# 7D to 5D III upgrade..worth it?



## SPL (Sep 10, 2012)

Hello,

I think maybe this questions has been put out there before,..so I apologize if it has…Just wondering if there are any thoughts out there on upgrading from a 7D to a 5D III. I’m looking for better IQ at low ISOs. Low ISO noise from the 7D has really annoyed me at times. I like to shoot landscapes, HDRs, and some people/portrait and macro work. Thanks for any opinions!


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## Dylan777 (Sep 10, 2012)

You can't go wrong with FF(5D III) - better AF, better in low light, better IQ, PLUS MUCH MORE

No CONs in this case - except loosing 1.6x crop


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## willis (Sep 10, 2012)

You aren't losing anything big in that upgrade just few FPS from burst and 1.6c crop and you gain FF, better AF - ISO - IQ, etc.. 8)
More you get than lose, just go for it.


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## preppyak (Sep 10, 2012)

SPL said:


> I like to shoot landscapes, HDRs, and some people/portrait and macro work.


It will be better for all of those purposes. And even if you end up shooting some people in action, the 5dIII AF is better, and the burst rate is still plenty fast


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## GT3 (Sep 10, 2012)

SPL said:


> I’m looking for better IQ at low ISOs. Low ISO noise from the 7D has really annoyed me at times. I like to shoot landscapes, HDRs, and some people/portrait and macro work. Thanks for any opinions!



>I never shot with a 7D. I have a 5D III since a couple of weeks. It will provide everything your asking for and most likely much more ;D


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## merlin (Sep 10, 2012)

If you're not satisfied with the 7D, it is a no brainer upgrade to the 5D3. Unquestionably the best decision I have made regarding camera choice.


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## kidnaper (Sep 10, 2012)

I went from a 50D to a 5DIII and my lord... I know they're not all keepers, but compared to what I was getting out of the 50D they sure seem like it. It's a fantastic camera. People have mentioned losing the crop factor as a con, but with landscape shooting having the same glass get 1.6 more of the landscape, isn't that a pro?


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## canon816 (Sep 10, 2012)

I had a 7D. Upgraded to a 5DII and a 1DIV. Sold both and now have two 5DIII's. To answer your question: "YES" it is worth it... 8)


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## shadowsatnight (Sep 10, 2012)

This is the same path I'm about to take, 7d to 5dmkIII.

I must admit I'm slightly daunted about a buying a body for over £2k that I'm not going to use professionally, but I can't wait to see the improvement in IQ, and the extra width when I'm shooting landscape. 
15-85 efs is my current wide lens on the 7, but I have an old 20-35 L with the most gorgeous colours ever, that's aching to be used on FF.


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## carlc (Sep 10, 2012)

I am dealing with the same question. I really like my 7D, but I have this burning desire for the 5DMkIII. That is a lot of money for "a little greener grass" on the other side. I have been thinking that my magic "buy point" is $2800 before June, 2013. Otherwise, I will just wait for the next round of major sensor improvements to the 7D or 5D series. And "That's a Memo."


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## sivesind (Sep 10, 2012)

I have to agree with all the people who have written above claiming it is worth it. I upgraded from 7D to 5D.3 in May, and I had my doubts before the upgrade. A lot of reviews compared the 5D.3 to the 5D.2, hailing great improvements, but the few comparisons to the 7D was not as convincing. For instance, a web-site wrote about the advantages of the Q menu, compared to the old system on the 5D.2. But the Q menu was inherited from the 7D. Also, the 5D.3 is more than twice the price of the 7D.

However, as soon as I had the 5D.3 in hand and started looking at the menus and took some pictures, I knew I had made the right choice. There are tons of extra features. In low light situations, I have 3 extra ISO stops to work with (from 1600 on the 7D to 12800 on the 5D.3 for decent pictures), but also with good light, the camera seems to render contrasts and details better. The best part of all: The autofocus system. It is both faster and much more accurate that on the 7D. 8)

The only disadvantage I see, is that the upgrade is expensive. One thing is what you pay for the body, but the 5D.3 deserves good glass and most of my old glass felt unfamiliar with the new crop-factor. My 10-22 EF-S had to be replaced, and I still wonder what I should do to get closer than 300mm. On the 7D, my 70-300 always got me close enough. Now, I want something more, but anything beyond 300mm is horrendously expensive, or just bad.


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## GT3 (Sep 10, 2012)

sivesind said:


> The only disadvantage I see, is that the upgrade is expensive. One thing is what you pay for the body, but the 5D.3 deserves good glass ...



