Canon 7D Mark II Preview: New flagship Canon APS-C DSLR unveiled

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The new Canon 7D Mark II’s magnesium alloy body is weather sealed and boasts a 10fps burst rate and improved 65-point autofocus system with iTR tracking technology

Canon 7D Mark II Specification: Same 20.2Mp resolution from the Canon 70D

Still reluctant to break through the 21Mp barrier with its APS-C DSLRs, the new Canon 7D Mark II features a 20.2Mp APS-C CMOS sensor at the heart of its redesigned shell. The new model also boasts Canon’s latest DIGIC 6 image processing engine and improved ISO sensitivity of ISO 100-16,000 (expandable to 51,200). In terms of resolution the 20.2Mp sensor is only an additional 2Mp over the original 18Mp 7D and whilst the debate around the optimum number of megapixels will continue to rage, it seems a fairly modest update. Put it into the context of recent releases such as the 28Mp Samsung NX1 or 24Mp Sony SLT a77 II and the new Canon 7D Mark II already appears to be off the pace. Pixels aren’t everything though and it’ll be intriguing to see how Canon have developed their flagship APS-C sensor as we put it through the DxOMark Sensor tests. Boasting a similar sensor spec and resolution to the Canon 70D, it’s up against some pretty stiff opposition in the APS-C category however, with recent APS-C releases from Nikon, Sony and Pentax crashing through the 80 points barrier in the DxOMark Sensor Scores. What’s more in that bear pit of the high street the new Canon 7D Mark II will also find itself pitted against affordable ‘prosumer’ full frame cameras, including Canon’s own 6D, which our tests shows to be offering significantly better image quality for similar and in some cases less money.

With an overall DxOMark Sensor Score of 66 the original 18Mp Canon 7D ranks in a lowly 127th place for all sensors on our database.

With an overall score of 68 the Canon 70D 20.2Mp APS-C sensor only manages to nudge out the original Canon 7D’s sensor’s score of 66 with a minor improvement in all categories.

Recent APS-C sensors from Nikon and Sony have crashed through the 80 points barrier with significantly better Portrait and Landscape scores compared to the original Canon 7D

Up against ‘prosumer’ full frame offerings such as the Nikon D610 or Canon 6D the new 7D Mark II will need a big improvement over its predecessor to compete for image quality.

Canon 7D Mark II Specification: 10fps and whopping 65-point autofocus system

It’s not all about the pixels however and for enthusiast photographers into wildlife, sports or action photography the new Canon 7D Mark II boasts some pretty attractive features. There’s 10fps continuous burst shooting with full autofocus, which is getting up there with the speeds of the faster professional DSLRs. The autofocus system has had a complete overhaul and now offers a whopping 65 autofocus targets, all of which are the more accurate cross-type variety. That means the targets boast both horizontal and vertical sensors, that can focus accurately even under poor lighting conditions, and Canon claim the new 7D Mark II focuses under moonlight with light levels as low as -3EV. The autofocus system also features Canon’s iTR technology for improved autofocus subject tracking using both colour and face recognition information, so the autofocus system doesn’t get confused by other elements popping in and out of the frame. The 252 areas on the 7D Mark II’s zone metering system feature a new 150,000-pixel sensor for more accurate exposures in tricky lighting conditions and the High Dynamic Range mode can automatically blend multiple exposures together for a HDR effect straight out of the camera. The magnesium alloy body is weather-sealed to protect against water and dust, making the 7D Mark II more durable, and for versatility images can be recorded to either SD or CF memory cards thanks to the 7D Mark II’s dual memory card storage solution. Finally for video the 7D Mark II captures full HD 1080p movies at 50/60fps.

The Canon 7D Mark II will be available from November 2014 priced at $1799.99 body only.