Suggestion of the day to RB Admin. If any other exhibitors disagree or agree with my idea, please comment here! *I’d prefer the defaul…
Suggestion of the day to RB Admin. If any other exhibitors disagree or agree with my idea, please comment here! I’d prefer the default when opening the ‘purchase cart’ to be on the cards (the least expensive item) rather than framed options. This might seem mad, but there are two reasons: 1. We prefer more sales, rather than none at all. Some people may baulk at the prices of these framed images – even though they are fair and reasonable!! So let them see the cards first. (Some people may prefer to purchase 50x$5 cards than purchase a $250 framed image.) / / 2. I had someone say, “Hang on, this says ‘From $3’ – but I don’t see anything under a $100.” They simply didn’t see the choices of frames, canvas, etc. They arrived at the first screen and figured that was all there was.
Redbubble Customer Service and Community Liaison – RedBubble is looking for someone to join the team and help us look after all the bub…
Redbubble Customer Service and Community Liaison – RedBubble is looking for someone to join the team and help us look after all the bubblers out there even better ! Helping to answer the stream of emails and a few phone calls each day, taking a very active role on the site and in the forums, helping, moderating and generally making sure it’s all working. The job will also involve working with leaders within the RedBubble community helping it to grow, it’s about the vibe of the thing. Plus – The right person will make our office 10% more awesome – one of those people who just makes things happen. Based in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Email jobs@redbubble.com to express your interest. Update: The interest in this job is pretty high, with emails coming thick and fast – so please be a little patient as we work though them all. It’s going to be really difficult choosing someone, there are so many passionate and capable bubblers putting their hands up.
Do I really need to say this? We can profit from our art on Redbubble. I get the feeling people are not understanding this concept. ...
Do I really need to say this? We can profit from our art on Redbubble. I get the feeling people are not understanding this concept. Redbubble is merely and only our personal art gallery. It’s not a static destination where you stop and stare, but a dynamic gallery of photographs forever showing art that best represents what we’d like the general public to purchase. From Cards through to Framed wall-hangings, our work is available to purchase online. Redbubble provides a slick website that is so easy for choosing frames/laminates/cards/t_shirts/etc, purchasing the product and easy-delivery system. They make it amazingly easy to be a small-business owner. Or at least make a small to moderate amount of play-money on the side. I encourage all Artists to use Redbubble to get started, but don’t let it stop you in your tracks. It staggers me how many people are sitting behind their computers with tapping fingers saying, “OK, Now they can see me, they will come here any moment now to purchase my art!” “No they won’t!! You have to find the customers yourself. Redbubble enables you to purchase your own work … and then on-sell it. / My Redbubble Business In August 2007 I purchased thirty cards via Redbubble. I gave five as gifts to very close friends, simply blank cards without messages, but with a simple note … do what you like with this. / Some people kept them, others used them within minutes to send off as Birthday cards. Most asked where I got them from and can they have more? The remaining cards sold within 24hours of arrival from Redbubble! Then I emailed those people, other friends and family, showing them my RB gallery. I have repeat customers because of this initial free promotion. We order $150 worth of cards and other stuff each fortnight, either in pre-orders or for stock. I have a box of about 120 card-ographs in stock at anytime. My lovely wife keeps a very intricate and statistical ledger of all cards in stock, those sold and those on order. Clients choose from the gallery (telling me which ones they like via email, with the name of the artwork, the style they’d like it presented _card, laminate, etc and how many of each_), we order and receive, then we take it to the customer. About a two-week turn-around time. I’ve also purchased a dozen 12”x8” of the ‘prettier’ of our photographs on each of our galleries, which are easily viewed in an A3-portfolio. These are used to determine the appropriate frame and matte colour when clients choose them. Now that Christmas is gone, I can reveal that White Gums II was picked off my gallery by a work-friend’s mother here in Adelaide, I had it framed locally, and it now sits pride of place in their lounge room! I’m very proud of that!! From the corporate world through to the suburban billiards room, everyone wants a suitable image to hang on the wall. Because I have clients who prefer not to purchase online, I’ve made it my responsibility to acquire the final product and deliver it to their offices and homes. And this system works beautifully. (More about this in the next four weeks…) To parody and plagerise a famous quote: “Give someone a fish and they eat for a day, give them a camera with with a zoom lens, and they can shoot the most beautiful carp every day of the week!“
