Canon 7D: 'I need a Must Have's List'

[RickSpringfield]

This forum is genuinely awesome.  Thanks to all for the feedback.

So, if I am pushing my luck here please tell me ... but what would folks suggest for a bag/case?  Anyone have a favorite that works as kind of the 'everyday' camera bag?  I have a Lowepro MicroTrekker from Ritz Camera for my Canon Rebel G that I am using

[Trovador]

If you love your 7D, You will hate the 6D. After owning the 7D, I wouldn't want anything less than its AF and the 5D3 is that camera for me IMO. You will have to ditch the Kit lens from the 60D with either camera.

Not true! different cameras for different things, I have a 7D and will buy a 6D as a second body.  Great combo.  Now, if he's selling the 7D to buy a 6D and shoots a lot of sport pics and moving subjects then that's a different thing (even though many pros got by pretty well with the 5D markII for years!).

Why not just buy a Mk2 and save 600$? Afterall, he's not going to shoot sports with either the 6D or 5D2.

Sure, that works too.

[Kristofgss]

've had the 7D for two years now and from all the kit I have, I usually pack
Heavy setup using a backpack:
7D
battery grip with AA batteries as spare (I love the balance with the grip)
speedlite 430 for shooting with short shutter time (would have been nice if the 270 could do this)
remote (the new one has a clip to put it on the strap)
Golla neckstrap (carries easier than the default one)
CTO gels to color flashlight
17-40 F4L
50 mm
85 mm
lastolite collapsible reflector
QP 201 color card
circ pol filter
lensbabies
Not that I need most of the stuff, but it's what gets used most often.

light setup for urban shooting
7D
270 EX (remember to keep shutter below 1/200)
40 mm pancake or 15-85
golla strap
manfrotto SOLO II bag

[RickSpringfield]

This is a great list.  Lots in here I hadn't thought or heard of.  I am checking out the Golla stuff right now and its neat.

[unfocused]

I'm not real clear what you are asking, but if you are asking for ideas on what to do to "trick out" the 7D there are an almost infinite number of options.

Lenses: better all-around lens – I prefer the 15-85, other prefer the 17-55 2.8. Both excellent lenses. You have to decide which is more important, speed or reach. 15-85 if most of your shooting is in good light. 17-55 2.8 if you are mostly an available light indoors kind of guy.

Wide angle: With the 15-85mm you are at the edge of the "normal" wide-angle range. (24mm equivalent). If you want to go wider, you can go with Canon, Sigma or Tokina. All have very good super wide angle lenses. I preferred the speed of the 11-16 Tokina 2.8, but the Canon is a good lens as well.

Telephoto: I'm very high on the 70-300mm L. But, its pretty darn expensive. If not in your budget, the Tamron 70-300mm or even the Canon 55-250 mm EF-S are the best alternatives. Both are better than Canon's 70-300 consumer lenses. The 55-250 feels super cheap, but it is very sharp.

Flash: Everyone needs a real strobe. The ability to use the IR controls on the 7D to fire off-camera flash open up a whole world of possibilities. Start with IR control and then grow from there. Once you get a flash, you'll have no trouble finding ways to spend money on light modifiers (umbrellas, soft boxes, etc. etc.) and more and more flashes, not to mention radio-control.

Battery Grip: Okay, I'm a sucker for these things. It's a personal decision. I like them, but I'm hard-pressed to give any real practical advantage for having one. Okay, there are a few: two batteries means you will almost never run out of power, they do offer some protection if you take a fall (Happened to me. The grip absorbed the fall, broke a battery door, but the 7D was unharmed) and some people actually use the controls on the side of the grip to operate the camera (me, I'm so used to holding the camera in the opposite direction that those extra buttons are kind of useless to me.) Mostly, I put grips in the category of "they look cool" and admit they are largely an affectation.

Camera Bags: I'm still waiting for the Tardis bag (bigger on the inside than the outside). In the meantime, no single bag ever works for all situations. Like flashes and lighting modifiers, collecting bags seems to come with the territory when it comes to photography.

[Rienzphotoz]

I have a family, I take pics of them.  We go places, I take pictures when I go places.  So from a stills perspective, The only thing I have right now is a 60D kit lens and a 7D body and a battery.  Looking for a little 'christmas wish list' advice from some 7D owners.

