Canon 7D mk2 owners thread.

Keep forgetting about the C settings George. Just started using the AF ON and AE LOCK with different AF cases and settings which I find pretty useful. Most of my need for change is to drop back to one shot AF from AI SERVO so the AE LOCK is set to spot focus and single shot while the AF ON is set to my preferred case and expanded points and AI SERVO.

One thing I do like and wish that the 1DX had it is the multiple personal menus. I guess it could be done with a firmware update though so hopefully it will come depending on whether Canon have a successor to the 1DX in the wings.
 
buckas said:
If the lens is switched to MF you're not going to get the focus square on any body I've used.
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Square comes up on my 5d3 and behaves as explained in my post so the function has been changed on the 7d2
 
Gaz J said:
Keep forgetting about the C settings George. Just started using the AF ON and AE LOCK with different AF cases and settings which I find pretty useful. Most of my need for change is to drop back to one shot AF from AI SERVO so the AE LOCK is set to spot focus and single shot while the AF ON is set to my preferred case and expanded points and AI SERVO.

One thing I do like and wish that the 1DX had it is the multiple personal menus. I guess it could be done with a firmware update though so hopefully it will come depending on whether Canon have a successor to the 1DX in the wings.
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To be honest, Gary, I always have AF set to AI servo on the 1 Dx and don't find any hunting problems (which I had with the 7D mk1 esp with s/tellys) and I'm trying that with the 7D2, but haven't played enough to see if it works for me!

Just like as few things to fiddle with as possible!!...and I agree about the multiple menu facility, however I suppose having only the one does force you to think about what you have there!!
 
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Interesting read on the differences between the three cameras AF. Canon have obviously set out to produce the best crop sensor they could in terms of overall performance. Wonder if Nikon have something in the offing to compete.
 
George said:
To be honest, Gary, I always have AF set to AI servo on the 1 Dx and don't find any hunting problems (which I had with the 7D mk1 esp with s/tellys) and I'm trying that with the 7D2, but haven't played enough to see if it works for me!

Just like as few things to fiddle with as possible!!...and I agree about the multiple menu facility, however I suppose having only the one does force you to think about what you have there!!
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I always used to have it set to AI servo and its still my default. What I have found though is that with small birds the single point can sometimes miss slightly and its for this reason that I've got the other button set to single and spot.
 
Gaz J said:
I always used to have it set to AI servo and its still my default. What I have found though is that with small birds the single point can sometimes miss slightly and its for this reason that I've got the other button set to single and spot.
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I just don't take shots of small birds, Gary!!!...:exit:
 
George said:
I just don't take shots of small birds, Gary!!!...:exit:
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I guess that would do away with the need for it George. :) One of the reasons I bought the MkII was for the smaller subject although I'm hoping that it will be the ideal body for the low fly zone in Wales.
 
Gaz J said:
I guess that would do away with the need for it George. :) One of the reasons I bought the MkII was for the smaller subject although I'm hoping that it will be the ideal body for the low fly zone in Wales.
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Must try and get down there sometime, Gary!!
 
That's a long haul for you George. But there's plenty of places to visit on the way down to make a few days of it.
 
Trev4 said:
I have been trying case 2, 3 and 6 for birds in flight, at the moment I feel case 3 is the better one for BIF. What are your experiences and have you found the need to change the default setting in your preferred case?
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....I'm starting off by using Case 3 for BiF and won't investigate tweaking the default settings within a Case until I am more practiced and can better see what's going on. I think I will try other Cases before any fine-tuning anyway.

I think it's also a matter of achieving the right balance/combination between Case # and AF pts area.

Realising that the 7D2 is relatively complex is partly why I bought mine early so that by Spring I should be a lot more familiar and fluid. It's what I did when I bought my 70D in December 2013.
 
Now that folks have had their MkII's for a while how about sharing some of the custom settings you've made.

Here's mine.

SHUTTER BUTTON - Metering start
AF ON - Metering and AF start with one set of focus parameters.
AE LOCK - Metering and AF start with another set of focus parameters.
DOF - Switch to registered AF point each time pressed.
LENS - Off.
M-fN - As set from factory.
SET - ISO.
MULTI CONTROLLER - Direct AF point selection.
AF select lever - Direct AF area selection.

C1 - C2 - C3 nothing as yet.
 
Hi all I have been using 7D2 for a week and have played with the few RAW files in ACR CS6 so below is how I felt about the body compared to my 5D3.

