Camera Labs

Could it be the tonal difference between a 10 megapixel camera and an 18 megapixel camera? That is the only real difference between them.

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Canon 40D, EF-S 17-85mm IS USM, EF 70-300 IS USM, EF 50mm f/1.4, Speedlite 430EX II, EF 70-200 f/4L IS USM, EFS 10-22mm.

It's incredibly hard to judge from a 0.7 megapixel image, as displayed on the forum, but I'd say there's a fundamental photographic error in that portrait. f/4.5 and a focus distance of 1.22m with a lens at 40 mm focal length gives a depth of field of the order of 15cm and the photographer has allowed the camera to focus on the front of the hat rather than the eyes. The camera was also well above the young lady's head and pointing down, judging by the linked photo, so the plane of focus is extending from the peak of the hat towards the photographer's feet with predictable consequences. To be fair, this was "the only photo he has left" from the 7D shots so one would expect that the focus mistake isn't representative of all the shots.

As for colour balance, vibrance etc. that recipe can be adjusted in camera and subsequently refined during PP. That's not to say that there may not be genuine issues for some with the 7D compared to the 40D as, totally from memory, I think that Canon adjusted the characteristics of the RGB dyes in front of each pixel to allow a little more light through at the expense, potentially, of a small loss in colour discrimination.

@AnArKi: It's great that you're still engaged in the discussion despite your disappointment with the 7D. I hope you'll continue to share with us as you move on to your next camera.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

bob the eye was the focus point not the hat, as that is where i placed the focus point. After working in light-room the hat started to come in first due to more contrast from the sunlight maybe. Also bob when i shoot people i use a large focal length and f2.8 or faster to smooth out the skin on the ladies.. But at the same time the eye is always the focus point and it is tack sharp. So its not the f-stop i was using, as the eye still should have been tack sharp.

why does this camera shoot video WAY BETTER then photos? Man in movie mode i can't miss.

Where is all the detail from this camera?? That was a main point in all the reviews is this camera can pull a lot of detail. I'm just been trying to say that 7D has a softer image then alot of the cameras out there. Maybe 3 out of 10 will be sharp, and don't want to hear its all my fault. I've been doing this along time and the d300s,40d and just about every other camera i've ever shot has a more constant output of sharp images. Also bob look under the pic posted and you will find a link to the full jpeg.

I have gone back in this forum and found alot of you are having the same problems i am. Why try to call me out? Why not see that too many of you are having the same issue with this camera.

stuart i don't think so, me and my friend only hate the noise and soft focus most of the time with this camera. Look i'm done with this, spent too much time on it all ready. I don't want to make this camera work or try and find out why it shoots the way it does. I don't care one way or the other as i said in my first post back.

Look feel free to turn up sharpness in your camera and just the color to fit your needs this should suit most of you. It just can't get the job done for us, we tried. There are alot better cameras out there and thats all i got to say. Thanks for the replies, it has been fun, not really but it was nice of you guys to chat with me.

I hope after this some of you even if it is just one, see that your having a hard time getting the shots you want are due to the camera NOT YOU. We always look inwards when things go wrong as photographers and never at our gear. This time it really could be the camera not you. Thats the point of me even coming back here. Good luck friends

Hi AnArKi,

Please accept my apologies if my post caused offence. I wasn't trying to "call you out", just trying to understand what the issue may be being caused by. I still think that the micro-contrast at the front of the hat's peak is sharper than further back on the peak so as you are comfortable that the focus point was actually on the eyes then that only leaves front focus as a cause and that's easily adjustable if it occurs most of the time. I'll stick by my guns as far as the poor orientation of the focus plane is concerned given the shallow depth of field.

I've not tried the 7D so I've no way of knowing whether you've got a bad copy but it is a possibility, of course; maybe even a probability given you are an experienced photographer. I've also no financial interest in bigging up the 7D as I am, like all the Mods here, an unpaid volunteer and I do not test cameras. As for many others having issues with the 7D, I'm actually not surprised as the number of complaints will rise as the sales of a particular model increase and complainants are generally more likely to post than happy owners. Whether the 7D is worse than other comparable models in that regard I have no way of knowing.

