5D vs 7D for beginner

[thirdsouth]

yes another one. (yay)

hey, new girl asking about recommendations on a dSLR. i currently own a minolta 35 mm camera with two A-series maxxum lenses, a converter, and several filters. i'm looking at a used or new 5D or 7D. what would limit me with the 5D? would it be worth the extra $200-300 to get the new Sony A100? and finally, what would i be missing out on by not looking at changing lines completely?

thanks!

 

[thirdsouth]

can someone at least direct me to an earlier thread with a similar issue? i tried the search function but to no avail.

 

[Soocom1]

As an ardent and well entrenched 7D owner, this is dependent on what you want to do.
First the cost has come down, so if you have the ability to pay a grand, the Sony A100 may be the way to go.
Second, it also depends on the features. The 7D smokes the 5D in features, but has the same image size in a smaller chassis.
Another thing to consider is that the A100 is a 10mp-5D reduex.
Its the same chassis as the 5D, but unlike the 7D, it hits only 1600 ISO where as the 7D hits 3200 ISO. (Personal choice here though.)

A word of caution. The 7D is a bit heavier than the 5D, and a bit bulkier.
I personally like the layout of the 7D over the 5D mostly because I have big hands, and the 7D works fine for me. The 5D is smaller, and doesn't fit my hand as well.

But for the money, ($450-5D on e-bay, $650 7D ebay) vs. the A100 for a cool 1K. It is really a personal choice.

 

[Don Simon]

I just saw a 7D with battery grip sell for less than half the cost of an Alpha. If I hadn't just got myself a Pentax I would have been in there. Personally I'm not convinced 10mp is a great step up from 6mp, meanwhile in my experience the difference between 1600 ISO and 3200 ISO (the Alpha doesn't have the latter) really can mean the difference between getting the image and not. I also thought the 1600 ISO images I got from the 5D looked cleaner than those from the Alpha, although to be fair I've not used either long enough to know if that's really the case. Anyway I personally would go for a cheap 7D (or 5D if a more compact camera is preferable) and use the money I saved to get a really nice lens or two, and skip the Alpha while waiting to see if the next model offers more significant improvements. But that's just my view as someone who's merely borrowed and played about with all three cameras; those with more experience with them will be able to tell you more about the specific advantages and disadvantages of each model.