Any camera enthusiasts out there? I'm thinking of buying the Canon 7D 'kit' (kit= 18-135mm lens included). Any opinions on the camera? Are there perhaps others I should be looking at?

Cheers.

I'm a Nikon man myself, but I know a couple of Canon users that have this camera and apparently it is as good as everybody makes out, so much so that I nearly considered switching sides

What does Ken say?

http://kenrockwell.com/canon/7d.htm

You've gotta love old Ken, but objectivity isn't his strong point IMO

Maybe http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos7d/ will give a more balanced account of things

Panasonic Lumix GH1...
Go see www.dvxuser.com for more info.

Ciao

Paul

The only thing that imho speaks for the 7D is its brilliant auto focus. Otherwise, it's a specialist and pro camera, for wildlife and sports photography (crop sensor as built in tele-converter). For the amateur, the 50D is just as good but cheaper, or otherwise go for the 5D, which is a bit more expensive than the 7D, but will save you a lot of money when buying additional lenses (compare the prices of the 50/1.4 and 35/1.4 for example).

Everyone seems (from dpreview, anyway) to love the 7D but like FrankS above I'm also unsure what it really offers over the 50D. Personally I'd go for the lighter and smaller 50D and spend the money I saved on lenses.

I had a 40D and that came with the 17-85 IS lens. Some people had bad copies of that lens but I loved it. If I was buying a heavy camera like the 7D then I'd probably stick a heavy lens on it like the 17-55 f2.8 IS.

check out the 550d which has a 100chf cashback offer right now.

Boo!
(too short)

Thanks for the advice guys. Realistically, the 50D and 550D probably would have been enough for what I need- anyway I invested in the 7D last night. A great little toy, now I just have to figure out what all the buttons and settings do!

Any chance you could post your observations on it at some point. I am seriously interested in investing in one over the next few months.

I am *very* happy with my Lumix GH1. I purchased an adaptor which will allow me to use all my old Nikon glass (granted, in manual mode), and for a fraction of the price of Nikon's flagship digital monster (D4?).

PLUS - that little camera shoots great video (provided you hack the firmware) as well!!!!

Here's a little test
http://www.vimeo.com/12757610

Ciao

Paul
p.s. I am putting a Nikon 20-35 F2.8 zoom lens up for sale in the marketplace....

I have an Olympus PEN EP-2 to complement the D3 I use for professional work. However, I had to find out that newer Nikon glass can't be used on Micro 4/3 because it lacks the ability to set the aperture on the lens itself. How did you overcome that problem?
I love the PEN for vacation shots etc. because it's insanely light and produces excellent quality - however, the availability of glass is a joke. I wanted to get the Zuiko 14-150mm for it (planning on travelling light this summer) - no freaking way - it isn't available in Switzerland.
I also bought an adapter ring for my Nikon glass but as I said - if I can't set the aperture, it's useless. If I don't find a solution to the problem within a couple of days, I'll sell the PEN and get a Nikon D90 or something like that as a light(er) all-purpose cam.

Peter

I don't think that problem can be overcome. UG is probably not using any Nikon G type lenses. Basically if these lenses work at at all through the adaptor you'll be stuck with the aperture wide open.

I'm afraid you're right - while the G lenses work, I can only use them fully open. So I guess my choice will be: try to find some older glass (which isn't easy as the PEN has a crop factor of 2 -> a lens would have to be 15-17mm to be pushed in the "normal" range) or to give up and find myself a lighter DSLR. I wasn't going to buy additional Nikon cams until the D700x is out, though :-/

Peter

Had no problms finding the 7-14mm wideangle from my Lumix.
What kind of adaptor did you buy? I ordered the Novoflex Nikon to MFT adapter here
http://www.novoflex.com/en/products/...dapter-finder/

Paul

Problem solved by the looks of it

I don't know whether this is hijacking the thread but since multiple cameras are being discussed...

I'm thinking about getting a Sony NEX5 with the 18-55 mm lens (807 chf at digitec). Is this camera any good ?

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/SonyNex5Nex3/

For me the dealbreaker of the GH1 is Panasonic's expertise in the field of pro-video, coupled with interesting / creative lenses. The Micro Four Thirds standard allows for interchangeability with other optics (i.e. Olympus).

IMHO, YMMV, etc

Paul

You bought a good camera. Give me a shout if you have problems, as I have the 7D and the 5D, so am used to most of the buttons, Cfn settings etc.

What will be your main subject for shooting ??

Chris