For those that use a 7D/1D3, a few questions (scroll down for the questions :)

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D-pearce92

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Dex
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Evening all

Am currently saving up for the 7D as i fancy a change from the 20D as ive been using it for nearly two years. For those that have been using them in anger for the last few years what are the good and bad points that you've expiereanced. Have currenty got a 70-200 f4 and for christmas i will also be getting a kenko 1.4 teleconverter as i also fancy abit more reach for next season.
Also for those that will be at Brands tomorrow i will either be wearing a driftworks smoking skills hoodie or a relentless jacket so make sure you say hey tommorrow :).

Many thanks for your help
Dex
 
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Hi Dex,

I've used a 7d for about a year now, mostly for motorsports. Its a fantastic camera for that application. The autofocus is nice with the right lenses, and theres plenty of options to tweak it to your liking. Its not as good as the 1d range, but the price reflects that.

You can pick up a 2nd hand 1d mkiii for the same money as a new 7d, so depending on your feelings towards 2nd hand gear, its worth considering;

Sam
 
You won't believe the difference between a 20d and a 7d. You may not even need a TC as you can crop a 7D image down a lot and still have enough resolution for an A3 print.

1D3 is a good call as well, can't use EF-S lenses on those though and you probably will need a TC due to the crop factor changing.
 
sambloxxy said:
Hi Dex,

I've used a 7d for about a year now, mostly for motorsports. Its a fantastic camera for that application. The autofocus is nice with the right lenses, and theres plenty of options to tweak it to your liking. Its not as good as the 1d range, but the price reflects that.

You can pick up a 2nd hand 1d mkiii for the same money as a new 7d, so depending on your feelings towards 2nd hand gear, its worth considering;

Sam
Click to expand...

My 20D was second hand so have no problems with second hand gear and knowing how long the shutter life is on a 1D that is a very tempting option.

andrewc said:
You won't believe the difference between a 20d and a 7d. You may not even need a TC as you can crop a 7D image down a lot and still have enough resolution for an A3 print.

1D3 is a good call as well, can't use EF-S lenses on those though and you probably will need a TC due to the crop factor changing.
Click to expand...

The only E-s lens i have is the kit lens and as i only shoot motorsport my 70-200 rarely comes off.

Im probabley going to word these wrong but a couple of questions for anyone that clicks here, will also change thread title.

Would the 1D3 autofocus be better than the 7D?
How good is the 1D3 with noise, i hear people say that the 7D its horrible at high iso but surely it would be alot better than my canon 20D?
Do you really notice the loss of focal length with the crop factor?
If theres anything else that you think would be useful for me to know please say as it will probabley be my body for the next 5-10 years fingers crossed so want to make the right choice once ive saved up enough.

If anyone has upgraded from say a 20D, 500D 40D etx to a 7D or a 1D3 what imrovements have you nopticed over your previous camera.

Many thanks for any help/comments Dex
 
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I've always thought the 7D controlled noise quite well, provided the scene was exposed correctly and usually responded to noise reduction software. People get too obsessed with viewing at 100%.

The 1D3 AF will be better than the 7D, although the 7D is light years ahead of what you have now

Try using your 20D at 150mm rather than 200mm and see how you get on. Thats roughly the difference in crop factor.

I went 350D - 30D - 40D - 50D - 7D. Between 30D to 50D there was gradual improvement, but a big jump between 50D and 7D. They were right not to call it the 60D.
 
Dex, if I'd seen this before today I'd have let you have a play with mine at BTCC.

Honestly, you won't believe the difference in focus. I haven't used a 20d, but it's miles ahead of the 50D and 550D so can only guess it's a large improvement on the 20d.

I've found that you need the lenses with quick enough focus to do the body justice. I thought it focussed quickly with my sigma lenses, but after getting the canon 70-200 the AF speed is just brilliant, it blew them out of the water.

7D noise problem is massively over exaggerated. If you expose the shots correctly it's not that bigger deal. It is an APS-C sensor after all so it's not going to be on the same level as larger sensors. +1 for Andrews advice above on trying to use your 70-200 at shorter lengths to compare.

Personally I wouldn't want to lose the crop factor, as I'm sure you're aware, 200mm on a crop at Brands can sometimes be a bit short, so a larger sensor is really going to leave you wanting a lot longer lenses.
 
I was saving up for a 7D a few years ago, but was then offered a 1D3 for just a little bit more.

AF is great, very fast and accurate. I saw a big jump in my keeper rate from the 40D I had at the time. Build quality is superb, properly weather sealed means you can use it when wet if you have a weatherproof lens. The viewfinder is bigger and brighter. Twin CF/SD card slots mean you can have a backup card and never miss a shot whilst changing cards. Battery life is amazing - I regularly get 2k - 3k shots from a single charge.

Noise handling on the 1D3 is a massive improvement over the 40D that I was using before, when I could see noise creeping in at 400ISO. With the 1D3 I would use ISO 1600 - 2000 without hesitation (pit garage shots without using flash for example). There is a bit of noise, but it cleans up very well with amazing detail in Lightroom with minimal work, and you don't even notice it when printed up to A3 size.

The 1D3 may only be 10MP, but I've printed stuff up to 24"x36" just fine, and files are quick and easy to work with in Lightroom. RAW files are typically about 10 - 12Mb in size.

I didn't find the crop factor change from 1.6 to 1.3 to be a problem at all, in fact probably the reverse as I found framing shots easier as it was less sensitive to change in focal length and I could use my 100-400 for shots closer to the track. The only downside was for shots where I was at 400mm on the 40D anyway, and I had to crop a bit more.

One very useful feature (if you need to get photos published quickly), is that you can copy individual shots from the main card to the backup card, and then give that card with just the important photos on it to someone to publish/deliver whilst you carry on shooting.

With it being capable of 10fps, it does take you a while to get used to pressing the shutter button to only take one shot, and for a while I was taking 2 or 3 at a time.

The screen on the back of the 7D is nicer than that of the 1D3, but I still find easy to spot filter the good shots from the bad ones, and there are some other features that the 7D has that the 1D3 hasn't that may or may not be of use to you. The 1D3 doesn't have a built in flash for example.

John
 
Out of these two bodies i would choose the 1d3 everytime.

However given the lack of focal length at your disposal - the 7d seems the logical choice.
 
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