Canon EOS 70D Announced

[xps]

Updated preview @ dpreview

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canon-eos-70d/7

 

[drjlo]

Does live view phase detect AF require things like lens microadjustment like viewfinder phase detect? Live view contrast AF being the gold standard for AF accuracy, not needing microadjustments.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Which makes me wonder...while not performing AF function, what are those extra 20M pixels doing ??? seems like an awful lot of sensor real state to waste isn't it? What if those pixels are actually put to contribute to IQ when the picture is grabbed? how about some interpolation / oversampling to tremendously improve high ISO performance....

Just wondering and dreaming... :

Its a APS-C sensor, no real estate is wasted, all the sensors are used in a image. The split halves are for autofocus, but they are combined into one sensor when shooting. There is a lot of information describing how it works, including the patent underlying it was posted on CR a while back.

 

[Don Haines]

Does live view phase detect AF require things like lens microadjustment like viewfinder phase detect? Live view contrast AF being the gold standard for AF accuracy, not needing microadjustments.

When you are doing focusing using the image sensor, there is no need for AFMA. When you use a separate focusing sensor (regular through-the-viewfinder mode) the image will focus accurately of the focus sensor. When the mirror flips up the light falls on the image sensor and the picture is taken. If everything was manufactured perfectly, it would also be in focus. Due to manufacturing tolerances, heat expansion, wear and tear, and sometimes things slightly shifted from a drop or just not quite calibrated properly from the factory, this image might be slightly off on the image sensor. AFMA gives you a "fudge factor" to adjust the lens focus to compensate for this.

Focusing with the image sensor eliminates all of this..... way simpler... and that is why mirrorless cameras don't need AFMA.

 

[Marsu42]

Live view contrast AF being the gold standard for AF accuracy, not needing microadjustments.

Gold, but not platinum - there was a recent article on lensrentals dr. neuro keeps posting here that says lv also isn't 100% accurate; also if you want best reliability you might want to try focus peaking (magic lantern) to focus where you want and not where the lv focus box says the contrast is.

Confirmed from the Canon Europe 70D site: it may have the 7D's 19-pt sensor array & dedicated AF processor, but it doesn't have the same degree of flexibility & customizability. The 70D appears to only offer Single Point, Zone, and Auto 19-point; AF point Expansion and Spot AF are MIA.

Knowing Canon, this doesn't come as a surprise, they want to sell the still produced 7d1 & the 7d2 later on :-\ ... though magic lantern might be able to backport some of these features as they also offer af patterns on the 9pt af systems that'd be only single/all otherwise.

 

[ragmanjin]

Man, it's about time they came up with a good new (actually NEW) sensor.

Sure. Because dividing every pixel in half for PDAF sensors covering the majority of the CMOS image sensor area has been done to death... :

That's what I'm saying. Dick. Canon was leading the pack for years at the consumer onset of digital, but after the T2i, they completely stagnated. What I was saying was that it's about time we see Canon come back out on top with something nobody's thought of before. Every sensor was "new" when all they did was add four pixels' worth of faulty phase-detect autofocus to the T2i sensor or change up the filters a little. Same garbage. It's been at least three or four years since they were best, and all I'm saying is that it's nice to see them putting in the effort again.
While appreciate your appreciation of sarcasm, I feel you should be able to read the posts better than that, let alone what's between the lines.

 

[cinema-dslr]

Man, it's about time they came up with a good new (actually NEW) sensor.

Sure. Because dividing every pixel in half for PDAF sensors covering the majority of the CMOS image sensor area has been done to death... :

That's what I'm saying. Dick. Canon was leading the pack for years at the consumer onset of digital, but after the T2i, they completely stagnated. What I was saying was that it's about time we see Canon come back out on top with something nobody's thought of before. Every sensor was "new" when all they did was add four pixels' worth of faulty phase-detect autofocus to the T2i sensor or change up the filters a little. Same garbage. It's been at least three or four years since they were best, and all I'm saying is that it's nice to see them putting in the effort again.
While appreciate your appreciation of sarcasm, I feel you should be able to read the posts better than that, let alone what's between the lines.

disclamer: not a native english speaker here...

Isn't this just a case of mixing past and present tense in a sentence wich is leading to misunderstandings?

shoudn't you have used "It was about time they came....." in stead of "It is about time they came..."??

then again not a native english speaker here..

