60d v 7d

Hi guys,
I am just wondering how much better a 7d is compared to a 60d for bird photography?

I was lucky enough to get a 60d for christmas and I have to say I love using it, but i see a lot of people using a 7d along with big lenses! I have a 100-400L but I too would like to get a 300 / 500L prime at some point soon... or should I get a 7d? Or both eventually??
I do find bif difficult, and not keeping the eye in focus (centre point, aiservo)

Your thoughts would be great Thanks...

Jason

If the 60D works, keep using it! I went from XSi to 7D. That's a significant upgrade and the difference is noticeable. The learning curve on the 7D was pretty easy to me.

maybe because they got the 7d before the 60d came out.

The one thing the 7D has is phenomenal tracking abilities. I practiced birding with my setup a while ago and set it to zone AF and servo and once it picks up an object it tracks it ridiculously well. I stop my lens down to 5.6 usually to get a bigger DOF, but I haven't noticed the 7D not getting focus when I couldn't blame crappy technique in the same instance. I haven't tried it wide open @ 2.8 so I can't comment on exactly how precise its AF is.

I did try following birds with a 50D before and did so with relatively good success, but the AF of the 7D is 1D-esque (not quite there, but still a hell of a complement).

I would only recommend the 7D if you have major AF issues with your 60D, but I'm sure thats nothing that proper technique can't take care of.

Invest in a lens first unless you have no budget.

Thanks very much for your input guys...!

So ok, On the matter of lens, 300l 2.8 or 500L f4 and do I sell the 100-400....???

I think it all depends on how far away you are planning to take shots. I used my friends 55-250, and 250 just didn't reach far enough for me. So Im going to logically assume the 300 isn't enough. However, if you decide to go with the 300 2.8, a 1.4x or 2.0x teleconverter would go along very nicely.

cheffievrs wrote in post #12216169
Thanks very much for your input guys...!

So ok, On the matter of lens, 300l 2.8 or 500L f4 and do I sell the 100-400....???

I have the 7D and sold my 100-400. anything less than 400 and the lens gets 'softer' as the FL goes down. I got the 400 5.6 prime instead, lighter, faster, slight but noticeable better IQ. If you're getting the 500 f/4 (best if you're birding) I would still sell the 100-400 and get a prime that fits what you need less FL for. I got a 17-55 and love it for that range.

what focal length are you using for 80% of your shots with the 100-400mm?

I had the 50D & now 60D and as long as you do your part with a good lens - those bodies deliver the goods - I'd keep the 60D for sure and save save for the best 500mm+ you can almost afford Go to th birding section and although you see plenty of 7D bodies - you see Xsi & Tli bodies with fantastic lenses offering up great images

Most of the time it is at 400mm, but I do use it at other focal lengths..
my thoughts were a 300m 2.8 + 1.4x and 2x = less than £4k as where the 500 is £5k+

The two big advantages for most on the 7D will be the "improved focussing" and the frame rate. I just returned from a couple weeks of vacation photographing birds and tested out a 7D on the trip. My impressions --> While I do really like the 8 fps burst rate, I have done just fine shooting birds for the last couple years at ~3.5 fps. As for the focussing - the company propaganda will you about vast improvements in the 7Ds new focussing system, but in reality I found very little difference between the 7Ds focussing ability for birds in flight and that of my 5DII. Just my $0.02. I think you have good advice above - enjoy your 60D and invest your hard earned cash in better glass rather than a different body.

I own both and I can honestly say that the 7D is 187.6 times better at BiF than the 60D - just because of the AF functions not available on the 60D.

Thanks again for all your imput.

hollis_f wrote in post #12219428
I own both and I can honestly say that the 7D is 187.6 times better at BiF than the 60D - just because of the AF functions not available on the 60D.

I would second that, and add that I'm glad that I did not decide to get a Nikon as the start of my photographic pursuits, because now, I would have been on that side of the fence, not being able to support both formats with my limited funds, and would have not been so fortunate as to cross paths with the 7D. A very capable camera on many levels, but for birding it seems to be the perfect fit.

The 60D is a great BIF camera, prime example - http://www.flickr.com/​photos/val6425/