Canon T2i (550d) vs T3i (600d) vs 60d vs 7d
Posted on May 6, 2011 in Cinematography | 5 Comments
Want to get into HDSLR video? Canon’s latest offerings can be confusing especially between the T2i, T3i, 60d and 7d which all sport the same 18 megapixel sensor. But Which one should you get? YouTube user ArtoftheImage breaks them down.
3 Comments
Why didn’t you mention the external audio input with manual gain on the 60d?
Agreed – they definitely should’ve mentioned the external audio input – that makes a big difference to those who want to use it for its video capabilities.
How could the reviewer totally miss three of the most important reasons to buy a 7D and why I bought a 7D???
1) The 7D has a remote flash controller for fully automatic wireless off camera flash with multiple units in multiple groups. On the other models one must buy an additional flash controller, Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 for $225 – $300 or waste the money to buy a Speedlite 580EX flash to mount on the camera as a dummy flash just to control the slave flashes. The Speedlite 430EX II works great with the 7D for all of your candid people shots or combine multiple flashes for fancier stuff. It comes with a nice little plastic mini stand so you can just sit it on a table elsewhere in the room. Any serious amateur portrait/people photographer NEVER takes straight on flash shots. They always use off camera flash from an angle. I almost never mount the flash on the camera. It’s easier to just sit it down on the mini stand somewhere else. Almost anything is better than straight on flash.
2) The small top mounted status LCD screen with switchable back lighting to view your settings instead of having to look at the large LCD on the back of the camera is very convenient.
3) I got rid of the plastic 550D I had because it always overheated in less than 30 minutes of video and shut down. Who wants to buy 2 cameras so you have a second one to use while the first one is cooling down. Not to mention messing up the video in midstream when it just shuts off. The magnesium metal body of the 7D dissipates heat much better. I have yet to have an overheating problem with the 7D and usually shoot video up to 40 minutes. Of course, with any of these cameras you have to do a quick stop and start of the video in less than 12 minutes in HD and less than 30 minutes in SD because of the 4GB maximum file size. Other tricks to minimize heat are quickly switching out the battery and memory card (they get warm, too) between videos, but I haven’t had to even do that with the 7D.
The second LCD screen, magnesium body and wireless flash capability alone are worth the price difference.