Canon 7D: Buy now or wait?

[Menace]

100 2.8 is a great lens - excellent value for money. So if it's performance you need, go with the 7d.

Have fun.

 

[Louie_C.]

@Menace thanks for the 2 cents, cheers

[bobcat300]

The 7D is a great camera, I had 2of them and was advise to sell them because it's replacement was on its way.

[gmrza]

Hi all,

Just wanted some opinions and thoughts from either 7D owners or people probably in the same boat as me, who are unsure if they should upgrade to a 7D now or wait until after photokina, in case a new camera comes out?

I have a 500D now, however I've out grown it and looking for a more versatile camera.
Thanks for our comments!

wait on it. The 7D is a good camera but will be replaced soon.

Patience is a virtue, Impatience is an expensive commodity.

A slightly different take on this:

What is your opportunity cost of not upgrading?
For a professional photographer, that is more quantifiable (e.g. high revenue through upgrading, or losing jobs/greater risk through not upgrading - e.g. current camera or current backup body breaks.) - if you can tick those boxes, it is worth upgrading.

Outside of the professional sphere, it is harder to put a dollar value to the opportunity cost.  You probably want to ask yourself how much better you believe the output of the new camera will be.  Secondly, are you planning a once in a lifetime experience, which you are wanting to photograph - e.g. trip to the Antarctic where you need a sealed body.  Alternatively, are you being creatively limited by your current camera.  e.g Do you take photos in the wet/rain, do you shoot action (need better AF).
If you can't tick those boxes, it becomes totally an emotional decision, and you ask yourself if you have money to burn. - Canon's current APS-C sensor is more than half way, probably closer to three quarters of the way through its life cycle, so it is worth speculating that Canon will introduce a new APS-C sensor in the next 12 to 18 months.   If you can hold on with the upgrade you can skip a generation of sensors and have a camera that won't be superseded for a good 3 to 4 years.   I would not use the sensor as the reason to upgrade now, but probably rather look at other characteristics which the 7D has which the XX0D line doesn't (sealing, better AF, higher fps, AFMA, etc.)

[jdramirez]

I say wait.  You can get the 7D cheaper if they announce any of the following:  A 70D that is comparable to today's 7D.  Or a replacement to the 7D if it is to be launched within the next 4 months.  I'm not sure that this will affect it as much, but if there is an entry level full frame announced... but I think that would only draw some buyers away from the current 7D as their prices might be comparable.  Consequently demand goes down and so should the price.

[pwp]

Just wanted some opinions and thoughts from either 7D owners or people probably in the same boat as me, who are unsure if they should upgrade to a 7D now or wait until after photokina, in case a new camera comes out?

Don't wait...go directly to a pre-owned 1D Mk4. This is an awesome camera with a handy x1.3 crop. The high ISO performance while not in 1DX territory leaves the 7D in the dust. And you'll very quickly come to appreciate 1-Series ergonomics. You'll never go back. Check out Craigslist or Gumtree.

Pre-owned 1-Series bodies are a pretty safe bet. They are as robust as cameras get. I read somewhere once that 1-Series Canons feel like they are carved from a solid lump of Unobtanium. My old 1D MkIIn was still functioning perfectly when I retired it with close to a million actuations on it....original shutter. And when I wiped off the sweat/salt from the body and gave it a scrub, it looked damn as close to a lightly used body as you could imagine. Awesome....

-PW

[M.ST]

Wait for the 70D or buy a 1D Mark IV.

[sameerthawani]

As others on this thread have said, the the new firmware just being released, most likely the "successor" to the 7D is probably a little bit of time away.

But let's just consider the worst case scenario: Say you the buy the 7D and then Canon comes out with the "successor" the day after your 30day return policy expires 

Say this "successor" is immediately available (ha!), affordable (ha!) and has everything you want. Then what? Well you could probably try to sell the 7D and take a small loss. I think the question in your situation is, - is that risk worth it? That - only you can decide based on your financial situation.

If I had confidence I could sell it second hand and for a reasonable price, I would probably go for it.

Hope that helps. My opinion only.

[sarahgraham]

i got my first dslr (rebel xsi) a few years ago, and to learn photography on it, it has been great. but i too have looked into upgrading to the 7D. i think the thing that draws me to it the most is the HD video capability. that would be a nice upgrade and feature to have for clients to take advantage of.

