November 27 -- I Take My New Canon 7D Mark II For A Spin At The Overton Wildlife Area

First impressions are always suspect and due to change, but spending Thanksgiving Day at the Overton Wildlife Management Area down the street from the RV park where I'm staying left me in no doubt, less than 24 hours after I received the camera from Amazon, that this is one heckuva tool, and especially for bird photography. I tried various setting and bird subjects -- perched, flying in a mass, single birds-in-flight -- and at ISO speeds ranging from 100 to 800. The results, well, they're here for you to see...

One of the best features that the Mark II has may sound minor to most, but it's important to me, and that's the "mode dial lock". Without it, if you bump the dial, your "AV" setting may find itself at "P" mode without you realizing it. With the 7D Mark I, it was a later option that I had to pay $100 for; with the MKII, it's included. Yay Canon!  Yellow-rumped Warbler, ISO 200, f/9 @ 1/640 sec --

The MKII will REALLY help me to identify birds in the field, especially when using it with the 500 f/4 prime lens, my lens of choice for birding and day hikes for its phenomenal image IQ. Savannah Sparrow, ISO 100, f/8 @ 1/640 sec -- 

Next up is a Western Grebe in mid-preen, shaking itself off, ISO 400, f/10 @ 1/1000 sec. I took over 1000 shots (!) yesterday, but part of the reason for that was because the default settings for the MKII is one RAW and one JPEG per shot, and I didn't realize it until afterwards. So it's now set to only RAW -- 

Here's a Pie-billed Grebe, ISO 100, f/8 @ 1/500 sec. Yesterday was a good day to test the "boundaries" of the MK II as it started out sunny, then got cloudy as the day went on -- 

American Wigeon, ISO 100, f/8 @ 1/500 sec -- 

The next was part of a sequence of 12 shots of a Northern Harrier in-flight -- and the MK II held focus on all 12 shots. With the MK I, I was lucky to get a 50% hit rate...ISO 400, f/7.1 @ 1/1000 sec. And this is about an 80% crop, with the Harrier being at least 100 yards away from me...

Next up is a 50% crop of the Harrier sequence, to show more of the landscape. ISO 400, f/7 @ 1/1000 sec. All of these shots in this gallery were taken with the 500 f/4 prime lens and 1.4x TC, giving it an effective reach of 700mm, or with the 1.6x crop factored-in, 1200mm film.

Common Goldeneye, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/1328 sec..

Least Sandpipers, ISO 400, f/5.6 @ 1/1600 sec -- 

Savannah Sparrow, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/1600 sec -- 

Canvasbacks -- This is the first time I've captured this particular duck in pixels. ISO 200, f/5.6 @ 1/400 sec --

This next photo is seen here at the original distance, no crop, while the following one is cropped at least 80%. But look how tack-sharp the Cormornant is -- it's almost 3D!  Double-crested Cormorant, ISO 400, f/5.6 @ 1/800 sec.

Double-crested Cormorant cropped at least 80% from original photo -- 

Male Northern Shoveler, ISO 200, f5.6 @ 1/640 sec. The MK II has 65 possible AF points, and it's possible to use all 65 points in the settings, for tack-sharp images of moving objects. 

Western Meadowlark, ISO 200, f/5.6 @ 1/1328 sec -- 

I believe this next to be a Lincoln's Sparrow, please correct me if I'm wrong... ISO 800, f/10 @ 1/160 sec. 

American Goldfinch, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/1000 sec -- 

Red-winged Blackbirds in an agricultural field, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/1328 sec --

Lesser Goldfinch, ISO 400, f/5.6 @ 1/400 sec -- 

Merlin, ISO 400, f/7.1 @ 1/1600 sec -- 

Female Phainopepla in an autumn leaves background ISO 200, f/8 @ 1/500 sec --

Red-tailed Hawk, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/2656 sec -- 

And finally, a White-crowned Sparrow, ISO 800, f/8 @ 1/2000 sec -- 

First impressions are that the Canon 7D MKII is certainly superior to its predecessor, the MK I, and extremely versatile. I'll keep my 7D, just consign it to my landscape lens for scenics...