canon 7d vs. 60d

ripupthehwy

ripupthehwy

Well-known member
Hi. Until I can invest in an af100 or even f3 I am looking at using hdslr for shooting a no budget TV drama series and some short films.
I had been using my hvx200 with a letus dof adapter but its such a hassel and currently need repair. Given the drop in valueof these adapters rather than sinking more $$ I will put it towards an hdslr.
I really like the canons and need a good still camera anyway. I did use a rebel t2i on a couple of small shoots last year so I'm familiar with their issues and limitations.
I'm looking at buying a Canon 60d. I like the bigger body and flip out LCD screen. What am I giving up besides cf flash cards and higher price with the 7d? Is one less prone to overheating than the other? Image quality difference or any user hassels or issues I should be aware of?
B&H has all canons on sale thru Sept. Probably new models coming soon.
Anyway I'm ready to buy but little $$ to spend so if difference in two cameras minimal then I will get the 60d. Or is the new t3i better?
PS I have old Nikon's prime lenses,Nikon to Canon adapter ring rails and follow focus I will still use.
 
7d has better auto focus controls, weather sealing, higher fps (photos) and outputs a 1080i signal via hdmi when connected to a monitor. That is really the main difference between it and the Canon 60d. The Canon t3i has a digital zoom feature that is not available on any other Canon Dslr. As far as image quality, they all look the same.
 
If cash is really tight, look into a used 500d/T2i. The flip-out LCD seems pretty useless to me - the minute you put a loupe on the camera, you'll never take it off, and you'll want a sturdy mounting option for the loupe vs. the rubber band stuff out there. For me it was the first and most necessary add-on. Others may disagree of course.
 
I had a t2i. I sold it. I used it twice in shoots and it kept overheating or would stop recording after only a couple minutes. To me it was too plasticy and not durable. But anyway I sold it at the time only cause I needed money and figured I would upgrade later anyway. Your comment about the flip out screen in interesting, as I thought it would be a benefit. I mostly plan to use an external monitor if I go this route, not an eyepiece loop. Id prefer not to be blinded from seeing where my hands are and other aspects of production during the shoot.
 
does the 60D output HD live via the HDMI cable?
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NOPE.

and for me, that was the deal-breaking difference between the 60D and 7D. if you have clients or crew who need to watch a high-quality feed of whats being shot live. the 60D will only show you an SD image out hdmi while recording.

and the day to day benefits for me of the 60D over the t3i were:
- the 60D has kelvin temp selectable white balance
- the 60D has individual control dials for aperture and shutter speed. the t3i has one dial that you have to toggle between the two. and if you ever do any live event still shooting, that will bite you on the ass. eventually, if not immediately...
 
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only the 7D has HD out while recording, but keep in mind: if you had your 550D overheating, the 7D is much, much worse in this area!! but my 550D has never overheated on me, so I think you just got a bad body... (either that, or the battery grip -which I use for battery life and for balance, but also because it reduces overheating problems- makes a bigger difference than I thought)
 
If you care about photography (especially of fast moving subjects) and/or have to "abuse" it in the field, 7D is the better choice (better than 5D II too).

If you don't, then 60D is really cheap: about half priced. And you don't lose much, other than 7D's ergonomics and build quality, plus HD output (irrelevant when you don't use an external monitor). T3i is too consumer oriented. As for overheating, it happens to all these cameras, but different people seem to have different experiences.
 
I wonder if anyone has had better luck with overheating using power supply vs using batteries. I see u can buy these at b&h photo
 
Most people will some it up as the 60D is better for video and the 7D is better for stills.

Yes the 7D has weather proofing, better AF, and a faster burst speed but none of those really affect me when I'm shooting video.

The 60D has an articulated LCD, manual audio controls, is FAR LESS PRONE TO OVERHEATING (check the thread on the APS-C board), and works with Magic Lantern which gives you a tone of great extra features for video (the 7D will likely never work with ML software). I talked to a lot of friends who bought 7Ds for video and they all suggested I get a 60D instead.

ripupthehwy said:
Someone let me know, does the 60D output HD live via the HDMI cable?
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The 60D, just like the 5Dii and T2i/T3i only sends an SD signal out to the monitor. This may seem like an issue but I've actually never seen anyone make use of the HD HDMI signal from a 7D. I've been a ton of shoots with a 7D and they usually send the HDMI signal to an SD monitor anyway. Those who have tried doing higher quality captures through HDMI with the 7D have indicated there isn't much quality gained.
 
Relating to video: 60D has significantly diminished overheating issues, articulating LCD, manual audio controls, and histogram while recording. 7D has HD output while recording and is weather sealed magnesium body... that's about the only real differences. They both have the exact same image quality as they use the exact same sensor.

The articulating LCD is extremely handy, regardless of what the naysayers may have you believe. Once you start using it, you'd miss it very much if it went away (I'd venture most of the people dismissing it have never really used one). Most of the 7Ds benefits are for photography. The question is the extra price worth it to you for the HD output and weather-sealing? If not, the 60D is a excellent choice with some actual advantages over the 7D with it's lower price.
 
have you considered the panasonic GH2? ive used the 60D, 7D and GH2 extensively. and even though the canons were easier to use, and had seemingly better build quality. i found the GH2 to be more flexible and better suited to my uses. and with the right glass, looks as good or better than the canons
 
Thanks for all the input. I am leaning towards the 60 D for sure.

Okay, so for those of you who say the HD video output on the 60D and T2/T3i via hdmi is not a big deal, then HOW are you maintaining sharp focus pulls during an action sequence you are filming? Is the small flip out screen REALLY sharp enough to find good focus?

(Yes i can make focus marks on my follow focus but that works only if the subjects you're shooting hit their marks. Not gonna work obviously for un-rehearsed stuff like sports, public venues, etc.)
 
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Is the small flip out screen REALLY sharp enough to find good focus?
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"sharp enough"? yep.
"finding focus"? yep as well.
big and sharp enough for me to find and follow with it in anything less than optimal ambient light and motion conditions? NOPE.

i wouldnt think of shooting DSLR footage without either an external monitor or some kind of loupe/viewfinder magnifier...
 
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wgzn said:
"sharp enough"? yep.
"finding focus"? yep as well.
big and sharp enough for me to find and follow with it in anything less than optimal ambient light and motion conditions? NOPE.

i wouldnt think of shooting DSLR footage without either an external monitor or some kind of loupe/viewfinder magnifier...
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+1

I think if the op is looking for the best possible focus you need a lot of light and an external monitor to truly be on point. For shooting something slower paced and with a lot of edits you can work around the footage, but live event work is very different. Maybe a dslr is not even the proper camera if all you do is live event work anyways.
 
Okay so the LCD screen is pretty sharp huh?
But will a larger external monitor give you sharp enough picture to pull focus coming out of the HDMI output if it only sends it in SD while recording? That's really my question.

Not for live events, I was just giving an example. I can afford the Canon 60D and like what I'm hearing about it. However if I cannot pull proper sharp focus on an external monitor because
of the SD signal coming out of it then what use is it?
 
But will a larger external monitor give you sharp enough picture to pull focus coming out of the HDMI output if it only sends it in SD while recording?
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from my testing (60D out to a smallHD DP1) i would say in most cases no. and here is why. if you only had to deal with one lens and could get used to seeing what downconverted "in focus" looked like, then with practice. you could probably pull it off. but i found, using a variety of lenses, thats going to look and behave slightly different from lens to lens.

i always found myself fudging on both ends of focus to see what accurate focus looked like

not to say it CANT be done. but personally, if pulling focus via external monitor is important to you. id consider the 60D a non-starter.
 
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