blog | photography by David Kennedy » Canon

Well, it’s about time: A Canon 200-400mm lens

David — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:21:17 +0000

Updated with thoughts about teleconverters and existing lenses…

Canon 200-400mm f/4L IS Lens with built-in 1.4x TC | Photo from dpreview.com

I don’t have to think about switching to Nikon any more?

For years now Nikon has had one lens that makes nature photographers who use any other brand salivate: the Nikkor 200-400 f/4 VR lens. Well, evidently Canon listened to all the complaints–or realized they could make a killing–and they have come up with their own 200-400 with an interesting trick up its sleeve: a built-in 1.4x teleconverter (I imagine that explains the “hump” on the side of the lens barrel).

No word on what size hole it will leave in your wallet, but it is supposedly shipping this year. Canon made a similar announcement last fall for the development of new 500mm and 600mm lenses, and today Canon has released weights for each (both reduced, the 600mm dramatically so compared to the original 60mm f/4L IS). However, it’s the 200-400 that really has my attention. I’ll try to get on the list at CPS to test one as soon as they start shipping.

To my mind, the biggest question is will this new lens accept teleconverters? Sure, it has a 1.4x built in, but can you put a 2x teleconverter on it so it becomes a 400-800mm f/8? Or stack another 1.4x with the internal teleconverter engaged to have a similar 392-784mm f/8 range? (I mention the latter option because it’s at least possible the image quality would be higher.)

Whither the DO?

At present, the longest lens I own is the 400mm f/4 DO IS. It’s light-weight, extremely compact, and with a little toning the images that it produces are stellar. The lens remains sharp with a 1.4x TC (560mm f/5.6) and with proper technique I’ve made good images with the 2x teleconverter (800mm f/8). Hell, I’ve even stacked teleconverters, although the quality declines noticably at that point. When I heard about the 200-400mm f/4, the first question that popped into my head was whether this would be the lens that replaces the 400mm DO. If it can accept teleconverts, I’d hedge my bet that the answer is “probably.”

But for those who simply want a walk-about zoom lens, there’s already a surprisingly good alternative to the 400mm DO, albeit a stop slower. Last fall, Artie Morris began posting about using the new 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Mk. II with the 2x teleconverter to make a 140-400mm f/5.6 zoom, and I tested the combination myself and was duly impressed.

For a lot of wildlife photography, the new 70-200mm with a 2x, combined with a standard telephoto (400mm, 500mm, 600mm, etc.) will pretty much “do it all.” Does that mean that a dedicated 200-400mm zoom is even necessary anymore–that Canon missed its window of opportunity? Alternatively, are the 400mm DO’s days are over? Only a side-by-side comparison of all three will do.

Canon Press Release

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., February 7, 2011 – Canon Inc. today announced the development of a new super-telephoto lens, the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM EXTENDER l.4x, for use with all EOS SLR cameras. A prototype of the new lens will be exhibited at the CP+ tradeshow, held in Pacifico Yokohama, from February 9 – 12, 2011.

The EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM EXTENDER l.4x is being developed as an L-series super-telephoto lens with an integrated 1.4x extender and high-performance Image Stabilizer technology. The new lens will offer exceptional flexibility by incorporating a built-in 1.4x extender that increases the maximum focal length to 560mm for sports and wildlife photography. High-quality images with high levels of resolution and contrast will be possible through the use of advanced optical materials such as fluorite crystal. The new lens will also include dust- and water-resistant construction designed for extended usage under harsh conditions.

Canon will continue to respond to the needs of various users ranging from beginners and advanced amateurs to professional photographers, in an effort to enrich their photographic expression with SLR cameras by continuing to develop attractive new lenses with improved optical technology.

(press release from the Canon USA Web site)

A good change, but is it worth the price?

David — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 01:18:24 +0000

Mode dial lock modification - image from usa.canon.com

What?

Canon is now offering to modify 5D Mark II and 7D camera bodies with a mode dial that locks in place to prevent the dial from moving accidentally. Unfortunately, it’s not free of charge: $100 per camera body.

Why?

