New Canon 60D Defines a New Niche

For a decade, Canon's bread-and-butter mid-line DSLRs (originally an historic breakthrough, in May of 2000) have progressed in a smooth and steady fashion: D30—>D60—>10D—>20D—>30D—>40D—>50D. Then a slight shift was observed with the 7D, a higher-spec camera below the pro models but above the 50D, which it did not replace.

Now Canon has let the other shoe drop, so to speak, completing the bifurcation of the middle of its lineup. The new 18-MP 60D, while still representing an advance in the way of competence and features, is distinctly smaller than the 50D and its forebears, and gains an articulated screen (somewhat curiously, often seen as an "amateur" feature)—positioning a "lower middle" and "upper middle" in Canon's lineup. (This is possibly in response to upstart Sony, which has flooded the entry- and mid-levels with semi-redundant models—many with articulated screens. It might also be a response to Pentax's K-7 ($870), a full-featured, weatherproof semi-pro body of nicely compact dimensions.)

So who is this new model for? Shouldn't take a genius to figure that out. It's for those who want a better-made and more prestigious camera than the (also very capable) entry-level T2i, but who don't want to commit to the semi-pro Canon 7D.

It also strikes us, given our prejudices, as a pretty juicy new option for dedicated amateurs devoted to the "have it with you" school of thought. Smaller size and an articulated viewing screen being just what the doctor would have ordered.

Price, $1100; availability, a month from now. For a rundown of features and upgrades, here's the press release.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by George Feucht: "As a cinematographer, I have witnessed the massive takeover of HD acquisition by 7D's and 5Dm2's. My wife is currently working on an 'America's Most Wanted' episode being shot on the 7D. You would not believe the budget levels of productions now shooting on DSLRs. (The 'House' episode shot on the 5D was a bit of a gimmick, because they wanted razor-thin depth of field for that specific episode.)

"Anyway, having shot motion picture on a 7D and 5D, one of the biggest complaints is viewing the image while camera operating. An articulated screen has been the wish of anyone shooting HD on one of these things. (Ditching the highly-compressed h264 video codec is my next wish).

"Since the 60D does everything video-wise that the 7D does but now has an articulated screen, these things will sell like hotcakes to independent (and increasingly not-so-independent) filmmakers.

"Now about that crappy codec, Canon..."

Featured Comment by Edwin: "Canon is just rationalizing its line-up. Compare its line-up with Nikon's:

• D3100: T2i.
• D90: 60D.
• D300s: 7D.
• D700: 5DII.
• D3s: 1DIV.
• D3x: 1DsIII.

Perfect match. Before the 7D, the 50D was slotted in between. No wonder the 60D is more D90-like than D300-like."

Comments

[Steve]

I think you're also missing the fact that it's the cheapest "big-grip" DSLR Canon has ever sold. I'm sure it'll be a popular body considering it's over $400 cheaper than the 7D.

[Phil Erickson]

The prerelease info indicates that the body now is not magnesium anymore but plastic over metal. This seems also to be a telling indication of the bifurcation in the mid-line cameras. It might also drive those who care about such things to either "go up or get out". (IMHO, the dedicated amateur in most cases often does not need that level of solidity, but sometimes rational thinking is not applied!).

[Ray Hudson]

Speaking of new niches, lots of talk about Sony and their 'no moving mirror' offering. What's your thinking on that? It's reminding me of my R1 - full time electronic finder - which worked pretty well for me. One feature of that I use is when shooting for B&W prints. Set the camera to B&W, and RAW. You see B&W in the finder, you get full RGB files to process. Great advantage. I spend a year learning to 'see' in B&W years ago when I was a 4x5 Minor White wannabe, lost the ability after years of not shooting at all and could never get it back. Then I got the R1 and voila!

[Miserere]

Mike, can I borrow your soapbox for a moment, I'd like to shout out that SWIVEL SCREENS ARE NOT AMATEUR!

Stick a useful feature on an amateur camera and you can be sure the "pro" and "advanced" shooters will raise their nose at it and demand it never be included on their cameras.

I've used a couple of swivel-screen cameras and find it difficult to return to fixed screens afterwards. I suspect most photographers are the boring types (yeah, I said it) that shoot everything through the VF from about 5'8" off the ground. I know what the World looks like from that height, so please show it to me from an angle I don't regularly see it from.

Thanks Mike, here's your soapbox back. The dent was already there.

