60d and good glass or 7d body

pickle788 · May 7, 2012

Hi guys I have a 1000d with the 18-55mm and 55-250mm lens kit. My 1000d has broken

now I am looking to upgrade and was tossing up between the 60d and 7d

The money I have I can buy the 7d body and use my lens kit or my other option is get the 60d and a better lens than my kit lenses

What will I get better value out of I'm thinking the 60d myself then in a few years go full frame

Overread · May 7, 2012

A few thoughts:

1) If you intend to go fullframe why not go fullframe earlier. You could get yourself a second hand/reconditioned 5D (which is still a very respectable and quality fullframe camera body) and couple that with at least one good lens (maybe a 50mm f1.8 or f1.4 depending how the money goes). Of course you'll lose the use of your existing EFS lenses so they could be sold to increase the amount you've got to spend on a new lens. Granted this will eat your money up - but if you aim to go fullframe and the subjects you often work with will benefit from it - then why wait. Get the format you want to shoot with and then build your lens selection around that - going the other way you'll end up having to relearn and purchase yet more lenses as the angle of view change shifts how you use your originally built gear.

2) The primary differences between the 60D and 7D would be:
a) Build - the 60D is more like an advanced entry series camera, so similar to your 1000D Whilst the 7D is a more pro series build. This is reflected in a much more sturdy construction of the 7D; in the use of a rear wheel for settings and general controls; a larger body size and overall refinements.

b) Auto Focus - the 7D sports the best AF outside of the 1D series and whilst not overly complex, can be tweaked and customised for specific requirements. If you're after action the 7D is the way to go, only the 5DMIII and 1D series bodies compete with it on the AF front.

c) LCD - the 7D has a regular LCD screen, the 60D has a flippy tilty one. This will either be important to you or not.

d) Video - the 60D has a few extra refinements to video recording (eg manual audio recording volume settings) as well as a few other refinements. This is only night and day if you're looking seriously at using video (and if you're that serious you'll be recording audio separately anyway).

jaomul · May 7, 2012

If you were relatively happy with your 1000d until it broke you will find the 60d quite an upgrade. The 7d is a better camera but if your not always shooting fast objects itvis probably not required. The image quality from the 2 cameras should be almost identical. The focus system on the 60d is nine cross points so also very good. A better lens on a 60d is capable of better images than an ok lens on a 7d, not saying there is anything wrong with your current lenses.