This stunning photo of the Horsehead Nebula in Orion was captured with a Canon 7D II. Copyright © Roger N. Clark. Click for a larger version.
I found two interesting articles extolling the virtues of the Canon 7D Mark II (7D2) for astrophotography and wildlife.
Roger N. Clark (Ph.D., 1980, Planetary Science, MIT) is an avid photographer. He did extensive testing of the Canon 7D2 and its suitability for astrophotography and wildlife photography. In his review he praised the 7D2 as “the top Canon camera for long exposure low light photography that I have tested.” That is high praise coming from Clark and important to you if you like to do long exposures of the night sky.
Clark goes on to say “The superb autofocus system, comparable to Canon 1D series pro cameras with 65 autofocus points is another game changing innovation, as the camera is at a price point that is affordable to more people. The 7D Mark II was my action camera of choice for my February 2015 Tanzanian safari where I obtained about 12,000 images with the 7D2.” This is important for all of you that do wildlife photography. Be sure and check out his safari photos linked in the review. For the record, the 7D2 is my wildlife camera of choice.
Clark’s review has technical information which may not be of interest to everyone, but the review is worth reading for his important conclusions and the gorgeous imagery. Clark’s web site has a wealth of photo information. If you are a techno geek you will love it. If not, skip over the technical stuff. You will still learn a lot and see some beautiful images.
Animated GIF. Copyright © Arthur Morris. Click for a larger version.
Arthur Morris, one of the premiere bird photographers, likes the 7D2 for bird photography. As a result of the ongoing online debate a while back as to which option would provide better quality images using the same lens from the same location: a 7D2 or the 5D3 cropped, Artie did some side by side testing and posted the comparison photos, including 100% actual pixels crops so you can see the results for yourself. The images are very close but to his eye, the 7D2 images are better. Prior to the introduction of the Canon 5D4, one of Artie’s favorite hand held bird photography combinations was the 7D2 and the Canon 100-400mm II lens. If a Canon 5D4 is not in your immediate future, this is great news. The 7D2 makes a great wildlife and bird camera that is a lot less expensive than the 5D3 or 5D4. If you aren’t already acquainted with his stunning bird photography, check out his blog.
Article Links
Roger N. Clark:
Arthur Morris:
EOS-7D Mark II/EOS-5D Mark III Image Comparison: They Thought that it Would Be Easy