Baylor Bears' corner back Clifton Odom dives unsuccessfully for Missouri Tigers' wide receiver Danario Alexander at Faurot Field in the third quarter of the game on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 in Columbia, Mo. / Canon 7D and 400mm f/4 DO IS lens; exposed 1/3200 sec. @ f/4, ISO 500.
I have not yet formed a clear idea in mind of what I think of the performance of the new Canon EOS 7D dSLR. I purchased it specifically for action photography–sports and wildlife–to accompany my aging 1D Mark IIn, and I photographed the college football game between Missouri and Baylor with these two bodies this past Saturday. I made about 800 frames on the 7D (about 700 too many), and was happy with the focus on several, but certainly not all of the frames. I will be photographing another football game this weekend, Missouri Vs. Kansas State, to be held in the “Little Apple.” I will go into further detail about what settings I am using in a future posting, but I will make a few remarks about the camera here.
Missouri Tigers' quarterback Blaine Gabbert attempts a pass while the Baylor Bears' Jason Lamb dives after him during the second quarter of the game. / Canon 7D and 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens @ 183mm; exposed 1/3200 sec. @ f/4, ISO 400.
Handing
Without question, I think that this camera feels better in-hand than any other, with the exception of the 1D series. The grip is, for once, contoured for a person’s hand. It is very well constructed, and the buttons are easy to find and also “stick out” a bit more so that a gloved hand can actually manipulate them. As a native of the Midwest, this is particularly important, as our winters seem to last about six months! Strangely, while virtually every button is improved over the xxD series, the depth-of-field preview button has taken a turn for the worse. It is almost flush with the camera body, and does not push in very far. Disappointing.
The viewfinder is a joy to look through with this camera. Not quite as nice as the 5D II (which, frankly, is not as nice as Sony’s Alpha 900 viewfinder), but worlds beyond the 40D or 50D.
So far I am unimpressed with the RAW/JPEG button, which enables whichever format you are not using by default, but only for one frame. Nevertheless, it is better than the “direct print” button than it was in the original 5D, and I suppose I should be thankful because it could well have returned to that state of stupidity when Canon moved the “Live View” button from that position, where it is on the 5D II, to a spot above the joystick controller.
What I will also state, to a great deal of dismay, is that this camera feels worlds better in-hand than does my 5D Mark II, which carries a $1,000 premium over the 7D.
More after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Canon, EOS 7D, equipment, football, sports
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