I'm a 7D noob so please forgive me if this is an incredibly stupid question. The 7D can shoot at 24fps at 1920x1080 but thw Canon website also states that the minimum shutter speed is 30fps. If it can record in 24fps would it not make sense to allow a 24fps shutter?

Or am I missing something here?

your shutter speed is like your eyelids

your sensor your retina.

Your eyelids shut twice to make 1 picture that your retina records.

So generally, shutter speed should be twice that of frame rate.

Even in progressive mode?

sorry, i just read what you wrote the first time and realized I didn't answer what you were asking.

basically, I guess, the shutter just has to be faster than the frame rate.

I suppose you could shoot at 24, but most seem to think that 30 is close enough and the main rule of thumb seems to be to go approximately 2 x your frame rate, so shutter speed 50 for 24 and 25fps, and 60 for 30fps

I sometimes bring my shutter down to 30 when I shoot in PAL or in 24 fps, to let some extra light in, and it hasn't been a problem at all for me. Works fine. Just like 50 shutter works fine for 24 and 25 fps