Well I had a week from hell at work so I decided to go buy myself a new camera to feel better Seriously though, I got my 70D yesterday and tested it a little today. Here are my first impressions:
1. The camera is smaller and lighter than the 7D.
2. The LCD touch screen is pretty awesome. I didn't think I'd use this feature at all, but I am loving the zoom in/out ala iPhone.
3. The resolution upgrade is nice, but not too significant from my 7D
4. The build quality and VF is pretty nice. It's not my 7D, but its perfectly fine. I really like the flip screen. When bushwacking I can flip the screen to protect it.
5. The camera is very responsive. I may have a defective 7D, but this camera drives my big lenses (Canon 500/4 and Sigma 120-300 f2.8 OS) much MUCH faster.
6. The AF accuracy seems to be better than the 7D. I am getting FAR more keepers with the 70D and it's only day 1!
7. In good light, the high iso RAW noise is nicer. There doesn't seem to be as much chroma noise.
8. In bad light, the high ISO is probably 2/3 to 1 stop better. There seems to be less chroma noise.
9. SD cards, meh...I get 18 RAW's before it slows down with a Panasonic SDHC 45MB/s card. Not too bad! I just have a TON of CF cards I may have to change.
NB: I am converting my RAW files to DNG with Adobe DNG beta converter, so the noise profile may not be exact.
Here are some samples processed in LR4.4, processed as I always do, but the files seem to need far less sharpening (about 30-40 vs 60-70 for the 7D) :
I got one this week, and I certainly agree with your assessment of the camera. I love the touch screen—got used to that real fast. ;-) I thought I was imagining that it is snappier on the long lenses—but you think so as well. I also am looking forward to using the video some—looks pretty cool.
lowa2 wrote:
5. The camera is very responsive. I may have a defective 7D, but this camera drives my big lenses (Canon 500/4 and Sigma 120-300 f2.8 OS) much MUCH faster.
6. The AF accuracy seems to be better than the 7D. I am getting FAR more keepers with the 70D and it's only day 1!
Interesting. I wonder how it managed #5 since I don't think even the 5D3 did.
I also got a 70d on Thursday. The increased resolution is indeed somewhat marginal: it is 11% is pixels but that is only just over 5% in linear dimensions, so there not being a stunning difference is perhaps not surprising. The touchscreen is indeed a nice extra and I like the flip screen, both for convenience on a tripod and also to protect the LCD when closed. With a 300 f/4 and 500 f/4 IS II the focus felt very similar on an SL1 to the 70d, so I am not sure it is so much better. The live view autofocus is better than any other Canon SLR I have owned (I have a 5d iii also). It is equivalent to using the video AF that was one of the most acclaimed new features. Being able to touch the touchscreen to choose the focus point is also a nice feature. I'm thinking the live view will be very useful for macro work.
Herderdog wrote:
I got one this week, and I certainly agree with your assessment of the camera. I love the touch screen—got used to that real fast. ;-) I thought I was imagining that it is snappier on the long lenses—but you think so as well. I also am looking forward to using the video some—looks pretty cool.
That's great to hear. I thought I was imagining things, but I guess not!
lsquare wrote:
I just read a review claiming that the shot to shot time with live view is slow even with Dual Pixel AF. Is this true?
OP, can you also comment on your experience using AEB in live view mode?
The shot to shot AF is of course slower than traditional AF in a vf. I think the only reason its slower is because you have to pick a spot on the screen and tap. The af is blazing fast in live view. I can see myself doing video for once!
lowa2 wrote:
The shot to shot AF is of course slower than traditional AF in a vf. I think the only reason its slower is because you have to pick a spot on the screen and tap. The af is blazing fast in live view. I can see myself doing video for once!
How will that impact AEB when used in live view vs via the optical viewfinder?
Good to here about the noise and backs up my claims based on the dpreview images. Chroma looked much improved over 7D. Have you had a chance to push some shadows and compare to the 7D as again that looked better than 650D by a fair bit.
Only real disappointments I see with 70D are: lack of joystick (minor), lack of spot AF option (major), SD card only supports UHS-I to 40MB/s (medium). Otherwise huge upgrade from 60D and clearly better than 7D isn many areas and only trailing in a few.
Now roll on the 22MP APS-H, 10fps, DPAF, dual card, 7D II, with 1 stop better IQ across the range than the 1D IV and 5D III class AF.
I was originally disappointed / frustrated with no joystick, but I find the touchscreen more than makes up for it. I can change things quicker with the touch! I have pushed some shaddows by quite a bit and they are holding up pretty well.
This was an ISO 1600 shot, and the bird was about 1.5 stops underexposed. After treatment in LR4, here's what it ended up like.
If it's not too much to ask, can you test it and report back whether there is any performance difference between using AEB in live view and optical viewfinder?
I was originally disappointed / frustrated with no joystick, but I find the touchscreen more than makes up for it. I can change things quicker with the touch! I have pushed some shaddows by quite a bit and they are holding up pretty well.
This was an ISO 1600 shot, and the bird was about 1.5 stops underexposed. After treatment in LR4, here's what it ended up like.
Ok touch screen sounds good. Image seems to be a lot better than I would expect from 7D pushed that much at ISO 1600.
Hmm, this might be worth trying after-all as they are crazy cheap at work. Still I was going to just sell 7D and that would still leave me with 3 cameras , so need another camera like a hole in the head.
Pixel Perfect wrote:
Now roll on the 22MP APS-H, 10fps, DPAF, dual card, 7D II, with 1 stop better IQ across the range than the 1D IV and 5D III class AF.
I think... I'd save up for that camera. Although, if they could do APS-C too, I'd go for that as well, giving up a little in the IQ department for reach and pixels on target.
Well 22MP APS-H would be equal to 14.3MP APS-C size, so not giving up much reach compared to 7D and IQ improvements would more than make up for that difference anyway IMO.
Seriously though, I got my 70D yesterday and tested it a little today. Here are my first impressions: 