Buy 7D now or wait for 7D Mark II?

<p>Hey Everyone,<br>

I have an XSi at the moment, and am itching to upgrade. I have had my eye on the 7D for quite some time, but honestly the fact it is 3 years old and uses CF media just has made me hesitant. Today I was reading about the 7D M2 rumors... sounds pretty nice.<br>

<br /><br /><br>

Should I go ahead and get the 7D, or wait 6 months and get the 7DM2? I don't have any desire to upgrade within a few years. and when I do it will be for a full frame. I have recently gotten a few paid gigs for social sports leagues in town, which is one reason I want to upgrade now. But I really think I should wait... thoughts?</p>

<p>Buy a crystal ball, then you'll know how long you'll have to wait for the 7D MkII (which may or may not have the features you want).</p>

<p>Everyone knows CF memory sucks. That's why Canon use it in the 5D MkIII and 1D X. SD is much better which is why Canon use it in the Digital Rebels.</p>

<p>Why not just buy a 6D or 5D MkII, both of which actually exist and should be available for around $2000.</p>

<p>[[Today I was reading about the 7D M2 rumors... sounds pretty nice.]]</p>

<p>And tomorrow the rumors will change again.</p>

<p>And the day after, change again</p>

<p>And the day after...</p>

<p>[[should I go ahead and get the 7D, or wait 6 months and get the 7DM2?]]</p>

<p>Given the 7D Mark II isn't a camera that actually exists, as far as the public is concerned, your speculation can run as far as you want. You could wait for the 7D Mark III which will certainly be better than the Mark II. Or wait for the Mark V which will make the Mark III look like a point and shoot...</p>

<p>In all seriousness: <br>

A camera purchase is best, IMHO, when it is based on need. What will a new camera do that the XSi can't do for your specific photographic needs? What problems are you looking to solve? That should drive your purchase decision.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>You are using a 5 year old camera with little itty bitty flimsy media card that work in 50 dollar P and S cameras and a antiquated hobbled AF. :)<br>

Seriously, a 7D would be a big upgrade even though it is 3 years old. It would still be a logical step into learning your way around the "new" generation AF. <br>

In my mind the natural 7DM2 is already here... it is called the 5Dmk III and takes the best of the 7D and the 5DmkII, improves on all the best points... adds a few.. and it is available today.<br>

Anybody who shoots for money (or serious fun) needs a backup camera. Pick one.. get it. Enjoy. Buy used. Do it....<br>

Richard</p>

<p>The rumor mill isn't predicting availability of a 7D MK II in six months. There's a rumor of a possibility of an *announcement* "early in 2013". A rumor, mind you ...</p>

<p>"upgrade within a few years. and when I do it will be for a full frame"<br>

<br>

Why the fixation on FF? Current 7D pixel density is hard to beat, crop bodies are great for sports. I suppose if you're shooting at such high ISOs that noise is an issue, then the lower noise of current EOS FF bodies would be attractive, but other than that, FF just gets you bigger and heavier lenses for the same number of pixels in the final image. On the wide end, Canon makes a superb 10-22 zoom. I shoot mostly wildlife, in particular birds, and I'll only go FF if in the future it becomes clear that Canon's abandoning future APS-C development. Of course, my background includes many, many years shooting Velvia at ISO (optimistically) 50, or E100SW at ISO 100, so I don't find the fact that the 7D at ISO 1600 or 3200 shows noise particularly limiting, when I can get great image quality at ISO 800, and couldn't imagine shooting chrome at ISO 1600 or 3200 (much less 12800!) AT ALL in the past. Compared to the old days, I'm in a constant state of bliss shooting digital even on the supposedly "noisy" APS-C bodies. But that's just one old fart speaking ...<br>

<br>

7D autofocus is extremely good. You'll like it for sports shooting if you take the time to master the various modes and settings. When introduced, it was arguably the best AF system offered by Canon (certainly the most flexible, the "tunable" sensitivity to intervening objects in AF Servo mode is extremely useful, for instance). The 18MP sensor features both more pixels and less noise than the older 12.2MP sensor in your current Rebel.</p>

<p>Also, through tomorrow, Sept 23rd, you can buy a refurb'd 7D direct from Canon for $1087. I just bought one myself to replace a 50D I've been using as my 2nd body (to another 7D).</p>

<p>Here's a link to the refurb offer if you or anyone else is interested:</p>

<p>http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_10051_260463_-1</p>

 

