[robski]

Whether it is a good investment depends much on how good a tool it is for the job in hand. It's an expensive toy if you can't take advantage of all it's features.

Having joined the 7d club as of yesterday I can talk about the process of deciding and and limited experience using the camera.

I started off with a 300D which is much in the vein of the 10D and D60. I upgraded to a 20D because it was much more responsive for wildlife photography. The 20D saw plenty of use and got pretty battered and soaked out in the field. The next step was the 40D. Nice not to worry too much about sensor cleaning and can move comfortable up to ISO800 if required. I would say the main let down is the focus tracking on small moving targets. Lucky to get 40% to 50% in acceptable focus.

A few years ago I would of said my next camera would of been the 5D Mk2. With focus moving away from outside wildlife to indoor studio work. Then the 7D came out with some nice features and then I was undecided. Thoughts of buying a new camera soon disappeared when I was made redundant this time last year. As luck would have it I managed to pick some part time work and I still have some cash in my next camera fund. It maybe my last chance to upgrade for a long while so bit the bullet before the VAT increase.

The 5D Mk2 was more than I could afford but still looked into it to see if it was much better. The main complaint appears to be it's lack of focus points and slow to respond. Which is not much different to the 40D. So no benefit there. On the ISO noise front from the samples I've seen it appears to be only 1 stop better than the 40D and 7D. If it had been 2 stops I would of been interested. Which only left narrower DOF and larger viewfinder which I've managed to live without for the last 6 yrs.

My main concern with the 7d with it's higher resolution was a higher ISO noise factor over the 40D. On looking at sample before buying the 7D seems to be very much on par with the 40D. To be honest I would of preferred a 15Mp sensor with much improved noise. So noise reduction remains part of the workflow.

7d files may have a big impact of your workflow. PC power for larger files and compatible software to open 7d RAW files.

The other option was the new 60D. I was quickly put off by the reduced build quality and the articulated screen.

So what factors swung the balance.

Noise was on par with 40D
Improved focus system and increased number of focus points
Very Good Build quality
Pop up flash can act as a master to my EX430 & EX580 - saved money in not having to buy a transmitter.
Extra cropabilitiy.

I would echo Mike comment about the extra resolving power with L lens on 7d.

Today we had a few hours of brightness and used the black headed gull on the lake for target practice for the focus system. I was very impressed with the improved tracking. Obtained and remained in focus 95% of the time compared to 60% I would get with the 40D.

Attached is a 100% crop of a Gull in flight taken with Canon 200mm f2.8 L.

A 60% of the frame is in my gallery