Canon 7D Mark II video specs vs the enthusiast DSLR competition (GH4, A7S, 5D3)

[Superka]

You should have add Autofocus feature, which may be good on 7Dm2. Autofocus does matter.

 

PL lens compatible – No  - did you expect it to be?????

LOG curve mode – No  - I think that can be possible with picture profiling.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

There u go....

I can spot Canon's horrendous in-camera sharpening from miles away (in the picture profile) , and this one has it set to something like 4-5. It's some sort of unsharp mask that harsh-ens the edges, increases local contrast and produces halos for no apparent reason other than making your video look like it's been filmed with a phone. 

The Youtube compression makes it impossible to judge the detail of the image... I don't see aliasing and moire though, more like 5D3 not 70D, but again very hard to judge. It's probably the same 70D sensor with improved light-gathering ability therefore better in low-light by a stop or two, and pixel binning used instead of line skipping, like 5D3. Resolution/detail is the thing to look out for and is what will make me decide whether this is a good upgrade or not. I would be very disappointed if it's just better in low-light and has no aliasing without an improvement in resolution over the 550D and 5D mk III (which are similar in that regard!). Everybody else is doing both low-light performance, no aliasing and high detail (A6000/D5300/GH4/A7S/G6, well all) 

[sandro]

I can spot Canon's horrendous in-camera sharpening from miles away (in the picture profile) , and this one has it set to something like 4-5. It's some sort of unsharp mask that harsh-ens the edges, increases local contrast and produces halos for no apparent reason other than making your video look like it's been filmed with a phone. 

The Youtube compression makes it impossible to judge the detail of the image... I don't see aliasing and moire though, more like 5D3 not 70D, but again very hard to judge. It's probably the same 70D sensor with improved light-gathering ability therefore better in low-light by a stop or two, and pixel binning used instead of line skipping, like 5D3. Resolution/detail is the thing to look out for and is what will make me decide whether this is a good upgrade or not. I would be very disappointed if it's just better in low-light and has no aliasing without an improvement in resolution over the 550D and 5D mk III (which are similar in that regard!). Everybody else is doing both low-light performance, no aliasing and high detail (A6000/D5300/GH4/A7S/G6, well all) 

 

I don't wanna be that guy but since the 550D days even with YouTube compression the first samples always provided me the definite impression if something was a game changer or not and I was never wrong. Let me tell you that this camera from that video just sucks. I'm just talking about details. It still has that OLD and SURPASSED DSLR look.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

I get that feeling too. It doesn't look promising. Very 550D-like.  Youtube doesn't really destroy the images THAT bad normally, this is uploader's error (providing crappy files) or just the camera being bad. I hope the former.

[Amro Othman]

lol, not even focus-peaking after all these years. Something the Nex-5n had in 2010. They simply don't f***ing care about video in their DSLRs. 

[Half Tanuki]

Compare Canon's 7d MII sample footage to Samsung's NX1 footage... I don't have a 4k screen, but even at 1080 there is quite a difference.

 

[Edward Zaee]

Wow Im sold with thee Samsung.

 

BTW, Canon is slowly becoming an irrelevant company 

[Inazuma]

Everyone I know still shoots with canon and won't hear anything otherwise :/ that's part of where the frustration comes from I guess. The fact they have all this market share almost undeservedly so.

[Christina Ava]

the 7DM2 ..This would be a nice camera for beginners, if the price was 700-1000 euros...

 

Who on (middle)earth is going to pay 2.000 euros plus for this dinosaur in the EU I have no idea, well the sellers better have exceptional marketing skills...

 

The must be scratching their heads right now..

"how are we going to sell this Ancient relic  that is going to receive a huge bashing..its so overpriced!"

 

We will tell them about the double censor ..better low light quality maybe?

and the magic autofocus that is useful for people that never heard of manual focus...(lots of them actually)

 

The 7D was always a bad camera for me!never liked it, i guess we couldn't expect anything better.

[BasiliskFilm]

Having talked to Canon guys about this camera, I can tell you what they think is important about it, which may not be what anyone here thinks is important! Positioning is as an action camera using a lot of the 1D IV technology. Full tough mag-alloy body, fast AF, and high FPS, they are still going to sell most of these to stills shooters. Unlike Sony, I don't suppose they are going to put a video optimised sensor in a stills body any time soon. The main video feature really is the dual pixel sensor AF. I don't know how much is hype, but this may turn out to significant to those who care (again primarily action shooters). The newly released lenses also have video optimised servo AF, and even focus distance presets for single operator pull focus. The Italian football footage seems to show the camera holding pretty good focus on action, and looks pretty clean. But obviously they are not going to show anything unfavourable at this stage.