I had the 7D & 17-55 f/2.8 IS for about 3 years .... sold it recently to fund 5D MK III.
Although I had 17-55 f/2.8 IS, I preferred using 24-105 f/4 L IS with the 7D because:
1. No barrel distortion (17-55 had barrel distortion at 24mm)
2. No vignetting (17-55 had vignetting at 24mm)
3. Bcoz 7D (with its crop sensor) uses the center portion of 24-105 lens, i.e. the sharpest part of the lens I got lot sharper photos with 24-105 than 17-55 at f/4
4. The zoom range of 24-105 is really good for family photos and for vacations (nearly 40000 of my entire England, Scotland vacation photos were taken with 7D + 24-105)
Those were my reasons for recommending 24-105 f/4 L IS, if that helps.
Another good choice to complement 24-105 is the EF 70-300 L IS ... this is a really nice lens with a good zoom range in small package, easy to carry while on vacation ... I think it is on sale right now for $1249.
But if you are willing to carry a bit more weight (and lighten your bank balance) than EF 70-200 L IS II is a fantastic lens ... it'll lighten your bank balance by about $2100
Want to spend more money then go for:
Canon 600EX-RT speedlite
Manfrotto Carbon Fibre Tripod (either the 055 series or the 190 series)
Bags ... where do I begin? ... my wife is ticked off with all the different bags that I bought and never use ... still searching for my favorite bag.

[RickSpringfield]

Much appreciated.  Between these 3 lists I've gotten a ton of 'good gift ideas' and some 'must haves'.  Thank you community for the support

[pdirestajr]

I also loved the old 35mm f/2 on my 7D. The crop sensor got rid of the soft edges and left me with a super sharp f/2 lens that can be had for under 300 USD. It's nice and small & cheap!

[Axilrod]

+1 for 17-55 f/2.8 IS

[SpecialGregg]

A lot of people are suggesting the 17-55, and it's a great lens. I went the 24-105L route and I'm not disappointed. It can be had for $200 cheaper than the 17-55, is weather sealed and has a slightly better build quality. I find it's still useable indoors despite the f4, thanks to the IS. The biggest knock on the 24-105 is the barrel distortion, but you don't really see any of that on a crop body. Some also say that the 39mm effective focal length isn't wide enough for landscapes, but I have the 10-22mm for that (which is also a must have for 7D owners), so the 24-105 compliments it well. The 70-300L would be the only other missing piece you would need to complete the trifecta and have the 10-300mm focal range covered. And for $350, add the 50mm 1.4 for indoor use and for portraits.

[distant.star]

So here I am thinking to myself, there is a 6D out there, a 5D Mark III, etc etc. and now I have the 7D, what should I do.  But I make piece with that and start hunting for a list of must have gear if you own a 7D and surprisingly, there just aren't things like that out there.

I have a family, I take pics of them.  We go places, I take pictures when I go places.  So from a stills perspective, The only thing I have right now is a 60D kit lens and a 7D body and a battery.  Looking for a little 'christmas wish list' advice from some 7D owners.

I suspect there are not lists like you're looking for because people do different things with cameras. Anyway, given what you've said, here are a few thoughts:

1. Mount Smokey gave you the best advice with the EF-S 17-55 lens. It' got a good range. It's fast. It's got IS. And you'll get extremely hig IQ pictures.

2. As with any good camera, you'll need a second battery. Keep a spare charged so you'll never run out of juice when you want to be taking pictures.

3. Make sure you have good fast storage cards. Lots of excellent sales happening now. The 7D can flip along at a good FPS pace -- good for getting pics of moving kids.

4. The 7D has a flash so unless you're doing more than fill or serious lighting a flash wouldn't be high on my list.

5. If you're traveling around and doing some scenery you may want a good CP filter, once you've decided on what lens you'll be using for such things.

I think that's the basics. Next tier, I'd go first for one of the 70-200mm L lenses.

Have fun.

[bholliman]

I own a 7D and am really happy with it.  I use it quite a bit for taking pictures of kids sporting events as well as for pictures around the house, vacations, etc.  So, it sounds like we are generally doing the same type of photography.

