7Dii or 100-400II?

Get the lens. CDS (CyberDyneSystems) wrote a glowing review of the 100-400 II and he's had the 100-400 I for a long time! In 2 years, the lens will still have more than 80% of its value. Cant say the same for the 7DII or the 5DIII. Good Luck!!

Both

Jump to a 5dmk3 and you'll then hit a wall when it comes to reach. If you get the 5dmk3 your jaw will drop in IQ.

At the end of the day you'll want every imaginable benefit in acquiring gear welcome to G.A.S.

Knowing how the 100-400L mk1 performs it's extremely welcoming to see the new mk2 is replacing it.

I'm assuming but I would feel confident that a 5dmk3 will improve your image quality. Cropping a full frame file may still be on par to an uncropped 7d camera file.

If you wanted to improve your overall file quality in family events/landscape etc the 5dmk3 will open some doors for better files to your 7d.

If your wanting to up your IQ with your current gear.... I'd go for the new fresh lens

Hard call but I dont think you'll see a major gain in IQ going from a 7d to 7dmk2 in good light. New lens will be very noticeable. New 5dmk3 with less "reach" with your current lens will also be a jump in IQ over the 7d. However in good light any camera is happy

If you can afford longer lenses beyond 400mm (longer primes) you may find the 5dmk3 to be extremely impressive.

did i make your choice more difficult?
:P

Go for a new lens if you want a great wildlife setup with your 7d. If you going the other route of more event low light work/portrait and action (with longer lens if 400mm isn't long enough) the 5dmk3 will be an eye opener compared to your 7d files.

Have to step in and muddy the water a bit. Gear: 7D, 7D2, 100-400 V.1, 100-400 V.2 and others not relevant to this discussion.

Shooting with a 30D and later a 7D and the V.1 gave nice sharp images, but had some limits in speed, and target acquisition, and the lower light issues ...

i was waiting for the 7D2 and 100-400 V.2 for a variety of reasons -- the 7D2 arrived first, and I decided to upgrade. The 7D2 improved the 100-400 V.1 quite a bit (my opinion come from using it, not the math) it increased sharpness in the images over the 7D with the 100-400 V.1 --

So, the 7D2 made me happy. Then, of course, the 100/400 V.2 arrived and blows the V.1 out of the water in some areas. I sold the 7D, so never tried it with the V.2 - unfortunately -- however, after bouncing around learning the 7D2 for almost two months, and owning the V.2 lens for two weeks or so ... here's my take if I knew then what I know now ... complete hindsight!!!

I would buy the 7D2 first because it improved ALL of my lens and wildlife capture performance immediately. I would also save and buy the 100-400 V.2 because it's a dramatic improvement in several areas - but not so much IQ, altho' IQ improvement is certainly evident as well.

Many may disagree with the fact that the 7D2 improved IQ on V.1 lens -- but it truly did to a degree. But, if only looking at IQ and nothing else, the two are close enough that a person choosing between the lens and the camera will get MORE from the camera. But, the AF and speed and tracking ability of the V.2 is significant enough to upgrade.

I believe the 7D2 will give the greatest improvement -- and with the V.1 lens will perform very well. If I had it to do again, I'd buy the 7D2 first, learn it, enjoy the upgrades if offers the lenses you own, and definitely save for the V.2 because it is WORTH it ... I believe the improvement the V.2 lens brings to a 7D camera is not as significant as the improvement a 7D2 brings to the V.1 lens. That's personal opinion from limited time so far in the field, no measurement, no chart shots, no math comparisons -- just take the equipment out and shoot images as usual.

But, there is NO doubt in my mind (after shooting the V.1 lens for ten+ years - on a 30D and 7D) that the 7D2 and the 100-400 V.2 is a pairing no wildlife or sports shooter should be without ... This camera / lens combination performs as if the two were matched exactly for one another.

