Black Friday Special: Refurb 7D or 70D NEW

[mStevens]

I purchased a refurbished 7D from Adorama. I am having second thoughts  and may cancel the order and purchase a new 70D. Please advise on your experience in purchasing refurbished cameras.

The reason I purchased it was because I currently use a 40D for girls soccer and I hate it. It has really bad image quality (10MP) when I crop in on my shots.

I can't wait any longer for the 7DII. My daughter is a junior and will only play soccer for another year. I have no need for a crop frame beyond that. So my choices are to buy a cheap refurbished 7D or buy a new 70D.

[neuroanatomist]

For shooting action, the 7D is a better choice.  IQ is similar, AF is similar (the 7D has a few more options), but the faster frame rate and especially the deeper RAW buffer and faster buffer clearing with CF cards are a real benefit.

[candc]

I purchased a refurbished 7D from Adorama. I am having second thoughts  and may cancel the order and purchase a new 70D. Please advise on your experience in purchasing refurbished cameras.

The reason I purchased it was because I currently use a 40D for girls soccer and I hate it. It has really bad image quality (10MP) when I crop in on my shots.

I can't wait any longer for the 7DII. My daughter is a junior and will only play soccer for another year. I have no need for a crop frame beyond that. So my choices are to buy a cheap refurbished 7D or buy a new 70D.

What lens are you using to shoot the soccer games?

[mStevens]

candc, I am using a 2.8L IS II 70-200.

[candc]

That's one of canons best lenses so you will get good results with either body. The 70d is a lot smaller and has a lot of features your daughter might like so maybe you can give it to her after its not useful for you?

[dickgrafixstop]

You've got a top of the line lens, so go a little extra and get the 6D.  That will solve your "crop" problems and give you a platform you can continue to use.  The 70D offers the new "dual" pixel sensor with it's supposed advantages.  I find that most of my grandkids soccer game pictures are taken within the 85-150 zoom range -
field side positioning with the ability to walk the sidelines - so the "extra" reach that  a crop body might offer
is a minimal advantage.   From a pure "action sports" perspective, the 7D is a fine solution even if it is a little long in the tooth.  If budget is no object, get the 5DMkIII.

[Vossie]

You've got a top of the line lens, so go a little extra and get the 6D.  That will solve your "crop" problems and give you a platform you can continue to use.  The 70D offers the new "dual" pixel sensor with it's supposed advantages.  I find that most of my grandkids soccer game pictures are taken within the 85-150 zoom range -
field side positioning with the ability to walk the sidelines - so the "extra" reach that  a crop body might offer
is a minimal advantage.   From a pure "action sports" perspective, the 7D is a fine solution even if it is a little long in the tooth.  If budget is no object, get the 5DMkIII.

His sig says he already has a 5d3, so why get a 6d?

MStevens, why are you using a 40d when you have a 5d3? The 5D3 is better in all aspects. If it is a reach issue, you can also toss in a 1.4x iii on your 70-200. Even without a TC, the 5d3 already has similar reach as the 40d (1.6x crop vs 2.2x more pixels). If its is really framerate that you miss, I concur with Neuro that the 7D (more fps, larger buffer and CF) is the better choice.

[neuroanatomist]

His sig says he already has a 5d3, so why get a 6d?

MStevens, why are you using a 40d when you have a 5d3? The 5D3 is better in all aspects. If it is a reach issue, you can also toss in a 1.4x iii on your 70-200. Even without a TC, the 5d3 already has similar reach as the 40d (1.6x crop vs 2.2x more pixels). If its is really framerate that you miss, I concur with Neuro that the 7D (more fps, larger buffer and CF) is the better choice.

Missed that.  I'd pick a 5DIII over the 7D or 70D for sports.  The AF is better, enough better that the keeper rate is higher than the 7D despite the slower frame rate. The IQ is equivalent at low ISO if you crop to the APS-C FoV, better if you don't need to crop and cropped at high ISO.

Unless you're looking for a second body to use along side the 5DIII, just use the 5DIII.

[ashmadux]

70d > 7d even just for image quality alone.

6d and action? Forget it. Even if the AF could handle it, the mushy direction pad makes switching af points very inaccurate. The pad feels better when it's broken in a bit.

Beyond that i think we all wish we has 5d3's...

[jrista]

His sig says he already has a 5d3, so why get a 6d?

