UKC

Hi everyone, looking for a bit of advice. I've currently got a 550d that I've had for a few years but I feel that it's starting to let me down on occasion and am looking to upgrade. I've got a decent set of lenses for a crop-sensor camera already, and don't have 2k+ to spunk on going full-frame. The main attractions of the 7DII are the insane frame rate at low-light abilities, plus the move from 9 AF points to 65.

I guess what I'm really after are a few on-the-ground reviews from people who've actually used it for taking climbing photos - so how is it?

In reply to ianstevens:

Haven't used the 7DII but have had a 7D for four years or so and have been pretty happy with it. The high frame rate is great for action - especially things like a skier coming towards you. I don't use it for much else but guess it would work for a climber falling in one's general direction too. It has survived use in some pretty grotty weather and cold temps have been no problem. There used to be quite a few comments from people struggling with the AF system and it's worth putting in a bit of time to figure out the options you'll use and turning off the ones you don't want - I expect that'll be even more the case with the MkII and all its extra AF points. The 3 custom settings on the mode dial are really useful and can save a lot of fiddling around, taking gloves off etc.

Most of the shots in here https://www.flickr.com/photos/63191472@N04/albums were taken with it. Hope that's some use.

In reply to AdrianC:

Cheers, much appreciated! Weather is one of the things I was concerned about, as I have to treat my current body like a princess when taking it up winter/alpine stuff. Action pics look excellent, really that's what I'm after as a lot of my shots are or people climbing - even if they're not falling capturing lots of images through a crux sequence is the easiest way of getting a keeper.

Nice pics as well!

In reply to ianstevens:

I've got both the 7d and the 7d Mk II. They are both excellent cameras but the focusing system has had a major upgrade for the MK II and is significantly better, especially for video. Can thoroughly recommend either version but if you do a lot of action photography I'd go for the Mk II, plus the added bonus of it taking both CF and ST cards.

In reply to ianstevens:

Again I've got a 7D as well been really happy with it, used it a lot for climbing and the only thing i can see as a downside is the fact its not full frame. you can pick up a body on eBay fairly cheap now (i'd check the shutter counts on them though, 7D i believe is rated to 100,000 or something like that) which would then leave you some money to grab some nice glass to put in front of it.


Max

In reply to HarmM:

Cheers. I've already got some nice lenses, some of which are built around having a crop sensor - as I result transistioning to full-frame will be outrageously expensive as I'd need to replace these.

To all above - thanks for the pointers, I've gone for it.