I recently added the Canon 7D DSLR camera body to my collection of photography equipment. I’m often guilty of impulse purchases, but in the case of the Canon 7D I’ve wanted to own this camera since it was first announced in September of 2009. My primary motivation for getting this camera is that I’ve felt it would be a great companion to my Canon 5D Mark II. Projects that I have in mind for the near future will require two cameras. One camera will serve as the primary image capture device, while the other camera documents the process. This will include both still and video projects. Up to this point my Canon G9 has served as the backup camera. However, the quality of imagery that I’ve captured with the 5D Mark II equipped with Canon L series glass has raised my expectations. Also the Canon G9 has limited video capability, which was an issue for me moving forward. However this doesn’t spell the end for the Canon G9 since it’s still a great point-n-shoot camera that also happens to shoot time lapse.

Canon 7D

For the most part, the 7D body looks like the 5D Mark II with the exception of the built-in-flash that was added to the 7D. Head on both camera bodies are nearly identical. The 7D body feels strong and sturdy, as one would expect from this level of DSLR camera. It feels heavier then the 5D Mark II, but I didn’t check the specs to verify. The back of the camera does have some differences with the 5D Mark II. A Quick Control button has been added which displays a menu on the LCD for rapidly adjusting camera parameters. The LiveView button has been replaced with a one touch RAW+JPEG button. A dedicated Start/Stop button has been added along with a LiveView/Movie toggle. The On/Off switch has been replaced with Quick Control Dial switch. The LCD is the same size. In the picture below you can see my lame attempt to attach a screen protector to the LCD. I cut it too large, and it won’t stay on long with the overlap exposed.

Back of Canon 7D with Poorly Trimmed Screen Protector

The On/Off button has been moved to the top of the camera behind the mode dial. I think I prefer the straight On and Off toggle as opposed to the three choice switch on the 5D Mark II. A Multi-function button has been added near the dial on the right which allows this dial to serve another purpose such as selecting focal points. Other that that the largest change to the top is the addition of the built-n flash which protrudes out farther then the 5D Mark II.

Top of Canon 7D with Built-in Flash

Recently I made the not-so-cheap decision to buy only Canon L series glass. The 7D has an EF-S lens mount capable of supporting much less expensive lenses, and I was tempted to buy the kit lens for this camera. However after some careful thinking, I decided not to buy a cheaper lens just for the 7D. Since the EF-S mount supports my Canon L series lenses (which have an EF mount), I’ve decided to stick to my guns of buying only the L line of lenses. EF-S lenses will not fit on the 5D Mark II, and I only want to own glass that works with both cameras. It’s an expensive decision, but I want to put my money in Canon L glass because first they create great images and second these lenses will work with the soon-to-be-released Red Scarlet.

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L Lens

The Canon 7D has an 18.0 megapixel APS-C crop CMOS sensor. There’s a lot of complicated verbiage here, but the thing to remember is the 7D has a cropped sensor. This means the lens focuses an image on the sensor that doesn’t use up all the real estate. The end result is there is a 1.6 times magnification of the image captured by the camera. Given the same lens, the image captured with a 7D will be zoomed in more then an image captured with a 5D Mark II. The Canon EF-S mount lenses were designed specifically for working with cropped sensor camera models. Since all my lenses are EF mount, I’ll have to work with the 1.6 times magnification when using the 7D. None of this detracts from the fact the 7D is a great camera capable of taking amazing images. When armed with a Canon flagship lens such as the 24-70 mm f/2.8 L, the quality of images captured with the 7D rivals that of the 5D Mark II in my opinion.

Canon 7D with Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L Lens

One of the big selling points of the 7D is its video capabilities. It’s not hard to find comparisons that demonstrate the Canon 7D could be a formidable alternative to video cameras. There are also a number of published 5D Mark II versus 7D comparisons that will be fun to explore. However I’ll keep this first look simple and dive into more details in later posts. For me the Canon 7D is a great addition to my photography arsenal and I’m looking forward to the possibilities for shooting photos and video with this exciting new camera.