Curious Drake » Canon 7D

Finally! my 7D on-camera flash finally gave in

Vince — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 00:10:47 +0000

On-camera flash on my 7D had intermittent problems, now the problem is permanent. This is a good news for me, getting even with the Canon service center; in the past rejected with a smile implying a con, failed to reproduce the problem on the spot, surely you’ve experienced this embracing feeling, I would have my satisfaction now, rejecting the repair no longer possible, proving that the con is Canon service center, set up in a way allowing them to dismiss an intermittent problem without making a proper effort in reproducing a problem, exhibiting a disturbing pattern, finally having my camera repaired and, hopefully, working properly in a few weeks.

Well, Canon did not take my camera

Vince — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:37:13 +0000

Canon service center did not take my camera for repair. They told me that there is nothing wrong with it. I could not reproduce the problem on the spot. I guess I have to wait until the problem develops more.

I mentioned that I am toying with the idea moving to Nikon, and they answered: “It is always an option”. I guess they do not really care. It is discouraging. You pay two grand for a camera, a few more thousands for all the glass and flashes and then you get blank eyes and boiler-plate answers. You might also move to Nikon for all they care… It sucks!

No, it does not work

Vince — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:47:16 +0000

The Canon 7D repair saga continues. It was not fixed first time! It goes back to the shop today. My camera still has the flash miss-fire problem. Isn’t is wired? Dear Canon, do it right this time, please. Or else… I was about to switch to Nikon, but then 7D came out and I decided to stay with the brand. Canon, do not waste the last chance to keep a loyal customer that started with Canon AE-1 many many moons ago!

Learning the ropes on the Canon 7D

Vince — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:36:55 +0000

Silent shooting mode has to be set to “disable” if you want to synchronize an external flash with a 7D (as well as 5D MK2 apparently). It is a documented, but fairly obscure feature.

Live view gives interesting advantage for manual lenses. At 10x magnification it is possible to achieve very nice focus without having to change the focusing screen on the camera. I already wrote about that in the past, but I cannot stop enjoying it and this is why I am repeating myself. It is very good for macro, but if you are planing to use external flash, it is likely that your subject will not have enough ambient light on it. It would make you live view window dark. Here comes another obscure setting called expo simulation. If you set it to “disabled” the camera would use all the light it can to show you the live preview and will not take into account aperture and shutter speed that you have dialed for shooting with external flash. BTW, the menu item controlling exposure simulation is just above the live shooting mode menu item.

So, if you are to use external flash for macro and focus using live view magnification, disable the silent shooting and the exposure simulation. It would save a few hears on your head

7d Menu Choices

Canon 7D Experiences – 500 clicks

Vince — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:29:40 +0000

I am still in love with the 7D. The impression is a bit spoiled by the flash synchronization problem, but still, this is a very impressive camera. Two things continue bringing me joy – the way camera feels in my hands and shutter sound. I have to say that shutter sound is different from what I get used to on a 5D and on all my previous Canons, digital or not. The sound is very quick, gentle and yet solid. It is not a beefy click anymore. It is higher in pitch and quicker. It gives off a nice a comphy vibe.

What is not so good, or, perhaps what I have not learned to do right, is setting custom white balance in video mode. It turns out the camera has to be switched to photo mode, a still shot fired, then usual routine of custom white balance and then back to movie mode. All together it is minimum five operations! Try to do that when shooting conditions change often! Do it better next time Canon!