Canon 60d V Canon 7d

[ness]

My brother is tossing up between the two and I said I would ask the trusty DOL brains trust as to which they would recommend. He is into both video and photography. He has used a 5D MII or whatever it is at work to shoot video - he is in multimedia.

And any advice on where best to purchase it from as well.

Edited November 7, 2011 by ness

[~*Shell*~]

I've shot video and stills with both (though more video than stills with the 60D) - for video I prefer the 7D over the 60D because it seems to perform better at higher ISO and because of that, it makes it easier to colour grade in post, though as a general rule, you can't push the colour grade that far with the DSLRs because they shoot in a compressed H.264 format (but I'm sure he knows all about that). They're much of a muchness in low light (on the whole, the low light video on the EOS range is brilliant and outshines even the Arri Alexa and the Red in a lot of situations) and there is a HUGE amount to be said for the glass that's in front of it. The flip out screen on the 60D is handy for shooting in tight space because it means you can put the camera right against the wall or on the floor and still see what you're shooting. I usually use a monitor when I shoot though so I'm very rarely actually looking at the live view on the camera.

For stills, again I prefer the 7D (which is why I have one instead of the 60D) but I haven't tested them both to extremes. The 7D just feels better in my hands and seemed to perform better at high ISO than the 60D did. The photos on the 60D were just shot around the office - i'd love to take it out and try it but I don't really have a reason to now that I have the 7D

Edited November 7, 2011 by ~*Shell*~

[RallyValley]

This will be my dilemma soon ;)

Except I am not really interested in the video capabilities, purely for photos!

[kja]

Does he have a budget?

IMHO you can't go wrong with either model at all. Most people will never get the full benefit of the 7D and will never notice the things it may "do better" than the 60D. Of course, most people will also never fully utilize the full potential of the 60D, either

How seriously does he edit? If his budget allows then the issue of controlling things in the edit stage should be a consideration. That's more than most people will deal with so it's really a non-issue for most users. As he's already in multimedia, then this might be one of those little things that pushes him to spend the extra dosh.

Both are superb - no wrong answer unless a need is very specific, and then the buyer is going to recognize that.

[ness]

Thanks for all your thoughts - he has opted for the 60d and said he figured he would put the extra towards a better lens. I gather there are a few features on the 60d (something about the audio and also I think the flip out screen) which make it slightly more suited for video. He isn't fussed about the still photo side so much.

He is serious about video editing - its what he does at work - produces adds for TV .

Edited November 7, 2011 by ness