7D...is it the right choice?

[TSPhoto]

Hi,

I have recently bought a 5d Mk3 & I am looking for a second body. The 7D seems the obvious choice as the controls are similar. I tested one a year ago and obtained awful, muddy, grainy photos whilst a D7000 gave the expected results. I bumped into my college lecturer, he asked what I would buy as a back up and he said I would hate the 7D due to image quality. One review I read mentioned muddy image quality too...but...theres something that doesn't stack up here as the camera is highly respected and I see many fine images produced by them. Can anyone advise me of what the issues might be please? It seems to be the sensible choice so I need to understand how I make it work for me!
Thanks

[Hereford_EOS2]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

Can anyone advise me of what the issues might be please?

Most users here of the 7D are very satisfied.

and obtained awful, muddy, grainy photos

Normally due to user error.
The 7D controls are similar to that of the 5DII and would be an obvious 2nd camera.
The 5DIII is so much better than the 5DII especially at high iso which inturn is so much better than the original 5D.
All three have full-frame sensors whilst the 7D has a crop sensor.

[TSPhoto]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

Sure I appreciate that there are many happy users...I am concerned about the 'misses' including my college tutor who uses every conceivable camera type including a 5D II. He sold his 7D...is there some variability perhaps. Appreciate the crop sensor, whatever back up I use will be cropped but that will help with wildlife etc.
Thanks

[briansquibb]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

I was disappointed with the IQ of the 7D in poor light - iso1600 is about the limit.

[Jason K.]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

I was disappointed with the IQ of the 7D in poor light - iso1600 is about the limit.

Canon just made a very big upgrade in it's latest firmware update for the EOS 7D. However, it does not address a lot of photographer's concerns with the low iso banding. This is what should be fixed I believe.

As far as image quality goes, yes, you can definitely find better camera's out there in the 1D series or 5D Mark iii, but if you are a photographer also shooting video, it is a great camera, especially as a second backup body or b cam.

Cheers.

[Dave_S]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

Early days yet, but after 5 happy years with a 30D, I recently upgraded to the 7D, and it's certainly a worthwhile improvement, mainly down to the 18 mpix sensor, and the later processor.

As yet, I have only used it up to ISO 800, with impressive results. Certainly no problem with IQ at all.

You have to compare like-for-like, so you can't really compare the 7D with the 5D, or the 5D with the 1D. Like most things in this world, you get what you pay for, and there is a signifificant price difference between these three cameras.

Its a bit like buying a Ford Focus, and then saying that it isn't as good as the RS version.

Dave

[TSPhoto]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

Hi Dave...fair point on the price, though I have used a D7000 for the last year which has been superb. I had wanted full frame for shallow DOF and I grew up with 35mm, I hesitated on changing to Canon but the file size of the D800 are so big for normal use, so switched to the 5D. If the 7D performs like a D7000 I would be very happy!

Thanks

[celtex]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

Hi Dave...fair point on the price, though I have used a D7000 for the last year which has been superb. I had wanted full frame for shallow DOF and I grew up with 35mm, I hesitated on changing to Canon but the file size of the D800 are so big for normal use, so switched to the 5D. If the 7D performs like a D7000 I would be very happy!

Thanks

Cant speak from experience but you may find this useful. If you can put up with the presenters' schoolboy jokes, there are some serious head-to-head comparisons in this video. I have not re-watched it but from memory, the Nikon does better at higher iso's but apart from that I think they come out slightly in favour of the 7D (and the presenter is normally a Nikon guy). Like I said I have not re watched it but given your requirement that "it performs like a D7000" I think you will find they are comparable overall.

http://www.digitalrev.com/article/nikon-d7000-vs-canon-7d/NzA5Nw_A_A

Hope this helps

Ian

[MX5]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

Best way is to hire one and see for yourself. As a 7D user I can't fault the camera during normal operational use. I did get muddy, horid photos until I realised I'd set it up inappropriately without first reading the manual ... so user error (and I've used a wide range of cameras and have done for many many decades ... so experience didn't help me). Once I reset the 7D and read the manual ... it does what I expect.

[briansquibb]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

Best way is to hire one and see for yourself. As a 7D user I can't fault the camera during normal operational use. I did get muddy, horid photos until I realised I'd set it up inappropriately without first reading the manual ... so user error (and I've used a wide range of cameras and have done for many many decades ... so experience didn't help me). Once I reset the 7D and read the manual ... it does what I expect.

Can you remember what settings you changed?

Cheers - Brian

[Woolley]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

Really don't get the antipathy towards this camera. I love mine, get great images from it and happy to push the ISO up to 3200 when the light calls for it. The only thing I found is that you need to put in a bit of effort to begin with to get the right results.

[briansquibb]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

It is a marmite camera.

I think you will find that many people that are cool towards it have a ff as well

I have the same issue in the 1DS3 gives a far better image than the 1D4 IMO, so I am not so hot for the 1D4 IQ.

[TSPhoto]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

Can you remember what settings you changed?

Cheers - Brian

Thanks for some good feedback everyone. In terms of settings I had everything on neutral. It was a dull day so shot at ISO400 on both cameras...

[MX5]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

Can you remember what settings you changed?

Cheers - Brian

Sorry Brian it was ages ago. Just got camera out of box, charged the battery and started playing with focus custom setting. So I imagine I'd set something that wasn't good for everyday (whatever that is) use. That'll teach me and I should know better. A hard reset and all was okay. Since then I've gone back to changing one parameter (or a couple if they work together) and seeing what it does.

[mwphoto]

Re: 7D...is it the right choice?

It is a marmite camera.

I think you will find that many people that are cool towards it have a ff as well

I have the same issue in the 1DS3 gives a far better image than the 1D4 IMO, so I am not so hot for the 1D4 IQ.

Yep it's a marmite camera - I love marmite but not the 7D I'm afraid (and I had 3 of them) - given that I've managed good shots with every other camera I owned (current 5D2 and 1D3) I was disappointed with the IQ and hit rate from the 7D and don't think it was user error (believe me I tried bloody hard with it!). Maybe it just didn't suit me?