Canon 7D
Monday, August 31, 2009 at 11:55PM 
I wonder if someday, maybe when I climb both Mount Fuji and Yellow Mountain in the same week, I will understand how Canon names their SLR bodies.
Today Canon announced the EOS 7D. The name makes it sound like the 5D, but it is decidedly unlike it. It is vastly superior in every way, except in pixel count, and by a very significant difference in sensor size. The 7D is an APS-C body, with a crop factor of 1.6.
The main reason you’re reading about the 7D here is that it records HD video. Canon has done with the 7D what they either could not or would not do with the 5D Mark II: they have included a plethora of useful frame rates (revised, see update below).
- At 1920x1080: 23.976, 24, 29.97, 30
- At 1280x720: 50 and 59.94 (often called 60p)
Check, check, and check. That’s pretty much awesome. I mean, we can dream of 50 and 60 fps at 1080p, but in all fairness those frame rates are usually only found at 720p even on very high-end HD cameras.
Combining that with the same manual control that came at long last to the 5D Mark II, and you have a camera that addresses some of the biggest shortcomings of DSLR cinematography.
Some, but not all. Does the 7D skip lines to create its HD images? Seems so. Is the compression still aggressive and unfriendly to post? Probably. Rolling shutter Jell-O? Likely. And there’s still no video-friendly autofocus such as we find in the Panasonic GH1.
(I know that we classy filmmaking pros are supposed to hate on autofocus, but as I wrote in the DV Rebel’s Guide, the truth is that, for the crew-of-few, it’s a nice option to have. Especially when it’s smart enough to track faces, even specific faces. Focus pulling is hard. Focus pulling while operating a clumsy camera with no focus aides of any kind and a VistaVision-sized chip has had me secretly longing for video autofocus on my 5D Mark II. Focus pulling while swinging your SLR around on a Steadicam Merlin is actually impossible. So please forgive my pining for fingertip on-off smart-as-heck autofocus on my big-chip digital cinema camera.)
What’s missing from the 7D?
- Autofocus (see above).
- Focus-assist while recording, in the form of an edge-detection display overlay.
- Gentle compression (although it seems the 7D’s video bitrate might be a little higher than the 5D’s).
- Funky frame rates. Even Jackie Chan shoots his fight scenes at 22 fps. After a big lunch, he might call for 21 or even 20fps.
- Decoupling shooting frame rate from playback. I’ll probably shoot a ton of stuff at 60p for slow-mo, adding more fun to the workflow puzzle posed by these cameras that crash the video party without a SMPTE invite.
- Video ergonomics. The 7D lacks a flip-out LCD. They call it that because if the 7D had included one, I would have seriously flipped out. I’d like to lose the double chin.
- Quality. The 7D still skips lines to make its HD images, resulting in aliasing and color artifacts. And it still has rolling shutter issues.
- Recordable HD HDMI output.
- Full-frame.
Yeah, let’s talk about that last one. Yesterday, when the 7D’s specs were “translated” from Chinese into English by some sort of cruel, sadistic computer, many people, presumably 5D fans, called its APS-C sensor a “deal breaker.”
The 5D Mark II is the camera I want for shooting stills. How luxurious that it also shoots video, albeit with many limitations. I very publicly hoped Canon would shore up those shortcomings, and they did, some. It did occur to me though, when the Canon/Nikon DSLR arms race grew to encompass video, that my ideal stills rig may not always happen to be my perfect motion rig.
Ever since I treated myself to the original 5D, I’ve been hooked on full-frame. Or should I say re-hooked, as it was the 5D that made digital photography once again as rewarding as it had been with my 35mm Nikormat. I have no interest in a crop-sensor DSLR for shooting stills. But is APS-C an acceptable sensor-size for filmmaking? Ask any RED One owner. Or for that matter, any 35mm motion picture camera owner. APS-C is quite similar to the Super-35 imager size regarded as a holy grail in digital cinema.
APS-C is a perfectly awesome sensor size for filmmaking. The proof is… movies.