Body handling - very good no issues just as the excellent 5D3 grip, it felt rugged and perhaps better weather resistance than 5D3... overall is excellent.
Menu (operating) - again no hassle its very alike to 5D3
Viewfinder - similar to 5D3 100% which is excellent
AF system - it has the edge over 5D3 however I found it to be too sensitive at times (perhaps due to crop body). PDAF on low light is improved over 5D3 and it works. I have shoot a BiF at 10fps until it fills the buffer up - I will need to recheck the images but under good contrast condition, I can say it nails 90% of the time however when lighting is not preferable, chances of AF is much greater (this is all subject to conditions, I have busy tree background scenario so this is not helping much either in keeping the birds on track)
10fps - holy cow this thing rocks... no comparison! shutter is surprisingly silent..
IQ - well, I never owned 7D so can't compare, but I would be careful on ISO above 1600 ... DR - enough said on the internet.. compared to 5D3, well I am definitely prefer the files from 5D3 but having that said, 7D2 is not far behind, not far at all... so this crop sensor has bring me a surprised.
Battery - this body drains it quicker than my 5D3

Overall impression
Whilst shooting wildlife (birds), I probably will be leaning towards 7D2 for the 10fps and reach ability (7D2 + 500 f4 = 800mm equivalent) but the latter is not my first choice in choosing it. I enjoyed the 7D2 a lot and even used it for a bit of landscape and night sky. Sorry I have yet to do the PP so did not have the chance to look at it properly. Will I consider to buy it? Well I did at some point but just because for the 10fps which I do love it, I do not think owning 2 bodies and not involved professionally in this field full time does not justify my spending. So I will hold back for now.

My AF settings for both cameras as below:
Both at Case 2 with manual adjustments
Track Sensitivity - +1 (but I found that 7D2 is much sensitive than 5D3 so I revert it back to 0)
Accel/Decel Tracking - -2
AF pt Auto Switch - -2

AI Servo 1st image priority - Focus
AI Servo 2nd image priority - shutter button

The rest of it is factory settings.

Both also have customised AF back focus button and shutter button at metering start.

My 2c...

Cheers
Robin
 
buckas said:
Sorry mate, you are right - swear it use to dissapear, just changes shape
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I think you only get a circle showing where it's metering in the scene and it disappears on evaluative.

I rarely use live view but I had a little play earlier and thought that it functioned the same as my 5D3 apart from the square showing up on the first screen - but it does when you hit the magnify button - which sort of makes sense. I'll have another play later if I get chance.
 
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Depending of course on what subject you are photographing, LiveView+Magnify button is excellent for checking or achieving fine focus when tripod mounted. You can use the Multi-controller to move your magnified box around the image.
 
Moving marginally off topic, but talking about the battery charger that comes with the 7D2. I have 2 original Canon batteries and one third party battery that I have been using with the 7D1 for about 3 years or more. The original charger charged it fine together with the Canon batteries of course.
I used the new charger that came with the mk2 and as expected, that charged the Canon batteries ok. When I popped the third party one in, it started to charge, or at least it appeared to, and then the indicator light started to flash continually as opposed to the normal flash sequences that indicate the state of charge. I left it in the charger for a couple of hours but the rate of continual flashing didn't change
To all intents and purposes, the 2 chargers look identical and with the same model numbers, but I wonder if Canon have incorporated some circuitry to detect third party batteries and to reject them.
I only have one third party battery so cant check to see if it happens on any others.
Anyone else noticed this?
 
Trev4 said:
Moving marginally off topic, but talking about the battery charger that comes with the 7D2. I have 2 original Canon batteries and one third party battery that I have been using with the 7D1 for about 3 years or more. The original charger charged it fine together with the Canon batteries of course.
I used the new charger that came with the mk2 and as expected, that charged the Canon batteries ok. When I popped the third party one in, it started to charge, or at least it appeared to, and then the indicator light started to flash continually as opposed to the normal flash sequences that indicate the state of charge. I left it in the charger for a couple of hours but the rate of continual flashing didn't change
To all intents and purposes, the 2 chargers look identical and with the same model numbers, but I wonder if Canon have incorporated some circuitry to detect third party batteries and to reject them.
I only have one third party battery so cant check to see if it happens on any others.
Anyone else noticed this?
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I think canon built that into the 5D3 chargers too, they're trying to make us all use genuine batteries only.
You should find your 7D1 charger will charge your new batteries too so may be able to use that for them all.
 
Ben6 said:
I think canon built that into the 5D3 chargers too, they're trying to make us all use genuine batteries only.
You should find your 7D1 charger will charge your new batteries too so may be able to use that for them all.
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The 7d1 charger won't charge an N battery to full charge though.
 