That is absolute correct. If you ugrade the body, you will also want/need to spend on lenses (if you don´t already own them).


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## pierceography (Sep 10, 2012)

I just upgraded from a 7D to a 5DIII myself, and can say that it's definitely worth the upgrade! I recently shot a street festival, but forgot my external flash. With my 7D, after the sun went down I would have just put the camera away as I wouldn't have been able to get a "clean" enough shot in the low light conditions. This was one of my first times venturing out with the 5DIII, and I was pretty blown away by the images I was able to get. I'm attaching one of the photos. f/4.5, 1/80, ISO: 12,800. The high ISO and relatively low noise is incredible. I cleaned it up a bit in Photoshop, but honestly it was only some light noise reduction as I do that to most images above ISO 1600 as a force of habit.

The only thing I'll disagree with the other posters on is the macro portion. I don't know why anyone would use a FF over a crop sensor when you're doing macro photography. Unless your crop camera isn't even in the same ballpark as your FF, using a crop sensor for macro is a no brainer. I still use my 7D for macro work with my 100mm lens. Yeah, macro photos still look great on my 5DIII, but the extra 60mm I get from the 7D is worth keeping it around.


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## Dylan777 (Sep 10, 2012)

carlc said:


> I am dealing with the same question. I really like my 7D, but I have this burning desire for the 5DMkIII. That is a lot of money for "a little greener grass" on the other side. I have been thinking that my magic "buy point" is $2800 before June, 2013. Otherwise, I will just wait for the next round of major sensor improvements to the 7D or 5D series. And "That's a Memo."



"a little greener grass"???...the only Pro I see 7D has over 5D III is fps. Otherwise, 5D III is a BETTER camera over all - AF, high ISO, IQ...plus more


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## tomgomes (Sep 10, 2012)

I do a lot of birds in flight photography and really rely on the 7D's 8 fps...especially now with the firmware update that pushes the burst rate/buffer to about 25 shots. I contemplated buying the 5DIII and was able to test it with my 400mm lens. I think the 5DIII is a great camera, but it's 6 fps and slow burst rate/buffer was way too slow for my type of shooting. I will wait for the 7D's upgrade.


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## RLPhoto (Sep 10, 2012)

Yes, but I still keep my 7D for reach and FPS, otherwise its gathering more dust than my MK3.


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## Kumakun (Sep 10, 2012)

I have had a 7D for over two years, and bought a 5DIII in June (kept the 7D). I still like my 7D, but I'm very happy with my decision to get the 5DIII. Big advantage in low light / high ISO performance. 

The biggest disadvantage was that I had to buy a new lens, because my 10-22 didn't work with the ff. (That's kind of a joke, I knew the 10-22 was EF-S of course and so it wouldn't work on the 5DIII...) Of course, I was planning to buy a UWA anyway--just decided I needed it sooner rather than later, because the wide end of my 24-70mm wasn't close to wide enough.


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## crasher8 (Sep 10, 2012)

I just sold my 7D and 10-22 to fund a 5D3. I'll miss the 16-35 perspective as my 24 will be the widest I'll have but I'm sure IQ/ISO and low light usage will be a great trade off. I no longer need the reach and fps of a crop 7D as my niches have changed from sports to outdoor portraiture and fine art. No, the sale didn't cover the full price! lol. Next week will be fun! I can't wait to take advantage of my 24-70 on a FF.


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## krjc (Sep 10, 2012)

I upgraded about five months ago from a 7D to 5DIII. I hardly ever use my 7D anymore. I miss the crop factor on my 100-400mm when doing birding but that is it. In every other possible use I have for it, the 5DIII is so much better. Contemplating selling my 7D or giving too one of my kids. I would love to have the present 7D with just better high ISO performance as for me that is its greatest weakness.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 10, 2012)

I'd say keep your 7D and buy a 5D MK II. Then when you are focal length limited, the 7D will shine.


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## awinphoto (Sep 10, 2012)

RLPhoto said:


> Yes, but I still keep my 7D for reach and FPS, otherwise its gathering more dust than my MK3.



agree completely... Still have my 7d and is still a beloved camera, but unless i have a need for speed, the 5d3 it is... I got an airshow this week and i'm really fighting trying to not bring the 5d3 over the 7d... I would be interesting to compare keeper rates in that condition side by side tho...


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## dawgfanjeff (Sep 10, 2012)

Funny how similar we are sometimes. I also sold my 7D (still working on selling my 10-22) to _help _fund a 5DIII. I had a very early 7D, and was always disappointing in low light perf. I'd almost never go above 1600, 3200 only in emergency. The 5DIII has preposterously better IQ. It is so much better it feels like I'm cheating. Now when people complement my pictures by saying "you must have a great camera", I might not get mad, I might agree!