You know the frustration: you’ve set your camera to “aperture priority” and then you sling it over your shoulder. You pick it back up to make a quick image and suddenly the viewfinder blacks out far longer than you expected. A second-long exposure in bright daylight? “Oh, ” you realize, “it slipped over to shutter priority which was set for making blurs.” But the decisive moment? It’s long since gone on account of a technical problem.

I’m going to make a broad-spectrum criticism here: the mode dials on pretty much every camera suck because most of them do not lock in any way, shape, or form. Nikon locks the “sub-dial” beneath the mode dial on many of their bodies, but even they are not blameless.

Time to celebrate?

Maybe. I own both bodies, and I’m not really thrilled at the thought of contributing $200 into Canon’s coffers for something that is really a fix, not a “modification.” And I’m disappointed that there’s no suggestion that a locking mode dial will be a standard feature of future camera bodies. Finally, a mod for the 5D Mk. II really gives me pause: this camera was announced over two years ago, so shouldn’t owners be looking for its replacement, not pouring more money into the existing body?

I think this one is worthy of discussion, so what do you think?

Photokina is coming…can you tell?

David — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:55:41 +0000

Every two years, camera manufacturers descend upon Cologne, Germany to push their latest wares. In the past week, on the lead-up to the trade show, Nikon, Sony, and Canon (in that order) have unveiled their latest offerings.

The Sony pellicle mirror diverts 30% of the incoming light to a phase-detect autofocus sensor. Image from DPReview.com.

The more interesting announcements, to my mind, include Sony’s decision to revive the Pellicle mirror concept in the form of a “Single Lens Translucent” body that is always in live view, but retains phase-detect autofocus even for video.

Canon has announced a new 60D body that loses many of the features that it’s predecessor, the 50D, had but it gains video and an articulated LCD screen. I can only hope that articulated screens are found on every future body that shoots video…Note also that this camera has another edge over the higher-priced 7D: manual audio control. Canon has yet to release firmware to give the 7D the capability to control the audio level, but this lower-priced model might actually become very attractive to videographers for the articulated screen combined with audio control. That is, if Sony doesn’t steal the show.

However, Canon didn’t end there: the 300mm f/2.8L, 400mm f/2.8L, and 1.4x and 2x teleconverters have all been refreshed with new optical designs. The updated teleconverters have improved electronics that might only affect their performance with the newly-announced telephoto lenses, but the improved optics should benefit all telephoto lenses. So, while I can’t say that any of the super-telephoto lenses are in the cards for me at the moment (the longest lens I have is the 400mm f/4 DO IS, and my sights are set on the 800 f/5.6–some day) the new teleconverters are sure to pique the interest of everyone as they are a frequently-used accessory and are therefore an easy way of improving the image quality of one’s photographs.

Also, Canon announced that they will be redesigning the 500mm f/4L IS and 600mm f/4L IS super-telephoto lenses, complete with the new “flourine coatings” on the aforementioned lenses and teleconverters.

Canon 8-15mm f/4L fisheye zoom lens. Image from DPReview.com.

That said, the icing on the cake of the announcements? An 8-15mm fisheye zoom. Sure to be of interest to a lot of people for the creative perspectives offered in such a range. Particularly, owners of reduced frame (APS-C and APS-H) cameras will be interested in this lens for the wider perspective.

Really, the only offering in that mix that doesn’t make sense to me is the 70-300mm f/4-5.6L zoom lens. I know that the 70-300 range is popular, but how this lens fits on the totem pole in relation to the 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 DO IS lens is something of a mystery to me.

I was curious enough about this “L” version of the popular zoom range that I fired off an e-mail to Scott Andrews, the photojournalism representative for Canon in North Carolina, and his estimate is that this lens will have greater contrast and sharpness as compared to the DO lens. It is, however, heavier at 2.3 pounds versus 1.6 pounds, bright white as opposed to matte black, and will be priced some $200 more than its DO sibling. I do wonder if this is Canon’s way of tiding people over while we all wait for an update of the 100-400mm zoom…provided it’s even coming.

Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6L zoom lens. Image from DPReview.com.

A Positive Repair Experience (how often does that happen?)

David — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:00:07 +0000

Canon 24-70mm lens and repair paperwork | Panasonic G1 and Olympus 17mm f/2.8 lens; exposed 1/25 sec. @ f/2.8, ISO 400. | Color corrected with X-Rite Color-checker Passport

Background

In my Lightroom library, 5,824 photographs were captured with my Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens that I purchased in the summer of 2005. While the actual numbers of images made with the lens are certainly higher (I delete a fair amount), it is the most used lens that I have. The second place honor goes to my 50mm f/1.4, with 1,856, and third runner up is the 400mm f/4 DO IS lens and its combinations with the 1.4x and 2x teleconverters.

Because of the heavy use that my 24-70 receives, I had become concerned that it was getting a little worn. While cosmetically it looks fantastic–better than camera bodies that have been used less–I noticed that the zoom was a little “stiff” sometimes, one of the mounting flanges was a little dog-eared, and I wondered about the effectiveness of the rubber seal after all of this time. This lens has been to Africa, the Galapagos, and all over the United States. It’s been exposed to blowing sand, blizzards, and rainstorms. It’s banged against countless door frames and walls as its hung on my camera body, slung over a shoulder.

Along with my 1D IIN, it survived the downpour that sent my 50mm to the repair shop this past fall. My 400mm DO actually went in for a repair in 2007 when its image stabilizer died in Kenya, and the 50mm was inspected and repaired in October. But I had two vouchers for Canon to clean and inspect my gear for free that were due to expire this coming March, and they were burning a hole in my filing cabinet, so to speak.

I received the vouchers as part of re-upping on Canon Professional Services last year, and did not think much of them at the time. I’ve had these clean & check vouchers in teh past, and let them lapse without using them. However, something told me that my semester of working for the Columbia Missourian had strained a lot of my gear. So, as soon as Christmas was over, I packed up my 1D IIN and my 24-70 and shipped them off to Canon’s facility in Jamesburg. I figured that the worst that would happen is that Canon would clean my 1D’s sensor for free.

Continued after the jump!

A Pleasant Surprise

Canon received my body and lens on New Year’s Eve and sent confirmation of their arrival that day, along with follow-up e-mails that the equipment received would be “cleaned and checked.” I did not hear from them for a couple of days, until shipping notices were sent and the body arrived on Tuesday, 5 January. The lens arrived the next day. Evidently, there was more going on with both pieces than I realized.

The 1D IIN received a new hot shoe, as well as having its shutter, exposure meter, and focusing re-calibrated. The new, shiny black hot shoe on top looks strangely out of place given how scuffed the rest of it really is!

My 24-70 apparently received more of a personal touch. The entire lens mount was replaced, as well as the rubber o-ring that makes the weather seal with the 1D series cameras. Additionally, its focusing was re-calibrated. The new mount also means that it has a new serial number–I’ll have to let Chubb insurance know of the change ASAP.

And the cost? $20 to ship the two items (fully insured) FedEx Ground to Jamesburg, N.J. Pretty cheap for a replaced hot shoe, lens mount, and all of the labor.

Upshot

At least partly because of the University of Missouri’s relationship with Nikon, I feel that I frequently hear some biased comments directed at Canon’s service. And what I will say is this: my beef is with the designers of the equipment at Canon, but the support staff have not let me down. I know of at least one colleague who cannot say the same–her 24-70 was effectively lost by Nikon for close to five months, and they did not send her a replacement while they attempted to find it.

Joe McNally came to campus, and I remember him (somewhat) jokingly saying that it was “OK”–I could confide in him my Canon service horror stories. Sorry Joe, but I still don’t have any to share!

Unseasonably warm for Thanksgiving

David — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:53:32 +0000

Les Bourgeois Winery, Rocheport, Mo. Canon 7D and 16-35mm f/2.8 L II lens @ 16mm; exposed 1/500 sec. @ f/14, ISO 400

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to American readers of this blog. Here in Columbia, Mo., the weather has been ridiculously warm, with today reaching 71 degrees Fahrenheit. The past few days have been fairly relaxing–a welcome reprieve from the rest of the semester. I have mostly been using the 7D to continue my evaluation of the body.

