I am ready to buy a 7D. Need Help!

I am a Nikon user, but don't have a DSLR. I have done some research and ready to buy a 7D. Here are the questions I have:

1) Is there a wireless remote control for 7D? I don't really like the remote with a long cable......

2) Where can I get the best price from a good dealer? Through DPreview, I found Beach Camera has 7D kit for $1149. I need the kit lens simply because it will be easier to sell later, not because I will use it....

3) I will also buy KM's 28-75 F2.8 lens, but I had hard time to find a good lens which is light enough and can cover 70-300mm. Sigma and Tamron all have the similar models which are quite cheap, but I am looking for higher quality without being too heavy. (Canon seems to have good option......)

4) 7D has been on the market for a while. However, I still hear some people complain about the Back Focus problem. Is this problem normal and could happen to my new 7D?

5) How large a CF card should I get? Any good online dealer? (I usually buy small stuff from Amazon.)

I am really excited about joining KM! In fact, I was also considering Nikon D200, but for that $1700 price tag, I could buy a 7D with 2 good lens (I also hate to wait). And AS is good for me, since I do concert shooting often.

Thanks for the help!

Cheers,

CJ

3) 100-300 APO (D) or Used 70-210 F4 are worthwhile to investigate

4) BF - if you are in US I wouldnt worry.. even if you have the bad luck of getting one with BF the service center seems to be very efficient in their fixes (at least from what i read on these forums)

welcome

--
Bernard

AS rocks!
lens reviews and more on dyxum.com!

Hey

I bought mine here in canada, via ebay from a very good dealer in Vancouver. I am totally happy with it and I saved a ton. It was $977us brand new.
http://stores.ebay.com/Prodigital2000_W0QQssPageNameZVIStoreHeaderLinksQQtZkm?

CJChang said:

I am a Nikon user, but don't have a DSLR. I have done some research
and ready to buy a 7D. Here are the questions I have:

Click to expand...

Have you seen the new D200? If you still have Nikon lenses and can wait until December or early next year, you might want to look into this camera.

CJChang said:

1) Is there a wireless remote control for 7D? I don't really like
the remote with a long cable......

Click to expand...

Not that I know of.

CJChang said:

2) Where can I get the best price from a good dealer? Through
DPreview, I found Beach Camera has 7D kit for $1149. I need the kit
lens simply because it will be easier to sell later, not because I
will use it....

Click to expand...

Buy from a reputable place. B&H sells it at a very competitive price. Dell gives you extra incentives and has good return policy. Some of the places that advertise cameras for cheap recover their extra cost through shipping/handling.

CJChang said:

3) I will also buy KM's 28-75 F2.8 lens, but I had hard time to
find a good lens which is light enough and can cover 70-300mm.
Sigma and Tamron all have the similar models which are quite cheap,
but I am looking for higher quality without being too heavy. (Canon
seems to have good option......)

Click to expand...

For a higher quality lens in the 70-300 lens, shave that extra 30mm and look at the 100-300mm APO (D) lens from KM.

CJChang said:

4) 7D has been on the market for a while. However, I still hear
some people complain about the Back Focus problem. Is this problem
normal and could happen to my new 7D?

Click to expand...

I just received my 7D last week and after much testing and checking, I deemed it to have no BF issues (I have several old Minolta lenses, including a 50mm 1.7). The sensor is aligned properly, and everything works. At this point, the only reason you'll get BF and other issues is with an old stock camera. Again, buy from a reputable place.

CJChang said:

5) How large a CF card should I get? Any good online dealer? (I
usually buy small stuff from Amazon.)

Click to expand...

I recommed buying 2 1Gb (or 2Gb) cards. Don't put all your eggs in one basket... You can format these cards in FAT16. I think the 4Gb can only be formatted in FAT32. This may not make sense to you but FAT16 will be faster to write to than FAT32... It may not make a difference to you though.

CJChang said:

I am really excited about joining KM! In fact, I was also
considering Nikon D200, but for that $1700 price tag, I could buy a
7D with 2 good lens (I also hate to wait). And AS is good for me,
since I do concert shooting often.

Click to expand...

Scratch my previous comment on D200. You know what you're getting into. Dive in and enjoy!

Cheers!
-Perry

Is there a big difference between 100-300 APO and 100-300 APO (D) or (D) option only?

ab012_KM7D said:

3) 100-300 APO (D) or Used 70-210 F4 are worthwhile to investigate
4) BF - if you are in US I wouldnt worry.. even if you have the bad
luck of getting one with BF the service center seems to be very
efficient in their fixes (at least from what i read on these forums)

welcome

--
Bernard

AS rocks!
lens reviews and more on dyxum.com!

Click to expand...

CJChang said:

4) 7D has been on the market for a while. However, I still hear
some people complain about the Back Focus problem. Is this problem
normal and could happen to my new 7D?

Click to expand...

Do a search. Both 5D and 7D users have reported backfocus problems.

Thanks everyone!

Daren MacDonald said:

Hey
I bought mine here in canada, via ebay from a very good dealer in
Vancouver. I am totally happy with it and I saved a ton. It was
$977us brand new.
http://stores.ebay.com/Prodigital2000_W0QQssPageNameZVIStoreHeaderLinksQQtZkm?

Click to expand...

To: Daren MacDonald

For that price, will I still be able to use a $200 mail-in rebate? I don't see the page mention the rebate. It seems to me the price already includes rebate....??

psn said:

Daren MacDonald said:

3) I will also buy KM's 28-75 F2.8 lens, but I had hard time to
find a good lens which is light enough and can cover 70-300mm.
Sigma and Tamron all have the similar models which are quite cheap,
but I am looking for higher quality without being too heavy. (Canon
seems to have good option......)

