I got my first "decent" SLR last year as a birthday present from my wife (a Canon 550d) and now I am always looking to upgrade. Whenever I bought a car I was also looking to see what I could get next - something better!

Now I have bought the lenses 15 - 200 mm, 75 - 300mm, fish eye and I am waiting for Amazon to deliver my first prime lens, a 50mm 1.8.

 

I am tempted to trade in my camera for a second hand 7d - but the new 70d looks tempting - any experience with these cameras and what advice would you give  folks?

 

I am not interested in the video capability of the 70d, which everyone is shouting about (I have a dedicated VC)

 

I get most enjoyment photographing faces (trying to capture "character") and landscapes.

 

In my opinion photography is totally different from car ownership in the upgrades department

yes its easy to get sucked in but really if you cant get show stoppers with a 550d then you need to do more to improve your skill. The prime nifty fifty you are awaiting is an outstanding lens.

personally i would be trying different techniques and spending money on going places that offer more potential for great shots. The prime lens will allow much better low light capability and should keep you occupied.

its the subject more than the camera. I can only dream of your camera, but still love photography.

my 2 pennies worth :-)

Thanks Lofty

What attracts me to the 7d is the ability to have 3 of my set ups instantly available at the turn of a knob (c1, c2, c3).

 

I agree with you about the concentration on subjects and shooting, however I am retired and I can afford to spend more time and cash on my new -ish hobby.

 

Most of my hobby time before was spent on the 1 acre garden and large veg plot. That is all turned to grass and fruit trees!

 

 I am working my way through some excellent videos called Foundations of Photography - 8 in all. There are no Photo clubs around here in deepest rural France  

Thats cool, on initial look its hard to tell someones situation and finances.

in which case have at it ;-) the 7d i believe carries some rather handy tricks to enhance photography and has been a highly recommended body in alot of magazines around a year or two ago.

of course where you are now is annoying to me haha im in north scotland that even at 2pm in august its classed as a low light situation.

need a tripod about everywhere

I've heard say that you buy the best lenses you can afford..... as they'll last..... the camera bodies are "disposeable" or incorporate designed obsolesence.

The various functions offered by different camera bodies are sometimes nice to have, but once you have your system built around the type of photography you do then it's the ability of the 'Author' thats the most important thing. Photography can be very time consuming and you're fortunate you have loads of that available. Why don't you join an on line photography forum that offers help and crtique on your images or do some form of remote learning package so you have projects to complete giving you a purpose. Getting 'camera fit' really helps your progression, by that I mean putting the hours in to gain experience with both your kit and your chosen subject ares. You'll find the more you do the more you will start to 'see' the potential images as you program your brain to recognise things from a photographic perspective. Try determining what you are going to try and capture before you go out with your camera so you start planning ahead and give a purpose to each trip, rather than just go out and see what you may find but be prepared to be flexible and take any unexpected opportunities that come up while your on each planned trip. The better your equipment is the higher the quality of your image will be, but all the equipment in the world is no use if the person using it doesn't know what they are doing. Get out there and enjoy!

I have joined this Flikr group to get me motivated - http://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/ 

It looks like a great idea - are any of you members?

I am off to a Chasse (hunters) banquet this afternoon, I intend to find some interesting faces!

 

Thanks for your comments

 

Don

Thanks Lofty

What attracts me to the 7d is the ability to have 3 of my set ups instantly available at the turn of a knob (c1, c2, c3).

 

I agree with you about the concentration on subjects and shooting, however I am retired and I can afford to spend more time and cash on my new -ish hobby.

 

Most of my hobby time before was spent on the 1 acre garden and large veg plot. That is all turned to grass and fruit trees!

 

 I am working my way through some excellent videos called Foundations of Photography - 8 in all. There are no Photo clubs around here in deepest rural France  

I have the 7D and use the Custom settings quite a lot. I like to photo fast moving stuff (Jet skis etc) and it's great to pre-set for different focus settings, isos RAW/jpg settings without even having to take the camera away from your eye. I've had the camera for a few years now and it's had reasonable use. Shooting almost entirely outdoors in all weathers, so I can vouch for it's weather sealing. With a grip on, the batteries last for ever and the speed of the controls is fantastic. I can't honestly see any improvement in going to the 70D that I would want. Certainly the reviews tend to agree there isn't really any improvement in real world iso noise and the 70D has a slightly slower max burst rate. The 7D also has great fast focusing and you can set up micro back focus adjust on any canon lens you own and it remembers it.

 

The only thing that I liked about the 70D was it has WiFi (it might also have an SD slot?) , but as I have the Camranger to bolt to my 7D (it's more comprehensive than the 70Ds WiFi anyway) I am happy with my 7D

 

Rumours have been around for a long time about a replacement for the 7D (it's over 4 years old now) and it looks like the 7D II will come out later this year, so the prices on the mk1 should drop slightly.

