I bought my Canon EOS 7D with the 28-135 mm lens from Amazon just over a year ago. Since then I've taken about 20,000 photos, and had to work with Canon's service department along the way. So now's a good time for a review. I've been a serious amateur photographer for more than 50 years. I don't take snapshots; 99% of my photos are taken with the camera on a tripod. I take a lot of pride in my photos, and hundreds of them are published on several websites I own or manage. I wanted a camera that was so good I couldn't blame it for a bad photo, but not so expensive I'd be limited in what other photo-related items I could buy. My intention when buying the camera was mostly bird photography, so I also bought the 100-400 mm L zoom lens. My interests also extend to close ups, and the 60-mm macro lens got added to the package. Since then I've added only two more lenses to my kit: the 10-22 mm EF-S wide angle and a used Sigma 600-mm mirror lens. Accessories? Oh, yes, we have accessories!
One problem with APS-C sensors is greater image noise, especially at higher ISOs. The EOS 7D produces very low-noise images at ISO 800, though I rarely go there. While photographing a night-time prescribed fire in Jonathan Dickinson State Park I kicked the ISO up to 6400, and shot with the 10-22 mm EF-S lens wide open (f/3.5 to f/4.5). Those shots were for the web, and even at 1200-px width the noise is bearable. In fact, for something as dramatic as a night-time forest fire the noise seems to add veracity. Most of the time I shoot at ISO 100 or 200, and large prints look wonderful. (Don't handicap yourself with cheap filters or a flimsy tripod. Accessories can add significantly to the start-up costs of a system like this, so figure them into your budget from the beginning. If you're just getting into DSLR photography, stick with the camera and 'kit' lens, and get a high-quality clear or UV filter. I always recomend a tripod, but good ones are pretty expensive. Autofocus and image stabilization may make tripods seem irrelevant, but tripods make you slow down and pay attention to the shot. That would be a good next purchase.)
The sensor and in-camera processing are important, but so is the lens. The supplied 28-135 is acceptable, though not on par with better fixed-focal-length lenses. Its greatest fault is the 6-blade iris, which causes sub-par background blur, but I've been able to fix that up pretty well using Photoshop's "Lens Blur." If your program has Gaussian blur and you know how to work with layers, you can fix the problem so most people won't notice, and the lens does have its benefits.
For one, it focuses down to about 20 inches (0.5 m), which is very useful if you're a nature photographer. Schneider makes a +2 diopter achromatic (dual-element) close-up lens with the right thread, and that lets me focus down to about 10 inches, even at 135-mm (more than 200-mm equivalent on a full-frame 35-mm camera). (Canon makes an equivalent achromatic +2 diopter lens but at this writing you can't get a new one in the U.S., and used ones are commanding high prices.) I've gotten some astounding photos of dragonflies and other insects with this combination. The depth of field is limited, so you need a tripod, and it doesn't hurt to manually focus.
Ah, here's the thing: If you're an automatic-camera type, the 7D probably isn't for you. Yes, it has built-in options that will think for you, but you can get them for less on, say, a 60D or a point-and-shoot. The 7D is a photographer's camera, like a Porsche is a driver's car. I've never used the full-automatic features and don't miss them. I tend to use Aperture Priority, and set Exposure Compensation to underexpose by one-half f/stop. I also use the Histogram to look for potential problems (you can see the Histogram before shooting by switching to Live View mode, which you can do by pushing one button on the back of the camera).
One feature I especially like is the ability to shoot at 8 frames per second. Great for birds in flight and butterflies. If you shoot only JPEG-format, an 8-GB CF card holds more than 1000 images. If you shoot RAW+JPEG you can store about 250 images on an 8-GB card. As I don't do sports photography, occasionally changing memory cards in the field is not a big problem, and if a card goes bad, I'll lose fewer images. I have two SanDisk cards and alternate them, and so far, no problems. I download images to my PC via the USB connection.
I did have a problem with the camera, though it was my fault. The body is claimed to be water resistant, but that's not exactly right. I shot outside all summer here in South Florida, and a couple of times I dripped perspiration on the flash hot shoe. I _thought_ I wiped it off, but some must have gotten inside and corroded the hot-shoe terminals. The camera thought there was always an 'unidentified' external flash on board, so the internal flash wouldn't come on. And it wouldn't recognize my Canon 580EX II flash when I slid it into the hot shoe, though I still could use the flash. This problem cost me $450 to fix, but Canon had the camera back to me in less than two weeks, and their website kept me informed of its progress through the repair facility.
Since I got the camera I launched a website devoted to the natural history of the county I live in, which means taking lots of photos of flowers, plants, trees and insects, as well as my favorites, birds. It's the nature of APS-C sensors to produce greater depth of field, which is overall a benefit when shooting close ups. Getting wide with an APS-C sensor means using an extreme lens, but the 10-22 mm EF-S (usable only on APS-C cameras) does the job. Never have I wished for a full-frame DSLR (only the $$$ to afford one!). If the market recovers I will probably buy a second 7D, so I don't have to change lenses when that neat bird flies over while I'm hunched down shooting a flower with the macro lens. I would definitely recommend the EOS 7D to any photographer with interests similar to mine. I studied the manual and purchased a copy of David Busch's book, which travels with me in the car. Take the time to learn the camera and don't be afraid to try different settings (keep notes so you know what you were doing when you review the photos). Most of all, get out and shoot shoot shoot!
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