Hands-On Review: Canon 7D Mark II

Parents love to remind their kids, if often through gritted teeth, that good things come to those who wait. The Canon faithful waited five years for a refresh of the company’s flagship APS-C camera, the Canon 7D Mark II. We went hands-on to see what took so long.

At first blush, the upgrades to the 7D seem rather modest. The Mark II’s resolution gets only a small bump from 18 megapixels on the 7D to 20 megapixels. The native ISO range has been expanded from a maximum of 6400 on the 7D to 12,800 on the Mark II, and shutter cycles have been increased from a maximum 150,000 to 200,000. Canon also added an intervalometer and bulb timer for long-exposure photography. All were welcome upgrades, but nothing earth shattering.

The headline improvement, however, comes in the autofocus, which gets a comprehensive and impressive overhaul on both the still and video side. The 7D Mark II incorporates 65 all cross-type AF points versus just 19 for the original 7D. Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF system, first introduced in the 70D and since migrated to its more expensive Cinema EOS cameras, is now incorporated into the 7D Mark II and was given added sensitivity and controls. Dual Pixel CMOS AF can be used while shooting stills in live view mode or during video recording at 30 frames per second (fps) and slower.

We won’t belabor the technical details here, but suffice it to say that Dual Pixel CMOS AF, in tandem with Canon’s Movie Servo AF, delivers a more “camcorder-like” experience when filming with a DSLR: focus locks quicker and stays locked even if the subject is moving or the lights are dim. Crunching all that AF data are a pair of DIGIC 6 processors, which help the 7D Mark II fire at a blazing 10 fps or 9.5 fps with tracking autofocus engaged. The 7D Mark II sells for $1,799 (body).

 The 7D Mark II borrows the body of the 5D Mark III, but sports many of its own unique innovations including blazing bursts, sniper-like autofocus and a camera body built for nature’s fury.

Image Quality
With Canon now trumpeting 50-megapixel sensors, you could be forgiven for feeling a bit inadequate with only 20.2 megapixels to play with. Nonetheless, we enjoyed excellent results especially in low light, with the 7D Mark II performing well up to ISO 12,800. Color reproduction was similarly strong, but we did notice on some of our 100-percent crops that very fine details—such as the stitching on fabrics—did deteriorate a bit.

For video, Canon decided to forgo 4K resolution in favor of 1920 x 1080p HD recording up to 60 fps. The video quality of the 7D Mark II is excellent—exactly what you’d expect from Canon. There’s a headphone jack (missing on the original 7D), so you can monitor audio levels during shooting. You record internally to a pair of card slots (one for SD, the other for CompactFlash) or you can also output an 8-bit, 422 file with audio and time code via the mini HDMI output to an external recorder.

Design
EOS loyalists will feel right at home with the 7D Mark II, as it shares an identical body design to that of the 5D Mark III. According to Canon, the Mark II has had its weather sealing significantly upgraded. Our accounting department frowns on taking screwdrivers to review units to verify such claims, so we settled for taking the 7D Mark II into several driving snowstorms. The camera held up better than we did.

All that protection comes with a tradeoff, however. At 2 pounds with battery, the 7D Mark II’s body is heavier than some of its rivals, but we think the extra protection is worth those extra ounces.

What We Liked
There’s much to like in the 7D Mark II, from its image quality and feature set to its handling and durable design. The camera is sniper-like in its ability to lock on moving subjects and keep them tack sharp. With AF tracking, a burst mode of 10 fps and a buffer capacity of 31 RAW frames or 19 RAW + JPEG images, you can capture moving subjects with confidence. And if you’re shooting JPEG only, you can save a whopping 1,090 images while cranking away 10 fps. Unless you’re asleep at the shutter, it will be tough to miss the moment.

For video shooters, you can be confident that the 7D Mark II is going to keep moving subjects sharp with a minimal degree of focus hunting. Many filmmakers may prefer to trust their own manual focus pulling to the Mark II’s AF algorithms, especially in scenes where there will be minimal unexpected movement. But for those times when you want the camera to do the work, the 7D Mark II shouldn’t disappoint.

We also appreciated the degree of control you get over how the 7D Mark II autofocuses. For instance, you have a five-level adjustment over AF tracking sensitivity, which Canon helpfully illustrates in the on-screen menu by providing use-cases for each level.

What We Didn’t Like
The camera’s 3-inch display is fixed, not articulating, so it’s harder to frame those hard-to-reach shots. Also, the screen isn’t touch-based. With all the AF wizardry in this camera, touch focusing would have been nice. There’s no Wi-Fi, either.

On the video side, there’s no focus peaking to aid manual focus pullers or zebra stripes for checking exposure. Also consider the lack of 4K resolution. The Consumer Electronics Association forecasts that 41 percent of all TVs sold in 2018 will be 4K. If Canon waits another five years to update this camera, well over 50 million 4K televisions may be in people’s homes, to say nothing of the millions of 4K monitors that will be sitting on their desks. Bottom line: Your clients will be asking for 4K—if not this year, than certainly within the projected lifespan of this camera.

How It Compares
As strong as it is, 7D Mark II faces a very competitive field. Nikon is selling a full-frame camera, the D610, for less than the 7D Mark II, and its ASP-C flagship, the D7200, is also cheaper and features a higher-resolution sensor and Wi-Fi. However, the D7200 is much slower than the 7D Mark II and has fewer AF points.

On the mirrorless side, models like the Samsung NX1 and Panasonic GH4 are delivering 4K recording at comparable price points. That said, if you own the original 7D or a 5D Mark III and need a crop-sensor camera to give yourself a focal-length boost, we think the Mark II is well worth it. If you’ve ever looked at the Canon 1D X and salivated over its speedy performance, the 7D Mark II gets you close for thousands less. For anyone in need of a very high-performance DSLR for motion-freezing stills, the 7D Mark II delivers.