But hey, you've made your decision and I wish you all the best. See you in the Nikon section.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

The 7D has a ridiculously hight amount of very praising reviews pretty much everywhere. Many of which declare the image quality of the 7D to be top or tied at the top of APS-C sensor cameras at the time of it's release. Each review on these various sites (including this one) have many sample images in which the images come through clear, some demonstrating clear images using autofocusing on fast moving targets with the 8 fps burst mode.

It does indeed sound like you've put in a huge amount of effort which as others mention might suggest you just got an unlucky roll of the dice and got a bad camera. I'd be much more inclined to believe that than all of the glowing reviews around the internet (even side by side shot comparisons) to be wrong.

I certainly got no complaints. Had an issue with the 50 prime and auto servo tracking not as well as expected sometimes, but that is sorted now. Never had any issue with the other lenses or normal focus mode.

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

I know someone who has both a 5DII and a 7D. On his 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, the photos always appeared soft on the 7D but not the 5DII. A micro-adjust later and his shots improved dramatically.

Both lenses and cameras have a variance for tolerances in focusing.
So if tolerated variance is +/- 4, and your lens was +2 and your camera was -2, then everything is great. However, if your lens was +2 and your camera was +3, even though both are within their individual tolerances, then you will have a resulting +5.
So even if your focus on the camera was set to object X, it could front/back focus to something else due to this variance.
This can happen with any camera/lens.

However, I hope that you don't have to deal with this in the future.

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Canon Rebel XTi, BG-E3 Grip
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II, 24-105mm f/4L, 50mm f/1.4, 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DO, 85mm f/1.8
Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX Macro
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
Canon 430EX II
Opteka 13mm, 21mm, and 31mm extension tubes

The file count on my 7D just ticked over 10,000 ... I have had a lot of bad shots, but I usually blame myself for that. I have had a few shots I like very much. If I treated my camera as a computer and expected technical perfection, I would be pretty miserable about the statistics. I prefer to see it as the canvas and brush with which I paint pictures, and if I paint bad pictures why would I blame my tools. My question is always "did I enjoy the process?" So far I am still in love with my 7D

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Brian,
Canon 5DII, 7D, EF-S 10-22, EF 50 USM 1.4, EF-S 60 macro EF 16-35 L USM, EF 24 -15L IS USM, EF EF 100-400L, Canon SX130

Just got mine this evening... I'm summoning some serious willpower by not buying any CF cards until my midterms and presentations are over after the 28th... It's going to be a grueling 12 days! First test shoot with it is on April 2nd though, and I can't wait It feels so much better in my hands that my Rebel, and wow... viewfinder bliss

First impressions are that spot-AF is going to be pretty much my only AF mode that I use because it's a heck of a lot more accurate (in my non-scientific tests lol) than any of the other modes. I can't wait to try it in actual use but it was able to AF fairly well in some pretty terrible light that my Rebel would just whine about (IE in my room) so as it stands I'm happy. Time will tell I also don't expect any issues with image quality either as I've seen what the T2i produces and that looks great, even for SOOC JPGs

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Canon EOS 5D MkII | Canon EOS 7D | Canon Digital Rebel XSi | EF 35mm f/1.4L | EF 50mm f/1.8 II | EF 85mm f/1.8 | EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM | EF 135mm f/2L | EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS | 580EX II | LumoPro LP-120

My Flickr

I always have to fight myself not to buy the 7D yet. My 500D probably has about the same image quality. But:
The 7D feels better.
The 7D is faster.
The 7D is weather resistant.
The 7D's viewfinder is much better.
The 7D's video mode is better. Yes, personally, I really like that.
vs.
My 500D has a small crack in the screen. Damn. I don't even know how that happened.
My 500D is pretty slow. Sometimes it just gets about 2 images / sec. No, it's not my SD card. Had another 500D to test it and it worked fine.
BUT the image quality itself is OK. Damn
The real improvement could be a full frame camera. But looking at my money the 7D is at least reachable.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

A used 5D (not II) could be an option, Jiko?
In The Netherlands the used 5D is far cheaper than a used 7D...

