I agree, at least this has been my experience. I mentioned it in another post. I'm currently using a Canon 50D because that is what I can afford and I choose it over my previous camera, a Rebel XSi, because the 50D feels better in my hand, has better grip and a smoother shutter and the manual settings are much faster and smoother than the Rebel. I shoot mostly manual. I suppose if a person is only shooting full auto most any camera will do but when shooting manual the smooth controls make all the difference in enjoying the project.

Using the two cameras; which one feels faster, smoother and easier/quicker to control?

For what it is worth, I use a Canon 50D with a Canon 18-200 lens. When I use the circular polarizer I find that I get sharper focus in manual focus mode. The auto focus is good enough for quick shots but if I want to be sure it is sharp I need to go manual focus. I have learned to live with it.

My wife went on a Europe trip a couple of years ago and took a Canon SX160. It worked out well for her. It is a little slow sometimes because it uses AA batteries, but that is why she took it so she wouldn't have to worry about charging the battery. She took AA rechargeable batteries and a dual voltage charger with her but there were times when it was handy to buy a couple of batteries on the spot. It also has a great image stabilization feature to allow for inexperienced photographers a 16X optical zoom and 16 MP. On a 10 day trip she brought back about 10GB of photos.

I think the operative phrase here is Mk II. I saw a review where there is a considerable amount of difference between the 7D and the 7D Mk II

I shoot water quite often although in the mountains, streams and waterfalls. I shoot mostly ISO 100 but at various focal lengths and f stops. To get that soft water look I usually shoot from 1/10 to 1/30 of a second although doing the opposite is cool too, stopping the water in mid drop shooting at 1/640 second. Here are a couple of examples. You should be able to see the file information in your file manager/explorer. If your 10 is 10 seconds it is for sure over exposed and looks like no photo in the camera.

I agree. One of the most interesting things to me I read, in a book on selling photography, many years ago was that your backyard is the other side of the world and very interesting to people on the other side of the world. I see children and adults both dream and wonder everyday at photos from the US and Europe and just about anywhere. We have a wonderful opportunity to spread positive imagery. Keep clicking.

Hi, I'm sort of a serious hobbyist. After being a workaholic (totally not photographic related) for about forty years I'm trying to get back into photography with the digital stuff. I have two darkroom setups and lots of film cameras including a few medium format TLRs I used years ago but don't have the place to set them up anymore so here I am trying to do the digital. Anyway, I'm having fun with it and although I make a lot of mistakes they aren't as costly as they were with the film cameras. For what it's worth the camera I am using is a Canon 50D with the Canon 18-200 lens. I bought it used and cheap and it and I work mostly in manual mode and try to stay around ISO (almost said ASA) 100. That is where I was comfortable with the film cameras.