7D from Canon Loyalty

So, I've been shopping/saving/planni​ng on a 7D for a while. Lots of lively threads on the topic. I finally pulled the trigger. Called them up, got the price (about $300.00 less than the current Amazon price) and gave them a credit card number. Ouch. Hey, there was tax, but free 2 day shipping. I traded in my well loved, Canon Powershot A50, 1 megapixel camera for it. Believe it or not, I'll miss that camera.

Immediately went online and ordered the other essentials. Extra batteries. CF cards (my 450d uses SD). A grip (for me this is essential). Ouch. Had it sent second day. It should all get here at once.

Wait (I hate this). Next day, got home form work and fedex failed delivery notice on the door. What? Next Day? How did it get here so soon? Son, did someone come to the door? Yeah but I was playing a game and didn't answer it. Grrrr. Sigh.

Hopped in the car and went to the fedex office to get it after dinner. (Who actually has patience in these situations?)

Got it home, and found the battery completely dead. So I can't do much to play with it. Seems like theu ought to be able to do something about that <grin>. Fish the CF card out of the A50. I have 2. A 8MB and a 256mb. Megabytes. Sigh. Once the battery is charged, I can mess around a bit until the rest of the stuff arrives - sometime today. It is, of course, raining out.

Initial impressions:
1) This thing is solid. The feel of it in your hands is so much different from the 450 is it amazing.
2) Lots of buttons and controls, comparatively speaking. The placement seems very good, and after only an hour or less of messing with it, they seem intuitive enough.
3) The difference in FPS is dramatic. I obviously new it was higher, but actually using it really drives that in.

Guess what I'll be doing over the holiday weekend?

Jim

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Enjoy, the 7D is a wonderful camera.

Make sure you read some literature on its autofocus system and the various custom functions. It can be daunting at first, but once mastered the camera is very versatile.

Congrats on the purchase and enjoy the new camera!

I got one of the $1100 ebay deals, it arrives Tuesday. Wish I had it for this long weekend while I have a little extra time.

I would recommend watching Rudy Winstons 3 part video tutorial on the 7D on B&H's website. He goes over, in great detail, every menu option for the 7D. Not just telling you what the options is but giving real world examples of why you might (or might not) want to use specific settings.

Kaljam wrote in post #13623508
I would recommend watching Rudy Winstons 3 part video tutorial on the 7D on B&H's website. He goes over, in great detail, every menu option for the 7D. Not just telling you what the options is but giving real world examples of why you might (or might not) want to use specific settings.

Those Rudy Winston video tuts,could be good-I am looking at purchasing a 7D.

The 7d is an awesome camera and is only surpassed by the 1d series in comparison.
Remember to read the manual and watch the videos talked about above.

Also while some and not all the higher end zooms perform quite well on the 7d, a good prime such as the 35, 50, 85 or 135 will produce images so sharp you could cut yourself.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm working my way through the menus, and Baush's book line by line. There is some great stuff in there. Lots of options. I'm thinking we need a "7D tips and ticks" thread to hear some of the creative choices folks have made.

Right now I can justify the extra money on the 7d but I just sold my t3i yesterday and ordered my 60d and will be here Thursday. I believe the 7d options are amazing. Good luck!

jbrand wrote in post #13620683
Son, did someone come to the door? Yeah but I was playing a game and didn't answer it. Grrrr. Sigh.

Next Christmas:
"But, Dad, you know I wanted ___________!"
"Yeah, but I was too busy taking amazing photos and never had the chance to go get it."

Congratulations

congratulations. I also purchased a 7d from the loyalty program. its a great camera - but even after 4 months of owning it, I'm still tinkering with it to get the most out of it. be patient with it, read a lot and shoot a lot more.

Talley wrote in post #13624456
Right now I can justify the extra money on the 7d but I just sold my t3i yesterday and ordered my 60d and will be here Thursday. I believe the 7d options are amazing. Good luck!

I still dont quite understand why you did this, and I hope you dont take this the wrong way.. essentially, the T3i and the 60D the same camera internally (well, somewhat externally too with the flip out screen). The only real differences are a 1% bigger viewfinder, upped max shutter speed from 1/4000th to 1/8000th of a second, and the ability to shoot medium and small raw format files. Oh, and the xxD series feels different than the Rebel series for sure, dont get me wrong.

Mistabernie wrote in post #13624609
I still dont quite understand why you did this, and I hope you dont take this the wrong way.. essentially, the T3i and the 60D the same camera internally (well, somewhat externally too with the flip out screen). The only real differences are a 1% bigger viewfinder, upped max shutter speed from 1/4000th to 1/8000th of a second, and the ability to shoot medium and small raw format files. Oh, and the xxD series feels different than the Rebel series for sure, dont get me wrong.

While I agree with you to a point you are incorrect in a few ways.
the biggest difference is the size and feel. the 60d has the rear wheel in addition to the front wheel. it has the top LCD screen to show settings and other info.
The AF system on the 60d is far superior to the t3i being that the 60d has all 9 cross type sensors while the t3i has only 1.
The rest is very similar but the differences above make the upgrade worth while to many/most people.

however, back on topic.
CONGRATS on the 7d purchase to the OP! you'll love it.

Kaljam wrote in post #13623508
I would recommend watching Rudy Winstons 3 part video tutorial on the 7D on B&H's website. He goes over, in great detail, every menu option for the 7D. Not just telling you what the options is but giving real world examples of why you might (or might not) want to use specific settings.

I need to watch this. Thanks