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Daren MacDonald said:

For a higher quality lens in the 70-300 lens, shave that extra 30mm
and look at the 100-300mm APO (D) lens from KM.

Click to expand...

I thought about that. If I get KM's 28-75 F2.8 lens and this 100-300mm APO (D) lens from KM, there is nothing covers 75-100mm. That looks like a problem.

Igor_KV said:

Is there a big difference between 100-300 APO and 100-300 APO (D)

Click to expand...

Not much. Optically they are the same (unlike the non-APO version). The differences are support for ADI-flash metering and a wider focus ring that doesn't rotate during AF.

--
Yours etc.
Torsten Balle Koefoed

Thanks Elgsdyr. What about front elemnt - does it rotate during focusing?

Elgsdyr said:

Igor_KV said:

Is there a big difference between 100-300 APO and 100-300 APO (D)

Click to expand...

Not much. Optically they are the same (unlike the non-APO version).
The differences are support for ADI-flash metering and a wider
focus ring that doesn't rotate during AF.

--
Yours etc.
Torsten Balle Koefoed

Click to expand...

CJChang said:

2) Where can I get the best price from a good dealer? Through
DPreview, I found Beach Camera has 7D kit for $1149. I need the kit
lens simply because it will be easier to sell later, not because I
will use it....

Click to expand...

I bought my 5D with kit lens from BuyDig (very highly rated on epinions) and was very happy with the service. They shipped fast, and provided good communication (including tracking number.)

They have the 7D with kit lens for $1169, and it's eligible for the $200 mail in rebate...

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=MIMAX7D28100

CJChang said:

CJChang said:

For a higher quality lens in the 70-300 lens, shave that extra 30mm
and look at the 100-300mm APO (D) lens from KM.

Click to expand...

I thought about that. If I get KM's 28-75 F2.8 lens and this
100-300mm APO (D) lens from KM, there is nothing covers 75-100mm.
That looks like a problem.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about it. It's not a significant gap at all.

Zoom lenses have spoiled people to the point where it seems natural to have access to every possible focal length (and yes, I have mostly zooms and I love them!), but small differences rarely affect the look of the photo.

In the very worst case - which will be a very rare occurrence - where your position is fixed and your 100mm fails to fit the necessary elements into the frame, use 75mm and crop a little to suit.

What you get with the 100-300APO is a higher quality lens than the 70-300s you are looking at. That is more likely to be a clear benefit (especially at the long end, where the 100-300APO is excellent and most consumer xx-300 lenses are soft and squidgy) than the extra 30mm at the short end.

By way of illustration, I have a 24-135mm lens, and I've just bought an 11-18mm superwide and sold my 18-35mm as I no longer need it, despite it being the only lens I have that covers the 18-24mm gap. It's not significant. In my case, the difference is approximately equal to the gap between the standard prime focal lengths of 28mm and 35mm. In your case, the gap doesn't correspond to standard prime focal lengths, but is of the same order of mangitude as the normal steps that photographers have happily used for decades, being around 1.4x.

--
Cheers,

Dave

'Third one from the left — Konica Minolta 7D Adoption Society'

Igor_KV said:

Thanks Elgsdyr. What about front elemnt - does it rotate during
focusing?

Click to expand...

Yes.

--
Yours etc.
Torsten Balle Koefoed

--
Aarif 10-1000mm f1.2 (G) Weight only 540g

CJChang said:

I am a Nikon user, but don't have a DSLR. I have done some research
and ready to buy a 7D. Here are the questions I have:

1) Is there a wireless remote control for 7D? I don't really like
the remote with a long cable......

Click to expand...

There is a guy that made a wireless remote out of a $15 toy. It didn't look that difficult. You can probably find the thread in this forum using search. Probably run around $25 when finished. One heck of an inexpensive remote.

CJChang said:

2) Where can I get the best price from a good dealer? Through
DPreview, I found Beach Camera has 7D kit for $1149. I need the kit
lens simply because it will be easier to sell later, not because I
will use it....

Click to expand...

Beach used to be a very shady operation. I don't know if they're doing better now or not. I would stick with either a local shop, B&H, or Adorama.

CJChang said:

3) I will also buy KM's 28-75 F2.8 lens, but I had hard time to
find a good lens which is light enough and can cover 70-300mm.
Sigma and Tamron all have the similar models which are quite cheap,
but I am looking for higher quality without being too heavy. (Canon
seems to have good option......)

Click to expand...

Tamron makes the 28-75 F/2.8 lens. The only difference found between the KM and Tamron versions, is the coatings on the lens. Neither has been proven better than the other. The Tamron is cheaper and comes with a 7 year warranty. KM comes with a 1 year warranty. However, if there's a problem with the camera/lens, KM will only support KM gear.

CJChang said:

4) 7D has been on the market for a while. However, I still hear
some people complain about the Back Focus problem. Is this problem
normal and could happen to my new 7D?

Click to expand...

FF/BF issues can be found in most digital cameras at one time or another. If you're in the US, support is very quick to fix and return the camera.

CJChang said:

5) How large a CF card should I get? Any good online dealer? (I
usually buy small stuff from Amazon.)

Click to expand...

I would buy a minimum of 2 1GB cards or a 2GB card. Newegg, B&H, and Adorama are all great dealers. If you want speed, stick with the SanDisk Extreme III

CJChang said:

I am really excited about joining KM! In fact, I was also
considering Nikon D200, but for that $1700 price tag, I could buy a
7D with 2 good lens (I also hate to wait). And AS is good for me,
since I do concert shooting often.

Click to expand...

The D200 looks like a very nice camera.

AS is good for most of us.

--
Rich L.
http://www.pbase.com/metaz89

The rebate is not available to purchasers, or purchases made, in Canada. Only US resident purchasers from US dealers are eligible for the rebate.