Customer Reviews

Magic Lantern Guides: Canon EOS 7D Multimedia Workshop

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This was a disappointing purchase. It's basically a book and 2 DVDs. Of the three, only one item is specifically about the 7D. And that one item was not all that informative for the average person using a 7D.

I'm a new 7D owner and an intermediate level SLR owner. I was excited to get a guide that would help explain and unlock the advanced capabilities of the 7D. Boy was this the wrong book to purchase.

If you own a 7D, chances are, you are:

1) You are not new to photography, and the baseline concepts (ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed) are second nature.
2) You probably did not purchase the 7D to use as a video camera... there are plenty of dedicated devices that do a far better job.

Given these two basic premises - here is why this package is of very little value.

1) The Book: the book is a generic book about photography and covers the basics/principals that people who buy a 7D probably already know all to well. This book is the same book included in all Lantern multimedia packages - it just has a different sleeve on the exterior. Take the sleeve off and it's the generic book. It never mentions the 7D or included images of the 7D's buttons or menus.

2) The "Great Photos" DVD: Generic. It may help some with basic concepts but, there are books that are dedicated to this subject - I want to learn how to use the 7D

3) The 7D DVD: This is actually well done - production-wise. The instructor moves along at the right pace and when I started the DVD i was pretty excited... Right up to the point where he said "The custom function menus are more advanced than you will ever need to use and will not be covered on this DVD." WHAT!? The custom functions on this camera are the very things that the photographer uses (and buys the 7D for) to get the best results out of the camera. You can use these functions to tailor the camera to your specific use - they're hugely important. To just blow off covering almost half of the menu options in the camera is inexcusable. Then, the narrator spends fully 1/3 of the time covering video usage!? This was just unbelievable to me - in the footage, they have the 7D dressed up in this full video gear (a giant lens hood rig and an external microphone - along with a bunch of other video capture gear - it's absolutely bizarre and 99.9% of 7D users will never go this far to shoot video). The DVD goes into a huge amount of detail about how to take video with the 7D. YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. You blow off covering the custom functions of the camera and deep dive into shooting video. WOW....

Save your money and consider another resource - this slapped together group of generic and incomplete guides is not worth your time or money.

Also - to the publisher - the presenter in the 7D DVD explains the "Live View" mode incorrectly. There is a Live View mode - for taking pictures - leave the switch aimed at the camera icon and press Start/Stop to begin shooting pictures in Live View. AND there is a video mode - move the switch over to the video camera icon - yes, you can shoot pictures while taking video if you want to. The narrator incorrectly explains this feature and tell users to switch to video mode to shoot pictures in live mode... Ugh.

This multi-media guide is for both the Canon 7D and a very helpful guide to digital photography.

The book is a general guide for digital photography and has great pointers for improving your technique.

The first DVD is also a guide to making great photographs no matter which digital SLR you may own.

The second DVD is THE Canon 7D specific tutorial, well presented and will help flatten the learning curve for this very feature rich camera. The 7D specific DVD helps make sense of the owner's manual that came with the camera.

I've given this DVD/book combo five stars because of the quality of presentation and the content, both general and camera specific. I would buy another Magic Lantern publication.

I received this book yesterday. I had hoped it would help me with the 7D. It is 56 pages with nothing about the 7D. Even the pictures of cameras in the book are not the 7D. I have not reviewed the DVDs yet as I did not buy the book for that media. I cannot figure who they wrote this book for. The 7D is my first DSLR but even so this book is too basic. Sorry this was a waste of money

This was not the product I was expecting. The book that comes with this product is a generic guide to using DSLRs and not specific to the Canon 7D. One of the DVDs and the pocket guide are specific to the 7D but everything else is basically filler. I think it is dishonest of the company not to make this more clear in the packaging.

Just bought the DVD set and it's very elementary but that doesn't bother me as much as they don't show the 7D in any of the video. It's just a generic DSLR and most of the time looks nothing like it. I bought this hoping for a little help getting around the menu and doing some settings but I'm 45 minutes into the first DVD and no mention of 7D. I hope I can return this crap.

Very disappointed with this book. And what's annoying is that this book is shrink-wrapped on store shelves, so you cannot peek inside it. Smart move on the publisher's part because this book would never sell if you were allowed to preview it.

Most of what the book has to say is about general digital photography 101. Everything is worded in generic terms such as "Most digital cameras now have auto focus..." and then goes on to explain this generic auto-focus. It's not specific to the 7D at all, and it's aimed at the complete novice.

To top it all off- the book is only 60 pages.

Unfortunately, some people who think they know everything and buy this workshop feel that not everyone deserves to own a Canon 7d and that this Magic Lantern 7d Multimedia Workshop is undeserving of their time. Well I hope I don't ruin your day. I am new to DSLR photography and I just bought a Canon 7d, the Magic Lantern 7d Guide and the Multimedia workshop. I read the books and watched both DVDs within the past 24 hours. My confidence level in using the 7d menus and features have skyrocketed already. For those who write negative reviews and try to come off as all-knowing while profiling others who should and should not be Canon 7d owners and run on about how trivial the information in this multimedia workshop is, you sound ridiculous. I have a friend who teaches digital photography, maintains a professional Website and does professional DSLR work with a Canon 5d Mark II, and he told me that a Canon 7d was too advanced for me and that it's laughable that I would even consider owning one at my experience level, blah, blah, blah... He's still a good friend. I'm sure he thinks I'm a big idiot and I think he's a big egotistical idiot so at least we're even. I like it when professionals write reviews and they say stuff like "this guide made using the Canon 7d easier for me and I can definitely see how it would benefit any new 7d owner and especially beginning DSLR users." I would pay these reviewers big bucks to attend their photography classes and learn from them. Wise men know that a solid foundation is needed for success in any venture, that learning is a continuous lifelong process and that even the best in every discipline go back to their foundation. Magic Lantern provides an exceptional foundation.

The second DVD in this package is the only EOS 7d specific item in the package and it alone is well worth the price. It provides a professional's perspective on most of the unique features of the 7d and demonstrates their use. The last section of this DVD is on the 7Ds movie feature and provides essential insights that I would never have gotten from the Canon user's manual or any of the other guides I have looked at. The book and the other DVD are not 7d specific and will be old hat to anyone with previous DSLR and video camera experience. I have had a Canon EOS 20D DSLR and a Canon XL-2 Video camera for years and got nothing out of the book or first DVD. That second DVD, however, makes the package a must have.

Very easy to follow - even as a photographer of many years standing I found new features and short cuts that increased my enjoyment of this camera

Highly Recommended

I don't understand where the critical reviewers are coming from.

I am a very serious digital photographer and have been shooting with Canon SLR's since
the very early days. My 7D is the fifth one that I have owned. My experience covers
the range from international travel shooting to scientific lab macro work.

The 7D is a somewhat more sophisticated camera than its predecessors and, I bought
this book/DVD package to get up to speed more quickly. I was delighted to learn what
an excellent learning "tool kit" it is. The 64 page book is a very clear, concise,
and complete overview of basic photographic tools and technique.

The Great Photos" video very clearly illustrates all of the principals laid out in the book.

The EOS 7D video demonstrates the use of all of tools that are available in this very powerful
machine. Each setting and function is described and illustrated with excellent closeup
shots of the camera.

I strongly recommend that all new 7D owners buy this "multimedia university in a box" and
then sit down with their camera in hand to soak in all of the capabilities of this great
new camera system.