 

7D is a great camera and one I can't recommend highly enough.

I have joined this Flikr group to get me motivated - http://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/

It looks like a great idea - are any of you members?

I am off to a Chasse (hunters) banquet this afternoon, I intend to find some interesting faces!

 

Thanks for your comments

 

Don

 

 

I'm on Flickr

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/66765220@N07/sets/

Maybe the two things ought to be similar. Perhaps we should look to improve our technique at all times but particularly when we change car or camera :-)

 

 I am working my way through some excellent videos called Foundations of Photography - 8 in all. There are no Photo clubs around here in deepest rural France  

 

 

Thanks for the pointer.

I am going to work my way through this as well.

I'm on Flickr

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/66765220@N07/sets/

Hi Amanda, I have had a look at your sets, your speed shots are excellent.

Do you live near Liverpool, if so there is speedboat racing at a place called Carr Mill Dam near St Helens?

http://www.lancashirepowerboat.com/ 

You may well find some opportunities for your camera.

Hi Amanda, I have had a look at your sets, your speed shots are excellent.

Do you live near Liverpool, if so there is speedboat racing at a place called Carr Mill Dam near St Helens?

http://www.lancashirepowerboat.com/

You may well find some opportunities for your camera.

I'm in Manchester, but thanks for that link. It sounds great.

 

The beauty of the 7D is that with a good fast lens, the 'Ai Servo' does all the hard work for you. It can track jetskis travelling at very high speeds and as long as I can point the camera the Jet Ski or Kite-boarder, then the camera stands an excellent chance of keeping it in focus and exposing the shot.

 

I now shoot in RAW as with a fast CF card you can get quite a large burst without hitting the buffer. It helps enormously with the guys who start at the sea level and end up in the bright ski , in a matter of a second or two. If the camera gets the auto exposure wrong, I can correct it in Post. (when I say "correct", I really mean muck about with it)

I am of the opinion that you should push the existing equipment as far as you can. I started on a 400D and had it for a couple of years (upgraded the lenses in that time) but was able to get consistent results with it.

 

I only moved to the 50D at the point where I knew that the combination of the ergonomics and new features would move my work on (and make it easier).

 

Someone pointed out to me a while back - the beginner looks at his gear, the experienced amateur looks at his technique but the master looks at the light.

 

Couple of good forums that might help - Digital Photography School (good the basics) and Photography on the Net (Canon specific forum which has a huge following and most of them are very helpful)

Photographer first.

Lens second.

Camera last.

I got my first "decent" SLR last year as a birthday present from my wife (a Canon 550d) and now I am always looking to upgrade. Whenever I bought a car I was also looking to see what I could get next - something better!

Now I have bought the lenses 15 - 200 mm, 75 - 300mm, fish eye and I am waiting for Amazon to deliver my first prime lens, a 50mm 1.8.

 

I am tempted to trade in my camera for a second hand 7d - but the new 70d looks tempting - any experience with these cameras and what advice would you give  folks?

 

I am not interested in the video capability of the 70d, which everyone is shouting about (I have a dedicated VC)

 

I get most enjoyment photographing faces (trying to capture "character") and landscapes.

 

Cameras are not like cars at all.  They are more like golf clubs.  Any old set will do while you are learning.  You only benefit from the top ranking clubs when your skills have been honed.

 

Before parting with a single penny upgrading your 550D to a 7D you need to get rid of that awful 75-300 lens.  It is without doubt the worst lens Canon ever made.

I have one to use on my 35mm film SLR - it is just about acceptable.  On my DSLR it is awful - low contrast, high chromatic aberration.  If you want to see a real step change in the image quality dump the 75-300 and get an EF 70-200 L IS f/4 (or f/2.8 if you are awash with cash).

 

Photography is 50% photographer, 20% light, 20% lens, 10% body.- some will argue with the absolute percentages but not the order.

Cameras are not like cars at all.  They are more like golf clubs.  Any old set will do while you are learning.  You only benefit from the top ranking clubs when your skills have been honed.

 

Before parting with a single penny upgrading your 550D to a 7D you need to get rid of that awful 75-300 lens.  It is without doubt the worst lens Canon ever made.

I have one to use on my 35mm film SLR - it is just about acceptable.  On my DSLR it is awful - low contrast, high chromatic aberration.  If you want to see a real step change in the image quality dump the 75-300 and get an EF 70-200 L IS f/4 (or f/2.8 if you are awash with cash).

 

Photography is 50% photographer, 20% light, 20% lens, 10% body.- some will argue with the absolute percentages but not the order.

Definitely agree with the sentiments in this line.

 

Also if looking at lenses, take a look at Sigma and Tamron. they produce some fine lenses that, while they might not quite match Canons own ones, are substantially cheaper