I have the following lenses and I've found it to be a really good combination:

• EF-S 15-85mm F3.5-5.6 IS - great walk around lens, good for landscapes and general photography
  
• EF 35mm F1.4 L - excellent for indoor natural light shots, low light photography and a good general purpose lens
• EF 70-200mm F2.8 F2.8 IS II - outstanding lens for sporting events, portraits, indoor events like concerts and school programs.

As others have suggested, the 17-55mm F2.8 IS is also a great option as are the 70-200 F4.0 lenses.

[westr70]

+1 million
[/quote]

+1 million if you are into tracking fast moving objects subjects mostly.

But if you AF and recompose like I do... the 6D AF might even be better.

It will boil down to what you value more... The 6D will give you less noisy images across the ISO spectrum, and probably better IQ overall. Nice interface with a Tablet.

The 7D is noisier, but better AF points across the frame, it has faster burst.

Consumers/enthusiasts might prefer the improvement of images with the 6D, but pros might give a higher rating to getting a high % of keepers and fast action... might prefer the 7D.

If you DO end up keeping the 7D, then Mt. Spokane's lens list is a very good one. For me the 6D seems very enticing for non-pros, especially with the -3EV center AF point and high ISO performance that not only matches the 5diii, but sneaks past it.
[/quote]

I agree with the above.  IMO the only camera that competes is the 5D Mark III in terms of speed.  It also took me a while to get used to shooting my 7D.   Good luck.

[Area256]

For bags I recently got the Think Tank Retrospective 7, which IMO is the greatest mid-sized camera bag ever made.  And the best part is, you don't look like you are walking around with camera gear.  I put two lenses, my camera, a flash, spare cards, ND filters, stepper rings, radio triggers, lens pens, a few small light modifiers, cables, chargers, and my iPad in that thing.

Flash: Everyone needs a real strobe. The ability to use the IR controls on the 7D to fire off-camera flash open up a whole world of possibilities. Start with IR control and then grow from there. Once you get a flash, you'll have no trouble finding ways to spend money on light modifiers (umbrellas, soft boxes, etc. etc.) and more and more flashes, not to mention radio-control.

+1 lots of my equipment is in the form of flashes and light modifiers.   They can really make a difference, even more than a lens in some cases - look-up "strobist" and you'll find tons of cool stuff you can do with flashes.   Best part is if you get some manual flashes, cheap radio triggers, cheap light modifiers, and some gels, it can actually be much less than the cost of some lenses to get a near professional level lighting setup.  Although I'd start with a 430EX II, and maybe a cheap umbrella + stand kit for like $60, and see how you like it.

I think most of the good lenses have already been mentioned.  If you aren't going full frame the 10-22mm is great on crop.  The 24-105mm f/4 is nice on crop, but more practical on FF unless you plan to take the 10-22mm with you as well.  The 100mm f/2.8L Macro is outstanding on crop and FF. The 70-200mm f/4 or f/2.8 lenses are also a good option, but only if you are shooting things at a long distance - closer in on crop camera they'll be hard to use.

And my two cents on the now endless 7D/6D/5D3 debate.  If you are shooting subjects that move quickly, the 7D and 5D3 are the best options.  The 6D however has an excellent IQ to price ratio, if you don't shoot fast moving subjects, it's a way to save some money, possibly for a lens or other cool gear - while keeping IQ at the level of the 5D3.

Also a tripod is a really important thing to have.  I don't travel anywhere without a good tripod, there are just so many times they make the difference between getting a shot, and not getting a shot.  Any old tripod will do the job 99% of the time, but the higher end ones will last much longer.

[Kristofgss]

Also, since you have kids with you, you might consider the sun sniper or black rapid staps. They allow you to hang the camera from the side, carry a backpack or whatever extra gear the kids don't want to carry, and the camera can move without having to move the belt or without having to hang the belt from your neck instead of your shoulder.
It's also convenient for city carrying, camera goes under the jacket so you can enter stores without getting odd looks and outside, you just open the zipper halfway and slide the camera over the strap when you want to shoot something. It's also a pretty cheap upgrade to have someone else put under the christmas tree.