The Canon 7d is not the messiah, it is a very naughty boy.

On paper the 7d looks really cool, but in practice the rolling shutter has some serious implications, not to mention the horrible anti-aliasing due to line skipping.

The Canon 7d is a nice 18megapixel DSLR that also uses the same sensor to shoot 2.2megapixel video. Combined with the rolling shutter, this creates a few problems in real world video shooting. The compact and light body enhances some of the problems and the lack of Optical Image stabilizer on most of sub 50mm primes does not help either. So what are the problems? First there is the problem of a DSLR having to produce a 2.2MP image with a 18MP sensor. This means dropping almost 16MP in info, with nothing but a DigicIV processot to do it. Skipping pixel rows and trying to produce sharp horizontal lines can give you some weird fringing effects. Simple put: anything horizontal and in focus can be a problem, actually any sharp lines or edges can be a problem.

So what about the rolling shutter?

Most of the tele shots I did in this shoot where useless, the image wobble was so bad. A rolling shutter means the camera reads the image chip from top to bottom. At 24, 30, 50 or 60 frames a second. Anything that moves quicker then the frames are read can fall in between the lines. Fast flashes, or worst of all: camera shake when using a tele lens or shooting in windy weather. The end result is a wobbling image that looks like a jellow pudding. In this video you can see some of this, mind you: it has been fixed as much as possible by using Smoothcam in Final Cut pro. Will post the original shots as example.



Shallow Depth Of Field

Here is the practical problem: if you want the cool shallow DOF this camera can bring you, you need to shoot with a nice 50mm F1.4 if possible. To get these shots handheld is not as easy as you might think. Most of the time it will be no problem for me to shoot the more close up shots handheld. Not with the 7d, the jellow/wobble makes it a lot more noticeable. And some of the shots will end up in the trash because it just looks too weird.

The other problem: Exposure

One of the problems of shooting with a DSLR camera is that the exposure control adjusts in steps of 1/3 stop. If you want smooth exposure adjustment you will need to use the Variable ND filters like the ones made by Singh-Ray these are variable ND from 2 stops all the way to 8 stops down. Great if you got a lot of light, not so great when you have less light. Personally I think you can use the 7d without any problem from 100ISO all the way to 800ISO and get a nice clean image when properly graded so there is some room to maneuver when it comes to exposure.

But it is not like using a video camera, it means exposure is controlled on the end of the lens, away from the body. Adding another problem to shooting handheld.

This means you need to plan shots in advance, set exposure and focus before you press record. The compact package gives you some great opportunities to have some fun, check out a quick improv video shot in Amsterdam. No stabilizer used, just a monopod for low shots:




Focus: The minor nightmare

So you got the 7d, bought the Z-finder (please don't get the hoodman, it is horrible.) and you think "now I am ready!" only to find out the image on the LCD pretty awfull. Every time you focus you end up thinking, this can't be it, is this really in focus? The 7d has a nice 10X zoom to check focus and 9 out of 10 times I did manage to get the right focus, but it still distracts from the work. Even 9 out of 10 means you miss 1 out of 10 and let's face it, if that turns out to be "the shot" you are not going to be happy.

So you end up checking, double checking and re-checking the focus. Not a bad habit, but it does means you can not utilize the great advantages of this camera unless you shoot big wide angle shots with stable lighting. To be honest I have not tried auto exposure yet, only in combination with auto gain so will need to do some tests to give you some real world feedback on this.

To be honest I like the DVX100 as a camera package the best, not the most perfet image. but very compact, extremely solid, not bad for focussing or exposure and pretty decent in most lighting conditions unless you go for total darkness.

The freedom the 7d gives you is fantastic, but after shooting several videos with it did make me realise it can't beat my Ex-3 with a 35mm adapter for most serious shoots. If you are going for solid tripod stuff, I would setup a EX-3 with 35mm adapter, much more control over exposure, focus and not to forget: sound.

So what is the problem?

Because it is so portable and light it makes it harder to actually use the portability. Low mass means less control and more muscle power to keep things steady, fighting the rolling shutter.

Moire, lowlight mud, sometimes terrible anti aliasing, hard to control lighting because you are shooting with DSLR technology, so exposure adjustment jumps with 1/3 stop.

If you want to use it in controlled situations like a studio, sure, its cool. If you are thinking of buying this as a main production cam: please rent/borrow one for a day and shoot some serious stuff because it might not be the one for you.

If you like to experiment with the film look and have no problem with work arounds for exposure, sound and focus then go for it.

The only way I found to control exposure smoothly while shooting is when using the Nikon G > Canon EF adapter ring that adjusts the nikon exposure by twisting the whole lens. Sure the Sing Ray filters work when you have 2 / 4 stops to spare, but it is not ideal.

The other odd problem is the compression artifacts and messy gradients, anything with a nice smooth color transition can look like an old 8bit image with color banding and something that looks like bad anti aliasing. Check out this shot from Rotterdam harbor:



That is NOT a one off, it happens every time I shoot something with a highlight or a nice sky with a lot of color shade. You can grade them in color and kinda get rid of it but don't expect photo like dynamic range or contrast, or colors

Unlike a video camera, pro or consumer, this camera is not setup to shoot video. It is setup to shoot photos and we have found ways to make the video feature useful. But you will be shocked how crap the LCD image is once you put the Z-finder on it

So as a video camera, its terrible. Is it a bad tool to work with? Off course not, this bed of roses just has a lot of thorns. It gives you some spectacular options, but it will give you a headache as well.

Anyway... make sure you check out this camera before buying and I don't mean walk into a shop, shoot 9 seconds and then write a rant about it. Or shoot in ideal situations, setup something in real life, the stuff you actually want to shoot with this camera. Get a nice 85mm F1.4 shot handheld or get a nice 200mm shot handheld with a bit of slowmo. Or just pop on the nice 50mm F1.4 and shoot some faces. Good luck and feel free to leave any tips, comments or discoveries here on the forum.


Here is a bit of fun handheld stuff to show off how cool the 7d can be: