Compared, the Canon 60D and the Canon 7D

[Grant Atkinson]

In order to help out those folk out there deciding whether to get a 60D or a 7D, Chris Frylink and I put the two bodies together, and photographed them side by side.
I also attempted to describe all the important similarities and differences between the two on this latest blog post:
http://grantatkinsonphotography.blog...on-eos-7d.html
Thanks for Chris for his help, and his 7D. As it seems that this question comes up very often on this forum, hoping this blog post will be of use to some members.
Cheers
Grant

[Nqina Dlamini]

Nicely written, balanced and honest comparison.

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Nquina, thanks for your feedback, and I am glad to hear it is positive. Was not looking to bash either camera, they are both excellent pieces of gear for the money!
Cheers
Grant

[daddie2610]

Thanx Grant, well written and makes a lot of sense for people wanting to upgrade to the "next" level of body. I for one moved from a 400D to a 7D and enjoys the 7D.

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Daddie2610
Nice of you to write with feedback, glad you found it interesting! Upgrading from the 400D to the 7D is a big jump, and an exciting one to make. The 7D is a camera that can you can really grow with, it shares quite a bit with its bigger brother, the 1Dmk4, for a very good price.
cheers
Grant

[Chris F]

Grant thank you for this write up. I am sure many prospective buyers will benefit from this.


My personal take on this is:
- the 60D felt very small to me, but then I have big hands. I was holding the 60D with only 3 fingers, as there was no place for my pinkie. When I measured the 7D and 60D the difference in dimensions were mere millimeters, still the 7D just fits my hands better. Granted, even the 7D feels better in my hands when I have the battery grip on. As Grant pointed out, this size difference might just sway for or against either camera depending on the users hand size.
- Looking at the last pic in the blog it is VERY visible to see the difference in eyepiece sizes.
- the first weekend I had the 7D I really struggled with the 19 points and modes of the AF system. After actually reading the relvant two pages in the manual I now use this feuture to the full and really enjoy what it offers. To the point where I see this as a real draw back in the Mk II 5D. To clarify, the easy with which you can shift the actual focal point makes it easy to compose your shoot to the rule of thirds and still have, for instance, the eyes of your subject as the focal point though it is completely off centre. Especially handy when shooting moving objects where focusing and repositioning is not viable.
- the multiple "modes" of the 60D can very handy when you want a quick way to do a sunset or other "scene" shot. This is not available in the 7D, again look at the last pic in Grants blog.
- We also noted the "depth of field" button is placed differently on the two bodies. To the left and bottom of the lens on the 7D, to the right and bottom on the 60D body. It is reported that the position on the 60D is more practical/natural. You have to take your left hand off the lens to reach this button on the 7D.
- I find the buttons/controls/joystick on the 7d much more ergonomically pleasing than on the 60D. Due to my big hands I have to fold my thumb double to reach the dial/joystick on the 60D. But this point ties back to point 1 - will be better for those with small hands ...
- I have previously owned a camera with a flip screen. It is one of those strange items, where you either hate it or love it. I found it most convenient ! Especially when standing in a crowd and wanting to take an overhead shot. with the flip screen you can actually SEE what you are going to shoot.


As a 7D owner my views are hardly objective. But I tried my best to stick to the facts in my post above. Clearly both are brilliant cameras. Hopefully Grants Blog and the feedback above may just help prospective buyers in making a final choise.

[Andre v]

Thanks for posting this.

Well written and informative

[Richard Sloman]

Great review, would make my decision even harder, thanks! :-)

Do appreciate the straight-forward way you review these cameras and the language is not going to lose anyone along the way...

I guess one of the deciding factors may of course be the price as the 7D is approximately 50% more expensive than the 60D and if your budget is like mine, I would have to say the 60D looks like a great offering, and suits my hobby photography needs (I am still getting amazing results - by my standards anyway - from my 400D but know the time is going to come when the upgrade just cannot be put off any longer!)

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks for reading and commenting Andre V, and Richard. Glad you found the review informative. Richard, depending on your shooting requirements, there may not be much to gained from upgrading, as the 400D is an excellent piece of gear. I still have a Canon 40D which sees use often and does a great job, despite the fact that I have a 1Dmk4 and a 5Dmk2 as well. In certain situations, there is little advantage to be gained from using the newer, heavier gear. Luckily for us, the bodies have been pretty good for some years now...
cheers
Grant

[Richard Sloman]

I am very much a hobby photographer for now, but having lived in Europe for two years now I have managed to upgrade much of my equipment (numerous trips to the States where the equipment is, as you know, a lot cheaper than SA - and especially Europe - has helped a lot...)

When the time comes to get a new camera, I will be keeping the 400D, not only because of sentimental reasons and the fact that it takes great pictures, but also because it just won't be worth the trouble to sell in any case...

[John Mullineux]

Something I have found of great value in my 60D is the battery life. I have taken north of 1000 pics in the KNP, all with AF on, many with AI Servo on and most with extended periods of shutter button halfway pressed while wating for the subject to turn its head. The batteries also charge very quickly.

I considered the 7D mostly for its better burst rate, but that was not worth 5k to me. Also, although I do not use it nearly as often as I did with my bridge camera, having a tilting screen is useful for those odd macro positions. The LCD screen is of amazing quality and I have little trouble reviewing images in the midday sun.

As a newcomer to the DSLR world, I found the 60D very intuitive (I have previously owned 2 Pentax and a Nikon on my way to the big boy world) to use. Reading certain parts of the manual did help, but the navigation is simple. The auto settings were very useful in the beginning, but I now shoot mostly with the semi-auto settings. However, when I lend my camera to my wife, who takes really well composed and interesting pics, she prefers to use the presets as she admittedly does not know too much about the higher technical stuff of photography and these settings allow for a really easy way of taking decent images.

Recently I have started considering getting a second body, in particular I have been thinking of the 1D4, but I fear that my 60D has more to offer than I currently get out of it. Perhaps if a 7D2 does come around where you get a 60D with better burst (hopefully still with SD cards) I would be hardpressed not to jump at it.