5oD or doi I purchase a 7D

[gje38752]

Hi all I currently have a 50D which I am reasonably happy with, but I see the 7D is up for sale at DPP for $1070, whuch is a bit hard to knock back. Is there anybody out there who can tell me if the 7D is that much better. I have a 15-85 to hang off the front.

I mainly use the camera for general photography, but I certainly like to take well defined images, without altering them in any way.

[rbat]

It's a great price, I agree. Are you considering the 6d also?

[roastman]

Hi. Had the 50D, which was a very nice camera. The 7D seems is better in low light than the 50D, but for day to day shooting, you won't notice a lot of difference. The 7D is a speed demon, but the 50D was no slouch either. It is certainly an upgrade, but I find unless I am shooting action shots, I keep going back to my 5DII, which has better image quality. The 15-85 is well matched with the crop sensor of the 7D/50D, so unless you want to look at more lenses, you may wish to stay with that format. It really depends on what you are shooting....

I ditched my 50D when I purchased the 5DII, then bought a 7D because I missed the frame rate of the 50D for action shots. In hindsight, I should not have sold the 50D, as I really don't think it is enough of an upgrade to justify the limited use I give it. My situation is a little different to yours, as I have the 5DII as well, so maybe the upgrade is worthwhile for you. As you can really do an "apples for apples" comparison (because the sensor crop is the same), maybe see if you can borrow a 7D for a day and compare the images from both cameras?

Yes, the 7D is certainly "better" than the 50D in many respects, but for me (in hindsight, as usual!) would not have been sufficient to change bodies. Having said that, I would swap all of them for a 5DIII, which would do EVERYTHING I wanted in the one body.

[Roosta]

GDay gje38752,
First question, What do you hope the 7D will help/give you , over the 50D, beside HD Video?
What are you hoping the 7D will do for your photography?
Are you hoping your composition will improve, due to a new body?

There are several advantages the 7D has over the 50D, but if your looking at it as a saviour to increase your composition and or general photographic skills, are you looking at it for the right reasons? If you want a better body, that's fine, but it won't take a better picture, just because it's a more expensive or advanced body.

[gje38752]

Hi all, thanks to all for your replies, some sensible comments there, some of which look at my motive in upgrading to a 7D, I do value well taken composed photographs and the 7D won't give me any better than the 50D however there are a few aspects of the new body that are nice to have, including the movie mode which I wasn;t keen on but since Firmware 2 has come out and I am currently on a 2 year trip around the block, movie would be good to have. Of course the full frame would be the way to go, but considering the much higher cost, including new lens, the 7D is a good buy at just over $1000 grey.

[Bennymiata]

The 7D has many advantages over the 50D.
First is the superior IQ when using ISO's over 400.
If you take shots in low light, then the 7D is the way to go for you as the newer sensor and processor does a far superior job at higher ISO's.

Then there's the rear screen.
The 7D's rear screen is not only larger than on the 50D, but the resolution is like chalk and cheese.
Then there's video, and even though you may not think you will use it much, once you have it, you'll love it, especially if you have kids and/or pets. The video quality is amazingly good too.
Then there's also the benefit of wireless, off-camera flash, which is really handy if you have an external flash.

The focussing system is also far superior. Faster and with more points to choose from and works better in low light too.

However, with the increased resolution, you may find your lens is left a bit wanting and you will want to get better glass for it, which is an added cost.

Personally, if on a limited budget, I'd go for good glass first, then think about updating the body.

[agb]

The 15-85 lens is a pretty good lens and is quite suitable to the 7D I think.