Hi I wanted to pass this onto everyone I have started an online shop since December 07 selling my art designs and photos and I can say…
Hi I wanted to pass this onto everyone I have started an online shop since December 07 selling my art designs and photos and I can say that this does work already I getting plenty of sales. Visit my site at http://www.cafepress.com/giftsuwant At CafePress you can create and sell a variety of customizable products with zero upfront costs and zero inventory investment. You can sell Merchandise you design including t-shirts, posters, mugs, bumper stickers and much more. / Books printed on-demand. / Audio and Data CDs. What CafePress does Gives you a FREE online shop to promote your products / Produces each item when ordered using our unique print-on-demand technology / Handles all payment transactions including major credit cards / Ships your products worldwide / Manages all returns/exchanges / Offers customer service via toll-free phone and email / Sends you a monthly check for your earnings on sales! Visit my site at http://www.cafepress.com/giftsuwant If interested click on the link at my site and happy selling. Or you may wish to purchase one of my items. If you have any questions please post here
Not that long ago, before Christmas (i thinks) my friend Mish purchased one of my designs, KiwiCircle...
Not that long ago, before Christmas (i thinks) my friend Mish purchased one of my designs, KiwiCircle from here.. It wasnt till I went to Rainbow Serpent Festival few weeks ago (Australia day weekend) that i got to see her wearing it. Infact it was the first time i’d seen a ‘customer’ wear my designs, and what a wonderful surprise to see how she and another friend of mine (Azim) had ‘modified the t-shirt. Mish wasnt too happy with the style of the tshirt, not the type to be wearing the standard type tshirt, so she asked Azim to SLASH it! And that he did! I like it so much that im thinking of getting him to do my Sungoddess :D photo of Mish wearing the tshirt (front and back)
I am so totally thrilled… I recieved a bubblemail saying my image Customer Service...
I am so totally thrilled… I recieved a bubblemail saying my image Customer Service made it as a finalist in the “In The Moment” competition. It came as quite a shock. Thankyou to whoever voted for this, this means sooooooooo much to me. / / Thankyou / Kevin
Okay, so as I mentioned before I have the attention span of a gnat and this is how this little tutorial came about. Whilst trying out th…
Okay, so as I mentioned before I have the attention span of a gnat and this is how this little tutorial came about. Whilst trying out the custom shape tool in helping with the rule of thirds, I began to see something else that I could use it for. The image I’ve used to show this, has had no adjustments to it and I had no intention of posting it, but I think you will agree that the image itself probably isn’t the correct one to use in this case. I see a more distance scene or street scene giving the impression of being inside, behind bars, looking out. You could also use a wood effect with this, I chose to attempt to make it look like rusty bars. Or view the larger image HERE So basically do exactly the same as the first tutorial but don’t crop. Also, make sure that your foreground colour is set to something that you want to use. I chose a burgundy type colour, but black would have worked well in this case. When you have the shape over your image, press the enter key. I went to the filter menu and used the ‘craquelure’ filter. Went to the filter menu again and used the Chalk and Charcoal stetch filter. Then I went to the Layer menu and used the Layer Styles – Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow and Bevel & Emboss – in that order. You could also try a pattern overlay if you wanted a wood type effect, lots of things to try out with this one. Place your new ‘window’ on to a b/ground with bricks for example. hope you enjoyed this. Custom Sahpe Tool Part 1
Today the Manager of a local motel had a look at some of my works. I took some of the mounted prints and a large framed print as part of …
Today the Manager of a local motel had a look at some of my works. I took some of the mounted prints and a large framed print as part of my marketing strategy. / They were very impressed with the framed print and purchased it on the spot. It now hangs on the wall prominently displayed in the foyer. / Even better news is that they are going to purchase another 18 framed prints (yet to be selected) to enhance the decor of some of the motel rooms. / I’m pretty happy with that result, chuffed.
