Canon’s venerable fast-shooting APS-C gets a major upgrade: We compare the 7D vs. 7D Mark II

posted Friday, September 19, 2014 at 4:35 PM EDT

When Canon introduced the 7D Mark II early Monday morning it quickly shot to the top of our charts in traffic. Given it's been 5 years since the release of the original 7D (a veritable eternity in the digital photography space), we expected it to handily surpass its older brother in every way. But we didn't expect the new camera to give Canon's full-frame DSLR lineup a run for its money.

Yes, dynamic range and low-light suffer from the smaller sensor, but this camera eats the more expensive 5D Mark III (5D Mark III vs. 7D Mark II) and 1D X (1D X vs. 7D Mark II) for lunch in nearly every other respect. Shooting speed isn't too far off the 1D X and trounces the 5D Mark III. The metering sensor is totally reworked compared to the 5D Mark III and 7D and even gets a resolution bump over the 1D X.

And video autofocus is way beyond either of the full-frame Canons. In fact, the smooth racking and focus lock feature puts the camera's video AF feature set much closer to the $4,999 Canon C100 and $12,000 C300 than to either the 5D Mark III or the 1D X! That might not be a big deal for pro videographers with a focus puller at their beck and call, but it definitely opens up new possibilities for everyone else.

Have a 7D and considering an upgrade? Just curious to see how far things have come in the last 5 years? Check out our 7D vs 7D Mark II comparison to find out! We're always looking for suggestions about the best camera matchup to cover next! Give us a holler in the comments below.