EOS 7D - Hints And Tips.

CT

CT

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Can you all post your hints and tips on setting up the 7D as we all find out more about the camera, and keep the thread confined to just that please? (y)

I'll start it off - not that I have much to impart at this stage...

As with the 50D, you need to disable Auto Lighting Optimiser and Highlight Tone Priority if you shoot RAW. They can be useful for jpeg shooting but cause increased noise with RAW images.

Trying to use the built in levelling device while holding the camera out in front of you and trying to balance two separate axis is an exercise in madness, but on a tripod, (where I'm sure it's intended to be used) it's a very quick method of levelling the camera accurately.
 
Switch the LCD brightness to Manual, and increase 1 notch,

Agree about the level, but is fun trying ;) :nuts:
 
CT said:
Trying to use the built in levelling device while holding the camera out in front of you and trying to balance two separate axis is an exercise in madness, but on a tripod, (where I'm sure it's intended to be used) it's a very quick method of levelling the camera accurately.
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How accurately does it level? to the nearest degree, or to a fraction of one?
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
How accurately does it level? to the nearest degree, or to a fraction of one?
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It seems to be set up just to achieve absolute vertical and horizontal alignment which is graphically represented. You can see when it's slightly out on either axis, but there's no actual indication of by how much.
 
For quick AF point selection -->

In the custom menu setting C.FnIV Operation /others Custom Controls set the joystick to the AF point direct selection, then when you want to select your focus point you can do so using only the joystick.

Had this set on my 50D and it worked well. Took me a while to find it on the 7D.

Hope that is useful to some.
 
swag72 said:
For quick AF point selection -->

In the custom menu setting C.FnIV Operation /others Custom Controls set the joystick to the AF point direct selection, then when you want to select your focus point you can do so using only the joystick.

Had this set on my 50D and it worked well. Took me a while to find it on the 7D.

Hope that is useful to some.
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Good call!


Like that.
 
Fast sensitivity on the AF isn't necessarily the best for your application. So far, I've achieved the best results for tracking with motorsport with the sensitivity and tracking speed set to a medium value.

Simon
 
Been looking for this thanks. :D


swag72 said:
For quick AF point selection -->

In the custom menu setting C.FnIV Operation /others Custom Controls set the joystick to the AF point direct selection, then when you want to select your focus point you can do so using only the joystick.

Had this set on my 50D and it worked well. Took me a while to find it on the 7D.

Hope that is useful to some.
Click to expand...
 
The Custom Controls settings look like they could very useful. I've set the AF Stop button on my 300 f2.8 to switch between AI Focus and One Shot. I'm not keen on having AF on the * button so this change means I can leave it in AIF mode all the time and just press the button on the lens if I want One Shot.
 
If you are considering buying 3rd party batteries, they may not charge in the Canon charger.

They are also not showing in the charging meter in the battery menu. They will show as having no charge, despite them being fully charged. Also when you first put them in the camera you have to accept them as it says that the battery is not recognised by the camera.

They will work fine as a back up, but had I known this prior to buying I wouldn't have bothered.

Hope that helps someone that is looking into these.
 
After you press the AF Select button (the one to the right of the * button), pressing the M.Fn button lets you chose the AF mode in the viewfinder instead of having to use the LCD screen. If you also set the joystick to AF point direct selection (as mentioned above), you can select any AF point, or zone, in any AF mode VERY quickly! (y)
 
My top tip is to purchase one of these Nintendo DS screen protectors for your LCD. Two protectors are included, the smaller one fits very nicely and the larger one can be cut to size.
 
Orville said:
My top tip is to purchase one of these Nintendo DS screen protectors for your LCD. Two protectors are included, the smaller one fits very nicely and the larger one can be cut to size.
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Er, you do realise that there's already a protector for the lcd built-in? So you're actually sticking a piece of plastic on your camera's screen to protect the screen protector.
 
hollis_f said:
Er, you do realise that there's already a protector for the lcd built-in? So you're actually sticking a piece of plastic on your camera's screen to protect the screen protector.
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Not on mine. I just had the clear glass/plastic covering my LCD. I know this scratches from experience with a 40d, and this is what I wish to protect.
 
