Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

The reference to it's ability to auto focus at F/8 is for shooting video during which the aperture is manually set and does not change. In this case if you were shooting scenery with video at F/11 then you would have to manually focus.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I wouldn't even try to shoot basketball with a 6D... it's AF system just isn't up to the task. 6D's dual cross center AF point is probably up to it. But it's other 10 points aren't.

5DIII at a minimum, with it's 61 AF points, up to 41 of which are cross-type.

But for sports photography a crop camera still has some advantages, IMO. If nothing else, smaller, lighter, more portable and less expensive lenses can serve well on a crop camera (135L on crop instead of a 200/2L on FF, for example).

I have not yet seen any specification on 7DII AF light level capabilities (5DIII at 41 AF points and 6D at the center point only are able to do about -2 or -3EV, which is one or two stops lower light than most other Canon.... which are typically -0.5 or -1EV.) Canon has not yet stated 7DII's specifications in this respect, that I can find.

6D's high ISO capabilities would definitely be nice in dimly lit gyms. But 7D is better than many people give it credit for and the first samples I've seen out of 7DII seem even better (http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM). It looks to me like 7DII will be usable one or two stops higher ISO than 7D (6D is usable, IMO, up to three stops higher). I currently use 7D to 1600 without much concern, 3200 with a bit of light noise reduction and 6400 with more NR in post-processing. I know of some folks using 7D successfully even higher, with some extra NR work in post. One important key is to avoid underexposure at all costs... never underexpose and try to boost exposure in post. That increases noise dramatically. Best results are actually slight overexposure that's pulled back in post.

If 7DII betters high ISO by just one stop, that would be significant. And to my eye, just looking at the limited number of comparison images available so far, it looks like it might offer a little more than that.

You might be better off putting money into lenses. Some faster primes such as 35/2 IS USM, 50/1.4 USM, 85/1.8 USM, 100/2 USM and 135L USM can help with AF performance, more than anything else. As you know, the best you can do with a zoom is f2.8... And there's no substitute for additional light for the AF system to work with. The primes can deliver one or more additional stops of light to the camera's AF system. (Though you still may need to use a higher ISO and stop the lens down for the actual shot, in order to have adequate depth of field).

I may be wrong, but I thought the new "flicker correction" feature related to video... not to still photography. . I just sort of glossed over that when I was reading up on the 7DII, since I don't do video and am not concerned about it.

I am a bit disappointed by one thing. The first specs Canon published for 7DII included a somewhat hidden statement that the camera would have Active-AF-Point-Linked Spot Metering... a very useful 1D/1V/EOS-3 feature. Made some sense the 7DII would get it, I thought, since the camera appears to be inheriting the 1D-series 252 zone, 150,000 pixel metering system. However, the latest specs on the Canon website now state specifically that the 7DII won't have this feature. Well, that sucks! I really liked AF-Linked Spot Metering on my old EOS-3s and was looking forward to having it on a DSLR. Oh well, no such luck. The 7DII looks like a winner for a lot of other reasons, though!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Go for it, as it is a rather cheap (but good) camera!

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

No, you can set any f/stop you like, but if you were using a cheepo lens or you put a doubler on a cheepo lens that made the max f/stop f/11 when wide open, then it will not focus.

In other words, there are some really off brand long lenses that have a max or fixed aperture of f/11. If you put an adapter on your camera and then tried to use autofocus it will not do it. But on the other hand, if you put a regular lens like a 70-200 f/4 lens on the camera and used f/22, it will autofocus fine. The reason is because the lens is actually letting in f/4 light with a half press of the shutter button as it's focusing. When you fully press the shutter button the lens stops down to the setting you've chosen (f/22) and trips the shutter. Then it returns to f/4 .

If you use a 2x teleconverters on a lens that is say a max aperture of f/6.3 you'd be sitting at f/9 and the camera will not autofocus because of the 2 stop loss of light.

FramerMCB Loc: Northern, ID (formerly Portland, OR area)

Based on what you describe as your main use here, I would suggest the new 7D Mk-II. The 6D is for sure the better low-light performer of the 2, but the new 7D Mk-II will beat the pants of it for autofocus capability plus FPS... and basketball games in particular inside no less is a fast moving adventure. My 2-cents...

FramerMCB Loc: Northern, ID (formerly Portland, OR area)

FramerMCB Loc: Northern, ID (formerly Portland, OR area)

Absolutely for sure!

FramerMCB Loc: Northern, ID (formerly Portland, OR area)

I believe the real problem (difficulty) for autofocus systems is when you're shooting in a continuous shooting mode - a.k.a. high burst rate (like with most sports, races, and BIF's - as examples) - and you have a particular aperture set (again, somewhat depending on one's shooting mode), then the autofocusing/tracking becomes more of a challenge with a smaller f-stop. Many of the lower-end DSLR's would be challenged to find focus at all if they even could at f8. My 40D I know would not focus. But you're right, in most shooting modes the autofocus is achieved wide-open and then as the shutter button depressed the aperture closes down to the shot settings...

Larryb Loc: Burlington, Ontario

You sound like a dick - the man only asked a question

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Larry, you need to hit the "Quote Reply" function!
That way we will ALL know who the D*CK is! :lol: :lol:
Thanks(I just hope it wasn't me :lol: )
SS

amehta Loc: Boston

Some comments really, really need "Quote Reply" used.

JLM

When I bought my first DSLR - a Canon 20D I compared the pixel density of the 20D and the 5D. It turned out the PD was the same for both cameras. If the same subject was shot from the same distance, at the same focal length and the 5D image was cropped to be the same as the 20D image both images had the same number of pixels. This meant that the image cropped from the 5D and the 20 D image had the same resolution (number of pixels). Assuming the pixels were of equal quality in both cameras, if you used the 5D you could always crop to the 20D sized image and have exactly the same image.

As I understand it the 5D actually had 'better' pixels so if you didn't mind the work of cropping you had a better image than that of the 20D.

This is far more complicated now. The 1DX, Canon's top body shoots 18 MP images. Since the 7DII shoots 20 MP images does this mean that you get better images, better enlargements etc., from the 7DII? I seriously doubt it. There is more to image quality than number of pixels (Nikon has the 36 MP 800-830 but this is not the top Nikon body).

Canon isn't very good at providing information, but I would try asking them how large you could enlarge an image from the 6D that was cropped to show the portion of the image taken with a 7DII (same lens, focal length, etc). I would then compare the operating parameters of the 7DII with the 6D. The 7D might process faster, etc. The camera you buy should be the one that best performs what you are doing.

If you have been shooting with an aps-c camera and the images have been suitable I would be inclined to go with the 7DII - newer technology, new image processor, longer life shutter etc. If you want to capture more of the scene just use a wider angle lens.

brokeweb Loc: Philadelphia

The bigger the sensor, the better performance in low light environments. The higher the pixel-count that you can capture, the more detail you can get in low-light scenarios.

In my opinion, is to create simulation with the rig you are planning to use, and run a bunch of tests. If you want Scott Kelby images, I am sure that is what he does before every assignment.