Canon EOS 7D Mark II review

Canon's most enthusiast-centric DSLR was worth the wait

Reviews
By Angela Nicholson, Phil Hall
published

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Verdict

Enthusiast photographers tend to shoot a bit of everything and they need a versatile camera that can cope with a wide range of subjects and conditions. The EOS 7D Mark II's weatherproofing means that it can be used in harsher conditions than all of Canon's other current DSLRs apart from the pro-level EOS-1D X. Its autofocus system can also get moving subjects sharp quickly, and keep them sharp as they move around the frame or towards/away from the camera. The metering system with its new 150,000-pixel RGB and infrared sensor is also extremely capable and delivers correctly exposed images in a wide range of conditions.

Noise is controlled well, colors are pleasantly rendered and images have an impressive amount of detail for the camera's pixel count.

Canon also seems to have thought quite a bit about how enthusiast photographers like to use their camera, giving them the ability to produce an in-camera HDR image while capturing a sequence of raw files with different exposures for post-capture merging. There's also the Creative Photo Button, Image Comparison capability and the Intervalometer along with the Rate button that makes chimping worthwhile.

All things considered, the EOS 7D Mark II is an excellent camera, it's Canon's best APS-C format model to date. It's not often that we recommend making a direct upgrade from the model immediately proceeds a camera, but this case is an exception. The EOS 7D Mark II makes a great upgrade from the original EOS 7D.

Competition

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Nikon D500

Nikon's direct rival to the EOS 7D Mark II just edges it in our book, with a tilt-angle touchscreen, 4K video and a more accessible (but still very capable) autofocus system. If you're not tied to a system and want an a camera for action, this is it.

Read our in-depth Nikon D500 review

Angela Nicholson