Review: Canon EOS 7D

Maybe you're tired of using a crappy point-and-shoot. Or, maybe you feel like you've outgrown your awesome, yet dated, PowerShot G9. Maybe you're just looking to strap up a full-featured DSLR. Canon's newest 7D is the way to go. There's no maybe about it.

Built around a brand new 18-megapixel CMOS image sensor and twin Digic 4 processors, the chunky, magnesium-bodied 7D bangs out impressively sharp, beautifully saturated images at the brisk clip of eight frames a second. It's an APS-C sensor, which means it measures approximately 28mm diagonally, compared with the 43.3mm diagonal of a full-size 35mm frame.

Canon also added a bright, spacious viewfinder — the first one Canon's ever made that offers 100 percent coverage and 1.0x magnification. Complementing the viewfinder, the manufacturer refreshed its long-in-the-tooth autofocus system with a noticeably quicker, more versatile and highly-customizable AF featuring 19 cross-type sensors.

The introduction of video imaging to the DSLR format a few years ago started off as an unpolished add-on buried in the menu tree. However, the 7D has a refined moving-image support at 1080p or 720p resolution in a variety of frame rates, with cinematic, manual controls meant to coax out your inner Vincent Laforet. The video controls have been moved to within thumb's reach on the back of the camera next to the viewfinder, so you don't have to miss any of the action while digging through the menus anymore — easy.

The 7D's one glaring inadequacy, and one that Canon has struggled with for some time, is inaccurate and inconsistent white-balance performance in artificial light. Engineers, get back to work!

In spite of that shortcoming, the 7D is an outstanding shooter on nearly every level. So, if you don't need — or want — to spring for a full-frame DSLR, but want a tough, easy-to-use and ridiculously customizable camera that makes pro-quality images at an affordable price, then you'd be silly not to consider this camera.