List Price: $2,499.99
Sale Price: $1,749.95
Today's Bonus: 30% Off
I just received this package yesterday, so this review is preliminary and may be revised in the future. FWIW, I am not a professional photographer, but I have extensive 35mm experience and was a "semi-pro" with 35mm work. This is my first DSLR, though I've shot thousands of photos with "super zoom" digitals. My 35mm work was almost all with Minolta and Olympus cameras, and I've never previously owned a Canon, other than a digital point-and-shoot.
It is obvious at the outset that the 7D is an awesome camera. Its features are all I could want, and while I've still got a learning curve, and will have one for awhile, it seems to be very user-friendly. Layout of the controls is excellent for me, and their use seems pretty intuitive. It's a bit heavy, but given its capabilities, not so much. The included lenses seem really light in comparison to the body. I like the overall feel, and the few shots I've taken so far are incredibly sharp. "Motor drive" speed is amazingly fast.
I bought this kit because the price was exceedingly attractive, and had no particular expectations as to quality of lenses and accessories. Since the whole kit is priced less than is the bare camera body from many sources, I figured that I couldn't go wrong. The included lenses mostly cover the waterfront as far as my shooting needs in terms of focal lengths, and the kit is cheap enough that I figured that if a lens doesn't cut it, I can sell it and get a better one. Time will tell.
Instructions are good, but not great. Better than most, however. The included software installed effortlessly on both my home and office computers, glitch-free. Camera setup was easy, though it seemed to take forever to charge the battery initially.
The 18-55mm lens seems sharp, though I'd like it to be a bit faster/brighter. Time will tell if I want to keep it. Right now, a Tamron 17-50mm f 2.8 is looking appealing as a replacement, as are several lenses in the 15-135mm range. Construction of the 18-55 looks and feels cheap, but I'm used to heavy-duty 35mm lenses, so I may be prejudiced. It does autofocus very quickly.
The 50mm f 1.8 Canon lens feels really light and cheap, but looks bright through the viewfinder. I see a f1.4 or f1.2 replacement in the future, but not anytime soon. Most of the time, I get along fine with f4 and slower lenses. This lens will only see limited, low-light use, anyway.
The 75-300 mm lens looks and feels good, and I'm really looking forward to wringing it out. I do a fair amount of wildlife photography, as well as semi-long-distance pictures of grandkids playing sports, and I have high hopes for this lens for those purposes.
The Vivitar flash is much cheaper and less powerful than this camera deserves, though it beats the built-in flash by a wide margin. I'll likely keep it, but will almost certainly want a much more powerful Canon EX model in the future.
The Vivitar 2X teleconverter and Zeikos 0.45X WA converter are, well, cheap items which may or may not ever get used, given the loss of speed accompanying their use. "Kit syndrome," I call them. I'd have gladly traded them both for a better flash unit, made by Canon, in the kit.
The little filter kit is nice but not extensive enough, the tripod is lightweight and a bit flimsy, and the rest of the "extras" are just okay. The sling bag camera case is sturdy and seems well-constructed, but is not very user-friendly in terms of lens and accessory storage. The nylon bag that is made for just the camera is quite handy and well-made, but its mothball smell is overpowering. Hopefully, that will fade over time.
Overall, I feel good about the purchase. I look forward to shooting a few thousand pictures and getting back to this review, but I do have great expectations.
Quick addendum: Yesterday afternoon, I had time to shoot a few pics with the 75-300mm lens, and I am quite pleased. Beautiful detail, sharpness and color accuracy and saturation, throughout the zoom range, on near and far subjects. No vignetting visible to my tired, old eyes. Autofocus is FAST. I need to do some more formal testing, but for the nonce, I'm happy with this lens. This morning, I noticed something annoying about the Zeikos sling bag: It is left-handed, made to be slung over the right shoulder. Since I'm right-handed, it's going to be mostly useless to me, except for protecting lenses and flashes. Not a huge deal, but irritating. Also, the little 3-compartment Zeikos carrier for cards is too small for the big CF cards the 7D uses. Also just an annoyance, but still...
Okay, I've now used the camera to shoot my son's wedding rehearsal and wedding, along with a bunch of grandkid pictures and a few other things. Mostly, I've used the 18-55mm lens, and results have been quite satisfactory, but not overly impressive. I've ordered both a Canon 15-85mm EF and a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 to use as alternating "walking around" lenses. For a kit lens, the 18-55 is not bad, but this fantastic camera deserves better.
The Vivitar flash is disappointing. I've also ordered a Canon 580EX flash, and the Vivitar will only serve as a backup or as a slave. It seems that the ETTL function is hit-or-miss with the Vivitar, and with its low guide number, its output is not a great deal more than that of the built-in flash. It does recycle quickly, however.
As I learn more about the camera itself, I just keep liking it more and more; incredible machine! However, even at the low price point of this kit, I think I'd have been better off buying the body separately, and then adding lenses that do the jobs I need done. No complaints about the 75-300mm, however. I've not used it a lot, but I continue to be impressed with it when I do.
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