Body upgrade / 7D?

For those who have gone from a Rebel (XSi, T1i, etc) to the 7d, I am curious how you find the learning curve of using the more advanced focus system, as well as other features? Based on some posts here, some people seem to be having issues with the 7d based on misuse of some of its features. I have become very familiar with the XSi menus, function, and working with it quickly. Using center focus point and re-composing, etc. I fear that I would not use the 7d's features and basically resort to using it like I currently use the XSi - seems like a waste. I already have Vivtars and RF-602's so I would not use its wireless flash capabilities less for single strobe shots.

Leaves me to wonder if I would actually go for a 7d as the XSi (and my accessories) essentially meets my needs. The only real reason to get it is to "go for the gusto" on a new body. My only actual wish in a new body is for cleaner high ISO capability. I mostly do glorified snapshots around the house, night land/cityscapes, and I would like to get into shooting live music performances - local clubs, etc.

So what body should I be looking for? Stick with Rebel (T2i)? 60d? 50d? 7d?

Thanks in advance...

I also went from the XSi to the 7D. It was harder than I thought it would be. What really helped me in the end was watching the tutorial videos by Rudy Winston on the B&H website.

If the only reason you want to upgrade is for better high ISO performance, maybe you should consider upgrading to a T2i or 60D? I personally chose the 7D because I needed better AF performance and higher fps for shooting wildlife.

PS: Recomposing after focusing isn't the best idea. You're better off using the focus point that is closest to the spot you want to focus on.

Thanks...with the 7d price on the Loyalty program it is a hard deal to beat.

RE: focusing, I understood that the center AF point on XSi was more accurate? Hence, the focus and re-compose method using center focus point. Read that somewhere a while back ago and have been using it ever since. Is this wrong?

javig999 wrote in post #11380610
Thanks...with the 7d price on the Loyalty program it is a hard deal to beat.

RE: focusing, I understood that the center AF point on XSi was more accurate? Hence, the focus and re-compose method using center focus point. Read that somewhere a while back ago and have been using it ever since. Is this wrong?

It's more noticeable on a wider aperture, since your depth of field will be smaller. Basically, your camera focuses on everything a certain distance away, parallel with the sensor. When you recompose, you are altering the plane that is in focus, which could result in your target (the model's eyes, for example) being put out of focus.

I'm sure someone else could explain it better than I just did...

javig999 wrote in post #11380610
Thanks...with the 7d price on the Loyalty program it is a hard deal to beat.

RE: focusing, I understood that the center AF point on XSi was more accurate? Hence, the focus and re-compose method using center focus point. Read that somewhere a while back ago and have been using it ever since. Is this wrong?

I made this for shiggles a little while ago, trying to explain the concept to someone.

Nice

Thanks everyone...message received...I will stop F&R immediately...

Wow...the 7D's advanced AF system is suddenly looking like a must have item!

there is nothing wrong with focus and recompose as long as you have enough DoF to compensate. If thats the technique you are using and its working why stop lol. Its only when use very shallow DoF that it will throw the focus off. Also if you just move the camera rather than turn it then you have more chance of not moving the focus.....

still i digress.

If you really want cleaner ISO and thats it then you could try other things. Expose to the right and fix in post. This will prob give you a larger increase in clean images than upgrading to another crop body camera. Going full frame is more likely to give you a noticable increase.

That is all if you shoot RAW of course. If you shoot JPEG then you may well find the images look cleaner due to better in camera processing on newer cameras so.....

jwcdds wrote in post #11380746
I made this for shiggles a little while ago, trying to explain the concept to someone.

Great diagram, I would add just one more thing to it, add a very light blue thicker box under the red boxes in the diagram, then the red box would show what happens with a wide open fast aperture, the blue box could show what happens with a shut down aperture like f5.6 or f8, or it could show what would happen if you add more distance between you and the subject, or both.

javig999 wrote in post #11380549
For those who have gone from a Rebel (XSi, T1i, etc) to the 7d, I am curious how you find the learning curve of using the more advanced focus system, as well as other features? Based on some posts here, some people seem to be having issues with the 7d based on misuse of some of its features. I have become very familiar with the XSi menus, function, and working with it quickly. Using center focus point and re-composing, etc. I fear that I would not use the 7d's features and basically resort to using it like I currently use the XSi - seems like a waste. I already have Vivtars and RF-602's so I would not use its wireless flash capabilities less for single strobe shots.

Leaves me to wonder if I would actually go for a 7d as the XSi (and my accessories) essentially meets my needs. The only real reason to get it is to "go for the gusto" on a new body. My only actual wish in a new body is for cleaner high ISO capability. I mostly do glorified snapshots around the house, night land/cityscapes, and I would like to get into shooting live music performances - local clubs, etc.

So what body should I be looking for? Stick with Rebel (T2i)? 60d? 50d? 7d?

Thanks in advance...

Well I have made the transition 400D-->50D-->7D and I currently use all three cameras. Basically, I have been moving modes from Av to manual, using center point. There is really not a big difference between the three models. Now if you want to use a different focus point, then the 50D has all 9 focus points to be cross (against only the center one in the 400D) and then all 19 focus points on the 7D are also cross type. So, the 7D has the best AF since every focus point has the same capability of the center focus point of the 400D. Besides that, the basic learning curve is really short. It took me less than 10 minutes to learn the 7D basic mode, which means to understand which buttons or dials you have to use to get the same result than the other cameras.

Miguel

TeamSpeed wrote in post #11381810
Great diagram, I would add just one more thing to it, add a very light blue thicker box under the red boxes in the diagram, then the red box would show what happens with a wide open fast aperture, the blue box could show what happens with a shut down aperture like f5.6 or f8, or it could show what would happen if you add more distance between you and the subject, or both.

Haha... That's too much work. (I don't think I bothered saving the *.psd either.)

But hopefully the basic visual well help someone envision the more "advanced" scenarios. (Or maybe it won't.)

I went from a T2i and didn't find the learning curve difficult. Just be willing to read about the different modes and test.

Going with a 135 f2L and sticking with the XSi for now...thanks!

javig999 wrote in post #11383931
Going with a 135 f2L and sticking with the XSi for now...thanks!

any choice is a good choice..

I went from xsi to 7d not hard at all when you have things like youtube.com..lol good luck with your upgrade