But it’s not that simple.
RED, Panavison, Arri, and others have optimized their cinema prime lens offerings for that Super 35 size. Canon’s range of big, expensive primes make sense on their big, expensive, full-frame cameras. Canon’s 24, 35, 50 primes become 38, 56, and 80 equivalencies, respectively. There’s a pricey 14mm that becomes a 22, but nothing between that and the 24(38)mm. To achieve a nice range of focal lengths for 7D filmmaking, you’ll have to use zooms. Since you have to work harder to achieve shallow depth of field, you’ll need expensive, fast-and-wide zooms. The optional kit lens will kill your DOF fetish faster than a $3500 1/4” JVC GY-HM100U. The 16–35mm f/2.8L will be a popular lens for filmmakers—it is to the 7D (roughly) what the beloved 24–70mm f/2.8L is to the 5D.
UPDATE: Several commenters have pointed out that the less-expensive, longer-ranged EF-S 17–55mm f/2.8 IS (27–88mm equivalent) might be an even better choice if you don’t care about compatability with a full-frame body. The 17–55 seems like a terrific lens, but I will stick to lenses that I can use for both video on the 7D and stills on my 5D Mark II.
The twice-as-vast area of the 5D Mark II’s sensor means more flexibility with more lenses, and more control over DOF. Yes, this includes the option to push it to a fetishistic extreme, but also the ability to achieve cinematic DOF with the slower stop of an affordable, flexible zoom lens. So Canon, if complaints about the 7D’s sensor size get annoying, you have no one to blame but yourself. It was you who hooked us on the glorious excess of affordable digital VistaVision filmmaking.
So now there’s a camera that, technically speaking, does everything better than my 5D Mark II. Better autofocus, more stills-per-second, better weather sealing, and better flash control.
But I don’t care. For stills, I’ll stick to my 5D Mark II. Eight-perf VistaVision, what stills folk think of as “full frame,” is the right sensor size for my kind of photography.
But APS-C, roughly the same as four-perf 35mm and what cinema folk consider full-frame, has been well-established as a wonderful size for filmmaking.
So you got me Canon. I’ll probably buy a 7D, and use it for nothing but video. I may have to switch up my lens shopping list, bumping up the 16–35 ahead of the 70–200. At least I can buy lenses that I can use with both my stills rig and my interchangeable lens, variable-frame-rate, Super 35(ish) sensor HD video camera.
That costs $1700.
And that’s the punch line: An interchangeable lens, variable-frame-rate, Super 35(ish) sensor HD video camera for $1700.
Canon, you’re gonna sell a bazillion of these. And you deserve to.
It’s tempting to project right past the 7D and imagine that maybe the rumored successor to the 1Ds line will capture all the new stills improvements of the 7D and combine them with a full-frame sensor. For a mere several thousand dollars you could have it all. Maybe. At some indeterminate time in the future.
Screw that. The 7D costs as much as a nice lens and it’s real.
If you can get your hands on one.
Do I still love my 5D Mark II? Absolutely.
Do I wish Canon would sprinkle it with magic 24p dust? Of course.
Is the 7D the perfect DV Rebel Camera? No. I still recommend a good, solid HD camcorder for filmmaking that doesn’t require fetishistic shallow depth of field. Which, FYI, is almost all filmmaking.
Has DSLR cinematography arrived?
Yes.
As of today (and barring any unforeseen surprises), the answer is yes.
Pre-order your 7D from Amazon now.
I sure did.
Stu
Chuck Westfall clarified the 7D’s frame rate options on the CML today:
The accurate video frame rates for the EOS 7D are stated correctly in the Canon USA press release: The 30p setting is actually 29.97 fps; 24p setting is actually 23.976 fps; and 25p setting is 25.00 fps. In the 720p and SD video modes, the accurate frame rates are as follows: The 50p setting is 50.00 fps and the 60p setting is 59.94 fps.