Hello Everyone Just a heads up that our customer support system is currently on the blink. We’re communicating with our providers, but…
Hello Everyone Just a heads up that our customer support system is currently on the blink. We’re communicating with our providers, but currently don’t have an ETA on the fix. Hopefully things will be up and running soon. For anyone who’s sent an email to support@redbubble.com in the last few days, we’ll try and get to you ASAP, but ask that you please bear with us as we sort this out. We hope you have a great weekend of doing stuff and making things. cheers The Goodly RedBubble Customer Service Folk
Hi people! I’m currently having this crazy obsession with designing shoes over at Zazzle! I cannot seem to stop and I’ve been at it si…
Hi people! I’m currently having this crazy obsession with designing shoes over at Zazzle! I cannot seem to stop and I’ve been at it since yesterday when Zazzle launched its first ever custom shoes by KEDS. It’s very, very addictive!! There are 3 styles available for women: slip on, mini slip on & lace up and 2 style for kids: lace up and slip on. I have many designs still pending under review and the pics below are fresh from my Zazzle gallery. Do check them out! Click on this link to check out my entire collection of custom KEDS SHOE gallery Cheers! fatfatin
I just read a bubble mail from SpaceAce08, the host of Hot Rods, Customized Muscle Cars & Street Machines, stating the following: New…
I just read a bubble mail from SpaceAce08, the host of Hot Rods, Customized Muscle Cars & Street Machines, stating the following: New Avatar for the 5/9/08 / This weeks avatar is / Flaming Hot 1956 Ford Truck / By Glenna Waker. Glenna is also this weeks featured member. How exciting is that – nine features in all and avatar for the week? All I can say is Mr. Ace has made my day, I was literally in tears. I needed this so bad right now. I am so honored, I could not thank him enough. In his words: “Once again congrats to Glenna Walker for being this weeks featured member and avatar!” WOOHOO!!!!!!!! Check it out Thank you Mr. Ace!!!!!!!
Here is another helpful blog link from D. R. Moore about customizing RB to suit you. Some of this information you may already know, some…
Here is another helpful blog link from D. R. Moore about customizing RB to suit you. Some of this information you may already know, some of it you may not – worth checking out just in case. Cheers S. Click this link: Customizing Redbubble
Hey all! I mentioned a while ago in one of my other journal entries that I had something planned for my friends on RB – and well…he…
Hey all! I mentioned a while ago in one of my other journal entries that I had something planned for my friends on RB – and well…here it is! I went through my friend list and chose the ones that have been the most helpful to me in inspiration, comments, help and everything else so far. There are so many more to do, but for now here are 9 of them. If you are not here, don’t worry – I will be doing the rest of them when I get more time! But, if you want to be put at the top of my mind for one of these groovy banners, then just keep commenting and favouriting my work! Just so you know the story behind the designs, I have challenged myself to create each piece to portray that artist (e.g. yanmos with the leaves) which was great fun to do, and in the future it will better equip me to change my style to work with more clients! So without any further ado – I bring you (in no particular order) - IMPORTANT FOR THE ARTISTS – These images are COMPLETELY FREE. They have been designed for use on your Profile page or anywhere you see fit. I do not request anything in return – I have created these because you have helped me in one way or another – so thank you! More to come – when I get the time! :)
An idea from me how to get more people to know about your stuff…...... I create give-away promotion-cards from all of my work, p…
An idea from me how to get more people to know about your stuff…...... I create give-away promotion-cards from all of my work, print them out as 10×15 pictures in a photo-store, cut in two pieces and approach my customers with small handy product-cards with all useful informations…....... (did you have seen my easy redirected shop name down the card? Because I’ve made shops to put all the together belonging work together…) and the customer can find the interesting work now easier in all the “big internet world”..... :) HERE THE DOWNLOAD LINK FOR THE TEMPLATE which I have made… feel free to download it, use and share…. :) do you promote your work? greetings Nuh Sarche Read also: You can see live, who visits your site if you want… or I’m also a blogger now…. ;) or Telepathy
My second Journal for my Custom Friend Banners to people who have commented and favourited a lot of my work. If you missed the first one …
My second Journal for my Custom Friend Banners to people who have commented and favourited a lot of my work. If you missed the first one – Here it is / Here is an extract from the above link - _if you want to be put at the top of my mind for one of these groovy banners, then just keep commenting and favouriting my work! Just so you know the story behind the designs, I have challenged myself to create each piece to portray that artist (e.g. yanmos with the leaves) which was great fun to do, and in the future it will better equip me to change my style to work with more clients!_ So without any further ado here are the banners – in no particular order - Also, these banners are linked to each artists page, so go and check them out! IMPORTANT FOR THE ARTISTS – These images are COMPLETELY FREE. They have been designed for use on your Profile page or anywhere you see fit. I do not request anything in return – I have created these because you have helped me in one way or another – so thank you!
