60D or 7D

<p>I am going to upgrade my 30D. I am a hobby photographer and I shoot birds, butterflies and flowers as well as some landscapes and grandchildren. I have some Canon lenses, 300L , 1.4 extender, 100-400- L, 28-135 and a Sigma wide angle for crop cameras. The 60D seems like a good choice because of the improved sensor and better high ISO performance. On the other hand, I read that the 7D has a better autofocus system. What does that mean? Will it focus on a warbler that is dancing around faster than the 60D. Bottom line is it worth the extra cost?</p>

<p>This is a popular topic and was discussed at length in multiple threads the last few weeks. </p>

<p>For everything except the birds, I'd say the 60D is sufficient, and fine for birds too, but the AF system of the 7D is better and that is a factor in bird photography. The actual AF system is different, and one thing that stands out to me about the 7D AF is the ability to use the center spot focus (I guess that's what it's called). Most AF points cover a slightly larger area than the actual point display in the viewfinder. The 7D center point can be made very small, so that it doesn't get confused on where to focus. So to answer your question about the warbler, it may make the difference between focusing on the eyes or on the feet. There's more to it than that, there's just one example for you. I will say, that I never knew how much more advanced an AF system could be, but since I got my 1D II, it is a huge difference from my old 40D. It just focuses faster and more accurately, and it also doesn't search as much in al servo. So until you experience a "better AF" it'll be hard to understand why its better, but after you use it you'll know.</p>

<p>Actually the 7D Spot Focus mode is fully enabled for all 19 AF points, not just the center point. Spot AF is my fav mode and the most significant AF innovation from Canon in a decade. I use Spot AF on off center points and the improvement in accuracy for macro and tele shots is amazing over the standard AF point size.</p>

<p>Graham, consider the the 60D's articulating LCD may come in handy when shooting/composing "butterflies and flowers" in live view mode.</p>

<p>I own a 7D and it does seem to focus quite well on birds in flight, certainly better than my 5D original.</p>

<p>The biggest difference in AF systems between the 60D & 7D is the 7D has 10 more AF points. Also, in addition to selecting a single spot for focus, you can select from five zones. Each zone has 4 or 9 focus points in it, and the camera will only use that group.</p>

<p>For me, also, the fact that the 7D keeps the selected focus point(s) in the viewfinder was a plus for me. I didn't test the 60D, but from the others (50D, T2i), I recall that the focus point showed red momentarily, but then went away. You may or may not find his useful.</p>

<p>Best thing to do is get to a camera store and try them both out. </p>

<p>thanks for the follow up Puppy Face, I didn't know you could do it will all points.</p>

<p>darn it. The more posts I read from Puppy face about the 7D, the more I want one.</p>

<p>Sigh. Maybe that's why I didn't buy that 100-400 a few weeks back?</p>

<p>I chose the 7D over the 60 because of the faster focus and frames/second. I'm getting a lot more bird and surf shots now! It's really fast. Still love my 5D2, but each is better at different things, and thats been over discussed too ;-)</p>

<p>Puppy Face, Nathan, J Harrington, Larry, Jim, Dominick, Thanks so much for your help, now I understand. I'm going to do as Larry suggests and try them both out.</p>