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dirtjumper32 said:
There have been no solid rumors about a 7D Mark II so far. It could be announced by Photokina, or it might be the end of next year before we see a replacement. No one can really say for sure. If I had to guess, I would say we shouldn't expect a replacement until next year. The 7D was announced on Sept. 1, 2009. That would make it three years old by September this year. Canon seems to be moving to a four-year cycle for their products, which would mean the 7D is due for replacement next September or around there. Canon doesn't seem to feel too terribly much in the way of competition from Nikon internally...at least, many of their technological decisions don't seem to indicate as much. If Canon IS worried about competition but isn't showing it, we very well could see a 7D replacement this year...but that still feels doubtful.
So, the decision to buy/not buy now shouldn't be based on when the next 7D will come out. It should be based on whether the 7D is sufficient for your needs now, and whether you are happy with its IQ. The 7D is one of those cameras that either evokes great love or great hate. The last time I recommended someone buy the 7D regardless of when the 7D II was coming out (here on these forums even), they hated the IQ. I HIGHLY recommend you check and double-check the IQ of the 7D's sensor on as many resources as you can find. Make absolutely certain there isn't anything about it that will bug you once you buy it...noise at ISO 3200+ (as well as 2000, but 2500 seems fine), pattern/banding noise at ISO 100/200 (sometimes up in the midtones even), etc. might all be serious detractors for you. They are really only issues when pixel-peeping, but...some people are just pixel-peepers. If your a pixel peeper and you want top-notch 100% crop detail, IQ is the most significant factor that might affect your buying.
If you are the practical type, check out photos on 500px, 1x, etc. that are taken with the 7D. Any shot from a half-decent photographer with this camera is usually superb. Noise, color fidelity, sharpness, etc. are all very good with this camera. Its AF system is great, very capable and configurable. Its ergonomics are great as well. I love the frame rate and buffer, particularly with UDMA 7 CF cards...which lets me pound out about 24 shots at 8 per second...which is really great for capturing action. I have shot at both ISO 3200 and 6400...and while IQ really does kind of fall off a cliff at those levels, its good to have them available when there is no other option. Some judicious NR and/or selected (painted) NR in the areas that need it with Lightroom 4 can usually clean up unsightly noise at these settings pretty quickly.
As an owner of the 7D myself, I am a happy customer. It is not an IQ king in every respect and for every conceivable usage scenario, but it was never really intended to be. It allows me to capture birds and wildlife even in some pretty extreme light (pre-dawn, post-sunset). You can see all of my most recent shots (mostly birds) taken with this camera here: http://500px.com/JonRista
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