Of particular interest to me was the usefulness of the new built-in wireless transmitter for the Canon speedlite system, shadow noise, and live-view functionality.

More after the jump!

Elizabeth. Canon 7D and 50mm f/1.4 lens; exposed 1/250 sec. @ f/2.2, ISO 100, Canon 550EX at +2 ETTL.

Flash Control

Over the past year, I have been increasingly frustrated with Canon’s flash system as I have had a number of opportunities to use Nikon’s “Creative Lighting System” (CLS) and found it to be very intuitive and flexible. That said, on cameras like the D700, its implementation was still not perfect as the controls for the wireless flashes was buried in the “wrench” menu under flash controls / built in flash. Sadly, Canon did not improve on ease of access when they designed the 7D’s wireless control menu. And the Nikon CLS still has Canon beat in one area: wireless rear curtain sync. Why this cannot be accomplished on the Canon system without use of third party devices, such as the latest beta firmware for PocketWizards with ETTL control (or a flash mounted on the hotshoe to fire slaved flashes with “dumb” electric eyes or Nikon flashes in SU-4 mode) is simply beyond me. It’s stupid simple on the Nikon system.

What I can say is that the 7D’s implementation of wireless flash is simple–and strong–enough that I plan on selling my ST-E2 flash transmitter. Yes, I would need it for my 5D II or future pro bodies without built-in flashes, but I primarily use radio remotes, negating the benefit of having a wireless ETTL system any ways! That said, it can be really nice to have the option of simply leaving a flash pointed at the corner of room for some quick portraits, such as the one above of my girlfriend while we were waiting for the turkey to come out of the oven.

Tea service at the antique store, Rocheport, Mo. Canon 7D and 16-35mm f/2.8 L II lens @ 31mm; exposed 1/800 sec. @ f/4, ISO 400 using Highlight Tone Priority.

Shadow Noise

There are some scenes that simply have too great a contrast range to be recorded in any reasonable way without using fill flash. But what about when you don’t want to use flash? Expose for the highlights and let everything else fall into place, like I did with the image above, for which I also used Canon’s “Highlight Tone Priority” custom function. I’ve heard from some people that this function doesn’t do much (if anything), but it seems to give me another 1/3 to 2/3′s of highlight detail, so I’ll use it in a pinch.

Here, the figurine was severely backlit but I did not want to use flash at all. I lightened the midtones significantly in Lightroom in post–on a JPEG capture as I am not yet shooting RAW from this camera. What I can say is that the noise was handled well, requiring only a touch of Lightroom’s color noise and luminance noise controls to eliminate it while preserving detail. It’s nothing mind-blowing, but the 7D at least does not seem to lag behind other cameras in its class.

Turnips and Watermelons and dead insects, Rocheport, Mo. Canon 7D and 16-35mm f/2.8 L II lens @ 23mm; exposed 1/1600 sec. @ f/4, ISO 400

Live View for Hand-held Photography

One of the more useful improvements has been in the ease of access to Live View (displaying the sensor’s view on the rear screen). While it is accessed by its own button on my 5D Mark II as well, the button makes more “sense” on the 7D, and is separate from movie mode, allowing Live View to be left on the “exposure simulation” mode, which also provides a live histogram, unlike the movie mode, which is incompatible with this viewing mode within Live View. This also makes Live View less useful on the 5D–it often winds up being a dedicated “movie” mode on that camera.

In addition to ease of access, focus is now achieved the same way that you set the camera for autofocus in normal conditions. On the 5D II, it was only possible with the AF-ON button, but now, if you use the shutter button as your AF button as well (as I still do–I make my AF button on the rear an AF “STOP” button), you don’t have to do anything differerntly to focus in Live View on the 7D. Also, the ability to rotate between seeing the histogram and seeing the camera’s built-in level superimposed over the screen is a very nice touch. It makes for easier hand-holding for scenes like that above, which was higher than my eye-level, but really needed to be photographed straight-on to make it meaningful. Live View and a fast shutter speed made the image possible.

