This is the glass i have.. 70D or 7D II ?

So the time has finally come for me to get my new camera. little history i had a 20D, got stolen so i then had a 40D and after good use i managed to damage it and didn't trust it so gave it to a family member to use as he needed a camera for school (also gave him a nifty fifty 1.8 and my Canon 60mm Macro lense)

My uncle gave me his Rebel Xti over a year ago and his lenses he had:

Sigma DC 18-200mm - http://www.dpreview.co​m …gma_18-200_3p5-6p3_os_n15
Sigma DC HSM 10-20mm - http://www.dpreview.co​m …ews/sigma_10-20_4-5p6_n15
Canon nifty fifty 1.8
Canon 4530EX flash

So having said that, i am torn between the 70D and the 7D II.

one side says get the 70D and use the money saved to get a nice lenses to go with it, maybe an L Series finally...to complement the other lenses. I find the sigma's slow and not very sharp, but could also be this aging Xti camera...

The other side of my says get the 7D II, it is newer, seems to do better video possibly with the 60FPS 1080.

Also i do not need touch screen and in general the controls look better for me on the 7D II even though i have had D series twice before..

I will be doing a lot of baby shooting as my friend just had a daughter and likely many dog park shooting and scenery shots.

I am moving from Costa Rica to Calgary Alberta and so my days of macro photography are going to be far less interesting than they were in CR.

Thoughts? (i am currently reading over every single 70D vs 7D II thread and video i can find)

If it was me I would say definitely get the 70D and better glass. I had the 70d and it was a great camera. I would much rather have the 70d and an L lens then the 7d m2 and a cheap lens.

If fps isn't a factor, you could save even a few $ more and go with the T6s.

Never thought about new T6s, the FPS could come in handy,seems to be the same price as the 70D but using the Digic 6 chip, the AF stuff i am not a pro using so not sure if i would notice the differences there.

i do like they added back the screen on top.

one thing i worry about on the 70D is the screen that comes out and an accident waiting to happen and snap it off or something, sure it doesn't happen but another what if to break and knowing me!

I am now seeing if i can sell the
Rebel XTi / battery / strap
2 x SanDisk Ultra 8GB CF Cards
1 x SanDisk Extreme 8GB CF Card
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM
For $500 in Costa Rica, cause if i can sell that then the price difference isnt as large for me for the 7D Mark II

These would be my 2 choices: I was thinking i could get the L Lense with our IS or maybe see if i can buy one used.....

i guess i could drop the Grip and shave off money, i do like the feel of it and the weight it add's...

But i could put that money towards a walk around lense or include the 18-135mm kit lense with the 7D mark II body.. otherwise i would be using the Canon L as a walk round lense :d

Some thoughts here.

Why do you feel it necessary to have the battery grip? I've owned them for prior cameras and didn't like the size and weight it added to the camera. But some people like the bigger grip and say they feel the camera is more balanced with one. And if you need one, have you considered a third-party grip at considerably lower cost? I used third-party grips on my T2i without any problems at a cost of $30 vs $120.

I would not pay $119 for a Canon battery. I have half a dozen SterlingTek LP-E6 batteries we use in our 60D and 70D, some over 4 years old, that work just as well as OEM for 1/10th the cost.

By going with a 3rd-party grip and 3 STK batteries you get two more batteries and save $270.

I haven't used the 7D II. But one feature I like on the 70D is the ability to switch the focus point while shooting video by tapping the touchscreen. I have no complaints on the 70D's image quality up to ISO 6400, and the various comparison photos don't show any visible improvement for the 7D2. The difference between 1080p at 30fps vs 60fps makes no difference to me since I edit all my video down to 30fps, but I could see it being important if you wanted slow motion or produced commercial video. But if you're doing commercial video you would probably be better off buying a pro camcorder or at least shooting full sensor DSLR.

I agree that the controls are better on the 7D2, I would like to have the joystick on my 70D. The main things I wish for on the 70D is a button to change exposure compensation without going through the menus, and exposure compensation when using Auto-ISO in M mode. These and the better/faster autofocus would be my reasons for getting the 7D2. But this is tempered by complaints about issues with autofocus reliability.

And welcome to North America. Trust me, there are bugs in Calgary. Perhaps not the exotic ones you're used to in the tropics, but they are plentiful just the same.

Mathiau wrote in post #17577133
i guess i could drop the Grip and shave off money, i do like the feel of it and the weight it add's...

But i could put that money towards a walk around lense or include the 18-135mm kit lense with the 7D mark II body.. otherwise i would be using the Canon L as a walk round lense :d

IMHO the 70-200 is going to be too long, heavy and cumbersome as a walk-around lens. I would get the 18-135 or use your 10-20 as a walk-around lens. Of course that depends on what attracts your eye when you're walking around.

