Digital Camera World » Canon 7D

World’s Largest Photo: 4 Canon 7D cameras, 48,640 frames, 320 gigapixels

jmeyer — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 11:51:17 +0000

The world’s largest photo – an amazing 320-gigapixel picture of London taken from the top of the BT Tower – has been produced using just four Canon EOS 7D cameras.

The stunning 360-degree view of London was taken by photographic firm 360Cities and comprises 48,640 individual frames shot on the four Canon 7D cameras, mounted with EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM lenses and Extender EF 2x III teleconverters, provided by Canon.

The cameras were driven by high end Rodeon VR Head ST robotic panorama heads, from the Clauss company in Germany.

The 48,640 individual images were shot after the conclusion of the 2012 Olympic Games in London and were then stitched together into a single, giant panorama over a period of weeks. In total, the project took a period of several months.

According to organisers, if the image was printed at normal photographic resolution, the panorama would be 98 meters across and 24 meters tall – nearly as big as Buckingham Palace!

Rainer Fuehres, Head of Consumer Imaging Group, Canon Europe, said: “The goal of empowering people to take the next step on their personal photographic journeys drives every product we create, and this breath-taking image truly takes this philosophy to the extreme.

“Since its launch, the EOS 7D has caught the imagination of enthusiasts around the world so we were pleased to support such an exciting and challenging project with a camera that so many people are using to capture their own moments of inspiration.”

The project in numbers

Project by numbers:
• 320 – the number of gigapixels in the photo
• 48,640 – the number of individual images shot
• 3 – the number of days it took to shoot all the individual photos
• 3 – the number of months over which the computer processed the final result
• 60,000 – times bigger than an iPhone 4 photo
• 98 – the number of meters long if printed in normal photographic resolution
• 24 – the number of meters high if printed in normal photographic resolution
• 29th – The floor at the BT Tower where the photos were taken
• 20 – number of miles distant to the viewable horizon

Technical photographic information, and how the photo was taken:
• Working over a period of three chilly days in 2012, the 360Cities team spent hours on the 29th floor outdoor platform of the BT Tower working with four cameras to record the 48,640 images comprising the panorama.
• Four Canon EOS 7D cameras with EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM lenses and Extender EF 2x III teleconverters were mounted on Clauss company Rodeon VR Head ST robotic panorama heads and positioned in four secure locations around the 29th floor platform.
• The Clauss company robotic panorama heads are capable of 72,000 steps in a single 360 degree arc, and in this case were set to fire four frames a second.
• Laptops monitored a live preview of the progress of the shoot, which was accomplished in the teeth of sub-freezing temperatures and occasional 50 mph winds high above London.
• The 360Cities photography team of Jeffrey Martin, Tom Mills and Holger Schulze ensured that not a single individual frame from the more than 48,000 planned was missed.
• The raw images were then processed over a multi-week period using Fujitsu Technology Solutions’ Celsius R920 workstationwith 256GB of RAM and 16 cores at 3.1GHz, and Autopano Giga panorama stitching software from Kolor.
• The resulting online interactive version of the photo is presented in multi-layered, tiled resolution that permits zooming in to view extreme details, and is composed of millions of individual image tiles.

Canon 6D vs 7D: (or sensor vs wallet) which camera is best for you?

samanthacliffe — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 15:00:52 +0000

In this post, we’ll make a Canon 6D vs 7D comparison, both of which are aimed at advanced-amateur photographers, to see which Canon camera best matches your needs. While the Canon 7D lacks the full frame sensor of the canon 6D, it nevertheless offers a great deal of specs for a now considerably lower street price than when it was launched.

So who wins a Canon 6D vs 7D match-up? Well, there are some things to take into consideration first. The point of this comparison isn’t really to say which camera is best. The Canon 6D obviously boasts a full-frame sensor, while the EOS 7D offers a crop sensor.

There are obvious benefits to having a full-frame sensor, and if you know you need a full-frame sensor for your photography, then a Canon 6D vs 7D match-up is a no-brainer! But for the average consumer, for whom a 1.6x crop sensor will fulfill most of their needs, while it’s easy to be drawn in by the allure of the Canon EOS 6D, is the EOS 7D, with its falling price and advantage over its new sibling in some key specifications, not equally a no-brainer?

