Canon 7D vs Canon 5D Mark II, which one is for me??

There were couple of people asking me, "which canon is for me, 5D Mark II or 7D?"


My answer is : DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU DO
First, let's put the 1D and 1Ds out of this discussion, there is no way to compare ducks to swans LOL.
Normal D-SLR for amateur, including Canon 50D, is made with fully automatic options which could permit you to take whatever picture under whatever conditions, thanks to its incorporate flash, even though the result is only "so so".
When you consider yourself as a passionate, or experienced amateur, then you can consider to upgrade your camera to Canon 7D or Canon 5D mark II, again depends on what you do, where you will find the option button will be half empty since they took out all the automatic options on it. So, before that, make sure you are comfortable to take picture with the AV, TV and/or M mode.

let's start with 7D, one of the hot stuff from Canon. From the price point of view, of course it's a lot cheaper compare to 5D mark II, but consider also, that it's not a full frame camera and it's only has 18 megapixel CMOS censor. Ok it's only has ISO 100-6400 (expandable to 12,800) for shooting from bright to dim light. But it could take up to 8 foto per seconds which is almost double compare to 5D mark II, which could only take about 3-4 pictures per seconds. It also has better auto-focus, thanks to the new technology, with 19 points of auto focus, compare to Canon 5D mark II with it's older technology of auto-focus and only with 11 points instead of 19.
On the other hand, Canon 5D Mark II is a full-frame D-SLR with 21 megapixel CMOS censor, and ISO expandable to 25,600 for shooting in the dim light.
Why I said, the camera is depends on what you do ?
When you are like my husband, Julien, who has a style in photography more like a paparazi (he loves taking snapshot on the street and moving objects like sports events, etc), then first thing he would consider when he choose a camera is "how many pictures this camera could take per seconds?" and "how good is the autofocus?" , because every seconds is precious for him. He couldn't miss any of them. For a person with this kind of style in photography, then he should consider 7D (or go straight to 1D mark IV LOL).


For me, I love taking macro and landscape pictures, then I will just go with 5D mark II (or if budget permitted, jumped right to 1Ds mark III, but I will until the mark IV LOL). My object is a steady one, means 1 or 2 seconds late won't give any different. And I am also a type of person who really "care" about the "final printing" result (I always print some of my best shot in the size of poster, 50cms x 70 cms), that's why I "care a lot" about the size of my camera's frame. As I mentioned before, my object is a steady one, or I am the one who should be steady in taking the picture, that's why, I will use the tripod most of the time, then....who cares the ISO, the lowest, the better (high ISO will only produces noise on your pictures, think about that).


By describing two different persons with two different style of photography, I hope I could give you a bit idea about which camera you should go after, or at least, you are in the 3rd category of photographer that I happened forgot to mention. If so, then just reply to this dicussion, and let's see what I could do for you to "lighten" up your way of choosing ;)



NOVITA