Rented 7D: First Impressions

**Joerg Rockenberger** · 10-21-2009, 01:14 PM

Hi all,

As announced in a previous thread I had rented a 7D this past weekend for evaluation with my 500F4IS. I had time for 2 morning and 2 afternoon sessions of which two (am and pm) unfortunately were under less than optimal conditions (fog, wind, dark overcast). While I am nowhere as skilled as Doug Brown or others I thought that maybe some of you may still appreciate hearing my perspective of the camera as an Average Joe Photographer...

Some quick shots:
- love the additional focus points compared to the 40D. Really helps in compositions for Non-BIFs.
- love the ability to set different AF points and modes(!) for horizontal and vertical. It works perfectly.
- battery drain is high (I rarely drain a battery in one day with the 40D but got close to with the 7D)
- 8 frames/sec are stunning
- like the electronic level – I have a bubble level on my Mongoose but with the 500 mounted it can be difficult to see
- hate the location of the playback button above the delete button
- expected more from the larger viewfinder
- can’t believe that they still haven’t implemented a full-screen view of the histograms
- I am under the impression that the dynamic range might be smaller than with the 40D. This is based on photographing white birds at last light exposed to avoid blinking highlights. I was surprised how dark the background came out. I realize that this not a “proper” test and hence I am describing it as an impression – take it with a grain of salt but I’d be curious to hear other opinions.

Sharpness & Focusing - Non-BIFs:
At first, looking at the large JPEGs (standard picture style) this weekend (Dpp 3.7 wasn't available yet but a quick glance yesterday evening suggests that my impressions of the converted 7D Raws still hold true) at 100% magnification I was like... Hmmm. Nothing obviously wrong but also not the super sharpness and detail I kind of had hoped for. At best I thought the images look comparable to the 40D images at 100%.

But then, I considered the discussions here at BPN about the validity (or lack thereof) of comparing 100% views of different cameras with different sensor resolutions. So, I looked at the 7D images at 50% magnification which should be slightly smaller than the 40D images at 100%. And I was stunned. My jaw really dropped. I can say that the 7D images at 50% are the sharpest and most detail-rich images I've ever taken. No comparison to the 40D at 100%. And this is not only the case for some selected ones but across the board as long as the focus was not obviously off. For comparison, I briefly looked at some of my sharper 40D images at 200% to mimik the magnification of the 7D images at 100% and they look horrendous in comparison. So, to me the 7D delivers superior results compared to the 40D if compared at equal or close to equal output size. And I realize that some may dispute the validity of comparing the cameras this way...

But then, I observed a potentially serious problem in my first morning session (sunny & cloudless) at a beach south of Santa Cruz. I was photographing Black-bellied plovers just after sunrise either sitting or lying down on the sand and at close range (e.g. MFD to about 50 ft distance). It turns out that the 7D AF (AI Servo, center focus pointy only, tracking slow) had difficulties picking up the plovers if they were in front of backgrounds with brownish, beige, orange to red color tones. Which of course are exactly the conditions found at a beach in the early morning. AF acquisition was very good against blue/white (water) or green (grass or brushes) background but it definitely struggled if the object had colors similar to the background. It wasn’t fatal and if the 7D AF locked on it was most of the time excellent (and better than my 40D) but I was surprised. I’ve been photographing with the 40D many times at the same location/time and same objects (black-bellied plovers) and don’t recall such problems. Note, the BBPs were not running or overly active. I am talking about standing or slowly moving birds...

Sharpness & Focusing – BIFs
To some extent, the experience outlined above made sense of the session I had the afternoon (sunny & no clouds) before at a local SF Bay Bird refuge. The intent of that session was mostly to familiarize myself with the camera and shoot some Gulls and whatever else flies around.

The good news: I think if the 7D acquires focus of a BIF against a relatively clean or distinct background (e.g. sky or far off background with different(!) color than your object) and then moves in front of a more busier or similar background (both in texture or in color) the AF holds on very well. Much better than my 40D. Even if the focus point moves off the bird – as long as you get it back on the bird within a reasonable time. In fact, I rarely had the problem of the 7D focus jumping to the background under such conditions (AF already locked on the BIF and just tracking). It just tended to be somewhat softer on some occasions but the majority of the images was still very good.

However, acquiring AF of objects in front of busy backgrounds or backgrounds with similar color for the first time was very poor during that session. I have to say this was a major bummer. And I had the same experience again during all of my other sessions. The 7D AF would often jump to the background and never ever see the BIF. And yes, I am using Jim Neiger’s “pump the shutter” technique. And even if the 7D AF locked onto a BIF in front of a busy background the sharpness was nowhere close to what I observed on Non-BIFs or have obtained under similar conditions with the 40D. Again, photographing Non-BIFs also showed problems locking onto the bird if the background was of similar color. Perhaps, the two observations may actually be related.

