Yesterday, a friend and I decided to go to the Norfolk coast with a particular interest in the flock of Twite at Thornham. The weather was forecast to be bright but cloudy all day.

Arriving at Thornham in sunshine, we quickly found the Twite feeding although flighty due to the number of dog-walkers on the sea wall. Patience eventually paid off with the flock settling on the far side of the creek. Rather distant so I decided to add the 2x converter to the 500 f4 mk2 and the 7d mk2.

I must say that I am delighted with the end result, especially since I was shooting at an effective 1600mm

Contrary to forecast, after an hour or so, dark clouds moved in. With the 7D MK2, getting sharp images at ISO 1600 was no problem but with the Thornham mud reflecting the dark grey sky, any further photos were just uninteresting so quickly headed for the delete button.

I have read tests on the 7D MK2 under studio conditions comparing it favourably with the old 7D and unfavourably with the 5D MK3. I have a 5D MK3 and can speak with experience of both cameras. The 5D MK3 provides better quality images and has the edge in low-light stuations but the 7D MK2 had been designed specifically for sport and wildlife i.e. outdoors so I fail to see the relevance of studio tests. If you want studio photography, the 5DMK3 is the better camera.

However, when I started with the 7D MK2, the only question I wanted answering was would it provide more opportunities to take better wildlife images. After 3 weeks of use, I am satisfied that the answer is a resounding YES!!! I could not have taken these images with either the old 7D or the 5D MK3. The 7D MK2 is much improved in all respects over the old 7D and the 5D MK3 does not have the reach (similarly for the 1DX at three times the price). A cropped image from the 5DMK3 to match the effective subject size of the 7DMK2 appears up to be of inferior quality.

In my opinion, in the field for semi-pro use, the 7D MK2 has no equal when you are always fighting the distance of the subject.

I will continue to provide my views on this camera as and when and hopefully, I will be able to find some disadvantages to add some credence to my overall impressions but, so far, it is all good.