As HK has said, go play with the cameras and get a feel for them.

One of my cousins has a Nikon (?D80 I think) and it has the autofocus boxes as above which glow red, but in no way has it ever affected me after taking 3-4 pictures. You get used to it very quickly.

That's all I ever use on mine. (8+)
If this thread has done one thing for me, it's highlighted the way in which we all use our cameras differently.
They may all have the same sort of focussing systems, or this or that but we all find what we are comfortable with and go with that.
When it comes down to features, each camera make/model is going to provide what all the others have, to one degree or another, yet this thread has highlighted to me just how divergent we all are in how we use those features.
It's been a really interesting read for me.

Mark

And me.

I have 11 AF tracking points on my D90 and I only use 1. I move it around as required, or lock and pan depending on whether I have AF set to single or continuous. I know there are more variations available to me, but I'm an amateur and use what I need at the time.

My AF points are black to start with, they glow red to show me what they are focusing on, and then turn black again when it is focused. The process doesn't interfere with my shooting at all.

If I get a new camera I will play with it in store. If I found something intrusive to my process I would reconsider, but wouldn't discount out of hand. It's like driving on the wrong side of the road, in your face to start with, but second nature when you're used to it.

When I got the D90 I had no experience of DSLRs, I had a play in store and nothing seemed amiss.

Yup, I'm a single spot pick and choose sort of shooter too.

A quick question whilst we're on the subject.

I'm shooting 3 subjects that are 10, 20 and 30 metres away from me in an almost direct line. I have the camera set in full auto mode. I choose single point AF on the centre (20m) subject and take one shot. For the second shot I choose an average/dynamic AF range that automatically selects 3 AF points that happen to exactly cover the 3 subjects.

Will the camera choose a smaller aperture for the second shot to ensure the depth of field allows all 3 subjects to be in focus?

That's about right. It may also adjust ISO to maintain a sensible shutter speed, if it has auto ISO capability.

Sounds about right to me, too.

Mark

That would make sense.

However my instinct would be to use aperture pritoity mode, set my single AF point on the centre subject, and use the DOF preview to find a suitable aperture to ensure all 3 subjects were in focus. Rather than trying to ensure all three subjects were chosen by the AF auto-selector.

My instinct would be manual mode, set my focus on the centre subject using about an f/8 or f/10 aperture to keep all the subjects in focus.

Mark

Following up on focus points - I use the centre AF point, lock focus and recompose 99% of the time for what I do. That being said the K-5 default screen is quite nice and clean with minimal markings and a red light once focus is achieved.

I'm really pleased that everyone has taken to this thread. It's been brilliant for me as I know nothing.

I did go into Jessops yesterday and the independent place in town, but that's all we have and neither of them had any stock to play with. To be honest, I think I've decided on the 7D anyway as it seems best suited to my intended application. Do you think it's bad to just buy one without playing with it? The thing is, having never really handled an SLR for any length of time, it'll be a learning experience whatever I buy. So I think in my head that makes it ok. Whereas if I was an experienced user, I'd want to see how it felt in my hand.

I suppose it's like when you get your first car. Anything's better than having your parents give you a lift everywhere and you soon learn the individual traits of your new toy. Does that make sense?

Also, has anyone bought from DigitalRev? What's the deal with the Hong Kong thing and warranties and duty etc? Is it ok to buy from there?

What about hiring a 7D? I think HK mentioned this elsewhere and a quick google suggests you could hire one for £60/day. IMO that £60 would be well worth the money if it stopped me wasting money.

In all honesty, I wouldn't spend megabucks on a camera without holding it in your hand and trying it out. Like buying a car, even a used one.

There's usually a deposit of a few hundred pounds to put down if you're hiring one though.
Personally I don't have a few hundred pounds sitting about.

As I outlined earlier in the thread, there are only 3 cameras even slightly capable of doing what I want: K-5, D7000 and 7D. The 7D seems the obvious choice (especially with the new firmware) and it allows me an upgrade path with lenses and compatibility with a couple of mates. Outside of that, it's MAYBE the 60D, but the D7000 is better than that on everything except for burst mode. So it looks like because of my specific application, there's only one crop sensor body that makes sense. I'd love to hold one and play with it, but I've no idea what *any* DSLR feels like beyond a 450D (for about 15 minutes) and that was ok. Can only assume a 7D will be bigger, heavier and nicer. No?