Should I Upgrade Dilema

EMA747

EMA747

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Andy
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I got a Canon 7D about 3 months ago and at the time was considering the 1DmkIII as well. Went with the 7D as it was stretching my budget too much to get the 1D. I have been not all that impressed with the 7Ds high ISO noise though.
Add to that the fact that I have just come by some money that would enable to to sell the 7D and get a used 1DmkIII. They go for around £1500 right?

Should I do that upgarde or stick with the 7D?

I really don't know what to do. It's not that I don't like the 7D. It's just it's noise is more than I was expecting. If I got a 1DmkIII it would be the last upgrade I would need for ages.

Any comments? :shrug:
 
Can you post a sample of the noise, I have a 7D and find High ISO noise to be good.
 
Ok.

ISO 200. Note some banding in the grey background.
ISO200.jpg


ISO 640.
ISO640.jpg


ISO1600.
ISO1600.jpg



All the images seem to have a kind of "spotty" and "flecked" type noise. I am not totally sure if it's high noise but it's kind of higher than I was expecting from the 7D. Also it takes quite a bit of noise reduction in LR3beta2 to get rid of it. By that point it's made the rest of the image go that sort of "painted" effect when high NR is added.
 
Is the 7d holding you back ?

Would you prefer the crop of the 1D III ?

I'm in a funny situation as I get to use all sorts of nice pro cameras so I've never upgraded from my 40D.

Every time I think about upgrading (having better cameras to use) I stumble on people posting stunning images taken with 40Ds or less and realise that it's just me that needs upgrading.
 
To be honest, think the issue is that you are looking to deep int to the pics, those look like 100% crops, you will see some of this cropping in that much, and would imagine th 1D III will be similar, look at it this way, would you use a photo that has been cropped that drasticaly, either on screen or printed? I would honestly say stick with the 7D and get use t it, it is a great camera, produces great results, just takes a bit of getting use to all the setting, have a look on here for the 7D tips thread, may help you out.
 
stick with the 7D, its only the underexposed bits that give you noise. my nikon D3 even gives a lot of noise in underexposed areas once i start to process them! so dont worry about noise. i know its hard not to, but a great photo with noise is far better than an average photo without noise. :)
oh and the example you put up for iso1600 doesnt actually look that bad!
 
dinners said:
Is the 7d holding you back ?

Would you prefer the crop of the 1D III ?

I'm in a funny situation as I get to use all sorts of nice pro cameras so I've never upgraded from my 40D.

Every time I think about upgrading (having better cameras to use) I stumble on people posting stunning images taken with 40Ds or less and realise that it's just me that needs upgrading.
Click to expand...


:agree:

well said :thumbs:
 
It's underexposed (as previously mentioned). High contrast scenes will cause this in shadow areas. Expose to the right and bring down exposure in post process - a pain I know - but will get you much better image quality and far far less noise.
 
Those shots do look awful.

The usual response to criticisms of 7D noise performance or mushy looking shots is that you shouldn't look at 100% crops or should downsize the images to hide the nastiness but if you do that that must negate part of the reason for buying this hight resolution camera.

I haven't got any answers, but I do share the OP's frustration.

Maybe the way forward is to review what you want to achieve and research camera options and test thoroughly before buying.
 
Hmmm interesting comments.

I guess it's not just the noise that is tempting me to upgrade. I think I am not wrong in saying the 1DmkIII is a better all around camera than the 7D. Now that I have some spare money (don't know when I will be able to say that again :naughty:) it seems an upgrade may be one to think about.

I came from a 400D that I had had for years and got some very good results with it. I wanted to upgrade and thought the 7D would blow me away compared to the 400D. The reality is that in similar shooting situations it's not really done that. I'm not the only one to have said similar things of the 7D either. I think £ for £ I didn't get the improvements I was expecting.


PS - Note I am using L lenses so I have the right glass to be getting the best out of a camera body.
 
EMA747 said:
PS - Note I am using L lenses so I have the right glass to be getting the best out of a camera body.
Click to expand...


I also use L lenses, what are you expecting when it comes to pixel peeping / viewing @ 100%?
You are not going to be printing crops of the birds like that, do a print on a A3/4, put it on the wall and have a look at it from a sensible distance and you wont see any noise.
Seem to me like you are pixel peeping very close to a your monitor.
I thought my 50D had noise issues using high ISO settings until the above was pointing out to me.
 
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