Bought a 7D, considering exchanging for a 60D. What would you do?

[nolken]

Keep the 7D. You wouldn't order a meal in a restaurant and send it back if it turns out to be exactly what you expected, would you?

That is different. The restaurant will lose money on that, and the meal that was sent back can't be re-sold. The camera, on the other hand, will get shipped back to Canon and sold as a refurbished camera. The store I purchased it from will not be loosing money. Neither will Canon. I'll still be buying the 60D from them, not the mention the thousands of dollars I spend at the retailer every year. Also the money I saved will more than likely be re-spent at that retailer.

Needless to say I don't think they will care that much.

[picturesbyme]

I had a 7D. Sold it, got a 60D and a better glass 24-70, 200 etc...
Now I shot w/FF but I still have the 60D. It's only a backup and I use it for macro w/the EFS60, and for wide with the Sigma 8-16, both are awesome lenses. It's an awesome little cam and apart from the lack of AF adjustment I see nothing wrong with it for most uses. Actually I never even needed the AFMA, but maybe I was just lucky. (used that a lot on the 7D, barely use it on 5D2)
It would be great if the ISOs would be cleaner above 800 but the 7D won't make a diff. there anyway..
After all it all depends on your style, your subjects, knowledge...etc.

Just one more thing. If you visit my site and go to portraits, or even if you just sit back and see the main slide I doubt that you could tell which photo was taken with what... think about that for a sec.. 

[Marsu42]

I do feel i'm pretty set for the time being as far as glass goes. I actually have exactly what trygved suggested minus the 5D mark iii. A 24-105L and some fast primes. I do not own any EF-S glass because I do anticipate going to FF. Just not now. I want to have gotten a couple of paid gigs before I go for the 5D mark iii. Right now the investment is not a wise one because of the uncertainty. Low-Light performance is relatively a non-issue for me. I pretty much never shoot anything in a non-staged scene, even with photography. And with photography when I do shoot non-staged I don't really mind using a flash or cranking up the ISO a bit. I'm not a wedding photographer.

+1 for the 60d (though I'm a bit biased as a 60d owner :-)) - as for the differences 7d/60d there are tons of threads about it, but I agree that they won't matter for what you do - except for the swivel screen which is a plus for video and might make you look more pro than cowering next to your camera or standing on your toes.

The one reason for the 7d that hasn't been mentioned is that it makes a better combo with the 5d3 due to the similar button layout, while 60d+6d integrate without re-thinking where the buttons are. Just remember that the 7d uses cf cards, on 5d3 cf is also best because of the broken sd slot, but you will need sd cards for the 60d (again).

Imho concerning camera bodies, just get what you really require, they drop in price too fast - once the 70d/7d2 are out with an improved sensors most people won't want to use the current 18mp generation as a door stopper.

[PoulStaugaard]

Keep the 7D. You wouldn't order a meal in a restaurant and send it back if it turns out to be exactly what you expected, would you?

That is different. The restaurant will lose money on that, and the meal that was sent back can't be re-sold. The camera, on the other hand, will get shipped back to Canon and sold as a refurbished camera. The store I purchased it from will not be loosing money. Neither will Canon. I'll still be buying the 60D from them, not the mention the thousands of dollars I spend at the retailer every year. Also the money I saved will more than likely be re-spent at that retailer.

Needless to say I don't think they will care that much.

Assuming you get all your money back, there is still a cost and someone is gonna have to pay for it. Ultimately, I would argue, it is going to be the other customers.

[DanielW]

I had a 7D. Sold it, got a 60D and a better glass 24-70, 200 etc...
Now I shot w/FF but I still have the 60D. It's only a backup and I use it for macro w/the EFS60, and for wide with the Sigma 8-16, both are awesome lenses. It's an awesome little cam and apart from the lack of AF adjustment I see nothing wrong with it for most uses. Actually I never even needed the AFMA, but maybe I was just lucky. (used that a lot on the 7D, barely use it on 5D2)
It would be great if the ISOs would be cleaner above 800 but the 7D won't make a diff. there anyway..
After all it all depends on your style, your subjects, knowledge...etc.

