Purchasing the 7D

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Permalink Reply by Peter Salas on February 24, 2010 at 1:38pm

First off, the 7D is an amazing camera and you'd be happy upgrading to it. However, you really can't beat the 5D Mark II and the IQ you get with a full-frame sensor. Considering the 7D is still a 1.6 crop body, you WILL crave using the 50mm f/1.4 lens (which is an excellent portrait lens) on a full-frame 5D body.

This is the case for me owning the 7D body, and having to decide whether I should get the 35mm f/2 or the 50mm f/1.4 lens. If I had purchased the 5D Mark II, this would be a simple decision to purchase the 50mm! Of course, I absolutely stand by my decision and love my 7D, there are those times that I wish I had a full frame sensor....Unfortunately, I couldn't bring myself to get the 5D Mark II with some of it's design flaws, and I didn't have the money to get a 1D body. If only there was something in between for me.

For you making this a business, I'd consider getting full frame over a 7D unless you're thinking of using it for videography in addition to stills.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on February 24, 2010 at 1:46pm

Thanks Peter! I appreciate the input. I'm having a hard time with the cost upgrade though. I was anticipating about $1800, so jumping to the 5d Mark II may be a tad rough. I will definitely dig deeper into the two to see which is better.

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Permalink Reply by Michael on February 24, 2010 at 2:41pm

I think the Canon 7D is a lot of camera for the money and an excellent choice. The Canon 7D with the right lenses will easily give you the professional quality photos as well as the professional look that you desire. But make sure before you buy any camera that it will work with the type of equipment you need to use. Things like remote shutter and remote flashgun capabilities. Can you connect it to a laptop and control certain functions of it while viewing them on the laptop display? How well does it sync up to equipment that you may want or need to use in the future? Just be sure that while you are putting in the necessary work to find the right camera for your business that you put just as much if not more time into your choices of lenses.

A half way decent camera can easily take great photos with a great lens. But a great camera can not easily take great photos with a half way decent lens. The camera may be the brain but the lens is the eye that it sees the world through.

Example: The Canon 50mm f/1.8 is "the little engine that could". It is a freak of a lens in that it is cheaply make with a cheap plastic body and mount and placed on almost any camera with the right person using it can take photos that put lenses costing hundreds more to shame. "It is all about the glass and the photographer" IMHO.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on February 24, 2010 at 5:33pm

Thank you Michael! I really appreciate your comments and the points you made. I do wish to pick up a remote shutter and flashgun, so I will look into that a little more closely. This has been exceedingly educational as you are bringing considerations up that I may not have considered. Thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Michael on February 24, 2010 at 5:38pm

I'd never judge a photographer by their camera - or the best photographers would all be shooting with exclusively the biggest cameras. There are a number of cases of top notch pros who rejected the top of the range kit and for various reasons. So the point you are making is about personal 'image' as opposed to image quality per se.

I'd put my cash into lenses first and I'd be reluctant to get into the equipment merry-go-round which only benefits the manufacturers, who constantly produce better and more expensive kit. The mid range cameras now are better than the top of the range kit of a few years ago... the DCS 460 was a 6mp Kodak DSLR that didn't work with a decent colour separation and cost £26,000 + VAT (about $45,000!). So why not settle for a back-up body and leave it at that.

If you're starting a business in this economic climate:
1. Conserve your cash!
2. Work on the quality of your product, i.e. your technique and portfolio - pay for some coaching if you can get someone good.
3. Invest in superior marketing than your competitors.

Make the business prove itself and then invest in better kit, or in different kit to extend the range of work you can undertake. In this economic climate it would be very unwise to get suckered into the my camera is bigger than yours philosophy... failure could cost a lot more than the cost of a camera system - there will always be a better camera within a year or two. A full frame sensor device like the 5D will entail a whole new set of lenses and that will probably mean you end up compromising on the most important element of all... the 7D, or another 400D will do absolutely fine for most work.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on February 24, 2010 at 6:40pm

Michael, thank you for your thoughts. I understand your concern regarding my thoughts that my current camera doesn't portray the professionalism I am aiming for. I currently have a Rebel XT from about three years ago. My worry is that by charging using the Rebel, the client will not believe I have the proper equipment to be worth the money. While I know the camera is only part of the equation, I do not think people paying for someone to do their photos feel the same way.

I worry less about my marketing than my equipment honestly. I have worked in event planning and public relations for about nine years, so I think that aspect of things shall work out fine. I just want to make sure I'm starting off with the right equipment. I hired someone to do my logo and stationary and I just contracted with Blu Domain for website, so I feel as if that area of this is on track. I also don't plan to go "live" until June 2010, so I have the time to get all my ducks in a row. I hope!

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Permalink Reply by Sean on February 24, 2010 at 6:55pm

Your rebel xt will never stop someone from hiring you unless they are looking for large prints. I have a Rebel xti now my back up because I needed more mp for larger prints. I made thousands of dollars with my XTI...Not once did anyone ever look at my camera and say to me....mmmm, no thanks. I shot for magazines, several weddings, and several sporting events. I have a friend that has an old Nikon d100 (6mp) and makes good money as well. Don't get hung up on the logo on your camera. Look more towards your skill, lenses, and more importantly marketing.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on February 24, 2010 at 7:13pm

Sean, I plan on using the Rebel as my back-up camera as I know it's important to have one when on a shoot. I realize it won't keep someone from hiring me, but I do believe in the culture that exists in photography, that if someone sees a Rebel D-SLR they may question how professional I am if using a basic, introductory D-SLR camera. Marketing also relies on word of mouth, and if a client perceives introductory equipment (especially if they don't understand much about photography equipment) being used, that could be detrimental to my success.

And currently, my Rebel XT EOS 350D will not let me shoot Raw. Which could be an issue. I'm not sure WHY I don't have Raw anymore, but it's not on my quality options.

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Permalink Reply by Sean on February 24, 2010 at 7:30pm

Your professionalism will never be in question due to your equipment.
Unless they are really into cameras, they won't even know what they are looking at other than really nice pictures. I think you are placing too much emphasis on the camera body. But to each is own. The 1dmkIV, the 5dmkII, 7d, 50d all use Digic4 processing, the last two are cropped and the first two are full frame. Since you are going right up to the edge you might as well go all the way...save a little more and get the 5dmkII. BTW make sure your computer can handle the files, they will be MUCH larger than the XT files. I've know a couple friends who didn't come to that realization until after their first shoot and their computers became slow as mud.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on February 24, 2010 at 8:09pm

Thanks Sean! The computer tip is very helpful. My current laptop is 2 years old, so I will definitely look into it's capabilities.

And I am an idiot and found the RAW again. I'll be quiet about that now.

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Permalink Reply by Sean on February 24, 2010 at 8:17pm

I know sometimes on the rebels that it is only available on certain settings.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on February 24, 2010 at 8:32pm

That was exactly the issue. I didn't realize it wasn't available on all the settings. LOL! I was trying out HDR for the first time and when I uploaded the photos they were in the raw file format. Color me surprised! I'm glad I'm not going crazy when I couldn't find RAW before.

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