The 7D Mark II has been Canon's flagship APS-C DSLR for three years. Rumors suggest that it might be about to be replaced, in early 2018. If you're starved for news from the Canon camp, we've got a little something from you courtesy of the rumor mill.
CanonWatch is reporting from a "known" and "trusted" source that the Canon 7D Mark II will be replaced "before Summer 2018" with a planned ship date in July or August at the latest.
The 7D Mark II, Canon's APS-C flagship, was released in 2014, making it ripe for an upgrade in 2018. CW speculates that the announcement might come at NAB in April of next year. Another potential stage for the 7D Mark III release is CP+ in Japan at the beginning of March.
This 'trusted' report, of course, got our staff thinking about what they'd like to see in a new Canon 7D. It's been over three years since the Mark II was unveiled; what does Canon need to put inside the Mark III to make it competitive in today's camera landscape? The way we see it, there are several important features Canon should definitely include.
DPReview's Canon 7D Mark III Wishlist:
1. Better AF tracking. Canon's iTR technology has lagged behind competitors the past few years, and a 7D III needs to significantly improve in this area to remain competitive. Our ideal situation: the same AF system as 1DX Mark II, giving wide-frame coverage, like the Nikon D500.
2. Improved video. The 7D II's video was only a marginal improvement over the original 7D, which was several years older. A 7D III is almost guaranteed to have 4K video.
3. Improved base ISO raw dynamic range. Given that most Canon cameras introduced since the 7D II have offered improved Raw dynamic range, we think it's pretty likely to be part of a 7D III.
4. Touchscreen. The 7D II added dual-pixel AF, which was a really significant addition, especially for video, but it was hobbled by the fact that you had to use hardware controls for doing things like initiating subject tracking. Given that most newer Canons do this as well, it's pretty likely to be included in a hypothetical 7D III.
5. AF Auto Fine Tuning for Canon lenses with the ability to save multiple focal length adjustment values.
6. Built-in WiFi. There's no excuse not to have wireless connectivity built-in in 2018. Bluetooth and NFC would be the cherry on top.
CanonWatch also published some rumored specs for the Canon 7D Mark III, but they're too speculative and unreliable to report on as of right now.
We reached out to Canon when we saw the rumors start to swirl, but the representative we spoke to would not comment, telling DPReview: "we don't comment on rumors or reports of rumors. "
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
. dpreview.com2017-12-19 21:26
