Nikon D7000 vs Canon 60D vs Canon 7D

[Derrel]

When it comes to the specific Canon 7D versus Nikon D7000 questions, there is one opinion I trust implicitly: look for fjrabon's comments.

 

[fjrabon]

When it comes to the specific Canon 7D versus Nikon D7000 questions, there is one opinion I trust implicitly: look for fjrabon's comments.

Haha, they come up like every single day and I feel this strange compulsion to answer EVERY SINGLE TIME.

 

[Derrel]

When it comes to the specific Canon 7D versus Nikon D7000 questions, there is one opinion I trust implicitly: look for fjrabon's comments.

Haha, they come up like every single day and I feel this strange compulsion to answer EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Yeah...I know, they are like dandelions on a nice lawn!!! They just sprout up!!! ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!!!

 

[enzodm]

since you are clearly a beginner with money, do not change body now but rather invest in lenses. They will last more, and when you will be ready for upgrade, a camera better than 60D or 7D will surely be available.

 

[denzil2fathers]

since you are clearly a beginner with money, do not change body now but rather invest in lenses. They will last more, and when you will be ready for upgrade, a camera better than 60D or 7D will surely be available.

I've recently purchased the 60D and based my decision on the same rationale as above. My budget wasn't unlimited and the 60D was a significant leap in hardware from my Lumix FZ50, so I knew it had plenty of room for me to grow into it. I too considered the D7000 and 7D and went with Canon because it felt better in the hand and controls felt logical. I then chose the 60D because I don't currently need the faster FPS, tougher body and other advanced features of the 7D. The money saved went toward my 15-85mm IS and a 75-200 IS instead of the kit lenses. I'm loving those lenses!

 

[jakobshooster]

The question you should ask yourself is: What will actually make a difference in the results you get?

The pecking order goes something like this:

1) YOU - your skills and experience. The best tools don't guarantee good results. They only make it easier to get good results if you've got the skills to exploit the tool.
2) LIGHTING - this is probably the area most people skip, but shouldn't. Lighting can really make a photo in ways the camera and lens could never do. Lighting can influence the mood, convey emotion, draw out textures, the list goes on.
3) LENS - I've seen people fuss over "this body has fractionally less noise than that body at the same ISO", etc. They're haggling over differences that require carefully scrutiny to even notice at all. Meanwhile... the lens choice they've chose is four to eight stops slower than a lens they could have used which would have completely changed the game.
4) BODY - this is last. The body wont make you a better photographer... only you can do that. If you have the skills, then a poor body might hold you back IF (and probably only if) you're shooting in situations that really stress the limits of your camera. On most average shots, however, this wont be the case.

With that in mind, the 60D is the least expensive and also the least on the features. The 7D is the most expensive and has the most features.

Look at the features.

The 60D and the 7D both have Canon 18.1 MP APS-C sensors with the same ISO performance. That means that at the end of the day, if you put the same lens on the camera body, they can take an equivalent photo. You may see some differences which require extreme scrutiny to detect, but image quality difference wont be significant.

The significant differences:

The 60D has a 9 point auto-focus array with all cross-type focus points. The 7D has 19 AF points and all are cross-type. The D7000 has 39 points, but only 9 are cross-type (cross-type points are faster and more accurate... it's harder to "fool" a cross-type point into focusing incorrectly.)

The 7D has dual DIGIC IV processors, the 60D has a single DIGIC IV processor (most cameras have a single processor.)

The 60D uses SD cards, the 7D uses CF cards (CF cards have a faster data transfer rate).

The 60D can shoot in continuous burst mode at 5.3 frames per second. The 7D can shoot at 8 frames per second.

The 7D has a magnesium alloy body (metal). The 60D has a polycarbonate (plastic) body.

The 60D has a swing-out LCD screen. The 7D does not.

The 60D has the "scene-based" shooting settings on the mode dial. The 7D does not. This isn't really a big deal since "scene" modes are really just uses of the "program" mode where the camera knows the intended type of shot so it biases the program for that type. You can do the same thing by using program mode and just rolling through the equivalent exposures (with the jog wheel on the front near the shutter button) until you bias the exposure for the type of shot you need to take. e.g. for sports/action shots you prioritize by speeding up the shutter. For landscapes you prioritize by reducing the f-stop to increase the depth of field. For portraits you increase the f-stop to reduce the depth of field and put a bit of background blur into the shot. The "scene" settings are really there for beginners who don't necessarily know these techniques and want the camera to do it for them, but an experienced shooter would never use those modes -- they pretty much hang out in the PASM part of the mode dial (Program, Aperture priority (Av), Shutter priority (Tv), or Manual.) Pro cameras don't have "scene" based modes. In fact... if you go any higher up in the line than a 7D, they even drop the built-in pop-up flash (pros generally wont use a pop-up flash. Also... the bump out for the pop-up flash gets in the way of tilt-shift lens controls.)

Both are weather-sealed.

The pattern you can see emerging is that the 7D was built with several features optimized for high-speed shooting. It shoots faster, processes images faster, and writes them to the memory card faster. BUT... the images that it takes are largely of the SAME quality as the 60D. If you want better shots, you'll need to work on your skills, have the right lighting and know how to use it, and if the situation calls for a lens optimized for the type of shooting you need to do then make sure you use an appropriate lens.

If you're on a budget, I really don't see a reason why you should pay for a more expensive body.

If you told me you were doing wildlife photography or sports photography and you needed a durable camera to handle the banging around and needed high-performance continuous burst speed to capture the action, then I might suggest spending more on the body -- just recognize that what you're getting is mostly speed and not a difference in image quality.

Well put, I applaud you

I know this is a very old post but the 60D is not weather sealed PS. Amazing response Actually getting the 1dx xD