The Canon 7D will be getting a new firmware upgrade soon according to news posted on the CPN website and nabbed by Canon Rumors before it was removed.

There are lots of improvements on the still image capture side, including bumping the max RAW burst to 26 images (up from 15 consecutive images).  That's a pretty big bump in write speed, so I'm curious to know what Canon's doing with the 7D since it received an upgrade for UDMA Mode 7 CF card support last year.

One biggie for all the HDSLR shooters out there is the addition of manual audio level controls.  It seems a little late in the 7D's game to add this and all the other goodies to the camera, given that it is almost 3 years old (it was announced on September 1, 2009).  So maybe Canon is pushing for a final surge in 7D sales before the camera is replaced, or maybe Canon is looking to extend the life of the camera well beyond the typical 3-year mark for pro-level cameras?

Other additions include:

• In-Camera RAW Conversion
• Image Rating Capabilities
• Auto ISO Maximum Setting
• JPEG Resizing
• Support for the new GP-E2 GPS Unit
• Quick Control During Playback
• File Name Setting
• Time Zone Setting
• Fast Scrolling of Magnified Images