[Ken Tanaka]

Looks like a winner! The small Rebel-like size and that articulating screen should make for a very compelling formula.

But, hey, my little T2i is fast becoming my favorite semi-casual camera. Small, very light (without a lens), feels excellent in my hands. That thing also produces some remarkable quality images!

[Mark Cotter]

Yuck!

I like all the features and the development of the innards but the outer styling is a complete turn off. At this point, I'd better state that I have owned 10D, 20D, 30D and now 50D and one thing I like about the series is that I was able to take it out of the box, fitted a charged battery and know where all the features are: buttons all over the thing now.

Looks like I'm breathing deeply and replacing my 50D with a 7D or its successor when the right time comes.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

I'm a big fan of swivel screens; having somehow never owned own yet (I haven't made them a must-have, and the curious market dynamics people have referred to do seem to be keeping them off the models I buy, even the P&Ss).

Miserere: I call the rule "Dyer-Bennet's Dictum". It goes: "All photographs are best taken from a camera position that hurts your knees." This covers kneeling on the ground, and crouching, and kneeling on a tall wall for height, and....

It's VERY strange that interchangeable viewfinders were a clear pro feature (Nikon F, etc.), but now tilt LCDs aren't. The world is full of silly people!

[Zlatko Batistich]

My first impression is that the outer styling looks excellent: smooth, curvy, grippy and functional. Canon knows good design.

[Matthew]

No posts on the new Alpha 33/55? Or did I miss them somewhere?

[George Feucht]

As a cinematographer, I have witnessed the massive takeover of HD acquisition by 7D's and 5Dm2's. My wife is currently working on a "America's Most Wanted" episode being shot on the 7D. You would not believe the budget levels of productions now shooting on DSLRs. (The "House" episode shot on the 5D was a bit of a gimmick, because they wanted razor-thin depth of field for that specific episode.)

Anyway, having shot motion picture on a 7D and 5D, one of the biggest complaints is viewing the image while camera operating. An articulated screen has been the wish of anyone shooting HD on one of these things. (Ditching the highly-compressed h264 video codec is my next wish).

Since the 60D does everything video-wise that the 7D does BUT now has an articulated screen, these things will sell like hotcakes to independent (and increasingly not-so-independent) filmmakers.

Now about that crappy codec, Canon...

[illdefined]

"It might also be a response to Pentax's K-7 ($870), a full-featured, weatherproof semi-pro body of nicely compact dimensions."

is the 60D confirmed weatherproofed?

[Pavel]

New DSLR niche? For users wanting something better built and with more direct controls than entry-level but not willing to commit to a semi-pro body? I think Nikon first created it with the D70 some time back ;-)

[Wolfgang Kuechle]

I'm actually wondering about the statement that it's "distinctly smaller than the 50D". A look at the specs:

60D: 144.5 mm x 105.8 mm x 78.6 mm.
40D/50D: 145.5 mm x 107.8 mm x 73.5 mm

I would call this difference marginal.

[Miserere]

Dyer-Bennet's Dictum

I like that, David! :-D

[Joe Lipka]

Another fan of the articulating view screens. I spent thirty years looking at the world through a view camera, so a nice sized viewing screen is just what I like.

If they give us some options to invert and reverse the image, I will be a very happy camper.

[James]

I think the vari-angle LCD screen is interesting, and I wonder whether we are now seeing convergence in form factor between SLR cameras and (consumer) camcorders? Indeed, with camcorders taking still frames and SLRs taking video, where's the effective difference? More to the point, what would an ideal form be for an imaging device equally optimised for - say - 12MP images and HD video? I imagine the interchangeable lens feature from SLRs would endure, but is the typically one-handed camcorder with a swivel screen a better bet than the typically two-handed eye level direct view SLR?

[Mike Johnston]

Pavel,
I'm sorry, I should have specified that I was speaking of a new niche *within Canon's DSLR lineup.*

Mike

[Chris Allen]

I have an old 5D, but that's too heavy to carry around all day every day, especially if I'm going to take architectural pictures of the office. I wanted something small and light enough to take everywhere.

I found it with the Canon G11. It has limitations, but you can work around them. And now that I've used the articulated LCD, I'll never buy another camera that doesn't have one. You can get pictures using the swivel screen that you just can't get if you have to be pressing your eye on the back of the camera. Think macro shots, with the camera at ground level. Or lifting the camera above a chain-link fence.

