Exploring All Options

It's now this bad boy's turn to grace my desktop, and be my wallpaper for the next few days.

Still no final purchase and for the past few days I actually did myself a favor and not think about photography at all. The long weekend that went was spent doing other things, and it was a welcome break! With the pollen season over, I can finally spend as much time as I want outdoors again, and the first few days were spent not having a camera hanging around my neck, but plain and simple hanging out with friends.

But it's back to the drawing board now and June is fast approaching. The object for scrutiny this time is the Canon EOS 7D. It was released a few months before the EOS 1D Mark IV, and has actually been touted as the little brother of the Mark IV. The 7D is almost identical to the 5D Mark II in terms of size and weight. But the sensor inside is a smaller APS-C sensor instead of full frame. But being a "newer" model this 18 megapixel camera can boast of new technologies not present in the 5D Mark II, like gapless micro lenses, a faster frame rate of 8FPS, a more advanced AF system with 19 cross-type sensors, and a built-in horizon level, among others. ALL FOR JUST 1/4 OF THE PRICE OF THE 1D MARK IV.

I have again searched the internet high and low for the pros and cons of this camera and have found mostly just praises. Of course it cannot compete with the bigger, more expensive cameras in the EOS lineup when it comes to noise at high ISOs, but it's no slouch at that category either. This camera is the second most popular camera of choice for bird and wildlife photographers (second only to the 1D Mark IV) as the 1.6 crop factor automatically turns a 400mm lens to a whopping 640mm super tele! It also has a small following among wedding photographers and videographers. In the entire EOS lineup this camera definitely has the best ratio of price versus features versus performance.

Of course one of the advantages of getting a camera which costs much less that what I had budgeted for, is that this gives me room to buy ALMOST all the lenses I want. But this also means that I won't be keeping the promise I made to myself: to buy the best camera money can buy (for my budget at least). Now is probably the only opportunity I will have to own a 1-series camera. And it will probably take three to five years before that opportunity comes again. The prosumer models get updated more often, and when they do, they get sold for much less. The 1-series never go down in price, even if they are in the process of being replaced or upgraded. The 1D Mark IV is a testament to this, and still sells for US$ 5000 three years after it was first announced.

June is still a few days away, so I still have some "wiggle room" to find out what would be the best investment for me. If I play my cards right I can actually afford both the 1D Mark IV (I already ordered screen protectors for it on E-bay) and the EF 400mm F5.6L USM lens. Of course it will be very, very expensive. But it also means that I get the camera that I really want, and spend many days out in the swamps and forests taking bird pictures!