamar
 
I think you just needed to create a thread.

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Jan 12, 2019 11:10:15   #
mas24 Loc: Southern CA
 
I know someone who owns a Canon 7D Mark 2. He uses it a lot for sports during the summertime. Little League Baseball mainly. He has a fast low light lens he uses for it. He is totally satisfied with his camera. Will the specs on the upcoming 7D Mark 3 warrant you to need it? Of course, we do have a hunger for new toys. Any toys. Human nature.

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Jan 12, 2019 11:48:14   #
Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.
 
bkr2 wrote:
I replace my Canon Reble SXi camera with the Canon 7D. That was back in 2013. I have a lot great pictures.And not so great pictures. I think that sum of the not so great pictures failed becouse of the
19 point focusing in the camera.
Do I rely need to get the 7D mark III when comes out.
Here is a sample.

Do I just need more practice.


Yes. Go out and buy the most expensive camera there is, then all the pictures you take will be perfect---until a more expensive camera is released, then get that one.

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Jan 12, 2019 12:24:26   #
jonjacobik Loc: Quincy, MA
 
Without being able to see the full photo, and looking at 4x5" view my browser reproduces, the focus seems soft. You're in low light, and wide open. Knowing how you shot it would be a big help.
I shoot bif with single point focus, and in this kind of light, 1/1000th of second and wide open. I think you equipment is fine. It would easier if you checked store the original so we could see a larger version of the photo.

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Jan 12, 2019 14:33:23   #
G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK
 
I still use a Canon EOS450...go figure.

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Jan 12, 2019 14:39:32   #
insman1132 Loc: Southwest Florida
 
What you show us is really quite nice. Could they be better? Of course, but then, what pic couldn't!!?? Think about it. You may want to try some of the other focus point systems your camera offers. And combine with some varied Shutter speeds. Have fun playing around.

But, of course, if what you are experiencing is really GAS, and we all get that, and can afford the new camera, then go ahead!!! Nothing more fun and entertaining that getting and learning a new Camera. Use it in good health!!

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Jan 12, 2019 17:27:29   #
amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
 
For the past couple years I've been using two Canon 7D Mark II and they are excellent cameras.

Prior to these I used a pair of Canon 7D for about five years. My main reason for the "upgrade" was that I had over 150,000 shutter actuations on each of my 7D, which is their rated "life expectancy".... though both are still going strong and serving as backups (haven't seen much use as such). I haven't checked recently, but probably have around 50,000 "clicks" on each of my 7DII... but Canon claims their shutter (and other mechanisms) are rated for a longer life: 200,000 actuations.

Yes, the 7D Mark II has a fancier AF system.... 65 points versus 19 points in the original 7D. However the sheer number of points was one of the last things on my mind. In fact, with both models I shoot using a single AF point the majority of the time. That's the best way to assure accurate focus, though it's more work for me. The 7DII's AF system also got it's own 50 pages user manual (only available as a PDF download from the Canon website, AFAIK).

Another thing that I thought I'd use a lot, but really haven't, is the 7DII's "f/8 capable" autofocus. This is mostly useful when using lenses with teleconverters... a 2X with an f/4 lens or 1.4X teleconverter with and f/5.6 lens. The original 7D's AF is "f/5.6 limited", meaning that it can only autofocus f/2.8 or faster lenses with 2X or f/4 or faster with 1.4X.

Both 7D and 7DII use dual image processors, along with a discrete chip to run their autofocus. This is same as Canon does with their 1D-series cameras. Outside those, I think only 7D-series have this arrangement (5DS and 5DS-R have dual processors, but I don't think they use a separate chip for AF).

7DII gives 10 frames per second more consistently than the 7D shoots at 8 fps. The latter camera is more prone to slow down it's frame rate for metering or focusing. This was an important concern for me because I shoot a lot of sports using short bursts at the max frame rate. I'm better assured of getting a well times shot when I can take three frames in 1/3 second, than when I might get two frames... or might not if the AF or metering are trying to "figure things out".

BTW, the original 7D got a big improvement with the 2.x firmware update. Check which firmware yours is using.... and if it's any of the 1.x versions, definitely do the update. The firmware can be downloaded for free from the Canon website. Installation is easy, though you need to be careful to follow the instructions exactly. (You need a fully charged battery and a freshly formatted memory card in the camera.)

7D Mark II also are able to make usable images at more than a stop higher ISO. I've shot events with mine at ISO 16000. The highest ISO I ever used with my original 7D was 6400. This has been very helpful getting fast enough shutter speeds in challenging lighting conditions. I still try to keep to lower ISOs whenever possible... 12800 and 16000 require extra noise reduction in post processing. ISO 3200 and 6400 need some NR too, but not as much. Those ISO required more NR with my 7D.

The 7DII also uses a weaker anti-alias filter. 7D's is pretty strong... I really noticed that when I first got them. Compared to the 50D images I was shooting prior, I had to nearly double the amount of sharpening with 7D. I think Canon just got carried away with the camera's AA filter.... it was the first model to use the then-new 18MP APS-C sensor... seemed like later models using that sensor had weaker AA filters and their images didn't need as much sharpening. Certainly the 20MP sensors in 70D and now in 7DII use weaker AA filters... as well as the 24MP sensors in all other current Canon APS-C DSLRs.

