upgrading from rebel xsi: T4i or used 7D

[cheeseheadsaint]

Last night, I was shooting sprint football in awful lighting. Unfortunately, my rebel XSi could only go to 1600 ISO and even with the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II, the photos were very underexposed. The itch to upgrade is getting stronger!

But I do not want to spend over $1000 for a new body.

At this point, both will be amazing improvements over what I have now. But I need your help in deciding between the two of them. The 7D has great AF but the T4i has a newer processor -and if that means less noise, then that's going to sway my decision.

[Menace]

Personally, I'd go with a good quality used 7d paired with the 70-200 f2.8 II II.

Btw, Don't forget the 8fps

[sandymandy]

For fast action the 7D is ur best choice.

[heptagon]

Lower noise is only for JPEG photos. According to DXOmark the sensor itself is not better. RAW testshots look almost identical.

Do you need live video autofocus? If not i don't know a reason you should get the T4i.

[Knut Skywalker]

I had the XSi myself and upgraded to the 5D MkII and i tell you, it is so amazing! I think the 7D will be a great upgrade for you, the ISO-performance on the 7D is way better than the XSi but you don't want to go too high, afaik at 3200 the 7D starts to get noisy. For fast action the 8fps of the 7D will be very helpful, too.

[eddiemrg]

7D. Indeed. Invest in it!

[Kumakun]

I went from an XTi to a 7D a few years back and I was really happy with the move.  My friend had an XSi (Kiss X5 over here I think it was).  His was a little better than my XTi in terms of low light (we were shooting--attempting  to shoot?--an indoor volleyball match).  However, the 7D was better than either.  Can't reallly say much about the T4i, but when I got my 5DIII a few months back, I held on to my 7D.  I still love that camera. 

[tapanit]

I have used both (7D a lot, 650D --which I think is the same as Rebel T4i-- a little, wife has it).
For sports or other kind of action shooting, I wouldn't think twice: 7D has way better AF, faster frame rate and superior ergonomics.

Th 650D has advantages in video (live AF, flexible LCD), and flexible LCD can be useful for other purposes as well (especially macro), but that's about it. Oh yeah, there's the touchscreen, if you care about that. And it is smaller and lighter (which is why my wife likes it).
Image quality is all but identical; the 650D has a slight advantage in JPG processing, but if you shoot raw you can't tell them apart.

[EYEONE]

Oh this is an easy one!

7D 7D 7D

[JBeckwith]

I know you don't want to spend more than $1000, but I'd seriously consider dropping just a few extra bucks for a 5D Mark II.  I went from the T2i to 5D II and I couldn't be happier.  Going from rebel -> rebel or rebel -> 7D you won't really see a huge increase in IQ.  The 5D Mark II is getting cheap enough to where you may very well be able to find a used one (or refurb) for close to $1000.

FF really changes the way you shoot and if you already have a 70-200 f/2.8 IS II you'd be silly not to upgrade to FF.

[friedmud]

I upgraded from an XSi to a 7D about a year ago.  I just sold my 7D to get a Nikon D600.

I was underwhelmed by the image quality.

That said - the high framerate and really good AF will serve you well if you shoot fast moving targets often... so it still might be the best camera for you.

This is not too mention all the other great things about the 7D like the ergonomics (it just feels right in your hand), the Custom Modes (C1, C2 and C3), the orientation sensitive AF point selection, the "joystick", all the awesome AF point groupings, the beautiful screen (compared to the XSi), superior mirror-lockup and bracketing modes (compared to the XSi) and on and on...

Read the advice here - but make the right decision for yourself...

[CharlieB]

Just bought a new 7D for $1230 shipped.  Got in 3 days

[TriGGy]

If you're not willing to spend more than $1K then why even think about the 7D? I'm not being rude- just a wake up question. Since you're already considering the 7D, you will thank yourself later when you get it over the T4i. Not only because it has 8fps, it's a generation or two of improvements from the XSi with the sensor and processor, and also it has great ergonomics, bigger/brighter viewfinder that will give you approx 100% accuracy. One other thing is the better AF system (you'll have to really re-orient yourself with this because it's a whole different beast from the old 7-9 point system. T4i is just too limiting IMHO.

One warning though: once you'll have the 7D, most probably you won't want to go back to the Rebel line of cameras or below. It has spoiled me a lot with its features and to think I came from a 60D.

[cheeseheadsaint]

^I'm considering a new T4i vs a *used* 7d. I found used bodies of the 7d for under $1k  =)

Thanks y'all! looks like 7d is the clear winner.

[verysimplejason]

If high ISO is more of a concern for you than AF, a 5D2 sounds better investment.