I am planning on using my panasonic line of monitors for the 7d - looks like that means I will need a mini hdmi to component adapter which seems to be, at the cheapest, a 140 dollar part.
Well, I don't think that you're going to find anything cheaper. The issue is that the task requires the conversion of a digital signal into an analog one, which requires special equipment with tiny demand in the marketplace, hence the high price.
