So I couldn't resist when my Best Buy got ONE 7D in stock today, and I snapped it up to go with my 5DII.
First impressions are amazing. The autofocus on this thing is incredible, but I do have a couple of questions...
1.) Is it normal for the "general" full AF to not be as sharp as the one-point focus? Basically, when I set the AF to center-point, it's always sharper on everything than just the "fire and forget" AF while looking at the same object.
2.) My auto LCD brightness doesn't seem to be working. On my 5DII, I can cover the light sensor and see the screen dim obviously and point it at a light and watch the LCD brighten. Nothing seems to happen with the 7D in either case...
Aside from these issues, the camera is very sweet. I do like the bigger text through the viewfinder, and.... in terms of ACTUAL photography, I'm quite impressed with this body at higher ISOs...
Oh, and for those interested, my 7D came with the latest firmware (1.0.9) already installed. Canon must be patching these puppies really quickly...
**EDIT**
I really think my ambient light sensor on my 7D is broken. It just will not change brightness no matter what.
WilliamG wrote:
So I couldn't resist when my Best Buy got ONE 7D in stock today, and I snapped it up to go with my 5DII.
First impressions are amazing. The autofocus on this thing is incredible, but I do have a couple of questions...
1.) Is it normal for the "general" full AF to not be as sharp as the one-point focus? Basically, when I set the AF to center-point, it's always sharper on everything than just the "fire and forget" AF while looking at the same object.
2.) My auto LCD brightness doesn't seem to be working. On my 5DII, I can cover the light sensor and see the screen dim obviously and point it at a light and watch the LCD brighten. Nothing seems to happen with the 7D in either case...
Aside from these issues, the camera is very sweet. I do like the bigger text through the viewfinder, and.... in terms of ACTUAL photography, I'm quite impressed with this body at higher ISOs...
Oh, and for those interested, my 7D came with the latest firmware (1.0.9) already installed. Canon must be patching these puppies really quickly......Show more →
Question #1. I think so at closer objects. I would use zone for birds and maybe sports. One point IMO is more accurate.
Well I've found the ambient light sensor is just bugged. Hopefully fixed in the new firmware!
I found that if I go INTO the menu option with the light sensor adjustments, the light sensor ONLY WORKS IN THAT MENU! ! It doesn't work at any other point! That's a pretty hilarious bug if you ask me. If somebody could confirm this on their 7D, I'd appreciate it.
Hit Menu, and 4th column from the right is the option "LCD Brightness." Go in there, and you'll find the ambient light sensor will work fine. However, it doesn't work at any other point.
No I mean the auto ambient light setting simply doesn't work, period, on my 7D, at any point, except one! It only works when you're in that ONE menu (the actual LCD Brightness menu). And yes, I can adjust the brightness manually, of course...
I'm looking for someone to test what is going on with my 7D, with their 7D. With the LCD Brightness setting set to AUTO, please tell me if your sensor actually works. Again, mine only works in that ONE particular menu (LCD Brightness submenu), and not when viewing pictures, using Live View or in other menu options etc etc.
I checked it against the manual by adjusting the manual to the same level as the auto an then used a light and compared the two again and the auto was now brighter to compensate for the brighter conditions while in comparison the manual was now dimmer so it was obvious that the auto had gotten birghter.
I think it is working. I have it in the middle setting and I turned on the desk lamp. If move it under the desk and then above it again changes brightness. Not a whole lot so you have to look for it.
Thanks for checking that for me, guys. I guess I have a faulty.....something in my 7D. Very odd, though, that it works in the actual menu but nowhere else...
Zenon Char wrote:
I think it is working. I have it in the middle setting and I turned on the desk lamp. If move it under the desk and then above it again changes brightness. Not a whole lot so you have to look for it.
Just to verify, you're NOT in that menu when trying this? i.e. play back an image, and do what you described above. It still changes brightness? Thanks!
WilliamG wrote:
Thanks for checking that for me, guys. I guess I have a faulty.....something in my 7D. Very odd, though, that it works in the actual menu but nowhere else...
Just checked mine. It's the same as yours. I can detect a change of brightness only when in the LCD brightness adjustment menu. If I come out of that menu, no change detected. I am standing in front of a bright light (modeling lamp) and putting my finger over the light detector (small round thingy on right side of LCD). Change is easily detected while actually in the menu but no change is observed when not in the menu. Manual (page 181) is no help.