[paul13walnut5]

Video alone isn't the beat reason to choose a 7d, the 600d, 650d & 60d are arguably better for video with the flip out screen.  Intermediate iso is handy, so 60d looking like better video choice within budget.

7d excels in high speed situations where quicker more tweakable af is required, and whetr a high burst rate and burst depth wins the day.

The 7d is a good camera, anything that succeeds it is likely to be significantly more expensive.

As with any canon dslr since day 1, use raw and learn how to use dpp or acr for best reaults.

[raz]

Longtime lurker here. Great site!

I'm thinking about buying the refurb 7D at Adorama through Amazon (to take advantage of the 0% financing offer). If I can sell my T2i for 350, that would put the total out of pocket around for this around $850. Not bad! Still though, it will burn if a new one is announced though it wont matter unless it's the 70d because a new 7DII I would not be able to afford. A new 70D, I could probably do though 0% financing won't be available in that case (offer expires 9/30 in case anyone's interested)  THOUGHTS? Also, any thoughts on the refubs in general?

THANKS!

[thelebaron]

I just sold my refurb 7d from the loyalty program, it was a fantastic camera with no faults. But another option is to buy used, there are quite a few floating about which you can nab for about 900-1000

[dickgrafixstop]

Get offline, pick a lens and go out and shoot what you have.  Any new camera is only different, but not
necessarily better.  If you get images you like, spend your money on lenses to increase your flexibility and
don't worry about a new body until your current one shows it's limitations.  When you know what you
need, your choice will become obvious.

[unfocused]

Longtime lurker here. Great site!

I'm thinking about buying the refurb 7D at Adorama through Amazon (to take advantage of the 0% financing offer). If I can sell my T2i for 350, that would put the total out of pocket around for this around $850. Not bad! Still though, it will burn if a new one is announced though it wont matter unless it's the 70d because a new 7DII I would not be able to afford. A new 70D, I could probably do though 0% financing won't be available in that case (offer expires 9/30 in case anyone's interested)  THOUGHTS? Also, any thoughts on the refubs in general?

THANKS!

I'm a little confused by your post. I just checked Canon Price Watch and both Adorama and B&H are selling refurbished 7Ds at $1149. I'm not seeing anything from Adorama on Amazon, but I might be missing something.

Both Adorama and B&H routinely offer "bill me later" 0% for six months. Offer never expires.

Are you assuming the 7DII will be significantly more expensive than the originally 7D, or just that the $1,700 original price is steeper than you want to pay? I don't think we can assume the 7DII will automatically be a lot more costly. I think we'll have a better idea once the 6D is announced, but I think competitive pressures will force Canon to price it closer to its Nikon counterpart than the 5DIII was to the D800. (5DIII was, in my view, very wisely targeted at a very competitive market -- wedding photographers -- who have little choice but to pay the $500 premium for the 5DIII's superior ISO performance). I'm sure I'll get flamed for that comment, by those who like to act like the 5DIII was some sort of fail by Canon, but I disagree. I think Canon knew exactly what they were doing.

[tomscott]

Well I did just that. My 40D took a turn for the worst so needed something to fill untill I can get hold of a 5DMKIII. So I got one a year old under 10k shots for £750. Have to say the camera is incredible, everything is great but...

and its a big BUT! The IQ and noise are horrible in the places you don't expect. In fact I am impressed how good the ISO performance is over 1600 (as the 40D was unusable over 1600) but up to 800 it is horrible! 100-400 really really disappointing, especially 100!!! Coming from a 40D it was much cleaner, its still working to make a comparison and shot two side by side and the 7D is worse, noticeably worce. The DR has no difference either... so where it counts it was disappointing, and i was expecting it to be better especialy DR i thought the IQ would be similar. Everywhere else it is an awesome camera the AF system makes the camera useful for everything and the 8fps is great too, but now after 2 weeks im thinking of just selling and biting the bullet for the 5D MKIII and converting FF.

On my 40D I didnt use any NR at ISO100, on the 7D im using 5-10 on the slider and loosing detail. The NR is set to standard too. Its ridiculous, I was using 5-15 for 400-640 on the 40D.

Maybe I was expecting too much but was a bit disappointed. Not just my cam either have tested two to make sure its not just mine.

Is this normal from you other 7D owners. I hate dissing this camera as im a true canon guy, and ive heard great things about the 7D.I remember hearing another member being upset about the ISO100 performance and thinking he must be mad. But I really feel strongly on this one.