Canon EOS 60D Review

by Bob Atkins

The Canon EOS 60D is Canon’s latest addition to their DSLR line and sits between the Digital Rebel

T2i and EOS 7 D in terms of both price and features. The 60D presumably is intended to eventually

supersede the EOS 50D—though the 50D is still listed as a current model on Canon’s web page. The

EOS 60D’s features are a mix of those from the old EOS 50D, the EOS T2i and the EOS 7 D—with a

few entirely new features seen for the first time on the EOS 60D

Canon EOS 60D Major Features

An 18MP sensor with 4 channel readout. Very similar to the sensor found in the T2i and EOS 7 D,

though the 7 D has 8 channel readout to speed up operation.

Full HD v ideo at the same selectable resolutions and frame rates as the Rebel T2i/7D. Manual

exposure setting is possible.

There is a "wind" filter which can be used when recording audio along with v ideo. The built -in mic is

mono, but there is a jack for a stereo mic. There is manual

control over audio volume (64 steps), but changes cannot be made during shooting.

The AF sy stem has the 9 points found in the Rebel T2i, but all are cross (dual axis) sensors as in the

50D. The 7 D has a more advanced AF sy stem with 19 cross type sensors.

63 zone metering as in the Rebel T2i and 7 D

The v iewfinder has 96% coverage (the 7D is 100%).

The ISO range is 100-6400 plus "H" (12800), same as the T2i and 7 D.

The EOS 60D now uses SD cards like the T2i. The 7 D uses CF cards.

Canon has abandoned the BP-511 battery of the 50D in favor of the LP-E6 which is used

in the EOS 7 D (and 5D MkII).

The maximum frame rate is 5.7 frames per second (fps), between the 3.7 fps of the T2i and the 8 fps

of the 7 D

The LCD has a 3:2 aspect ratio and Canon’s current (and excellent) anti reflection

technology.

For the first time on any Canon DSLR, the EOS 60D has a tilt and swivel LCD. This

doesn’t help much for conventional still photography, but it can be very useful in Live

View mode and when shooting video.

The weathersealing is somewhere between that of the T2i and the EOS 7 D. It’s not super weather

sealed, and it’s not designed to be used in heavy rain, but it shouldn’t quit if

it sees a little drizzle!

The shutter is good for 100,000 cycles. Max speed is 1/8000s and sy nc is 1/250s

There is an electronic level, but only for the horizontal axis. The 7D has both

horizontal and vertical levels, the T2i has none.

There is a dedication position on the mode switch for v ideo and a dedicated

"start/stop" button. When not in v ideo mode, the button starts and stops Live

View.

The mode dial has a locking button in the center which must be pressed before rotating the dial to

change modes. This makes it harder to nudge the dial and inadvertently change modes. Hopefully

Canon learned their lesson with the A2, which had a similar, but notoriously fragile, mode change

locking button.

The on/off switch is now directly below the mode control dial (as in the EOS 7 D)

The buffer should be good for about 58 JPEGs or 16 RAW images. Better then the T2i, not quite as

good as the EOS 7 D for JPEGs.

The 4 way controller used for menu selection, AF zone selection etc. is now incorporated inside the

rear QCD on the EOS 60D.

Last, but certainly not least is the EOS 60D list price of $1099 (though it’s now discounted to below

$1000).

Y ou can look at the EOS 60D as a Rebel T2i but with a better v iewfinder, better AF, higher frame rate,

a tilt and swivel LCD, an electronic level, a rear QCD, a larger capacity battery and overall better

ergonomics. Alternative y ou can look at the 60D as an EOS 7 D, but with a less advanced AF sy stem,

less weather sealing, a slower frame rate, no vertical electronic level, no AF microadjustment, a

smaller JPEG buffer and using an SD card rather than CF. The primary unique feature of the EOS

60D is the tilt and swivel LCD screen.

It’s notable that all three EOS models (T2i, 60D and 7 D) have the same size and resolution sensor

(18MP APS-C). The T2i and 60D sensors are essentially identical, while that of the 7 D uses a more

advanced data readout system to enable faster data download for higher frame rates.

Video

The EOS 60D is arguably the most capable of all the EOS DSLRs when it comes to shooting v ideo. Not

only does it have an LCD that swings out, tilts and swivels, but it also has a full set of v ideo modes,

from 1080p HD to standard VGA with selectable frame rates:

Full HD 1920×1080, at either 24fps (actual 23.976) or 30fps (actual 29.97). In PAL mode, either

24fps (actual 23.976) or 25fps (actual 25.00)

HD 1280×720, at either 60 fps (actual 59.94) or 50fps (actual 50.00)

Standard definition 640×480, at either 60fps (actual 59.94) or 50 fps (actual 50.00)

Crop mode: 640×480, at 60 or 50 fps — crops the v ideo image so y ou record with effectively about

7 x the magnification y ou’d get in other video recording sizes. This feature is shared with the current

Canon EOS Rebel T2i camera as well.

