5DMKII vs 7D which should I buy??

I am ready to pull the trigger on a new DSLR purchase. I have 2600 to spend. Should I get the Canon 7D and lens kit and buy and additional L-series Wide angle lens (EF 17-40mm f/4L USM) or should I get the 5D MKII (body only). I currently have one lens which should suffice for the time being.
I read a review that the 7D is still considered an amateur camera. I keep buying and selling cameras every year it seems. Buy at full price sell for cheap. I want to buy a camera I will keep for at least 5+ years. Will buying the 7D with some upgraded L-series lenses make up for the camera quality I might miss out on by not purchasing the 5DMKII?

scotchfargo wrote in post #9544953
I am ready to pull the trigger on a new DSLR purchase. I have 2600 to spend. Should I get the Canon 7D and lens kit and buy and additional L-series Wide angle lens (EF 17-40mm f/4L USM) or should I get the 5D MKII (body only). I currently have one lens which should suffice for the time being.
I read a review that the 7D is still considered an amateur camera. I keep buying and selling cameras every year it seems. Buy at full price sell for cheap. I want to buy a camera I will keep for at least 5+ years. Will buying the 7D with some upgraded L-series lenses make up for the camera quality I might miss out on by not purchasing the 5DMKII?

I would consider the 7D every bit as much of a "pro" body as the 5D2. Some people may disagree, thats fine.

In photography, it is more or less 89% photographer, 10% lenses, and 1%camera body. So CHILL! You won't go wrong either way.

You should evaluate your needs.

7D - shoots fast, advanced af system, can control flashes wirelessly, crop sensor (not necessarily a bad thing)

5D2 - full frame

If you want fullframe, then get the 5D2, otherwise the 7D is a great camera at a great price.

Buy my 1DIII and get the best of both worlds

Seriously though, what kind of things are you going to be shooting? That should narrow your choices down some and help you decide.

Look at the things that are associated with full-frame cameras, though:

-Thinner DoF
-Greater DR
-Bigger Pixel Pitch => Better noise performance

5DII vs 7D really depends on what you shoot. Faster action (sports, birds, etc.), go with 7D; slower/still stuff (landscapes, portraits, architecture, etc.), go with 5DMkII.

Ah, forgot the 5D2 does much better noise performance. I personally don't really find noise that much of a problem, but the 5D2 definitely wins there.

Also, 7D has the more intuitive video feature with its own dedicated button for it + live aperture/iso change. Also, when MF'ing with the 7D, having a smaller sensor/larger DoF is useful when trying to just get more light into the sensor in those low-light situations.

It depends on what youre looking to do. The 7d has way more features than the 5D II. It's got a faster frame rate, faster at focus, has a more advanced focus system, has wireless ETTL, better video, and you can use any canon ef or ef-s lens. The 5D is full frame and has better high ISO performance and better DOF. Chances are if you shoot fast moving subjects you'll find the 7D more usefull. If you shoot landscapes, portraits, and/or low shoot in low light alot you might find the 5D more to you liking.

When people ask these types of questions you have to understand first and foremost that you really should not even compare these two cameras as they are targeted at two totally opposites types of photography. The 5DMKII is a portrait/studio/landsc​ape camera with IQ that simply blows the doors off the 7D. The 7D is basically a 50D with a lot of bells and whistles (ie better AF, integrated flash control, 100% viewfinder which is nice and 3 million more smaller pixels than the 50D crammed on to a small sensor, etc) that makes it a camera that can do a lot of things pretty good but nothing overly spectacular….atleast from a professional standpoint but probably more than adequate for the advanced amateur. Are you a portrait landscape studio type of photographer that has to deliver stunning files for large prints to highly critical clients……if so get the 5D MKII and never look back or if you are just looking for a general purpose camera that can handle all sort of task pretty well (but not great) then get the 7D. If you are not a pro and are on a limited budget then you might want to consider getting a 50D which would allow you to get some really nice lenses which we all know is where it really is. Outside of the bells and whistles on the 7D I just am not impressed with the image files it delivers over even the 50D and it certainly can't hold a candle to the files that the 5DMKII produces. Get a 50D for $950 and a good 2.8L zoom or nice L prime. Not a bad option to consider. I just can't see spending the extra cash on the 7D over the 50D not when you could use the difference to get some really nice lenses.

