Just arrived in today’s mail: the brand-new Canon EOS 7D digital SLR (being held by Jennifer to the left). It’s best thought of as the little brother of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR–the primary differences are that the 7D has a smaller image sensor with fewer megapixels, and the 7D also includes a 720p shooting mode (unlike the 5D Mark II, which only shoots 1080p as far as HD video goes.) The 7D is also a grand less, with an MSRP of $1699.

Tom saw a pre-production 7D at a Canon line show a few months back and had liked what he saw. We are eager to put this production unit through its paces, and we’ll share what we find out with you in a timely manner.

Speaking of which, a Canon EOS 5D Mark II firmware upgrade that adds 25fps and 23.976fps modes is slated to be released sometime during the first half of next year.