Just showing off some merchandise that various very nice people have posted on the buyers booth. 2 are photos of my own, one my sister. ...
Just showing off some merchandise that various very nice people have posted on the buyers booth. 2 are photos of my own, one my sister. / I’d love more if any of you out there have my art..
I was recently asked how I make my watermark on my images so I thought this may come in handy for others too. Remember though, that this …
I was recently asked how I make my watermark on my images so I thought this may come in handy for others too. Remember though, that this is just my method. there may be other ways out there too. In a steps process of making a custom watermarking brush and then watermarking an image with it. (this is all done in photoshop) / Say you have your image, all ready… 1. Make a new layer on top of the image you want to add the watermark to, 2. Open a new page to make a brush on, 3. Get the text box and choose a nice neat font, 4. Type ’ © ’ (hot keys = press and hold down the ALT key while typing in 0169) / and your first and last name or business name, / then 5. Flatten that layer, customize that with a logo, an underscore above it for titles to sit on, etc, 6. Flatten all that when you’re done customizing it all, 7. Select the space it occupies tightly, / then go 8. Edit>Define Brush and save it as a brush in your photoshop. / then 9. Go to the image, get the paintbrush tool on 100% opacity, and on the new layer that on your image, put the copyright in the corner or wherever you want it, Option: Maybe add the title of the image with the text tool, / now flatten the title into the copyright by going Layer>merge down / and then 10. Right click on the copyright layer, go Blending options and make the layer less intrusive on the image, 11. Flatten all the layers, save it. / (i save the copyright version of each image separate so i can sell prints without the copyright on it at all if requested)
The kids in the back room have been busy…...there is now a Phoenix Appeal calendar….more to come AND you can design one yourself and …
The kids in the back room have been busy…...there is now a Phoenix Appeal calendar….more to come AND you can design one yourself and we’ll put it together! Go through the artworks…..write down the names of all the pieces you want in the calendar (please get them right, don’t make it hard for us!) type the list in here as a comment…..and we’ll do our best. Some images may be too small for the calendar or the cover…as we find out we’ll mark this information in the picture description. Then, of course, we want you to buy one! ready, set, go!
