The Saint KK4GO Loc: Florida

Yeah, but.... It's still only a Nikon :(

Brooklyn-Camera Loc: Brooklyn, New York City

It's a crop sensor camera 1.6 I own one and I love it. Used for shooting sports.

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

And if the OP already owns a bunch of Canon equipment and is looking to move 'up the range'? Why would she abandon her stuff to jump ship just because you prefer the Nikon?

I shot with both Canon (A1) and Nikon (F2, among others) film cameras back in the day, and would not knock either brand. When I was getting back 'into' photography and wanted a DSLR, I would have happily purchased either one, or indeed others! I bought my T4i and some lenses right here on UHH, and have been happy with them and my subsequent upgrades. Once having started with the Canon, though, it would take a major event to make me change brands.

Certainly, someone else ranting about how great their gear is would not do it. Are you on commission or something?

Basil Loc: New Mexico

It is a terrific crop sensor Camera. I could not be happier with mine. I do sometimes wish I had a FF also (maybe someday) but for now, I user the new Canon 10-18mm EF-S ultra-wide lens when I need to go a bit wider (equivalent to 16 - 28mm on a full frame).

Carolina Wings Loc: Flew from North Carolina to Pennsylvania

Hi Clara...It's a cropped sensor...which is ideal for wildlife! This means I don't have to get as close to the wildlife as I would with a full frame camera. I have a Canon 7D MK II and bought it specifically for shooting wildlife.

mmatus

No, it is not a full frame camera, it is called a full"feature camera" per Canon. I have the Canon 7D Mark II, and i love it. It fit my birding needs.
I also used the new Canon 100-400 lens with the 1x4 III extender that gives me over 540 to captured this longer birds.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

By now - after reading through the previous responses - you have probably gathered that the 7D-series cameras are "crop" sensor, not so-called "full frame".

Current full frame Canon models are: 6D, 5D Mark III, 5Ds/5Ds-R, 1DX and the soon to be available 1DX Mark II.

Are you looking for a full frame camera? If so, why? What do you think it will do for you?

I'm asking because there's a lot of mythology and even misinformation about FF. In fact, it does have some advantages. But, so too do "crop" cameras.

For example, if you print big... really, really big such as 16x24" and larger... a full frame camera can provide more fine detail. Enlarging a FF image to 16x24 is approx. a 16X magnification of the original capture. In comparison, enlarging a crop sensor image to make the same size print is more than 25X magnification.

Full frame cameras also are quite good for low light/high ISO shooting. That's because they have larger individual pixel sites and less crowded sensors, that are less prone to heat and cross-talk, making their images less susceptible to image noise. Compared to a concurrent crop camera, FF can generally shoot around 2 to 3 stops higher ISO before generating the same amount of image noise as a crop sensor. (Note: It depends upon the model, too. For example, the full frame 50MP 5Ds-series models have sensors that are just as crowded as an 18 or 20MP crop camera, so they don't have the same high ISO advantage as some other FF models.)

But, there are also disadvantages to FF. There is less lens selection, for example. They require FF-capable EF lenses, while a crop sensor camera can be used equally effectively with both the same EF, plus a lot of EF-S/"crop only" lenses. FF-capable lenses tend to be bigger, heavier and more expensive, too.

And, if you use telephotos a lot, a crop camera can be advantageous. For example, for sports shoots I use a Canon EF 300/4L IS lens a lot on my 7D-series cameras. That lens sells for about $1350, weighs about 2.6 lbs and is a size that's pretty easily handheld... allowing me to be very mobile with it. If I instead were using a FF camera, in order to frame my subjects the same way from the same distances I'd have to switch to a 500/4L IS lens.... One of those costs $8000 to $9000, weighs about 7 or 8 lb. and is more than twice the size, making it pretty much a "tripod only" lens that would in turn make me far less mobile (not to mention the additional cost of a sturdy tripod rig that would likely push the total cost over $10,000).

FF can be great for some things, but not so much for others. I use both formats for different purposes. Probably 90% I shoot with crop because they do the job very well.... easily making excellent prints up to 13x19" and even 16x24", and certainly more than enough quality for any Internet use imaginable.

Finally, typically a FF camera costs more, same as the lenses it requires. Plus, if you already have a crop camera and lenses made specifically for it, you'll likely have to replace those lenses as well, making the format change a lot more expensive than just buying the camera body alone.

I'm not gonna get into the Nikon vs Canon vs any other brand debate. All brands have their strengths and weaknesses, but in general all are quite capable of making great images. The competition between brands has benefited all of us, forcing rapid development and improvement of DSLRs, at the same time that prices have come way, way down. You can buy a DSLR today for $500 that's far more capable than a $3000 DSLR was 10 or 12 years ago.

You asked about a Canon model, so I mention Canon models above. Those are what I am most familiar with, having been shooting with them for over 15 years now. Yet I also know plenty of folks happily making great images with Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony and every other brand on the market today. In fact, in addition to being a photographer, I'm a collector and dealer of vintage gear. I have and enjoy most brands... including all the above (or their predecessors), plus some "orphan" systems that are no longer making cameras.

Just be aware it can be really expensive to switch brands, if you are already invested in one system or another to any extent. And, on any forum such as this you're gonna run into some fanboyz and fangirlz who will do their best to convince you to buy the brand or model they bought... I guess it's just human nature to do that.

The 7D Mark II model you ask about, in particular, is a pretty advanced, relatively pro/advanced-amateur camera. In fact it's the most professional APS-C DSLR Canon has ever made. It's very capable, but also very complex and doesn't have some of the automation and support for less experienced users that most of the "lesser" Canon models offer. The 7DII features a lot of user adjustability to be able to dial it in for specialized uses... giving the photographer a lot of control. But, this level of flexibility in a camera also puts more onto the user to set things up right and use the features correctly. An inexperienced or less careful user might actually end up getting worse results with a camera such as this, than they did with a "lesser" and simpler to use model. Folks tend to think "the more expensive and pro-oriented" a camera, the better the images... but that's not necessarily true. Money that's instead put into higher quality lenses or lenses that can do additional things often are a better investment, give greater improvements than buying a more expensive camera model.

RRS Loc: Not sure

Looks like Allen got us all, least we forget what day it is, April 1st. If that's not the case then maybe we need to wonder just whom the fool is. Thank goodness for gray because everything isn't black and white. :) :) :)

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

If that *was* an April Fool's gag, it was in rather poor taste. The OP was asking a reasonable question, and using a reply to this is questionable judgment at best... If he had posted this as a new thread, maybe...

chaman

Posted by Allen:



Maybe this explains his post. We can conclude that his knowledge about the 7D2 is very, very limited. Did I say very?

Basil Loc: New Mexico

It's still not clear whether the 7D M2 is a crop sensor or not? ;)

CAS1951 Loc: San Diego

Best answer I have read!

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

No

picturesofdogs Loc: Dallas, Texas.

Carefull, or Captain Comma will start throwing semicolons at everyone, and no one wants that.

tropics68 Loc: Georgia

The 7D markII is not a full frame. If a full frame Canon is what you want I believe the least expensive model is the 6D. Prices and features go up from there.