70D First impressions; stills &Video; is it a 60D or 7D replacement?

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<p >I waited for a year and a half for Canon to produce a Mk 2 version of the 7D. Instead they upgraded the 60D to a spec closer to that of the older 7D. With a similar autofocus system to 7D and 7 frames per second, it would satisfy all but the most demanding pro sports or wildlife photographer.</p>

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<p >I liked the 60D as a mid range DSLR; however the focusing system let it down in my opinion. I use a 5D mk 2 which suffers even more in the a/f area; but to be honest its not a speed cam; its more suited to landscape portraiture and architecture. With a new revolutionary a/f system for live view and video; The 70D looked to me as a good deal. I could buy 3 of these for the price of one Full Frame 5D Mk3.</p>

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<p >First impressions of the 70D were not overwhelming. With its plastic body, compact size and tilt screen; it looks more like a Rebel than a semi pro DSLR. That is not in itself a bad thing as it is a more discrete camera for travel; which was one of the reasons for me wanting one. </p>

 

<p >The control layout is easy to work with and the menu structure is familiar to Canon users. I like the tilting screen; though I am not too convinced about the wi-fi and disappointed that no GPS is featured in this camera. The new Live View a/f promised near video cam auto focusing, which is an exiting prospect for one who has suffered with poor video a/f for video with DSLRs up to now.</p>

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<p >In use for stills; the 70d required no use of the manual; as I am very familiar with the Canon system. The controls are like the 60D with a few extra buttons. The only downside is that ISO setting can only be done by using the Quick View menu; a retrograde step IMO. The Live View has a touch screen. Woohoo, I can now use my DSLR like a smart phone!</p>

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<p >I could only judge IQ on JPGs or DNGs as the CR2s RAW files cannot be viewed on LR4 or even my CS6 yet. Image Quality has not advanced much on the 60d or 7D with had much the same sensor. One F stop or so extra in low light, gives usable results up to 3200 ISO and acceptable for web at 6400. There is no noticeable improvement in Dynamic Range, in spite of the new Digic 5 processor. Like most Canons the 70d is not tolerant of under exposure. Image noise in the shadow areas is also an issue, which Canon has not yet managed to resolve; otherwise the IQ is adequate for most purposes.</p>

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<p >Video quality on good light is quite good as compared to a 5DMk2. There isn’t quite the same bokeh effect; but its still good enough to differentiate between subjects in the foreground and out of focus backgrounds at wide apertures.</p>

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<p >The Live Viewfinder has now got audio meters, but no way of adjusting on the fly. The big improvement is in autofocus. Canon claims that the new metering system brings SLR focusing to the level of conventional video cameras. I gave the Live View a/f a good test on a lake, by shooting between infinity focus and near objects, following moving boats and people at varying distances.</p>

 

<p >The performance is impressive using both 24-105 F4 and 70-200 F4 L series zooms with IS. The system works very well with no noticeable focus hunting. There is a little lag between and infinity and close focus at 2m: but objects close to the lens, snap into focus readily. <br />I tried it out last night at a rock music club gig. I am very impressed at how the focusing worked under less than ideal conditions. Shooting between musicians at varying distances it snapped in to sharp focus most of the time without an appreciable delay. It was only fooled when shooting a musician with black T shirt against a dark background and sometimes with dimly lit subjects. I am sure this would be a tough test for a video camera. <br /> Its going to be very hard to go back to a normal SLR for video after using this for a few days.</p>

 

<p >To summarize: <br />The 70D is a significant upgrade to the 6Od for video at least: but for still photography I would not see enough improvement to justify upgrading either the 60D, the Later Rebels or 500D. <br /></p>

<p >As a 7D Mk 2 upgrade? The IQ is marginally better; but the build and frame rate will be a disappointment for some.<br /></p>

 

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<p>It's somewhere between the two, Dave- it's not up to 7D expectations in a few key functional areas (AF mode choices and the number of Custom User settings to name but two which leapt out at me on day one), and as you say - while personally I have no particular anxieties about the plastic body - I know it's seen as a downgrade compared to the 7D.</p>

