I have wifely permission to buy some new kit! Huzzah!
I have wifely permission to buy some new kit! Huzzah!
Author
Discussion

Cactussed

Original Poster:

5,363 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
I've got Canon gear so going to stick with that. My current thoughts are:

60D
15-85 IS with circular polarising filter
Sigma 30mm F1.4
Rode mic for video

I already have an older 75-300 zoom and the 50mm 1.8 prime as well.
Any thoughts or variations I should consider?


Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
Cactussed said:
Any thoughts or variations I should consider?
It would be helpful to know...

1. What Canon gear have you already got?

2. What sort of photos do you want to take?

K12beano

20,854 posts

304 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
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As soon as I saw the title I thought a couple of D4, pre-order the new 800mm, 200-400mm f/4 and TC-20.... for starters anyway.


What's the Canon equivalent these days?

miniman

30,022 posts

291 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
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Stretch to a 7D IMHO.

Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
miniman said:
Stretch to a 7D IMHO.
I'm waiting for mine to arrive. bounce

Cactussed

Original Poster:

5,363 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
I've mentioned the kit I'll be keeping.
What does the 7D give over the 60D?

I've got an old 400D which I've had for years which is being replaced (ie, donated to the father in law).

Photos are really all just personal photos, nothing professional so much the same as everyone else's shots I expect. Some portrait work, some food photography (so still life) some landscape etc.

I'd like it to do some video work as well.

Cactussed

Original Poster:

5,363 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
Oh, and has anyone used these guys before?
http://www.procamerashop.co.uk

Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
Cactussed said:
I've mentioned the kit I'll be keeping.
What does the 7D give over the 60D?
The main points I came across when deciding were the following:

7D is a bigger, much more solidly built body, with much better weatherproofing, and is generally considered just to feel nicer.

7D has a newer, better Autofocus system, both with more AF points (19 vs 9) and much more flexibility on how you use them. Whether you need this degree of "better" depends on the sort of shots you take though.

7D has twin processors. This mainly seems to let it take shots faster for longer - 8fps for up to 25 RAW shots vs 5.3 & 16 for the 60D.

7D has focus micro-adjustment. Handy if any of your lenses persistently focus slightly ahead or behind your desired focus point.

7D has a larger, brighter viewfinder. 100% coverage rather than 96%.

60D has a very slightly higher resolution screen.

60D has the flippy out screen. I'd imagine this would be brilliant if you're using it for video in particular, but it was a negative for me, as I'm too cack-handed with that sort of thing and would probably knock it on something within days!

60D uses SD cards instead of the 7D's CF cards. Traditionally this was considered a bad thing, as CF cards had a much faster data transfer, but SD cards appear to have caught up, so it would save you the cost of buying additional memory cards, as you're upgrading from a body which already uses SD cards.

My main reasons for going for the 7D were that I love the solidity and general feel of it in the hands, I wanted the AF micro-adjustment, and I'm keen to see if the improved AF will help me out with birds in flight.

Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
Cactussed said:
Oh, and has anyone used these guys before?
http://www.procamerashop.co.uk
I haven't. The price they're charging for a 7D makes me suspicious - it's £140 cheaper than any other Canon UK stock camera that I could find, and I spent quite a long time looking! There are a lot of people out there selling US or Japanese stock, which would mean you'd have to send the camera back to Japan or the US if you needed to claim on the warranty, plus Canon UK currently have an £80 cashback offer on, which somewhat balances out the difference.

On the other hand, if you google them, they seem to get nothing but positive reviews.

Cactussed

Original Poster:

5,363 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
Kermit power said:
The main points I came across when deciding were the following:

7D is a bigger, much more solidly built body, with much better weatherproofing, and is generally considered just to feel nicer.

7D has a newer, better Autofocus system, both with more AF points (19 vs 9) and much more flexibility on how you use them. Whether you need this degree of "better" depends on the sort of shots you take though.

7D has twin processors. This mainly seems to let it take shots faster for longer - 8fps for up to 25 RAW shots vs 5.3 & 16 for the 60D.

7D has focus micro-adjustment. Handy if any of your lenses persistently focus slightly ahead or behind your desired focus point.

7D has a larger, brighter viewfinder. 100% coverage rather than 96%.

60D has a very slightly higher resolution screen.