So let’s ignore sensor size for a moment and assume that if you’re still reading, then having a full-frame sensor isn’t your top need from a camera. The two Canon cameras here do match closely on some of the specs that appeal to advanced amateur photographers, but also have their differences on others – namely, the 7D’s higher frame rate and focus points. So if you’re not so concerned by the EOS 7D’s 1.6x crop factor, it’s falling price (soon to fall more, we’d expect) could make it a real bargain for photographers looking to upgrade from their entry-level DSLR.

But let’s take a look at the Canon EOS 6D.

For starters, the EOS 6D boasts a couple of firsts for Canon: it’s the smallest, lightest and – perhaps most importantly – cheapest full-fame DSLR ever made by the company, and it is also the first EOS camera to include built-in WiFi.

Changing your camera settings, geotagging photos and transferring your shots to your handset is now possible using Canon’s free iOS and Android apps, making it even easier to share photos with the world.

This is an exciting new feature for an EOS camera, but whether it will be the deciding factor when it comes to that all-important purchasing decision is another matter.

By comparison the Canon EOS 7D was well received by the public on its launch; its 18 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, high ISO range (up to 6400), 1080p 24fps HD video, 19-point AF and fast processing speed were impressive features and still wouldn’t be considered long in the tooth even today.

But when comparing the Canon 6D vs 7D, does the newer, lighter EOS 6D and its bigger sensor outweigh the sub-£1000 prices for which you can now find the EOS 7D?

It is clear the the Canon EOS 6D is all-singing, all-dancing when it comes to the specs the modern technologically-savvy, advanced-amateur to pro photographer might be looking for; its full-frame 20.2-megapixel sensor, super-fast DIGIC 5+ image processing, 4.5 fps continuous shooting and ISO range might appear to wipe the floor with those of the 7D.

But for all the 6D’s seductive digits, specifications and gimmicks, is it worth spending around £2,000?

If you want/need/cannot live without the latest, lightest, and impressively kitted out full-frame DSLR from Canon, you might be happy investing in the EOS 6D, particularly if you’re looking for a camera that performs well in low-light conditions.

But perhaps the real question to ask is whether you will be using this camera to its full potential and getting the most out of your investment? How often will you need to shoot above ISO 6400? Is the difference in speed in the Canon 6D vs 7D – the former’s DIGIC 5+ processor vs the latter’s DIGIC 4 processor – that vital to your work to make it essential to your purchase?

If your answer to these questions is a negative, and if you don’t have wads of cash to spare on a new camera you might consider the well-regarded EOS 7D. What’s more, if you aren’t looking specifically for a full-frame DSLR and you simply want a high-performance DSLR that sits closer to your budget at around £800 less, the 7D remains a strong candidate.

The Canon 6D is certainly a great choice for landscape photographers or music photographers. But if you shoot a little bit of everything, perhaps the 7D can in fact offer you just want you need in a camera without breaking the bank. Here are our reasons in favour of each camera:

Reasons to buy the Canon 6D

Its much larger sensor (more than 2.5x larger than the 7D), and all the creative possibilities it affords
Higher sensitivity and better low-light performance
Wi-Fi capability
GPS functionality
HDR function
Smaller and lighter

Reasons to buy the Canon 7D

Faster continuous shooting rate
More cross-type focus points (19 vs 11)
More viewfinder coverage (100% vs 97%)
Faster maximum shutter speed (1/8000sec vs 1/4000sec)
Much cheaper

But don’t take our word for it just yet. We’ll be giving you a full, scientific review 6D in the coming weeks. In the meantime you can catch up with our testing team’s ongoing trials with the camera on their hands-on Canon EOS 6D review over on our sister site, TechRadar.

NEXT PAGE: Canon 6D vs 7D specifications

Canon beefs up EOS 7D features with new firmware

jmeyer — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 11:52:26 +0000

Canon has released a firmware upgrade which adds editing controls to the EOS 7D ‘semi-pro’ DSLR.

A number of other new features have been added via the firmware upgrade, including a higher maximum raw shooting burst rate, user-definable Auto ISO and support for the latest GPS receiver.

Launched back in 2009, the 7D sits at the top of Canon’s APS-C camera line-up. It features an 18 million pixel sensor, dual Digic 4 processors and a maximum ISO of 12,800. Up to 8fps shooting is available.