<p>Wow! Thank you all, you have given me a lot to think about!</p>

<p>Basically my reasons for wanting to upgrade:<br>

* Better AF system<br>

* Higher ISO for sports<br>

* Better Low Light<br>

* Higher resolution photos for enlargements if required<br>

* Off-camera flash (I do some indoor shootings at networking events also for promoters)</p>

<p>I was wanting to move to FF eventually just because it seems to be the next logical step in the progression after a high end APS-C... but I really do like the smaller lenses and such. </p>

<p>Refurb is the way I intend to go, but I was going to wait until about Black Friday to get one, as I'm sure there will be tons of sales from all the retailers, or is something too high end to usually go on special? Canon always has $150-$200 off their equipment it seems, so I'll be able to get it... shouldn't I?</p>

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Refurb is the way I intend to go, but I was going to wait until about Black Friday to get one, as I'm sure there will be tons of sales from all the retailers, or is something too high end to usually go on special? Canon always has $150-$200 off their equipment it seems, so I'll be able to get it... shouldn't I?<br>

</p>

</blockquote>

<p>In a word, no. In several words, maybe, maybe not. In even more words, if it's available now at the right price, buy it now</p>

<p>All of the reasons you mention (except for OCF) are great reasons to buy a 7D over your XSi. I don't understand why you have hesitated.</p>

<p>However, you <em>have</em> hesitated, and it has cost you images and capability that you would otherwise be using now. IMO, you should buy a used/refurbed 7D. You don't have much to worry about from a market value standpoint, and if you want to buy a 7D2 (when... ...if) it's available, you'll likely be able to sell your 7D 'classic' with only a minimal 'cost'.</p>

 

<p>"Canon always has $150-$200 off their equipment it seems, so I'll be able to get it... shouldn't I?"<br>

<br>

Not sure, I know they've had refurb sales in the past. I'd be surprised to see it at a price lower than $1087, though! In my case, I decided to spring on a good deal that exists today, rather than wait for a hypothetical future deal that might not be as good, much less better! :) Any rebate program on a *new* 7D isn't going to bring you close to that price.<br>

<br>

Regarding FF, the size is just a historical accident, right? 35mm film? Itself an accident in the sense that Leica built a camera which took 35mm movie film and the format happened to take off because of the popularity of their cameras, right?<br>

<br>

On the other hand, it's true that any reasonable 18MP sensor in FF format (like the 1DX) is going to display much less noise than the equivalent technology 18MP sensor in APS-C format. That's physics. If you need to routinely shoot at extremely high ISOs migrating to FF might make sense. Then again, by the time you're ready to do so, the APS-C sensors available in the future might be pretty close to (say) today's 1DX FF sensor. Who knows, until the future arrives?<br>

<br>

"Basically my reasons for wanting to upgrade:<br>

* Better AF system<br />* Higher ISO for sports<br />* Better Low Light<br />* Higher resolution photos for enlargements if required<br />* Off-camera flash (I do some indoor shootings at networking events also for promoters)"</p>

<p>As far as the first three go (I'm assuming #5 isn't possibly with your Rebel but don't know, personally) you'll find the 7D a significant improvement over your rebel. 18MP vs. 12MP helps with #4 (big prints) but may not be as noticable as you think with modern uprez algorithms. However lower noise *also* helps here, so overall yes you should see a positive difference in larger enlargements.</p>

<p>Also the 7D is much better built than the Rebel, and while not as weather/dust sealed as the 1D series, is certainly more durable than the Rebel.</p>

<p>You may enjoy this:</p>

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<p> </p>

<p>[[Canon always has $150-$200 off their equipment it seems, so I'll be able to get it... shouldn't I?]]</p>

<p>Except when it's not in stock and you've gone from "want" to "need." </p>

 

<p>"Canon always has $150-$200 off their equipment it seems, so I'll be able to get it... shouldn't I?"<br>

<br />Well, it seems there's a $100 instant rebate going on right now, so at B&H you can buy a new one for $1357.<br>

<br>

That's still a lot more than the refurb for $1087!<br>

<br>

If you spring for it, your only regret will be in having to sit down and study the manual until you fully understand it, 'cause you're going to find out it does a whole lot more than your older Rebel! :)<br>

<br>

Also not mentioned thus far is frame rate. I upgraded my two 7Ds to the V2.0.3 firmware last night, and shot 38 frames in RAW on one in high speed mode before the camera came to a halt to flush the buffer. It didn't manage to sustain the full 8 frames per second for all 38 frames, but judging from the sound it didn't drop below about 5 fps and mostly kept up at full speed until I hit 38, when it noticeably began to slow down. Full-on burst mode isn't my style, but it was fun to see, dual digic 4 processors rock.<br>

