Canon Launches A DSLR Built For Speed And A Competitor For Sony’s RX-100

Canon has a slew of new gear out launching today, but among those the most noteworthy are its new 1-inch sensor compact camera, which will go head-to-head with Sony’s RX-100 series, and the new 7D Mark II, a worthy successor to Canon’s top-end crop sensor DSLR.

Canon GX 7

Sony has managed to keep its own spot atop the heap of compact sensor cameras thanks to the extremely pocketable RX-100, and its two successors, the RX-100 II and RX-100 III. Originally, the cameras were pitting themselves against existing compact market leaders including Canon’s own S-95, S-100 and following, but the Sony’s larger sensor put it into a group all its own – albeit one with air only few could breathe thanks to a $700 price point.

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Canon’s GX 7 has the $700 price, but it also has the 1-inch sensor. It shoots at a maximum of 20.2 megapixels, and has a 24mm-100mm zoom lens, which shoots at f/1.8 on the wide end, and the still-fast aperture of f/2.8 at max zoom. That gives it more range than the RX-100 III, and it also has a 3-inch tilt-up display, as well as Canon’s Digic 6 processors, and built-in Wi-Fi and NFC. It can shoot at up to 12,800 ISO, and capture up to 6.5 fps at max resolution.

In addition to a manual lens control ring, the GX 7 has an exposure compensation dial, which is set just outside and underneath the mode dial on the top of the camera. It has a good number of manual control buttons on the rear surface, too, for a more hands-on approach than the average compact will provide. The GX 7 should be available from retailers beginning next month.

Canon 7D Mark II

A new DSLR from Canon is always big news, and the 7D Mark II is one that customers have been waiting for for a while. It replaces what was once Canon’s top budget sports shooter, and provides a camera that should honor that tradition, albeit with some omissions that may seem miserly, given what the rest of the line now offers.

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The new camera has a 20.2 megapixel APS-C sensor, a new ISO range of 100-16,000 with expandability up to 51,200, 10fps image capture at full resolution, and a 65-point cross-type AF system (better than the 5D III and 1D-X). Dual card slots mean you can use both CF and SD, and it has both USB 3.0 transfer speeds and built-in GPS, but it doesn’t pack built-in Wi-Fi. Dual Digic 6 processors and dual pixel AF, plus Canon’s ‘Movie Servo AF’ for better continuous focus tracking while filming should also make this a much better video camera than its predecessor.

It should ship in November, with a retail price of $1,799 for the body only.