Ben6 said:
I think canon built that into the 5D3 chargers too, they're trying to make us all use genuine batteries only.
You should find your 7D1 charger will charge your new batteries too so may be able to use that for them all.
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Thanks Ben. I suspected that they had done something like this but didn't know it had already happened with the 5D3. Yes, the original charger works fine with all the batteries so I'll stick with that one, cheers (y)
 
mipevo6 said:
The 7d1 charger won't charge an N battery to full charge though.
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Ahhh, ok, I did notice that on one time, I only had 90% charge on the N battery, I didn't relate that to the fact I had used the 7D1 charger, and didn't follow it up as it was ok the next time, but that time I had used the new charger. Crafty ******s. Its no big deal for me now that I know, but it could affect others who purchase new cameras with N batteries and try to use third party ones as well.
 
Although I can hear some of you folks moaning that Canon are taking the p*** by trying to railroad users to only fitting their genuine Canon batteries, I can see the point of view whereby Canon cannot be reasonably expected to stand by when third-party products are fitted should any problems arise with the camera. Unlikely regarding batteries, I hear you say, but when you have spent so much on a DSLR camera why faff around?

Battery juice is battery juice but it's like avoiding pumping ordinary petrol in my car - She is tuned for high octane Shell V-Power and when I have been forced to use 95 RON on a couple of occasions, she still runs well but I have noticed she has lost a performance edge.

Canon batteries are a component within the whole camera system - In my opinion it's potentially a false economy to deviate.

Having said that, what batteries do Canon recommend for their grips?
 
I just noticed last night trev it was only charged to 90 per cent I also put a genuine 7d1 in the 7d2 and came up on the camera irregular electricity charge when I thought they were suppose to be compatible ?I have just got another battery so will not do that again
 
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Why oh why isn't there a discharge/refresh button on these chargers?..minimal cost to add it and prolongs battery life and performance.
All 1 Series chargers have it, and as soon as the charger detects the battery needs calibration, it flashes, and the original battery performance is, to all intents and purposes, restored.

Seems a silly omission to be on what are relatively expensive bodies....or is it a tool to persuade us to buy more batteries?

My original 7D batteries went from the 3 green blobs on the charger to 2 blobs in just over a year, then just stayed that way.....any comments?
 
cruso said:
I just noticed last night trev it was only charged to 90 per cent I also put a genuine 7d1 in the 7d2 and came up on the camera irregular electricity charge when I thought they were suppose to be compatible ?I have just got another battery so will not do that again
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I am sure I read somewhere that the cameras using LP-E6N batteries were backwards compatible with the LP-E6, so in theory both batteries should work in the mk1 and mk2. I have used an LP-E6 (genuine) in the 7D2 but it didn't check the % charge when I put it in, it did seem to work ok. It does sound as though there is a question mark over this though.
 
George said:
Why oh why isn't there a discharge/refresh button on these chargers?..minimal cost to add it and prolongs battery life and performance.
All 1 Series chargers have it, and as soon as the charger detects the battery needs calibration, it flashes, and the original battery performance is, to all intents and purposes, restored.

Seems a silly omission to be on what are relatively expensive bodies....or is it a tool to persuade us to buy more batteries?

My original 7D batteries went from the 3 green blobs on the charger to 2 blobs in just over a year, then just stayed that way.....any comments?
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I thought refresh was for Nicads not NiMH ?

Trev4 said:
I am sure I read somewhere that the cameras using LP-E6N batteries were backwards compatible with the LP-E6, so in theory both batteries should work in the mk1 and mk2. I have used an LP-E6 (genuine) in the 7D2 but it didn't check the % charge when I put it in, it did seem to work ok. It does sound as though there is a question mark over this though.
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The batteries work in everything , it is just the new charge is the only one that can charge the N battery fully.
 
cruso said:
Trev mine came up with with irregular electricy on the lcd screen and I only have genuine batterys I dear not put anything else in now I only put one in and turned it of quick
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That sounds as though you may have a problem with one of the batteries, being genuine Canon ones and charged on a Canon charger, there's nothing else you can do to get it right. Was it just with the one battery that you had the notice displayed?
 
You may have already seen it, but if not, there is a thread running here at Canon Rumours linky. Its not saying a lot more but is supporting some comments in this thread.
 
I have used just one, that was in my mk1, it's 3 years old now and has been faultless and still delivers only slightly less power than the original. I bought it from 7day shop if I remember correctly. With the current situation with the mk2 I feel inclined to get an original for the new camera which is just what Canon want. My mk1 has gone to my wife so the batteries will still be used and I'll get a spare for the mk2.
The N batteries deliver 1865mw as opposed to the 1800mw of the non N yet the new ones are almost double the price, it seems battery sales are an important part of Canons market.
 
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