<br>

</p>

<p>If you need a camera now, the 7D is a great one. If you are happy with what you have for now, you can wait. </p>

<p>Of course, if you wait for a possible-but-not-certain 7DII, you might then find yourself speculating about a 7DIII and a 7DIV and a...</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>The 7D is a superb camera. Even though it's 3 years old it's still an outstanding camera with tons of capability. You'll be most impressed, I think. As far as off-camera flash, you can do some of that as well since the 7D has a built-in transmitter to trigger flash off-camera through the pop-up flash. Also consider the host of functions added to the camera with the most recent firmware that make it an even more versatile tool. You can wait, but you're missing out on a pretty incredible camera!</p>

<p>Well I've pretty much been sold on going ahead to get the 7D. I was concerned the most with market value decreasing sharply once the new model came out.</p>

<p>I went to the Canon web store... once you add in tax and shipping, it's actually more than Adorama's regular price for the refurb... and I'm waiting to get a check for referring a coworker to pay for this... so that's why I hesitated.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your input!</p>

<p>"I went to the Canon web store... once you add in tax and shipping, it's actually more than Adorama's regular price for the refurb..."<br>

<br>

Ouch. I live in Oregon, no sales tax, and Canon was also offering a free shipping promo code earlier.<br>

<br>

Nothing wrong with Adorama, though.<br>

<br>

Once it arrives, tell us what you think of it!<br>

</p>

<p>With the new firmware update the 7D is great camera where previously it was just a very good camera. For the money I doubt you can find something better.</p>

<p>My advice is to wait for the 7D mk ii to be announced and released, then buy a brand-new 7D mk i. 6 months? A year? ¿Quien sabe?<br>

However, if you actually want a camera to use right now, either get the 7D, or get a 5Dmkii while they are still available new.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>but honestly the fact it is 3 years old and uses CF media</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The first time I have read CF memory worked as a disadvantage. Indeed it is much faster than SD.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>The first time I have read CF memory worked as a disadvantage. Indeed it is much faster than SD.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That is not strictly true. The Fastest SDXC cards will out perform the lower spec CFs that many people use. If you are using a high end high speed Pro DSLR there is an advantage; however you will need to use the very fastest and expensive CFs.<br /> For normal use SDHC and SDXC work fine; so I would not worry too much about the card type.</p>

I have exactly the same case, i have XSI which i bought a while ago and. Now i want to upgrade to 7D next edition. In the

meantime i decided to upgrade other components. Predominantly lenses, having better one gives a huge boost in quality.

Also added few filters (from singh-ray). The other thing i started playing with post-processing software, initally i was

against using it - but now it is really fun. My point is - body is just a part of camera system. You can improve other

components while waiting for the new body - it takes time anyway. That is what ii am doing now. In my opinion the

difference between 7d and the next one wil be significant. 4 or 5 years in technology it is a loooooong. Optics get older

muuuuuch slower.

<p>Unless you are shooting sport or wildlife have you considered a 60D. it has basically the same sensor and good high ISO performance in a lighter cheaper body. It has great video capabilities and a swivel screen which Cannon have refused to fit on their pro and prosumer bodies. Its a good compromise as you could end up waiting a long time for a 7Dmk 2. its not as fast but a 5FPS its a lot faster than a 5D2.</p>

 

<p>I, too, am in the same situation. I have an xsi, which I purchased new approximately 3 years ago. It's been great for my needs up until now. I am stepping out a bit as I have so many requests from friends and family to do their portraits. As well as a whole variety of subjects that I enjoying photographing (more for personal use).<br>

I have been looking at the 7d. I was also looking at the 60d. Of course, I'd like to get a 5d Markii, better yet a iii. However, I don't necessarily feel that at my level I need that much camera just yet. I likely will not have enough money in my "play" account to buy this until March. I have a little time to explore my options.<br>

I appreciate reading all of this feedback, especially related to the topic of memory card. I am finding a delay in recording my RAW images with my current equipment and am buying a new card today, to see if there is improvement. Not sure if it's my card or the camera or both. I don't use burst, too much, so I would think this would be the reason. I haven’t done enough research or had enough experience to know a difference.</p>

 

<p>First of all there isn't any benefit of using an SD card over a CF card. A well built card is good regardless of format. A CF is tougher to destroy, and that's it.<br>

Wait for the 7D Mark II and buy it. Do not get talked into the Mark I. It has way too much noise for the money you spend. </p>

<p>The Mark II will be great for wildlife.<br>

<a href="http://leonhardt.smugmug.com">http://leonhardt.smugmug.com</a></p>