After a month of testing with this camera I finally put it into play for a paid job. You can read the blog post and see a bunch of frame grabs here, but in short I think it's a great little camera:

Romeo Files – First 7D Experiences Benjamin Eckstein (http://benjamineckstein.com/2009/11/romeo-files-first-7d-experiences/)

Cool. Thanks for posting about your experience working with it. Helpful as I decide about buying one. (oh come on, I know I'm getting one...)

Hello Benjamin,

maybe a silly question, but let me ask although.

If you are using a zoom lens on the 7D like you did, how does this work together with a Mattebox and rail system? Does'nt the tube of the lense get longer when zooming in? Do you have to change the position of the mattebox all the time when zooming in?

I am coming from videocams, so all the exchangeable lense stuff on DSLR is quite confusing to me. Have to learn a lot, that's why I am asking.


BR
PW

Not a silly question. Yes it does, which is kind of annoying. For most of the interiors I didn't use the mattebox as I didn't need any filtration, so it was not a biggie, but yes, you have to adjust the position of the mattebox on the rails when you change your zoom. Although with this lens I have a decent amount of the range I can use without adjusting (especially if I use the front filter tray.

Or you can get a lens that does internal zooms like the Tamron f2.8 70- 200. All the elements move inside the barrel of the lens so it does not change dimensions during the zoom.

What rail system is on your camera? I have been searching all over Red Rocks site to order that exact setup and I am just not sure what to order.

Those screen grabs LOOK GREAT!! I love these cameras.

Jerry,
Yeah, I rented a Canon 70-200 2.8 but we never used it as it was planned for the exteriors that were rained out yesterday. That lens, too, zooms internally which makes the setup easier. My hunch is that the shorter zooms (up to 70) all extend as they are zoomed.

The rails system is sort of custom and a mish-mash of other stuff I had (and hard to see in the photo). I had planned to use my Zacuto baseplate that I have for the EX-1 but it is so long that you can't get your eye on the Z-finder. That is why they have make the mini-baseplate but I have already spent a small fortune on Zacuto stuff so I didn't need to buy another plate. I used a Cinevate rail block that I had for a few years to hold the rails and machined a Bogen 394 plate so it can attach to the rails block for the camera. The height for a follow focus or mattebox was still too low, so I had a 1/4" spacer made (I have access to a machine shop which helps) to go between the block and the 394. The rails themselves were from my Zacuto baseplate.

The nice thing about this camera is that you don't need as beefy or expensive a rails system as I have spent for other bigger cameras.

Glad you liked the stills. I am very happy with this camera.