Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Canon EOS 7D Mark II: full review

Conceptually born as a “morphing” between the recreational characteristics of Canon EOS 70D and the advanced ones of CANON EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EOS 7D Mark II is actually an updated version of the Canon 7D model, launched on the market in 2009.

It is an APS-C reflex camera with DX-format sensor with exceptional characteristics, both for photos and videos. Canon EOS 7D Mark II is fast, precise and it offers an amazing performance at high ISO.

The camera body of Mark II is not that different from the 5D Mark III or the previous 7D one. Its features are typical of professional FF reflex cameras, and you can tell it immediately. It’s not pocket size, but 148.6 x 112.4 x 78.2 mm. It isn’t also very light, with its 910 gr (including battery).

According to its “professional” status, Canon Eos 7D Mark II is tropicalized and made of magnesium alloy.

At the center of the back there’s the 3” LCD display, with 720x480 resolution. Sadly, it’s not touchscreen, but it has a good automatic lighting system. This makes the image brightness adaptable to the environment, so no more runs to the shadows to see the shots we’ve just taken. Anyway, beside the automatic mode, the display has 7 brightness levels.

On the ergonomic point of view, the grip of Canon Eos 7D Mark II has a well-designed shape, it’s comfortable and secure. The feeling I had was of a professional camera, very solid and well-built.

Canon Eos 7D Mark II: technical aspects

Sensor and processor

Canon EOS 7D Mark II has a 20.2 megapixels APS-C format sensor, far better than the sensor of Canon EOS 6D, full frame. This is to silence the “legends” saying that APS-C format is always worse than FF format.

In Canon EOS 7D Mark II there is the Dual Pixel CMOS AF sensor, with a new element: each pixel is divided into two. This way, in live view mode, the Autofocus will be as good as in the images looked through the viewfinder! An advantage that doesn’t need comments.

Together with such an innovative sensor, Canon EOS 7D Mark II has DUAL DIGIC 6 processor, that increases the recording speed of the images.

Burst mode and Autofocus

Burst mode of Canon EOS 7D Mark II is 10 fps for 31 RAW and 10 fps for 130 Jpeg. The Dual Digic 6 processor and a very capacious buffering are the main reasons for exemplary performance, enhancing sports photography and, more in general, action shots.

Then there’s Autofocus, the real excellence of Canon EOS 7D Mark II. Better than the one of 5d mark II and than the pro one of 1DX, it offers different modes. So many different settings that the first few times it is better to rely on the versatile multifunction mode, perfect for many situations.

Needless to say, it doesn’t miss a beat, always hooking the subject and keeping it focused perfectly: 65 cross-shaped AF points and one double-cross-shaped central AF point make themselves felt.

Exposure measurement

The sensor of Canon Eos 7D Mark II divides the scene into 252 areas, processed by the camera to find the parameters for a well-regulated photo in terms of exposure. The exposure meter works perfectly also with strong contrasts, where light areas and shadow areas alternate. The exposure modes are: m, s, a, p and scene.

Connectivity

Placed on the left side of the camera body, sadly, Canon EOS 7D Mark II connections do not include Wi-Fi, which can be added with W-E1 adapter in the SD card slot. There are audio input and output, plug for the headphones, sync flash socket and remote control port. There are also HDMI and USB 3.0 ports. GPS is present.

Other features

• ISO: between 100 and 16000, expandable up to 51200 for images. For videos: ISO between 100 and 16000, expandable up to 25600.
• Video: HD (1920x1080p - 60 frames per second)
• Optical viewfinder: 100 % coverage
• Memory card slots: 2 slots for compact flash, SD, SDHC, SDXC.
• Integrated flash supporting ETTL measurement. It can synchronize with the shutter up to 1/250 sec. The flash of Canon Eos 7D Mark II can cover up to 11 mt. The pop-up flash can become “master”, controlling internal flash in wireless mode, for creative brightness systems.

Taking pictures (and shooting videos) with Canon Eos 7D Mark II

Good, even perfect, for any situation – including portraits and landscapes – this camera gives its best when there’s a moving subject to capture, in sports or any other occasion. Burst mode and autofocus make it easier to capture very animated movements. The richest details are due to the amazing sensor.

Personally, I appreciated the different control drives and the possibility to deeply customize the settings, which is not always possible also in high level cameras. The settings menu has many options but it’s rather intuitive. Valuable is the “Q” button – quick – to directly go to the mode you use more often.

Canon Eos 7D Mark II offers three kind of files: jpeg, raw and jpg+raw. In jpeg with high ISO (3200) quality is visibly lower, but such compressed files are definitely improvable. The colors are well-regulated while saturation can be chosen among 9 different options.

Moving to videos, Canon Eos 7D Mark II has MOV formats, Full HD 1920×1080 at 60 frames per second. While recording, you can keep the continuous AF active and change several settings like contrast, peripheral illumination and chromatic aberration. Video quality is really good; not so good is the internal microphone. The problem – common to many cameras – can be solved buying an external mic.

Among the most fanciful features, there’s the silenced control mode, the wind filter for external shooting, the sound attenuators and many others. The maximum length of a video is more than half an hour (one hour in slow motion mode).

Canon Eos 7D Mark II: price and final opinion

Out of the market since 2014, Canon Eos 7D Mark II is now more affordable than when it was launched and cost – camera body only – around 1,700 euros. At the moment it is approximately 1400 euros, a real deal for its value.

With this model, Canon succeeded in satisfying the prosumers – professional consumers. Big time. Extremely competitive in action photography – competing with Nikon D500 especially – it has an enviable burst mode and a very capacious buffering. The 1.6 multiplying factor of the format, besides, is also a big plus, pushing for better lenses. And finally there’s the autofocus that, alone, is worth the entire value of this excellent Canon, which has many qualities and very few flaws.