He’s right, the press release reads like this:
The EOS 7D Digital SLR camera will record Full HD at 1920 x 1080 pixels in selectable frame rates of 24p (23.976), 25p, or 30p (29.97); 720p HD recording at 50p or 60p (59.94) and SD video at frame rates of 50p or 60p (59.94).
I’ve revised my frame rate list above to match.
Reader Comments (94)
Knocked it out of the park, as usual. Well said.
Finally someone gets it right. Now to count my cash.
I personally believe that this camera, at this price, with a good-enough lens that offers SOME background blur at a field of view similar to HV20's (not super-wide that is), costs about $1800. Consider that Canon is selling their high-end consumer camcorder HF-S10 for $1500, which is a way worse camera in many levels (well, except continuous autofocus).
To me, the 7D is the Rebel DV camera I always wanted and waited for since I bought your book (which was one of the reasons I got into videography btw). Under no circumstances I would swap the 7D for that camera you linked on Amazon for $3500.
As for the $1700 lens you talk about, I think that's a bit extreme to get it. There's a $500 lens that's wide-enough and with a 15 mm aperture size (sorry, can't remember the model, I think it was a 28mm one), which is a good middle ground between the kit lens and the lens you blogged about. I think most people would find themselves happy with it. Besides, I personally can't stand CSI:Miami-sized background blur (it feels like Horatio is alone in the universe, there's no background).
And its compression at 50 mbps is excellent btw, way better than AVCHD's. Sure, it's still 8 bit, but it's still good-enough.
The only thing missing for me is zebra support (which it might even have it, not sure, the reviews didn't say). Continuous autofocus would be good, but it's a mechanical issue (it would require the disable of the viewfinder) and it might only come with the 5D MkIII.
For now, I will definitely buy the 7D. It's the camera I have been dreaming of for 2 years now. It's at the right price, and the *basic* features are all there, done even better in some cases than the most expensive prosumer camera! For me, this is the Rebel DV camera.
Very well said! I'll hold on to my 5d2 for now though :), am a student and can't afford to switch after 4months of having my 5d, which i absolutely love no matter how many problems it has. Maybe when i graduate, by that time there is some other Canon product with some new random name, which only makes sense to them, that will tempt me to buy it, not that the 7D isn't tempting enough :D
I think you make a good point Eugenia — the lenses I linked to are all on my list because I'd also be using them for stills on my 5D Mark II. If you were only going to use the 7D for video, you would not necessarily require Canon's flagship glass.
I made a list of all available or announced DSLR Cams with Video:
Video-DSLR
Stefan, may I suggest you mention the exact frame rates, bitrates, and manual controls. For example, the 7D now does 29.97 and 23.976 instead of 30.00 and 24.00. This is important for many of us. Also, GH1's 24p is only PF24 in reality, and requires pulldown removal to become real 24.00, so this should also be mentioned. Then, there's the bitrate and codec, which are very, very important buying factors, and finally, the kind of manual controls these cams have. This would make for a useful table. Thx.
As someone that has sold a D30, 10D, 30D, 40D, and 1DsII, I suggest that anyone going to sell a 5DII to get a 7D should do it as soon as possible. If possible, do it BEFORE the 7D hits the stores. It will still be worth something to those needing/wanting full frame and/or 30p video. Get it up on eBay or Craigslist NOW, as it will only go DOWN in price.
If you are more concerned with a camera that fits your needs instead of any perceived loss of value, then you should be able to make about a clean swap 5DII to 7D. Just keep in mind that the 7D is what you need and dont get hung up on the $1000 "loss". But if you hang on too long to try to "get your money's worth", then you will end up losing.
Well said, as usual.
