Find this post helpful? Buy the T2i or the 7D from Amazon Why I am more certain than ever that I made the right decision in buying the 7D over the T2i If you want to skip my mumbo jumbo about how I came to buy the 7D click here. Otherwise, read on. With my new summer job as a wedding photographer assistant looming and a deep desire to upgrade from my trusty but very outdated Canon XT, this past April I found myself shopping for a shiny new DSLR. Now, as much as I consider myself to be a very impulsive buyer, I do take my time to research and study my options when making a big purchase. I am, after all, a broke college student and I need to make the most of my very limited funds. In an ideal world, I would have purchased the Canon 5DMKII, but this isn’t always an ideal world and I wanted to be realistic about what camera I could actually afford and how necessary its available features were. For one, I knew that I couldn’t afford anything above the 7D but I also felt like I needed to graduate from the Rebel line and move on to a much more serious and powerful camera. I read blog post after blog post and review after review that kept directing me towards the 550D (T2i) Reading the specs side by side for both cameras, it really did not seem like there was much of a difference. I didn’t know what I should do. What I really wanted was the 7D but at the same time I didn’t want to waste money on a camera that was “just as good” as the T2i. In the back of my mind I wondered about the price difference. Surely Canon cannot be just trying to fool their customers out of $800. Yet all blogs I had looked at for a comparison had post after post comparing them almost equally and photo after photo proving that their low-light capacity was almost identical. One even claimed the T2i was better than the 7D at ISO 3200 and above. After much consideration, and still very hesitant to do so, I decided to get the 7D. I figured if I expect to earn money taking photographs, then I should have more than just an entry-level camera. It is an investment, after all. After four months of owning my 7D and having used the 550D, I can’t believe I was so close to choosing the latter. Ladies and gents, they are NOT as similar as the blogs portray them to be. The Body Before making your purchase, I suggest holding both cameras in your hands. Look at them, examine them. The 7D feels much stronger, rugged and durable whereas the T2i – while still a huge improvement over previous rebels – feels very light and small. Even in my tiny girl hands. Now, some people may prefer a smaller, lighter camera depending on frequency of use and needs but the bodies of these two cameras are very different, and the 7D without a doubt feels to be of much higher quality in that respect. Controls and Ease of Use This is another area in which the 7D is a very clear winner. I absolutely love the way the dials, displays and controls were designed on the 7D. The 7D offers users two displays to control settings (such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc…) One of the displays is located on top of the camera and users have the choice to display current settings on the main LCD display. The T2i only allows users to view their current settings through the main LCD display. Some may be OK with the main LCD as their display. I have tried it and I keep coming back to the smaller LCD at the top of my camera; I find that it helps me to be more efficient while shooting. I’ve also found that the scroll wheel on the back of the 7D is much, faster and easier to use as well as more efficient than the buttons on the T2i when browsing photos, changing shutter speed or focus points. I keep using the word “efficient” and this is because when photographing a wedding, efficiency is key in capturing moments. Weather Seal When I heard this at first, I laughed: “ummmm weather sealed?” That is silly and hardly worth much. I could probably take both cameras out during a misty day and they would be perfectly fine, right? sure. Now, would the T2i have survived being doused with a vase full of water? probably not. This is a true story, it happened to a friend of mine who accidentally doused his 7D with water and it survived. There is also the story of the photographer whose 7D burned up in a car accident. The camera may not have survived that but the memory card was left intact and at the end of the day equipment can be replaced but our data can’t. <a href=”http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=915740″>http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=915740</a> Wireless Flash To make beautiful portraits, you need beautiful light. While there are many who have mastered the use of natural light, a lot of us like to use off-camera flash for lighting our portraits. The 7D allows me to use an off camera flash without the need of cables or Pocket Wizards. Sure, it works much better indoors and it does not have the reach of a Pocket Wizard but for simple portraits of one or two people it does an excellent job and is very reliable. Buffer and High Speed Shooting In burst mode, my 7D takes about 30 (+/- 1) frames before there is a lag and the camera needs to buffer. In burst mode, the T2i takes about 5 frames before there is a lag and the camera needs to buffer. In high speed mode my 7D takes 21 frames before there is a lag (+/- 1) before there is a lag In high speed mode the T2i takes – wait, what high-speed mode? Battery and Charger Some people may find this very trivial, and it may be. To me, every part of my camera – even the charger – is important. The battery is the heart of a camera, it is what gives the camera its power to function; it needs to be reliable. When I saw the battery that came with the T2i, it reminded me of the batteries that come with point and shoot cameras: Flat, rectangular and not very durable. I have gone through 8-hour days of shooting without having to replace my 7D battery, try that with the T2i. The 7D battery is rated to up to 800 shots and the T2i is rated to 550, this is a pretty huge difference. The 7D also seems to be better at reporting the life of the battery as it is being used and charged. Let’s not forget that the battery for the 7D LP-E6 has an intelligent chip that tells it to stop charging once full, this gives the battery an overall longer life span, so you will not find yourself replacing these batteries that often. The T2i battery does not have this feature. Conclusion It is true that I am in a deep, loving relationship with my 7D. It cost me an arm and a leg but it was worth every penny. That being said, this camera is not for everyone and my opinions in this post are just that: opinions from an experienced user. Both of the cameras described in this article produce excellent and high-quality images. Notice that I didn’t talk about the sensor at all because that is not quite as important to me as are the rest of the features for which the 7D surpasses the T2i. Cameras do not take good pictures, people do. So depending on how serious you are about photography, make an educated decision about which of these to buy. If you are an amateur or hobbyist or have never owned a DSLR, you should get the T2i. If you are considering going pro, and are looking to upgrade, maybe you should get the 7D. The best way to find out which is right for you is to try each one out, as I said before go to a local retailer and hold both cameras in your hands. Just don’t think that these two cameras are as similar to each other as the internet says they are, they’re not. I hope this article helped. Happy shooting! Find this post helpful? Buy the T2i or the 7D from Amazon [fblike layout_style='standard' show_faces='false' verb='like' font='arial' color_scheme='dark']