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1- Finally ! The integrated pop up flash of th Canon EOS 7D can remotely control other external flashes and can even manage various groups. This feature is nothing new to Nikon users, which enjoy this creative freedom they have thanks to Nikon CLS system, but this is new in Canon amateur range.
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2- Canon engineers have rebuilt the ergonomics of the SLR and this leads to a direct access to video recording with a switch but what we'll love above all on the EOS 7D is its very serious built which reaches the highest levels like Nikon D300 / D300s. Yes, again, Canon is just filling the gap with Nikon here and we warmly welcome this change : the serious amateur EOS 50D or EOS 5D MKII products were too lightly built to reach their users expectations.
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This new built quality means less hard plastics, more rubber, a lot of gaskets to get a really weather proof body ready for the tough work and in this area, Canon has used the same techniques they apply to their EOS 1D professional cameras.
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3- As we were all expecting a full frame sensor in the EOS 7D, it finally was announced with an APS-C CMOS sensor inside. In order to provide photographers with 18 megapixels resolutions through this medium sized sensor, Canon had to adopt a new way of engraving the sensor which allows the sensitive surface to be nearer to the surface and therefore gather more light. The result of this is the highest sensitivity mode of ISO 640 of the Canon EOS 7D (and 12800 ISO in H mode). Not bad for an APS-C sensor if images don't suffer from noise too much.
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4- The Viewfinder of the EOS 7D ! Canon knows how to talk to photographers : the quality of the viewfinder is paramount to the eyes of the most serious amateurs or semiprofessionals as it is the main tool to compose and turn images into real pictures. The 100% coverage of the EOS 7D viewfinder is really appreciable : what you frame is what you will get. But not only this viewfinder is satisfying because of its full 100% coverage, it is also bright and offers a very wide magnification of 1x. On the sketch here you can appreciate the difference in size of both pentaprisms : the huge ones which equips the EOS 7D and the average one which was placed on the EOS 50D… that does the trick.
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The preeminent forehead of the Canon EOS 7D (large pentaprism) gives the camera a kind of EOS 1D family look.
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5- Full HD video recording : on the 7D, when shooting still images, you are only one switch away from recording full HD 1080p videos. If the autofocus does not continuously focus on the subject, as often as you wish, you may ask it to fine tune its focus pushing half way down the shutter release button. In 1920 x 1080 resolution, the recording speed available are 24, 25 and 30 fps.
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6- 19 points AF system with 100% cross type sensors for higher sensitivity with speed lenses (F/2.8 and faster) : finally a high performance AF system in the amateur range.
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7- The new light metering system which will equip the Canon EOS 7D is called iCFL and samples light measurement on 63 areas and takes into account two parameters to get the most accurate exposure values possible : the distance and some color information as usual metering system issue is that they are more sensitive to green pixels. This new iCFL system with AF information and color values is expected to give really reliable results.
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Of course, the Canon EOS 7D has many other strength than these 7 striking improvement it brings like its impressive burst shooting rate of 8 fps thanks to a rather powerful double-DIGIC IV processor but to put it in a nutshell : the EOS 7D is a very mature camera offering users many improvements we all kept on begging for for years now. Oddly, Canon claim they have interviewed over 5000 photographers around the world and now come with a camera all observers and analysts like us could have asked their engineers to design…. and as obviously been deeply inspired by the famous Nikon D300 / D300S (and its success story!).
Yes, Canon has borrowed a few Nikon's D300 DNA pieces like the wireless integrated multiflash capabilities, first class exposure metering, 100% optical viewer coverage, robust built quality with weather proof seals… areas where Nikon was one step ahead of Canon, especially on the serious amateur market. Even the price tag seemed to be CC from Nikon D300…. But let's not hide our joy to welcome a new nice and promising D-SLR : the EOS 7D.
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