Camera Labs

Welcome on-board Ehiztari.

I think you're asking questions more from a 7D perspective, so we'll have the discussion in this thread and we'll delete your identical entry in the 60D thread. Most people here will read both threads, so you won't miss out on any comments by only posting in this one.

In terms of speed, it depends how fast your action moves. If it's really quick, then you will appreciate the higher fps. For me though the build plus the AF and viewfinder are what make the 7D really special. If you're likely to shoot in a tough environment, I'd say it's worth going for the tougher build of the 7D, and sacrificing the swivel screen of the 60D.

Hi Welcome

We compared the 60D and the 7D, the 60D had just been released and wasn`t that much cheaper, a few things I have learnt to appreciate on the 7D since.

The AI Servo, once you get used to it and play around with the settings is really good at tracking fast moving things. For action and wildlife it works well. I am into a bit of bird photograhy and into chasing the kids around, they are more challenging.
The large view finder is definitely worth having.

If you mainly use it with spotfocus and normal single shot focus the 60D will be fine.

As far as favouring the 60D due to video, have you done much video with a DSLR?
Its ok but a bit painful due to the shallow dof and keeping things in focus, you certainly chew through memory pretty quick.
We also have a HD video cam, a Canon HF 200 and its much easier to use for video, its small in size and memory cards and battery last much longer.
In my honest opinion a DSLR is never going to be discreet, its the lenses that you stick out the front that stuff you up there. If that is a priority have you considered a HD cam and a P&S like the Powershot S95?

Also how fast are your cards and what size?
You may find that you need to get bigger and faster cards, especially for video. For me it was a surprise stepping up from a 10MP camera to 18MP, if you shoot raw will fill them up pretty quick and HD video needs fast cards. I could easily fill up 4GB and have now got 8 and 16. I also have bought a second battery, as I was getting caught out, ie I didn`t always charge it every few days.

Sounds to me like you could do with all three, a DSLR and P&S and a HD video cam.

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 6D,7D, 24-70 2.8 Tamron VC, Canon 15-85, Canon 85 1.8, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L Macro, Canon 70-300L +Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

Thanks for the feedback!


Maybe it's better if I detail my equipment to date: I usually travel with a Pentax Optio W80 (waterproofed point&shoot camera for adrenaline action packed pics&videos), a Canon FS100 and an EOS 400D with the Tamron 18-270 VC. The idea is to get a new DSLR that shoots video too to avoid having to carry around two cameras, plus spare batteries, chargers, etc; with the Tamron and the Pentax. I have more lens and another bigger camcorder (JVC GZ-HD7) and another Flip-style HD waterproofed camcorder (Kodak sth-I-dont-remember-now) but again, the goal is to try to minimise the equipment while traveling. If possible, one small camera bag that fits in the day pack.

As for shooting video, before 2010 I only shot with (apart from the JVC) Sonys HDR-FX7 and Canon XL-1 and 2. I'm right now doing a course in film making in Auckland and we have shot extensively with the 7D (with external audio recording). So far, so good. The image is great and I prefer the manual focus than the autofocus when it comes to video. It would be sweet if the 7D had audio levels like the 60D but I expect someone in Canon to think about that in a near future and I don't consider it a big downside.

As for the CF that I have, apart from three 2GB and one 4GB, I also have two 30mb/s CF of 8GB and 16GB respectively. Only the last two could be usable for video. About SD cards, I have several too. However, the 16GB SDHC is class 4, and I only have a 8GB class 6 SDHC that I could use for video (so I would have to buy one more at least, if possible, faster than class 6)


My problem is that I need a bit of both and the red line between both is so thin that it's difficult to decide which one. Had it been a 50D+video, I wouldn't be having this mess in my head! And taking that into account, the price difference is (in Spain, where I'm from and I would buy it) from €900 the 60D to €1300 the 7D; I want to know if the extra features of the 7D (specially the extra frames per second) are value for the extra €400.

Thanks

Ehiztari,

If you are going to use this camera's video feature a lot, how attractive is the flip screen?

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Canon 5DIII, Rebel XTi/400D
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II, 24-105mm f/4L, 50mm f/1.4, 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DO, 85mm f/1.8
Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX Macro
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
Canon 430EX II
Opteka 13mm, 21mm, and 31mm extension tubes
Vivitar 50mm f/1.8 for OM System

Bienvenidos, Ehiztari! I would think the better construction of the 7D makes it the better value, if harsh environments are likely. The FPS of the 7D is also something I valued, though not as importantly as the better construction and weather sealing. I am somewhat prejudiced, however, as I totally disdain video, so the video capability and swivel screen of the 60D were totally irrelevant.

I saw the 60D as offering me nothing substantial over my 40D, or even over my XTi, which is the USA name for the 400D.

Canon seems to be selling all of the 7D cameras they can ship. Dealers cannot seem to keep them in stock. Moreover, the tsunami has caused delays for Japanese industry. I would not think a successor to the 7D is imminent. I am actually considering a second 7D, if finances allow.

