EOS 7D HD Video

EOS 7D HD Video Review

Prior to the EOS 7D becoming available, I had a chance to borrow an EOS 5D Mark II for a few hours from fellow photographer and African Safari leader Tom Whetten. It was the first CanonDSLR to come out with built-in HD video, and is very similar to the HD video features in the EOS 7D.

On the 5D Mark II, it was really easy to use the video feature once I had it set up right. I wanted to see how it would work with my big lenses. I put the camera on my Canon 600mm "L" series lens and was thrilled to be able to take videos of a Black-Chinned Hummingbird hovering and landing on a feeder! I wish I could have had more time to play with the camera so I could have found more interesting wildlife to video.

It was simple to do - I set up the camera and lens as usual, with a Canon EF 2X II teleconverter (on the EOS 7D I would have used a Canon EF 1.4X II teleconverter ), then focused for the perch on the feeder where I expected the bird to be and set up the exposure the way I wanted. Then I pressed the "Live View" button, which shows the live image in the LCD screen on the back of the camera. When the hummer came into view, I pressed the "Set" button, which starts the video recorder (after you've set up the camera in the functions menu to do that). Pressing the "Set" button again stops the video recording. And when I wanted to take a still photo at full resolution, all I had to do was press the shutter release, which pauses the video recording long enough to take and store the image, then the video recording automatically restarts.

If I had had more time, I would have liked to find more wildlife to video, as well as trying out some of the other advanced capabilities. For instance, the ISO can be set as high as 6400, (note that the newer EOS 7D's can be set to ISO 12800), which might make it possible to photograph owls in the evening with the 600mm lens. I also wanted to try some macro photography/video. I know that once the camera becomes more available, I'll need to get one!

See the Digital SLR Camera Guide for a comparison of the current best prices and where to buy the Canon EOS 7D from the most popular retailers.

EOS 7D HD Video News

February 8, EOS MOVIE Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro press release

London, 8th February 2010 - Canon today announces the development of a plug-in that will enable quicker and easier editing of EOS MOVIE footage in Final Cut Pro. A free Beta release of the plug-in will be available to download for testing and evaluation in March 2010.

'EOS MOVIE Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro' is being developed to provide an even smoother workflow for EOS MOVIE users who edit using Apple's Final Cut Pro software suite. The plug-in will enable the 'log and transfer' of video footage from Canon's EOS 5D Mark II , EOS 7D and EOS-1D Mark IV Digital SLR cameras - all of which offer full 1080p HD video recording.

The plug-in will convert EOS MOVIE footage to Apple's high quality ProRes 422 codec at approximately twice the speed of Apple's standard conversion. Additionally, users will also be able to add timecode, reel names and metadata to footage quickly and easily - further enhancing the experience of EOS MOVIE users when editing their footage.

EOS 7D More Videos

Take Stories Video Taken with Canon 7D

Here is a video showing the EOS 7D. The video is from Canon Europe and shows video of the camera being used by a pro wildlife photographer. The video was shot with the EOS 7D.

Take Stories Video Press Release

London, UK, 14th December 2009: Canon today released the latest instalment in its "Take Stories" campaign - a television commercial that was shot on and features the new Canon EOS 7D. Created by Dentsu London and directed by Martijn van Beenen, the commercial follows award-winning wildlife photographer and marine biologist Fergus Kennedy as he captures beautiful shots of wild horses running through salt water lagoons in the Carmague region of south-western France.

In order to demonstrate the EOS 7D's functionality and amazing suitability for wildlife photography, the sixty second commercial was filmed on the camera itself, as well as showing Fergus Kennedy shooting with the EOS 7D . The camera's ability to take detailed 18MP 14-bit images at 8fps as standard, coupled with full 1080p HD movie recording capabilities that include selectable frame rates and full manual control, meant that it was the perfect choice for capturing Fergus at work.

The commercial captures one of the many challenges Fergus confronted on his visit to the Camargue region. As one of Europe's largest river deltas, where horses run free through the salt water lagoons and flamingos flock in their thousands, Fergus faced glare from water, timid subjects and fast moving action. In order to shoot beautiful images in these conditions Fergus combined his skill and patience with the responsive EOS 7D, a camera that was designed specifically to meet the demands of photographers.

Fergus's adventure in the Camargue will be broadcast across Europe on the National Geographic channel and in nine markets on the BBC World Service (FRA, ES, ITA, DE, SE, DEN, FIN, BE, NL). The spot can also be viewed on the Canon Europe YouTube channel : http://www.youtube.com/user/CanonEurope

To view the full "Take Stories" campaign please visit the website www.canon-europe.com/takestories .

EOS 7D Reviews

Make sure to read some of the EOS 7D reviews and see what other people are saying about it.