 

[LesC]

Still looking to the EOS 70D as my next purchase but following release of the Nikon D5300 announced this week with 24MP sensor, no optical low pass filter & built in WiFi & GPS at £729*, the Canon EOS 70D at £1079* is looking rather over-priced; I'd hope to see some heavy reductions after Christmas...

* UK prices

 

[mountain_drew]

Still looking to the EOS 70D as my next purchase but following release of the Nikon D5300 announced this week with 24MP sensor, no optical low pass filter & built in WiFi & GPS at £729*, the Canon EOS 70D at £1079* is looking rather over-priced; I'd hope to see some heavy reductions after Christmas...

* UK prices

If Canon could AT LEAST match the D7000's sensor rating I'd be happy. Until then, I won't buy anything from Canon and I even might get something from Sony or Nikon. The 70D's AF would be nice enough on a mirrorless body but doesn't justify getting one since I don't do movies.

 

[Famateur]

I'm still planning on a 70D purchase in the next few months (mostly waiting for holiday pricing). The Nikon D5300 should put some nice downward pressure on the 70D prices -- I hope!

 

[LesC]

I'm still planning on a 70D purchase in the next few months (mostly waiting for holiday pricing). The Nikon D5300 should put some nice downward pressure on the 70D prices -- I hope!

Same here - let's hope it does!

 

[Marsu42]

If Canon could AT LEAST match the D7000's sensor rating I'd be happy.

This really depends, the Sony/Nikon/... (exmor) sensors are really better at low iso, you'll get more dynamic range and less noise at base iso (the latter only recognizable if you look very closely). But at higher iso starting above 800 it's a wash, any ff sensor blows any crop sensor out of the water so the minor differences between high-iso aps-c Canon vs Nikon hardly matter vs. the other camera differences.

The Nikon D5300 should put some nice downward pressure on the 70D prices -- I hope

I wouldn't bet on it - the Canon 70d is a very competent all-around system with good phase af and outstanding live view af, plus nice usability. Also the 70d's price is already surprisingly low for Canon's standards, it's their latest and "best" aps-c model and Canon has shown they are not willing to compete with Nikon's low price policy.

Again, as for the sensor 24 vs. 20mp: your lenses have to be able to resolve this and these differences are minor in comparison to a real step up like the 36mp of the d800, so that won't matter much.

 

[Lawliet]

Again, as for the sensor 24 vs. 20mp: your lenses have to be able to resolve this and these differences are minor in comparison to a real step up like the 36mp of the d800, so that won't matter much.

And then its not just a matter of resolving, making actual use of the about 30% higher linear resolution of a D800 is a challenge for the AF as well. The 70D can eliminate most sources of error in that regard.

 

[Famateur]

Also the 70d's price is already surprisingly low for Canon's standards...

You have a point there. I was pleasantly surprised when the 70D announcement came with a price $100 less than what I was expecting. Maybe I'll get lucky and the holiday price drops will be for the lens I'm planning to get (EF-S 17-55 F2.8 IS).

 

[jarrieta]

Was having second thoughts about being an early adapter but I figured here in my country the warranty is 3 years from authorized Canon dealers so I'm pretty much covered. Got the body for roughly US $1050. Prices also do not decrease much from authorized dealers here, the 60D body sells for around $890. Grey markets sell at around $600. Very happy with the change coming from a Kiss X4 (T2i).

 

[Paramike]

Finally taken the plunge and spent some money. Have ordered the 70D with 18-55mm STM lens from DigitalRev. Got my last camera (a 400D) from them and had no problems so figured I'd go with them again. The savings are definately worth it compared to high street retailers here in the UK!

How is everyone getting on with their 70D's? Any revelations or obvious learning points? I can't wait to get my hands on it tbh, it's going to be such a jump up from the 400D, I'm really excited to try out all the new features. Little bit disappointed that it doesn't have spot AF or zone AF, but I've no doubt that a "firmware" update at some point will fix that

 

[globalphotobank]

Had the 70 since June, July. The 70 is still lacking in many ways, such as headphone jack, HDR RAW (like the Pentax K3), focus peaking for use with manual lenses and 2.5 or even 4k. Even other companies are doing so via firmware updates. I think I may be getting board of my Canons, as much as I love them, others have more. Take the new Panasonic G4 for instance have you seen some of the specks, All I have to say is DrOOOOOOOOL! I would be content with the Canon 1D C. Possible for a year or two.