Canon question...

[firemanchip]

I`m looking to upgrade from a T3i pretty soon and I`ve been looking at the new 70D. I`ve seen that so many people use the 7D and have very good things to say about it. The 7D costs a little more than the 70D. I did a side by side comparison of the two on the B@H web site and it appears that the 70D is a better camera. Am I missing something???

 

[photo_chick]

The 7D has some features that put it as what's considered a more "professional" level model. But its also an aging model that has an almost identical sensor to your T3i. The 70D is a fairly new consumer model with a better sensor, among other things.

Which is better for you is relative to what you want and why you're replacing your T3i.

 

[DoDaLeCa]

7D is more rugged with better overall performance in fps, larger burst capacity, focus speed in photos, larger viewfinder coverage, etc.

70D is more consumer based with flipout touch screen, more predetermined scene modes, lesser build, etc. It has a new sensor design that allows better focus in some uses such as movie recording, lower sensor noise, etc.

There's rumors of a 7D replacement coming out soon.

 

[SkaGoat]

There's rumors of a 7D replacement coming out soon.

This rumour has been out there for the last 2 to 3 years.

I would say, depending on your needs, the 70D is the better buy.

If you need a tough as nails crop sensor, that has fast FPS, CF Cards and really good weather proofing, then the 7D is your man.

But it sounds to me 70D will be a better option, you're upgrading from a Rebel, so I'm guessing you feel you want better ergonomics, a few extra features, etc. Than 70D is the camera to get, it uses SD cards, which means all the memory you already have will work with this new camera. It's better in low light, than the long in the tooth 7D, but not by huge amounts (it won't be like going from a 60D to a 6D).

Think of it this way. Canon's line is designed like this

T5i -> 70D -> 6D -> 5D -> 1D

The 70D replaced the 60D, not the 7D.

The 7D is kind of in a niche spot, it's a crop sensor, with (at the time of release a 1D Mark IV, AF performance). Birders and Sports photogs on a budget love them.

My guess if we ever see a 7D Mark II, it'll be the 70D sensor, with the same body the 7D already has, and the 1DXs AF system.

What type of photography do you do now? Do you plan to do alot of outdoor, in the bush photography? Birds, wildlife, hiking etc?

 

[firemanchip]

Thanks for the info. I live on the Outer Banks of North Carolina so as you can imagine I take a ton of sunset, sunrise, wildlife, and other beach related pictures. It really is a very photo friendly area to live in. Of course low-light photography is something I`m looking for. I want to be able to get good dark ride photos at Disney when I go.

 

[DoDaLeCa]

With at least equal low light focusing capability I think the 70D's newer sensor has an advantage in low light (thus high ISO required) pictures, the 70D has a higher native maximum ISO plus expanded ISO values.

The 7D replacement rumors make more sense now as prior to the 70D the 7D hasn't been outperformed by any other Canon APS-C camera.

 

[SkaGoat]

Stole these graphs from dpreview.com's review of the 70D.

The noise is basically the same on all the crop cameras, and 12800 ISO is basically useless.

GreyNoise by SkaGoat, on Flickr

Chroma by SkaGoat, on Flickr

 

[sporadic]

Thanks for the info. I live on the Outer Banks of North Carolina so as you can imagine I take a ton of sunset, sunrise, wildlife, and other beach related pictures. It really is a very photo friendly area to live in. Of course low-light photography is something I`m looking for. I want to be able to get good dark ride photos at Disney when I go.

I have a 7D and love it. Unless you need the high burst rate, the expanded focus tracking or sealed body, the 70D will suite you just fine. Won't weigh as much either. Given your photography goals however, I'd look hard at a 6D. The high ISO performance of a 6D blows all the crop bodies out of the water. I'd love to have one myself but need my 7D for sports and can't justify 2 bodies at this time.

As for high ISO on a 7D, I have no problem going up to ISO6400 shooting RAW and doing noise reduction in Lightroom. 12800 is an expanded mode and gets pretty nasty, but I've seen usable images pulled from it - http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=16823307&postcount=24

Not a dark ride, but here's CoP @ ISO3200 with a 7D. 70D could easily do this shot with the same lens. There's a faint horizontal line about 1/4 the way down that was a sensor issue. It's since been sent in and repaired.

 

[DoDaLeCa]

I was going off of TheDigitalPicture's 70D review that said it was sharper and i thought he said less noisy as well compared to the 7D.

 

[photo_chick]

The 70D is a bit less noisy than the 7D in real world shooting. Not tons, but enough that if noise was a consideration I'd go with it if I were looking at crop bodies. That's not based on any scientific test, just my observations from having used both of them. However, if low noise is the end all be all desire for you then look at the 6D.

I don't think 12800 is useless on the 70D. It's not ideal but you just have to ETTR a tad and know the ins and outs of processing for noise and you can get a very useable image. There is a user named team speed over on the Canon forums who has a great tutorial on processing high ISO shots.

For wildlife.. that's where I'd go with the 7D. Especially if you wanted to do birds in flight. That is where that camera still really shines. I would not buy a 7D new.. check Canon's refurbs and catch it on sale.

It sounds like you need to set some priorities because every body is a compromise in some way. Decide which areas are the most important to you and which you might be willing to sacrifice a little on.

 

[SkaGoat]

I was going off of TheDigitalPicture's 70D review that said it was sharper and i thought he said less noisy as well compared to the 7D.

It is less noisy, but not by a huge amount. Most people probably wouldn't even notice the difference. My guess is the difference in noise is because the 70D has Digic 5, and the 7D has dual Digic 4 (one is used solely for metering.