CANON EOS 7D MARK II

Canon’s 7D is no spring chicken, but DSLRS don’t have the short shelf lives of most other gadgets. And besides, you know what they say about the benefits of experience in sport.

In a world where frames per second need to hit double digits, the 7D’s dual DIGIC 6 processors help it hit 10fps (even if newer cameras eke out a few more). That kind of rapid-fire shooting is worth nothing if all the pictures come out blurred, but the 7D’s 65-point autofocus system is snappy and accurate. It locks on quickly, even when you’re using Live View, and doesn’t lose its bottle when the skies cloud over. When shooting sport it’s crucial that you can operate the camera’s controls without looking; as soon as you have to look down, the magic moment will pass. The 7D’s buttons are thoughtfully laid out, with a thumb-controlled dial slider that can be customised to tweak manual shooting settings, a mode dial that can be locked, plus an LCD on top for at-a-glance checks.