Hi, Is the customer always right? I’ve been pondering this for quite a while. Years really. In professional life we’re often tra…
Hi, Is the customer always right? I’ve been pondering this for quite a while. Years really. In professional life we’re often trained to conform – to be neutral. The customer is right – don’t show emotion. Be professional. Be constrained. Don’t be yourself. Take a ‘beating’ if you need to. But is this right. Is it right for the world? Is it right for RedBubble? I’m a massive believer in trade and commerce. But in my ideal world all transactions would first and foremost be based on mutual respect. There’s not one servant (shop keeper) and another master (customer). Rather there’s two people who will both benefit from an exchange – and both work towards making the exchange happen with good grace. So I’ve started to experiment a little with RedBubble … to show a little more emotion. I want to move away from the paid staff of RedBubble being servants to the members of the site – rather we are partners with the members. I’m not sure if this is a sensible approach … all my corporate training says NO! But I do like to experiment. And I’d like your thoughts. What sort of personality should RedBubble have? Should it have one voice? Or should all of the staff speak with their different voices? Should we be neutral? Should we try to occupy the traditional mould of ‘professional’? Cheers, Peter P.S. Here’s a t-shirt design by Cimmerrian that made me smile:
The Optimize Your Profile Page for Sales a…
The Optimize Your Profile Page for Sales article proved that customization is a popular topic. Today, let’s apply customization and optimization hints to the “show work” (your art and t-shirt) pages. First, let’s look at what a show work page should do. show work page example 1. Honor the art by displaying it in a clean, gallery-style environment 2. Enable the viewer to see the work at a distance and close up 3. Allow the visitor to learn about the work/have enough information to envision the art print or t-shirt in their space or on their body 4. Share the work with friends, family, others via email 5. Inspire/start the order process And for websites like RedBubble: allow the visitor to find other art and design that interests them; a next step rather than prompting an exit. Other ideas are welcomed. Simply list them below in the comments area. RedBubble addresses numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5. You can benefit greatly by sharing information about your work – #4. This helps you on two levels: 1. Relationships sell art – even a newly formed understanding about an artwork or design. 2. Search engines love to be right. Their job is to match a query (search) to a result (content), so any relevant information that you can supply on the show work page can help search engines find your page(s). E.g., if your browser title says that the image is of St. Kilda, and the title of the work is St. Kilda, and your show work page description is about St. Kilda, and the tags include St. Kilda … well, you have a pretty good shot at ranking in web search for St. Kilda. You could do even better by noting the medium (canvas, print, t-shirt) if possible. Here are a few “extras” that can help you merchandise your show work pages. Remember that you’ll need to use RedBubble formatting to make many of these items appear. You can show a detail of the artwork or t-shirt design. / Matt Simner placed a detail of his t-shirt design next to a full view of the design here. You’ll want to save the image for Web (making it lighter weight) with a width of no more than 335 pixels wide. How to? You can upload the detail image via MyBubble and choose not to publish it. After the image is uploaded, right-click (option+click on the Mac) and “copy the image location.” Paste the image location into the product description using the “!” mark at the beginning and end of the URL. See the RedBubble formatting cheatsheet here. Small images of the finished product. / We noted in the previous Selling article that examples of the real product help shoppers envision it in their places and spaces. Luxquarta also noted on their show work page that the image would look great as a “Laminated print, Mounted print or Canvas print.” And another example of the product in real life. Like this? You might also like … / RedBubble members can show small thumbnails of similar products on show work pages. Yanmos does this very thing here. The design for sale is also available as a free iPhone wallpaper too. With enough views of the iPhone image the shopper might just buy the shirt! You can also use the search category trick that we discussed in the previous post to provide visitors with category links that show a broader assortment of similar work. Small touches make visitors feel at home / It’s always the “little things” that make the difference – like RedBubble packaging, t-shirt inserts, swing tags, etc. Along these lines, Definatalie extends her design aesthetic to hand drawn headers and other visual touches that relate her Profile page to her show work pages. Added protection / Some members opt to manually place a copyright on their