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Ruben

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Canon G5, Canon 350D, Canon 50D + BG-E2N
Tamron 17-50 2.8, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM,
Canon 18-55 II plus lots of Minolta MD/M42 lenses and bodies

Indeed I thought of that but the 5D2 has a higher resolution AND a better image quality (lower high ISO noise), a great video mode, it's faster... and more expensive. Damn.
I guess I'll still have to think about it.

*thinkthink*

Next thing to buy is the EF 100mm 2.8L IS Macro - after that my missing money gives me enough time to think about it

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

shortly after I got the 50prime I found that some photos, especially with big aperture were not sharp. Unfortunately I found this out after taking photos of my wife`s sisters new baby. The hand of baby was in focus and the face wasn`t. After a few more experiments and using some charts from here
http://pentaxdslrs.blogspot.com/2008/06 ... entax.html I solved that by adding +3 but I did it for that lens only.


I have been a bit disappointed with the sharpness from some of the photos when using the 70-300L. I took lots of photos at a local reserve of little birds. Way too many shots were sharp just in front of the birds. But I had been using spot focus and focused on the eye.

I got three shots of this, all the same. Spot focus on eye. 1/1250 and at 5.6. Too fast a shutter speed to be motion blur.



I tried the charts again with all my lenses and it appears that the camera front focus`s consistently with all of them. I have adjusted the micro adjustment to +3 for all lenses.

I always had some difficulty with my macro shots not being in focus on the right spot, always thought it was me. Possibly moving around too much. Now looking back at those photos, typically I would spot focus on the head and the front legs would be in focus.

after the adjustment, so far so good. The barbed wire gives a good indication of dof. On the original its more obvious, but I think this there is enough detail here to show the improvement. I have taken many other photos since making the adjustment, there is an improvement across the board.

Anyway it looks like my 7D front focuses. Maybe some of the issues people have had with sharpness is due to the focus system needing an adjustment.

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

I found this very interesting D7000 vs 7D Live View comparison: http://testcams.com/blog/2011/03/25/nik ... live-view/

...the three videos are quite informative.

Hi guys! I'm new to the forum and I arrived here trying to solve a problem that has been in my head for weeks now. I'm a happy owner of a 400D that thinks it's time for an upgrade. The cameras I'm considering: 60D and 7D. Therefore I'll post this in both official topics to see the opinion of both tipes of users.

I primarily shoot action and wildlife. But I shoot also quite a lot of travel photography. In addition, I'm a journalist and ocassionally I shoot news and video. For the first two, the 7D comes as the natural choice; for the rest, the 60D seems better.

And I've been reading stats and numbers and both seem to perform quite the same for almost everything. Save for small details.

I have been checking both cameras in my hand and I have to say that the 60D fits slightly better in my hands. It also has better features for video shooting -from manual audio levels to the swivel screen-, something I have done ocasionally until now but I plan to expand after I finish the film making course I'm doing at the moment. The 60D is also less "noticeable", which might help fooling border crossing officials in problematic places -in the past I've been to Iraq, Palestine and in a near future is planned an expedition to Burma- and definitely helps in general while travelling. Also, the battery would last longer.

The 7D on the other hand has better sealing against dust -shooting in the Middle East last summer was a nightmare- and water -this summer in South East Asia will be another one. Not to mention that for my "every-weekend-or-so" shooting of action and wildlife, those 8fps and better AF would be damn handy. To conclude, the price gap between 7D and 60D isn't that big considering that I already have several CF cards for my 400D that I could use on the 7D, while I would have to buy SD cards for the 60D.

So far I have restricted the main concerns to two:
- Is the extra 2.7 fps of the 7D that important?
- Is the weather sealing and construction of the 7D much better?

Also I don't want ot buy a 7D now if there is a 7D MkII around the corner. Any rumors on that?

Thanks everyone