Talk me out of buying a 7D (if possible)

<p>I have a Rebel XTI as a backup, and a 40D as a main. I want to sell my XTI, use my 40D as a backup and purchase a 7D as a new main. Here is why I feel I need a 7D. Talk me out of it, if you can.<br>

1. Better noise handeling than my 40D/XTI.<br>

2. Larger print sizes.<br>

3. Better AF system (I shoot sports and would like to use servo with AF)<br>

4. More robust body, it is very cold in SD (-20F last week) and I am afraid to take my 40D outside. I am missing lots of great winter shots.<br>

The price is what really concerns me. If I buy this 7D I don't want to have to upgrade in a few years (7D mII or comparable for example). The price of the 40D never really bothered me to upgrade.</p>

<p>You should buy a 1D Mark IV.</p>

<p>See, you're not buying a 7D anymore! :)</p>

 

<p>Can't help you here as I also use a 40D now and I plan on getting one myself...soon as I save the $$. DSLR's are like computers and just about everything else electronic these days, they are outdated almost immediately. Sure there will be a MkII version in the future, but there was also a 50D out last year...did you feel you were missing out not getting it? I wouldn't worry about it, get it if you can afford it and enjoy!</p>

<p>I didn't buy a 50D because of what I was reading on the forums, that the 40D was the better deal if not superior IQ.</p>

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<p>You should buy a 1D Mark IV.</p>

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<p>I am leaning more towards the 5D mII for its IQ and noise. However it does nothing for sports shooting :(.</p>

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<p>they are outdated almost immediately.</p>

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<p>Only if you buy the marketing spewed from the manufacturers and forums like this one.</p>

<p>I still have photos being published full-page from the 10D. I don't use it anymore, but the biggest issue I had with it was the small font for the menus and the inability to read the top deck. More of a glasses problem than anything. The 40D I replaced it with has a number of advantages over it, but if it wasn't for the menu reading, I probably would have waited another year.</p>

Talk you out of it?

 

Those 17MG images can fill up your hard drive pretty fast. I just finished HOURS cleaning up my HD after my Adobe Photoshop kept crashing. Apparently I only had 6MG left after months of downloading images, good luck.

<p>I am in the same boat as Kevin...<br /> I want the 7D for larger prints, better AF, slightly better VF, VF features like grid and level, better build, slightly better range in exposure latitude (dynamic range), lower noise at ISO 1600+, better LCD, HD video, microphone, and more room to crop.</p>

<p>My oldest DSLR, the 10D, has been gathering dust for 2.5 years. The 40D's a workhorse.</p>

<p>It's still in my virtual shopping cart.</p>

<p>External hard drives are CHEAP... 200 bucks or a little more and you can devote an external to your HD video and another external to your 7D stills. 500GB will store easily 25,000 7D raw images. That's what 95% or more of DSLR shooters capture in two years. Therefore, a TB is 50,000 images! I've no idea the filesizes on the HD video files. 4GB for 25 minutes?</p>

<p>So, Harry, your PC's primary disk is a minimum of 250GB (for shoots going back the past several months only). Duplicate all of these shots to a pair of external hard drives. Storage is CHEAP and EASY.</p>

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<p>I've no idea the filesizes on the HD video files. 4GB for 25 minutes?</p>

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<p>Indeed, how much space does a clip take? On that note: What kind of memory cards do y'all use with the 7D? Yes, storage is cheap but it costs nevertheless.</p>

<p>"I am leaning more towards the 5D mII for its IQ and noise. However it does nothing for sports shooting :(."</p>

<p>You can shoot sports with a 5D2. With greater depth of field, more room to crop and less noise I might add.</p>

<p>By the way, how do you put that gray box around a quote from another post?</p>

<p>The 40D has a 1.6 lens multiplier and so does the 7D. It comes down to what you are using the camera for. If you need the multiplier for longer shots, the 7D adds distance to all lens. If you use more for close shots such as portraits and macro, the 5D may be a better choice (also more expensive). The 1080p on both cameras is a big plus. I also own a 40D and thinking about buying the 7D with the 5D a close second. Let your future needs be your guide. If I do get the 7D, my next choice will be a 1:1 camera from Canon.</p>

