| Aragorn |
03-30-2017 12:02 PM |
First off, I too have the original Canon 7D and like it a lot. I purchased my 7D two years ago, used, from Adorama for around $550 (Adorama and KEH have used 7D's for around $450 now.) The Canon 7D is weather sealed and has a crop sensor with 18mp resolution. Image file size is around 20mb in Raw and 4 to 5mb in JPEG on the highest quality setting. Crop sensor is the important factor here. It extends the throw of your full frame lens. As an example, a 300mm full frame lens suddenly becomes around an effective 480mm lens (someone else did the math) on the 7d because of the Canon crop factor (Canon EF-S lenses are crop sensor specific so they don't reach farther on a crop sensor camera.) The Canon 7D and the 7D Mark II (Newer model with improved specs) are better for sports and action photography because the crop sensor lets your full frame lenses reach farther and get closer to the action. They also focus fast and isolate action well.
Coming from Pentax cameras to Canon, it took me around two sessions to learn where every button is and how to adjust the settings on the fly. The Canon 7D is much heavier and bulkier than my previous Pentax K-5 and with the added weight of the 70-200 f2.8 L series lens, felt heavy after holding for a few minutes. With time, the added weight is manageable and becomes second nature. The 7D also wakes up fast. I usually leave the camera on and it only takes a second or two for the camera to be ready to shoot once the shutter is pressed and the camera wakes up. I have taken thousands of JPEG's on my 32gb CF card and haven't reached capacity yet (Think it will hold 3,000 JPEGs but never checked.)
Lenses. Lenses are an important factor here too. Canon and Nikon have the most lenses available. While the new Pentax K1 full frame body is better (IMHO) than the equivalent Nikon D810 or anything Canon has, the Pentax full frame lens selection is sparse and hampers its ability to compete. Canon has the edge in available quality lenses over Pentax, Sony and Nikon. You get more quality selection of lenses with Canon than any other brand (my opinion.) Good glass also holds its value at resale time unlike DSLR camera bodys. Don't worry about using any of your old lenses because once you use a new lens with image stabilization and usm autofocus, they old glass will stay at home anyway. Spend your money on good glass. Buying lesser quality will only lead to wanting the best anyway. Bite the bullet now and spend the dollars to get good quality lenses.
Image Stabilization. New Canon specific lenses have Image Stabilization built into the lens instead of the camera body like Pentax. You will probably want Image Stabilization in any glass you buy. It prevents camera shake and blurry photos. Canon L Series glass is the best out there (IMHO) but is pricey. A 70-200 f2.8 L IS II USM series lens will run around $1,950 new. Good in low light and focuses fast. You can get non-IS L series glass cheaper, but you will get a lot of blurry photos on longer lenses if you don't use a monopod or tripod. The Tamron 70-200 f2.8 VC (vibration compensation) is around $1,200 new, $900 used, and has almost the same image quality and focus speed according to reviewers. It is also black instead of the Canon L series white lenses. If you need to be inconspicuous, you may not want a full size white Canon lens sticking out like a sore thumb. The Canon EF 100-400 L IS is a stunner also. Long reach and image stabilization but not quite the low light wonder the Canon EF 70-200 L IS II USM f2.8 is. Sigma makes the “Bigma” 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM (around $850 used) which has Sigma's OS (optical stabilization) and a long reach, but most bird watchers claim you need a tripod or monopod to get good clear pictures. Anytime you shoot farther than 200mm with any lens, you are going to want a monopod, tripod or some other surface to rest against to get a good clear picture all the time.
Finally, DSLR's require a lot of practice to get good pictures. Having some background with film era cameras helps, but you have to study up on the interrelation of ISO, shutter speed, f-stop and exposure compensation in the digital era to get good pictures reliability when you leave green button auto mode. Lots of places online to do the research.
TLDR? Canon 7D is a good starter action DSLR if you can purchase it in the $400-$450 range used from a retailer. Private party is different because they don't offer any warranty so I would go lower, maybe $300-$350 if it checks out ok and doesn't have a high shutter count. Canon L series Image Stabilized glass is phenomenal, in my opinion, and holds its value well. Tamron and Sigma make good lenses that seem to suit your needs at cheaper levels. Do your research on all lenses before you buy to see if they fit the bill or are overkill, overrated or just as stated. Don't overlook used from larger online retailers. It will save you money.
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