Yep, I lose a little reach. Fine-I'll crop or rent a lens when I need more than my 70-200mm f4L provides. 

Besides IQ and AF, I like this about the 5D.
For me, handling and "feel" are very, very similar to 7D. 
Menus are easier to get around. 
DOF preview button is better now, although I've accidentally bumped it a few times, 

Don't like as much:
Moved playback zoom button. Still keep messing that up...
Mode dial lock. Blech. The very few times I ever accidentally moved it, I just move it back. Over all much less effort then having to press the lock release button to turn it, esp if I am also holding a remote shutter release, my hat, glasses, lens cap, etc...
These are just niggles. Otherwise, this things is a monster. 
So yes. WORTH IT.


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## RLPhoto (Sep 10, 2012)

dawgfanjeff said:


> Funny how similar we are sometimes. I also sold my 7D (still working on selling my 10-22) to _help _fund a 5DIII. I had a very early 7D, and was always disappointing in low light perf. I'd almost never go above 1600, 3200 only in emergency. The 5DIII has preposterously better IQ. It is so much better it feels like I'm cheating. Now when people complement my pictures by saying "you must have a great camera", I might not get mad, I might agree!
> 
> Yep, I lose a little reach. Fine-I'll crop or rent a lens when I need more than my 70-200mm f4L provides.
> 
> ...



That zoom feature drives me nuts! And I can't use the set button to zoom because I use it as my ISO button. (A great feature in my D30 as well.)


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## awinphoto (Sep 10, 2012)

dawgfanjeff said:


> Funny how similar we are sometimes. I also sold my 7D (still working on selling my 10-22) to _help _fund a 5DIII. I had a very early 7D, and was always disappointing in low light perf. I'd almost never go above 1600, 3200 only in emergency. The 5DIII has preposterously better IQ. It is so much better it feels like I'm cheating. Now when people complement my pictures by saying "you must have a great camera", I might not get mad, I might agree!
> 
> Yep, I lose a little reach. Fine-I'll crop or rent a lens when I need more than my 70-200mm f4L provides.
> 
> ...



Zoom bugged me at first, but now it's so second nature (especially since i reprogrammed it to the set button), that it kills me when I pick up my assistants 5d2 or 7d and the buttons dont work haha.... Mode dial for me was a HUGE problem and I'm so thankful for it... once not catching it almost ruined an entire photoshoot trying to figure out why my shots were screwing up. But I concur, IQ and such it's such a better camera, although I do miss the reach from time to time..


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## silversurfer96 (Sep 10, 2012)

In the same boat here... Shooting with 7D for a little over two years now... Love it, but always wanted a FF. Didn't like the 5D2 because of the AF. Planning to buy it at the end of the year during the holiday sale (crossing fingers). Might keep the 7D as a backup camera. The only EFS lens I have is the Canon 10-22. Biggest complaint from the wife... why would you buy such an expensive camera when you are not a PRO?


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## pierceography (Sep 10, 2012)

silversurfer96 said:


> In the same boat here... Shooting with 7D for a little over two years now... Love it, but always wanted a FF. Didn't like the 5D2 because of the AF. Planning to buy it at the end of the year during the holiday sale (crossing fingers). Might keep the 7D as a backup camera. The only EFS lens I have is the Canon 10-22. Biggest complaint from the wife... why would you buy such an expensive camera when you are not a PRO?



lol. Same here. Or my personal favorite, "How can you spend that much money on a HOBBY?" But she eventually caved and bought it for me as a present. Solid woman, my wife.


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## awinphoto (Sep 10, 2012)

pierceography said:


> silversurfer96 said:
> 
> 
> > In the same boat here... Shooting with 7D for a little over two years now... Love it, but always wanted a FF. Didn't like the 5D2 because of the AF. Planning to buy it at the end of the year during the holiday sale (crossing fingers). Might keep the 7D as a backup camera. The only EFS lens I have is the Canon 10-22. Biggest complaint from the wife... why would you buy such an expensive camera when you are not a PRO?
> ...



ah hell I shoot professionally and my wife still gave me crap... but she cant argue with the results -)


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## chrisdeckard (Sep 10, 2012)

7D to 5DIII upgrade is totally worth it. Buy 2 if you can!


