Canon Announces EOS 60D Digital SLR Camera

[Daniel Browning]

Vari-angle screen? A vari-angle screen could be very useful for me in many situations, but it also sounds to me like a weak point:

• it could be broken very easily.

• As much as I know, those screens are connected with flat cables to the main electronic circuit and those cables tend to break after a while. When that happens, Canon will charge you 20%-40% price of a new 60D to replace it with a new one.

You might be right, but my personal experience with the reliability of these vari-angle screens has been very good. I've used them in a variety of different camcorders and digicams for about 6 years, under a lot more abuse then I allow for my DSLR, and none of them have broken (yet!). (Broke plenty of other stuff though, like card hinges, automatic lens caps, control dials, etc.)



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lots of bells and whistles, but not really an 'upgrade' to the 50D.

While the 60D is certainly missing some features that the 50D had, it also has some nice upgrades in key areas. For one, ifthe sensor and electronics have the same performance as the 550D, then the low light performance will be much improved over the 50D.



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No AF Microadjustment?! That may be the worst thing about this camera--even more so than the loss of the magnesium alloy body.

Yeah, I was all ready to buy my first DSLR with an articulating LCD until I read this. 60D is right out.
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[finnadat]

As an xti looking for an upgrade i was thinking the 60d would be it, i'm basically the target market - someone who likes to shoot but not for money. The 7d seemed like a stretch particularly given the msrp at release and with a 17-55 2.8 i'm into EF-S for a while so no illusions of a 5d in my future.


When reading the specs i'm very much confused by the "creative" bs they have added and how they are differentiating their products. 3 lines really don't make sense anymore if the 60d is taking the super rebel route. Keep the 7d as the premium crop, merge the rebel with the 60d and aggressively price the last generation to fit that price point. Other than an articulating screen wtf is the next rebel going to have that isn't going to upset 60d or 7d people?


On specs, I think SD over CF is a good thing, most systems come with sd slots and cf feels outdated (it's a glorified pci card), Wireless Speedlight control is very cool but I'm perplexed with no multi-flash support and no high speed
shutter sync flash option. The body is fine, HD video is cool and 1 less fps isn't a huge deal. I don't get the uproar over AF Microadjustment - why is it a big deal?


I thought this announcement would provide a clear path, but it is as clear as mud and I'll probably continue to sit on the fence until the xti is doa.

[peety3]

On specs, I think SD over CF is a good thing, most systems come with sd slots and cf feels outdated (it's a glorified pci card),

CF bandwidth is higher than SD, so I really don't understand why the switch.


I also think Canon needs to step forward and say "we're going to position these product lines on SD and these on CF, so you know what cards to invest in." After starting with CF for my Rebel and 1D3, I decided to add some SD so I could take advantage of the dual slots on my 1D3. I'd decided I wouldn't add any more SD cards, and now that I have a pair of 7Ds, I know I need a lot more CF cards; if SD is going to work its way into the Canon product line, I really have to manage how many more CF cards I buy.

[Sheiky]

On specs, I think SD over CF is a good thing, most systems come with sd slots and cf feels outdated (it's a glorified pci card),

CF bandwidth is higher than SD, so I really don't understand why the switch.

When they went from 400D to 450D they did exactly the same and I don't get it either. Cheaper? Takes less space.. Easier?


Just to add one thing: my local shop sells 90MB/s CF cards vs 30MB/sec SD cards. And then I'm talking about the most expensive and fastest ones...


In other words: downloading 21MP photos from my 5D2 to my pc goes faster than downloading 12MP photos from my girlfriends 450D to my pc. If you just shot like 1000 photos or shot some heavy video.... good luck with your SD card []

[Dave Johnston]

I have to admit. I was giddy when I read the post on my phone at school today. I couldn't wait to see what might be my next camera.[]


Now that I have gotten home and really had a chance to read the "fine print," I am not so excited anymore.[8-)]I lot of the "improvements" to this camera seem "plasticky." Losing AF-microadjustment and moving over to SD cards is mind boggling to me. You lose the sturdy body, you lose FPS, you get a what seems fragile LCD arm thing. What a downer.


I had told myself before that the next camera I buy is going to be a 5D or 1D; now I know I am just gonna wait. Coming from a 50D to this, I just don't think I would be happy.


*shrug*[N]

[BuddyO]

After reading the 60D specs, I'm even happier with the50D I bought last Fall.I recently invested in a 16GB, 90 MB/s CF card and this thing just smokes. I love the magnesium body, the AF micro-adjustment (had to use it to +5 my 24-105L lens), the toggle button, and the 15 MP sensor. I've done plenty of cropping with no noticeable loss of IQ, I don't think I'll ever covet an 18 MP sensor.