My images when trying to acquire AF in front of busy backgrounds actually looked a lot like Aresh’s recent postings. I was photographing the second afternoon session (albeit windy and with dark cloud cover) at the same location (Half Moon Bay, CA) he tends to photograph his raptors. So, the challenges we were both facing are very similar. Hence, it may not come as a surprise that our experiences with the 7D were also similar.

That being said I will give the 7D another chance. Not only because I am definitely intrigued by the detail and sharpness of my Non-BIF images from this weekend but also because I believe that practice with a new camera is necessary. So, I rented it for my Bosque trip in November to bring it along with my 40D. Hope the BIF experience will be better.

Sorry for the long post. And yes, I know that I should post images to substantiate my impressions but I am unfortunately very busy this week. Hope to be able to catch up this weekend. Just wanted to share while it's still fresh in my mind...

Best, JR

Neil Losin · 10-21-2009, 01:52 PM

Joerg,
Thanks for your detailed assessment of the new camera! Your results when tracking (not acquiring) focus on birds flying in front of busy backgrounds sound pretty promising. I'm sure practice with the new system will help too.

Just a quick note about the procedure you describe below:

Originally Posted by Joerg Rockenberger

But then, I considered the discussions here at BPN about the validity (or lack thereof) of comparing 100% views of different cameras with different sensor resolutions. So, I looked at the 7D images at 50% magnification which should be slightly smaller than the 40D images at 100%. And I was stunned. My jaw really dropped. I can say that the 7D images at 50% are the sharpest and most detail-rich images I've ever taken. No comparison to the 40D at 100%. And this is not only the case for some selected ones but across the board as long as the focus was not obviously off. For comparison, I briefly looked at some of my sharper 40D images at 200% to mimik the magnification of the 7D images at 100% and they look horrendous in comparison. So, to me the 7D delivers superior results compared to the 40D if compared at equal or close to equal output size. And I realize that some may dispute the validity of comparing the cameras this way...

50% magnification scales *each dimension* of the image by 50%, resulting in a fourfold decrease in resolution on the screen. So when you view an 18mp image on the screen at 50%, you're only seeing 4.5mp. So it's not really fair to compare the 10mp, 100% 40D image to the 4.5mp, 50% 7D image. Since each on-screen pixel of the rescaled 7D image actually contains 4 pixels of data, it had **** well better look good! :D
Scaling up the 40D images to 200% isn't fair either, for the same reason. To scale the images appropriately, you want to either uprez the 40D file to 18mp (a 34.1% increase in its linear dimensions), or downrez the 7D file to 10mp (a 25.4% reduction in its linear dimensions). That should give a more accurate idea of how the IQ of the two cameras will compare at the same output size.

Cheers!

Neil

**Joerg Rockenberger** · 10-21-2009, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by Neil Losin

50% magnification scales *each dimension* of the image by 50%, resulting in a fourfold decrease in resolution on the screen. So when you view an 18mp image on the screen at 50%, you're only seeing 4.5mp. So it's not really fair to compare the 10mp, 100% 40D image to the 4.5mp, 50% 7D image. Since each on-screen pixel of the rescaled 7D image actually contains 4 pixels of data, it had **** well better look good!

Ouch! What a brainfart. You're of course completely right. Thanks for pointing it out. I guess that happens when you're in a rush...

Sorry. JR

Don Saunders · 10-21-2009, 07:38 PM

Interesting observations. For your next trial, I have some suggestions:
1. Download the instruction manual and thoroughly study it.
2. Download and study the 8-page white paper on the AF system.
3. Try all five of the AI Servo focus modes. Thoroughly test each mode. And move the tracking out of "slow". For BIF, AF Auto Select should be a good choice and set the beginning AF point to whichever side the bird will enter the frame.
4. Do 1 and 2 again. I'm not trying to be mean. I worked in a busy, well-stocked camera store for 2 years and the #1 reason for customer unhappiness, with any camera, was not optimizing the camera because they did not read and study the manual. Before your Bosque trip, challenge yourself to know how to optimize all 5 AF modes and when to use each. Then, when at Bosque, you'll spend more time making excellent photos rather than fumbling with a new camera. Fumbling leads to frustration, which leads to unhappiness. Give it your best shot! (pun intended).

By the way, I do what I say. I am thoroughly studying and learning my new 7D. I have posted my High ISO with low noise tests here on BPN. Those results, to me, were amazing. In the next few weeks, I will get to a location with abundant birds and good opportunities to test and learn the AF system and what works well for me. And I'll post my results from that trip.

**Joerg Rockenberger** · 10-22-2009, 11:45 AM

I guess given the blunder I've committed re the 50% magnification I had this coming...