The 7D Video DSLR has Arrived

When I talked about getting into video, I meant it. My proof arrived a couple of days ago — the new Canon 7D, all beefed up with new features and of course, video shooting capability.

I have to say I didn’t make the purchase decision lightly. There’s no pool of green that I’m wading in. I made a calculated decision and decided that I needed to make an investment and stay on top of the game instead of always lagging behind and getting older technology. I sold off my 40D to partially fund this camera.

So far, this camera has certainly impressed. In every way, it is a better camera than my 40D: more resolution, faster frame rate, better high ISO performance (if you can believe it), excellent auto-focus, magnificent LCD screen, and last-but-not-least the full HD video. All these upgraded features certainly seemed, to me, worth the premium that I paid on top of the 40D sale.

It’s built in similar size to the 5D, and the construction feels firm. I haven’t shot much with it, but the new auto-focus selections and expansion of focus points are great blessings. Now I feel I can really tackle sports photography, especially with the 8 frames per sec.

But the video is what you’re interested in, right? Just the ability to shoot full HD and at 24p is sweet. I’ve been trying to tape general footage that I can use for some future project. I probably won’t be able to cobble a decent clip too soon though as I still have to work towards getting good audio and then putting it all together in a video-editing software. Still, I’m very optimistic on where this is going, and with some time put in, I hope my videography skills can improve.

Right now I’m still primarily a photographer. It’s what I’m good at, whereas with video I’m merely a toddler playing with toys. But I do see video as an increasingly important skill set that I need to acquire, which in turn will lead to more opportunities.