Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Although the camera deserves many stars (see the positive ratings here), I rated it as 1 star in order to draw attention of potential buyers to the quality control issues. I wanted something faster focusing than my Pentax K-x with better low light performance. After a lot of reading I decided on 7D with 70-200mm F4 IS lens (yes, F2.8 is faster but much less portable and more expensive). Unpacked, read through the manual (extremely well written and controls are pretty intuitive), took some pics inside with artificial lighting at ISO 200 and got a strange feeling. The shutter sounded like a slamming door, there was a "visible" lag between the lens focus and shutter release and the shutter speed was around 1/8! Took it outside, the same impression, the exposure WAS WRONG (either went to ISO 3200 in broad daylight or stayed at 100-200 with slow shutter speed. The pics were bleak and mostly out of focus. Tried spot focusing, IS off, different metering modes, Tv, Av etc. Nothing worked. Thought that I might have screwed up some setting when getting used to the camera, reset to defaults, the same story. Tried to find a local dealer to see, if the problems was in the camera or the lens. Not many of them carry 7D and those who do weren't eager to open a new box just for the sake of experimentation. Finally put the lens on T1i, worked flawlessly. Started Googling and discovered that $1700 top of the line semi-pro camera has a known autofocus issues!!! The suggested "hard reset" - taking out the camera Li-battery and the `watch' battery that keeps the date/time stored (You'll lose your date/time setting as well as your image numbering, all your custom settings including your custom menu are not lost) for an hour alleviated the problem, need more time for testing. WORD OF CAUTION: according to Google defective cameras that do not respond to the reset cannot be fixed by Canon (they keep sending it back and forth), do your own reading! Even if the reset had worked, I will either exchange the camera for a good copy or get Nikon 300s instead. Would be too risky to take chances after the warranty expires... Very disappointing, lemons do happen but that's what the quality control is for, especially with this price tag. Make sure that you buy 7D from a local store or Amazon, don't go for cheaper shady sellers!!! P.S. If you have problems, make sure it's the camera and not the wrong setting. Here is a very useful quotation form comments of Electric Boogaloo to another 1 star rating: Before giving it a 1-star you need to verify the AF in aperture priority and shutter priority using a single AF point and multiple AF points. It is also important to remember to set the proper Custom Function III. The AF on the 7D is better than what most people who shoot casually need and it has a learning curve. Shooting in full auto may also give you bad results. C.Fn III-1 (Tracking Sensitivity): slow (this is on fast by default) C.Fn III-2 (1st/2nd image priority): 0 (AF priority/Tracking priority) C.Fn III-3 (Tracking Method): 1 C.Fn III-4 (Lens drive when AF impossible): 1 (focus search off) C.Fn III-5 (AF microadjust): 0 (disable) C.Fn III-6 (AF area selection mode): Single point, Expansion, Spot C.Fn III-7 (Manual AF point selection): 0 (stop) C.Fn III-8 (VF illumination): 0 (auto) C.Fn III-9 (Display all AF points): 0 (disable) C.Fn III-10 (Focus display in AI servo/MF): 0 (enable) C.Fn III-11 (AF assist beam firing): 1 (Disable) C.Fn III-12 (orientation link): 1 (Different) C.Fn III-13 (mirror lockup): 0 (disable) In Comparison, the Nikon D300s does not have a full auto mode. I would not recommend this camera to anyone who shoots full auto, it was a mistake by Canon to put the "green box" on the dial. ***** Happy owners of good copies of 7D started bushing me for 1*. I repeat, this comment is aimed as a warning to the potential buyers who usually read carefully all positive (that are plenty and rightfully so) and all negative reviews and spend less time on in-between reading. If I rated it 4-2*, it would have been lost.