More thoughts on the 7D, a camera I am finding to be increasingly useful and multi-talented, to follow.

Bassnectar & the continuing story of the 7D

David — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:56:36 +0000

Fans wave glow sticks on the balcony of the Blue Note at the start of the Bassnectar concert, fashioned to be like a rave party, on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009 in Columbia, Mo. / Canon 7D and 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens @ 24mm; exposed 1/8 sec. @ f/2.8, ISO 4000.

Last Friday I was assigned by Vox Magazine to go to a pseudo rave at a Bassnectar concert held at the Blue Note, a theater-like venue here in Columbia, Mo. I decided to pack the 1D Mark III and the new 7D, leaving my 5D II on the shelf at home. While it is a great camera in low light, I was more interested to see how the other two would perform as they are both relative “unknowns” to me. Risky? Sure. But I figured it made sense to have one pro body with me, and my own 1D IIN is terrible in poor lighting conditions. The only rule imposed on me was “no flash.” This was going to be ISO 3200+ territory.

More photographs after the jump!

Luba Korshunova, a student from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, twirls glow sticks before the start of the Bassnectar concert. / Canon 1D Mark III and 50mm f/1.4 lens; exposed 1/40 sec. @ f/1.4, ISO 3200.

Jamie Echols waits for her friends to arrive before the start of the Bassnectar concert. / Canon 1D Mark III and 50mm f/1.4 lens; exposed 1/250 sec. @ f/1.4, ISO 2500.

People in the crowd wave to Bassnectar up on the stage. / Canon 7D and 16-35mm f/2.8 lens @ 16mm; exposed 1/160 sec. @ f/2.8, ISO 4000.

While the 7D certainly outperforms the 1D III in noise performance, I was impressed that the autofocus abilities were very similar in the dark theater. This certainly speaks well of the new 7D’s autofocus abilities.

Missouri Tigers’ victory over the Kansas State Wildcats – A Story of Two Cameras

David — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:11:01 +0000

Left to right: T.J. Moe, Kirk Lakebrink, Andrew Gachkar, Donovan Bronner, and Tanner Mills take a moment after their victory over the Kansas State Wildcats at the Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Nov. 14, 2009 in Manhattan, Kan. Missouri defeated Kansas State 38 to 12. / Canon 1D Mark III and 24-70mm f/2.8L lens @ 24mm; exposed 1/4000 sec. @ f/4, ISO 1000

Preamble

I began to write this from up in the press box at the Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The game had ended a couple of hours before–Missouri won 38 to 12, with most of the points racked up in the second half.

I used two camera bodies (initially I planned to use three, but I loaned my 1D IIn to my colleague whose camera was down to half battery before the game even started): my new 7D, and a 1D Mark III on loan Canon Professional Services. While I don’t like many parts of the Mark III, especially the way in which one chooses the focusing point, and I am wary of its ability to autofocus given its less-than-stellar history in this regard, I love the way that files look from the Mark III. And, besides, it’s about to be replaced with Mark IV bodies, so I figured I’d give it a chance as the used market is about to be flooded with them. And wow, was I surprised.

More after the jump!

Kansas State Wildcats' wide receiver, Brandon Banks, attempts to evade the Missouri Tigers' defensive back Kenji Jackson, left, line backer Will Ebner, and safety Jasper Simmons during the fourth quarter on Nov. 14, 2009 in Manhattan, Kan. / Canon 1D Mark III and 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens @ 116mm; exposed 1/2500 sec. @ f/4, ISO 1000.

The Mark III and the 7D

The Mark III that I was working with did not seem to have any autofocus issues at all. I set the AI servo sensitivity as slow as it could go (affecting how quickly the autofocus will “jump” to an object closer or farther at that focusing point, which is key when panning–you don’t want it to start focusing on the stands full of fans when you’re tracking the defining run of the Missouri Tigers’ wide receiver, Danario Alexander. And the files were crisp, and the colors buttery, which I can happily say is true of the 5D II, and, with regard to the color only, true of the 7D as well.