The new upgrade boosts the maximum raw shooting buffer to a new high of 25 raw files or 130 JPEGs.

Newly added editing features include the ability to process raw files and correct aspects such as peripheral illumination, distortion and chromatic aberration. Adjustments to white balance, sharpness and Picture Style can also be made, among other parameters.

Edited photos will be saved as new JPEGs on the camera, while in-camera cropping (of JPEGs) is also available. An image rating facility, which has proven popular on other models in Canon’s range has also been introduced.

Image rating data is stored in the metadata of a file, which can then be read by a range of editing software, including Canon’s own Digital Photo Professional and Adobe Lightroom.

Extended Auto ISO control now allows for the photographer to set any point within ISO 400-6,400 as the maximum cap to suit personal preferences.
16 bit digital stereo sound, sampled at broadcast-quality 48KHz, and a new manual control of audio levels complements full HD video recording. A digital wind-cut filter also reduces noise made by movement of air around the microphone.

The new firmware also enables the 7D to be used with the new GPS receiver GP-E2, which can be attached to the camera’s hotshoe for geotagging photos.
Other upgrades include file name customisation, faster scrolling of magnified images and time zone settings.

The Canon 7D firmware v2 will be available to download from August 2012.

Read the full, in-depth Canon 7D review over on our sister website, TechRadar.

Canon 7D: tips for using your digital camera

jmeyer — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:30:23 +0000

Are you a Canon 7D user?

So you think you know how to use your digital camera? Like many of us, you may have a DSLR or compact system camera but tend to use only a handful of its features.

In our ongoing review of some of the more popular current and ‘out of date’ digital cameras, we want to help you better harness the creative potential of your DSLR or compact system camera.

Call them camera tips, or call it a user’s guide to your favourite digital camera. The advice below comes from experts who have used the Canon 7D and know this DSLR inside and out.

If you have your own Canon 7D tips you’d like to share, post them in the comments below – or send them jeff.meyer@futurenet.com. What we want to build is an ever-growing user’s guide of Canon 7D tips that come not from a press release or a lab test, but from the photographers who shoot with this DSLR.

We want to inspire you to twist the mode dial and move beyond your favourite settings and functions and get more out of your Canon 7D starting today! So without further ado…

Canon 7D: tips for using your Canon DSLR

Canon 7D Tip 1: Forced AF-assist
If you’re shooting in low light using one of the P, Av, Tv, M modes and autofocus is struggling, manually pop up the built-in flash to use it as an AF-assist lamp.

Canon 7D Tip 2: One-touch focus
To quickly switch from One Shot autofocus to AI Servo without taking your eye from the viewfinder, assign this function to the Depth- of-field preview button using Custom Function IV: 1

Canon 7D Tip 3: Camera user setting
Use this feature (found in the third yellow setup menu) to create customised camera setups for different shooting situations. These can be instantly retrieved by switching to C1, C2 and C3 on the mode dial.

Canon 7D Tip 4: Wireless flash
Using your 7D’s built-in Speedlite Transmitter, you can fire and control wireless flashguns remotely. You can use the built-in flash at the same time, but it won’t have as much power as when it’s fired alone.

Canon 7D Tip 5: AF area selection
If you’re not keen on pressing the M-Fn button to change the focus area selection mode, use the Quick Control Screen. Area selection mode is on the left of the grid.
Read more about

Canon DSLRs
Camera Tips

Canon EOS 7D video review

dcworld — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:43:22 +0000

We give you a detailed rundown of the camera’s new features and improved controls.

The Canon 7D, launched in 2009, sits firmly between the Canon 50D and the Canon 5D Mark II, between the pro and amateur range, but which one should you go for? At first, the 7D would seem to have more in common with the 50D, but pro features are also in abundance. We take a look at the 7D’s key features, including new features and improvements, to help you decide.

Read the full Canon EOS 7D review at TechRadar.com

Canon EOS 7D Review

dcworld — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:35:26 +0000

The latest EOS enthusiast SLR has been built from the ground up with an advanced autofocus system and high-speed motordrive.

