50D or 7D?

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Archive 2009 · 50D or 7D?

reinah
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p.1 #1 · 50D or 7D?

I currently have an XTi, and am looking to finally upgrade. First I was going to upgrade to the 50D, but when the 7D came out, it totally confused me. Now I can't figure out whether the 7D is worth it for someone who isn't really into video shooting so much (though it might be fun to toy with once or twice). The weatherproofing of the 7D really appeals to me as well, but I can't tell if it's really worth an extra $700.

I apologize if this is the wrong forum, but I'm really looking for some advice. If I were to get the 7D, I'd have to save up for another month or so, but it wouldn't be a huge deal.

What would you do in my position?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Nov 09, 2009 at 06:55 PM

joshkrause
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p.1 #2 · 50D or 7D?

I have both. The 50D is a great camera and despite all the negative points people find, I still use the camera for nearly every assignment I get.

That said, the 7D is far beyond the 50D in it's ability to meter properly. The extra focus points are nice, and all the other stuff (high ISO, 8fps, weather sealing) are bonuses. I find with the 7D I am rarely using exposure compensation anymore, which was a common thing on my 50D.

Either one will make you happy coming from an XTi.

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:03 PM

tanglefoot47
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p.1 #3 · 50D or 7D?

7D for me and I agree with Josh

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:06 PM

gotak
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p.1 #4 · 50D or 7D?

If you are going to buy something to keep the 7D is the better choice. Less likely to wonder about the new features and ending up selling and buying again. And if you travel with your DSLR it is IMHO absolutely wonderful to have the video for things you can't capture in a photo.

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:17 PM

saaketham
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p.1 #5 · 50D or 7D?

I've been trying to decide between the two as well. I like the price of the 50D, but everything else about the 7D.

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:31 PM

pigbat
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p.1 #6 · 50D or 7D?

I went with the 50D and find myself wishing I would have done the 7D. That said, I took the $700 I saved and bought a nice piece of glass. I'll probably upgrade the body later, knowing I will still be able to get some decent value out of my 50D.

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:41 PM

reinah
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p.1 #7 · 50D or 7D?

On a related note, does anyone want to buy a soul? It's a tortured artist one.

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:52 PM

dgenx24
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p.1 #8 · 50D or 7D?

just do it!

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:56 PM

saaketham
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p.1 #9 · 50D or 7D?

To the folks who own the 7D ... does your current computer handle the 25MB 7D RAWs fine or did you have to buy additional RAM, etc? Thanks.

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:57 PM

tanglefoot47
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p.1 #10 · 50D or 7D?

saaketham wrote:
I've been trying to decide between the two as well. I like the price of the 50D, but everything else about the 7D.

But, reading about so many issues here about 7Ds and 50Ds is making me want to wait this one out and hope the 60D is a sensible camera. Now, before the fanboys tear me apart, let me get out of here and hide.

Good point but I am wondering do you really think the 60D will be as good as the 7D? I think it will be a tiny upgrade from the 50D except it will have video

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:58 PM

reinah
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p.1 #11 · 50D or 7D?

saaketham wrote:
To the folks who own the 7D ... does your current computer handle the 25MB 7D RAWs fine or did you have to buy additional RAM, etc? Thanks.

What are your current specs?

I just built mine and I'm pretty sure it should handle it pretty well, but then again it's built to be a gaming computer, so yeah.

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:59 PM

saaketham
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p.1 #12 · 50D or 7D?

Mine's an old iMac 20"

Not blazingly fast by any stretch. I run CS2 on OS X. Core 2 Duo 2 GHz, 4 GB RAM, no scratch drive, etc.

Nov 09, 2009 at 08:01 PM

reinah
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p.1 #13 · 50D or 7D?

saaketham wrote:
Mine's an old iMac 20"

Not blazingly fast by any stretch. I run CS2 on OS X. Core 2 Duo 2 GHz, 4 GB RAM, no scratch drive, etc.