<p>Nathan hit the nail on the head - old != obsolete.<br>

The video files produced by the 7D range from 160MB/min to 350MB/min. Factor in an external HD if you plan on doing video!</p>

 

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<p>Nathan hit the nail on the head - old != obsolete.</p>

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<p>How is that? Are you saying I can't sell my photos from an older camera? Or use it at all?</p>

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<p>By the way, how do you put that gray box around a quote from another post?</p>

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<p>Copy, click the quotation mark, it should indent, paste, enter enter, then unclick the quotation. to unquote.</p>

<p>Thanks Kevin, By the way not saying a 5D2 is ideal for sports but every camera has some kind of trade off so to say its not possible is just wrong. I will say after using a 5D2 for about a year or so now I will never go back to a crop camera.</p>

<p>Why would you have 2 cameras with the same size sensor? Sell the Rebel and get a used 1st gen 5D and keep the 40D. Now you have FF and APS-C. One for landscapes/portraits and one for sports/wildlife. Your lens set will effectively double since each lens will look different on each body. You will have 2 specialty bodies and this will be alot more verstaile instead of having 2 bodies that do the same thing. There would be no need for the 40D if you had a 7D. If you consider the 7D, you might as well sell both and get a 1D MkII or III. Plenty of options here, but I wouldn't own 2 APS-C cameras. I personally would go with the 5D and 40D combo. </p>

<p><em>You can shoot sports with a 5D2. With greater depth of field, more room to crop and less noise I might add.</em></p>

<p>The 5D2 would have less DoF, not more. Room to crop is insignificant considering how close the two are (18 vs 21 MP). The 5D2 certainly does better on noise, but it only matters if you regularly print big (i.e. 16x24 or more) from ISO 1600 or higher.</p>

<p>The 5D2 is for people who print big from high ISO, or own/use a handful of lenses which don't make sense on crop (i.e. T/S lenses). Otherwise...get the 7D and don't look back.</p>

<p>I second what Tommy says about the 5D II.</p>

<p>Deborah and I have the 40D canon body (and before that the 20D). We have also owned the Mark III (1D series) - we love the Canon 400mm AF lenses (both the DO and the F5.6). So my comments below relate to shooting birds in flight, often at 800asa and above.</p>

<p>Recently we purchased the 7D based upon all the positives we read about it. And we agree - the build and AF of the 7D exceeds any previous 1.6x crop camera Canon has made. However, we have been disappointed with image quality - we are seeing moderate blue (purple) fringing around branches, even when the sun is at our backs (ie. we are not shooting into string light); we are disappointed with photos shot above 800 asa - way too grainy for our needs (40D seems better to us, though still not good enough); and in scenes encompassing shadows (and underexposed areas), we are seeing colors that looked "smeared" - they lack detail.</p>

<p>So we are likely returning the 7D in the next few days. The image quality of a used Mark III (1D series) is better at higher ASAs - our primary need. Also, the 5D II has been wonderful for birds in flight, and especially at 1200-2400 asa...and its AF is fast enough. So do give that body some thought (buy used for about $2100.00). I have been very pleased and surprised with image quality and handling of the 5D II.</p>

<p>So see if you can borrow.rent a 7D and shoot it at the ASAs and situations you need most - and make a decision based on your experience. OR, download some full raw images and work with them - you know your 40D - so see if raw images from the 7D are as good or better...</p>

<p>Bottom line: there are better options than the 7D right now for our needs. I am not saying it is not a good camera nor that in some situations it produces images better than the 40D/50D, etc. Just make sure the 7D fits your needs before you spend your money on it.</p>

 

<p>I think the reason you buy things is because they make your life or work better. A 7D or a 5D II may improve your photography if you're willing to work to improve your photographer. If you can afford it why not go for it. By the way the 5D II price just dropped $200 to $2499. Has me thinking to sell my two APS-C cameras, 17-55mm and 10-22mm lenses and get another 5D II for a backup to improve my life and simplify. The storage argument is spurious now with the price of storage. A friend of mine just built his latest windows computer with 2 1 terabyte hard drives. That should store a whole bunch of data, plus external drives are getting cheaper all the time. Horses for courses though. The digital rebel series are sized beautifully for shooting on the street. Lots of options and nobody can answer for you except the person in the mirror, allegedly the brains of the outfit. Best forget about what anybody else thinks.</p>

