Hi guys! It's Janine today. I am in Cape Town for a change because I was invited
to speak at the Wild Shots conference.
When I first heard of Kirstenbosch being such a beautiful place,
I couldn't think of a nicer spot to compare
the good old hardy Canon EOS 7D Mark II and the brand new Canon 90D.
Can you believe this place is in the middle of Cape Town!!
Let's get going...
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So, it's unusual to compare the Canon 7D Mark II with a 90D,
given that these cameras are both - price-wise and professional-wise - in two different leagues.
The 7D - being a single-digit Canon model - would be naturally the more professional camera,
in comparison to the double-digit 90D model,
which would therefore be more an entry-level model.
However, there are five years between the release dates,
and I want to see what technology has done?
Can the new technology advances catch-up with the 7D Mark II,
and which one will be the better camera body nowadays?
I am going to compare these two cameras with five different categories...
#1 I want to look at the autofocus.
#2 I want to look at the sensor and the image quality.
#3 Frame rate and the memory capabilities of these cameras.
#4 Usability in build of these cameras.
#5 Real-world issues, such as your battery life, how robust are they in weather and in dust?
Let's have a look and get going.
In order to test the autofocus, the best way is to find a nice fast-moving subject.
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens are known for exquisite bird life.
So let's have a look to see if we can find something nice...
A little fun fact! Kirstenbosch is a world heritage site in the middle of Cape Town.
This Cape floral kingdom is home to more than 9,600 unique floral species!!
That's more than in the entire United Kingdom.
Alright, I've been shooting now all morning in the beautiful Kirstenbosch gardens,
and we found a nice shady spot under an ancient fig tree - couldn't be any prettier.
While I know the 7D extremely well, as I have been shooting with it for a very long time -
I tried to shoot a lot of birds in flight with the 90D this morning to test our autofocus category.
It's very difficult to do an accurate test in a real life scenario,
because I can't ask the bird to fly the same distance over and over again.
But let's get down to the specs first.
The 7D has 65 autofocus points that you can move all across the screen,
while this 90D only has 45.
Both of the cameras are lacking the sides which is a bit sad,
but I'm sure Canon will get to that in the near future.
Auto focus points are absolutely crucial in wildlife photography because what we do
is we're shooting on AI Servo - when Nikon it is continuous focusing -
to make sure we can track the birds in flight and track any movement,
and therefore we have to toggle their focus point around quite a bit, in order to be able
to shift and recompose our framing.
The more auto focus points are available,
the more accurate is our shot.
So the 7D wins on that one.
Also what's quite nice - on the 7D - i'll show you here in the back of the menu,
the menu is completely adjustable for the auto focus.
There is a whole chapter only dedicated to autofocus, which is missing on the 90D.
To me, one of the most important factors is our tracking sensitivity, that we can adjust.
I call it the stickiness of the camera. How long does a camera stay on a subject, before it refocuses when you fall off.
So, if you have a bird waving on a little stick in the wind -
instead of fishing for your focus all the time -
you can make the camera ultra sticky to make sure the focus remains stuck to the bird.
So you can finely adjust the autofocus system on the 7D, way better than what you can on the 90D.
As a result, here's a photo sequence of the sugar bird in flight,
and you will see, I lost the focus pretty quickly - unfortunately.
It's such a pity - with that long tail - I wish I had it sharp....
...it just couldn't keep up with tracking the bird in the air.
I have heard that live view is much better with a tracking system, however as I said,
I couldn't convince the bird to fly for me again.
All in all, this category is definitely dominated by the 7D.
When it came out, it took over the old focusing system of the 1DX,
which was custom made for wildlife photography,
and the 90D just can't keep up entirely.
All right, in this category, we want to compare the sensor and the image quality of these two beautiful cameras.
In wildlife photography you often faced with weak light conditions,
or even scenarios where you have to shoot super fast,
and therefore your ISO is challenged.
So, let's see which camera performs better, on this level?
Both cameras have APS-C image sensors - nearly the same size.
The 90D is a little bit bigger - only 1% bigger than the 70D.
That means we have a 1.6 crop sensor on both cameras, which is phenomenal,
because when we shoot on a100 to 400mm lens, we actually get more range,
and we don't have to carry such heavy gear around.
