Canon EOS 60D
inherits from the EOS 7D is the 63-zone fill (Intelligent Focus, Color, Luminance) Metering System. As I said in the Canon EOS 7D Review been watching Canon's auto exposure systems improve over the years. Starting at ISO 100 and going through---Auto ISO is fully featured (Auto ISO settings used to be limited) and works in most modes including M mode. It works especially well in One Shot Canon DSLRs typically focus very quickly and accurately (lightning fast if you are used to point and shoot autofocus).My subjective evaluation, based a large part on shooting thousands of frames at soccer and using the best available sports lenses (including the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens and Canon EF 400mm---L IS USM Lens) is that the 60D delivers reasonable AI Servo performance falls in line with its position in the Canon DSLR lineup - better than the Rebel models and not as good as the 7D.
A focus feature notably missing from the Canon EOS 60D is the AF Micro adjustment feature found in the EOS 50D.
Rebel (and point & shoot) owners especially will appreciate how large the 60D's pent prism viewfinder has approximately 96% coverage, a slight increase over the 50D's 95% coverage. This image was shot A great feature implemented in the 60D is the Single-Axis Electronic Viewfinder Level, Pressing the camera's shutter button halfway down clears the level indication.
accuracy is not always easy - and any time spent after the shutter button is pressed half way is time during which the camera may be going out of level. The 60D's built-in level is accurate and always available in Live View with a press of the Info button - in both vertical and horizontal camera orientations. The Canon EOS 60D's high quality LCD and contains 1.04 million dots (a relatively small increase from the 50D quality is great.
The 50D's joystick is gone - replaced by a new Multi-Control Dial. A Lock button works in conjunction with a menu option to enable the Multi-Control Dial to be locked - and functions as the print button (remember - the one that used to get a dedicated button?) in image review mode. The new Live View (Video Start/Stop) button is nicely located. A new Quick Control Button ("Q") opens an easy-to-use settings change locations and functions. The LCD light button was and remains a single-function button as it should.
The 60D's top LCD (a nice feature that is missing on the Rebel models) is no longer a rectangle but is stylishly designed to better follow the contour of the camera.
The Canon EOS 60D has a total of 15 shooting modes available via the top dial that offer something for shooters of all skill levels. Video mode is new as is B (Bulb) mode.
As would be expected at this point in time, the Canon EOS 60D has received the renowned, game-changing EOS HD video capabilities. While it is not a perfect-for-everyone video package, the 60D, with its huge-to-video-camera-standards sensor, delivers very impressive video image quality.
What you get with the 60D's HD video is most similar to the 7D's feature set. In-camera video trimming is available and Canon's Movie Crop mode is featured. Plan on using manual focus or pre-focusing for video recording.
New to the axed line and similar to the EOS 7D, this pop-up flash includes an Integrated Speedier Transmitter for control of multiple off-camera EOS Speediness. No Canon 580EX II Flash or Canon ST-E2 Speedier Transmitter is needed to completely control as many remote flashes as desired. As shown in the images above, the Canon EOS 60D has received the same level of weather sealing as the EOS 50D. This amount is slightly less than the 7D's level of sealing.
The Canon EOS 60D breaks new DSLR ground by offering in-camera RAW image processing and creative digital filters.
Brightness, Picture Style, White Balance (WB), Color Space, High-ISO Noise Reduction, Peripheral Illumination Correction, linear distortion correction and chromatic aberration correction changes can be made to RAW images while still in the camera. JPG-captured images can also be resized (down) in-camera. Images can also now be rated in-camera.
The Canon EOS 60D offers 4 creative filters: Grainy B/W, Soft Focus, Toy Camera Effect (igniting and color shift) and Miniature Effect (reverse tilt-shift look). These filters can be applied to a RAW or JPG image in-camera. Because the quality of the lens makes a big difference in the image quality delivered by a DSLR, I recommend buying, now or later, one of the better Canon general purpose lenses available. At this review date, the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens and Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens are my most-recommended APS-C/1.6x lenses with the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens being excellent alternatives.
Then add one of the Canon EF 70-200mm L Lenses to your kit.
The Canon EOS 60D used in this review was purchased retail. Owning a Canon product gives you access to Canon support. Canon did write one - it's called the owner's manual.
Perhaps the remaining question is - who should buy a Canon EOS 60D? The 7D's 8 fps frame rate is clearly faster than the 60D's 5.3 fps rate and the shutter has a 50% higher durability rating.
