Choosing a Digital Camera

<p>I have been offered a choice between two digital cameras. I shoot a lot of family photos and high school football and basketball games. The offer I have been made is as follows: Canon EOS 1D Mark III or a Canon EOS 7D. I like the quality of how the 1D Mark III is built and the fact of how fast it can take an image. The 7D has higher pixel count but the battery charge time is limited.more than I prefer. Can anyone shed some insight on either of these two cameras?</p>

<p>Battery charge time shouldn't be an issue, you charge the battery outside the camera. Just get a spare from stirlingtek.com and all's good. The 7D is much smaller and lighter and easier to handle. It is also APS-C format (cropped sensor) so accepts EF-S lenses which the 1D MkIII won't.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>"high school football and basketball games"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>For these shooting scenarios, I would be firstly looking at the comparisons and contrasts of the <strong>quality of the images from the two cameras at High ISO</strong> (1600; 3200 and 6400).</p>

<p>Secondly the <strong>IQ of the cropped image vs. the (non-cropped) reach gain</strong> of the APS-H vs. APS-C format.</p>

<p>I expect the 7D would have the edge in the high ISO stakes - but I don’t know. And I think that the 7D would fare better than a cropped image from the 1DMkIII – but again I don’t know.<br /> <br /> Quality of Build and Frame Rate in continuous shooting mode, would both be VERY secondary considerations to those features I mentioned above. Battery Charging Time I would not consider – I’d just buy more batteries. Either camera can make very good Family Photos</p>

<p>So, simply intuitively, between the two I would opt for the 7D.</p>

<p>But it is not clear to me what is the exact meaning of: <em>“I have been offered a choice between two digital cameras.”</em><br /> Does that mean <strong>without paying anything</strong> or if there a cost involved? Cost would be a factor that I would consider; also <strong>how old and how much wear/usage/damage</strong> each had sustained would have an impact upon my choice; as would <strong>what lenses, if any come with the cameras?</strong></p>

<p>WW</p>

<p>My choice would be the 1D. Although the 7D is the newer model with more megapixels, the 1D being a professional, beats it out when It comes to features and specifications. I can't speak much for the 1D III but you can read the reviews from happy owners. I did own the 7D and it was a good camera but not a great camera. It was packed with useless features that one would never use and yes was rather weak when it came to battery life. As far as the image quality was concerned, I didn't see much difference between the 7D and the 40D which only had 10 megapixels and should give you more reason to think about the 1D. </p>

<p>The Canon 1D Mark III has less than 500 shutter actuations, the Can EOS 7D has approximately 25,000. </p>

<p>I use a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS the first edition, a Tokina 100mm f2.8, a Tokina 35mm f2.8, a Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 and a Tamron 17-50mm F2.8. I believe if I chose the 1D Mark III I may not have to worry about another camera for quite a few years.</p>

<p>I've shot with both cameras. I owned the 1D3 for five or so years and shot sports professionally with it. Over the last year, I used the 7D quite a bit for unit still photography, and also some personal photography. The 7D was used regularly for video (not by me) and held up well.<br /> <br />Having used both cameras, I can tell you that the high ISO image quality of the 7D is noticeably better. The 1D3 was great for high ISO in its time, but not by the time the the 7D was released. If you're shooting indoor basketball, this could be a major factor.</p>

<p>I always felt the 1D3 focused faster than the 7D, but not enough to make a big difference. FWIW, I shot sports with a 40D also and didn't have problems. However, focus brings up an issue. The 1D3 had serious focus problems when it was released. Canon eventually provided two free service updates, about four months apart, for the 1D3 to fix the focus. It's <em>very</em> important to find out from Canon if the camera needed and/or has the service updates for focus. If the camera was made before Canon changed manufacturing and it hasn't had the updates, there is no way it should be purchased. Those updates are not free now.</p>

<p>Battery life is longer with the 1D3 but when the batteries wear out, replacement is fairly expensive. I had two batteries and they had reduced performance after a couple years.</p>

<p>The shutter actuations are certainly a factor, but it's really odd that the 1D3, which has been out of production for a number of years, would have been used so low. If this were offered to me, I would see if Canon could verify anything about the camera based on serial number.<br /> <br />FWIW, I replaced the 1D3 with a 5D3.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I use a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS the first edition, a Tokina 100mm f2.8, a <strong>Tokina 35mm f2.8</strong>, a Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 and a <strong>Tamron 17-50mm F2.8.</strong></p>

</blockquote>

<p>I think that the Tokina 35/2.8 is a dedicated APS-C format lens? If it is, it will be an EF Bayonet Mount, so it will physically mount to the 1DmkIII, however you might get an optical vignette. The Tamron 17 to 50/2.8, I know is a dedicated APS-C Lens, and although, again, it is an EF Mount Lens, it probably also will have an optical vignette when used the 1DmkIII. So I guess you’ll need to consider what you will do with those two lenses, if you only have a 1DMkIII.</p>

