Upgrade used 50D or 7D. Flip/Flop

Currently using a 30D for about 2 years. 90% of use is birding with a Sigma 120-500. Would like to upgrade body but having a hard time justifying the extra $ for a 7D. Want to keep the 30D to give to my son. Read numerous posting on site about both. I don't shoot a whole lot of BIF, don't need video, shoot primarily in manual mode. Seems the 7D is overkill for what I would use it for, but something keeps telling me to get a 7D. Also looked at 60D and feel that it's not going to work for me either.

Guess I am just looking for thoughts others might have on this. Save the $$ and use extra toward glass?

Ever use high ISO? That could be one reason for the 7D.

I would say get the 7D the af is amazing for BIF. Im not entirely sure of your requirements but I could see you wanting to upgrade from the 50D in a couple years. If you don't plan on upgrading for a while get the 7D

Pauhana wrote in post #14406017
Currently using a 30D for about 2 years. 90% of use is birding with a Sigma 120-500. Would like to upgrade body but having a hard time justifying the extra $ for a 7D. Want to keep the 30D to give to my son. Read numerous posting on site about both. I don't shoot a whole lot of BIF, don't need video, shoot primarily in manual mode. Seems the 7D is overkill for what I would use it for, but something keeps telling me to get a 7D. Also looked at 60D and feel that it's not going to work for me either.

Guess I am just looking for thoughts others might have on this. Save the $$ and use extra toward glass?

If i were in your shoes, I'd go with 50D. I know the 7D has new AF system, but the 50D is no slouch. I had a 7D and was not impressed with it. Hence sold it. I agree on saving the $$$ and fund a glass in the future.

Even if one day you suddenly have a need for video, the free Magic Lantern firmware unlocks the 50D video capability too. That itself, is a small little bonus.

The 50D is in my opinion an excellent camera. I am looking to add a 7D to my collection this summer (replace my 20D)... though I've no experience of the 7D other than handling in a shop, but it has a great spec and decent reviews.

Wish i saw another fellow wildlife/bird shooter's 7D post before i bought my 7D. My 7D experience is VERY similar to his, unfortunately.
https://photography-on-the.net …044863&highligh​t=7D+noise

50D, plus you can still use all your batteries and grips to with it.

Nick

cfcRebel wrote in post #14406195
Wish i saw another fellow wildlife/bird shooter's 7D post before i bought my 7D. My 7D experience is VERY similar to his, unfortunately.
https://photography-on-the.net …044863&highligh​t=7D+noise

Well, while I respect Mike55's opinions... it's not as if the 7D's IQ is worse than the 50D. He likely had unrealistic expectations of what a crop camera is capable of. Of course, he also went with the 5D2 for a little bit, while still ragging on the 7D... but last I heard, he got rid of the 5D2 and stuck with the 7D. (Not sure if he's moved onto the 5D3 or not but doesn't matter.)

For as much "noise" he made complaining about the 7D's noise and still ended up keeping it over the 5D2, that just made me scratch my head.

And for the record, no, the 7D's far from perfect. It's nearing 3 years old. IQ's very slightly better than the 50D. No horizontal banding at 6400 like the 50D used to. But much of that can be cleaned up anyway with the right NR software/processing so it's not a deal-breaker for the 50D.

Anyone who is expecting super clean images from a crop sensor is going to be sorely disappointed. You're looking at the pixel density of what would have been a 46mp FF sensor. Even Nikon's 36mp D800 is still shy of that. And given Canon's latest offering, the 5D3, is mostly a software NR improvement to its JPG output, I wouldn't expect the any future Canon crop cameras to fair better either.

The 50D cannot track a dragonfly in flight, the 7D can. The 50D has a sporadic keeper rate when shooting wildlife through brush and branches, the 7D has modes and settings that help with that. The 7D high ISO noise is better than the 50D. The 7D lasts much longer on battery life too. The 100% viewfinder is very nice for framing exactly what you want, and a nice spread of 19 AF points is handy for much less recomposure.

All of these factors really help with wildlife shooting. The 7D is better than the 50D is all regards, other than price and perhaps low ISO noise, but I see noise in my old 50D shots at low ISO too, so I doubt that even.

Being that I have both cameras and have used both extensively for shooting sports, the 50D is no replacement for the 7D. Both are great, but the combo of the 7D's AF and extra AF points just yields a much higher keeper rate. The 7D is always my go-to, and when I switch back to my 50D for various events just to keep it in use I'm reminded of how much better and easier to track sports the 7D is.

Thanks for all the replies. Now I just need to decided which way to go.

I used to run Sony A100, A200, A350 & A550,...but lack of affordable large quality lenses made me change to Canon .....7D.

I shoot a lot of action Motorsport/Wakeboardin​g/Boat racing/RC Model Planes / Warbirds.....but the big thing that is REALLY hard to shoot ... is RC Aerobatic Helicoptors...the AF is UNBELIEVABLE !!!

Ive got a 50D as a backup, it cant touch the 7D shootin any of these...nice back up but its niot the gun that the 7D is.

Go look at my Smugmug.

Al

the 7d is not overkill for wildlife that is for sure.
I have a 60d. I do pretty well with it, but there are shots that I miss.
sometimes I think a 7d would have allowed me to get that shot.

the 50d and 60d share the same AF system. its a very good system. But the 7d has spot focus and other modes that just make it better.

a 50d would be an upgrade from a 30d though, so go for it. you will be happy with the 50d too. I just think you'd be happier with the 7d.

Pauhana,

your inner voice is saying 7D. that "something keeps telling me to get a 7D" is you, and its never wrong.

Changed from a 350D so about the same era as your 30D, to a 7D, which is a superb camera for BIF