MStevens, why are you using a 40d when you have a 5d3? The 5D3 is better in all aspects. If it is a reach issue, you can also toss in a 1.4x iii on your 70-200. Even without a TC, the 5d3 already has similar reach as the 40d (1.6x crop vs 2.2x more pixels). If its is really framerate that you miss, I concur with Neuro that the 7D (more fps, larger buffer and CF) is the better choice.

Missed that.  I'd pick a 5DIII over the 7D or 70D for sports.  The AF is better, enough better that the keeper rate is higher than the 7D despite the slower frame rate. The IQ is equivalent at low ISO if you crop to the APS-C FoV, better if you don't need to crop and cropped at high ISO.

Unless you're looking for a second body to use along side the 5DIII, just use the 5DIII.

Totally agree here. The 5D III AF system is so superior to the 7D AF system that, even though the 7D is faster, the AF jitter results in missfocused frames during continuous shooting. The 5D III has just as good a keeper rate despite its lower frame rate, and is overall a better camera.

[U-Type]

I agree with many people's responses, if you got a 5Dm3 then just use that, dont get a 7D nor a 70D.

Having used 7D for 4 years, and having just upgraded to 5Dm3 for a month, I really do feel 5Dm3 can do everything 7D does, even AF wise. AF on 5Dm3 is much more precise than 7D. And I rarely get all of the shots in focus with 7D when shooting at continuous high, so losing 2fps is not a big deal.

In terms of image quality, 5Dm3's so superior that I just really don't wanna get back to using 7D anymore. I had thought it could be my backup body before my 5D arrived but now I'm considering selling it. That extra reach with crop sensor doesn't justify me keeping it.

[greger]

I wish I had a 5D III. I liked my 40D. My only complaint was I had to sharpen my pics a lot more than I thought was needed. I started getting Error 99 after each shot. I got a message on the LCD telling me to turn off the camera and remove and replace the battery. After much research I decided to put my money towards a 7D in August 2012 when the vs 2 firmware was announced. The 7D was such a step up from the 40D that I started to think my 40D was faulty right out of the box. Smart Sharpening in PS before printing my pics gave me the sharp results I was looking for. I do that to pics from the 7D too, but it is better than the 40D. I would like a 5D III but will have to wait till my 7D dies. We bought my wife a 70D and I think it's a good camera to buy if your upgrading from a Rebel (XXXD) I don't know if the 70D can shoot in AI Servo as well as the 7D or 5D III. My wife is happy to shoot jpegs. I will keep quiet until she starts having problems before I get her to shoot raw. Instead of getting the refurbished 7D get the 70D for your wife or daughter and use it as a second camera with your 5DIII when you need the extra 1.6 reach. Good Luck!

[Rienzphotoz]

I purchased a refurbished 7D from Adorama. I am having second thoughts  and may cancel the order and purchase a new 70D. Please advise on your experience in purchasing refurbished cameras.

The reason I purchased it was because I currently use a 40D for girls soccer and I hate it. It has really bad image quality (10MP) when I crop in on my shots.

I can't wait any longer for the 7DII. My daughter is a junior and will only play soccer for another year. I have no need for a crop frame beyond that. So my choices are to buy a cheap refurbished 7D or buy a new 70D.

Over the years I've purchased a few refurbished cameras and lenses from Adorama and I've never had any problem with them ... Adorama seems to do a really good job of it. Since you plan on using it for girls soccer with 70-200 f/2.8 L II, I would definitely recommend the 7D.

[mStevens]

Thanks everyone for you tips and advise. The reason I don't use my 5DIII is because it does not have the 1.6 reach that the 40D has. It does not matter what end of the field I am shooting from the girls always gravitate to the opposite side of the field, so I have to crop and crop…

I will dig out my 2x extender that I rarely use. I cannot remember if it will work with my 5DIII and 70-200 combo.

[neuroanatomist]

Thanks everyone for you tips and advise. The reason I don't use my 5DIII is because it does not have the 1.6 reach that the 40D has. It does not matter what end of the field I am shooting from the girls always gravitate to the opposite side of the field, so I have to crop and crop…

A 5DIII image cropped to the FoV of the 40D will give you an 8.6 MP image (vs. the 10 MP 40D).  The cropped 5DIII image will have better IQ, and will more likely be in focus.  I really see no advantage to using the 40D.

I will dig out my 2x extender that I rarely use. I cannot remember if it will work with my 5DIII and 70-200 combo.

The 70-200/2.8 II is f/5.6 with a 2x TC, AF will work (but the TC slows it down).