Not sure if perhaps by design, the threshold for change is smaller when in subject menu to more easily observe the effect you are selecting. I haven't really observed it as a problem in actual use as the screen has always seemed quite easy to read in various light conditions.
csd2020 wrote:
Just checked mine. It's the same as yours. I can detect a change of brightness only when in the LCD brightness adjustment menu. If I come out of that menu, no change detected. I am standing in front of a bright light (modeling lamp) and putting my finger over the light detector (small round thingy on right side of LCD). Change is easily detected while actually in the menu but no change is observed when not in the menu. Manual (page 181) is no help.
Not sure if perhaps by design, the threshold for change is smaller when in subject menu to more easily observe the effect you are selecting. I haven't really observed it as a problem in actual use as the screen has always seemed quite easy to read in various light conditions. ...Show more →
I just got back from Best Buy and repeated this "flaw" on their display model. I'm sure it's a bug, as my 5DII changes its brightness at ANY point the display is in use, depending on ambient light. Hopefully Canon can fix this soon.
Gochugogi wrote:
I wondered why my LCD looked so damn dim at night but was fine during the day. I hate the LCD auto brightness feature and finally turned it off.
Oh man, for me that's one of the nicest features on the 5D2! On the 50D I hate that I have to think about the LCD brightness and constantly fiddle with it to match the ambient light.
I agree there may be a bug in the 7D implementation, assuming Canon's goal was to match the behavior of the 5D2.
garyvot wrote:
Oh man, for me that's one of the nicest features on the 5D2! On the 50D I hate that I have to think about the LCD brightness and constantly fiddle with it to match the ambient light.
I agree there may be a bug in the 7D implementation, assuming Canon's goal was to match the behavior of the 5D2.
After posting on dpreview, I've found out it's not a bug, but a different implementation. Basically, on the 5DII, the brightness change is on the fly. It will change at all times. On the 7D, it only changes ONCE. i.e. you hit the play button outside in the sun, and then the brightness will be to max. Now turn off the playback on the LCD. Go inside, and hit play again, the screen will be darker. This means if you're in the dark and view an image, the screen will be dark, and if you go outside or into a brightly lit area WITH the image still on the screen, the screen will not light up brighter automatically. You have to turn off image playback and then turn it back on for the 7D to "re-adapt" to the ambient light.
Basically:
5D II = constantly changing, on the fly.
7D = adapts once, the first time the LCD is activated, but not during the viewing session.
I have been playing with the "replacement for ST-E2" feature on the 7D.
I guess I am confused on one point. In order to activate the system at all, the body mounted flash has to be opened up. I have tried to activate the settings so that ONLY the wireless external flashes will fire and not the body mounted flash. Yet I still see a flash originating from the body flash. Is this just the ETTL pre-flash? I think so but am not 100% sure. Any wisdom on this would be appreciated.
Jeff Kingston wrote:
I guess I am confused on one point. In order to activate the system at all, the body mounted flash has to be opened up. I have tried to activate the settings so that ONLY the wireless external flashes will fire and not the body mounted flash. Yet I still see a flash originating from the body flash. Is this just the ETTL pre-flash? I think so but am not 100% sure. Any wisdom on this would be appreciated.
If that's working the same way as the 580EX in master mode, then yes, when you "disable" the main flash, it does fire during exposure (in addition to the ETTL pre-flash), supposedly to trigger the slaves. This is pretty annoying, even if that main flash is quite weak. I wonder whether there is a good technical reason for that or simply another way for Canon to sell those ST-E2, which trigger the slaves using IR pulses (which I imagine could still be annoying, though not as often).
Pretty much confirmed the same thing. I guess I was too accustomed to using the the ST-E2 that does not trigger any flash during focusing. The 7D does trigger. But I confirmed that my setting was not in fact firing the camera built in flash, when I turned off the wireless flash in the front position. Could see the immediate effect in the shot. So all the "flashes" coming from the built in flash, are related to focusing and ETTL. So at least I am understanding what it happening now.
It just will not change brightness no matter what. 
! It doesn't work at any other point! That's a pretty hilarious bug if you ask me. If somebody could confirm this on their 7D, I'd appreciate it.