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7d

Hooked Up: Hang out with Nelly and his must-have gadgets

In this week's episode of Hooked Up, Kevin Frazier hangs out with Grammy Award winner and multi-Platinum recording artist Nelly. He talks about all the tech he can't live without, and how he co-founded Vatterott College in St. Louis and the Extreme Institute to teach students skills for making music.

Nelly also talks about his MacBook Pro, Canon EOS 7D that he uses for shooting videos, and the Monster Diamond Tears headphones that surprised him with their sound.

I'll break down the best dSLR cameras for shooting video with Kevin that broadcast professionals are using today. And … Read more

Canon 5D Mark II, 7D get mode dial upgrade

Firmware upgrades for cameras are the norm, and it's not every day we see brands offering hardware upgrades. However, Canon announced this week that it will tweak the mode dial for its EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 7D.

The adjustment will allow the mode dial to be locked in place, much like the implementation on the EOS 60D. This will prevent the accidental changing of settings, which frustrate photographers, especially when they need to quickly take a shot.

The upgrade will cost roughly $100. However, users are required to bring their dSLR to the local Canon office during … Read more

Flames scorch Canon 7D, but flash card survives

Laudably, camera makers are steadily improving how rugged and weatherproof their products are. But there are limits, and being in a flaming car is one of them.

So discovered Swedish photographer Petra Hall and her fiance, whose Canon EOS 7D didn't survive when the MG convertible it was in caught fire inexplicably. It and the 24-105mm lens attached were reduced to a camera-shaped mass of scorched, bubbled plastic.

Happily, no humans were injured in the fire, according to Hall's account of the fire. Gear fetishists, though, might want to avert their gaze before seeing the traces of the red band around the rim of the lens indicating it once was one of Canon's high-end and expensive L-series models.

But here's the happy ending: the SanDisk CompactFlash memory card survived within the camera, and necessary photos were retrieved with no trouble once the card was extracted from the camera body's remains.… Read more

Canon SLRs get new wireless transmitters

Canon on Thursday announced three new wireless photo transfer accessories for its higher-end digital SLR models, adding the ability to simultaneously shoot with 10 linked cameras and other new features.

The wireless file transmitter devices, which mount to the SLR camera bodies, are the WFT-E2 II A, available this quarter for the EOS-1D Mark IV; the WFT-E4 II A, available now for the EOS 5D Mark II; and the WFT-E5A, available now for the EOS 7D. Each transmitter costs $700--more than an entire lower-end SLR and lens--but provides a variety of options to connect devices to the cameras and to … Read more

Canon EOS 7D braves cold temperature, snow

Canon touted the EOS 7D as a weatherproof dSLR with seals at strategic locations that can survive harsh environments. This makes it suitable for photographers who work in extreme conditions like the desert or sub-zero regions.

Photographer Ole Jorgen Liodden recently brought his EOS 7D to the Antarctica for an assignment, and is glad to report that the camera emerged unscathed. He has the pictures to prove it.

Considering that in his write-up that on a previous expedition whereby his EOS 50D went under the sun after a day, the EOS 7D's hardy specs are quite impressive. But do … Read more

Canon says firmware fixes 7D ghost images

Canon has released new firmware for its EOS 7D camera that it says fixes a ghost-image problem in which faint traces of one image could show in the next.

Version 1.1.0 of the camera firmware "corrects a phenomenon that in images captured by continuous shooting, and under certain conditions, barely noticeable traces of the immediately preceding frame may be visible," Canon said of the update.

The ghost-image problem showed only in some circumstances when the camera was used in continuous-shooting mode and was more apparent when software was used to enhance the image.

The Canon 7D, … Read more

Canon 7D photos can show traces of earlier shot

Canon has warned that traces of one photograph taken with the company's new higher-end EOS 7D SLR can sometimes be seen in the next.

The good news: new software for the camera should be able to fix the problem at some point. "Canon is currently investigating and analyzing the cause of this phenomenon, and we are planning to release a firmware update to address this issue," the company said in a a service notice.

The problem occurs only when shooting continuously, Canon said: "In images captured by continuous shooting, and under certain conditions, barely noticeable traces … Read more

Canon returns to tackle Nikon in midrange with EOS 7D dSLR

Updated, September 1, 2009: As expected, Canon announced the 7D, and all the rumor information turned out to be correct. I've added more details below.

There's enough seemingly reliable information floating around the Internet to guess that Canon plans to announce the long-rumored EOS 7D any day now. For those willing to slog through it, Canon Rumors offers up a difficult-to-parse Google Translate version of a Chinese press release from which everyone's painstakingly pulled the basic specs. (I'll update this post when the camera's officially announced; consensus has that happening on September 1, though it's not clear which continent that refers to, so it might be September 2 here in the U.S.)

Rather than an inexpensive but full-frame version of the 5D Mark II, the 7D looks to be a direct competitor for the Nikon D300s--and it's about time. Canon basically ceded the entry-level pro performance market to Nikon in 2005 with the arrival of the D200; since then, Canon's 30D, 40D, and 50D have taken the slower but less expensive road, with a relatively stagnant AF system, that Nikon leapfrogged. But with entirely new AF and metering systems, a new high-resolution (and seemingly low-noise) eight-channel readout sensor coupled with dual Digic 4 image processors and a new 100 percent coverage viewfinder, plus 1080p video capture, the 7D looks like an aggressive attempt to make a comeback.… Read more