Canon EOS 7D (1 Viewer)

[Will_B]

Maybe China's announcement about rare earth elements has had an effect?


Oct 19 NY Times: "China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted some shipments of those materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said this week..."


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/business/global/20rare.html?_r=2&ref=global-home

 

[Patrick Sun]

Crap! Maybe I'll have to dip my toes back into the used camera gear market.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Canon also has a Customer Loyalty program where you can turn in any old, non-functioning camera for a refurbished camera. I believe the 7D is under $1,200 via this avenue. All you need is some broken, cheap Canon point & shoot digital camera and you are all set.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I used to have some old Canon point-n-shoot digital cameras, but they got stolen almost 2 years ago. I'd rather hang on to my other 2 Canon point-n-shoots because they have the articulating flip LCD screens that I find invaluable at times.


But I'll check out that loyalty program, and see which models qualify for the 7D promotion. May check out some pawn shops for a cheap Canon camera...

 

[Eric Samonte]

I'm upgrading from a T1i to a 60D. While ur discussions on the merits of the 7D are quite convincing, I am still bound to the almighty dollar. I don't think I can justify another $400 on top of the 60D when I can easily get a nice lens for that money (actually have a Sigma 10-22 f4 in mind). I'm hoping to sell my T1i to fund the new camera, then another year or so down the road, sell off stuff again to upgrade to an 8D.....maybe...when that's out....

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The 60D looks like a fine camera, Eric. Since you have a Rebel Ti1, you are already invested in SD memory cards. I think the 60D is an excellent upgrade for anyone coming from the Rebel line. In my case, I was upgrading from a 40D, and the 7D's feature set was a better fit for me.

 

[Carlo_M]

For anyone thinking of upgrading to either a 60D or a 7D (and keep in mind I'm a 7D owner), I would say to ask yourself this question: are you going to be using the "movie mode" at all? If so, you may want to wait until Canon releases a DSLR that implements full-time focusing. Neither the 7D nor the 60D do that, but the newly announced Nikon does. Nikon has really upped the ante with that feature, and my guess is that Canon will be forced to respond by including that feature in whatever new DSLR they announce.


If you are not going to use movie mode much, or you're okay without the full-time focusing, and your main concern is photograph quality, then by all means jump in. I've loved my 7D since I upgraded from the 450D.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Good ;point, Carlo. Personally, I have not used the movie mode on my 7D, except to try it out to make sure it worked. I'm not really interested in video -- I never use our camcorder, either, and let my wife play with it when we travel (she's not very good at shooting video, though). I hate editing the footage afterwards.


To me the main differences between the 7D and 60D, in order of importance, are:

1. Much more advanced auto focus on the 7D

2. Extra joy stick control on 7D, over integrated control dial on 60D (which a Rebel owner will not even notice)

3. Compact flash vs. SD (xxD owners will have CF, while Rebel owners will have SD)

4. Built-in electronic level on 7D (I do not think this is on the 60D, but may be wrong)

5. Fixed vs. articulating LCD (I prefer fixed)

6. 8fps vs. 5.3fps -- not that big a deal unless you are a very serious sports shooter

7. Magnesium vs. plastic body -- both should be durable, but they feel different. Not a big deal, either, IMO.

 

[Eric Samonte]

Yeah, the AF on the 7D is heaven as well as the burst shooting. The articulating LCD is gonna be fun though I doubt I will be using it much. The 60D has that electronic level thingy though but I have to find the use for that myself. I have handled a 7D and its size it nice, making me think I have something substantial. Its the reason why I got a battery grip for my T1i.

As for video, I occasionally use it. We still have our DV Sony camcorder working which hasn''t seen any action for the past 5 years I think.


One thing I wanna ask u guys though, does the bracketing on the 7D differ than the 60D? I do a lot of HDRs and bracket my shots. Having more than 3 would be nice.....

 

[Carlo_M]

Bracketing on the 7D is a burst of 3, I haven't seen the ability to change that setting.

 

[Eric Samonte]

Thanks Carlo for that. Guess, I will definitely be happy with this new toy of mine!

 

[Eset]

excellent device

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Here are a few shots from last week in South Carolina. 7D and 100-400mm L.

 

[Eric Samonte]

Hmmm, if only I had money to get one of them "white" lenses....Maybe Xmas...

 

[Patrick Sun]

Nice shots, Scott!


I hate the white lens look on the L lenses, but I know that you can buy more subdue "lenscoat" covering for the length of the lens body to help it blend in, without the white drawing attention to itself.


http://www.lenscoat.com/canon-covers-c-2.html

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Thanks, Patrick.


The white color of the "L" lenses does not bother me -- I also own a white 70-200mm f/4 IS. I occasionally get asked a dumb question from a non-photographer, but I get some of those with my black 17-55mm f/2.8, too.


I took the first two photos at Huntington State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC, which is at the southern end of the Myrtle Beach "Grand Strand" area. I actually had a very pleasant chat there with another photographer, who began the conversation by asking how I liked the 7D. Turns out he was a professional studio photographer -- he had a full frame 5D, but did not own any "L" telephoto lenses, since he did not use them for his studio work. He was instead using a Tamron 28-300mm super-zoom with his 5D.

 

[Eric Samonte]

Is there a reason why Canon made some of them white, the zooms are the ones that are white right?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Originally Posted by Eric Samonte

Is there a reason why Canon made some of them white, the zooms are the ones that are white right?

Not all the "L" zooms are white. The 24-105mm f/4 and 24-70 f/2.8 come immediately to mind. Also, the longer "L" telephoto primes (anything longer than 200mm) are white.


I believe it is to keep the lens elements cooler -- white reflects sunlight, while black absorbs it. It is used on the larger lenses only for this reason.

 

[Eric Samonte]

Yeah, I know the black ones are L lenses when they have those red line going around them. Seems kinda trivial for the reason but do they actually get hot or warm at all during use? I haven't tried one yet, only held once or twice....

 

[Citizen87645]

I can understand the white for the real monster teles, but it does seem trivial for ones like the 70-200 2.8.