Canon 7D mkII - How does it performs underwater?

[pbalves 52]

Hi Folks

 

I own a Canon 7D mkII, that I am willing to take it Underwater, but the investment is big (even needing only the housing…) so I need to think it properly.

 

I did not found so many reviews of this camera underwater...

 

Can you, the ones that have that camera and use it underwater or had experience with it underwater, help me with that?

 

What did you like most? What you do not like?

 

What are the settings, that work best for macro? And for fishes? And for WA? …

 

How do you use the focus? On the shutter? On the back button?

 

What kind of focus do you usually use? Manual focus? One Shot, AI Focus, AI Servo focus? Do you use the iTR focusing function on?

 

And a zillion more questions about the camera...

 

Thanks!

 

Pedro Alves

[Griff 23]

Try this.

http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/canon-7d-mark2-review

[pbalves 52]

Hi Griff

 

Thanks for the link.

 

Anyone else made a review?

 

Thanks

[Magrone 9]

My 2 cents: I think the most noticeable improvement for this camera under water is the autofocus, esp in low light situations. It is very accurate in crucial situations like super macro.... I have been shooting in situations with a fare amount of surge lately and I am certain that older generation DSLR's would produce far less keepers in such challenging situations. The AF is really the only thing I wanted to improve from previous generations, so I have no complaints.... 10 fps is also really nice when shooting overunders.

 

It's a great choice for underwater with the 100mm, 60mm, and 8-15 fisheye. I think the other questions aim more at personal preference... And require you to get familiar housing that you choose... And there are some great housings for this camera.

[maractwin 2]

I use the Canon 7D mark II as my primary camera, both on land and under water. I use an Aquatica housing. I upgraded last year from the original 7D. I upgraded for two reasons: the better focus system, and the GPS feature (useful on land only).

It does focus faster and in lower light than the previous generation. As I have gotten older and now wear glasses (and dive with a prescription mask), I am no longer able to use manual focus. So I really depend on that auto focus, and want it to be quick and right.

Another feature of this camera I like is the button to show a full screen giving all of the current settings. It’s an easy way to confirm that the camera is set how I expect it to be. And see what the mode dial is set to while inside the housing.

I do a lot of fish photography. For that, picking out a small moving fish, I use center-sensor only focus in AI mode. As long as I can keep the fish near the center of the frame, the camera will focus on it instead of the background. I usually leave it in this mode for macro work as well, taking shots with the focal point in the center of the frame, then crop the photo later for more interesting composition. Sometimes I do switch to one-shot focus so that I can half-pull the shutter and recompose to avoid that crop later. For wide-angle work, I usually activate all of the sensor points and let the camera do its thing.

[pbalves 52]

Thanks to you both.

 

Does any one uses the ITR focus function underwater? How does it performes? In what situations you use it?

 

Thanks

[emptech 2]

Hi, kind of late with this response, but I'd like to add some info. In my situation, using an Ikelite housing, a 6" dome port and a 17-40mm Canon lens, there is no option for manual focus. There is one gear ring, for the zoom only. I set the camera up for only one focus point and use auto focus. Once in a while without thinking, I might focus on the background, snap the photo and without noticing until it's too late that the main subject was slightly out of focus.

 

I just posted that while shooting u/w video with the MkII, I'm getting strange noises, I suspect the focus motor. Since my 7D, previous to the MkII would not auto focus while shooting video didn't make this noise. Right now I'm editing the noise out in post, but it would be nice if it was never there. I'm not sure what other options there are, to turn auto focus off, but that was a feature that I wanted when I moved to the MkII.

 

Jim