The quick control dial takes up the space where you'd normally expect to find a four-way controller, which means that for menu navigation Canon has had to incorporate an additional small joystick on the back of the camera.

This dial can be used to apply rapid exposure adjustments, with the new Lock button preventing any further changes being made, useful if you want to maintain the current settings. It's a bit of an acquired taste compared to more conventional control dials, but you quickly get used to it and it is easy to 'spin'.

This rear 'quick control dial' is characteristic of all high-end Canon EOS cameras. Like other semi-pro cameras, the 7D offers two control wheels a small one on the top of the handgrip, and a large, spinning dial on the back of the camera. There's a textured area on both the deep hand-grip and around the thumb-rest on the rear of the camera, and the Canon 7D is perfect for everyone with normal to large-sized hands. The 7D has a proven, well-thought-out design - the most serious design flaw is the rubber cover for the extension system terminal on the bottom of the camera, which will take you about five minutes to lose as it's completely unsecured. The 7D has a magnesium alloy body which should make it more durable in the longer term than plastic-bodied cameras, and it also adds a level of weather-sealing that the 5D Mark II notably lacks. Sharing almost exactly the same dimensions (148.2 x 110.7 x 73.5mm) and weight (820g), the 7D is a little smaller but 10g heavier than its big brother. In terms of its design, the EOS 7D is outwardly very similar to the full-frame Canon EOS 5D Mark II. The Canon EOS 7D is available now for £1699 / €1999 / $1699. The magnesium alloy body offers weather sealing, an Integrated Cleaning System and 150,000 release shutter durability. The Canon EOS 7D is equipped with an integrated Speedlite Transmitter, making it easy to control external Speedlite flashguns with no additional accessories required. The Canon 7D's 3 inch Clear View II LCD screen with 920,000 dot resolution is used for the camera's Live View and Movie modes, with Full HD 1080 video supported. Other new additions include dual DIGIC 4 processors offering continuous shooting at 8fps, improved 19-point cross-type auto-focus system including Zone and Spot AF, Focus Colour Luminance metering system which measures from 63 zones, and an Intelligent Viewfinder with 100% frame coverage and 1.0x magnification. Featuring a revised photodiode and microlens construction, the 7D's sensor offers a versatile ISO range of 100-12,800. The Canon EOS 7D is an 18 megapixel digital SLR camera incorporating a new APS-C CMOS sensor designed and manufactured by Canon.

Canon 7d review price