I intend to write a continuation of my 7D review soon, and will elaborate on this observation, but I feel that the files from the 7D are not as “crisp” as they could be (note that this is different from “in focus / sharp”), and I believe the problem is that Canon crammed 18 megapixels into the sensor when they should have gone with 12. I believe Canon may have hit the ceiling as far as ideal megapixels per square centimeter. Time to ratchet that number back down! Now, to be fair, I have not yet tried the 7D’s RAW functionality yet, and the files from RAW may well hold better details from the camera’s 18 megapixel sensor. I have not yet evaluated the camera’s RAW performance because Adobe has not yet updated Camera RAW or Lightroom, which is driven by Camera RAW, to support the 7D. Yes, the camera came with Canon’s own RAW conversion software, but my interest in manufacturer’s software is close to zero. Why won’t Canon and Nikon just give in and give us all DNG files?

I am, however, very happy to report that both the 7D and the 1D Mark III meter very similarly. Manually setting the exposure +2 2/3 stops off of the cloudy sky in Manhattan, Kansas, gave perfect histograms in both cameras.

Tim Barnes, left, Missouri's offensive lineman, holds back Kansas State's defensive end Prizell Brown to make a path for Missouri's ball carrier, tailback Derrick Washington, during the first quarter of the game on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009 in Manhattan, Kan. / Canon 7D and 400mm f/4 DO IS lens; exposed 1/2500 sec. @ f/4, ISO 800

7D Autofocus

As far as autofocus performance goes, I have been very pleased with the 7D. I have used a couple of focus patterns, and found that both single point AF as well as the “groups” of automatically-selected points (nine out of the middle, or four on the top, bottom, left, or right). The ability of the camera to remember which focusing point (and pattern) you used in either horizontal or vertical orientation (hint: they can be different, so set the camera to a “top” focusing point in vertical mode!), set by Custom Function III-12-1, is very smart. I have also found that setting the AI servo sensitivity to negative 1/2 (instead of fully negative, in the case of the 1D Mark III), is ideal for my own usage. Another photographer I know and respect swears by setting it to plus 1/2. Your mileage may vary.

Kansas State Wildcats head coach, Bill Snyder, slumps his shoulders as he walks off of the field after being defeated 38-12 by the Missouri Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009 in Manhattan, Kan.

A few images from the 7D

David — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:57:03 +0000

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!

Baylor Bears' running back Terrance Ganaway stiff-arms Missouri Tigers' safety Jasper Simmons in the fourth quarter. / Canon 7D and 400mm f/4 DO IS lens; exposed 1/1250 sec. @ f/4, ISO 500.

Menus / Customization

I will credit Canon for making the menu system incrementally better with each successive version of their DSLR’s, with the possible exception of their custom settings menus, which have been “cut up” into four submenus that claim to have distinct themes, but frankly confuse more than they simplify.

While I do not miss its absence on this camera body anywhere near as much as I do on my 5D II, I do not understand why mirror lockup is buried in a custom function instead of being a button or, alternatively, a drive mode.

An aside: for about a year now, I have been able to check out Nikon D3 and D700 bodies from the University of Missouri, as well as a full complement of lenses from 14mm to 500mm, and had been very envious of the body designs that separate drive modes, metering modes, and autofocus modes onto separate dials and switches…until recently, which I photographed at night. Here’s the kicker about those switches: they don’t light up, so you can’t easily tell which one you’re in without finding your flashlight. For the first time, I actually appreciated the way that Canon makes it all available on the top screen, which has a back-light. Am I saying that one is better? No, I am saying that they are different. But at that very moment, I was cursing the difference.

Moving on, I am impressed that Canon finally loosened up on what all could be changed. Many of the buttons on the camera can have their functions changed, dial directions reversed, etc. A very pleasant change, indeed.

Conclusions

There are no conclusions yet.I will have more thoughts on this camera in the coming weeks. It often takes me a while to evaluate a new purchase like this camera, especially for something so specialized for action when I don’t often get to work in that specialty!

Kenji Jackson, center, cries out in frustration after an incomplete interception in the fourth quarter of the game. / Canon 7D and 400mm f/4 DO IS lens; exposed 1/640 sec. @ f/4, ISO 500.