<p>I'm rather at odds with you regarding IQ: personally (having processed a few 70D files in Lr 5.2 - the latest ACR in CS 6 should support it too) I've found that there <em>is </em>more DR available from worked files in comparison with the 7D; it's definitely possible to open up the shadows at lower ISOs to a greater extent before noise becomes an issue, than can be achieved from 7D files; and that the noise itself is random, rather than pattern noise, and therefore much less intrusive.</p>

<p>High ISO noise/detail performance seems better than the 7D too; although I have no problems with the 7D at high ISO, I do give the nod to the 70D, based on converted Raw files rather than in-camera jpegs.</p>

<p>All told, I've been quite impressed with the 70D's IQ.</p>

<p>For example, from the Raw samples on <a href="http://www.photographyblog.com/previews/canon_eos_70d_photos/">this page</a>, <a href="http://img.photographyblog.com/reviews/canon_eos_70d/photos/canon_eos_70d_20.jpg">this file</a> looks <a href="http://www.capture-the-moment.co.uk/tp/tfu29/upload/70D_pushed_crop.jpg">this clean</a> when pushed about 5 stops. Still not quite as good as the "miracle" Sony sensors, but better than what's gone before, nonetheless.</p>

<p>I really am pretty OK with that level and quality of recovery - its better than the jpg on the page pushed in Photoshop.</p>

<p>I'm not interested in its video/Liveview capabilities, so Dual Pixel AF is wasted on me, but I wouldn't be disappointed if the same sensor (or more likely a further-improved derivative) ended up in the 7D Mk II.</p>

Keith. Did you actually buy the 70D. I have a 7D and did not think that the 70d was enough of an improvement to upgrade. What are your thoughts. I had and sold a NEX 5N but thought the Live view was much better than my 7D I am waiting for the 7D2 which is rumored for second quarter of 2014. Tony Northrup contends that the crop capability is better on the 70D than the 5D3 because they roughly have the same number of pixels at about 22MP but the that same number of pixels has to be spread further over the sensor on the 5D3. I think the crop capability on the 7d is pretty impressive.

<p>No, I don't own a 70D, Dick - I agree completely with you and Dave that it lacks some functional stuff that I know I'd miss, so it doesn't feel like a logical progression from the 7D.</p>

<p>I suspect that if/when it finally arrives, the 7D Mk II will have an incarnation of the 5D Mk III's AF, and I'm quite keen to see that. And the simple fact is that the 7D is still an excellent camera for my needs, and I'm not yet feeling the itch to look for something new - it does what I want of it, very well.</p>

<p>I think we're all very much on the same page here - the 70D is an excellent step up from the 60D, but is in a different space to the 7D.</p>

<p>Getting back to the 70D's IQ; I remain persuaded that its sensor is an improvement over the one in the 7D in the shadows. Here's another 100% crop example of a 100 ISO file from the Raws on the page I link to above - I'd be very happy with this for my needs.</p>

<p>Converted in DxO Optics Pro 8 this time.</p>

<p><strong><a href="http://www.capture-the-moment.co.uk/tp/tfu29/upload/70D_dxo_1.jpg">This</a></strong> is the file unadjusted, and <strong><a href="http://www.capture-the-moment.co.uk/tp/tfu29/upload/70D_dxo_2.jpg">this</a></strong> is the Shadows slider at 70% - a <em>big</em> push, and very usable. </p>

<p>I bought a 70D in Canada when I was there recently. I wanted to shoot video with it on the Rocky Mountaineer. The new dual-pixel focus is a great improvement for video. Smooth focus shifts with no hunting, no matter what you point it at. Both the 18-55 and 18-135 STM lenses produce no focus or IS noise.<br>

You <strong>can</strong> set the ISO without using the Quick View menu, using the ISO button and the top LCD as before. One button change that caught me out when swapping between the 60D and 70D is that the image review button on the 60D is now the delete button on the 70D!<br>

In LiveView, the focus is much more decisive, even in low light levels.<br>

Apart from that, the overall image quality is very similar to my 60D</p>

Thanks Keith.