For bird in flight i have my mk3 set for slow tracking and this works the same as the 7d .
What it does on slow is give you time to get back onto the bird before the camera trys to focus on something else so it stops the lens from hunting for a brife moment .
This setting along with Pumping the shutter button if needed gives you a better chance IMO .
Rob.
Swag72 just what i was looking for :)
Eddit ah i thought this was to go through the focus options to go from say zone to expand to single point .rather than have to press the 2 buttons .
 
Orville said:
Not on mine. I just had the clear glass/plastic covering my LCD. I know this scratches from experience with a 40d, and this is what I wish to protect.
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The clear plastic (on 40D) or glass (on 7D) covering the LCD is user-replaceable for around £12. It's also pretty tough, no scratches on my 20D, 40D, 50D or 7D.
 
hollis_f said:
The clear plastic (on 40D) or glass (on 7D) covering the LCD is user-replaceable for around £12. It's also pretty tough, no scratches on my 20D, 40D, 50D or 7D.
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What about the top LCD screen? I seem to have scratch mine, and all there was was either Velcro from the bag, or possibly the soft plastic case from a CF card
 
alastairb said:
i just found out today that it can do +-5 stops exposure compensation you just have to count the wheel turns after you pass 3
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If you use the quickmenu you get a +/-5 scale. Also, if you use bracketing, you can get +/-8 stops!!
 
hollis_f said:
The clear plastic (on 40D) or glass (on 7D) covering the LCD is user-replaceable for around £12. It's also pretty tough, no scratches on my 20D, 40D, 50D or 7D.
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Really?? Would you know if thats the same for the 30D? tks
 
Great thread, heres mine:

Don't sell ALL of your lenses - a 7D body with no lenses is not much use!

Looking forward to some more useful tips than mine !
 
ive been reading a few reviews/summaries/tests and all of them point to watching the aperture when shooting, if you start heading off toward F7 then the images coud become softer due to refraction(or something) I will be testing my new 7 over the weekend to see what works with the lenses I have.

Any tips for the colour? the first shot I took made the red rather pink looking on the test subject..
 
matty said:
i

Any tips for the colour? the first shot I took made the red rather pink looking on the test subject..
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I can't say I've noticed that Matty, but I've found that most of the picture style settings produce a magenta cast when you open the image in DPP, with the exception of the 'Faithul' setting which I've taken to using recently and I find that that produces the most natural looking colour in DPP.
 
kiss your 7d each day and it will appreciate the affection and your image quality will improve
 
matty said:
ive been reading a few reviews/summaries/tests and all of them point to watching the aperture when shooting, if you start heading off toward F7 then the images coud become softer due to refraction(or something) ...
Click to expand...

That would be 'diffraction' I guess, although I haven't seen these particular comments. It's not a new problem, it's as old as photogaphy. It would be nice to think that we could continue stopping down ad infinitum continually gaining more DOF and image sharpness, but it isn't so unfortunately. Diffraction is what happens when we select a small aperture and the light entering the lens through that restrictively small aperture opening gets deflected off the edges of the aperture blades and bounced around in the lens. The net result is images lose their critical sharpness, by he time the light hits the film/sensor. This is why it's generally accepted that most lenses produce their best results at around f5.6 or f8 with diffraction becoming a danger thereafter.

Unfortunately, those 18mp on our 7D crop sensors are likely to show diffraction more. While the 7D gives us incredible detail and the ability to crop tightly, it also punishes minor focusing errors or slight camera movement by magniifying those too, and the same would apply to slight diffraction which you'd probably get away with on film or on a less tighty packed sensor.

Working at small apertures is a rare luxury for me with long lenses, but I've certainly noticed that you really have to nail the focusing with the 7D - you really can't get away with 'not quite'.

I wont be sending it back any time soon though. ;)
 
CT said:
, but I've certainly noticed that you really have to nail the focusing with the 7D - yopu really can't get away with 'not quite'.

I wont be sending it back any time soon though. ;)
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this whole quote sums up my 7D experiences so far, both normal and the bold quote! :)
 
the test shots ive done so far are much sharper than what i was getting with the 50d, even with kit lens, so im hoping that a little bit of calibration will give the new owner deep satisfaction
 
Dave450 said:
this whole quote sums up my 7D experiences so far, both normal and the bold quote! :)
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Well apart from that pixel density being a potential problem when we cock it up, there's the highly customisable focus options which can cause problems if we don't have it set right, and I don't think there's any 'catch all' setting unfortunately - so much depends on what we're shooting.