[Paul Amyes]

I must say light weight is good. I was sitting on the fence about going for a m4/3 system, when I had a moment of clarity and went and bought the 550d 2 weeks ago. Stick the Canon 24mm f2.8 on it and I have a nice lightweight take anywhere camera that can use the rest of my Canon kit when I need to. The picture quality is superb, in fact it is such a sorted little camera that I shot a wedding on it over the weekend and I'm very happy with the results. The only thing that would improve on it is the addition of an articulating LCD. Sounds like Canon have been listening to its customers.

[Yvan Sirois]

I have a 40D and i love it but last week i was walking along a fence in a wooded area near my home in Montreal and just 50 feet from me was this deer buck with a nice rack but try as i might i was unable to to take a decent image with my 70-200 f4 IS because of the fence.Now if i had had a swivel screen it would have worked.So yes count me in as future owner of a 60D

[Gordon Lewis]

Until spending the past 10 days in Quito, Ecuador, I would have considered myself an ideal candidate for the EOS 60D. Now I'm not so sure: I borrowed an EOS 7D and a 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 EF zoom, thinking they would be perfect for travel photography. Unfortunately, street crime is so common here in Quito that walking around with a 7D and a big fat zoom on your shoulder is like an open invitation to robbery. I hardly ever take it anywhere, and then only when I can be assured of relative safety. I feel more comfortable with a Pentax K-7 and one or two primes lenses. It's a lot easier to carry discretely.

I mention this because the 60D is only slightly smaller than the 7D and Canon lenses are still as large as they've ever been. If someone is looking for a truly compact, low-profile camera, they should be looking more in the direction of the Canon S95 rather than the 60D. I wish I had such a camera now.

Size isn't everything of course and not every place you may visit is crawling with thieves. I may still end up trying and buying an EOS 60D. It's just not likely to be my first choice for low-profile photography.

[Miserere]

For those talking size, click here to see a the 60D compared to the 550D and 7D. Bear in mind the 7D is pretty much the same size/form factor as the 50D. Clearly, the 60D is smaller than the 50D (but larger than the Digital Rebel).

[David H.]

"I'd like to shout out that SWIVEL SCREENS ARE NOT AMATEUR!"

Oh, thank you for saying that Miserere. Unless "pros" have a built in skill of shooting say from ground level and so on without being able to see what they are shooting. My next camera will have one. "Pro" or not.

[Lars Clausen]

The swivel screen alone moves this camera to the top of my list, where the 7D has been firmly ensconced until now. The swivel screen together with my highly articulated tripod will let it go where no camera of mine has gone before.

Still no way to set an MLU button, though.

[Keith Loh]

I kind of expected this to happen only two weeks after I bought the 7D (otherwise it wouldn't be on sale). I'm not crying over the new swivel screen. Even though I came from a video background I'm not doing any these days. Because sometimes I do shoot action, the 7D's greater FPS still wins out for me.

[Paris]

I got all excited for a minute about the idea of a smaller Canon, but alas, as Wolfgang points out above, it's pretty much the same size as a 50D. A little thicker actually, probably because of the articulated screen.

It's just the next camera in the xxD series, with extra complexity added for video.

My 40D is still working fine. I think I'll stick with it.

[Sean]

Here's Henri getting on his soap box

"There is a lot of talk about camera angles; but the only valid angles in existence are the angles of geometry of composition and not the ones fabricated by the photographer who falls flat on his stomach or other antics to procure his effects"

I've no idea how tall he was. How tall are giants?

[Bruce]

Had a big Canon launch here downunder in Melbourne, Australia last night. Held a 60D -was impressed at the feel-- am now torn between the 60D and the 7D for the upgrade from my now 80K clicks 40D. Priced substantially less than the 7D, but I'd have loved the Micro Focus Adjustment of the 7D on it, but I'll hope for a body to match my existing lenses. Looking forward to the 70-300L.. should be a big seller. Geez, what's going to happen in the next five years????

[David Hurt]

Only time will tell for me. First off, the camera looks interesting. But then I would have to spend more money on SD cards if I were to buy a 60D & then there is the discussion ongoing on dpreview that this camera does not(will not) have Micto-adjust - Personally, I would have preferred to see new Digic V in the 60D & dual card slots. Think I will rent one first to "Road Test" it.
Give me a camera with the same everything as the 7D, but make it full-frame & cost less that $2,000.00! I'd be all over that camera!!