The variable-angle LCD monitor is very useful for v ideo applications. It can be angled to shield it from

bright sunlight or adjusted for comfortably shooting overhead or floor-level shots. The monitor’s

slightly wider 3:2 aspect ratio means a larger image during video shooting, whether in HD with its

16:9 ratio, or in standard-def mode. The high resolution display has over 1 million dot resolution.

In addition the EOS 60D also has excellent audio features including:

A built-in microphone (mono), with standard 3.5mm stereo jack for external microphones

Choice of automatic or manual recording level control for sound (in manu al, the user can select

from a 64-step range to maintain consistent recording levels, depending on ambient conditions).

Sound recording can also be disabled completely.

Built-in Wind Filter (selectable in “sound recording” menu, when in v ideo mode). The filter can

easily be switched on or off (default setting is off)

Exposure control can be either manual or fully automatic (where the camera chooses ISO, aperture

and shutter speed). In manual mode y ou can choose shutter speed and aperture and the camera wi ll

select ISO, or y ou can set all three parameters (shutter, aperture and ISO) manually . Shutter speeds

range from 1/30s (at 24 or 30fps) or 1/60s (at 50 or 60 fps) to a maximum of 1/4000s.

The EOS 60D also has an in-camera movie editing feature, allowing users to shorten a v ideo file by

clipping segments from the beginning or the end, removing unwanted portions of v ideo without the

need for downloading to a PC and using v ideo editing software.

The built in electronic level of the EOS 60D can be set to disp lay an “artificial horizon” type display on

the LCD which shows when the camera is level with an accuracy of about 1 degree. This can be used

before (but not during) shooting to setup the camera.

Here’s a sample HD v ideo shot with an EOS 60D.

Flash

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The EOS 60D has the ty pical small built in flash that all the non-professional Canon EOS DSLRs have,

The guide number is 43/13 (ISO 100, in feet/meters) and it covers the area of v iew of a 17mm lens (on

the APS-C frame). However in addition to its function of providing flash illumination it has a second

function which may be of more interest to more advanced photographers. The pop -up flash of the

EOS 60D can control multiple external speedlites (as long as they have wireless slave capability, lik e

the 430EX II and 580EX II). The built in flash acts as a master controller by emitting a series of brief

coded optical pulses which send information to external speedlites telling them when to flash and

how much flash power to use.

The degree of flash control is quite extensive. The built in flash can control a single external speedlite

or multiple external speedlites. The speedlites can be arranged in three groups (A, B and C) and each

group can contain multiple speedlites. All the speedlites in all thre e groups can be fired at once if a

large amount of flash power is required. The A and B groups can also be controlled independently to

provide different flash fill ratios (all slave flashes in the same group are set to the same fill ratio). The

built in flash can also be set to fire along with the external speedlites if desired.

Output ratio (A:B) Difference in output

8:1 A outputs 8X more light than B (a three-stop difference)

4:1 A outputs 4X more light than B (a two -stop difference)

2:1 A outputs 2X more light than B (a one-stop difference)

1 :1 Equal output (no difference)

1 :2 B outputs 2X more light than A (a one-stop difference)

1 :4 B outputs 4X more light than A (a two -stop difference)

1 :8 B outputs 8X more light than A (a three-stop difference)

The external speedlites can also be set to fire using manual flash power settings or to use flash

exposure compensation. Again different settings can be used for groups A and B.

Four different “channels” are available for speedlite control. Th is allows up to 4 different

photographers to control 4 sets of external speedlites in the same studio without interfering with each

other. Note that the wireless control is optical and not radio, so each of the slave units must be able to

“see” the master controller (in this case the built in flash on the EOS 60D). They can sometimes “see”

via a reflection indoors, but outdoors they need the optical sensor on the slave unit turned towards

the controller, and it’s always to good idea to do that any way for maximum range and reliability. The

sensor is on the front of the external speedlites, but all compatible speedlites have heads which tilt

and swivel, so although the body of the external speedlite may be facing the EOS 60D controller, the

flash head can be pointed in any direction.