Love the feedback.

I can definitely look at 3rd party gear for grips and batteries, i always had the iffy quality worries of it. My battery grip was nice on my 20D, i did feel it helped to balance it for me, but certainly isn't a requirements and if i can save $270 using 3rd party ones, i think that is certainly the way to go.

I used to live in Toronto for about 14 years before taking the job which eventually got me to Costa Rica, will be nice to come back, until the cold comes on!

Video will be nice, didn't read about those features at all and using touch screen for it, easier than using a view finder for certain!

i think i will def get the 18-135mm for a walk around, hard to beat the price with either camera as an included lense.

Since both camera's are APS-C based, are there specific lenses i should look to get, vs perhaps the L series more made specifically for APS-C camera's?

Also with the Canon 70-200, wondering if the $500 more for IS is really worth it when it will be used likley in day light most of the time

A bit more info on usage, i think i will be getting a lot of use in dog parks in Calgary, of my dog and others, so something quick would be great, could be why i am also leaning towards the 7D Mark II for some of the speed it has over the 70D...

I think the 18-135 STM is a good choice for a walking-around lens.

The Canon EF-S 17-55/2.8 IS is my current favorite on the 70D. Not an L, but very good for an EF-S lens. However, there's a recent thread indicating there might be some issues with the 17-55/2.8 on a 7D2. The Tamron 17-50/2.8 non-VC is inexpensive and very sharp, followed by the Tamron VC and Sigma OS versions of 17-50/2.8.

On the wide end there's the Canon EF-S 10-18/4.5-5.6, Canon EF-S 10-22/3.5-4.5 and Tokina 11-16/2.8. All very good lenses.

To be honest, if I was only shooting outdoors in daylight I'd go with the f/4 non-IS. Or, perhaps, one of the less expensive lenses such as the EF-S 50-250/4-5.6 STM, Tamron 70-300/4-5.6 VC. But I like this focal length range for indoor events, and after renting the 70-200/2.8L IS II a few times it is a killer lens. Maybe I'd try the Tamron 70-200/2.8 VC, but I don't like the opposite zoom and focus ring operation from Canon, and would prefer to keep to Canon to take advantage of the CPS program.

Save yourself $350.00 and drop the grip!

After shooting 1D bodies for years I am Sooooooooooo happy to be free of tall that added bulk all the time with the 5D3 and 7D2.

70D twisty screen will be better for Macro..

Another vote for the 18-135mm Also keep an eye on the forums market, this lens comes up often for a good deal less than new.

I also agree on batteries, The "Wasabi" batteries @ Amazon have been very good to me in 7D2 and 5D3.

I wouldn't get the battery grip and as mentioned by CyberDyneSystems the Wasabi battery from Amazon is cheap and works just as good as the Canon battery. When I was in Vegas last month I charged both batteries before I left and had the Wasabi battery in the camera the whole time took over 1300 pictures and still had power left when I got home. IIRC I paid about $35 for the Wasabi battery on Amazon. I take the money you would spend on the grip and Canon battery and put it towards something else either some other lenses or a flash.

Dropping the grip

Reading over on that thread about the lens, would hate to get gear and have issues with it.

Will check the wassabi batteries, I got 2 for my GoPro Hero 3 and they def hold a much better charge than the branded batteries and save good money vs buying the Canon ones.

Def going to go with the 18-135mm seems popular all around and many praising it even as a kit lens and going to check out some of the other ones you mentioned above.

I do have a 430 EX II flash so covered there, I got 2 lexar 1000x 128G SD cards on amazon for $67 so got my storage covered (in Canada memory card prices are stupid expensive everywhere i checked so grabbed them online while i could on amazon.com instead.

Got my camera bag LowePro (think it was the 200 which is now the 202) from my last camera.

I was eying the 24mm pancake lens for $150 but may just hold off on that and stick with my nifty fifty for now, and maybe upgrade to the 1.4 at a later time if i am using it alot or not.

Appreciate the help once again, given me some more to look over for the next hour or so!

Why would you buy a 24 when you already plan to buy the 18-135? Sure, it's f/2.8. That's about 1/2 a stop faster than the 18-135 at the same focal length. I would put that money towards the 70-200.

Um, cause the little 24mm pancake is both awesome and tiny. And if there is anything I learned from years of shopping at the grocery store is the little cans are cute.

Seriously, it's the cheapest way to get amazing prime image quality, and a way to make any DSLR about 1/3rd (or more) smaller.

I have either the 24 or 40mm on one of my bodies now at all times. And when i don't you can bet they are in the bag, somewhere, hard to find they are so damned small, but they are in there.

$125.00-150.00 is not going far for a 70-200mm