show work pages. While RedBubble adds a copyright to all pages, you can add a line reminding visitors about copyright. Rupydetequila added a softly-worded note, while boilerplate copy is available via Creative Commons or other reference websites., e.g., “This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia.” or “All rights reserved. Copyright Rupydetequila. Please do not use my images without permission. Feel free to convo me with any questions about this item. Thanks for checking out my work With love Rupydetequila.” Building your audience / RedBubble allows visitors to email a link to their friends. You can go a step further by asking visitors to: Subscribe to your newsletter Follow you on Twitter Become a Fan of your Facebook business page Matt Simner does this in his Stay in Touch section on each show work page. Building your network / We’ve all been beat over the head about Facebook and Twitter, so let’s just say that your profile and show work pages can include links to your Twitter profile page and Facebook Pages (fan pages or your personal profile). Go forth and personalize / I should reiterate that the goal is to show the work in the best light possible whilst not burdening the page load time with tons of heavy images. There are many other customizations that members have made to their show work pages. Feel free to share links to your ideas and pages below. Also, if you’re interested in helping all RedBubble members sell their work, hop on over to the Sell Art and T-shirts group here. Regards, / Jason
Hi everyone I had this idea!!! A Custom made Calendar! How about That? Everytime i create a calendar, the most difficult p…
Hi everyone I had this idea!!! A Custom made Calendar! How about That? Everytime i create a calendar, the most difficult part is which ones to choose. So now i would like to give YOU the opportunity to decide for yourself! You can pick any image, one for each month and one for the cover and i will upload the calendar. Now you can purchase the calendar of your own choice! Make your choice from my gallery and choose your 12 images and 1 for the cover,...for example 1, January image title :Winter Mail your list to me and i will upload your calendar asap Price will be US$ 28.50 Cheers Lars
*My photo of Le Lapin Agile sold again today…previously it sold as prints, today it was two cards…very nice indeed, as it is a person…
My photo of Le Lapin Agile sold again today…previously it sold as prints, today it was two cards…very nice indeed, as it is a personal record of a lovely holiday.. / Le Lapin Agile Thank you so much
*Today’s Sales are once more to an unknown buyer…thank you so much…I really appreciate it and hope you will enjoy them as much as I e…
Today’s Sales are once more to an unknown buyer…thank you so much…I really appreciate it and hope you will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed painting them.. / Is This Elysium / Here Comes The Sun
Now that I’ve had the chance to use my EOS 7D and get familiar with the new camera, here is my mini review. The Body Canon have…
Now that I’ve had the chance to use my EOS 7D and get familiar with the new camera, here is my mini review. The Body Canon have done a great job with the build quality with the 7D, it’s very solid, and well built, and it feels somewhat better then the XXD series. The camera is about the same size as a 5DMkII and feels very comfortable to hold. The body kind of reminds me of my old Nikon D300, and Canon have now made all the rear buttons larger (Similar in size as what you get on a Nikon body) and they have also worked on the sensitivity of the buttons. To delete a photo, you need to press down hard on the delete button, I’m assuming this is to prevent accidentally deleting your photos. Canon have now got rid of the 2 step on/off button found on the XXD series and on the 5DMkII and now have a separate rear control wheel lock button, and the on/off switch has now been moved to the top left corner, under the mode wheel. I find that the new location of the on/off switch is a bit annoying, now you need 2 hands to turn on/off the camera which could mean you might miss critical shots, and I’ve also found myself accidentally leaving the camera switched on. I would have preferred Canon have either left the on/off switch near where it was originally located, or put the on/off switch around the shutter button just like Nikon does. But it’s only a minor annoyance, and I guess over time I will get use to the new position. The CF door and battery door latches are much better on the 7D then the XXD and 5D series, and feels as good as the Nikon D300. A nice improvement over the flimsy doors they used on previous models and adds to the quality of this body. The Viewfinder This would have to be one of the biggest stand out features on the 7D, the new viewfinder is massive! It’s allot bigger,brighter and clearer then any other Canon crop camera by far! I would say it’s about as big as the 5DMkII’s viewfinder, and it covers 100% of the frame (5DMkII only covers 97% of the frame). The 7D now uses the same eyepiece as you get on a 1 series camera, and this is the first time I’ve used the stock eyepiece cover on a Canon