topic Re: 7DII and landscape photography in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

7DII and landscape photography

tinwhistle — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 03:51:14 GMT

I'm thinking of updating to the 7DII. In the course of on line research I've seen it mentioned that this camera excells at most everythinmg except landscapes. Anyone out there have this experience?? Thanks for any input...

Chris

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

jrhoffman75 — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 11:10:16 GMT

I haven't seen any reviews that say its not suitable for landscape photography. However, given its parameters - crop sensor, high frame rate and rapid autofocus system - its target market is not landscape photographers. There are better choices if that is your primary use.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

RobertTheFat — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 11:17:23 GMT

It's not that the 7D2 isn't a good landscape camera; it obviously is. It's just that the notable features that have been incorporated into the 7D2 that tend to set it apart from competing models are mainly oriented toward action and event photography. It's a fine all-around camera; but if you're a landscape specialist, you may prefer something different: a high-resolution full-frame camera, for instance.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

ebiggs1 — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 13:37:20 GMT

Utter nonsense. The 7D and the 7D Mk II can shoot landscapes. I am convinced the folks that make such claims never actually do what they claim! If the 7D Mk II, which I don't have either, can't shoot landscapes than neither can the 5Ds. The pixel pitch is nearly identical. Close enough to not be a factor. This means the sensors are the same except for physical size. And the 5Ds is claimed to be the greatest 'landscape' camera made!

The choice of lens will be a greater factor than the camera.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

Peter — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 15:30:26 GMT

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=913638

Maybe will bring some light over the question. Old 7D has a low ISO noise pattern.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

ebiggs1 — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 16:09:48 GMT

POTN, useless comparison in this case.

"The choice of lens will be a greater factor than the camera."

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

Peter — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 16:20:24 GMT

The comparsion or not, old 7D has no good noise pattern at low ISO. Especially in a blue sky. The pattern is visible. New 7DII has not this noise pattern. Neither do 40D.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

tinwhistle — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 18:08:14 GMT

Hey guy's, lot of good thoughts. Thats why I posed the question, who knows what was going on when a post comes up like that. Landscapes are only a small part of my photography. I do a lot of corporate work, agriculture, construction, etc., and the landscape, sports, portrait, wildlife, and so on are more or less leisure (fun) past times. My 70D has been a real trooper, no complaints, but I like the idea of the heavier construction of the Mark II. Job sites and Farms are hard on photography equipment!!

Think I'll invest in the 7DII......

tinwhistle aka Chris

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

ebiggs1 — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 21:47:46 GMT

"Think I'll invest in the 7DII......"

Good choice. But I still don't agree with Peter. The lens you choose will be more of a factor than either the 7D or the 7D Mk II. In the POTN comparison there are too many differences to make any meaningfull conclusion. Comparions need to be like for like. Same, same. But whatever................

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

Peter — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 23:41:03 GMT

The 7D has a noise pattern visible already at ISO 100. Tonmapping it in Photomatix (or sometimes in other rawconverters) it will be possible to see this pattern. Shooting in ISO 160 (ISO 200 and post underexposed in camera for less noise) won't help really much. You can read more about the 7D and it's infameous noise pattern here. Never got it from my 400D, 40D, 5D, 5DII, 6D. This is why I don´ t recommend 7D for landscape photography. On the other hand, my 7D don't has banding at high ISO. My 400D, 40D, 5D, 5DII had that.

My link to POTN was just an example how much similar a crop camera and a full frame camera may look like.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

Ricci — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 11:20:39 GMT

The other reason why the 7DII is not considered as a great scenic camera (despite it's outstanding AF capability) and that nobody has mentionned yet in this thread, is that its Canon APS-C sensor has a slightly less dynamic range from ISO100 to ISO400 than latest Sony APS-C sensors used in other DSLR camera manufacturers.

This means that the camera will capture a smaller range of tones by shot and will have more tendency to underexpose or overexpose from ISO100 to ISO400.

Personally, this is not very relevant to me as a sport shooter (there are other important factors on image quality and camera capabilities), but many experts mentions this weakness found on APS-C DSLR Canon cameras.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

Peter — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 20:01:56 GMT

Yes, but same dynamic range as 1DX has at ISO 100, 11,8 EVs (dxomark.com).

And about the older 7D, take a look at the sky and the pattern. Above ISO 800 and it is not visible anymore.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

Ricci — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 02:23:57 GMT

OK, but other DSLR's are well over 14 Evs!

I know that the 7DM2 has improved over 7D in terms of noise but unfortunately not much in the dynamic range area.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

Peter — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 07:21:39 GMT

Correct. Canon is not at the top. 5Ds 12.4 EVs, 6D 12.1 EVs. You need to shoot dual ISO to get the same dynamic range as Sony sensor has.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

Ricci — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 01:13:51 GMT

Yes, but you will also gain moiré and aliasing using dual ISO mode.

Ricci.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

tinwhistle — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 04:21:18 GMT

I hate to confess this, especially since I've been "taking pictures" for about 60 years and even been paid to take some, but I have no idea of what the following statements mean: dual ISO, dynamic range, moire, aliasing.

tinwhistle aka Chris

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

Peter — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 06:58:54 GMT

Correct ricci. What you gain in something you loose in something else. You will also loose resolution in the highlight/shadows.

Tinwhistle:

Dual ISO is two at the same time. Dynamic range is how much your camera can pick up before it clips the highlight or the shadows. You can make a image search at moire and aliasing to see how that looks like.

Examples of dual ISO you will find here

7898.CR2 has ISO 200.
7899.DNG har ISO 100/200. Take a look at the highlight between 7898 and 7899 and also keep your eyes on the roof and aliasing.

9398.CR2 has ISO 400.
9399.DNG has ISO 100/400.

9402.DNG has ISO 100/800.

Canon 7DII can´t shoot dual ISO.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

RobertTheFat — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:24:17 GMT

@Peter wrote:
Correct ricci. What you gain in something you loose in something else. You will also loose resolution in the highlight/shadows.

Tinwhistle:
Dual ISO is two at the same time. Dynamic range is how much your camera can pick up before it clips the highlight or the shadows. You can make a image search at moire and aliasing to see how that looks like.

Examples of dual ISO you will find here

7898.CR2 has ISO 200.
7899.DNG har ISO 100/200. Take a look at the highlight between 7898 and 7899 and also keep your eyes on the roof and aliasing.

9398.CR2 has ISO 400.
9399.DNG has ISO 100/400.

9402.DNG has ISO 100/800.

Canon 7DII can´t shoot dual ISO.

Does any Canon camera have that capability? My 5D Mark III manual doesn't mention it. Despite being about Tinwhistle's age, and despite having owned several Canon DSLRs over the past nine years, I'd never heard of dual ISO either.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

Peter — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 12:36:52 GMT

Dual ISO is included in Magic Lantern and if you fail with it Canon guarantee will not help you.

Re: 7DII and landscape photography

RobertTheFat — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 13:11:06 GMT

@Peter wrote:
Dual ISO is included in Magic Lantern and if you fail with it Canon guarantee will not help you.

Thanks for the clarification. I can't imagine that I'd ever use Magic Lantern, but out of curiosity: If ML starts causing problems, or if you change your mind, is it possible to restore the Canon firmware? Or is that a one-way street?