On 1/1/10, we had a 1D3, a 40D, and a Rebel XTi. The 1D4 was on my wishlist for 2010. Alas, I'm getting married this year, and we're funding it ourselves and stating "no gifts" (it's #2 for both of us), so the 1D4 was too expensive to be bought this year. Our compromise (because we felt it was time for each of us to have two cameras, due to our event shooting) was to get the 7D. The plan was to share the 7D, and then next year I'd get a 1D4 and the 7D would "become hers".


The 7D arrived early March, and got heavy use at two charity events and a hockey event. Incredible images, even up against my 1D3 with a rented 200/2. We have two huge "paid" gigs in April/May where we rent enough to have two good cameras and wide/mid/tele per person. Between the rental fees for those two gigs, the potential rental cost for our upcoming Alaska cruise in September, and the potential revenue coming in from selling the Rebel, we are selling the Rebel and bought a second 7D only three weeks after buying our first.


I've honestly tried to justify selling her 40D and kit lens to get a third 7D. I've considered selling my 1D3 to get a third/fourth 7D (and more glass). The only two things I truly miss on the 7D are the easily-bumped exposure mode knob (combined with the influence of the C1-C3 settings) and the inability (that I've found so far) to map ISO to the big wheel on back.


In my opinion, if you aren't getting paid for your work, the 7D is clearly the better camera. If you are getting paid, and you don't need ultra-wide, you might be able to justify the 1D4 after you have all of the glass you need. (7D and 10-22 is a fantastic wide kit for about $2500. To get almost as wide with 1D4, you'd need the 14/2.8, driving the combo up to about $7200.) It is on my wishlist, but after six lenses and at a point where I feel a second fully-rugged body is worthwhile.