50D v 60D v 70D v 7D

zendog

zendog

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Steve
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A bit of context.

Last year I bought a 20D to dip a toe into DSLR after years of point and shoot. I'm now hooked and looking to upgrade my body for (say) the next five years.
My main interest is landscape just now (I walk a lot) but I'll give anything a go. Canon suits me and that's all I am considering. My budget is up about £700
second hand.

On eBay the options seem to be:

50D £280
60D £400
70D £700
7D £550

Prices for body only mint or very good averaged over the last month.

My thoughts are:

50D - cheap but not that much better than the 20D.

60D - a possible but still a bit limited.

70D - the latest technology but I have no interest at all in video or need for a bendy touch screen / wifi.

7D - seems much the best pure camera (build quality, burst fps, 100% viewfinder, CF, reasonable ISO). My current choice.

But I'm a learner and still a bit clueless so what do you experts think my best option is?

A slight niggle in the back of my mind is should I save up some more and go for full frame.
The 6D is well out of my budget range but are there cheaper options worth considering?

Any and every opinion welcomed.

Cheers

Steve
 
If your contemplating full frame, why not consider the lower 5D models. The 5Dc seems to be coming in around £300-400 which would leave funds available for glass, either a 17-40L or 24-104 f4 L IS, or the the 5D2 is a little over at around £800.
 
Hi of the cameras you have listed the 60d and 7d use the same sensor the 7d has a better body and frame rate. if i was me i would try the the 70d you don't have to use the swivel screen or the video but they are there
 
zendog said:
A bit of context.

Last year I bought a 20D to dip a toe into DSLR after years of point and shoot. I'm now hooked and looking to upgrade my body for (say) the next five years.
My main interest is landscape just now (I walk a lot) but I'll give anything a go. Canon suits me and that's all I am considering. My budget is up about £700
second hand.

On eBay the options seem to be:

50D £280
60D £400
70D £700
7D £550

Prices for body only mint or very good averaged over the last month.

My thoughts are:

50D - cheap but not that much better than the 20D.

60D - a possible but still a bit limited.

70D - the latest technology but I have no interest at all in video or need for a bendy touch screen / wifi.

7D - seems much the best pure camera (build quality, burst fps, 100% viewfinder, CF, reasonable ISO). My current choice.

But I'm a learner and still a bit clueless so what do you experts think my best option is?

A slight niggle in the back of my mind is should I save up some more and go for full frame.
The 6D is well out of my budget range but are there cheaper options worth considering?

Any and every opinion welcomed.

Cheers

Steve
Click to expand...
The 50d is a massive step up from the 20d!!
 
I had two 7D's and both were problematic, the first had inconsistant focus and metering and the second suffered from excessive noise above ISO800. With this in mind I part ex'd a 7D against the 70D and it's a belter. Although I've taken less shots with the 70D than either of the 7D's I've got more keepers from the 70D than the two 7D's put together. I do use the screen for my macro shots but most of the time it's just set as it would be on any other body. I also don't shoot video although that could change as someone asked me to do a video shoot recently so I'll need some practice. The WIFI is also handy when linked to a smart phone so you can take the shot from a distance and still see what you're shooting.

Before I got my second 7D I had a 60D and TBH I preferred the output of that much more than the 7D as well. The files seemed 'crisper' and needed much less work to get the best from them. If I had a choice from a 7D or 60D only then I'd go with the 60D without a shadow of doubt. For a choice out of the 60D and 70D I'd go for the 70D like a shot. All the best bits of the 60D with roughly the same AF system as the 7D. Liveview on the 70D is great for landscape shots as well, the AF is very accurate and the IQ is excellent.
 
I'm going for the 5D MkII as well, owned a 7D and wouldn't say it was that good for landscapes

If you want modern i'm guessing the 70D would be the best choice, but can't comment never having owned or even used one, same goes for the 50 and 60 too

I do have a 5D MkI as well and although rather dated does still produce a great photo so don't overlook that as a choice especially for the relatively low cost
 
The comments so far seem typical of the reactions I've seen in other places to 7D. More negatives than positives.
Can anyone pin down a reason ? The spec seems great and it's not that old.

Would I be right in thinking a 5D Mk2 would be about £900? I'll google it this evening.
 
Nothing really wrong with the 7D and I suspect most complaints are about noise at low'ish ISO, you do need to take more care with exposure than on some other cameras.

It is also quite a complicated machine especially the many AF options, these can also cause problems if not set up and used correctly

This one is purely my opinion, but I think it must have a strong low pass filter because the photos do often seem a bit soft compared to other cameras I have used.

5D MkII prices vary accordingly to where you buy from as in private or dealer, just seen one with approx 50K clicks sell on here for a score under 800 quid, so worth keeping an eye out if you decide to go down that route.
 
