Good glass makes the difference: zoom lens recommendation for Canon EOS 7D Mark II

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Canon’s flagship APS-C DSLR, the EOS 7D Mark II is likely the first APS-C camera playing a serious role for professional photographers: highly advanced 65 points AF system, Dual Pixel AF, 10 fps, anti-flicker technology, one of the best, if not the best, weather sealing in the industry, and much more.

Given Canon’s extensive lens line-up (and third party players), you may wonder which lenses are best suited for the 7D Mark II. DxOMark posted the first part of their lens recommendations for the 7D Mark II, zoom lenses. Five categories of zoom lenses are considered: ultra-wide-angle zooms, standard zooms, super-zooms, fast telephoto zooms, and slow telephoto zooms. DxOMark recommends:

  • Best ultra-wide-angle zoom: Tokina AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 PRO DX
  • Best standard zoom: Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM ART
  • Best super-zoom: Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
  • Best fast telephoto zoom: Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM SPORT
  • Best slow telephoto zoom: Canon EF 200-400 f/4L IS USM

A list you can agree with. You may wonder how the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM, a kit lens, made it to be the best standard super-zoom lens. Easy: it performs great. Canon’s latest kit lenses all work great. It’s one of the things were Canon excels: making inexpensive lenses with very good performance.

Nothing to wonder about the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens, one of Sigma’s recent masterpieces and the world’s first zoom lens for APS-C sensor with continuous f/1.8. Those who own the Sigma know why I call it a masterpiece. According to DxOMark, the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 beats them all, Zeiss and Canon L lenses included, and at a price ($799) that’s hard to beat when it comes to bang for the bucks.

Can’t say anything about the Tokina AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 PRO DX, I never used it. I also never used the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Extender 1.4x, but I guess a lens that costs like a small car has to be the best. I had the chance to play around with the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM SPORT. As with all Sigma Global Vision lenses, you get a lot of bang for the bucks.

See DxOMark’s lens recommendations for the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. The EOS 7D Mark II regularly ships for $1,499, but is currently on eBay by a top rated seller. To learn more about the Canon EOS 7D Mark II read the overview after the break, or see all our 7D Mark II coverage.

Canon EOS 7D Mark II price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Canon EOS 7D Mark II specs and overview (from Adorama’s product page).

  • 20.2 Megapixel CMOS (APS-C) sensor and ISO 100 16000: (expandable to H1: 25600, H2: 51200) for reduced noise at high ISOs and high performance Dual DIGIC 6 Image Processors for outstanding image quality and processing speed.
  • High speed continuous shooting: up to 10.0 fps allows you to capture fast action.
  • 65-point all cross-type AF system: for high-performance, accurate subject tracking with EV -3 sensitivity (center point) for focusing in extreme low-light conditions.
  • Canon’s innovative Dual Pixel CMOS AF: enables you to shoot video like a camcorder with smooth, fast, and accurate autofocus and lets you enjoy instant and preciseautofocus
  • Stunning Full HD video: with Custom Movie Servo AF (speed and sensitivity) for continuous focus tracking of moving subjects, multiple frame rates including Full HD recording at 60p in MOV and MP4 formats and uncompressed HDMI out.
  • Intelligent Viewfinder II: provides approximately 100% field of view for shootingease.
  • Improved custom controls: and built-in intervalometer and bulb timer for expandedcreativity.
  • Magnesium alloy body: with shutter durability up to 200,000 cycles and enhanced dust and weather resistance.
  • EOS Scene Detection System: features a new 150,000-pixel/RGB+IR metering sensor for improved precision.
  • Built-in GPS Receiver: provides a digital compass, records location information(longitude, latitude, elevation and universal coordinated time (UTC)) as EXIF information for geotagging images when shooting.
  • 3.0-inch Clear View II LCD monitor: (approximately 1,040,000 dots) for bright andclear viewing.

