So even on the 5D it would be hard to trust critical audio on it. I'm finding the external audio solution not nearly as troublesome as I expected.

Wow, my apologies. I guess I must have misread a report on this. I thought the 5DM2 was APS-H. Thank you for setting me straight!

(Except now I want a 5D Mark II.... :-/ )

The only APS-H sensor in the Canon product line is the 1D series (currently the EOS 1D Mik. IV).

The 5D and 1Ds cameras are full frame. Everything else is APS-C.

In terms of motion picture photography, the 7D and T2i are full frame, ie., very close to Academy 4 perf. The 5D is full frame for a still camera. In motion picture terms, it would be Vista Vision.

Check this test out.

how does the 2Ti perform in real-world situations under the stressful demands of indie filmmaking?

That is crazy, now I know what people are talking about. If that video is really indicative (why wouldn't it be?), 1250 and 2500 ISO are amazing sweet spots.

7D = £1150

Watching closely and can really see the 550d going on ebay in a few months.

One of the best remarks I have seen Bill.

It all depends on where you're coming from. To a 35mm still photographer, a 28mm lens might be considered reasonably wide angle. If he shoots with a Hasselblad, he'd think a wide angle is 50mm, or 90mm if he has a 4x5 view camera. In the motion picture or video world, a Cooke 18mm lens would be considered reasonably wide. If you shoot with a 2/3" chip video camera you'd consider 10mm as wide; if you come from 16mm, a 12mm is about the same; and in a 1/3" chip video camera, about 4-5mm would be wide. A motion picture cameraman would have to "translate" what 28mm really is if he were using Canon still camera lenses, while a 35mm still photographer would have to translate what it would be on an APS-C size chip. So in my world, consisting primarily of motion picture work, the 7D is very close to "full frame." When I made a living doing mostly stills, I considered 2-1/4 x 2-1/4 to be "full frame" and 35mm to be "miniature." In my 16mm days a 25mm lens was a "normal" lens. With my 7D, my 35mm is the "normal" lens.

60D is supposedly coming out soon too, but I think at some point you have to stop looking at specs and comparisons and just get busy. (Though you'd be able to sell that 550D for just about what you paid for it right now.)

I'm not a pro, I'm just a gear head!

I don't tend to hang on to things until they have lost all their value. Having said that, I am really appreciative of the size and weight of the 550d. Makes it easier to have with you at all times.

Although anything that boosts low light performance is ultimately the main draw for me, hence my comments about the intermediate ISO performance of the 7d.

I've shot with both the 7D and the T2i (I now own two) and the 7D is a much better option, however, for the price of one 7D, I got 2 T2is. A bud of mine with a slr background has the 7D and his work is just fantastic. I'll bet that a couple commercials we shot for a kick boxer will win some awards.

Before these cameras, I never even handled a dslr or an slr. I have no background in photography. My initial conclusion based on shooting with them from January to now (T2I for a month and a half) is that the video from the T2i looks about the same as the 7D under most conditions. However, the 7D just seems much better and more professional (which it is). It is bigger and heavier and I like that. But my girl uses one of my T2is and the light frame is a plus.

My latest interview was shot hand held with the cheap 50mm 1.8 lens (no IS). Here's the link: The Film Fix: AFF 2010 – Noah Barrow and Ariel Zucker-Brull on RICKY RIGGS: The Story of a Block Bitch

The other one that was hand held can be watched here: Film Fix TV: AFF 2010 – Maggie Sargent talks about DIVORCING GOD…

I shot at least 10 little interviews that day and alternated between purely hand held and my monopod.

I've shot a lot with the cameras for the last month and a half and I'm getting better with them. The first show I shot looked pretty bad.

When shooting hand held, I've used the steady stock (on those links above) and recently on the Drop Dead Diva set, I used a $30 shoulder brace I got on ebay and it worked very well.

If you can afford it, buy the 7D, that's my conclusion. But the T2i could be a two for one option.

Thanks for the feedback. I did also just want to mention (because I tend to forget this looking at these cameras) that I'm deciding between a $700 and a $1500 camera. That's just insane as my pretty Z7U gathers more dust on the shelf.

Pretty neat world we're living in.

Gotta love that Z7U! My FX1000 was similar, but I sold it and bought two T2is. I even had enough for several lenses.

I'm not letting go of my Z7U just yet, it still has plenty of uses. Event shooting can't be done easily with the DSLRs (though we don't do much of that).

But I am finally selling my FX1.