The least compelling upgrade will of course be from the Canon EOS 50D. Fortunately, the Canon EOS 60D's price tag is significantly lower than that of previous axed bodies - a feature we can all celebrate.
Instead it represents a new category of Canon DSLRs designed to precisely fill the gap between the consumer level EOS 550D / Rebel T2i and the semi-pro EOS 7D. Like other semi-pro cameras, the Canon EOS 60D offers two control wheels; a small one on the top of the handgrip, and a large, spinning dial on the back of the camera. This rear quick control dial is characteristic of all high-end Canon EOS cameras. The mode dial does feature a lock button which helps to prevent unintentional changes to your settings.
On the 50D, pressing the joystick opened the new Quick Control screen. On top of the Canon EOS 60D, positioned above the smaller and simplified status LCD display, are four buttons, each of which now has a single function rather than the dual-function buttons of the 50D. There are two LCD displays on the EOS 60D, the 3-inch color LCD on the rear and the smaller status panel on the top. More importantly the 60D is the first EOS DSLR to feature an articulated screen.
Note that the 50D's PC Sync port for connecting the camera to external lights has been removed, limiting the 60Ds use in studio environments. There are, of course, manual and semi-automatic modes for users who want more advanced exposure control. Additionally, the Creative Auto mode is targeted at beginners who have grown out of using the Full Auto mode, allowing you to change a few key settings using the LCD screen via a simple slider system for changing the aperture and exposure compensation, or Background and Exposure as the camera refers to them.
Reflecting its more consumer-friendly nature, the 60D offers a number of creative filters, as previously seen on Canon's range of compact cameras. In addition a new feature called Basic+ applies a creative ambience to images when shooting in the Basic modes. The EOS 60D offers a range of three Auto focus modes (One Shot, AI Focus and AI Servo), and there are six preset, auto, Kelvin and custom white balance options. There are four metering modes including a 4% Spot metering mode, useful in tricky lighting conditions as an alternative to the excellent and consistent Evaluative metering system.
The menu system is now the same in design as on the EOS 550D and 7D, which in turn borrowed the design from the professional range of EOS cameras. We tested the EOS 60D with the supplied EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens, which offers a very versatile focal range and crucially includes image stabilization. This is important for Canon, as competitors like Sony, Olympus and Pentad all offer image stabilization in their DSLRs. If you're upgrading from an older or cheaper digital EOS model and already have a lens or lenses, you can buy the 60D body-only.
The EOS 60D features the same DIGIC 4 processor as its predecessor,
which produces noticeably faster image processing, start-up and image review times, and better noise reduction in high-ISO images than older EOS cameras (jump to the Image Quality page for ISO samples). Now there's a dedicated Live View button on the rear of the camera to the right of the viewfinder. Live View can also be controlled remotely using the supplied EOS utility software, which allows you to adjust settings and capture the image from a PC.
Live View attempts to satisfy both the consumer and more technical user, with three types of focusing system on offer. The first, Quick AF, works by physically flipping the camera mirror to engage the auto-focus sensor, which then momentarily blanks the LCD screen and causes a physical sound, before the image is displayed after about 1 second. The other methods, Live AF and Live AF with Face Detection, use an image contrast auto-focus system, much like that used by point-and shoot compacts, the main benefits being the complete lack of noise during operation, and no LCD blackout. Live View is also used for the feature that will arguably generate the most interest in the Canon EOS 60D.
its movie mode. If you turn the mode dial to the position denoted by the movie camera icon, the camera will enter Live View automatically. The EOS 60D will not automatically adjust focus during filming, but you can initiate auto focus at any time while recording a clip. The 60D contains a database of correction data for many Canon lenses and, if Peripheral Illumination Correction is enabled, automatically applies it to JPEG images. For RAW images the correction is applied later in the Digital Photo Professional software.
Once you have captured a photo, the Canon EOS 60D has an average range of options for playing, reviewing and managing your images. You can also delete an image, rotate an image, view a slideshow, protect images so that they cannot be deleted, and set various printing options. For RAW shooters, the EOS 60D features in-camera RAW image processing.
Sure enough, the Canon 60D boasts a host of new goodies including an 18MP sensor, 1080p HD movie capture with a choice of frame rates and Canon's new fill metering system. You get the same 9-point autofocus system and DIGIC 4 image processor, making it look a bit of a poor relation compared with the Canon 7D, which has a more generous 19-point AF system and dual DIGIC 4 processors.
