Same, but different...

Last year, when I was still using the full-frame Sony cameras for work and had a Canon 5D Mark II as a play camera, I picked up an old Canon 7D body to play around with.

The 7D came out in late 2009 as, basically, an APS-C sensor version of the 5D series. It had the same control layout and ruggedized construction as the semipro 5D Mk II, with the biggest difference, other than sensor size, being that the crop sensor 7D had an on-board flash.

So, fast forward a year later when I'm using Canon bodies for work and have a Nikon D700 to play around with, and I notice that the crop sensor Nikon D7000 bodies are selling for about two-fitty.

Well these were a rough contemporary to the 7D, and made about as big of a splash when they dropped, and so I figured they'd be about equivalent...

It turns out that neither Canon's 7D nor Nikon's D7000 have even a rough equivalent in each other's lineups.

The 7D was the size and shape of Canon's high-end semipro bodies, complete with their ruggedized construction and control layout, albeit with a crop sensor, built-in flash, and a few other features from the prosumer lines.

The D7000 was a compact camera like the D3000 and D5000 lines, with the control layout of the consumer/hobbyist Nikons, but it had a screw-drive focusing motor in the body allowing it to use older AF-D Nikon lenses, dual CF card slots like a pro body, and a rugged metal chassis and weather sealing.