Something else that 7DII have is an Anti-Flicker feature. This has been a big help to me when shooting under fluorescent or sodium vapor lighting. Any lighting that cycles on and off at a rapid rate like those do tend to fool cameras and cause a lot of under-exposed images. Unless you can use a fairly long exposure (I can't, shooting sports), all you can do under these types of lighting is shoot lots and lots of extra images, assuming you'll end up throwing many of them away, spoiled by the poor exposure. With 7DII Canon introduced their Anti-Flicker feature, which detects the cycling of these lights and times the shutter release to coincide with the peak output of the lamps. It works! Very well, in fact. So long as I remember to enable it, I rarely see any exposure problems any more, due to the lighting used in many gyms and arenas. BTW, Canon now has this feature in most of their cameras. AFAIK, only the most entry-level Rebel T7 doesn't have it. (Nikon has put similar in some of their cameras... I know the D500 and D850 have it, not sure about other models. They call it something different like "Flicker Free", I think. Not sure about any other manufacturers.)

7DII have some other nice upgrades... such as dual memory card slots (one CompactFlash, one SD), more info in the viewfinder, greater customizability with button assignments and display options, and other things. I also use vertical battery grips on mine and the BG-E20 7DII uses has a secondary "joystick", which is a nice improvement. (Canon started doing that with higher end cameras starting with the 5D Mark III, if memory serves.)

I don't shoot video, so can't say much about that with either model.

But am I getting better images? Maybe slightly better.

Is autofocus better? A little. I see a very low percentage of shots thrown away due to missed focus. I always "black flag" missed focus shots in Lightroom when I'm post-processing. At a recent event I took over 3000 shots and exactly 24 images were black flagged... unusable due to missed focus. That's under 1% . And I bet half or more were my mistakes, not the cameras'. I shot too fast before AF had a chance to lock on or failed to keep the AF point on the subject or pressed the wrong button to activate AF (after several hours of shooting, sometimes my hands cramp, especially in cooler weather).

This really isn't much different from what I was with my original 7D. I rarely saw more than 1 or 2% of shots spoiled by missed focus. Same with the 50Ds I used earlier. That's not surprising since I've used similar techniques for many years: Single Point AF (usually the center point), AI Servo and Back Button Focusing. I've been doing that since learning to shoot that way with EOS-3 film cameras many years ago. I will switch to One Shot at times, to shoot stationary subjects (product photography, landscape, posed portraits, etc.) But I use AI Servo far more often (BBF is necessary to use this mode in some situations).

I never use AI Focus. That isn't really a focus mode at all... In AI focus the camera tries to detect if the subject is moving or stationary, and then will use the correct mode... usually. I think it slows AF a little and I know it doesn't always choose correctly or respond to changes as fast as I'd like. I get better results avoiding it. Note that the "pro" 1D series don't even have AI Focus... they only have One Shot and AI Servo.

I do occasionally use Spot Focus (higher precision AF, both 7D and 7DII have it). That's handy when shooting birds in trees, through a tangle of branched, for example. I also sometimes use Expansion Point Focus. It's good with erratically moving subjects which are hard to keep a single point on (both 7D and 7DII have it, though 7DII has two versions). I also occasionally use Zone Focus to shoot subjects like birds in flight against a plain blue sky or other moving subjects with a distant/plain background and no obstructions between me and them that might distract the AF system (again, both models have this feature, though 7DII has two versions and 7D just one). All those focus patterns other than Single Point, I consider to be rather specialized and use them pretty sparingly. I never use "All Points/Auto".

The larger number of AF points in 7DII cover a larger portion of the image area and there's less space between them. (With 65 points, 7DII has the most AF points of any Canon DSLR... only the new EOS R mirrorless has more... LOTS MORE!) All the AF points in both models are the higher performance "dual axis, cross type". And in both models the center point is an even higher performance "diagonal cross type" with f/2.8 and faster lenses... and f/8 capable. (80D, 77D, T7i and 6D Mark II 45-point AF system have more "f/8 capable" points... up to 27 with certain lenses.)

I make a point of using Canon USM lenses on my cameras, which are their fastest focusing in most cases. Some are L-series, some aren't. I've been using many of the same lenses for years.... some since the days when I shot film (I've been almost 100% digital since 2004).

Also, 7D Mark II was introduced in Fall, 2014. It's now a 4 year old model... one of the oldest models in the current Canon line-up. Because of that and the five year product life span of the first 7D model, I wouldn't be surprised if Canon announced a Mark III replacement model in the not-too-distant future. The Nikon D500 it most directly competes with is a newer and in a few ways more advanced model. The D500 is more expensive (as are most comparable Nikon lenses and accessories). Canon 7DII have also been offered with significant discounts recently... possibly an indication they're making an effort to clear the shelves to make way for a new model. But only Canon knows for certain.

In conclusion, I have to say if you are struggling with focus using 7D, you will likely struggle with it on 7DII, too.

Based on this... and perhaps some other differences you may or may not "need" to upgrade. Only you can say.

Here are some other sources of info you might find helpful...

https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-7D-Mark-II.aspx
https://www.digitalrev.com/article/canon-7d-vs-7d-mark-ii-should-you-upgrade
https://cameradecision.com/compare/Canon-EOS-7D-vs-Canon-EOS-7D-Mark-II
https://www.imaging-resource.com/cameras/canon/7d/vs/canon/7d-mark-ii/
https://cameradecision.com/compare/Canon-EOS-7D-vs-Canon-EOS-7D-Mark-II

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