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zendog said:
The comments so far seem typical of the reactions I've seen in other places to 7D. More negatives than positives.
Can anyone pin down a reason ? The spec seems great and it's not that old.
Click to expand...

If you were asking for a camera for sports or wildlife, the 7D would top the list of the bodies you've mentioned.

If your looking solely for a landscape body, you'll be paying for a lot of (good) functions on the 7D you'll never use.

I have a 7D and 5DII. Used to own a 50D. Yes in straight IQ the 5DII wins, but the 5DII wouldn't win if I wanted a decent shot of a moving animal or motorbike.

If I had to keep one camera, I wouldn't even hesitate in picking the 7D.

Landscapes aren't my strong point but here is one example from each of the three cameras (in no particular order). Is it really that noticeable which shot came from which camera at web or basic resolution?

What are you planning on doing with your files in the end? Large print / online sharing etc?


Grand Canyon by ACW#, on Flickr


Cloud Bomb by ACW#, on Flickr



Singapore Skyline by ACW#, on Flickr
 
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zendog said:
Would I be right in thinking a 5D Mk2 would be about £900? I'll google it this evening.
Click to expand...

I think you should be able to get a 2nd hand 5DMKII for around that price.

There is one for sale on here for £800 at the moment and one recently sold with a grip for £950...
 
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Please forget I ever mentioned full frame. I cannot afford it FULL STOP

So I'm back to the original list and unfortunately none the wiser so far.

ACW - if landscape isn't your strong point you must be pretty dam good at something. My only plan at the moment is to practice and improve.
Eventually I might have something to print but 18mp will be plenty big enough.
 
50d = solid build , great sensor , good fps and good up to iso 1600 and cheap ! half the price of a 7d 90% as good ! and spend the rest on a wide angle lens ! simple .
 
A top rate lens on a 50d will be better than blowing your budget on a top line camera then having to use an average lens. I'd be following the route suggested by Corpy above given your intended usage. Latest tech and toys are great, but its the end result that counts
 
I agree totally. The 50d is a very capable camera and having seen images produced by one with a 70-200 f4 I would have no issues in recommending one. Even 60d's go for around £350-400 on ebay.
 
I already have a Tamron 10-24 mm.

OK not a top notch lens but plenty good enough to practice on.
 
zendog said:
Please forget I ever mentioned full frame. I cannot afford it FULL STOP
Click to expand...

You can afford a 5D. They're available pretty cheap these days. Go on... you know it makes sense and you can slowly build up your lens collection. But...

Personally I think that no matter what you buy you'll only see an improvement at the highest ISO's, when printing very large (and how often do you do that?) when doing heavy cropping or when pixel pepping at high magnification. If you fall into one of those catagories I think you'll see an improvement but if not any improvement is possibly going to be subtle to non existent.
 
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zendog said:
Get thee behind me Satan!

No I'll stick with crop this time.
Click to expand...

I had a 20D for about seven years and eventually moved to a 5D and I expected to see a jump in IQ but I just didn't... not unless pushing things to the extreme as I mentioned above.

I think that unless you are pushing the envelope there should be very little difference in the IQ you get from any of these cameras if you expose well and process each image to get the best out of it. What you do get with different bodies is different and possibly/probably more and better features and different handling but not necessarily an improvement in actual IQ that's going to smack you in the face, IMVHO.
 
Alan - I read your original post in a rush and bleeped over the "but .." bit - sorry about that. Shame faced smilie twice!

I keep coming back to the 7D. Landscape is where I'm at now but the rest of it's functions will get used eventually - I do like to experiement.

but the IQ doubts are a bit of a concern - can anyone else using a 7D pitch in?
 
I've had a 7d and 60d
My thoughts are go for the 60, it's a lot cheaper and better iq IMHO. Considering your a walker I found the 7d heavy
The only reason I'd chose the 7d would be to shoot fast birds in flight or Motorsport
The 60d is a very capable camera and I love mine. I had problems with 2 7d's
Just my 2pence!
 
I have a 40d & 50d and think they are both great bodies. When i looked at replacing / adding to my 40d i had a choice of going for the 60d but as much as the flipout screen was very handy it lacked one key feature for me, micro adjustment for lens. That for me is bigger feature and they dropped it in the 60d. As the 70d was out of my budget at the time it meant only one choice, the 50d. That and i also use Magic Lantern as well for little things like blinkies / zebras, focus stacking, in focus element display etc. It's a perfect package!
 
Try and ignore the headlines about the 7d being the 'top of the range prosumer model'. It has some good features, but you have to look at exactly which features you are missing at the moment. Remember that there is a whole host of cameras that share the same sensor, so unless you really want the weather sealing, or some other feature, then you can probably save yourself quite a few quid whilst still obtaining the same IQ.

