Hi All

Im looking to buy a video camera soon and i was wondering.. What are the benefits and drawbacks of the 7D over the FX1000 ?

I film with a friend who has an FX1 so i was wondering how easy or hard it would be to use the 7D and the FX1 footage together ? SInce one is progressive and one is interlaced what would be the best way to match them and would it be possible to get it looking seamless ?

Also i heard that the 7D doesnt allow autofocus in video mode is this right ? I think id really need autofocus so is that something that would likely be added down the track or are you stuck with manual only focus in video mode ?

Also i was looking at the 18-700mm lens.. What would that convert to ? WOuld it be 12x or higher ?

The other option is i buy an FX1000 and i know this would match up with the FX1 a lot easier but its also a lot more expensive and seems to do less.. the footage ive seen of the 7D looks great but im wondering since its an SLR what the drawbacks might be for video ?

It depends on what you want to do with it. I have a 7D and an FX1, and the 7D's picture is significantly better. It's dynamic range really shows too, especially in less than ideal lighting conditions.

If you need something run and gun handheld and you like to leave things in auto mode, the 7D is not for you. I'd suggest looking at a camcorder then. If you think that's the direction you need to go, maybe check out the JVC GY-HM100. It looks like a nice little camera and shoots at 35 mb/s (XDCAM EX codec) rather than the limited 25 mb/s HDV codec the FX1 and FX1000 shoot at.

The 7D takes more effort to set up your shots. It's best to shoot in full manual mode, controlling your aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. independently while manually focusing. Lots of people desire the shallow depth of field the 7D allows, but with that comes greater challenge in focusing on the fly. The nice thing is you can stop down your lens aperture and get a deeper depth of field and still shoot handheld and not have to pull your hair out refocusing every time you move a few inches.

As far as the wide end of the lens goes, I have the FX1 and with my .6x Century wide angle lens on, it is a bit wider than 18mm on the 7D. I'd say maybe 16mm would get close to matching a wide angle on an FX1. I've rented the 10-22mm lens for the 7D and it's insanely wide... I love it.