Functions of T2i vs. 7d? I'm talking actual buttons...
 

I'd just like to know if anyone has a good idea of how the different camera functions that are so readily available on the 7d are mapped on the new T2i? WHat I mean is it is obvious that the rear dial is the iris and the top wheel is the shutter speed. With a quick touch of the iso button that same wheel adjusts iso settings. To me it is almost all in a good logical place.

I realize that for video there is a really good chance that the 7D and T2i are going to create a similar image. But looking at the T2i I cannot determine how you adjust aperture on the fly or shutter or iso. The specs say you can but there are no wheels to spin or turn....perhaps you repeatedly press one of the buttons.

Anyway, please keep this in the 7D forum as I am only really interested in comparison to 7D controls while shooting and what we'd be loosing functionally with the T2i.

Thanks!

There is a wheel on the top plate next to the iso button. If you select manual control from the menu, then this wheel adjusts both aperture and shutter speeds. You also select iso by pressing the dedicated iso button and use the same wheel on the top plate.

Remember this camera for stills is aimed at a amateur market and the main aperture or shutter speeds are selected from the mode dial with all the pictogram's on it, which will pick either one of aperture or shutter speeds.

IN full manual mode, how do you switch the wheel from shutter to iris? I assume there is a toggle mode of some sort? Since I don't touch the shutter much at all for video, this is not a drawback if I lay it out so that the wheel is only for iris.

(by the way I noticed the wheel in one of the picture right after I posted originally! I came from a Nikon D40 so I am not familiar with Canon's DSLR layout scheme)

Are their any differences in the 2 camera regarding video? I own the 7D and was thinking about buying the T2i as a backup.

Stills performance in regard to fps and build quality etc are different but video footage will probably be difficult to tell apart, so you should be able to work with both and match footage easily (although this is early days and not many detailed video comparisons have been done yet).

According to the manual, to change shutter speed in M mode, you turn the dial. To change aperture, you have to hold a button as you turn the dial. I didn't look up ISO, but presumably it also involves a button and the dial.

If you want more info on operating this camera, you can find the manual here:

Canon EOS Digital Rebel T2i

The big difference when operating a 7D vs a T2i, is the number of dedicated buttons, the "joystick" and the extra LCD on the top for the 7D which shows iso, fstop, shutter speed etc.

With both the 7D and T2i, you can also hit the "Q" quick menu button which will allow you access to most of the shooting parameters on one screen that you can just use the joystick (7D) or arrow-keys (T2i) to navigate to, and change.

On the 7D, the ISO button is also the flash compensation button. Press that, and the front wheel controls ISO, rear wheel control flash compensation.

On the T2i (and most DRebs), the ISO button is ISO only, flash compensation is buried in the menus.

Typical of the DRebs, in manual exposure mode, the front wheel controls shutter-speed, and you must press the rear "Av" button + front wheel to change Aperture. I'm pretty sure it's the same with entry level DSLR's from all the other makes - Nikon does the same thing except the wheel is at the back, and the Av/Aperture button is on the front.

This has nothing to do with mapping of functions to buttons, but unlike the 5DII and 7D, you cannot set white balance to a specific K or color temperature. You have the standard presets and you can set a custom white balance. This will be awkward, since there's no rapid fire way of dialing in a new white balance when light changes slightly.

So can someone confirm the behavior regarding video shooting. I have a 7d and I want to get a feel for the differences.

1) you put the camera in video mode via the wheel on top. This activates the LCD screen....essentially kicking into LIve View for video.

2)Now you hit the LIve View button (button is not necessarry now since video mode has already engaged LIve View) and it begins recording.

3)adjust iris as necessary by turning the front wheel while holding down another specific key, otherwise this wheel behaves as a shutter control.

If number 3 is accurate, is there a way to swap the iris and shutter feature so that the default is iris? We all know that in the video world shutter is not changed very often, if at all.

Thanks.

Yes, this is accurate. Sure would be nice to be able to swap them, like you suggest.

Here is what I see different so far.
1. No kelvin adjust
2. No White Balance Shift
3. No 1/3 ISO adjustment, (this is not good, with 7D, lets say that you want to keep a certain F-stop for DOF and 50th of a shutter speed, you can play with ISO 1/3 increment to get the right exposure and so if ISO 1250 is right you can go to that, but T2i it will jump from 800ISO to 1600, which add a lot more noise than 1250, so this sucks) So in this scenario, 7D will have better picture quality,and like the other post mention, you have to push a button at the same time turning the dial for F-stop adjustment, but for more than half the price cheaper, I guess it is ok.

I don't think you can flip the two. I agree it would be much better the other way as you usually want to lock the shutter and adjust iris as needed for exposure. Of course this is the opposite of what you typically do for photography, so that's probably why it's set up that way.

You're almost correct, however ISO is slightly different. You press the ISO button once (don't need to hold it down) then the wheel adjusts ISO. You have to push the SET button to leave that mode to go back to iris/shutter adjustment.

You can also push the ISO button again to get out of the set ISO option.

For video this is quite true, but for stills you can shoot RAW and set the white balance afterwards from 2,500 to 10,000 degrees Kelvin (+/- 100 degrees) using a slider in Canon's DPP software that ships with the T2i.