Quote:
Originally Posted by Chaos_ult
Anyone here shoot with a Canon EOS 7D?
Thinking about switching brands from Nikon to Canon.
I'd like to get into some cinematography, and I hear the 7D is a good introductory option.
I haven't shot video with a DSLR at all, so I can't offer any first-hand experience. All I can do is go from published reviews and documentation.
If you want to shoot video on mid-range crop bodies, your choices seem to be the Canon 7D and 60D, and the Nikon D300s and D7000.
The closest comparison to the 7D is probably the D300s. It came out at the same time and is a similar price. Everything I have read points to the 7D being better at video and similar quality (in an apples and oranges sort of way) in still photography..
I think you should also consider the 60D and the D7000 They are both newer, and less expensive. Those two factors might balance out wrt performance.
Compared to the 7D, the D7000 has better metering, better IQ, better low-light performance, and a better flash system. The 7D has a better viewfinder, and significantly for you, more movie features, faster max framerate, and less movie compression (which makes a difference in quality, but generally only if you are looking for BluRay quality video). The 7D costs 25% more than the D7000. The two have similar build quality, and LCDs. If video is really important to you and still photography is not, the 7D gets the edge. If both are important, I'd give the edge to the D7000, even if you didn't already have a bunch of Nikon glass.
What about the 60D? It is only 2/3 the cost of a 7D. It also may be better than the D7000 for video, but falls far behind for stills, and has neither the quality or range of features of the 7D. Consider it only if video is all you need and you'd like to save some money.
Don't forget to consider the cost of lenses. If all you have for your D90 is the kit lens, you can afford to ignore this. Otherwise, consider how much it will cost to replace your lens lineup. If the difference in potential video quality between that produced by a 7D body over a D7000 is significant to you, you really ought to be spending a lot more on lenses than on the body. If you are not prepared to spend thousands of dollars on lenses, I'm not sure why you'd spend $1500 on a 7D body. If you don't have good lenses, I doubt you'll be able to reap the benefits of the superior body.
Finally, consider whether you really want to use a dSLR for shooting video. While they do offer a better range of lenses, and control of DoF, they aren't really there yet wrt auotfocus, zoom control and sound control. If making really good video is your only goal, perhaps you should consider a video camera instead.