Just one more thing. If you visit my site and go to portraits, or even if you just sit back and see the main slide I doubt that you could tell which photo was taken with what... think about that for a sec.. 

Wow, terrific photos! Congratulations! I myself felt like buying quite a few...
(On the other hand, I wish I hadn't seen your work; now I can't blame my 60D anymore...)

[Chosenbydestiny]

It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Keep the 7D.

I'm all for that saying although in this case I see a limit to it. Because if this saying were 100% true we should all own multiple 1Dx bodies for backup on the field and some at home. In this case, the OP wants to venture into video work. There were many issues for me with my 7D for video use in the past that caused me to sell it and buy 3 60Ds eventually. What people hardly factor in to video work is size and weight for support systems. Lighter is ALWAYS better in regards to DSLR video support systems, especially if you're in the exploration stage. You'll save more money than just the transition between 7D and 60D, you'll also save on the accessories in the future. The 60D is still a more perfect video body at this point than the 7D. Why? It's the lightest and most versatile body with natively adjustable kelvin, ISO 1/3 increments, and easier aperture dialing which you can't get from the lightest weight xxxd cameras without magic lantern. Another thing about magic lantern, is that the 60D is the only body that makes full use of every ML feature. The 7D is still in alpha... You'll have to wait quite awhile before the port is finished. The 60D works great NOW. The swivel screen is very useful for video and there's no problem getting another viewfinder like zacuto's zfinder on it for video. Like other says in this thread, audio is very important. The 60D's soundboard is also still the most adaptable and if you're planning to plug a zoom h4n, rode mics, lavaliers, etc into it you'll have no issues. I know this because I shot video with three 60Ds for over a year with many different support and audio systems. The 7D tends to have issues up to now even with the latest firmware, especially with the alpha ML on it as one of my colleagues ended up trashing ML and had to go blind with no audio monitor for the rest of the event. Not cool. I'm not saying that the 7D is incapable of doing good video, but you'll sure as hell have a much easier time on the 60D. It's really the best budget cinema camera out there. Now if you're a photographer all the way, different story, keep the 7D if so. But I'd still rather have two 60Ds than one 7D for video any day.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I would not buy a 60D because it does not have AFMA.  That means that the body cannot be tuned to my fast prime lenses.  If you are using smaller apertures where the focus errors get lost in the depth of field, a 60D is fine.  But, if you want to move up to fast wide aperture lenses, they always have a little AF error, and sometimmes a lot of error.  I'd take a used or refurb 7D over a 60D any day.  That doesn't mean that the 60D is not a fine camera, it just means that you might be disappointed if you try to use fast lenses with it.

[picturesbyme]

Wow, terrific photos! Congratulations! I myself felt like buying quite a few...
(On the other hand, I wish I hadn't seen your work; now I can't blame my 60D anymore...)

Thank you Daniel.

[Halfrack]

3 things:

- if you want to return the 7d, get a used 5d mk2 - lots of them out there, at good prices (~$1300)
- get setup with a follow focus rig, I didn't see it in your list of gear - and there are some slick usb versions that work with the 5d2's but not the 5d3's - save some money
- bypass the RAID 0 on the MBP - get a SSD

[Radiating]

I understand my needs may be different than yours. I'm curious as to what YOU would do. Not necessarilly what I should do, but what you would do. Background:

I consider myself an advanced amateur. I originally had a 60D, but sold it at the beginning of last semester to focus more on school (and knowing that the body would inevitably experience a price drop soon. Glad I sold it when I did!). I thought I could live without for a year, but I couldn't take it anymore and I bought the 7D a couple of weeks ago for $1030. Now I can get the 60D for $560. That makes the 7D an extra $470, or 84% more. I don't do sports photography or BIF. The closes thing to fast moving is my kids playing, so I don't really need the 7D AF. Before I sold the 60D, I was doing some smaller paid video gigs. I would like to take that to the next level. I would like to do TV commercials for local companies and product advertising videos as well as what I was previously doing. I live in a small(er) town, and the ONLY competition is the local cable company who makes horrendous commercials. One concern of mine, Is it unprofessional to take a 60D to a shoot? Like I said, I only did smaller paid gigs, and nobody really knew anything about my gear. I was still a bit self conscious bringing my 60D, even on the smaller gigs. I did keep all my other video equipment when I sold the body since all the other items don't lose value so fast.

Why I would keep the 7D:

• 1080 HDMI output durring recording. This is pretty important to me, but alone doesn't quite justify the extra $470. Almost though because the screen going black on the 60D upon pressing record is incredibly annoying.
• Magnesium alloy body. For obvious reasons over the 60D's polycarbonate. This, however, isn't as big of a deal, as the 60D's body is still good.
• The 7D will have a better resale value. Again, though, this isn't as important as I can't really see myself selling it in the near future. Upon purchase of my next body, the 7D/60D will become my back-up.
• The AFMA and better AF of the 7D will be invaluable IF I end up actually needing that in the future. IF.
• It looks good in my hands

Why I would exchange the 7D for the 60D?
$$$$

So, what would you do personally if you were trying to decide between the 60D and the 7D? And, I suppose, what would you do in my situation?

I would get a 5D Mark II in your position. Lightly used they run less than $1200 and will have stellar resale value. Expect the 7D to crash in resale value to less than $700 soon.

[trygved]

So you've your glass and equipment mostly sorted out (and I'm also of the mindset of renting high-end equipment vs. buying entry level equipment)!
In that case, I absolutely say stick with what you have, and use every cent from those first few gigs to sport the 5DIII.
Give the local cable company a run for their $$$

[DanielW]

I would not buy a 60D because it does not have AFMA.  That means that the body cannot be tuned to my fast prime lenses.  If you are using smaller apertures where the focus errors get lost in the depth of field, a 60D is fine.  But, if you want to move up to fast wide aperture lenses, they always have a little AF error, and sometimmes a lot of error.  I'd take a used or refurb 7D over a 60D any day.  That doesn't mean that the 60D is not a fine camera, it just means that you might be disappointed if you try to use fast lenses with it.

AFMA is the only reason I'm upgrading my 60D in the near future. I'm alright with some noisy high-ISO, and would keep the 60D had Canon cared to release firmware to address that.
And if indeed the current 7D sells for $700 or less when the mk2 is out, as Radiating thinks, well, then I'll not only buy it but also keep my 60D as a backup. (Geez, I feel like a pro!)

[CarlTN]

Interesting...I think I might do the same...if the 7D actually falls to near $700 when the mark 2 comes out (especially if the mark 2 is ~$2k or above)...assuming that's not a "refurb" or used price.  A new 7D for $700, yea that would be sweet.  Then I might actually be able to buy both a 7D and a 6D...or else just a 5D3.  At least the choices would be many.  However, the 7D2 may not actually hit the market til Christmas '13, and I want a new camera before then...preferably by October.

[eyeland]

Do you really think it will drop that much in price if the mk2 is priced so aggressively?
Was just about to pull the trigger on it and then it actually went UP in price this week.. sheesh
Then a friend started ranting about the chance of overheating the 7D during long video takes and the uncertainty concerning full functional ML release and thus I am back in the cursed state of mind, similar to the OP...
7D (AF-selector, build, HDMI-out, C1,2,3 for video, slightly bigger VF, AFMA, chance of overheating) vs 60D (Price, articulated LCD, ML) Meh

[expatinasia]

If you really wanted to get rid of your 7D and save some cash in the process. Why not get a 50D instead of a 60D. Some say the 50D is the better camera and it has AFMA, but no video unless you use ML.