TomTC wrote in post #9545790
When people ask these types of questions you have to understand first and foremost that you really should not even compare these two cameras as they are targeted at two totally opposites types of photography. The 5DMKII is a portrait/studio/landsc​ape camera with IQ that simply blows the doors off the 7D. The 7D is basically a 50D with a lot of bells and whistles (ie better AF, integrated flash control, 100% viewfinder which is nice and 3 million more smaller pixels than the 50D crammed on to a small sensor, etc) that makes it a camera that can do a lot of things pretty good but nothing overly spectacular….atleast from a professional standpoint but probably more than adequate for the advanced amateur. Are you a portrait landscape studio type of photographer that has to deliver stunning files for large prints to highly critical clients……if so get the 5D MKII and never look back or if you are just looking for a general purpose camera that can handle all sort of task pretty well (but not great) then get the 7D. If you are not a pro and are on a limited budget then you might want to consider getting a 50D which would allow you to get some really nice lenses which we all know is where it really is. Outside of the bells and whistles on the 7D I just am not impressed with the image files it delivers over even the 50D and it certainly can't hold a candle to the files that the 5DMKII produces. Get a 50D for $950 and a good 2.8L zoom or nice L prime. Not a bad option to consider. I just can't see spending the extra cash on the 7D over the 50D not when you could use the difference to get some really nice lenses.

totally disagree on your assessment on the 7d. it does great with portraiture, not as good as the 5dmk11, but i dont peek that far into the pixels to see the difference. 7d and a 50 or 85mm prime are awesome. its a perfect camera for weddings and once you learn how to use the focal system and set your custom functions properly, its is deadly accurate on all the focal points. lots of guys switched over from 1 series to the 7d because the features that are in it at the price point its at makes for a really fantastic deal. you would really need to play with the 7d more than you have before you could make the determination.

but i agree with what you said about the 5dmk11. it is my choice for portrait work in my studio, but i also have the 7d with a prime attached for tight shots. works well. 7d is no where close to a 50d. its way ahead of that curve. ive tested both and own both 7d and 50d. 50d is a great camera, 7d leaves it in the dust as far as im concerned. as far as the comment about does nothing spectacular...look at the 7d picture post. Nothing but examples of spectacular results.

7d and a 5d classic, or a 5dmk11 is a perfect combo in my opinion. double what your glass can do and opens up a world of possibilities. best 1-2 punch on the market right now.

as for the OP, like everyone else says, determine what your going to be doing and buy accordingly. but one thing always rings true with these decisions

bodies come and go but glass lasts forever. make good glass first your priority and your body choice 2nd. the exception would be efs glass for the 1.6 format cameras like the 7d. buy a 17-55 and a 10-22 for the 1.6 format cameras and stick with L glass if you can afford it for everything else.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree. Both pixel and sensor size play a huge role in why the 5DMKII files are SO superior over the 7D, 50D or any crop factor body for that matter. Again the 5DMKII is not meant for sports or fast action but I have yet to see any crop factor body that can even remotely compare to the files that a full frame sensor can deliver. You can only cram so many tiny pixels onto a small sensor. The 7D is what it is and can certainly do a good job at many things but it is simply not even in the ballpark when it come to IQ of the 5DMKII files particularly if you crop heavily or if you need super high quality large prints. Just figure out what you need and certainly not everyone needs what the 5DMKII excels at but these are to totally different beasts.

scotchfargo wrote in post #9544953
Will buying the 7D with some upgraded L-series lenses make up for the camera quality I might miss out on by not purchasing the 5DMKII?

Not from what I've seen.

Buy the 5DMKII. . .you will not regret it.

TomTC wrote in post #9546114
I guess we will have to agree to disagree. Both pixel and sensor size play a huge role in why the 5DMKII files are SO superior over the 7D, 50D or any crop factor body for that matter. Again the 5DMKII is not meant for sports or fast action but I have yet to see any crop factor body that can even remotely compare to the files that a full frame sensor can deliver. You can only cram so many tiny pixels onto a small sensor. The 7D is what it is and can certainly do a good job at many things but it is simply not even in the ballpark when it come to IQ of the 5DMKII files particularly if you crop heavily or if you need super high quality large prints. Just figure out what you need and certainly not everyone needs what the 5DMKII excels at but these are to totally different beasts.

like i said. completely agree with what you said about the 5dmk11. its a great camera and i wish i had one. but i got the 5d classic and im very happy. its also a really great camera. i rarely print above 16-20, so the classic gets it done easily. full frame is awesome, but this 7d is very close to the 5d classic. you can only see the difference when you get to 150-200%. the advanced af system makes up for the difference IMHO.

I would go for the 5D MKII over the 7D but being limited on your lenses you may be better off going with the 7D and get a few other lenses. Only reason I got the 7D instead of going with the 5D MKII was because I have the 5D's and am very happy with them. 7D is just another option I wanted.

johneo wrote in post #9546260
I would go for the 5D MKII over the 7D but being limited on your lenses you may be better off going with the 7D and get a few other lenses. Only reason I got the 7D instead of going with the 5D MKII was because I have the 5D's and am very happy with them. 7D is just another option I wanted.

I went with the 7D over the 5D MKII partially because I wanted the option of doing sports/motion photography and second because I already had a few EF-S lenses.

I'm in the same boat the OP is. I'm looking to upgrade from my XT. I'm torn between the two cameras. Amazon has the 7D w/28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens for $1870.00. The 5D Mark II body only is $2459.00. I like to shoot portraits but don't do it very often. I want something mostly as a carry around camera. From what I've read so far the 5D2 does much better in noise performance. But I've alse read that the 7D isn't bad either in noise perfromance. If I could afford it, I would get both

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