50d vs 7d

i'm thinking about picking up a cropper to attach to a long lens for an upcoming trip. i'm thinking of getting the 50d and i was wondering beside the extra 3mp is there any huge advantage to getting the 7d instead?

my concerns are pixel count, quality and IQ. the 50d will focus well enough and have a fast enough frame rate for me. i'm not looking to track a running animal at 10 fps. i basically am looking for reach for long lenses like the 500L and 100-400L.

and of course i want a back-up to my main body.

price for a used 7d will be twice the cost of a used 50d.

thanks.

There will not be an advantage given what you have stated.

The one stop or so in ISO handling is kind of eaten up in requiring a slightly higher shutter speed to keep things crisp.
The files are slightly different to handle for the 7d also.

I think a 50d is a great camera and will suit you just fine for about $500. Great deal!
It has MFA, mag body, a good AF system, etc.

jhayesvw wrote in post #15444476
There will not be an advantage given what you have stated.

The one stop or so in ISO handling is kind of eaten up in requiring a slightly higher shutter speed to keep things crisp.
The files are slightly different to handle for the 7d also.

I think a 50d is a great camera and will suit you just fine for about $500. Great deal!
It has MFA, mag body, a good AF system, etc.

thanks Jhayes. so you're saying the 7d has a 1-stop iso advantage over the 50d?

Ive never personally owned a 50d so I cant say exactly but from people on here that have and know that is what I've been told. I did however own and use a T1i which shares the 15mp sensor from the 50d.

But the one stop advantage is really only true on a tripod (to me) as handholding on a long lens such as a 300mm plus can require a click higher shutter speed. Thus requiring you run a higher ISO to keep your shutter speed up at a given aperture.
I noticed immediately when going to the 60d (same sensor as 7d for the most part) that the files required more sharpening and were a bit more difficult to work with.
I figured it out quickly but its a learning curve.

You'll be well served with the 50d.
HOWEVER, the battery life on the 7d is amazing compared to the 50d. You'll go through 2 BP511s for every 1 LPe6. maybe more.
That is something to consider too.

I've had both camera's and they are both fine but it really depends on what you plan on shooting. If you want a great all round, action, landscape, wildlife, low light camera I'd for for the 7D. The biggest advantages of the 7D are; the focusing is amazing 19 pts vs 9pts, has weather sealing, 8fps vs 6fps, 100% view finder, shoots video, longer battery life, maximum 6400 ISO vs 3200 ISO, sllightly lower noise at higher ISO, dual Digic 4 processors. The advatage that the 50D has is that it's slighly smaller and lighter. My impressions of the 50D was that it is a good camera, my impression of the 7D is that it is a great camera. Looking at your existing gear list I don't think money is going to be an issue and the 7D would complement your 1ds Mark III fine.

ed rader wrote in post #15444486
thanks Jhayes. so you're saying the 7d has a 1-stop iso advantage over the 50d?

Sort of. The 50D has some noise banding at highest ISOs unless you expose perfectly. 60D and 7D do not. Noise is roughly the same, but the 18MP sensor has a bit more latitude at high ISO.

Is there a reason you are not considering the 60D? It's got the 7D sensor and 50D AF.

The tracking system in the 7D is far superior. I could never get anything decent with the 50D. Using the centre focus point was about the best I could do. With the 7D I have a much higher success rate tracking objects. Regardless of the focusing points/modes enables.

When first going to the 7D I noticed the noise within the image was greater.

That's about it.

I've owned both. I picked up the 7D for it's AF, but I was pleasantly surprised by its image quality. I would not have shot over ISO 1600 with the 50D, but I will shoot at ISO 3200 on the 7D. The noise is more pleasant, as well.

The 19 focus points and 100% viewfinder would be enough to push me towards owning a 7D over the 50D. Well it actually did when I was deciding on which of those bodies to purchase a couple years back.

For what it's worth, I own both and my 50D doesn't get a lot of use since I bought the 7D. The biggest downsides of the 50D (already mentioned by others) are the banding on the 50D at high ISO, and the poor battery life when compared to the 7D (2:1 is pretty accurate in my experience). I never shoot my 50D above 2500 and prefer to keep it at 1600 or less. At 3200 the banding becomes a problem on the 50D, whereas I'll shoot the 7D all the way up to 6400 without problems. The noise characteristics on the 7D are much better than the 50D above 1600.

Also, the AF system on the 7D is superior in virtually all regards, but I do feel that using the center focus point on the 50D is snappier than the same focus point on the 7D (using L glass). I haven't measured it or anything but the 7D feels like it hesitates sometimes, whereas the 50D starts focusing immediately.

thanks for all the helpful responses. i've owned a few croppers and even the 30d would be adequate for my purpose except it does not have enough mp. if i could get by with 10mp i would have kept my 1d3 or i would pick up a 40d for >$300.

i only want this camera for this trip so i really didn't want to spend a grand for a body. that said, i will consider the 50d ($500), 60d ($700) and 7d ($1000).

iso 1600 is all i need. the trip will be this summer so water resistance isn't necessary, and if it does rain i have a 1d body and sealed lenses.

If that's the case, I'd just get a 50D.

60D would be nice if you thought video would be useful or were going to be shooting ISO 6400, but it's got a bit of a different control layout (no joystick, tiny wheel and 4 single purpose top buttons) compared to what you are used to. I wouldn't want to learn a new control layout just for one trip.

I think you'd be happy with 50D.

Just keep to 1600 and below and it's fine, so long as you get the exposure right.

When I was using 50Ds, I kept to Single Point AF and AI Servo most of the time, and with some practice got good results (probably close to 95% acceptibly in focus).

I currently have both the 50D and the 7D. I took both to Africa and the shots with the 7D were, on the whole, better than the shots with the 50D. I don't know where your trip is so its hard to say. The 50D is a great camera so it might be just as good in your situation if you are not shooting animals in the wild.

Hi, Ed! Nice to see your self again! I've got 'em both, and IMO, the 7D is a better camera. Focus acquisition is faster, it's got a better choice of focus points, metering is better, and I think noise is better controlled.

Best regards!
Don