7d or 1Dmkiii

[the black fox]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

got one lined up just waiting on selling the 7d first .the 7d is a super camera but i have dipped my toes in the water of a pro body and can't wait to dive in

[colin C]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

i have dipped my toes in the water of a pro body and can't wait to dive in

There lies the road to ruin.

[the black fox]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

na not really colin ,got the 60d for the reach if needed ? and the 1d for everything else .if i won the lottery i would have the same gear as you but i don't think camerons 2.5% raise in pensions is gonna fund it .

[colin C]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

if i won the lottery i would have the same gear as you

Lovely thing the lottery .............. beats all that going without and scrimping and saving nonsense!

[Nathaniel]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

I think the 6D/& 60Dor/70D combination is the best to possess-IMHO. I was never drawn to or interested in the 7D right from the start.

[Les McLean]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

For some reason the 7D has always been a marmite camera, since I purchased the 7d some 4 years ago, it has served me well, I upgraded from a 1DMKII, and the 7D was a huge improvement in most areas (except ruggedness/battery).

I've never owned a 1DMKIII, so can't comment on the differences, but I do have a Canon 1DS MKIII, and the only difference in focus/focus tracking between the 7D/1DS MKIII is that the 1DS MKIII is better in low light, in normal daylight, they are on par in my experience.
Regarding high ISO (an issue that's been thrashed to death in most forums), I'm comfortable with the high ISO performance of the 7D, my recently posted image of Jack was shot at ISO 3200, and is a clean image.

http://www.eos-magazine-forum.com/showthread.php?22047-Jack

[the black fox]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

well my 7d is still for sale though the 1d3 deal has gone sour ,but it will give me time to re-evaluate ,the lad is going to let me have a couple of hours with his 70d with my lens on as we both want to test this combo set-up .and i might well go down that path instead .and the price on a 70d from HDEW has now dropped to £720 so virtually no price difference

[celtex]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

My personal experience with the 7D could be different to others, but kind of sits next to most when they talk about it.

Images look better on the LCD than the computer.
Aggressive AA filter
You need to do lots of work in post to get the best out of the images
Unless you're exposure is perfect, you get noise over ISO400 (my experience)
Images fall apart very quickly in LR when processing. You end up dialling lots back.
AF has too many options and not one amazing one.

The last point is a hard one. By just saying "I can't get on with it" is pretty broad and meaningless, however, I can't explain why. I'll take a shot, look at the camera LCD and say "YES! nailed it" I'll then get back all excited to be met with a resounding "Aww right, hmmm" when I view it on the computer. I'll blame the AF, the lens, the high ISO or the focus hunting in lower light.

My point is that there was many people feeling the same, and it wasn't until I read more about it, that I realised that switching bodies might actually yield a better result. I don't doubt the 7D. It has an amazing track record. Just not in these hands.

Guys like Stan can get amazing shots out of it all day long. Teamspeed on POTN also true. There's many others that can use it to the best of it's ability, but I find I'd rather have the 1Dmkiii rugged files to work on, and the battery gripped body than keep the 7D and buy a battery grip.

Most people that switched didn't look back and I think I want to know how that feels.

hard to explain.

Paul, given all you have said about your experience with the 7D - I have just been looking through your flikr pages, you have some absolutely fantastic shots in there, particularly the birds and foxes - I can only imagine how good you would be if you had a camera you liked!

[the black fox]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

my 7d now sold ,got my eye on a few possibles as well .totally no point in keeping a camera (read tool for a job) that you don't like to use .i will weigh up all options and might even consider going back down the nikon route if i can't find what i want .

[Paulstw]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

Paul, given all you have said about your experience with the 7D - I have just been looking through your flikr pages, you have some absolutely fantastic shots in there, particularly the birds and foxes - I can only imagine how good you would be if you had a camera you liked!

Really appreciate that :)

my 7d now sold ,got my eye on a few possibles as well .totally no point in keeping a camera (read tool for a job) that you don't like to use .i will weigh up all options and might even consider going back down the nikon route if i can't find what i want .

Good luck Jeff. Keep us posted with what you go for. Did you get what you wanted for it?

[the black fox]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

yes i did paul ,just trying to find a replacement is proving tricky .one thing of interest did come up today though ,i popped the 400mm lens on the 60D which in all honesty i haven't bothered to do before ,and i was extremely surprised at how sharp the shots were straight out of the camera ,so its going to be a very good back up ,also considering how crap the weather was today

[Longshot]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

Hi Guys
I've followed this thread with interest having sold my 7D to replace with a 5D MK11 but now thinking of the 1D MK111, however reading up there appear to have been problems when released so your thoughts please on how to find one with all the updates and mirror problems corrected.
Thanks
Graham

[colin C]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

Early to mid 1D MKIII's were Region fixed, later ones were factory modified.

In the UK, there was a free collect, upgrade and return by Canon UK and those cameras were subsequently called "Blue Spot" cameras. Sounds somewhat cloak and daggerish, but when checked/repaired, the technician painted a blue spot at the end of the battery chamber, with the battery removed. Those same cameras would have had a repair slip detailing the work done under the recall scheme and the two in combination would add "Comfort" to any subsequent sale and give some increase in value over those that didn't. I cannot imagine any owner not taking advantage of the scheme, especially as Canon added a further 1 year's warranty to the existing, for those cameras repaired.

There was a serial number by which previous ones required Regional re-call and later ones were factory upgraded, but I never noted what the number was. Mine was an early one and got the blue spot treatment.

[the black fox]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

the serial numbers of the bad batch were between 501001 and 546561 and rest assured after asking a few sellers about shutter fixes having been done etc ,there are a lot of very evasive sellers out there claiming its not needed ,never had a problem ,don't know etc one i told specifically there should be a blue dot in the battery compartment and again the reply ,well i've never had a problem with the a/f .
CAVEAT EMPTOR !!!!!

[Paulstw]

Re: 7d or 1Dmkiii

To be honest there is a lot of mkIII owners out there who have no idea about the problematic serial codes. Also there is evidence that some people with said models have never had issues with them. The issues are

Oil spots
Sub mirror frame issues
Af tracking on outer points in AI Servo just failing on certain points.

By in large the vast majority of weekend shooters who have a MKIII wouldn't even notice the AF issues and put it down to user error. I have heard horror stories about this camera that would be enough to put anyone off. However, the MKIII ownership thread and sample pic archive on POTN shows a totally different story, and people in their droves are still looking at owning one. It's finding them that's the problem. MINT condition ones tend to get snapped up privately between friends, and the rest are battered and bruised.

Experience speaks volumes for me, and of those who traded their 7D for a MKIII said they wouldn't look back and wish they had done it sooner. That could just well be pride in purchase talking. For all we know it could be the worst mistake ever, but the pictures tell another story and I think it's genuine enough to make the switch myself. My 7D could be going as early as this week If I'm willing to accept the £700 I've been offered for it.