<p>As an amateur who moved up to a 70D from a 40D, I'm very pleased with my upgrade. I like that I can micro adjust the focus, this alone is worth the upgrade. Low light, high ISO is years ahead of the 40D. I'm shooting at ISO 2000 with my slow tele zooms and loving the results.<br>

One more thing that is a big one for me - the 70D will autofocus at f8, that means I can use my 1.4x on the 75-300 and 100-400 and still have AF. And using a 25mm closeup ring, AF also works.<br>

The LCD is fantastic, swiveling, folding out etc is wonderful at times. I'm not sure I'll take a lot of movies but having the ability is great and the new Live View focus is the way to go with video. I was very pleased with the audio that I got shooting movies, very high quality sound indeed.<br>

<br />The LCD is very useful for seeing shooting info and adjusting things. I think I'll use this feature much more than trying to learn all the buttons etc.<br>

I just ordered an EF-S 10-22 and can't wait to get back into some real wide angle shooting. The plastic body doesn't bother me at all, it's compact and light and appears to be very well made.<br>

I like the locking mode dial, the new AF point button, and the relocated on/off switch is nice. I'm really happy I bought this camera.</p>

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<p>One more thing that is a big one for me - the 70D will autofocus at f8</p>

 

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<p>Just for clarity, Jim - do you mean f/8 with the normal AF, or with the dual pixel AF?</p>

<p>A colleague needed some help on a video production. He'd just picked up a 70D for B camera work. So I shot an interview with the 70D and a 70-200. The swivel screen + touch screen were splendid. The subject moved a lot and was easy to follow using the 70D. It worked well and my colleague was happy with the results. He was using a 5D2 for main video camera. He thought the color from the 70D to be comparable but no better. So he was happy. </p>

<p>The 70D (which is a 60D replacement) doesn't AF at f8 with Canon lenses and TCs using the normal reflex phase sensitive AF system. Of currrent EOS DSLRs, only the EOS 1D X and 5D MkIII do that (with the latest firmware updates).</p>

<p>The 70D will AF at f8 using live view and contrast detection AF (or more accurately, hybrid AF). I don't know if the phase sensitive pixels help with increased speed and/or accuracy. Previous EOS DSLRs like the 7D will also AF at f8 in live view mode, though that depends only on contrast detection AF since the 7D sensor has no phase sensitive pixels.</p>

<p>You may get at at f8 with 3rd party TCs and some lenses, though again you could get that with some previous EOS bodies and some lenses.</p>

<p>I'm testing a 70D for a photo.net review right now. I can get phase sensitive ("regular") reflex AF with a Tamron 75-300 and a Tamron 1.4x TC under good light with the right subject.</p>

<p>I have not yet compared live view speed and accuracy between the 7D and 70D.</p>

<p>Yep, I know the spec, Bob - I just wanted Jim to clarify in case it turned out that the 70D was an unofficial "tape the converter's pins" f/8 body like we used to have with (say) the 30D.</p>

<p>Having used the 70d for a month now and used it under difficult and demanding low light situations; I am liking the image quality a lot more than I did at first. Perhaps my comparisons with my 5D Mk 2 were unfair; but I still think the 5D mk2 has the edge in sharpness; even though the pixel count is similar.<br>

I also stand corrected on the ISO it has a dedicated button. I'm getting used to the Quick View menu and setting WB from that. <br /> At times I have forgotten this has only an APS sized sensor the low light IQ is so good.<br /> It will be interesting to see how the 70D performs with the new Sigma 18-35 F1.8. I hope to receive my order soon.</p>

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<p>you're right, I do not like it canon 70D design in plastic, it looks so small compared to the semi-professional machine. Perhaps people <a href="http://viendongshop.vn/canon-eos-70d-body.html">Canon 70D</a> is designed to improve compared to the Canon 60D camera, cmos dual system in addition to its af pretty impressive touch screen, multiple regions and metering cross 19 focus points cross-type.<br>

I'm waiting 70D discounts range between $ 700 to make a gift for my son</p>