Canon's 7D Mark II Is Here and It's an Autofocusing Beast

Canon pulled back the curtain on its long-anticipated update to the 7D at Photokina. As you’d expect, the 20-megapixel 7D Mark II has a slew of updates, especially around the autofocus system.The 7D Mark II will be speedy and it’s the first EOS model to run dual DIGIC 6 processors with a 10 frames per second (fps) burst mode. The buffer has been expanded up to 31 RAW images or 1,900 JPEGs (the older 7D waved the white flag at just 130 JPEGs).

The camera employs a new 65 cross-type AF system for better low light focusing as well as an improved version of Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF that uses sensors on the CMOS display for phase detection autofocus, improving accuracy during video recording. In English, you can expect more “camcorder-like” focusing during video shooting with the 7D Mark II. The camera also incorporates several changes to Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology  to improve video performance. First, the 7D Mark II will offer adjustable movie servo AF speeds in five stop adjustments as well as the ability to adjust AF tracking sensitivity on a sliding scale. The area of coverage is unchanged from the 7D at 80 percent of the frame.

More firsts for the EOS line include a bulb timer and intervalometer for time lapse and long exposure photography (night skies, fireworks, etc.) as well as distortion correction for EF and EF-S lenses.

The 20-megapixel 7D Mark II uses a newly developed APS-C-sized sensor with an ISO range of 100-16000 (expandable to 51600). It will feature a new AF Area Selection lever around the multi-controller on the back of the camera to toggle between the camera’s seven AF selection modes without taking your eye off the scene. The AI Servo AF III algorithm on the 7D  Mark II will be similar to the one found on the 1D-Xand will allow tracking parameters such as tracking sensitivity and AF auto point switching can be customized.

You won’t find 4K recording on the 7D Mark II however. Canon stuck with 1080/60p. You can output an uncompressed HD signal via HDMI to an external recorder. On the audio front, there is a stereo mic jack and a headphone jack with a silent control feature for adjusting audio levels during recording.

Canon also said that overall focusing speed, face detection performance and low light performance with low contrast subjects has also been improved.

You’ll find a 3-inch display plus a viewfinder with 100 percent field of view that can overlay data such as an electronic level display or grid. Built-in GPS is also on hand for geotagging images.

The 7D Mark II’s magnesium alloy body offers four times the moisture and dust resistance of the original 7D so you won’t have to cower indoors when the rain starts.

You can pick up the 7D Mark II in November for $1,799 (body) or in a kit with the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens for $2,149.