7d or not

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stevewrx

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steven
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Hi all thinking of getting a canon 7d need advise on the pros and cons. Can not get sharp pics of wild life (birds etc) the lens I use for wild life and sport is a sigma apo 150-500mm f5-6.3 DG OS HSM and a canon 350d I know its a big jump from a 350d to a 7d as I can get the 7d for £653.50 any advise would be helpful
thanks
steve
 
Daresay many will disagree, but I gave up trying to get wildlife photos especially birds due to not having sufficient funds for a suitable lens

Messed about with a 7D and 400mm f/5.6, but its no coincidence that most of the great shots of birds (especially smaller ones) are taken with something like a 500mm f4 IS

Yes the 7D would be far better than your current camera particularly for in flight shots, but my conclusion was its the lens that really matters
 
Don;t rule out the 60D (or 70D from what I've read) - centre point is fine for BiF shots and I preferred it to the 7D, plus at under £400 second hand it will leave you some cash left over.
 
The biggest criticism of the 7D seems to be noise at higher Iso. It put me off buying one as a second body. But I've seen some great images from this camera. can't really think of anything that comes close to its all round ability for that price. It looks as though the 70D would be a candidate with the new sensor but its a bit pricey at the moment.
 
Gaz J said:
The biggest criticism of the 7D seems to be noise at higher Iso. It put me off buying one as a second body. But I've seen some great images from this camera. can't really think of anything that comes close to its all round ability for that price. It looks as though the 70D would be a candidate with the new sensor but its a bit pricey at the moment.
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I own a 7D and agree on the noise performance. But why do you not think that the D7000 is close or even better while it still costs lesser?
 
Gaz J said:
The biggest criticism of the 7D seems to be noise at higher Iso. It put me off buying one as a second body. But I've seen some great images from this camera. can't really think of anything that comes close to its all round ability for that price. It looks as though the 70D would be a candidate with the new sensor but its a bit pricey at the moment.
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compared with 350D it will look amazing. Anything failry modern will
 
gopz said:
I own a 7D and agree on the noise performance. But why do you not think that the D7000 is close or even better while it still costs lesser?
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Sorry I must have missed something here. The OP never mentioned changing systems.
 
Thanks for the help and advise have got to stay with a canon as all my lens are canon and have not got a lot of funds to a new setup can get the 60d or 70d or the 7d body what would you buy
thanks
steve
 
I went from a 300d to a 30d then to a 7d and it was a big difference. There is more noise than I'd like at ISO's from 800 and above but when allied to its' strengths the 7d is stil a very good camera. I mainly use a 5d2 these days but the 7d is kept for longer lens use with my 70-300VC.

As has been said check the 60d and 70d out as well, but a 7d at the price you quoted is a third less than I paid for mine under 2 years ago.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Daresay many will disagree, but I gave up trying to get wildlife photos especially birds due to not having sufficient funds for a suitable lens

Messed about with a 7D and 400mm f/5.6, but its no coincidence that most of the great shots of birds (especially smaller ones) are taken with something like a 500mm f4 IS

Yes the 7D would be far better than your current camera particularly for in flight shots, but my conclusion was its the lens that really matters
Click to expand...

There's no denying that 500mm f4 etc helps but there's no substitute for fieldcraft and learning your subject. There are plenty of cracking examples of bird photography with modest 400mm lenses and less.
 
I'd buy the 7D. Have to agree with Phil. Numerous examples on here of great images shot with 300- 400 mm lenses. Anyone picking up a 500mm f4 for the first time and thinking they are going to get great flight shots is in for a surprise.
 
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how much harder was the 7d to get used to using and what advantage of 18mp to 20mp
 
tijuana taxi said:
Daresay many will disagree, but I gave up trying to get wildlife photos especially birds due to not having sufficient funds for a suitable lens

Messed about with a 7D and 400mm f/5.6, but its no coincidence that most of the great shots of birds (especially smaller ones) are taken with something like a 500mm f4 IS

Yes the 7D would be far better than your current camera particularly for in flight shots, but my conclusion was its the lens that really matters
Click to expand...

They may not be brilliant but all taken with the 7D & EFS 55-250, let me know if you wish to see any more ;)


Bathing Robin by Richard Venn, on Flickr

Magpie by Richard Venn, on Flickr

IMG_5454 by Richard Venn, on Flickr

Robin by Richard Venn, on Flickr
 
There's no denying that 500mm f4 etc helps but there's no substitute for fieldcraft and learning your subject. There are plenty of cracking examples of bird photography with modest 400mm lenses and less
Click to expand...

I did say many would disagree, but the best shots I have seen are invariably from the longer faster lenses with IS

Do agree though that buying an expensive lens won't automatically give great photos and knowing where to be and look is extremely important

Too often I have seen heavily cropped small birds that have been sharpened to within an inch of their lives passed off and commended on being great examples

No substitute to filling the frame with the subject and I do believe that requires the longer good quality lenses

*edit* they are very pleasant Rich, but I was thinking more of birds/small mammals in a wild setting as opposed to garden feeders

In fact used my daughters 550D and 55-250 the other evening and took some half decent pictures of flying microlights in twilight. Still not easy though and can only think how hard it would have been had the subject been birds in flight.
Standing by my opinion that you need longer and faster focusing lenses to really do the job justice, perhaps I am just too much of a perfectionist or maybe got a touch of OCD
 
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Hi u8myufo nice pics i wish mine was as good as yours mine are no were as good that's y I am thinking of going to a 7d would put in pic but don't know how to do it
 
Something I learnt with my 150-500 - it needs to be stopped down a bit to be really sharp. At F10 it produces remarkable pictures for the price.

The 7D is a very good camera (especially when you learn how to drive it) but it's getting a bit long in the tooth now. It may be worth hanging on a bit to see if it is replaced.
 
have had a look at 60d and the 70d as well don't know what is the best to buy with the money I have got
 
The 70d is expensive compared to the 60d and 7d as it's just out and has newer tech. If you can afford it then I'm sure it will be a very good camera. There could be some new features you'd make good use of as well. If you've looked at the feature set of the 70d, is there anything there that you'd miss if you went for a much cheaper 60d or 7d ?
 
Thanks you for all your help and advice think I will go for the 7d as it looks like a good all round camera and gets 92% in photoplus mag thank you all
steve
 
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