Upgrading from a 50D....

My girlfriend currently has a 50D and loves it. I was thinking about upgrading her to a 7D as a Christmas present, but wasn't sure what people thought. Is it really worth doing the upgrade or are the differences so minimal it isn't worth it? The other thing to keep in mind is she does photography for a hobby not a living.

Is there anything specific she finds lacking on the 50d?
What does she shoot?

I upgraded from the 50D and love it. But thinking back, I should have invested in glass instead of a new body.

You have said that she loves her 50D... Why not a red ring instead...

it was a touch choice for me as well. I was in a position where i had about 550 in cash that i had budgeted toward camera gear after buying my 50D. Thought long and hard and ended up going for a flash and a grip. What made it harder was my friend just got the 7D and i played around with it a little.

Definitely happy with the flash and the grip though... even with my 1.4, sometimes the lighting is just too low to get the ability to really freeze time without blur.

I love my 50D. Is there any reason she would need the 7D?

Buy her a nice lens, or a flash.

She has a 430EX flash and a grip for it. She does a little macro work, but most of her shots are outside nature & architectural. What I have seen from most reviews is that it will outperform at 1600+ ISO settings, but not a big difference below that.

Looks like 5D II is a better fit for her.

I was thinking that it wouldn't be that much of an upgrade. She can always use my 5d mk II if she needs. I am wondering if there is a way to lock out ISO's about 1600 on the 50d. That way she doesn't have to worry about the noise.

I saw new glass and a nice dinner

I would get her some L glass and borrow it back on a frequent basis...

Agreed, buy her some good glass (a never ending quest for me..) Ha-ha!

That, and buy here a nice low shutter count 1D MkII. At least that's what I did for myself yesterday.

Any idea on locking out ISO ranges?

Ikyo wrote in post #9043845
Any idea on locking out ISO ranges?

I had a 50D and now a 7D and I'm pretty sure there is no way to limit the ISO in Auto ISO mode. If there is then I haven't been able to find it. It's definitely a setting I would like to have. In several reviews of the 50D and 7D I have seen that exact thing mentioned as a shortcoming versus Nikon.