Canon EOS 50D or Canon EOS 7D as replacement for Olympus E-410

Email to Park Cameras

Hi, I'm looking to change from my Olympus E410 to something quicker for sports photographs in the next couple of months.

I'm looking for advice to whether you would recommend for my budget your 50D twin kit package and 70-200 F4 Canon Lens (gives good range with the three lenses) or a 7D body with one lens (your opinion on whether the lens should be 70-200 F4 or the 70-300 f4.5-5.6 IS would also be appreciated).

Basically looking for best match to give best/sharpest pictures. The only other issue i sometimes have is that a monopod or tripod can not be used.

Any help/advice appreciated + wanted to note GX10 and lenses i bought last year for my wife from you have been excellent, she has been snapping all last year.

Actual Response

Dear Sir,

thank you for your email.

Both the 50D and the 7D will give you an advantage for sports photography over your current E-410. They will autofocus faster and fire more frames per second. Either one will be a good purchase, the 7D is unquestionably the better body but if it is at the expense of lenses then you may be better off with the 50D.

For sports photography the two important factors are to get 'close enough' and to have a sufficiently fast shutter speed to freeze the action. In order to do this a wide aperture is required.

The lower the f/stop, the more light the lens will let in. This will result in a fast shutter speed to freeze the action and also will blur the background to make the subject stand out.

For this reason the 70-200mm f/4 would be recommended over the 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 IS. I would suggest looking at our used page on the website, it is updated regularly and you may be able to get a 70-200mm f/2.8 within your budget.

If you have any further questions then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Gui de Basly
Corporate Sales Executive
Park Cameras Ltd.