Future EOS body, 7D equivalent
 

Hi folks,

I very much love my 7D. But the AGC and the lack of a firmware to turn it off makes me wonder about what the future might bring. Yes, they are work arounds, the very nice JuicedLink solution, they -50db cable, but nothing better than a device that doesn't need a work around.

I am unfamiliar with the release dates dynamics Canon has. Is there is any tentative date when we could expect Canon to announce the release of a future body?

Appreciated!!

Ben Tolosa

Re: Future EOS body, 7D equivalent
 

The 7D is over a year old, but the much older 5D hasn't been replaced yet so I would think that the 5D would be updated before the 7D.

Canon tends to be on a two year cycle with new models, but the 5D is coming up on 3 years.....

Daniel Weber

Re: Future EOS body, 7D equivalent
 

Why not a 60D?

It does everything the 7D does (minus the Full HD HDMI out on rec) plus manual audio levels (AGC off) has a very usefull articulating screen, doesn't overheat and costs less.
It is not a 7D succesor as it's one level lower than the 7D (mainly due to the better AF and build) but for video it certainly is a better camera.

Re: Future EOS body, 7D equivalent
 

Manual audio gain on the 5D isn't all that wonderful. You're still better off doing double system sound with a decent recorder.

Re: Future EOS body, 7D equivalent
 

True.

The 5D2 gives better sound with Magic Lantern than with Canon's manual gain firmware. And you want a juicedLink or other way to deliver a hot signal for best results.

Even then, the 5D has a low-cut filter that is always engaged. This is fine for most dialog. And it helps reduce wind noise. It's not so good for full-range music though.

Personally, I'm quite happy with a JL and Magic Lantern for dialog. It's nice and quiet and provides gain knobs that you can grab if needed when shooting.

Re: Future EOS body, 7D equivalent
 

I use my Zoom H4N as an interface between the mic and the camera, and I always double record. I put -12db tone on the Zoom, play that through a pad cable, with a Y adapter for headphones. Set the camera meters to match the Zoom, and it's ready. But I always double record because I can't monitor the camera audio that way, only the Zoom.

I've found the quality of the camera sound is OK for dialog. It's not as good as the same recording from the Zoom, but good enough for many things, and I always have the Zoom audio when I need it. I would not go out on a shoot having to depend on just the camera's sound.

Re: Future EOS body, 7D equivalent
 

It's a bummer that the 7D doesn't have manual gain and that it doesn't accept Magic Lantern. It's stuck having to rely on a tone/noise signal to control the digital gain. And without Magic Lantern, the analog gain in the camera is pegged at +31 dB.

On the 5D2 with ML, I can control the analog gain, set the digital gain, view live meters, and enable the headphone output from the camera. I still have the low-cut filter to deal with, but other than that, it's really clean - cleaner than the H4n or DR-100.

Using the H4n headphone output into the camera is a great way to provide a safety track and I'd imagine that it makes syncing easier by recording nearly identical waveforms in camera and recorder. That said, headphone amps are notoriously cheap. I don't recall the H4n headphone out as being all that noisy, but from the Microtrack to the Fostex FR-2 LE, all the headphone outs are noisier than the digital recordings. That can't help the in-camera sound quality. But for the price of a splitter, it's a cool way to get a backup recording - and maybe one that's good enough when time is tight.