Canon: 7DMk2 Wish List

I have from good authority that the gnomes, aka engineers, at Canon are working on the 7D's successor. Since, to my greatest dismay, they didn't ask from my opinion, I will still give it to them.

  • Resolution: 18 megapixels is enough. An increase of the resolution to 24 megapixels doesn't look good. When I compared my 18 megapixels photos with a Sony α77 and its 24 megapixels, the quality of the photos was not to my liking. Obviously, it must not be to Nikon's liking either, they still haven't come out with their D400 and the 24 megapixels sensor which has been shipping since Oct-2011 on the α77 and the NEX-7 (19-Apr-2012: Nikon just announced the D3200, with the Sony 24 megapixels sensor, to replace the D3100 but still no D400).

  • Speed: I'm happy with the 8 frames per second.

  • Auto ISO: Please, Canon, please provide us with an Auto ISO that can be used. I need to set the lower and higher limits like 200 to 800. I can't have the ISO suddenly jump to ISO 3200.

  • AF: What about the same AF as the 5DMk3 which is a subset of the 1Dx? Less gaps within the grid and increase the coverage from 19% to 25%.
  • 2 CPUs, at least the Digic 5+ with one CPU dedicated to the AF. Having more and faster CPUs also improve the noise reduction at high ISO.
  • A “proper” 3 by 3 grid inside the viewfinder. All the displays, like focus points…, inside the viewfinder are LCD projections. It's already available on the live view mode.
  • A better ergonomic of the main dial at the top/front. It should be closer to the shutter and at a 30° angle.
  • A better ergonomic of all the 4 buttons at the top by the LCD display to be replaced with just one 4-ways controller.
  • A “good” auto-bracket to allow for 3, 5, or 7 exposure brackets, just like in the new 5DMk3.
  • More RAM to allow either for a longer bursts and/or allow for SD cards which are so much cheaper, especially in Canada, and are almost as fast as the Compact Flash cards..
  • A swivel LCD would be a nice addition.

Notice that I'm not mentioning the video. It's because I do not know the video side, I'm barely experimenting with time lapse photography.

As you can see, it's not too much. It's very feasible and it should keep the US price to under the $2,000 mark. And now for the fantasy:

  • Replace the pop-up flash with a built-in WFT-E7 wireless controller. It's the radio controller for the new 600EX-RT flash.