Canon 7d still worth buying?

Mateomateo · Oct 20, 2014

Hi everyone,
Just have a quick question, i was thinking of buying a canon 7d since a lot of friends have recommended that camera, plus i want to do some video shooting which is supposed to be very good, but as you all know it has been discontinued for 7d mark II, which is around $700 dollars more than the 7d. i was willing to fork out around $1000 bucks for the body of the 7D, but $1800 for 7D II is way too much.

so my question is if its still worth buying the discontinued 7D? im not a pro photographer, focus mostly on modeling and surf photography. any suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks again!
Mateo

goodguy · Oct 21, 2014

I would suggest looking at the Canon 70D, if you want to do video then the 70D is one of the better cameras for this task.
From what I understand it also has same AF system as the 7D has.

Didereaux · Oct 21, 2014

Get the 7D, you won't be the least bit disappointed. Then take the thousand bucks you saved and apply it to a really good lens.

Mateomateo · Oct 21, 2014

i was debating whether the canon 70D or the 7D, trying to get good quality video and photos as well. im tryin to compare the specs between both cameras but can get a bit confusing with the specifics. anyone any more input on this? thanks goodguy and didereaux

runnah · Oct 21, 2014

If I wanted a cheap go to video DSLR I'd pick the 70d. It has awesome dual pixel af so it has a constant AF. Plus it has a flip out LCD screen which is a huge help.

I think the photo side is a little less exciting but it still does a good job.

Mateomateo · Oct 21, 2014

also i dont really like touchscreens like the 70D hmmmm

Mateomateo · Oct 21, 2014

im also looking for quality photos, specially for surf photgraphy and model shoots

lambertpix · Oct 21, 2014

Both cameras are very good, but the 70D would be pretty appealing to me if I were serious about shooting video. It's not just the touch screen that's interesting -- it's the fact that the dual-pixel sensor lets it autofocus while shooting video. I've done just barely enough video shooting to begin to comprehend how different it is from still shooting, but I do find the inability of the 7D to autofocus while shooting video to be something of a limiting factor.

runnah · Oct 21, 2014

lambertpix said:
Both cameras are very good, but the 70D would be pretty appealing to me if I were serious about shooting video. It's not just the touch screen that's interesting -- it's the fact that the dual-pixel sensor lets it autofocus while shooting video. I've done just barely enough video shooting to begin to comprehend how different it is from still shooting, but I do find the inability of the 7D to autofocus while shooting video to be something of a limiting factor.

You get really good at manual focusing!

JacaRanda · Oct 21, 2014

Mateomateo said:
also i dont really like touchscreens like the 70D hmmmm

It's there but you don't have to use it. My guess is if you do use it, you will begin to see it's benefits, especially while shooting video.

lambertpix · Oct 21, 2014

runnah said:
You get really good at manual focusing!

Yeah... I'm not there, yet. I think if I did more of it, I'd probably wind up using one of those hood loop attachments, and I might be able to improve a bit, but the problem I always seem to run into is that video is an afterthought for me, and I just haven't invested in the add-ons or the time to pick up the techniques I'd need to do it well.

Mateomateo · Oct 21, 2014

thanks guys, so im guessing for video both cameras seem to be pretty good, 70ds plus is the autofocus, but now talking strictly photos, which do you think is better? taking video out. 70D or 7D, or if you guys have other canons that are in that range i would appreciate any input

JacaRanda · Oct 21, 2014

If you are going to do video then get the 70d. Simple. Stills are going to be so close that the average person wont ever notice.

Mateomateo · Oct 21, 2014

Thanks JacaRanda, ill probably do 80% photo, 20% or less video for now, have more photo projects than my video hobby

ronlane · Oct 21, 2014

I would agree that if video is something that you are into, then the 70d and it's touch screen are the way to go. Being able to touch focus the screen for video would be something that is very attractive to me for video, but I rarely to any video, so the touch screen isn't something that I want for myself.