Can too much choice be a bad thing? Canon doesn’t seem to think so. With the addition of the new 7D, there are now no fewer than nine different digital SLRs in its current EOS family. The EOS 7D is definitely the odd one out, however – and not just because it fails to fall in with the time-honoured Canon numbering system.

You can think of the 7D as a GTi version of the 50D – or a small-sensored high-
speed alternative to the EOS 5D Mark II. But to look for family resemblances is perhaps to miss the point. Sure, as you would expect, there are plenty of familiar EOS features on this new 18-million pixel, eight frames per second model, but there are almost as many unfamiliar ones.

This is a camera that has been designed from the ground up to make its own
mark on the world of digital photography. A new 19-point autofocus system, a dual-processor, a revolutionary viewfinder, a built-in flash with an unexpected twist – these are just some of the surprises. Oh, and it also has the most advanced High-Definition video shooting system we’ve seen on a D-SLR to date.

Although Canon produces cameras that are more robust and more professional than the 7D, it is still designed to appeal to the pro user. It is a meaty machine, with weatherproofing to match, that feels solid in the hand and provides both front and rear selection dials for quick control of key features. However, Canon has really tried to improve some handling bugbears with this model. A new, cleverly designed switch makes it easy to activate Live View and video recording, and at last there is a separate main on/off switch.
Another new button option allows you to quickly switch from RAW or JPEG shooting to RAW+JPEG (a great idea).

Another provides a quick menu on the rear screen, providing fast access to practically every function you could want to change. Taking customisation to the extreme, this menu also gives you the option to change the function of any of the buttons on the camera. Such control takes some getting used to, but at least you can’t complain that anything is in the wrong place when you have the freedom to redesign everything to suit your needs.

Autofocus system

The autofocus system is equally intelligent, and just as hard to get used to. It offers 19 autofocus points (ten more than the 50D or 5D Mark II), and all of the more useful cross-shaped type. You choose which of these are active – whether small groups, individual points or the whole lot. The points aren’t displayed in the usual way in the viewfinder, their position only becomes visible when they lock on focus thanks to a translucent LCD below the focusing system that only comes to life when needed.

Despite its unfamiliarity, the focusing system is responsive and accurate. We tested it out at both a hockey and rugby match, and were surprised at just how well it kept up, even when players where charging towards the camera at speed. Shooting at eight frames per second doesn’t guarantee you getting the picture, but it helps, and the camera can keep going at this rate for 15 seconds (126 frames) if shooting JPEGs (or just 15 frames in RAW). The ability to choose
a different range of AF points if switching between landscape and portrait image formats is a great boon.

The range of focusing points, if not the speed, would also be useful to anyone shooting portraits, because it helps to ensure you can match an AF point to the subject’s eyes. However, the 1.6x crop factor sensor means that this particular model in the EOS family will appeal most to those wanting maximum telephoto reach from their lenses.

The metering system provides the usual mix of Evaluative, Centre-weighted, Partial and Spot modes, but the measuring system has been updated. The new 63-zone iFCL meter now takes note of the colour of the subject, as well as the brightness and distance; this has been done to avoid under-exposure when shooting reddish subjects, such as skin tones in portraits. Even more usefully, the camera offers an unprecedented Exposure Compensation range of plus or minus five stops, which is a great help when shooting HDR sequences.

High definition video recording system

The 7D’s High-Definition video recording system is every bit as good as that found on Canon’s 5D Mark II, and arguably better. The smaller sensor gives you better depth of field, which can be useful for most video shots, and there is a fuller range of frame rates on offer (from 24 to 60 frames per second). You get the option to change ISO and shutter speed as you shoot (the 5D Mark II only added this after a belated firmware update), and the camera comes with a stereo microphone input that you can use to ensure your accompanying audio matches the quality of your video.

Unlike the 5D Mark II, the 7D boasts a built-in flash – and even this is smarter than it at seems at first glance. This pop-up affair can also be used to control compatible flashguns wirelessly. This makes off-camera flash a much simpler affair, because you don’t need to buy or carry around a separate flash trigger. What’s more, the camera’s built-in flash can be used in combination with the wireless flashgun in selectable ratios. At last, you don’t need to buy Canon’s ST-E2, or a second flashgun, to set your flash free from the camera’s hotshoe for more dramatic effects.

Sample images (click to see bigger):