EOS 90D - Hands on review

[dpc]

As far as IQ is concerned, my first-hand experience is that the 5DSR is better than the 7DII, and the 90D outresolves the 5DSR and has excellent image quality. The 90D is significantly better than the 7DII for cropping. I found the 7DII to be excellent at BIF, and my memory is not good enough to rate the 90D against it. You tend to post images perched or swimming birds so I think the 90D might be an upgrade for you if you want more cropping. Best to try it before getting rid of your trusty 7DII, or better still keep both for a while.

Thanks for the response, Alan, and thanks for your efforts in reviewing the 90D.

 

[dtaylor]

Adding my thanks for the detailed report Alan!

 

[dpc]

Although I'm interested in the 90D, I see there are concerns regarding it's autofocus system. I note that Gordon Laing in his recent review of the camera concludes that the 6DMII is better able to follow BIF.

 

[Joules]

I note that Gordon Laing in his recent review of the camera concludes that the 6DMII is better able to follow BIF.

Do you mean the M6 II? The 6D II is a weird comparison - especially since it also has the 80D AF sensor but with much older hardware and software than the 90D behind it.

 

[Sharlin]

Do you mean the M6 II? The 6D II is a weird comparison - especially since it also has the 80D AF sensor but with much older hardware and software than the 90D behind it.

Yep. Gordon remarks that of the two, ironically the M6II is the better action camera and the 90D is the better video camera!

 

[dpc]

Do you mean the M6 II? The 6D II is a weird comparison - especially since it also has the 80D AF sensor but with much older hardware and software than the 90D behind it.

Yes, I mean the M6MII!

 

[AlanF]

Although I'm interested in the 90D, I see there are concerns regarding it's autofocus system. I note that Gordon Laing in his recent review of the camera concludes that the 6DMII is better able to follow BIF.

Gordon Laing’s idea of a bird in flight is a gull flying over the seafront at Brighton. The 90D does that BIF very well too. And it also does liveview very well indeed. This morning I did my first portrait session using the 50mm 1.8 STM and liveview with eye AF enabled. Worked perfectly for every shot. Basically, the 90D gives a very capable body on which you can attach and hold a big telephoto for nature photography and it has inside it the best bits of the M6 II to use as a mirrorless. If you want something small and very light and use small lenses, get the M6 II. If you want something chunky enough to hold for larger lenses and can do most of what the M6 does, get the 90D.

 

[tron]

...
Frame rate
I get a burst of 32 RAW shots in about 3s in AI Servo, and then the buffer takes time to clear as I have been using a slow card. I’ll buy a UHS-II.
...

Hello Alan,

a couple of questions regarding card speed:

Did you test it with a UHS-II?

What UHS-I card did you use? I personally use Sandisk extreme pro which has a write speed of 90MB/sec top which I believe is the fastest we can get for UHS-I.

 

[AlanF]

Hello Alan,

a couple of questions regarding card speed:

Did you test it with a UHS-II?

What UHS-I card did you use? I personally use Sandisk extreme pro which has a write speed of 90MB/sec top which I believe is the fastest we can get for UHS-I.

I have tried it first with a Sandisk Extreme and just now with a new Sandisk Extreme Pro 170 read and 90 write. Here is what Grant who has tested wrote:

Hi Alan
So I am not a scientist and I don't have enough hands to operate a stopwatch for the exercise.

About the cards, with a Sandisk Extreme Pro 300 Mb/sec SDXC II card of 32GB capacity, at shutter speed 1/1250 at f4.0, iso from 400-640, with Release and Speed priority AF enabled, I can get 29 RAW shots before the camera stops. With that card, it seems that within one second or perhaps one and a half seconds I am able to start shooting again, not the full 29 but at least some bursts of 4 or 5 frames.

With the Sandisk Extreme Pro 95 Mb/sec SDXC I card of 64GB capacity, at shutter speed 1/1250 at f4.0, iso 400-640, same camera settings for AF as above, I can get 28 or 29 RAW shots before the camera stops. With this slower card, it seems that I can start to shoot again within about 1.5 seconds roughly, but its two or three shot bursts before it stops again. The main benefits with the SDXC II cardseem to be in if you fill the buffer then delay before you can start to shoot again is significantly less.

The third test I did was to use the SDXC II card (300 Mb/sec) again, but with the camera set as above except image quality was changed to C-RAW, and the 90D took 113 shots before filling the buffer. So a viable option for action sequences...
Cheers
Grant

I think I was between the two. However, the burst size depends on the iso and file size, which depend on noise. Before, with a well-lit scene, I was getting some 27 shots in a burst. As the scene gets darker, the burst size decreases as the file size increases. At a 30 Mb file size, I get a burst of 22 shots, about 660 Mb before filling. Using CRAW, I get 44 shots each of 14 Mb, about 620 Mb, before it stops and stutters.

 

[tron]

I have tried it first with a Sandisk Extreme and just now with a new Sandisk Extreme Pro 170 read and 90 write. Here is what Grant who has tested wrote:

I think I was between the two. However, the burst size depends on the iso and file size, which depend on noise. Before, with a well-lit scene, I was getting some 27 shots in a burst. As the scene gets darker, the burst size decreases as the file size increases. At a 30 Mb file size, I get a burst of 22 shots, about 660 Mb before filling. Using CRAW, I get 44 shots each of 14 Mb, about 620 Mb, before it stops and stutters.

Many thanks Alan. The fact with both card types the buffer filled with the same number of photos points to Canon's algorithms (Remember the major improvement in 7D after a firmware upgrade?)

It seems that C-RAW is the most useful selection for that matter.

 

[AlanF]

Many thanks Alan. The fact with both card types the buffer filled with the same number of photos points to Canon's algorithms (Remember the major improvement in 7D after a firmware upgrade?)

It seems that C-RAW is the most useful selection for that matter.

I survive quite well with the limited burst of the 5DSR and the way I use it will never get near saturating the 90D.

 

[tron]

I survive quite well with the limited burst of the 5DSR and the way I use it will never get near saturating the 90D.

Yes I have seen some very nice photos of yours. Also I do not use the full 10fps of my 7D2. When I used it I set it either to 4 (max setting for silent mode) or 8 for the high speed. More than enough. And most of the time I keep my 5DsR at the silent continuous mode (3fps) and CF (which has some advantages in speed relative to the sd).

 

[AlanF]

Yes I have seen some very nice photos of yours. Also I do not use the full 10fps of my 7D2. When I used it I set it either to 4 (max setting for silent mode) or 8 for the high speed. More than enough. And most of the time I keep my 5DsR at the silent continuous mode (3fps) and CF (which has some advantages in speed relative to the sd).

Same here for the 5DSR and I was the same for the 7DII except when I BIF at 1/2500 - 1/4000s.

 

[Pape]

They should make new tele lens ,worthy for new 32mpix sensor.
EF-S 150mm f4L sharpest canon lens never made and weight like 200g
around 135mm lenses seems to be sharpest on sony and zeiss.

 

[AlanF]

They should make new tele lens ,worthy for new 32mpix sensor.
EF-S 150mm f4L sharpest canon lens never made and weight like 200g
around 135mm lenses seems to be sharpest on sony and zeiss.

I'd like a very light 300mm f/4 to replace the antique one. It won't be any heavier to have it FF. The Nikon PF one is really good.