One quick point about autofocus... I bought the Panasonic GH1 and I had high hopes for the face-tracking AF. Like you, I thought that AF would be absolutely essential for shooting shallow DOF footage when the camera is on a Merlin. But I'm sad to report that the face tracking AF on the GH1 just doesn't cut it. Sure, it works 80% of the time but when it fails it fails very ungracefully. For example, the face tracking will get confused if the character turns their head much more than about 50 degrees relative to the camera (i.e. turning their head so the camera sees a profile of the face). And when the AF gets confused it appears to hunt rapidly across the entire focus range which looks absolutely horrible on the kit lens (not only does everything go out of focus but the lens breaths dramatically). The bottom line is that I've got into the habit of using the AF on the GH1 only to help setup the shot and then I turn it off during the shot. Sure, I expect face-tracking AF will "work" some time soon, but the GH1 hasn't nailed it yet.
Still missing 25p on my European 5d!!! So Canon please first 25p then 24p? Its a great still camera, bu a useless HD camera for " the Europeans "
dpreview just posted a clip directly out of the camera, so we can now know the exact bitrate of the 7D. The bitrate is 48 mbps. Which is better than 5D's ~41 mbps, and way better than HDV/AVCHD.
Huhrah! The day we've all been waiting for has arrived!
APS-C eh? I'm quietly chuffed with this development as i've been shooting stills and video with a 500D and an array of APS-C specific lenses. i knew the 7D was going to be exciting enough to warrant an upgrade, but i was afraid of having to start again with my lens collection.
sigma's 30mm 1.4 is specifically designed to be the cropped equivalent of a fast 50 and as good as L glass if you ask me. my tamron 17-50 2.8 is a real work-horse and is VERY easy to manually focus (for video) as the entire range can be scanned without ever taking your thumb and 1st finger off the focus ring.
combining these two lenses with the 7D's new "holy grail" video features and decent weather sealing and i no longer see my inevitable upgrade path to a full frame camera as being quite so... inevitable.
well done canon.
@Martijn de Vré if you follow Stu's links you'll see that the 7D does both NTSC and PAL frame rates.
• 1920x1080: 30/24 fps (NTSC), 25/24 fps (PAL)
• 1280x720 (HD): 60 fps (NTSC), 50 fps (PAL)
• 640x480 (SD): 60 fps (NTSC), 50 fps (PAL)
It's a breakthrough.
IT'S A BREAKTHROUGH!
For that price, that possibilities — it's definitely a BREAK THROUGH!
And autofocus, ff, etc — it's all nothing. I'll have 24p, have HD, have even 60p rapid, exchangable lenses and full manual control — what do I need else??
Eugenia:
You cant compare apple:bitrates with oranges:bitrates.
AVCHD (HMC150) easily hold up under heavy correction, the 5D doesn't. 48 vs. 21 doesn't always equal more.
sold. It's like 400$ less than I've been expecting to pay for something like this.
I wonder whats the use for Jackie Chan to make his fight scenes look slower? I had always the feeling they exaggerate speed. Or is it because of the look of the impact?
Now I get it. I had a speed twist in my brain :-)
Yep Ben. But i bought a 5d mark 2 2 monts ago! I am very happy whith my 5d but i still miss the 25 p. Very nice spec on the 7d but...
Oh duh, sorry.
Hot damn. (at last)
Now to set aside the money.
http://cweb.canon.jp/camera/eosd/eosmovie/index.html
Well, I think this truly is the arrival of DSLR cinematography. It's not perfect but, knowing the imperfections and mastering them is what makes for an artist.
This is the camera I have wanted. Yes, the full sensor the 5D offers makes your mouth water (ISO ratings/performance are just mad) but, the images/footage this camera will produce will be so incredible that I think we will not even think about it.
-gl
unfortunately the clip on dpreview shows that it's still skipping pixels instead of full sensor readout (not surprising at 18MP), which means artefacts on thin lines. also the rolling shutter doesn't seem to be any better then the 5DMkII (also not very surprising).
still, probably the best affordable large sensor video camera so far, so thanks for that, canon.
++ chris
I'll be honest. I was one of those people disappointed at first that the 7D is using the smaller sensor. Stu put it in perspective, though, so my initial misgivings have been laid to rest, especially since so much has been done right.
