Tom wrote:
- Only 19 selectable AF points, not 51
But all 19 are cross-sensors
You are very good at missing the point. Nikon has 32 more
AF points and 50 more spot-metering points. Those points
are the
point , and there are no buts about it.
- Cannot make auto-exposure lock "sticky" (AE-L Hold)
Of course you can
No, of course you can
not .
p 303&307 of the D300 PDF, CS f4&f6:
AE/AF lock: Focus and exposure lock while the button is AE/AF lock pressed. [DEFAULT]
AE lock only: Exposure locks while the AE-L/AF-L button is pressed.
AE lock (Reset on release): Exposure locks when the AE-L/AF-L button is pressed, and remains locked until the button is pressed a second time, the shutter is released, or the exposure meters turn off.
AE lock (Hold): Exposure locks when the AE-L/AF-L button is pressed, and remains locked until the button is pressed a second time or the exposure meters turn off.
AF-ON*: Pressing the AE-L/AF-L button initates focus.
- AF lock only : Focus locks while the AE-L/AF-L button is pressed.
p 106 of the 7D PDF:
Use AE lock when the area of focus is to be different from the exposure metering area or when you want to take multiple shots at the same exposure setting. Press the * button to lock the exposure, then recompose and take the shot. This is called AE lock. It is effective for backlit subjects.
Focus the subject. Press the shutter button halfway. The exposure setting will be displayed.
Press the * button. (4s) The * icon lights in the viewfinder to indicate that the exposure setting is locked (AE lock). Each time you press the * button, it locks the current auto exposure setting.
Recompose and take the picture. If you want to maintain the AE lock while taking more shots, hold down the * button and press the shutter button to take another shot.
That brings us to a rather important matter, p 253 of the 7D PDF:
With One-Shot AF and evaluative metering, AE lock is applied when focus is achieved
Holy cow! Canon couples AF-L with AE-L, and you can't turn it off! On a Nikon, AF-L is only AF-L. You may add AE-L to the shutter if you want via CS c1 "Shutter-release button AE-L", but it is of course off by default, just as it belongs. Apparently Canon is only able to effect Nikon setting 1 above, and you cannot turn it off or move it. This is just like a P&S, and nearly never what you want.
Here's one more Canon AE-L bug: p 220 of the 7D PDF:
- AE Lock cannot be used Auto, C-Auto, M, or B modes.
Ick!>
On a Nikon under AE-L, changing the A in A mode or the S in S mode works just like the flexible program mode, while changing the other one is like EC if you have QEC enabled. But in M mode under AE-L, changing either A or S actually changes the ISO under Auto-ISO, since you've locked the exposure and are changing A or S, so ISO has to flex to maintain the lock. It works beautifully. Of course, you can still get EC in Nikon's manual mode--unlike in Canon's. It really is
very convenient to have an "ISO-Priority" mode, which we do and you do not. Canon is slowly adopting Nikon's Auto-ISO implementation, and the AF-On button and such, but as you see, they still have a ways to go because they just haven't yet gotten those things right.
When one device implements capabilities X and Y, but a second device implements distinct capabilities A, B, C, D, E, and F, and can also combine A+B to emulate X and D+E to emulate Y, then the second device is clearly superior in flexibility and features. That is just the situation I've just described above with exposure control. The Nikon can do anything the Canon can do with exposure, but the reverse is demonstrably untrue.
These are not equivalent, not at all. It's not a matter of UI. It's a matter of capabilities.
- No AF assist light separate from popup flash
The D300 AF assist light is of no use.
Wrong. I can see you've never used it, or you'd know better.
As usual, you disparage what you don't have.
There are probably many features which are better on the 7D and do not make the main list. Overall, Canon is giving the D300s some serious competition, and it is cheaper.
I certainly hope it's cheaper! It's a far less capable camera, as I have shown. People who don't understand how important a camera's handling is may jump at it, or those who don't need the D300&c's pro-level features (but many things the Canon lacks even a D3000 does!).
I continue to find it really sad that
Phil seems to have been either censored or forgotten . Phil understood handling issues, and talked about them critically but honestly as I demonstrated in the old reviews of his which I quoted. This was very useful to the public. The new reviews do not do that, and so they are unuseful in that regard. If this oversight is a simple mistake, it should be fixed. If it's not a mistake but deliberate, it won't be fixed-
and that will tell everyone a whole lot.