If it's just landscapes you want, you won't see a difference in the end result from a 550d or a 7d. Your bank balance will be different however!
 
pooley said:
Try and ignore the headlines about the 7d being the 'top of the range prosumer model'. It has some good features, but you have to look at exactly which features you are missing at the moment. Remember that there is a whole host of cameras that share the same sensor, so unless you really want the weather sealing, or some other feature, then you can probably save yourself quite a few quid whilst still obtaining the same IQ.

If it's just landscapes you want, you won't see a difference in the end result from a 550d or a 7d. Your bank balance will be different however!
Click to expand...
Yes I've got a 550D and 7D for landscape you May as we'll get the 550 and spend the difference on a lens they both have excellent image quality
 
Enough already:(.

If a 550D is as good as a 7D etc for IQ I might as well stick with my 20D and placate the wife with a new downstairs toilet.

Thanks a bunch guys I was really looking forward to that new camera - sigh.
 
Hi Zen. I have recently bought a 7d and love it. I must admit as my old camera was a 300d there is a lot to get used too esp AF points but have found lots of helpful info online, and just went out practicing to get used to it.

I have had no problems with any of my images esp with landscape and I have been happy with my photos. For me as an amatuer I am more than happy with it.
 
My history has been 500D, then I added a 7D and now I've changed the 500D for a 5Dc.

There's nothing wrong at all with the 7D but it's not going to be the natural go-to choice for landscape photographers because of the crop factor. However as already mentioned, wide-angle lenses from Sigma, Tokina and of course Canon are easily available for £230 upwards on the used market.

I've only attempted landscape with the 7D once with a Sigma 10-20 and got good results.:


IMG_2240 by david.cane, on Flickr

However as already stated the 7D can get heavy, whereas the other have a polycarbonate body so should be a lot lighter.

The 5Dc I have is also great but buying that required that I ditched all my EF-S lenses and purchased some EF stuff, ie 24-105L, so the overall cost was quite significant.

Where the 7D comes into its own is for sports. That's where the complex AF and 8 fps burst mode really stand out. I've been using my 5D more and more as the go-to body recently, simply because the 2013 motorsports season has endedbut every time I pick up the 7D it just feels soooooooo good. Unfortunately the only way for me to get the 7D feel and functionality in a FF body is to go 5D3, which isn't happening (big £££s!!)

My point - don't rule out the 7D but be mindful of its weight.

Another from the 7D is below. I took both the 5D and 7D out on the weekend for some clear night-sky shots. I was swapping lenses between them both trying all combos. Looking through the keeper that I got they almost all seem to have come from the 7D and not the 5Dc.

 
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zendog said:
A bit of context.

Last year I bought a 20D to dip a toe into DSLR after years of point and shoot. I'm now hooked and looking to upgrade my body for (say) the next five years.
My main interest is landscape just now (I walk a lot) but I'll give anything a go. Canon suits me and that's all I am considering. My budget is up about £700
second hand.

On eBay the options seem to be:

50D £280
60D £400
70D £700
7D £550

Prices for body only mint or very good averaged over the last month.

My thoughts are:

50D - cheap but not that much better than the 20D.

60D - a possible but still a bit limited.

70D - the latest technology but I have no interest at all in video or need for a bendy touch screen / wifi.

7D - seems much the best pure camera (build quality, burst fps, 100% viewfinder, CF, reasonable ISO). My current choice.

But I'm a learner and still a bit clueless so what do you experts think my best option is?

A slight niggle in the back of my mind is should I save up some more and go for full frame.
The 6D is well out of my budget range but are there cheaper options worth considering?

Any and every opinion welcomed.

Cheers

Steve
Click to expand...

You mention landscape and then fps? The 7d is old now but was a great sport camera. The 5d was good but again is getting on so not super for anything other than landscape as the af systems poor. Unless you really feel you need the FF id say go for the 70d
 
I have the 7D, a move up from a 10D (Now sold) and 40D (still own with no intention of selling) the 7D is slightly harder to set up than the 40D, but the 7D has an amount of waterproofing, similar to the 1D. I don't think, but can't be sure that the 5D has any. I have been out in slight rain with a 28 -300mm on it and it's worked fine. I like the combination of the 2 together and they work well for me.
 
zendog said:
I already have a Tamron 10-24 mm.

OK not a top notch lens but plenty good enough to practice on.
Click to expand...

You may as well stick with 20D with that. Even that probably out resolves the lens. Get decent glass first, then buy into FF.
 
daugirdas said:
You may as well stick with 20D with that. Even that probably out resolves the lens. Get decent glass first, then buy into FF.
Click to expand...

They are actually asking about the smaller sensor Canons, not full frame. That's how I read it anyway.
 
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