7D arrived!
 

Wow is this thing cool i am an outdoor tv producer/videographer and i just got my kit today! i couldnt wait for the body only so i got the kit with the 18-135 and it is amazing! i shot some 720 60 and put the card in the reader and dropped in the FS2 time line and bingo! This will become an tool that is used everyday in production i am just waiting on the beachtek to run the mics. for now the wireless works great! I will start filming hunts with it this week i cant wait.

Congrats, Kirk, please let us know how you like the EF-S 18-135mm lens.

Great! I've been waiting for someone to give their thoughts on that lens. Like you, I don't want to wait, plus I don't have another lens or two handy anyway. :)

Kirk,

Please post some video when you get a chance! I also produce outdoor videos, though I focus mostly on fly fishing.

I got my 7D body yesterday late afternoon (I'm at the tail end of the UPS driver's route) and haven't had a chance to do anything but point it at things in the house. Two lenses I'm going to find indispensable are the 24mm F2.8 EF and 50mm F1.8 EF primes. I may have to "insult" it occasionally by putting the 17-55mm "kit" lens from the T1i on it for the wide end, and I have a 55-250mm EF-S.

If I had no lenses on hand the 15-85mm EF-S would be my choice because of the 24-135mm equivalent range, and I would supplement that with the 50mm F1.8 EF for shallow DOF performance when needed.

Just some thoughts. I'm impressed with this camera just from playing with it in the house last night. Gonna put it on a SpiderBrace (with a rain cape-rain and thunderstorm coming) and get out fer awhile.

first thoughts
 

I got her set up and shot some test vid inside and out and i can say that i will be looking for some faster glass soon the 3.6 is ok but i want better! i know i will want more zoom as well looking at the 70-200 2.8 but will have to save for that.

the cam is easy to navigate and run and it sets up fast i like the LCD its bigger than i thought it would be!

as far as the 18-135 it seems good all the way out from my first tests the zoom is a little sticky compared to my XLH1a

The images are very impressive i compared footage to my XLH1a and it looks better! great color.

again all i am new to the DSLR video thing and i will have to learn as i go i do know that primes will not be in my bag for what i do.

i did put it on the shoulder brace and shoot and it is very handy on it so now i need to get it out in the field and get some filming done so i can post some! bad weather here for the next few days so we will see.

Order
 

From whom did you order it?

B&H.

Apparently when a shipment is scheduled in they begin taking orders, then cut it off when the shipment is "committed". I managed to get my order in just before they indicated "on backorder" again.

You have to check daily.

cam
 

I got it at the local norman camera shop i called to be on the waiting list and they called the next day and said they had one for me- right place right time i guess

Beachtek ...
 

Whilst researching stuff on the 7D I stumbled across this series of articles on sound solutions for the 5D/7D which is worth a look before before deciding on beachtek. From the video series presented, it would appear that the beachtek may be a little noisy. I am paraphrasing here as I have not had direct experience, but it's certainly worth a look (or listen) .

1. Canon 5D Mark II Audio Exposed - Boom Mic (juicedLink, Zoom H4n, Microtrack II, BeachTek) on Vimeo

One thing that concerns me about the Beachtek is that everybody says the pots have to be cranked all the way up to get a level and anything less than that is too low. So in effect there's no adjustment other than moving your mic in closer. I've pretty much decided to go double system sound with this camera.

e
 

i have been looking at all the test and i see that the beachtek is not the way to go the juicedlink is looking better!

do they make a seprateaudio capture device that syncs with the cam?? other than a shotgun. like the zoom or do you have to push record on them separately?

the 7D has auto gain so that won't work with the juicedlink, unless ML can do a firmware for the 7D then you can use it, so if you want to use the camera to record clean audio, use the Beachtek because it will defeat the auto gain with the constant 20khz tone.

As I understand it, the Beachtek defeats gain by adding a tone feed to input. This tone feed reduces the gain, and essentially freezes the gain. Before ML, I used my Juice Link to fee tone through one channel, using an MP3 player, and a tone file I had generated using a tone generating feature on the free program Audacity. I assume it will do the same here. You definitely want to go with the Juiced Link because it has a great little preamp to boost your mic signals before it gets to camera.

edit: here is link to that thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-eo...oblem-agc.html

I think that lens is a good deal, supposedly it only adds $200 to the price but if you buy it separately it will cost you $500.

I bought the body only, but had a kit lens from another Canon. I'll probably get a Tamron 70-200mm 2.8.