Canon EOS 7D For Birds In Flight

Canon EOS 7D For Birds In Flight

Setting up your Canon EOS 7D for birds in flight should be setup in a fashion that fits your style of shooting these settings work best for me and should make a good starting point for you.

This review of the EOS 7D,  is just my 2 cents worth. Yesterday was not the best day for lighting, fog hung around all day with a few minutes of sun poping through the clouds causing a hase and muted colors for the most part. However it was a good testment to the 7D’s ability to lock focus.

I found the focus to be rock solid, especially to the 40D, I am in no way saying the 40D is inferior, that is what I had before the 7D and loved it, however the 7D was able to lock focus when i know the 40D would never have. I found the focus to lock very quick and maintain it, even with a busy background. My keeper rate is much higher with this camera.

I tried many different focus settings and found the center point with expanded focus points to be best for me. The ability to move that group of points around in the viewfinder proved invaluable in framing the subject for composition.

I find the metering on the 7D to be pretty much acurate, I do however find it to under expose just a tad, that does not bother me in the least and easly compesated for, My 40D did the same.

I have read many reviews some good and bad, however i believe in testing things for myself. I find that your form needs to spot on or the 18MP sensor will so flaws in technique so a faster shutter speed helps.

Here are my settings that i find work well for me, I will not go through the whole menu but just the CFn settings. I don’t use any safety shift or highlight tone priority settings.

CFn I 1=0
CFn I 2=0

CFn II all disabled

CFn III 1=Slow
CFn III 2=0 (priority is put on focusing)
CFn III 3=1
CFn III 4=0 (unless light is bad then I switch to 1)
CFn III 6=Most of the time is single point for BIF i switch to single with expanded
CFn III 7=1
CFn III the rest set to what prefrences you want

CFn IV 1=default
CFn IV 2=default
the rest set to default

Sample images (click thumbnails for larger image)
All photos taken with the 400mm f5.6L prime lens

One Response to “Canon EOS 7D For Birds In Flight”

1. Quazi Ahmed Hussain says:

   June 16, 2010 at 5:01 AM

   Beautiful BIF shots in low light. I shoot with 50D and 450D. As per my rating both the cameras perform well with 50D obviously being better with more power. EF 400mm f/5.6L is simply the gem of a lens. In my opinion the prosumer DSLRs like 7D and 50D in combination with 400f/5.6L is capable of producing pro quality or close to pro quality images under good light. Yes story is different in low light. In that case an f/2.8 super telephoto will be necessary. However, for enthusiasts like us, our present gears are doing the job pretty well. What do you say?

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