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Canon 7D/5D/40D/1D2N; Nikon F6, FM3A, & Coolpix A; Canon 40mm Pancake, 135L, 50L, 35L, pre-II 50mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8L Macro, 10-22mm EF-S, 28-135 EF, 400mm 5.6L; Nikkor 50mm 1.2 AI-S, 50mm 1.4G, 50mm 1.8D, 16mm 2.8D Fisheye, 180mm 2.8D, 100-300mm 5.6 AI-S; Tokina 17mm & 100mm 2.8 Macro

After spending much time reading on this site, I recently bought a 7D and the 70-200mm F2.8L IS II. Love them both. However, I've noticed that there seems to be a slight bit of movement between the lens and the body. Is this to be expected since the lens is so heavy? Or is this an issue? With a 50 mm 1.8 lens there's no movement at all, but of course it's only a fraction of the weight of the 70-200.

Thanks.

Hi Boundiali

Now this scares me.. do you still find movement between the lens and the body? As i am planning to upgrade to 7D from my 50D and i am already having 70-200 2.8 mk2 lens with me..

What kind of movement are you observing? Can you please eloborate on this?

Regards
Mano

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Canon EOS 5D mk III|Canon EOS 7D | 70-200 F2.8 L IS II USM | 400 F5.6 L USM

Firmware 1.2.5 available here:

http://www.canon.co.uk/Support/Consumer_Products/products/cameras/Digital_SLR/EOS_7D.aspx?DLtcmuri=tcm:14-835658&page=1&type=download

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Canon 5D2, 7D, 50D & Canon s95 | Canon Lenses: 28-135mm, 17-55mm, 10-22mm, 15-85mm, 100mm 2.8 USM Macro and the 50mm 1.4 | Speedlite 580EX II and 430EX II |

Downloaded and installed new firmware without any incident or added value.

The description of the improvements is as follows:

Firmware Version 1.2.5 incorporates the following improvements and fixes.

Fixed a rare phenomenon in which there were rare cases where movie files taken could not be opened when repeatedly shooting movies with specific CF cards.
Fixed a rare phenomenon in which there were cases where “Err 02″ appeared when repeatedly shooting still images with specific CF cards.
Fixed a phenomenon that occurred when using high-capacity (32 GB or greater) CF cards: If either a CF card with only a little available space remaining or the battery was removed and then reinserted into the camera, and then the user attempted to start shooting movies immediately, shooting would stop.
Improved the writing/reading speeds when using UDMA 7-compatible CF cards.
Fixed a phenomenon that occurred when custom function C.Fn 4-1 was set to assign IS start to the AF stop button on the lens: When used with lenses that do not have an AF stop button, the IS function would not work.
Corrected some mistakes in the menu screens displayed in Arabic and Portuguese. (This applies to models in overseas markets. The models for the Japanese market do not display those languages.)

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Brian,
Canon 5DII, 7D, EF-S 10-22, EF 50 USM 1.4, EF-S 60 macro EF 16-35 L USM, EF 24 -15L IS USM, EF EF 100-400L, Canon SX130

Downloaded, installed. Nothing to report so far. Thought I should do this one as I skipped the previous one.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I wonder went they go to release the 2.0 ver.

like 1080 in 60fps, 720 in 120fps sound control -etc-.

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Canon EOS 7D + Red Canon IXUS 300HS.
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L,Canon EF 100mm F/2.8L IS USM.
Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8 APO EX DG OS HSM, Sigma 50mm F/1.4 HSM
Canon Speedlite 480EX II + Tripod+ B+W MRC (2x77+67), hoya HD UV (77) B+W MRC 77mm(CPL slim+10 ND).

Apparently this update has been pulled off the site. Now the question is why?... hope they didn't find any bugs in it post launch. I was wondering why it appeared on UK not JP as it normally would.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

if your interested in looking at the images taken by a 7d please go on forum wildlife and pet photograpy under that look for

Crocadiles/Crane/Serpent Eagle Shot with a Canon 7D
thank you

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Canon EOS 7D + Battery Grip, Canon 50mm f1.8 11

My 7D is now almost exactly one year old with approximately 11,400 exposures to date. I use the BG-E7 battery grip and have two properly registered genuine canon LP-E6 batteries.

Today for the first time after a recharge, the "battery recharge performance" indicator is showing only two green bars instead of the usual three. What is this telling me? Do I need to prepare to replace them?

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Brian,
Canon 5DII, 7D, EF-S 10-22, EF 50 USM 1.4, EF-S 60 macro EF 16-35 L USM, EF 24 -15L IS USM, EF EF 100-400L, Canon SX130

One of my two genuine batteries dropped to two out of three bars a while ago, and the second one also did recently. Dunno how many shots I've taken but it would many tens of thousands. Without a controlled before and after test I couldn't say they feel any shorter life than they were new, but I think those bars indicate the relative life of the battery. When they all go out, it might be time to replace them, but as long as they hold a charge for any amount of time I'll still use them.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.