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## Kernuak (Sep 10, 2012)

For your quoted uses, it would be a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. I always used my 5D MkII for macro (where some might find the effective increase in magnification from the crop factor), as the images were much cleaner and detail much sharper. That hasn't changed since upgrading the MkII to the MkIII, the other reasons are neither here nor there, it's down to lens choice, but again, the image quality is much better and I have got some nice portraits in the last few weeks, even though it isn't something I would normally do. The only reason I have kept the 7D, is for the extra reach when shooting wildlife and also for the odd occasion where I need the higher frame rate, plus a second body is always handy.


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## TriGGy (Sep 11, 2012)

First post here. After getting the 5DMk3 I hardly ever use the 7D anymore, but I still like the play around with the latter. My decision to purchase the 5Dmk3 was kind of like I "can't hold on much longer". I'm a few thousand dollars poorer but I can say I'm *very pleased* with the 5DMk3 that I got the 16-35mm f/2.8 II just a month later (another thousand dollars or so poorer). The move from crop to full frame is so liberating, especially with the Mk3. I have not regretted the decision and I'm loving the Mk3 more and more, so I say it's *worth it*.

Additional info: I purchased the 5Dmk2 months before and returned it, and I'm glad I did. Even though the IQ is really great on the Mk2, coming from a 7D the Mk2 felt lacking on the AF and FPS, plus the controls. I got spoiled with the 7D, so the Mk3 is the way to go forward.


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## thelebaron (Sep 11, 2012)

I just sold and shipped off my 7d today, 5d3 will be arriving monday next week. The wait is killing me already!


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## crasher8 (Sep 11, 2012)

thelebaron said:


> I just sold and shipped off my 7d today, 5d3 will be arriving monday next week. The wait is killing me already!



Love it. I made my 7D sale 5 day handling time to allow for the Mk3 to get here from B&H after Paypal funds clear. Since it's my only digital body I can't be without it for more than a day!


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## Camerajah (Sep 11, 2012)

7D and 5DIII are a good working pair of cameras IMHO


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## nicku (Sep 11, 2012)

SPL said:


> Hello,
> 
> I think maybe this questions has been put out there before,..so I apologize if it has…*Just wondering if there are any thoughts out there on upgrading from a 7D to a 5D III*. I’m looking for better IQ at low ISOs. Low ISO noise from the 7D has really annoyed me at times. I like to shoot landscapes, HDRs, and some people/portrait and macro work. Thanks for any opinions!



Definitely worth upgrading. Or wait for the 6D to hit the market.


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## SPL (Sep 11, 2012)

Everyones reply is great, thanks to all.This is some great info. May have to sell the 7D to fund the 5D III, however it would be a nice backup and good to keep around for the reach. Have to save the pennies!


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## Dylan777 (Sep 11, 2012)

SPL said:


> Everyones reply is great, thanks to all.This is some great info. May have to sell the 7D to fund the 5D III, however it would be a nice backup and good to keep around for the reach. Have to save the pennies!



My 2 cents: I wouldn't keep 7d around if budget is an issue. Sell it now and buy 100-400 whenever you ready for extra reach. I would rather to have more lenses than body, plus body seems to loose value faster than lens.


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## bdunbar79 (Sep 11, 2012)

7D to 5D3 worth it? Uh, yeah, in every way, shape, and form.


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## old_york (Sep 11, 2012)

Like a few people by the look of it; I've just gone 7 to 5d3, it should be arriving any time over the next few days.
I'll be using both bodies with a black rapid dual strap and a 70-200 is ii on one of them. (thinking I can cancel my gym membership then  )


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## OC1Paddler (Sep 12, 2012)

Every once in a while I will shoot daylight sports video (something I can't enlarge) along with stills. The extra reach from the crop is very helpful. I was scared off from buying a 5D III after reading reports of better nikon IQ at normal iso levels. I'm waiting for a new canon FF sensor, hopefully it will have good iso, high megapixal count and cost less than 4 grand.


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## Bob Howland (Sep 12, 2012)

Dylan777 said:


> SPL said:
> 
> 
> > Everyones reply is great, thanks to all.This is some great info. May have to sell the 7D to fund the 5D III, however it would be a nice backup and good to keep around for the reach. Have to save the pennies!
> ...



That's interesting. I own and use both the 7D and 5D3 and the 7D is used most frequently with the 100-400 on a monopod. It all depends on how much reach is required. But, yes, bodies seem to lose values faster than lenses.


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## dstppy (Sep 18, 2012)

This thread was basically what I was looking for. I have a 60D and 5DmkII, and was considering a 7D upgrade for the crop.

The only thing I could really find that the MKII had that the MKIII doesn't is stereo mics . . .

So there's no real advantage (other than having a backup body) if I get the MKIII --- right?


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