From what I've gleaned from use so far, for birds in flight, particularly against a busy bg it might lock on to, it seems best to have the servo tracking sensitivity set right down to low. What this means is that when you're tracking a bird in the viewfinder and temporarily get the AF spot on the bg ( having first locked focus on the bird) rather than the bird, there's quite a perceptible lag before the AF system starts to refocus, so it doesn't instantly focus on the bg causing the system to play catch up when you get the AF spot back on the bird.

It's the opposite though when shooting relatively still perched birds. Using the above settings (set to low tracking) works against you as you could lock focus on the bird's head, and the bird has only to move a fraction to be oof with a long lens, and not enough to be visible in the viewfinder, so the last thing you want is a slow AF response and I've taken to using the AF sensitivity set to the fastest in that situation.

I hope that makes some sort of sense. I'm not claiming it to be authoratitive - just what my thoughts are up to now.
 
CT - What you have just said is all true. The slow tracking is amazing for birds in flight or motorsports etc, but yesterday I was struggling with still birds, so in the end moved the tracking to fast (y)

So far we are singing of the same sheet with the 7D :)
 
Dave450 said:
CT - What you have just said is all true. The slow tracking is amazing for birds in flight or motorsports etc, but yesterday I was struggling with still birds, so in the end moved the tracking to fast (y)

So far we are singing of the same sheet with the 7D :)
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LOL. Well that's cool. No doubt the default tracking speed set in the centre is meant to be a compromise for all situations, but there's no doubt that you'll get the best results by tweaking the settings to the shooting situation. You really do need to get your head into the user manual with the 7D and experiment with settings to get the best out of it.
 
c1,c2 + c3

I'm always on M but if I'm in somewhere where there's mixed light i.e. woods or nature stuff, and something (rally car/wildlife/birds) are going to move in between certain points you need to change fast so i save the "in the sun" settings to C1 and the "shade" to C2, then on C3 it's setup for movie mode at 24p so 1/50 f/5.6 then adjust ISO/f stop

oh and get a grip!!!

drew
 
really get a grip? Why?

the 7d seems heavy as it is without an even heavier grip, I have yet to run out of battery whilst using it so what would a grip do for me?
 
This is a great thread, some useful posts post of which I've already discovered but hopefully there will be more hints & tips to come.

It's interesting what people have been finding with regards to softness at smaller apertures. I found this yesterday when I was out and about with mine for the first time but couldn't work out why. Now that think about it, it all makes sense. It's not too much of a problem, but something to keep in the back of your mind...

Just wondered, what AF mode are people finding the best for BIF/Motorsports/Aircraft etc? And, is AF tracking automatically triggered upon focusing (half press of the shutter) in AI Servo mode? Are there any other CF setting that are worth changing (other than those mentioned) for medium to fast moving subjects?
 
joescrivens said:
really get a grip? Why?

the 7d seems heavy as it is without an even heavier grip, I have yet to run out of battery whilst using it so what would a grip do for me?
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because if you've got banana mitts like me the 7D feels small, plus just feels nicer to hold + portrait button/functions :)

had one on my previous 50D, and now a camera without it feels wrong

drew
 
jeez, the 7d feels massive to me, any bigger and I think I wouldn't have bought it.

what feels nicer about holding it with a grip, isn't it heavier like that?
 
CT said:
Well apart from that pixel density being a potential problem when we cock it up
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The thing to remember is that blur due to shake, subject motion, diffraction, etc on a higher-density sensor can't give you a worse image than on a low-density sensor. If you print the images the same size then the blur will be the same size. It's only if you insist on pixel-peeping that you'll spot the differences. But final images (which are, after all, what we should be interested in) will look the same.

And, if your optics and technique are good enough, the higher-density sensor should show more detail. That's why it's important that reviews do use good glass and good technique. Examining 100% crops of images shot at f16 (as one famous photographer did in his review <cough> wiggett <cough>) is bound to do the 7D a disservice.
 
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