Canon 7D

The Canon 7D camera

Canon: Locking Mode Dial

By now you must be aware that Canon is offering a factory upgrade to lock the mode dial. I've had the mode dial move out of it's setting about 4 times since I bought the 7D more than a year ago.

The announced cost is around $100 to $125 for the locking dial. Here's a “borrowed” copy of what this will look like from Rob Galbraith. Are these photos real? Where did the C1, C2, C3 custom settings go?

Canon: The new locking mode dial for the EOS 5DMk2 on the left, and the EOS 7D on the right

Canon: The new locking mode dial for the EOS 5DMk2 on the left, and the EOS 7D on the right

Canon: New Firmware 1.2.3 is Out

By now you should know that Canon has released a new firmware version that fixes a few bugs, I'm never the first to announce or try these new firmwares.

The firmware is available at: http://usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_7d?selectedName=DriversAndSoftware

Canon states:

What's are the changes in the Version 1.2.3 firmware?

The following fixes have been incorporated.

Canon doesn't describe all the changes. Just: “Here's what we've added”. It's minor stuff for the Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 and the Macro Ring Lite flashes. Is it all? We don't know!

Canon 7D: Battery Life, Again

I already wrote about the Canon LP-E6 battery, that's the battery for the Canon 7D, in Battery Info. I was speaking with a “guy” who had a Canon 7D and a Canon 5DMk2, which both use the LP-E6. He asked me if I could recommend any generic batteries aka off-brand batteries or ABC: Anything But Canon.

Here's a poor photo of the battery info. It had to be, I was in the field, and I had to use somebody's else point and shoot. My other camera had a long tele without any close focus.

Canon: I Never Use A Lens Less Than f/2.8

Sunday, I was in the interior up the Fraser River doing some eagle “shooting”. The end of November is the time of the year in British Columbia for the start of the eagle “shooting” season. Is this the largest concentration of eagles in the world? That depends on who you ask, but usually we talk between 1500 to 3000 birds, depending on the salmon supply. People come from all over the world to see these eagles. This year there was a large contingent from China with many people with a Canon setup in the $20,000+ with 400 f2/8, 600 f/4 and 800 f/4.

Bold Eagle

Bold Eagle: British Columbia, Canada

Canon: Winter Gloves

I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It's on the West Coast, along the Pacific. Canada, the Great White North where everybody lives in an Igloo. Whenever we have some snow or any cold below 0, that 0 Celsius or 32 Fahrenheit, there are camera crews taking videos of people slipping and sliding. Buses don't run in the cold or the snow. it's like snow in Miami or San Franscico. In anyway, last night, our first snow dump, 2 inches or 5cm:

Lady shovelling snow for getting out of the garage in Vancouver, BC, Canada

Lady shovelling snow for getting out of the garage in Vancouver, BC, Canada

2010 Resetting The Clock to Standard Time

Today's Sunday 7-Nov-2010. In Canada and the US, it's when we go back to the standard time. All of my computers, cell phones and telephones changed the time by themselves. My stove, my microwave oven and my car didn't, I had to change them manually.

But this isn't blog isn't about the cars, telephones… It's about photography. There's no camera, that I know of, that changes the clock back and forth automatically for the daylight saving time and the standard time.

Why is it important to set the clock properly on your camera?

Canon: Trust The Force, Luke

Some people are “jerks!” I was doing a photo shoot for a customer downtown with some breaks in between for the people to relax, when this guy barged in and asked me questions about my Canon 7D. Actually, it wasn't about my 7D, it was about his Canon 7D. He had problems with the exposure. It's was almost always wrong.

Canon 7D: Defaults

Lately I've been taken by the “going back to your roots” crave. Canon have has spent millions upon millions developing the Canon 7D. Canon spent further millions trying to get the best performance out of these 7D.

What makes the Canon 7D so different, from any other camera that I know of, is the customization. Between the firmware customization, to the buttons, the 7D is the most flexible camera out there. When I bought my first 7D in November 2009, I spent at least 2 month customizing… Trying to make it behave like I used to before.

Canon: How To Charge The Battery

The Canon LP-E6 batteries for the Canon 5DMk2, the 60D and the 7D are amazing! The LP-E6 seems to be improving with age. Saturday, the battery was down to 16%. Time to change it. I did 2168 photos and the battery was down to 16%. Could it have lasted to 2500 photos? Possible. I couldn't take a photo of the LCD with the number of shots because it was the camera with the lens that had the fairly close focus.

Canon 7D: AI Servo tracking sensitivity

The AI Servo tracking sensitivity, it's the C.Fn III-1 setting. I wrote about it in: High Speed AI Servo Tracking and in C.Fn III -1 AI Servo Tracking Sensitivity. Its purpose is to direct the Canon 7D on how fast it should switch focus, when something come in front of your subject.

My own setting used to be to setting to:

Slower than medium, but faster than slow

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