One thing I will recommend anyone that buys the 7D2 -- take your time, learn how the AF system works -- it's different, it's unique (altho some say it's like the Id series, which I've never shot) and the primary factor, learn how to acquire the moving target first, before you change to the AF tracking part of it. Otherwise, the AF system will jump or acquire alternative targets -- I find sticking with the old stand-by, Single (expanded) center focus will still get the best results -- that might change in sports venues after I can get the AF system figured out and practice with it a bit more. When you use the full array of points, it does jump often from one target to another, and I haven't figured out the best way to manage that yet ...

OH > one other observation. The 7D2 and 70-200 f.4 IS appears sharper than the 100-400 V.1 ..... The 100-400 V.2 and the 70-200 appear pretty near equal under similar conditions and allowing for the difference in FL between them ... hard to define it, but V.2 appears about as sharp as anyone could hope. I was looking at images days later, and at first thought a couple were from the 70-200 lens, and it turns out, it was the 100-400 V.2 ... Tht's how close these two lenses appear - and the 70-200 is referred to as about the sharpest zoom Canon makes ... I agree, but now the 100-400 V.2 gives it competition.

OK -- I'm done -- hope all this helps ...

if you want IQ - 5d3
otherwise I'd go lens for now - especially regarding 7d2

Thank you all for your help. It is most useful in assisting me in making my decision.

Only a week to go before I leave for Japan, where I will be making my purchase.

Why oh why wasn't the 7D2 30mp, would have made my decision so much simpler

I would upgrade the lens first

If I had the funds for just 1, I would get the camera body, then sell the v1 lens (and maybe the old camera body too!) to fund the v2 lens.

Obviously this assumes that funds you have do not take into account the sale of the old lens/body

I have 7D, recently sold my 400mm F5.6 and I have the same dilemma. I will keep my 7D and sell the 60D I rarely use. What to buy ?

I rented 7D mark ii and 100-400 ii. I tried them together in the backyard with my puppy labradoodle. I was on AI Servo mode and shot hundreds of fast running dog photos in fast continuous mode.
Than I put my 70-200 F4 IS on my 7D and tried the same thing.
For some reason, 70-200 & 7D team had much more keepers. I took 10 raw photos in a row with one click high continuous mode, all perfectly focused. This set up perfectly followed the puppy in the same backyard around 1/1000 shutter speed.

Unfortunately I sold my 400mm and need a telephoto now. Otherwise I would keep 7D and 400mm, sell 60D, buy a 5D Mark III for portrait and flash photos.

I am thinking that 7D Mark II will not be a big and visible improvement. After reading this post, I started to think about selling 60D, skipping 100-400 and buying 5D Mark III.

OP, please keep posting about your decision and experience with your new gear.

AE-1, did you put the 100-400 2 on your 7D? What was your experience?

ae1,

If you go the 5dmk3 route you'll see a drastic difference in IQ and most importantly you'll be completely blown away that you can shoot at incredibly high iso.

Now you must purchase full frame compatible lenses......this will start to add to the expense in jumping in the full frame body.

Triplexbee wrote in post #17365207
AE-1, did you put the 100-400 2 on your 7D? What was your experience?

Yes I did, but it was a rainy day and I tried the IS indoors.
IS makes a big difference when shooting still subjects.

AlanU,
All my lenses are L, I am ready to go full frame. I think I will rent 5D Mark III.
On the other hand, snow is coming, it is bird season for me and I need a long zoom.

I'm going to buck the trend a little here. I just got the 7d2 and sold my 100-400II. Reason? My 100-400II lived at 400 and I wasn't willing to let it replace my 70-200II. Given that it lived at 400, why have all that money tied up in that lens? Sold it and will be adding a 400 5.6 - 95% of the quality, below 50% of the cost. If you think you'll live at 400, give it good consideration.

huntersdad wrote in post #17370445
I'm going to buck the trend a little here. I just got the 7d2 and sold my 100-400II. Reason? My 100-400II lived at 400 and I wasn't willing to let it replace my 70-200II. Given that it lived at 400, why have all that money tied up in that lens? Sold it and will be adding a 400 5.6 - 95% of the quality, below 50% of the cost. If you think you'll live at 400, give it good consideration.

Interesting. Makes total sense.