<p>Apropos the comparative reach matter that I raised: when using the EF 70 to 200F/2.8 L IS USM on a 1DMkIII, you could easily use a x1.4EF Extender (either MkII or MkIII) and I am certain that will be quite suitable for daytime football games.</p>

<p>I guess that if you are not shooting at night the high ISO comparison does not come into the equation, but for BBall - the Gym would need to have better lighting than some High School Gymnasia in which I have worked to allow any F/2.8 lens, to be the most suitable choice. But is seems that you are already using Canon gear, so you must have an idea of how well, or not, your present camera manages the shooting at BBall games with F/2.8 lenses. </p>

<p>*</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>I believe if I chose the 1D Mark III I may not have to worry about another camera for quite a few years.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I understand that point.</p>

<p>WW</p>

<p>I shoot the 7D commercially and can easily get well over 1500 frames from a battery, I can be well into a second 32G card before I have to start worrying about changing it.<br>

Shooting at very high iso-levels with the 7D can give a good deal of digital noise, but if you don't need to be shooting at over 1/1000, then you may not need to push that far. <br>

The 1D can manage 10fps, I think, that's a distinct advantage if you're shooting sport.<br>

Possibly the best way to decide is to spend some time with the cameras around your neck or shoulder humping the kind of glass you're planning to use. Think about what that's going to feel like over an extended period.<br>

Just my 2p</p>

<p>10 FPS vs. 8 FPS doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me. Battery performance is a red herring, especially if you grip the 7D. ...But of course I don't shoot sports very often. Personally, I think the 7D would be a better choice. For the following reasons:<br>

Weight. (there's a reason 1 series cameras are referred to as bricks)<br>

Reach (1.6x crop vs. 1.3x crop - A decided advantage from across the field)<br>

High ISO performance<br>

Lower cost of ownership (replacing batteries)<br>

Full compatibility with current lenses.</p>

<p>I would be a little hesitant about a 1D3 with only 500 exposures.... Unless I knew the back story, I'd have trouble believing that...</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The Canon 1D Mark III has less than 500 shutter actuations, the Can EOS 7D has approximately 25,000.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Seriously? The 1D MKIII only has 500 shutter actuations after a half dozen years? You might want to check it with a shutter count app. Most 1D series owners shoot more than 500 images in a single session. The in-camera counter turns over at 9999 and the true shutter count is only accessible via special software.</p>

<p><em>> I did own the 7D and it was a good camera but not a great camera. It was packed with useless features that one would never use and yes was rather weak when it came to battery life. </em></p>

<p>That doesn't make a lick of sense. None at all.<br>

None of it. My own rebuttal is that having used my 7D for almost five hard years now I would doubt you ever even held one.</p>

<p >It depends on what you like. With the 1D MKII you get incredible build quality; incredible battery life, portrait orientation has a complete duplicate set of controls, less banding, many more focus points 46 (vs 19), very low shutter lag. AF is far superior (I saw someone else say the opposite but my 1D MKIII AF works much better), 2 card slots.</p>

<p >With the 7D you get video (vs none on the 1D), significantly higher resolution at 18MP (vs 10MP), smaller, lighter, built in flash, EF-S lens support.</p>

<p >For me it is the 1D MKIII just for the sheer pleasure of using such a robust body in challenging weather conditions, if Alaska is in your future then that’s the one (but bring a backup!). The 1D is big though and not friendly to a family trip! The 10MP sensor can get a little squeezed. One thing to note is that early 1D MKII’s had AF problems; these were fixed in the “blue-dot” version. You can look up the serial number online if you have it and check – do that. Also, the 500 actuations may be the count on a newly installed shutter – you’ll know by the wear on the body. A 1D MKIII in perfect condition with about 20k shutter actuations will cost around $950 in the U.S.</p>

<p >Good luck in your choice!<br /></p>

<p>"<em>None of it. My own rebuttal is that having used my 7D for almost five hard years now I would doubt you ever even held one</em>."</p>

<p>Ken it's just a camera not your son or daughter or something. In my opinion it was not a great camera. I sold it and got a Pentax K-5 IIs and I am much happier. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Has anyone ever used a Nikon D600? I hear raves about the quality of the photos and its ease of use.</p>

<p>I just uploaded a photo to a program called Shuttercount.com and it said my Canon EOS 1D Mark III Shutter count is 736. I just about jumped out of my chair. If this is correct to this practically a new camera. Looks like I have answered my own question. Now it's time to get out and continue this experiment of taking photos 1 or more clicks at a time.</p><div></div>