Probably will be okay, but not blazingly fast, as you said

Nov 09, 2009 at 08:03 PM

Future Man
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p.1 #14 · 50D or 7D?

saaketham wrote:
Mine's an old iMac 20"

Not blazingly fast by any stretch. I run CS2 on OS X. Core 2 Duo 2 GHz, 4 GB RAM, no scratch drive, etc.

I just got a 5DII and was a little worried about this as well.

I use a 20" iMac, 3GB RAM, C2D 2.16GHz, Lightroom 2.

My biggest import has only been around 20-30 photos (I've mainly been practicing video), but I'm not really having any issues with importing/editing. It is a little slow but that's to be expected on a 3 year old computer. I could see things getting hairy though if I import 300 photos from a shoot and I have to batch process them all or something, but so far I've been pretty pleased. Honestly the main thing I'm worried about is hard drive space, but I'll deal with that when it becomes an issue.

Also, the 5DII's RAW files are around ~22MB, so I would assume the 7D's should be a little bit smaller?

Nov 09, 2009 at 08:30 PM

saaketham
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p.1 #15 · 50D or 7D?

I thought the 7D RAWs are 25 MB or more per file. Crazy! I don't shoot like crazy either, but with birds, I tend to use burst a lot. Also, when I shoot portrait sessions or the occasional wedding, I end up with 300-600 photos, which is quite a cumbersome process on my iMac.

I'm curious to see whether the TS picks a 50D or a 7D ...

Nov 09, 2009 at 08:36 PM

fmikio
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p.1 #16 · 50D or 7D?

I chose the 50D over the 7D because of the price (mainly).
Of course the 7D is superior, but, I have no regrets since the new auto focus system is really different (and complex) and I still have a LOT to learn using the 9 points focus system. But that's just me...

Nov 09, 2009 at 08:46 PM

Gochugogi
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p.1 #17 · 50D or 7D?

saaketham wrote:
I've been trying to decide between the two as well. I like the price of the 50D, but everything else about the 7D.

But, reading about so many issues here about 7Ds and 50Ds is making me want to wait this one out and hope the 60D is a sensible camera. Now, before the fanboys tear me apart, let me get out of here and hide.

You really shouldn't paid attention to whining pixel peepin' photogeeks on gear forums. They're gear haters and nothing is right or good enough. They're just hens clucking and breaking wind. Both cameras are excellent and you can't go wrong with either one. Of course, if you have the spare benjamins, the 7D is a notch up.

Nov 09, 2009 at 09:23 PM

kirry007
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p.1 #18 · 50D or 7D?

Gochugogi wrote:

You really shouldn't paid attention to whining pixel peepin' photogeeks on gear forums. They're gear haters and nothing is right or good enough. They're just hens clucking and breaking wind. Both cameras are excellent and you can't go wrong with either one. Of course, if you have the spare benjamins, the 7D is a notch up.

+1 on what he said.
The 7D is every bit as good or even better than any other Canon camera I've owned. Be it image quality, ISO perf, AF, fps, all top notch !

Nov 09, 2009 at 09:26 PM

StalfoS
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p.1 #19 · 50D or 7D?

Lets see.. I have a 50D and I would like to upgrade to a 7D because:

-Faster/better auto-focus. But I rarely encounter situations where 50D's is not fast enough. I shoot sports on occasion, but not exclusively. 50D had very good AF.
-Faster burst rate. Again, as above. 6fps is mostly good enough.
-Better high-ISO. Sure I might get an extra stop if the reviews I read are accurate. Whatever, I'm pretty happy with my 50D's images even at 3200, as long as I expose correctly.
-Flash control with build in flash. This would definitely be nice to have.
-More MP? 15 is enough for me.
-Movies. This would be neat but I don't know what I'd do with it.

Conclusion. My money would be better spent on glass, which holds its value over time much better than bodies. YMMV.