I do have some other questions, though, mainly about low-light and the megapixel arms-race Stu has blogged about in the past. I have a Rebel XTi for my still shooting right now, which uses an APS-C size sensor at 10.1 megapixels. At higher ISO settings (ISO 1600 is as high as it will go), my camera is pretty noisy, even with my 28mm f/1.8 lens. With a nearly-double megapixel count on a same-sized sensor, how does this camera do in higher-iso situations?
I do a lot of travel/docu/event videography/photography, and I'd love to be able to leave my HVX200 at home and have my full setup in my carryon...
The Steadicam Merlin is a very, very poor performer.
I now use a Glidecam HD-2000 and it is far superior.
Already out of stock at Amazon.
Now there is no excuse for Canon to release a firmware in order to 24/25p for the 5D2, unless it is not possible. The market reasons (Canon camcorders share) are no use now with the 7D. There is a huge base of loyal users with a 5D2 that deserve an effort from Canon to bring them 24/25p.
Stu: With the Amozon link, what is required for a pre-order? Simply sign up to be notified?
I got the 5D Markii in december. Since I love the full frame I'm still hoping for a firmware update for 24p.
Imagine I sell it, buy the 7D and then they upgrade the 5D MKii firmware that would be pretty frustrating!!
Also, what about the replacement for the XH-A1s. If Canon put their SLR sensors in their pro-sumer video cam it would be pretty badass. Then you would have the xlr inputs, the handling, autofucus, etc .. and the shallow DOF. Do you think that will happen?
BTW, the lens I was talking about on my first comment about is this one. A good wide-enough lens with a good aperture size. Costs about $500. I think that's a good lens for the 7D.
Eugenia, do you know of any more raw clips? I'm gonna send this clip through it's paces (ala CC and Grading).
After messing around with a friend's T1i footage (less than 30mbits), I was quite surprised with the amount of lattitude it had in post. I think this is one of those cases where coming from HDV will actually be a blessing (I haven't really futzed around with a format that has better colour depth.)
I just hope we'll be able to get these before 2010.
-Mike
Ugh... it's really not fun beeing a Nikon-boy theese days :-(
Tracey, I think you can either do that or just place an order and Amazon will ship them out first-come, first-served.
EDIT: Oops, I see that they have removed the preorder option. I guess they had an idea of how many they'd get in stock initially. If I see it return I'll mention it on Twitter (@5tu).
Can you believe that Best Buy is preordering at $3999? That was a shock to me!
The real camera to get is the Scarlet. But where is it? I hope RED is reading these posts and has something coming soon. C'mon RED materialize the Vaporware!
I disagree on the Scarlet. The Scarlet will set you back $4000 for its basic model, and it will still have a smaller sensor and no interchangeable lenses. I believe that RED is not very happy about the 7D right now, if I am to judge from a forum thread Jim Jannard did on his forum, which he later deleted... ;-)
With the 7D Canon killed all their VdSLR competition, plus the low-end Scarlet. For now, they are also killing their prosumer camcorders too, which tells me that their next AVC-Intra prosumer camcorder line will have to compete with the 7D (I don't expect them to be 1/3 sensors anymore, for example).
As it stands right now, the consumer wins. But not necessarily anyone else.
Anything about sound? 48 Khz through a mini-jack, or still 44.1? It would be nice to not have to do dual system.
Just discovered this blog while investigating the 7D and I have to congratulate you on your post; it’s the best I’ve read so far.
I’ve got an original 5D, so no video capability whatsoever. My last video camera was a Canon XM1. I have wanted to make videos again for a while and was eying the Mk II. The sensor size of the 7D seemed, at first, to make it a non-starter for me. But I’d leapt to the wrong conclusion about how the two sensor sizes in question dovetail with the images I’ve seen on cinema screens, of major Hollywood releases.
I will never now not want a full-frame for stills. But when I was choosing my full-frame camera it was not about DOF; I wanted ‘flat’ images, and I knew that I could affix longer lenses, achieving my ‘flatter’ image, a smaller distance from the subject (where the ‘framing’ is the constant).
