Hooded Merganser

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D Mk II
Canon 500/4 + 1.4x II
1/2500 sec f/5.6 ISO 800

Small crop for comp and sharpening in CS6
Highlights in NIK Viveza

[Bob Smith]

The water colour was custom designed for the plumage on this fellow--a very fine shot technically Ian and the colour combination is superb

[David Salem]

I really like the pose with the direct eye contact and the complementing water color. Maybe some more room in front and a little less in the back
Not to downplay your abilities at all but I am seeing more and more that the 7DII seems to have some limitations when it comes to fine details and focusing on them. These shots of ducks sitting on the water should be easy text book shots that should be pin sharp and fairly noise free at ISO800. This does not seem to be the case with this shot, or many like it that I have seen posted lately. It lacks fine detail and has a fair amount of noise in it, especially the back half. Not sure if the 7D is going to be the body that everyone hoped it would be. Hopefully they can come up with an easy downloadable fix. Sorry for going a bit off topic on your post. TFS

[dankearl]

I thought the same as David, but wasn't sure I should respond.
If the techs are as stated and this is a small crop, unless it was a goofed up PP,
I would take the camera back......

[Ian Cassell]

Hmmmm ....

Just for yucks, I reprocessed it in DPP 4 rather than ACR (my first attempt at using DPP 4). I didn't clean up a couple of blobs this time, but otherwise tried to be similar crop etc.. It looks a lot better to my feeble eyes.

[dankearl]

It looks sharper, Ian.
I guess i don't understand Canon cameras. Why aren't the images sharp in ACR?
Why are they not sharp out of the camera?
The ACR defaults don't work with Canon?
I would ease off the vibrance, but otherwise the repost looks good except there is still noise on the bird but not on the BG.
Was it underexposed, because if not, the bird is still noisy at only iso800.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks for the feedback. I am reluctant to ascribe all the issues to the camera, Dan and David. I am a newcomer to this beast and am sure there is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to my selection of settings. There are a lot more choices than I am used to dealing with with my Mark I version. I'm not convinced that the Adobe ACR raw converter is as good as Canon's own, but, again, a lot could be me. As for exposure, I certainly could have exposed a bit more toward the right. I don't want to return the camera until I am convinced that the problems are with the camera and not the operator. I have seen some outstanding images from the 7D Mk II and I don't know if that is all from operator variability, camera variability or, perhaps, both.

[Karl Egressy]

Thanks for the feedback. I am reluctant to ascribe all the issues to the camera, Dan and David. I am a newcomer to this beast and am sure there is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to my selection of settings. There are a lot more choices than I am used to dealing with with my Mark I version. I'm not convinced that the Adobe ACR raw converter is as good as Canon's own, but, again, a lot could be me. As for exposure, I certainly could have exposed a bit more toward the right. I don't want to return the camera until I am convinced that the problems are with the camera and not the operator. I have seen some outstanding images from the 7D Mk II and I don't know if that is all from operator variability, camera variability or, perhaps, both.

Nice image, Ian and the repost is an improvement.
I own a 7D Mark II so does my wife. She comes for the 10D-20D-30D-40D-7D camera family. Now she shoots with the 7D Mark II and has never before had so great images, I can see it, she can see it.
The resolution is great, sharpness is great and focus consistency is great.
I hope you will figure out the best setting for your shooting style.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Karl. Your recent post of an Orange Crowned Warbler shows me that the camera is capable ... now I just need to bring the operator up to the same level :)

What have you been using for your Raw converter?

[Karl Egressy]

Thanks, Karl. Your recent post of an Orange Crowned Warbler shows me that the camera is capable ... now I just need to bring the operator up to the same level :)

What have you been using for your Raw converter?

I use DPP that came with the camera.

[arash_hazeghi]

The repost is better than original but still relatively poor, coarse details and noisy. you need to work a lot more on your post processing skills, hopefully you will get better results with DPP

[arash_hazeghi]

It looks sharper, Ian.
I guess i don't understand Canon cameras. Why aren't the images sharp in ACR?
Why are they not sharp out of the camera?
The ACR defaults don't work with Canon?
I would ease off the vibrance, but otherwise the repost looks good except there is still noise on the bird but not on the BG.
Was it underexposed, because if not, the bird is still noisy at only iso800.

ACR uses generic algorithm for call cameras, Nikon files don't look that great with ACR either when you compare them side by side with Nikon Capture NX, especially colors and noise. the same is true about Canon. Canon DPP uses propitiatory algorithm that takes into account the details of the image sensor, so the results are much better than third party generic algorithms.

best

[David Salem]

Ian, the repost is much better and it helped with allot of the noise and it added some sharpness but as Arash stated, it still isn't real sharp and still has some noise in it.
I wasn't intending on telling you to return the camera, just pointing out my observations. It may be quite a few factors combined that causes this softness in some frames.
I know with my old 7D the proper exposure was critical in the camera producing sharp frames. If I over or under exposed at all, they were soft.
The DPP processing helped out, but if this is almost full frame, it should be sharper IMO.
I had the chance to try a friends out the other day. He handed me the 7DII body and I hooked it up to my 600II w/1.4III and installed the card that I had been using. I took frames with the 7D then connected my 1DX and shot the same static Kestrel. Once again, in the LCD of the camera, they all looked killer, but at home on my computer I could see that even though the files were closer due to the crop sensor, the files were a bit less sharp and lacked the same detail that the 1DX was producing. He also said he hated where the meter was placed in the viewfinder and it was hard to read it way off to the right . I found the same issue when I shot with it too.
Could be specific bodies that have a bit of a problem attaining sharp focus consistently. I know Doug Brown had some issues with consistent sharp focusing that we spoke about over the phone a week ago which prompted him to return his for a replacement. I haven't gotten an update on the replacement bodies performance, hopefully it's better.
I just looked at a pic of a tufted duck by Miro a few posts down with a new 7D that has the same look as your frame. But then again, some people are getting good results like Karl and his wife, so go figure.
Good luck and I hope you can get your camera to produce sharper frames.