I cannot seem to get good looking video at 24 or 30 fps. Any panning at all creates stutter. I can even see this happening in the LCD. Moving up to 720/60 fps eliminates this issue.
My first thought was that my CF card was too slow but a quick Google search shows that my SanDisk Extreme 60 MB/S 32 Gig card should do just fine.

I've set up my 7D as shown here 1. Prep Canon 7D to shoot in Movie Mode - Tutorial (interactive selection) - YouTube

Please help!

Stuart,
What shutter speed are you using for your 24P and 30P footage? Double the frame rate is typical. I use 1/60th for 24P a lot to avoid flicker. If you are using much higher shutter rates you will get choppy motion on moves. It is easy to pan and tilt fast enough to cause issues. Does the video stutter on motion when you are not panning? You do have to make compromises for motion when using different frame rates.

I'm mostly using 30 but some 24. I know that these cameras misbehave a bit when panning but I see others with the same camera getting much better results and cannot understand why.

Yes, I'm using the 180 rule for shutter speed. I don't have any issues when I'm not panning.

I don't need perfect, fluid pans, I just want my video to be as good as the next guys!

What is your panning rate? You should be panning so something does not cross completely though the frame any faster than 5-6 seconds.

Can you post an example showing your issue?

Chris,

No faster than 5-6 seconds would probably eliminate my issue. I just sometime see really great footage and then see it was done with a 7D and think, "How did they do that?"

The footage appears 24-30 fps.

Hey Stuart, Sometimes the screen doesn't give you the true feeling of the shot. You should try some test pans at different rates and see what they look like on a different display. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Yeah, I need to play with it more and find it's limitations.

Thanks for the suggestions.