The 90D has 32.5 megapixels, so way more pixels squeezed on the same size sensor,
than the 20 megapixels of the 7D.
What that means? Normally bigger size pixels deal way better with low-light in high ISO scenarios.
So, in theory, the 7D should be the better camera here.
However, the 7D is 5 years older and sensors have developed.
So, I want to see which one performs better? We got this stunning little
purple flower here - and we are in the outdoors - but you'll be surprised how
high this will drive our ISO, if we try and get a nice close-up shot.
So, for this test I put both cameras on the same settings:
1/400 sec, f/7.1 and 6400 ISO.
That's not an unusual ISO to shoot on in wildlife photography.
I am going to compare the images side-by-side,
to see how bad the grain is, and how well they're performed.
As you can see - side-by-side - the 90D performs a bit better. It has less grain.
Especially if you shoot the histogram a little bit to the brighter side, than what the 7D has.
I remember from shooting the 7D - for a long time - that I didn't like shooting at higher than 3200 ISO.
Even when I was close to a subject, it started struggling.
So, in low-light situations, or high-speed situations, the 90D is the clear winner.
Less grain, and a higher pixel sensor, that we can crop much nicer at the end.
One point for the 90D.
Hey guys! There is a stunning sugar bird up there, that I quickly want to try and catch on a high-speed continuous...
I should be able to catch that.
This brings us to our next category, that is frame rate and memory, on these two cameras.
Both cameras shoot on 10 frames per second,
which is amazing! Gives me plenty of opportunity to try and catch that
sugar bird up there. However, on the 7D, I hit the buffer much later,
especially if I shoot on JPEG. I can shoot over a thousand frames before my buffer slows me down.
Shooting raw - the difference isn't so big - we're just over 30 with the 7D.
27 frames before we start buffering on the 90D.
However, memory makes a huge difference. Our 7D Mark II has two memory slots -
one SD card and one CF card slot. Yes, SD cards have become really really fast nowadays.
However, the CF cards are still considered the more sturdy and less corruptible cards, where you lose less pictures.
At the same time our 90D only
has one slot for a SD card. So, if you try and shoot back-up shots immediately -
shoot raw M-JPEG on 2 different cards - your better option will be the 7D Mark II,
and the category is definitely won by this baby here.
I want to compare the bodies and ergonomics of the 7D Mark II with the 90D.
I walked to the top of Kirstenbosch gardens and found myself a bit of shade,
because it is actually getting quite hot. So, let's have a look at this together.
The 7D Mark II (when it came out) was a smaller camera body (but more wildlife-related) than what the 1D X was.
With 910 grams, it's not particularly light.
This particular model does have a battery pack on - in addition - which makes it over 1kg.
I have pretty long fingers, but in general, I would say it lies very nicely in your hand.
It has a very deep grip, so you never have to worry that the camera will fall out of your hand.
Nice rubberization. So, it feels very robust and solid
when you go out into the field and shoot. One of my favourite things is the
customizable buttons on the Canon. It has a big set button - here in the back -
that your thumb falls to quite naturally. That you can press in and customize with any
functionality that you would like. We have a little joystick up here that
helps you to toggle the focus point around.
It is really, really important, like I mentioned in our auto focus section, to be able to choose a new focus very quickly.
Two wheels on this camera, top and bottom. Fairly easy to reach.
In order to change anything between aperture, shutter or exposure compensation.
Given that this is a double digit camera,
it is to be expected that these cameras are a little bit lighter than our professional camera bodies,
with only 700 grams. We're losing 200 grams of the weight,
which is actually quite nice, and even though it is a little bit lighter, and a little bit smaller,
it still sits beautifully in your hand. They didn't make the grip too small.
It still has a nice rubberization, so that you don't feel it's gonna slip out of your hand anytime soon.
I can't say that the lack of size would be any disadvantage here.
What I really enjoy about the 90D, is that Canon has introduced the joystick - that we find on our lovely 5D's and 7D's.
It makes it so much easier to toggle our focus point around quickly, in order to get the
wildlife shot as fast as possible. We still have that inner circle that we
find on the predecessor - that used to be the way to toggle the focus point around -
and quite frankly I would have taken it out, because it takes space a way that we
could occupy with the outer wheel, or with the set button.