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<p>The 5D2 would have less DoF, not more</p>

 

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<p>Daniel that is what I meant to say. </p>

<p>Robert - fringing is a lens issue, and both RAW converters and PS can fix it easily. The 7D will reveal it sooner than other cameras because of its pixel density.</p>

<p>As for noise, the 7D is cleaner than the 40D, and about equal to a 1D mkIII, in print. You might say this isn't true based on pixel peeping, but pixel peeping is viewing different resolution sensors at different magnifications. Try printing the same size, or equalizing the size before pixel peeping.</p>

<p>As to smearing: this can happen when shooting JPG with the NR set too high. You have to play with that to get optimum results. I might consider it a flaw except for the fact that it's easily turned to low or off.</p>

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<p>we are disappointed with photos shot above 800 asa - way too grainy for our needs (40D seems better to us, though still not good enough)</p>

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<p>And I'll repeat here what I recently wrote elsewhere in response to a similar comment you made: it's your conversion and processing choices that are the problem there, not the camera(s).</p>

<p>I own both the 7D and the 40D and get excellent, detailed high ISO results from each with no trouble at all, converting in Capture One.</p>

<p>You should get the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, go for the bigger sensor or wait for the 7d sensor and ability to come to the 40D/50D part of the Canon lineup.<br>

My 2 cents.</p>

<p>Mark</p>

<p>Talk you out of it? Maybe. It does cost a fair bit of money by itself, and is good enough to make use of the best IS glass and the fastest UDMA CF, both of which are disproportionately pricey. The 16GB Sandisk ExtremePro cost $300 a month ago; it might be a bit less today. It holds 2100 full resolution JPGs, and is fast enough to keep up with the continuous 8 shots per second. IS glass helps to hold the very finest AF point on your intended target. The wrongly maligned AF system will track that target and pick it out of a crowd of milling confusion. Just hold the pipper on target and squeeze until the card fills up, 4 minutes and 22 seconds later. But who does that? I have 2.5 TB of disk space, and I don't do that. I have LightRoom 2, which turns the 2100 shots into a fast motion video as I scrollwheel and slide the mouse across the filmstrip thingee at the bottom, and I don't do that. Except just once to entertain myself.</p>

<p>The 7D is a wireless master for 430EX and 580EX flashes. If I buy a gaggle more, I can still control them all in 3 wireless groups. I don't need the 580EX's additional stop and a half of flash intensity, nor do I need its wireless master. The whole gaggle can be the smaller and cheaper 430EXii. But I don't really need a gaggle of them. I'm pleased as punch with the lone 430EXii now that I got it off the camera. One or two more can be useful, but I'm in no hurry.</p>

<p>I had been eyeing the original 5D for some time for its fullframe sensor and wideangle. But then, the very wide EF-S 10-22mm makes this almost superfluous. I'd love to have a Zeiss 21/2.8 on a FF, but that might be somebody else's cuppa for the moment. For me, if I had it to do over again, I might not get the 7D. I probably really want the 5D Mk2, and a whole different set of lenses. But that's the kick. I already have a large investment in the long zoom range, which works very well for me on a crop sensor. The fullframe would have to in addition to, not instead of. And so the wideangle end would cost $1k for the used (12.1 Mpx only) 5D; $1.7k for the 21/2.8; and a new bag to carry the additonal gear. Versus $800 for the EF-S 10-22mm.</p>

<p>The HD video is a videographer's dream, I hear. The best I can get out of it is almost passable focus racks when it's mounted on a fluid head. Forget about handheld or mobile. There's no way to pull focus without help when it's mounted on a Fig Rig or Merlin. I jury rigged a laptop and an old XBox controller into a remote control of sorts. A lot more practice and some gym time building these shoulders might make it into a usable system.</p>

<p>How'd I do? Are you still thinking the 7D is your dream box?</p>

 

<p>I forgot about the memory card... crap. That will add cost, especially for the speed I would need.</p>