60D has the flippy out screen. I'd imagine this would be brilliant if you're using it for video in particular, but it was a negative for me, as I'm too cack-handed with that sort of thing and would probably knock it on something within days!

60D uses SD cards instead of the 7D's CF cards. Traditionally this was considered a bad thing, as CF cards had a much faster data transfer, but SD cards appear to have caught up, so it would save you the cost of buying additional memory cards, as you're upgrading from a body which already uses SD cards.

My main reasons for going for the 7D were that I love the solidity and general feel of it in the hands, I wanted the AF micro-adjustment, and I'm keen to see if the improved AF will help me out with birds in flight.
All good points. Coming from my 400D, the 60 feels solid enough for my liking (plus I have small hands) so more than happy with that. I tend to find lately that I do a lot of my shooting on centre point AF so again, I'm not bothered about the 19 vs 9.

CF would be handy I agree, but not really worth the premium and the swivel screen will be uber handy for me I think.

So, looks like 60D might be for me (plus, I only have a limited budget).
Re the online shop, they do seem cheap at present and get good reviews...


Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
Cactussed said:
CF would be handy I agree
In your case, I'd say the opposite. You've already got SD cards you can keep using, and if didn't get frustrated with how long it took to transfer shots from your 400D to your computer, then there's no reason why you should get frustrated with the same cards in a 60D.

As you say, sounds like the 60D is the better choice for you.

Cactussed

Original Poster:

5,363 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
400 is actually CF.

Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
Cactussed said:
400 is actually CF.
Oh, is it? I'd assumed it would be the same as my 450D, which is SD cards. I wonder why they changed?

JustinP1

13,363 posts

259 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
Cactussed said:
I've got an old 400D which I've had for years which is being replaced (ie, donated to the father in law).
Strange co-incidence - my 400D ended up with the father in law, and that made way for me to buy my 60D also!

Also, I use the Sigma 30mm prime too. Great piece of kit, a match of the Canon 50mm f1.4 I have in IQ and for me a more natural length for portraits on the crop sensor.

It's also great for video work, in fact the Sigma stays on 100% of the time when I'm shooting video. It's fast enough to shoot indoors, and again seems to be a natural length for shooting.

tenex

1,010 posts

197 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
Cactussed said:
Oh, and has anyone used these guys before?
http://www.procamerashop.co.uk
3 times in the past year with no problems. I used a credit card the first time but took advantage of their extra discount for direct payment there after.
Wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

Cactussed

Original Poster:

5,363 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
right. That settles it. New toy purchasing time!

2slo

1,998 posts

196 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
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I don't want to wee on your french fries but just one word of caution. Pro camera shop are a Hong Kong based operation with an address in the UK for sales enquiries and dispatches. There is a caveat within their terms of reference stating that the purchaser is responsible for any customs duties etc. Plenty of satisfied customers and their prices are very tempting but they don't quote a UK VAT reg no so understand the chance you're taking.
When something looks too good to be true there's usually a good reason smile

Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
2slo said:
I don't want to wee on your french fries but just one word of caution. Pro camera shop are a Hong Kong based operation with an address in the UK for sales enquiries and dispatches. There is a caveat within their terms of reference stating that the purchaser is responsible for any customs duties etc. Plenty of satisfied customers and their prices are very tempting but they don't quote a UK VAT reg no so understand the chance you're taking.
When something looks too good to be true there's usually a good reason smile
If that is the case, then the cameras won't be Canon UK stock, which means you won't be able to use the manufacturer warranty, and more immediately you won't be able to claim the current cashback offer. As that's presently £80 on a 7D (not sure what it is on the 60D, but they do have one), then that £120-odd difference on what I paid is only £60.

You may be lucky and not get charged VAT for the camera, but if you do get stung for it, that would add £164 to the price of the 7D, so suddenly I would've been paying £100 more than I have rather than saving £140!

Cactussed

Original Poster:

5,363 posts

242 months

Tuesday 25th September 2012
quotequote all
That is indeed a good point...

Cactussed

Original Poster:

5,363 posts

242 months

Wednesday 26th September 2012
quotequote all
So. Kerso has come back to me with a jolly good price.
Thinking it will be the 60D, 15-85 and a Sigma 30mm.
Also tossing up an external mic for the camera.
Any thoughts?