I’ve never owned a DSLR camera that wasn’t a Canon and that includes five of them. Each one has admirably served my needs and my skill level at the time and paired with Canon’s truly exemplary pro-level “L”\u00a0 telephoto lenses (of which I’ve owned four and currently own two) this bird photographer couldn’t have been happier.<\/p>\n
But that was in the past.<\/p>\n
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Canon 7D Mark II – Image from Creative Commons<\/em><\/p>\n I love the Canon 7D Mark II so much I own two of them, one of which is married to my 500 f\/4 II lens and the other to my 100-400 II lens. But the 7D II is getting long in the tooth – it’s been out since 2014, both of mine have been used heavily and have high shutter counts and I’m aching to take advantage of recent and significant advances in autofocus technologies so I’m in the market for a new camera.<\/p>\n Ha, good luck with that!<\/p>\n Canon has recently announced that they’re abandoning the 7D line so there’s no 7D III\u00a0 or any other “pro-crop body” on the Canon horizon. Instead they’re focusing on their new mirrorless cameras which I refuse to consider at this point because they would require me to use an adapter, in addition to my trusty 1.4 teleconverter, between my camera and 500mm lens. That’s just too many mechanical and electrical connections for me to feel comfortable with.<\/p>\n My minimum requirements for a new camera body include:<\/p>\n I’m asking for advice because I’m not a “gearhead” so I don’t follow recent camera developments closely. I’ve researched the Canon line and as far as I can tell I’m just SOL unless I’m missing something. Even though it would set me back about $6000 I even considered the recently announced full-frame Canon IDX Mark III due to be released in early 2020 but that camera is predicted to have a pixel count of only about 20 MP (the same as my cropped-frame 7D II’s) which is insufficient for this bird photographer requiring a larger file size to support moderate cropping and still maintaining acceptable image quality.<\/p>\n Any thoughts from Canon gearheads out there? Am I missing something? Is there another Canon model the rumor mill is predicting to be announced soon that I’m unaware of? Are my only options to stick with the 7D Mark II for the foreseeable future or switch camera brands? For me, switching would be hugely inconvenient, expensive and at my age possibly impractical. I have friends who have switched brands and the process is… traumatic.<\/p>\n But if I have to I guess I have to.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Note:<\/p>\n As if I haven’t bored my readers to distraction already I’m including the following letter I sent to Canon a few days ago. I haven’t yet heard back from them (I really don’t expect to) but it was a bit of a catharsis for me to let them know how I feel about their decision to abandon the 7D line and then continue their shortsightedness by making the pixel count of the new 1DX Mark III only 20 MP.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “This is a letter I hoped I’d never have to write.<\/em><\/p>\n I’m a semi-pro bird photographer and I’ve been a prolific customer of Canon DSLR cameras and lenses for over 12 years now. The Canon products I’ve purchased in that time include an XTi, a 40D, a 7D, two 7D Mark II’s, a 1.4 teleconverter, a 2.0 teleconverter, two 100-400 lenses (versions 1 and 2), two 500 f\/4 lenses (versions 1 and 2) and countless Canon auxiliary products including membership in Canon Professional Services (CPS – Gold Level). That adds up to a huge chunk of change, at least for me. Check your records to confirm.<\/em><\/p>\n What in the world was Canon thinking when they abandoned the 7D line and didn’t offer us any viable alternatives?<\/em><\/p>\n Many thousands of bird photographers like myself need a fast frame rate, top of the line AF capabilities and a decent pixel count (file size) in a pro level DSLR so we can crop significantly and still have acceptable image quality. Canon now has no fairly recently released DSLR camera that will meet those needs, currently or announced, and the Canon 7D Mark II was released long ago, way back in 2014, so that camera is already long in the tooth (I was the first customer to purchase a Mark II from my camera dealer and I now own two of them).<\/em><\/p>\n Countless bird and wildlife photographers like myself need a professional, cropped sensor DSLR that meets the above requirements but given Canon’s lack of choice in that regard I’m even willing to go for a very expensive full frame camera and give up the additional reach of a cropped sensor if I absolutely have to. The only Canon camera that will then meet most (“most” is the key word here) of my requirements is the 1DX Mark III due to be released in a couple of months. That camera’s AF capabilities and burst rate more than meet my requirements but word is that it’s file size will only be about 20 MP and at full frame that just isn’t going to cut it for many if not most bird photographers because we often need to crop more than sports photographers and others do.<\/em><\/p>\n And no I won’t be going mirrorless, at least not anytime soon, for a variety of reasons – among them the fact that I really don’t want to be using an adapter in addition to my teleconverter between a camera and my 500 f\/4 lens.<\/em><\/p>\n My point after all this? Please, consider making the file size of the new IDX Mark III at least 30MP so we have some wiggle room in the cropping department!<\/em><\/p>\n If you don’t I’m screwed and so are thousands of other bird photographers like me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n