I am not now missing anything am I? There’s no special trick that Super 35 shooters are using to achieve the same effect with their smaller area of sensitive material? Film-makers must shoot from really far away?
It is 48 Khz. Rob said so on his 7D review.
Check out these movie exemples:
http://vimeo.com/6370832
http://vimeo.com/6370469
This is hilarious and I had to share. Kinda hoping it'll make its own blog post :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZp9WMy4ihg&feature=channel_page
I was rolling around laughing, especially thinking back at all our own frustrations with the 5D MkII, as you mentioned them on your blog Stu.
Eugenia:
BTW, the lens I was talking about on my first comment about is this one. A good wide-enough lens with a good aperture size. Costs about $500. I think that's a good lens for the 7D.
That's the lens I use 90% of the time with my rebel XTi, the 28mm f/1.8. I've been very happy with it, and am dying to shoot some video through it.
The thing about the Scarlet is that it's designed to be a Video/Film style camera, so it may be $3,500 -$4,000 but its going to do what you need it to do. You make some sacrifices with the 7D, including with audio and other video related functions. The 7D is a still camera first and foremost, a video camera second.
how does the APS-C sensor format compare to the base model Scarlet's 2/3 sensor? are they comparable DOF wise? how about when you strap on a similar 35mm lens?
Having looked at the DPReview.com sample video clip (1080p) I don't think this camera is really a competitor to "serious" 1080p video cameras. At least for handheld shots, the "jello-cam" effect is quite noticeable. By contrast, looking at the 720p 60 fps sample from Imaging Resource there is almost no "jello-cam" effect so I find that mode more watchable. But regarding actual resolution and image quality, in truth I think my consumer Sony AVCHD camera does better, even if it is only 1080i. I'm certainly interested in the 7D but I am not overwhelmed by the video quality, judging from examples so far anyway.
Scroll down the following page: http://prolost.com/blog/tag/red and there are several size charts. None that I see contain 2/3, APS-C, S35, and full 35, but you cant figure out where 2/3 falls into the picture. (actually, here you go: http://prolost.com/blog/2008/8/20/sensor-size-cheat-sheet-update.html ) 2/3" is absolutely tiny compared to APS-C. Real world DOF difference? I dont have samples, but there is a noticeable difference bewteen 1/3" DOF and 2/3" DOF. The difference between 2/3" and APS-C is MUCH greater.
This camera is big, BIG news for student filmakers, who have all the crew and time in the world, but no money. I'm very excited about this. I think that stu is correct to say this:
"Is the 7D the perfect DV Rebel Camera? No. I still recommend a good, solid HD camcorder for filmmaking that doesn’t require fetishistic shallow depth of field."
But I think I would add this:
"Unless your camera-buying budget is less than $3000USD" in which case the ONLY camera currently on the market that you should consider buying is the 7D, since comparably priced consumer camcorders are children's toys in comparison"
This camera is the death of the HV20/30/40 as the default ultra-low budget 24p high def cam. Good riddance.
>But regarding actual resolution and image quality, in truth I think my consumer Sony AVCHD camera does better, even if it is only 1080i.
Looking at the native samples so far, I have come to the conclusion that an AVCHD cam, or even the HV20, has a better quality than the 7D. I was a cheerleader for the 7D for up to 3 hours ago. Now, I have my suspicions that something ain't right. It's just not possible two independent shooters, handheld even, shot clips that contain virtually no detail at stationary shots, while at high-motion there are severe artifacts (and that's 48 mbps we are talking about).
IMHO, something ain't right here. Either these shooters did something very wrong, or the lenses they used were ultra-bad, I don't know. I feel like something is missing from these shots. There is no clarity as in the 5D shots. I watched all the native clips available so far with my husband too, and he also agreed that there's something missing from these shots. And it's not about high shutter speeds, or badly made videos, it's something else at work here.
I personally will now wait before I get a 7D, I will first wait for video reviews.
I think this one has all the sizes you listed Brian:
http://prolost.com/blog/2008/8/20/sensor-size-cheat-sheet-update.html