Nov 09, 2009 at 09:37 PM

thedigitalbean
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p.1 #20 · 50D or 7D?

kirry007 wrote:
Gochugogi wrote:

You really shouldn't paid attention to whining pixel peepin' photogeeks on gear forums. They're gear haters and nothing is right or good enough. They're just hens clucking and breaking wind. Both cameras are excellent and you can't go wrong with either one. Of course, if you have the spare benjamins, the 7D is a notch up.

+1 on what he said.
The 7D is every bit as good or even better than any other Canon camera I've owned. Be it image quality, ISO perf, AF, fps, all top notch !

+2
Maybe there are people who have issues, not meaning to slight them but the results I'm seeing out of my 7D so far are excellent. The detail resolved with good glass is rockin' and the resulting prints are excellent. Maybe I'm not looking for problems hard enough, but all of my shots have been in focus, the images pin sharp and the 16x24 print I'm looking at right now shows no artifacts, it just looks great.

Nov 09, 2009 at 09:39 PM

msalvetti
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p.1 #21 · 50D or 7D?

I bought the 7D for the low-light AF and the high ISO performance. I don't even know how to use the video, and I'm in no rush. So don't let that deter you.

If your upgrade choices are either 7D (body only) or 50D plus glass, I think I'd go with the 50D (assuming your profile of 50mm and 28-135 is still accurate). Do you find the lenses you have now limiting? Wish for something longer, or maybe wider?

Heck, you would probably be better off with a used 40D and expand your lens arsenal. Still would be a nice upgrade.

Based on what I shoot, the biggest advantage of the 7D over the xxD will be in low-light fast action, but right now, you don't have the lenses for that anyway.

Mark

Nov 09, 2009 at 09:46 PM

saaketham
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p.1 #22 · 50D or 7D?

Someone posted a photo of a waterfall in Watkins Glen in upstate NY on the Landscape forum, taken with a 7D. It was amazingly crisp and the details were stunning. I've taken photos at the exact same place with my 30D, on tripod, with remote release, etc ... and the 7D photo was worlds apart.

I think this was it: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/829246/0?keyword=watkins,glen#7701776

Nov 09, 2009 at 09:53 PM

Aszental
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p.1 #23 · 50D or 7D?

saaketham wrote:
I've taken photos at the exact same place with my 30D, on tripod, with remote release, etc ... and the 7D photo was worlds apart.

I doubt you could tell a difference in those circumstances, its the photographer not the camera remember

Nov 09, 2009 at 10:03 PM

saaketham
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p.1 #24 · 50D or 7D?

Aszental wrote:I doubt you could tell a difference in those circumstances, its the photographer not the camera remember

Probably .. but the details on the rocks and the water itself was what I was referring to. The 7D one at least to my eyes, looked much more detailed. This is the one I took .. actually it was my old D60. I know the other guy is a much better photographer than I am .. I checked his smugmug gallery and he has a lot of really really good photos. In addition, I think the increased resolution of the 7D is apparent in his Watkins Glen photos.

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Nov 09, 2009 at 10:08 PM

Burak Baysal
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p.1 #25 · 50D or 7D?

msalvetti wrote:
I bought the 7D for the low-light AF and the high ISO performance. I don't even know how to use the video, and I'm in no rush. So don't let that deter you.

If your upgrade choices are either 7D (body only) or 50D plus glass, I think I'd go with the 50D (assuming your profile of 50mm and 28-135 is still accurate). Do you find the lenses you have now limiting? Wish for something longer, or maybe wider?

Heck, you would probably be better off with a used 40D and expand your lens arsenal. Still would be a nice upgrade.

Based on what I shoot, the biggest advantage of the 7D over the xxD will be in low-light fast action, but right now, you don't have the lenses for that anyway.

Mark

I just upgraded from XTi to 7d myself. I also have a limited set of glass.

I bought the 7d instead of fast lens because:
- I ruined a lot of shots with bad focus in low light. even with 430ex's AF-assist.
- no matter how fast the lens is, my kids are faster

I will try to catch them with 2 flashes.
- if all else fails, I'll just switch to video and hide my lack of talent

kids are cuter when they talk.

Nov 10, 2009 at 01:40 AM


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