Definitely get the 60D and the lens.
I'd much rather have a great lens on the cheapest, most entry level body... than a great camera with crappy glass. Lenses make much, much more difference in your images, than the camera used with them ever will. Lenses determine the quality of your images, while the camera just provides conveniences that may or may not be necessary for what you shoot.
7D, 60D, T3i an T2i all use essentially the same 18MP sensor and Digic 4 processor (7D has dual processors, so it can shoot 8 fps.... plus a separate processor for AF, like the 1D series, so that focus can track moving subjects better).
With 7D you are paying a lot extra for the build (such as 150K rated shutter, vs 100K), 100% viewfinder, and add'l sports/action oriented AF features. It's fast, but really not all that much faster than 60D. So unless you shoot a ton and a lot that is sports/action, you would be paying $500 extra for features you don't really need, might never use.
I'm not talking down 7D... In fact, I've been using a pair of them for about two years now... shoot a lot of sports and wildlife, and often take 2000+ shots a day on the job... but before that I used 50D and 30D with nearly as good results, in terms of AF tracking speed/accuracy in AI Servo. I see probably 96-98% accurate focus with 7D, where I was probably getting about 94-96% with 50D before. In One Shot, there's no real difference. It is nice occasionally, having 19-point AF instead of 9-point... but most of the time I use just the center point anyway, same as with the other cameras. The 7D's AF system adds a whole additional layer of complexity to learn to use well... can be great, but also can easily be set up incorrectly and end up with poorer results.
Plus a 60D can use the same memory cards you're using now. With 7D, you'd need to buy Compact Flash memory for it.
The 7D does have MFA, which 60D doesn't. I think Canon screwed up, leaving that off 60D. But it might not be something you need or use at all.
OTOH, 60D has that nice articulated LCD, which should be handy for shooting video or macro, high or low angle shots, and might even be nice for landscapes and portraits, too. And the locking mode dial is nice (which is possible to have added to 7D... but costs $120). Can't tell you how many times I've accidentally bumped the mode dials on 7D and other cameras, ended up with a few screwed up shots before I discovered the settings were off.
Some folks express concern about the additional polycarbonate (aka "plastic") construction of the 60D, but it has a metal chassis (which your current camera doesn't) and feels a whole lot more solid in hand than one might expect, reading some of the commentary here.
60D also uses a true pentaprism, which, even if "only" offers 97-98% coverage will be a nice step up from the penta-mirror in your present camera.
The 7D is heavy, too, thanks to relatively no-holds-barred build and the 100% viewfinder. In fact it's a wee bit heavier than 5DII. With it's vertical grip & two batteries, it's even slightly heavier than the 1D Mark IV.
60D is nearly 20% lighter than 7D (body only, in both cases).
They both use LP-E6 batteries, which I believe are larger and will give you more shots per charge than your present camera. I find they give probably 40% more shots per charge than the BP511A I used in earlier cameras. The LP-E6 cost more, but where I used to carry two backups for every battery in my camera with the BP511A, I now only carry one backup per LP-E6 (which my 5DII conveniently shares with 7D, too).
The layout of controls on the 60D is different. It's a bit of a hybrid, sort of in between your current Rebel model and the xxD design. The "joystick" on the latter is replaced with a mulit-directional knob at the center of the quick control dial (which your Rebel didn't have and makes a big difference out shooting, once you learn to use it). But the 60D's AF point selector is better located if you use the camera in vertical/portrait orientation with a battery grip. You can reach it with your thumb to move the AF points around. You can't do that on 7D (or 5DII or earlier xxD models... Only the new 1DX offers dual joysticks, to make it that control more accessible in vertical orientation).
Go check out the cameras in a store, I'd suggest. But basically you can do almost as much with 60D as you can with 7D.
You weren't specific about the lenses you have now, but almost certainly will see much more improvement in your images adding to or upgrading lenses, than you will upgrading camera bodies.
BTW, it's really nice to have IS on longer lenses on a crop camera.... If at all possible, I'd suggest to stretch your budget to get the 70-200/4 IS, over the non-IS model.
- Dean Martin
