Buying a 7D

[Marco Romero]

New to the forums, shout outs from Central America.

I'm getting a 7D next week, are there any things I should look out for? Things I should buy? Extra battery, specific memory or amount of cards, filter for lens protection, anything else?

Oh and two more questions, how much memory does the 7D take up per second at full quality?

I like shooting shorts, I'm getting the standard package (cost 2,300 USD over here ;( ), any lens you guys recommend getting?

If I got anymore questions, I'll just post them here.

Nice meeting you all.

[Jeff Wisener]

The kit lens is worth the money if you do not already have a good one. I suggest you get a memory card that is fast enough for your needs & large enough for what you plan to do. If I remember correctly, I got a Scandisk IV, 8GB. If has been enough so far but I kind of wish I would have got a 16GB card.

[David Chapman]

Hey Marco, welcome!

If you want to shoot outside with shallow depth of field, you will need some ND filters to cut down light so you can keep your aperture open. I bought a Fader ND and love it.

If you plan on audio, you are pretty much choosing between a Juicedlink DN101 (attached to the camera) or a ZoomH4N (separate audio recorder). The Juicedlink puts out a preamp to trick the cameras automatic gain. I opted for the Zoom to do sync sound and not have to drag the camera out when I only want to pickup voice overs or sound effects.

Extra cards and even a flash would help (flash for stills). The 7D is the first camera to allow master control of slaves (off camera flash). My Speedlight 420EX can now be off camera and I didn't have to shell out the dough for the 530.

[Bill Pryor]

Marco, if you're shooting video and not just stills, you will need an ND filter for outdoor work. I use an ND.9 which allows me to work within the mid ranges of the lens. I got the kit lens because it was $200. It's an OK lens but limited to outdoor use because it's quite slow.
For a wide angle zoom I use a Tokina 16-50 f2.8, and I have a Tamron 28-75 I use for interviews (so I can get tighter focal lengths quickly for closeups when needed). Then I use my old Nikkor prime lenses with adapters for most other things.

I have two 16 gig and two 8 gig CF cards, adequate for most of what I do. Be sure to get UDMA capable cards. I use SanDisk Extreme III and Transcend 133X with no problems. But there are two different Extreme III cards, one says 30MB/s on it, and that's the one you want. The older one that does not say 30MB/s is not UDMA. The Transcend is cheaper and it is UDMA, though I had to go to the website of both companies to find that information. If you're shooting rapid burst stills as in sports photography, you'd want faster cards, but they're not necessary for video.

My LCD viewer is an IDCphotography.com , which is a Hoodman viewer attached to a very clever and solid bracket. You will definitely need some kind of a viewer for shooting video. Lots of people get the Zacuto Z-finder, which is $400. The IDC package is $200. You can just get the Hoodman for under $100 and attach it with the stretchy bands, if you don't want to spend too much money.

You get about 24 minutes of 24p HD footage on an 8 gig card, so that would be about 3 minutes per gig.

[Brandon Paschal]

Bill,

I was 99% ready to make a move toward the Z-Finder, but the IDC equipment had a very compelling product line. I'm looking at the Zacuto gorilla kits (love their products for use w/ my A1s), but was ...

1. curious as to how much different the Z-Finder might be from the IDC.
2. curious as to how well the follow-focus might be for those rigs.

I'm stuck between having a lighter rig vs ensuring the capability for quickly adding accessories (follow-focus/wireless receiver, etc).

Any thoughts based on your experience would certainly be appreciated!

[Kelly Langerak]

I too will be buying a 7D. What lens would you recommend for wedding videographers?

Right now I see that the Tokina 11-16 is a must and the Tokina 16-50 f2.8.

What is good to get as a prime lens incase I'm 20-30 ft from the bride and groom?

My budget is about $3k for lenses. I want something I can use for a very long time. Also, will these work ok when on a Pilot Steadicam?

[Norman Pogson]

I like the Canon 50mm f1.4 I use it a lot and then I use a bunch of old AI Nikkor lenses with an Ebay adapter. For weddings the 50mm is fast and will give a focal length equivalent to an 80mm, which is a nice portrait lens.

As far as cards go, I avoid buying very large capacity cards, in favor of two 8gb cards to one 16, it is tempting fate to have a card failure. I use Kingston Pro x133 cards.

[Bill Pryor]

Brandon, the IDC viewfinder uses the Hoodman 3.0 but with IDC's very clever and sturdy bracketing. It has an adjustable diopter but no magnification. The Zacuto has a 3X magnifier as well as adjustable diopter. The reason I got the IDC was because it doesn't come off unless you take it off. The Zacuto can be knocked off easily, according to their sales tape (which is why they said you need the lanyard). I wanted something more solid, and IDC makes adaptations for U.S. Army photographers, so their stuff is solid.

I'm not thrilled with the IDC follow focus. I have a Cavision rods system now and will add a Cavision follow focus later. I don't really need a mattebox since I use minimal filtration (only screw-on ND filters for outdoor work). Here's a short article I did about my Cavision system with the markwatkins.com bracket:
DVFreelancer Article: Hand Held Shooting | Digital Video Freelancing on the Net

[Brandon Paschal]

Bill,

Thanks for your comments and sharing the update. I have recently begun considering the 550D given the price point. I see you went the double-sound route and I'm thinking of trying the JuicedLink CX231 just to see what the in-camera capability is. Jon Fairquist's review was pretty convincing. As you stated in your rig setup, I'm going for as sleek a look as possible.

Somehow, I'd like to have something run and gun (like the Zacuto Gorilla Rapid Fire) and also tripod friendly (for a shotgun/lav mic setup). I think I'll just have to break down and make a choice here soon, but I have been soliciting different thoughts from folks to see what's worked.

Again, thanks for the heads up.

--Brandon

[Michael Maier]

Top of my list would be:

Fast primes, at least 3.
A good range zoom
Extras batteries
A 7" LCD
A follow focus and lens gears
A shoulder brace.