I keep hearing the above sentiments thrown around. The D7D will be
better than the 20D, or so people say, but as I look over the spec
list, I fail to see why, so help me understand your perspective.
What am I missing?
Of course since the 7D is not available we can't really say which
is better. And it also depends on the needs and style of the user,
but I would say for me:
...
Better Viewfinder? Yes (I'll give KM the nod here based on
expectations)
I expect so also and this is a big reason why I chose the Maxxum 7
film camera over other brands.
This could be very important for the way I shoot (longer FL lenses)
if all my existing lenses work well with in camera AS.
Better Image Quality? No. (At best, this is debatable)
Agree, will have to wait for producion units.
Better High ISO performance? Nope
Supposedly 3200 is very good on 7D, but Canon has record of
excellent high ISo photos.
Bigger top Shutter speed? Nope
True, more important is sync speed +1 point for Canon.
Better Metering? Questionable.
7D will have a spot meter. I use spot metering quite often. Again
it was a reason I have stuck with Minolta over mid range Canon film
cameras. I tried and didn't like the partial metering of the film
cameras, have not tried 20D's yet. I realize that post shot review
of image can minimize some need for spot. I don't think it will
for me. (I usually compose, meter, wait to shoot until exact time I
want the shot. Sometimes can't repeat the shot.)
Better X-sync speed? Nope.
Agee, see above
Faster Continuous shooting? Nope.
Not a big issue for me
Larger Frame Buffer? Nope.
Not a big issue for me - although with digital I might start to
burn "film" more and then this and the previous characteristic
might be important.
More custom functions? Nope.
Don't know yet, I havent seen a list of custom functions for the 7D
yet. But if anything like the film 7, Minolta likes to add custom
functions.
Someone please tell me what I'm missing. Again, this isn't a dig
at the D7D. I'm just trying to understand the perspective of some
other photogs here....
Some of the features I really like about the film 7 (which seem to
be on the 7D) are the 3 exposure memories. Thats where you can
program 3 different camera setups into the exposure mode dial and
recall all of them just by setting 1,2, or 3. I use this all the
time.
Another is that Minolta doesn't usually cripple some modes. For
example some Canon models (don't remember which, but they were deal
breakers) will not allow the user to select different
shooting/focus/something modes in certain exposure modes (P??).
Not sure about the 20D.
I also like DMF and the AF/MF button. DMF allows the user to fine
tune focus after Af is locked. The AF/MF button on the back allows
the user to interrupt AF at anytime and manually (1) pre focus
followed by AF, (2) post focus after AF or (3) interrupt focus and
shoot. It also allows the user to engage Af when in MF. I think
that canon USM lenses allow something same or similar, but on the
film 7 I can do that with any lens. The 7D has these features, but
I don't know yet if it will work with all lenses.
With a "D" lens, the film 7 has a electronic DOF scale on the back
display. I find this very useful. (Not as useful as a detailed
DOF scale on a manual focus, single focal length lens, but much
more useful than the short or nonexistant DOF scales on AF lenses).
I also like the 14 segment metering display on the back which shows
the distribution of brightness in the scene. For my style of
shooting, I prefer to get the exposure correct before I shoot. It
would be nice if KM had added a low resolution CCD to the in prism
metering system and would show a realtime histogram, but maybe in a
9D.
When you press the AE lock on the 7 (and the 800si and 9), the
camera also activates the spot meter and as you scan the scene, the
exposure meter shows the difference between the locked exposure and
the reading of the area currently in the spot meter. This makes it
very easy to compare the CW or evaluative metering against the
darkest or brightest part of the scene. I assume that KM will keep
this in the 7D, although it remains to be seen.
The film 7 also records all the shot info for each exposure. That
probably isn't as important on digital cameras because the data is
stored with the shot.
User interface. I really like dial settings much more than press
buttons and select types of interfaces, but that's just me.
Tom
--
--The artist formerly known as The Krakken
Pitching the benefits of AS is like Audi telling people that their Quattro drive system will help you drive better, which for some people, it does. ;-) 