camera! I wear glasses, and I find the 7D’s viewfinder to see though, and easy to read the viewfinder information. I had some problems being able to read the viewfinder info when I was shooting with my 5DMkII, but I don’t have any issues with the 7D, even when shooting when out in bright daylight. Canon have now followed Nikon, and now offers a transmissive LCD viewfinder. You can now add a viewfinder grid, turn on/off the spot metering circle, and the AF points are not shown when not in use, so if your shooting in single AF point mode, only the selected AF point will be shown, and when you select all 19 AF points mode, only the AF points that are used will show up. There is also a mode that allows you to view a spirit level in the viewfinder using the AF points to help you to get your camera level. Autofocus The new Autofocus system is a nice improvement over the 9 point AF system on the XXD and 5D series cameras. All 19 AF points are cross type, with a double cross centre AF point for extra precision. Low light AF is good, and the camera seems to lock focus quickly. AI AF seems quick and accurate, I’ve read some reports of some issues with the tracking AF in Servo mode, but I haven’t seen any issues so far and my camera seems to lock focus well on fast moving objects and keeps them all in focus. To select the AF points and mode, you press a rear button on the rear of the camera and then use either the multi controller joystick or rear control wheel to select a individual AF point. To select the mode, you press the AF button on the rear, and then press the M-fn button and select the AF mode from all 19 points, User selected point, or AF zone. Canon have now introduced a new feature called “Zone focusing” where you can select from a selection of AF points, rather then having to manually select each individual AF point, or use all 19 AF points. ou can select either 4 points Outer most point plus the next 3, and this can be selected in either LH, Top, RH, or bottom AF points, you can also select the centre 9 AF points. The camera can also automatically detect when you switch from landscape to portrait orientation when using one of the outer zone modes, and select the same zone when you switch orientation, for example, if you were using the left hand side zone in landscape orientation and then switched to portrait orientation, the camera will select the left hand side zone (Which would have been the top zone in landscape orientation) which would now be the left hand zone in portrait orientation. This means you don’t have to reselect the AF zone again, and then switch back when you start shooting in landscape orientation again. There is also a custom function which allows you to use “Spot Autofocus” which works like single AF point, but allows for even more accurate focusing. And another custom function allows you to “Expand” AF points when shooting in single point mode, it will also select surrounding AF points, which is useful when your using tracking AF with 1 point, but need the extra AF assistance. Shutter and drive mode The shutter on the 7D is not to loud, it does have a bit of a strange kind of plasticy sound, it’s hard to describe, but it’s not loud which is great if you don’t want to draw to much attention to yourself. There are 3 drive modes, these are: Single shot, Low speed drive, which allows you to shoot at 3 frames per second, and High speed drive which allows you to shoot at 8 frames per second! There are also 2 self timer modes, one mode has a 2 second delay, and the other mode has a 10 second delay. The Mode Wheel Finally Canon have got rid of those stupid basic automatic modes that nobody ever uses! The mode wheel is pretty much the same as the one you find on the 5DMkII, with 3 user customised modes (C1, C2, C3). The only thing I don’t like is the dedicated B Bulb exposure mode. This means if you want to shoot longer then a 30 second exposure, you now have to select the B mode rather then go from 30 seconds to Bulb exposure on the XXD and XXXD series cameras. The same B mode is found on the 5D series cameras too. The LCD The rear LCD now doesn’t have the black border around it, and it looks smaller then other cameras, but it is still the same fantastic 920,000 dot pixel screen found on the 50D/5DMkII/500D. Nice resolution, and easy to read, even under bright daylight. A real pleasure to work with! The 7D features the auto LCD brightness sensor that is also found on the 5DMkII which can automatically adjust the screens brightness to suit the lighting conditions your shooting under. You can also manually adjust the screens brightness if you prefer not to use the auto adjustment mode. The top LCD is the same as you would find in a XXD series camera, I would like to see Canon do what Nikon does, and offer a custom function to let you have the top LCD light to stay on permanently via a custom function when shooting at night! I can’t see the timer when shooting bulb exposures, and to see the timer, you either have to press the light button (At the risk of shaking the camera during the exposure) or shine a light onto the screen to see the timer (At risk of ruining your photo with stray light). I would