As you can see, the set button is way smaller than on the 7D, and if you have larger hands -
especially for men - it becomes difficult to press it. It's not as intuitive and
not as easily accessible, and even though you can still customize it, it's not as
intuitive as the one before. We still have our wheel set at the same position.
We've got the top wheel with a nice grip. The bottom wheel with a nice grip, and
what I really enjoy about the 90D, is this lovely flip screen, which we cannot
find in any of the single-digit Canon models. I really don't understand because
it gives you an enormous amount of flexibility, especially if you want to
shoot low on the ground without lying on your belly. It helps tremendously.
It makes life so much easier. Apart from it being a flip screen,
it is also a touch screen, and I am not a huge fan of touch screens, because you often
access them at random moments that you didn't intend to.
However, this touch screen needs to be activated by pressing one of the two
available Q buttons. Either the Q on the screen, or the Q here on the back.
Then you can get into something called your quick menu, without having to search
through the menu, or the buttons. Very easy to access, especially when you're
starting to get used to your camera at first. Really enjoying this function of
the 90D, and I think the newer single-digit cameras, could also work
with something similar like that. For ergonomics and usability, I would say the
overall winner remains to be the 90D. The lighter weight, the tilt screen
with the touchscreen capabilities, as well as the newly found joystick,
makes it so easy to handle. Weight is a huge issue nowadays if you start travelling.
Even though the set button isn't as easy accessible as with the 7D.
It is more easily accessible than on the 80D. Overall, the 90D gets one score on this category.
Before we move onto our next category, how is this for a view!!
So, in wildlife photography, we work a lot out in the field,
in dusty, wet, rainy environments, so I want to make a
real-world review. Which camera is better for the outdoors? I'll start with our battery life.
I must say the battery life of the 7D has never been a winner.
It's only about 670 shots. Our 90D can give you double that amount.
That's one of the reasons we got a battery pack on here, because we just simply can't afford to
run out of battery. That obviously makes it a bit more bulky, however we can start
turning our camera vertically and have the same set of buttons right at our
hand without dislocating our shoulder. So it's got a pro and a con.
You can also just be prepared, and just always have a few spare batteries in your pocket,
and double check your battery status. For your wetness and dust-proof,
the 7D has really geared up. It's weatherproof enhanced, and it becomes really, really
difficult - with those seals - to break it. I've shot the 7D in the outdoors. In the rain.
On Safari....and I've never really had issue.
While the 90D is slightly weatherproof, I wouldn't trust it as much.
I've managed to crash a few of the predecessors at this stage. It is not quite as robust.
However, it is much lighter and can give you double amount of shots
out in the field. On top of that, the 7D will give you a lot more shutter counts,
on average, before you might lose your shutter - than what the 90D does.
You can get 200,000 and above on this one. You can only get about half the amount of shutter counts,
before you have to replace it on the 90D. So overall, who wins this category?
Well, when it comes to robustness and use usefulness in the field -
even though your battery life isn't the best - I would definitely go with a 7D.
At this point I also want to mention none of this is sponsored.
We buy all our gear ourselves, out in the field, for our guests. We just happen to
work quite a bit with Canon. This is a completely impartial comparison
between the 90D in the 7D Mark II. In our competition out of 5 categories,
the 7D has won 3 of them, so definitely has gone ahead in the race.
However, in photography, it always depends what is more important to you?
The ruggedness? The quick focusing? Or, is it more important
that you get a cleaner, clearer image, that you can crop tighter in the end.
Then maybe 90D remains the option for you?
The tilt screen, the lightness of the camera...and I have to mention, if you do like movie making,
the 90D now has a 4k option and even a slow-motion function,
which the 7D didn't have. So, in moviemaking, and focusing in your movie, the 90D
completely outperforms the 7D. If you ever take movies, that might be an option for you.
Nevertheless, the 7D remains the good old work-horse.
Despite being 5 years old, it's a phenomenal wildlife camera.
Pack a few extra batteries and you will be good to go.
I hope you enjoyed this day with me in Kirstenbosch.
It was my first time here, and it is an absolutely beautiful botanical garden.
If you have any comments or ideas on what else we need to review,
please leave that in the comment section below.
I hope to see you soon again. Bye bye!