T1i Upgrade to 7D- What was Canon thinking?

[Heath]

I purchased a T1i about 6 months ago and bought extra batteries and SD cards. Since getting the T1i, I have not been happy with the AF and the ergonomics, so I keep looking to upgrade.

The only thing that is holding me back at this point is that I have extra batteries and sd cards that I will not be able to use if I upgrade to a 7D.

Any idea why Canon started using sd cards in the T1i instead of compact flash? If I had invested in Compact Flash cards, and if the remotes used the same plugs, I would just upgrade.

I would also like to keep the T1i as a backup, but without being able to at least swap memory cards, I feel like this is a real drag.

I might just sell everything and upgrade and take the financial hit, but that is hard to justify these days.

What spawned this rant? I just did my taxes and have enough to buy a 7D, but not enough to buy new memory cards and batteries as well.

[JeffreyG]

Two 4G CF cards can be gotten for ~$30 at Costco and you should be able to live with one battery for a while until you can get another.

Canon seems to be coming to the conclusion that SD is the way to go and they are putting SD into the Rebels as an enticement to get P&S users to move up to SLR. They seem to be keeping CF cards in the upper models as their established customer base has a lot of CF cards.

The Rebel line has a unique battery because of size. The battery is physically smaller to fit the smaller body.

Canon uses a different remote shutter release just to be perverse and piss everyone off.

[Invertalon]

Honestly, I buy the three pack of CF cards from adorama for 150, you get a 90 rebate, then I sell one on here for 30 or so, so in the end I get two 8gb extreme iii cards for $30. Not to mention the $5 bing rebate. So $25. Sell your SD cards and you MAKE money switching over!

Sell your extra t1i batteries and use that money to buy the extra 7d battery.

Easy as that!

[Heath]

Will Adorama and/or B and H buy back a T1i?

Any idea which store gives better pricing.

I might walk down to B and H or Adorama tomorrow with my T1i, 50 1.8, 15-85 IS, 100-300 and see if I can't walk away with the 7D for a decent price.

This would leave me without anything over my 85 1.8, but I never use the 100-300, so I might as well ditch it. As well as deciding whether I should fill my 28-85 gap with the 50 1.4, or maybe the 17-55 2.8. Or maybe nothing. The 28 1.8 usually lives on my camera these days.

[DStanic]

So you want to sell all of your stuff including your lenses just to upgrade the body? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. What about getting a used 50D instead? The controls and AF are not 7D good, but much better then the Rebel.

[Heath]

The 50 1.8 and the 100-300 are lenses that I had from 10 years ago that do not fit my current style of shooting. I bought the 15-85 as my walkaround lens before I realized that I love the 28 1.8 as my walk around.

I will still have my 10-22, 28 1.8 and 85 1.8, which is what I take 90% of my pictures with anyway.

[Rustynail]

You can purchase an Sd to compact flash adaptor on Ebay. Mine works fine with a 16Gb card in a 50D.

[HappySnapper90]

Any idea why Canon started using sd cards in the T1i instead of compact flash? If I had invested in Compact Flash cards, and if the remotes used the same plugs, I would just upgrade.


T1i is one of Canon's entry level models and most people coming up from P&S cameras have SD cards. This is a main reason why it takes SD cards along with SD being a little smaller than CF. Memory cards are cheap, you can get a 4GB CF card for $15 probably. $15 isn't an investment.

And the different battery is to be smaller. The 7D is a larger camera that doesn't need to be slimmed down with smaller, lighter parts.

The T1i and 7D are 2 camera classes apart. The 50D line lies in between.

[Persephone]

So you want to sell all of your stuff including your lenses just to upgrade the body? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. What about getting a used 50D instead? The controls and AF are not 7D good, but much better then the Rebel.

The 50D would still pose the same dilemma...having to switch to using CF cards and getting a new battery.

[DStanic]

The 50D would still pose the same dilemma...having to switch to using CF cards and getting a new battery.

true, but if he ever wanted another body the xxD lineup (except the 10d) all use the same battery and CF card. So you could go 20/30/40/50D (and hopefully 60d), making it the most common type of battery to use. Also the same battery grip works on all of them, and they are cheap to find. SD cards are a joke, and memory cards are so cheap that should not be an issue. You can easily pick up a 8gb CF card for $40 (or less).

[Olly_K1]

You can purchase an Sd to compact flash adaptor on Ebay. Mine works fine with a 16Gb card in a 50D.

+1

I thought about this route when i went from my 500d to my 7d, but instead sold the SD card with the 500d and bought a new CF card.

But if you dont want to spend more money, the adaptor makes sense

[neilwood32]

I would say the the memory cards are so cheap now (even for Sandisk or Lexar) that it should be a non issue - whats $40 when you are spending hundreds on a body?

As for the batteries, Sterlingtek have very good aftermarket batteries at a fraction of the Canon price. I have one and it works a treat!

[Mike V]

Don't buy an extra battery, just use the one that the camera comes with.

Buy a cheap Compact Flash card like an Ultra II.

If you really need more that this, you can always get them later.

[EmmaRose]

Cry more, memory is cheap these days and if you're selling the t1i you can just sell the batteries and cards with it.

If you're not selling your T1i then you'll have two sets of everything, thats just the way it is. But as you already dont have money to buy simple accessories I wouldn't advice you to keep a backup.