Adobe Lightroom Tricks and News Round-Up

Above: Introduction to Editing, Processing, and Workflow in Lightroom 5 for Street Photography – Eric Kim Photography

Purchase Adobe Lightroom CC, Lightroom 6

This is What Adobe’s Dehaze Slider Does to Photos of the Night Sky – PetaPixel
Are you taking advantage of Lightroom’s Headless Mode? – Lightroom Killer Tips
Bringing Your Logo into Lightroom (with a transparent background behind it) – Lightroom Killer Tips
Lightroom Dashboard Can Help You Visualize Your Photography Habits – PetaPixel
6 Easy Steps for Post-Processing a Low-Light Photo in Lightroom – Digital Photography School
Organize Your Portraits and Group Shots: Using People View in Lightroom CC – PhotoFocus
How To: A Primer on Reducing Noise in Photos Using Adobe Lightroom – PetaPixel

Below: Lightroom 6 & Lightroom CC LIVE REVIEW – Tony Northrup

Purchase Adobe Lightroom CC, Lightroom 6

Canon EOS 70D killer deals live again, bundles with PIXMA PRO-100 and more starting at $650

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Adorama put their terrific Canon EOS 70D deals live again. If you are comfortable with mail-in rebates, then these prices are impossible to beat. Adorama is an authorised Canon seller. You get $350 mail-in rebates (instructions) on each of the bundles. All three bundles come with:

  • Canon PIXMA PRO-100 Professional Photo Inkjet Printer
  • Canon SG-201 Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss, 13×19″, 50 Sheets
  • Lowepro Nova Sport 17L AW Shoulder Bag, Slate Gray

Three EOS 70D bundles are on offer, all with the bonus items listed above:

Canon EOS 70D overview after the break.

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Jena Malone Signs On To Co-Star With Josh Hutcherson In Short Film For Ron Howard And Canon’s Project Imagination: The Trailer

Canon has a dedicated YouTube channel for Project Imagination: The Trailer.

Press release:

Jena Malone Signs On To Co-Star With Josh Hutcherson In Short Film For Ron Howard And Canon’s Project Imagination: The Trailer

Hunger Games Co-star to Join Hutcherson’s Short Film, “The Rusted,” Inspired by a Consumer Trailer

MELVILLE, N.Y., July 23, 2015 – Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging, announced today that “The Hunger Games” actress Jena Malone has signed on to co-star with Josh Hutcherson in a short film for Canon’s Project Imagination: The Trailer, a consumer contest helmed by Ron Howard. Josh Hutcherson and Ron Howard have selected the winning trailer, “Tainted Water” created by Mark Mukherje, a college student from South Florida, to act as the inspiration for the film, “The Rusted,” which will go into production this week.

“The Rusted” is a psychological thriller, a new genre for Josh Hutcherson, written and directed by Kat Candler (“Hellion”) and tells the story of a brother and sister who begin renovating their childhood home into a recording studio, when strange happenings force them to face memories of the past.

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Black Friday Deals in July, by Canon Direct Store (refurbished gear)

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The Canon Direct Store started a 3 days sale event, Black Friday Deals in July. The deals are on refurbished gear, and some are pretty good:

All deals on offer can be accessed from this landing page. Remember: the sale event lasts 3 days.

“The Chase” is a time-lapse showing in 6 minutes the results of 14 days of storm chasing in 10 States

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I know, there are tons of time-lapse videos out there and you are likely sick of seeing them. However, from time to time I spot a time-lapse video I think deserves to get featured.

The Chase is the work of Mike Olbinski, and the result of 14 days spent chasing storms in ten States. Says Mike:

I turned 40 years old this year and I told my wife all I wanted was 10 days chasing on the plains. She loves me though and it ended up being 14! Two days in April and then 12 straight days from May 23rd – June 3rd. Those 12 days were absolutely incredible. I’m friends with other chasers via social media, met them on the side of roads while chasing, even grabbed dinner together…but never have I felt more of a part of the chaser community than being out there for almost two weeks. Living the life…seeing the same amazing chasers over and over…it was overwhelming to me. I missed my family, it was hard at times, but it was one of the best experiences of my life.

The movie was shot in New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. Over 45,000 frames of footage were shot for the film. Mike Olbinski used a Canon EOS 5D Mark III with a bunch of Rokinon lenses. Kudos Mike!