Worth the money to upgrade?

[dgspencer]

I'm currently shooting with a T3i and have been pretty satisfied with the results.  I considered upgrading to full-frame, but the price and the investment I've made in EF-S lenses makes me shy away for now.  I was wondering if it would be worth it to move to the 7D, but it seems to offer no real advantage beyond the 1/8000 shutter speed.  I thought I must be missing something when you compare the price of the 7D against other APS-C   EOS cameras.  Any advice, thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

Daryl

[Skirball]

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@dgspencer wrote:

I'm currently shooting with a T3i and have been pretty satisfied with the results.  I considered upgrading to full-frame, but the price and the investment I've made in EF-S lenses makes me shy away for now.  I was wondering if it would be worth it to move to the 7D, but it seems to offer no real advantage beyond the 1/8000 shutter speed.  I thought I must be missing something when you compare the price of the 7D against other APS-C   EOS cameras.  Any advice, thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

Daryl

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The headlining difference with the 7D is the autofocus, it's vastly superior to the T3i.  Other less absolute differences include significantly faster rapid fire, less shutter lag, faster top shutter speed, weather sealing, better viewfinder, and custom settings.  Many would argue that the ergonomics are better, but that's subjective.    A lot of those may mean nothing to you, or they may be significant.  All that said, in my opinion it comes down to the autofocus and whether that's worth it to you and how much you use it.

[cicopo]

Agree that the AF & FPS are huge improvements but only if you need those features are they an "upgrade" The question is what is it you need your current set up to do but can't get from it? If you shoot primarily using Auto or Program & don't shoot action or use the other modes (Tv, Av or M) and rely on Exposure Compensation a lot You're probably better off adding another lens to your kit. As for going full frame do you have any real idea why it would be a better system? I think a lot of people jump into full frame without any idea of the differences in images or features & in reality don't get any return on the investment. Again it's very dependant on what you shoot & how you want the images to look. 

[dgspencer]

I've never ventured into the "Forbidden Zones" as I like to call them.  I shoot strictly M, AV or TV.  In a pinch when I need something quick, I'll go to Auto.  I've started growing an interest in outdoor photography and want to seriously pursue studio photography work.  Trust me, I'm not that anxious to drop everything and do an about-face to full-frame.  Some folks have expressed that full-frame gives better detail and quality, but on the other hand I've seen a lot of pros working with 7D's as opposed to 5D's.  But I don't want to go off-topic. Given where I want to go with my photography, I wanted experienced opinions about whether there would be any advantage to moving from a T3i to a 7D.

Thanks!

[Skirball · Accepted solution]

Based on that, I would say no.  It doesn't sound like you're really running into limitations of your setup.   Either wait until you run into them with your current camera, or decide to go full frame, or Canon finally releases a new crop sensor with actual IQ advantages that you deem worth it.

I'd put money into a studio setup if that's where you want to go with it.  I think that's the biggest jump you can make in photography, it opens up far more possibilities than moving to full frame or upgrading cameras or lenses.  You'll certainly look at photography different afterwards.

[cicopo]

Doesn't sound like another body would actually be an upgrade.

[dgspencer]

Skirball and Cicopo, thanks for your valued replies.  As I examined the specs on the 7D and my current piece, I didn't see any significant difference.  As I said at the beginning, I wondered if I was missing something.  The only thing I'm missing is knowledge and skill which can be achieved with the T3i.  After all, the camera simply captures the image and any camera will do that...I'm the one who has to do all the work!   🙂

Again, thanks so much for your time!

[cicopo]

Are you trying to tell us a new & more expensive camera doesn't include a box of skill in it's packaging? Who knew?

GOOD ATTITUDE. (also correct).