The EOS 7D Mark II will be released in October 2014, five years after the launch of its predecessor model, the EOS 7D. Many users must be wondering what enhancements have been made to this new model. In this article, I will give an introduction of the camera through photos on the body's details as well as the menus of intriguing features. (Reported by: Kouji Orimoto (Digital Camera Watch))
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The Ultimate High-end APS-C Model for Moving Subjects
Scheduled for release in October 2014, Canon's EOS 7D Mark II is a DSLR camera that excels at photographing moving subjects in genres such as wild birds, railway, motor races, and sports.
While the predecessor model, EOS 7D, is also a good camera for capturing movements, my impression is that the features have been further enhanced on the EOS 7D Mark II. This is why it has attracted the attention of professionals and advanced amateurs who specialise in moving subjects.
With an appearance that is close to that of the EOS 5D Mark III, the EOS 7D Mark II is relatively large in size and heavy for a DSLR camera that is equipped with an APS-C format sensor. However, this does not necessarily make it overly bulky considering its balance with the group of telephoto lenses commonly employed for moving subjects.
Note that this article uses photos of the trial model, so its appearance may vary from the actual product.
Lens attached: EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
The image sensor employed is a CMOS sensor with an effective pixel count of about 20.2 megapixels, and the image processor used is Dual DIGIC 6 (DIGIC 4 in the case of the EOS 7D).
Compared to the EOS 7D that was released five years ago, it is not surprising to find advancements in the high ISO speed performance. The maximum ISO speed is now expandable up to ISO 51200 compared to 12800 on the EOS 7D.
Continuous shooting performance has improved from about 8 fps on the EOS 7D to about 10 fps on the EOS 7D Mark II. Maximum burst has also increased from about 130 to about 1,090 shots (JPEG data in both cases).
Operating Components
Operating components located on the right side. The button layout is similar to that of the EOS 7D.
Display panel with an orange backlight.
Layout of the AF start button (AF-ON) also remains unchanged.
The Mode Dial now comes with a lock button. The power switch adopts the same design as that of the EOS 7D.
The position of the Depth-of-field preview button is different from that on the EOS 7D. Users can also assign functions to this button.
Basic Components, Interface, etc.
Dual card slots are available, each compatible with CF and SD card media respectively. There is only one slot for CF cards on the EOS 7D.
The battery supplied has also been upgraded from LP-E6 to LP-E6N, which has a larger capacity. LP-E6 batteries remain compatible with the EOS 7D Mark II.
One of the most talked-about topics is the upgrade of the USB port (top right) to support USB 3.0.
Built-in flash with a guide number of approximately 11.
One of the newly-equipped features is the GPS function. The GPS antenna is built into the top of the pentaprism. Wi-Fi function is not available.
Optical Viewfinder
Equipped with an optical viewfinder with a coverage of about 100% and a magnification of 1x (life size).
The viewfinder screen is also interchangeable.
One of the features that are introduced on the EOS series for the first time is the customisable viewfinder display. An electronic level and the status can be displayed within the field of view of the viewfinder.
State when all the information is displayed. The cross at the top is the VF electronic level.
State when all the information is hidden.
You can choose whether to position the focus confirmation mark inside or outside the field of view of the viewfinder. The right photo shows the state when it is placed outside the field of view. The focus confirmation mark is indicated by two triangles outside the field of view at the bottom right of the screen.
AF Area Selection Modes
This is also introduced for the first time on the EOS series. An "AF area selection lever" is now available at the top of the Multi-controller. The AF area selection mode changes each time the lever is tilted.
There are seven AF area selection modes in total. Detailed settings can also be specified.
Single-point Spot AF
Single-point AF
AF Point Expansion (Above, Below, Left, Right)
AF Point Expansion (Surrounding Points)
Zone AF (9 Zones)
Large Zone AF (3 Zones). This is a brand new mode for the EOS series. The AF points are divided into three large zones (left, centre and right).
65-point Automatic Selection AF
EOS iTR AF
EOS iTR AF (colour change detection) has been inherited from the EOS-1D X and enhanced. Besides the ability to recognise the shape of human subjects, face detection is also more powerful now.
Live View and Movie Shooting
As with the EOS 7D, a Dual Pixel CMOS sensor is employed. AF speed during Live View shooting is very high.
AF also operates smoothly during movie shooting. Movie shooting up to 1080/60p is supported. Movies can also be recorded in the MP4 format.
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