Canon 7D, setting exposure compensation

Hi, I am considering a Canon 7D, and one of the things that is important to me is the plus/minus 5 stops of exposure compensation (something I believe you Nikon folks have had since the D200 if I'm not mistaken http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/i...on_redface.gif ). On the Canon 7D review pictures, however, it appears that the exposure compensation scale on the top LCD screen and on the back through the Q menu only shows 3 stops either way.

Does anyone know how you would go past plus or minus 3? I hope it's not buried in a menu or something.

By the way, the rainforests here in Costa Rica mandate pretty extreme exposures at times, and I like to creative in my shooting, so that's why this is such a big deal to me.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

It's on the Q menu Greg. You have to go into exposure compensation from the Q menu first. Then you get the -5 to +5 scale.

Doesn't shooting in Manual eliminate the need for any EC scale?

Yes, Jay. It does, but I do most of my natural light shooting in aperture priority, so the ability to use exposure compensation as I want without having to switch to manual mode when I want to seriously over or underexpose out of necessity or creative urge can save a few seconds, possibly the difference between getting the shot or missing a fleeting moment.

Doug, thanks for letting me know about this. Not as good as Nikon but still not too bad. I'm still on the fence but in spite of some of the negative reviews, I am seriously considering a 7D when I visit the US in a few weeks.

Cheers,
Greg

Greg -
Another feature not highly publicized is that the built-in flash on the 7D can now function as a trigger for remote slave flashes. It can even fire and set the slaves to various manual power settings. This might be of help with your multi-flash HB setups.
Regards
Peter

Hi, Peter. Indeed, this is a cool feature! Of course I already spent the money on the transmitter (ugh) but this will definitely be handy at times.

Cheers,
Greg