Canon EOS 550D or 7D Digital SLR?

[timmytortoise]

Thinking of buying a Canon EOS 550D or 7D, main subjects will be motorsport & landscape, any thoughts / opinions / advice to help me decide will be greatly appreciated.
TT

[JustinP1]

I'm glad someone has asked this as I am trying to research exactly the same thing.

I checked a few sites including an in-depth overview of the video side. To me, the video looked stunning on both and I couldn't tell the difference.

Of course, I daresay things may be different with stills.

[SMB]

Depends what you're after, the purists will say that you need full frame for landscape but either could do a good job.

Chose 7d if you want better autofocus for sports, better build quality (weather rpoofed and magnesium case), faster /more responsive operation ( the one think I noticed straight away), 8 frame a second still shots during action .

Chose 550d for price, lighter weight (plastic case vs magnesium), or if you're not going to invest in lenses quite so much ( no point buying expensive camera with cheap lenses.)


Both should give good results, both really need good glass.

[Mr E Driver]

I was recently choosing between these two and the 5d and after a lot of reading I bought the 7d because it is waterproof(ish) has the higher frame speed, better metering and it has a built in flash (even though I have a 580) and seems a good all rounder.
I'm not good enough for full frame so the 5d was out and there was a lot of criticism about it.
With the 24-105 lens the 7d makes an excellent carry round camera and I bought the 16-35mm as well.
I'll get a 70-200mm and I will have all I ever will need.
IIRC the 550 takes different cards whereas the 7d uses CF cards.
7d

[DiscoColin]

I haven't used a 550, but I am thus far very happy with the 7d. I read the manual, applied the appropriate settings and have successfully managed to get acceptable shots either side of a 4 foot pillar that was between me and the car I was shooting as I tracked it. Indoors. Under disco lights (Autosport show).

The other obvious considerations are : the viewfinder is so much better than the x00d series, personally I find the larger body much more comfortable in my hands and (please correct me if I am wrong here) I don't think that you can use the 550 as a remote speedlight controller.

It was easily worth the premium to me, but as ever : your own mileage may vary.

[MonkeyHanger]

You need to try them both for size

timmytortoise said:

motorsport

and buy the 7D

[RobDickinson]

MonkeyHanger said:

You need to try them both for size

timmytortoise said:

motorsport

and buy the 7D

Oh yeah.

550d is quite a it of kit but the 7D will just destroy it for helping you get the shot.

To Explain - I went from a 350D to a 7D. The viewfinder & more advanced controlls are a killer upgrade over the xxxD line. The AF and 8fps is icing.

Edited by RobDickinson on Friday 12th March 20:21

[MonkeyHanger]

RobDickinson said:

The viewfinder & more advanced controlls are a killer upgrade over the xxxD line. The AF and 8fps is icing.

I've spent the last few years wishing that Canon would make a 1.6x Body with configurable AF...when they announced the 7D there was never any doubt that i would buy one. I quite fancy another to be honest

For anyone buying a 7D for Motorsports, these are my base AF settings. I tweak them occasionally depending on what i'm shooting but they might be of some use to anyone not familiar with the AF system...

CFn III.

1 Between 0 and Slow. I found slower is better...
2 0 : AF Priority.Tracking Priority
3 1 :Continuous AF Track priority
4 1 :Focus Search Off
5: 0 : Disable
6: Single point, Spot AF and Zone AF enabled.
7 0: Stops at AF area edges
8 0:Auto
9 1: Enable
10 : 0 Enable
11 1: Disable
12 0 : Same for horiz/vertical
13 : MLU Disabled (never used it)

[BlueMR2]

I have a 350d. Missed quite a few shots at the end of the hill climb season last year from running out of buffer just when the good action starts.

The 7D sounds very nice but i don't have enough money to replace the 350d for now.

Shame the newer --0d cameras don't use compact flash/ Think they are trying to entice people from cheap cameras to an SLR without having to upgrade their memory cards from their mobile phones.

At least the 70-200mm L F4 gave nice results last year, hopefully will again as well.

[RobDickinson]

BlueMR2 any xxD camera will give you a real boost for that and not cost too much to swap from the 350d.

[Dogsey]

RobDickinson said:

BlueMR2 any xxD camera will give you a real boost for that and not cost too much to swap from the 350d.

My 40D was £465 at the start of the year.

[BlueMR2]

Not sure at getting a 2nd hand one, don't really know what to check etc. Hard to tell if anything will go wrong on it etc.

I'd need to sell the 350d first as well, not sure its eally worth much though .

Thanks for the idea though.

[Dogsey]

Mine was officially second-hand but was actually ex-demo, it had fired a ridiculously low number of shots (50ish from memory) so was as good as new. Worth keeping an eye on eBay for these and for refurbished ones (usually opened box returns) too, both make cracking value purchases.

[BlueMR2]

Had a look at the reviews online and they seem to be a good upgrade over the 350d.

Reasonable prices in some of the auctions.

Not sure i would want to buy without trying it first to make sure its ok though and i like the feel of it as its bigger and heavier than the 350d which im quite happy with.

Interesting idea though, thanks.

[BlueMR2]

Dogsey said:

Mine was officially second-hand but was actually ex-demo, it had fired a ridiculously low number of shots (50ish from memory) so was as good as new. Worth keeping an eye on eBay for these and for refurbished ones (usually opened box returns) too, both make cracking value purchases.

Had a look on the canon outlet, no 40d's only the 50d .

Suppose its abit late for 40d's to be open box with the 50d out for a while .

[Dogsey]

BlueMR2 said:

Dogsey said:

Mine was officially second-hand but was actually ex-demo, it had fired a ridiculously low number of shots (50ish from memory) so was as good as new. Worth keeping an eye on eBay for these and for refurbished ones (usually opened box returns) too, both make cracking value purchases.

Had a look on the canon outlet, no 40d's only the 50d .

Suppose its abit late for 40d's to be open box with the 50d out for a while .

Clicky



Only brand new 40D body only listing I can find at the mo, still saves you £120 over the new price of a 50D (best price found on CameraPriceBuster.co.uk) and you honestly won't see the difference between the image quality of the two.

[BlueMR2]

Thanks for that but too much for me to afford at the moment .

[Dogsey]

BlueMR2 said:

Thanks for that but too much for me to afford at the moment .

How about second-hand direct fro a dealer? 30D and 2x40D's available here.

[BlueMR2]

The 30d is not too bad pricewise.

I checked my account though and i only have about £100 + a used 350d with kit lens and a cheap sigma 75-300 zoom which i would sell as i use the 70-200 f4L. So not really going to happen unless i secure the 350d sale as the hill climbs start end of march start of april.

For anyone who has a bit more money there is a 40d on ebay with a 17-40mm but the lens isn't listed in the title so could go cheap for what it is. I've not checked it in person but it could be a bargin.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CANON-EOS-40D-SLR-DIGITAL-CA...

[fathomfive]

BlueMR2 said:

The 30d is not too bad pricewise.

I checked my account though and i only have about £100 + a used 350d with kit lens and a cheap sigma 75-300 zoom which i would sell as i use the 70-200 f4L. So not really going to happen unless i secure the 350d sale as the hill climbs start end of march start of april.

For anyone who has a bit more money there is a 40d on ebay with a 17-40mm but the lens isn't listed in the title so could go cheap for what it is. I've not checked it in person but it could be a bargin.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CANON-EOS-40D-SLR-DIGITAL-CA...

Seriously tempted to put a bid in. If only HMRC weren't so ravenous right now...