also like to see a timer displayed on the rear LCD screen just like the one found on the 500D which was very useful! The 7D now features a electronic spirit level which can be displayed on the rear LCD to help you get your camera level which is a welcomed feature! Video mode The video mode on the 7D is great! You get full manual controls over shutter speed and aperture (Just like the 5DMkII with the latest firmware update) but you can also select the video frame rates, in 1080P you can select from 30 fps or 24 fps, and in 720P mode you can select up to 50 or 60 fps! The 7D now has a dedicated liveview/video button (You can switch between Live view and video recording mode) and it has a button to start/stop recording video. I prefer this style over the 500D which had a dedicated video mode in the basic modes via the mode wheel. The video quality looks great too! It seems to look better then the quality on the 500D, but I think it’s because I now have full manual control over the video settings, while the 500D was controlled by the camera, with only slight adjustments possible. Customisation Galore! The EOS 7D is the most customisable Canon body I’ve used! Canon now gives you the option to program buttons to serve different functions to suit your shooting style. For example: The rear control wheel can now be programmed to control the shutter speed setting, and the top wheel controls the aperture. You can change the direction the shutter speed from left to right, or right to left to suit your personal preference. The buttons that can be programmed are: The aperture and shutter controls, The Info button, AF-On Button, The rear joystick, The shutter button, The Depth of field preview button, The lens AF button, The “Set” button, the M-Fn button and the AF point selection button. They can all serve a variety of different functions which are all user programmable. The 7D now features a “Quick Control” button on the rear, which allows you to control camera settings on the rear of the screen (Similar to the EOS 500D). You can change shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, AF mode, Picture styles, white balance, metering mode, auto lighting optimiser, picture quality settings, focus mode, drive mode, and camera customisation mode. It also displays all your settings on the rear LCD. You can now also add personal information and copyright information which will be applied to all Exif data on all your photos. This amount of customisation reminds me allot of the Nikon D300, and makes this camera a real pleasure to work with! Picture quality The picture quality on the 7D is great, there seems to be something different from the 7D though, colours seems richer and the picture quality seems more vibrant then any other Canon camera I’ve used, it’s very similar to the 5DMkII’s output, and photos taken right out of the camera requires very little post production work to get the best from the files! ISO quality The high ISO performance on the 7D is really good, ISO 3200 is very clean and very usable, even at ISO 6400, the files are still usable with a bit of noise reduction applied. Photos taken at ISO 12,800 would still be useful for small prints or for publishing on the internet. The high ISO performance is allot better then the EOS 50D! The dual Digic IV processors work very well at keeping high ISO noise under control, and the 7D would have to be the best crop sensored camera I’ve used at high ISO’s, and has similar performance as the 5D2 up to ISO 3200 (5DMkII is still better above ISO 3200, but only slightly, and you would expect that due to the size difference between the APS-C and Fullframe sensors). The 18mp files are full of detail, and give you heaps of room for cropping, and for making large prints. I’m looking forward to printing up some large poster sized prints with this camera! Conclusion Overall I am very impressed with the EOS 7D, it is the best Canon camera I’ve owned so far (I’ve owned a 300D, 20D, 40D, 50D, 5DMkII, 500D, and now the 7D) and I would say that the 7D is very similar to the Nikon D300 in many ways, actually my first impressions was Canon had copied Nikon when designing the 7D! LOL It’s a fantastic camera, and definitely worth upgrading from one of the XXD series cameras, and the video is great too, with full manual controls and a nice selection of different usable shutter speeds, great if your looking at shooting full 1080p video without having to buy a 5DMkII. The EOS 7D is a feature packed camera, with great picture quality and a great addition to the Canon lineup! I will post a follow up to this review in a few months time, in the meantime, keep a eye out on my folio for photos taken with my EOS 7D.
RedBubble is a great place to find art, design, photos and writing from over 80,000 talented people.
On stunning greeting cards, awesome t-shirts or beautiful prints to hang on your walls.
It’s really simple. If you’re not happy with your purchase for any reason, we’ll fix it.
Since February 2007 we’ve shipped over 293,300 items to more than 70 countries around the world.
Sign up for your free account, upload your work, join some groups and share your creative genius with the world.