OK, so the 60D has video, but I have a separate video camera for that.

[canoli]

I'm pretty sure this body is aimed at Rebel users who want a snappier, faster camera that shoots video. This is a perfect "family" camera for folks that'll never use a micro-adjust feature - I'm sure that's why they left it off. Same with the plastic body - it's something 95% of Canon customers won't ever notice. I can't find the shutter lag / VF blackout specs but I imagine they're improved over the Rebel series - probably not over the current and recent-past x0D line.


The one thing I don't get is the AF system - still the same from the 40D? (i think) I don't know what's going on with Canon and their AF designs but they are lagging behind big time. That 5D2 is such a beauty but it's saddled with a 5-year old AF. Sure you can say "it's not meant to be a sports camera" but let's face it, that FF 21MP sensor deserved better.


So the 60D has a bigger buffer, the latest processor and more rez than the x0D cameras, so I guess that makes it an upgrade.


Personally I'm a little leery of any camera where DLA squeezes a lens' sweet spot down to 1 or 2 apertures. If the 50D and the 7D are any indications of the trend I'm not sure we're better off all in all. I know most 50D/7D owners are quite happy with their cameras and they get great shots. I'm just wondering if maybe we're beginning to bump up against the law of diminishing returns regarding pixel density...

[nickds7]

wat no carbon fiber?

sounds like they are prepping to keep af-micro adjustment over the $1500 price point.

[Daniel Browning]

Personally I'm a little leery of any camera where DLA squeezes a lens' sweet spot down to 1 or 2 apertures.

To me, that would only make sense if the camera was the most expensive and important thing in my bag, but for me the lenses are more expensive and important, so I look at it much differently. Allow me to explain...


Imagine if you had an expensive lens projector like what lens makers use to evaluate lens performance. You take the 100mm f/2.8 L and put it on there at f/2.8 and project the test pattern image onto a 100-square-foot screen. Since it is optically excellent, you would see very little blur. Since there is no sensor involved whatsoever, the lens is not limited in any way, and it can show off the entirety of its resoultion in all its glory.


What happens when you introduce a Canon 10D into the system? Instead of projecting a test pattern through the lens onto the wall, do the opposite: start with a large, detailed test pattern on the wall and take a picture of it with the 10D and 100mm f2/.8 lens. Then, print it out at the same size as the lens projector. You will see that the resolution is far, far lower. Although 6 MP is enough for many purposes, it's clearly nowhere near enough to match the full capability of a lens.


Resolution is always going to be limited by something. It's either the lens, the camera, or a combination of both.


If the camera was the most expensive and important part, then you wouldn't want anything else holding it back -- you'd want to do your best so that the only source of blur is the camera, not the lenses, because getting a higher-resolution lens would be cheap.


If the lens is the most expensive and important part of the system, then you'd want to make sure that the only source of blur is the lens, not the camera, because getting a higher-resolution camera would be cheap.


For example, the DLA on the Canon 10D is f/11.8. So for everything from f/2.8 to f/11.8, the camera is providing 100% of the limitation in resolution. At f/16, the lens and camera are both partly limiting the resolution. Only at f/32 does the lens bocome the sole limitation.


The DLA on the Canon 60D is f/6.8. So at f/6.8, it provides the full expected benefit of 18 MP over 6 MP (which is about 1.7 times more linear resolution). At f/16, the 60D provides a nice boost in resolution over the 10D, but not as much as a boost. At f/32, the 60D provides the exact same resolution as f/32 on the 60D, because they are both fully limited by the lens, not the camera. In fact, the 60D becomes fully lens-limited at just f/19.


So I'm leery of any camera where the number of lens-limited f-numbers is squeezed down. On the 10D, f/32 and f/45 are the only lens-limited f-numbers. Everything from f/11.8 to f/32 is partially limited by the camera, and f-numbers faster than f/11.8 are completely camera-limited. That's a lot of camera-limited f-numbers...yuck.


The 60D is a lot better: only f/6.8 and faster are completely camera-limited. Between f/6.8 and f/19, the resolution is limited by a combination of lens and camera. Anything slower than f/19 is fully lens limited.


Ideally, my camera will someday have enough resolution that all the f-numbers I want to use will be fully lens-limited, so that my expensive and important glass is no longer held back by the sensor.