Can you get just as nice results with a Sony A6000 or 5100 (also with fast AF)? Possibly, but if you have a big investment in Canon glass and want fast video AF, then this may be your best option currently.

[pablogrollan]

This camera definitely doesn't seem to be for us as video innovations are not present at all. But it's not a camera for beginners (quite the opposite) and will probably sell OK. Just look at it from a photographer's point of view: it is very likely the best APS-C camera on the market. New sensor (they rushed to say it's not the one on the 70D, who knows though), faster fps burst, better lowlight sensitivity, faster processing, USB3... Sure, it is just an incremental upgrade, but for a sports & wildlife photographer it is the top camera by far.

 

The a6000 gives you 24MP instead of 20 (and much better video), but the rugged, properly sealed and almost indestructible body of a pro Canon camera is a bigger selling point for a pro photographer. They expected something strong, durable, professionally reliable, with slightly better specs and fully compatible with their glass. And they got it. The price point is also ok, at that level (1800$) it is not that relevant.

 

For filmmakers there is a Cinema EOS line, which undoubtedly took a hit with the FS7. We'll see if they react. What puzzled me is what took the competition so long!! When the C300 was released many people said it was already outdated specs-wise but anyone who worked with it fell in love with the image quality and the ergonomics, and it is the best selling/renting camera in its category. It's taken Sony almost 3 years to release a C300-ish camera with updated specs!!! And we still have to see if it delivers as promised (I hope so!).

 

So most sports photographers would take a 7D (even mark I) or 1D before an a6000, a GH4 or an a7S. And most DPs would take a C300 before a GH4 or an A7S... I believe that Canon, in spite of their lack of innovation, know very well the product they are selling and whom they are selling it to. It's simply not us!

[Quirky]

Who on (middle)earth is going to pay 2.000 euros plus for this dinosaur in the EU I have no idea, well the sellers better have exceptional marketing skills...

 

Quite a few people will, actually. There will be plenty of dSLR luddites, Canon fanbois and newcomers who only recognise Canon, and possibly Nikon. All those will be mostly photographers. A handful of video enthusiasts might buy one, too, despite the awkward video shooting ergonomics and other shortcomings. Never underestimate the power of brand recognition, lemming effect and peer pressure.

 

The must be scratching their heads right now..

"how are we going to sell this Ancient relic  that is going to receive a huge bashing..its so overpriced!"

 

We will tell them about the double censor ..better low light quality maybe?

and the magic autofocus that is useful for people that never heard of manual focus...(lots of them actually)

 

They'll have no trouble selling those. They can simply wait for the herd to come asking for them.

 

Disclaimer for the Canonites; I'm not dissing you or the camera, so leave the pitchforks alone. I'm simply saying that it'll sell just fine, for an APS-C dSLR, even though it's no my cup of tea, or that of many video oriented people in this forum.

[Wulf]

 Just look at it from a photographer's point of view: it is very likely the best APS-C camera on the market. (...)

... Sure, it is just an incremental upgrade, but for a sports & wildlife photographer it is the top camera by far.

 

(...) I believe that Canon, in spite of their lack of innovation, know very well the product they are selling and whom they are selling it to. It's simply not us!

 

Exactly. It's a simply a (semi)pro photo cam, and as far as I know, at least some Nikonshooters would die for this.

Fortunately, these are other people's problems... :-)
 

[sandro]

If the 7D is not for video then what is/will be? They want me to pay for the Cinema EOS line to even get a decent 1080p in 2014? WiIl never happen, Canon is dead for video for average people. This release is the definitive proof because the next Rebel will just have the usual same sensor with swivel LCD but same crappy video. 

 

Time to move on for real now.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

The sensor performance does seem a big step ahead of the 70D.

Look at ISO 12800. This is 5D level noise performance in an APS-C sensor. 



Still searching and waiting for non-compressed video samples. 

[Xavier Plagaro Mussard]

I have a Canon 7D from the beginning, it has served me well. It is very nice to hold for taking pictures. I still have it just to take pictures, with a Canon 50mm f1.8 and a Sigma 30mm f1.4. It has been years I don't use for video!!!

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkjRMmh_-I

Here's a half-decent sample in Canon DSLRs' worst nightmare, wide detailed shots. Image looks quite clean.

[JHines]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkjRMmh_-I

Here's a half-decent sample in Canon DSLRs' worst nightmare, wide detailed shots. Image looks quite clean.

Looks like a clean image but it looks like the same in-camera processing that smudges fine detail. Definitely looks like mud. Hopefully Magic Lantern can work their magic and get raw out of this for the 4 people who buy this camera. 

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

Yes the image look freakishly familiar if you're used to looking at the 5D mk III.  

[sandro]

Meh, it's so sad.