Electronic Level

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The EOS 60D has a built in single axis electronic horizontal level. There are two readout modes. The

first is reached by pressing the “INFO” button twice, and this displays a horizontal level on the rear

LCD. The level looks something like a bank indicato r on a aircraft. When the camera is level the

horizontal line is green. When the camera is tilted, the line is red and the angle corresponds to the tilt

angle. The resolution is 1 degree.

Bob Atkins

The second display mode is activated by setting a custom function which assigns level display to the

“SET” button. Then, when the “SET” button is pressed there is a display in the v iewfinder that

indicates tilt. It uses the exposure level display. When the camera is level, a single LED segment is lit

in the center of the scale. As the camera is tilted additional segments light up showing the direction

and amount of tilt. One additional lit segment corresponds to 1 additional degree of tilt.

The level display in the v iewfinder can’t be displayed at the same tim e as the normal display. That

means if y ou level the camera with y our eye to the viewfinder watching the level display and then 1/2

press the shutter to get exposure and focus, the display switches from level display to the normal

metering mode.

In camera image processing

The Canon EOS 60D allows the user to process RAW files in the camera rather than using a PC and

Canon’s DPP (Digital Photo Professional) software. While the processing range isn’t as extensive as

that found in DPP it still allows quite a lot of image adjustment. The following functions are available:

Adjust overall brightness, in 1/3-stop increments

Completely re-set White Balance

Adjust Picture Sty le settings

Choose Color Space (sRGB or Adobe 1998 RGB)

Apply Auto Lighting Optimizer

Choose JPEG recording quality (resolution, and choice of Fine/Normal compression)

Apply Lens Peripheral Illumination Correction (vignetting correction)

Lens Distortion Correction

Chromatic Aberration Correction

The processed RAW file is saved back on the memory card as a new JPEG, but of course the original

RAW file is not changed.

If y ou shoot JPEG images y ou can make resized copies in the camera. For example if y ou shoot the

original JPEG as a 5184 × 3456 image, you can make a resized copy in any of the following sizes:

M: approx. 8 million pixels (3456 × 2304)

S1: approx. 4.5 million pixels (2592 × 1728)

New — S2: approx. 2.5 million pixels (1920 x

1280; close to HDTV dimensions)

New — S3: approx. 0.35 million pixels (720 x

480; close to standard TV size)

The copy can be any size which is smaller than the originally shot JPEG. Y ou can also select any image

quality lower than or equal to that of the original

Photographers can also apply special effect filters to RAW and JPEG images in the camera and save

the results as a new JPEG file. The following special effects can be applied:

Grainy Black & White

This creates a B&W copy of an original color JPEG file, and digitally adds noise for a grainy effect;

contrast can be adjusted over a 3-step range)

Soft Focus

This provides a soft focus look which can be effective with, fer example, portraits and certain types

of landscapes. It is adjustable over a 3-step range

T oy Cam era

This is a special effect, designed to mimic the “look” of images created by some “toy” film cameras.

It utilizes heavy vignetting, and user’s choice of natural color or a bluish -green or y ellow-amber tint

Miniature Effect

This mimics the effect of using a tilt-shift lens with “reverse” or “negative” tilt, for extremely narrow

zone of focus. Users can choose to have the zone of sharpness be horizontal or vertical and the zone

of sharpness can be moved across the photograph)

Autofocus

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The EOS 60D inherits the AF sy stem of the EOS 50D (and EOS 40D). It has 9 AF zones in a diamond

pattern, with each AF sensor being sensitive to both horizontal and vertical features (“cross sensors”).

The pattern is the same as that of the EOS T2i AF sy stem, but on the T2i all the AF sensors except the

central one are only linear sensors. The EOS 7 D has a much improved AF system with with 19 high-

precision, cross-type AF sensors and more advanced selection features.

As far as I could tell, the AF performance seems similar to that of the EOS 50D, which is pretty good

under most normal circumstances.

Hands-on Assessment

Handling the EOS 60D was a familiar experience with the ty pical Canon DSLR user interface. The

menus have changed from the 50D and the control buttons have a different layout, but that’s just a

matter of getting used to them. Once y ou become familiar with them you may find them easier to use

than was the case with the 50D. Video is particularly easy to shoot since there’s a dedicated mode, a

dedicated start/stop button and a tilt and swivel LCD which makes aiming the camera much easier

than using a fixed LCD on the rear of the camera. at the time of this rev iew the EOS 60D is the only

DSLR in the Canon EOS series with a tilt-swivel LCD (but I don’t expect that to be the case forever!).

In actual use I found the user interface worked well and I could quickly get at almost any function I

needed with one button push and a menu selection (often using the Quick Control Button).

The image quality looks very much like the image quality of the EOS 7 D (and EOS T2i). This is pretty

much what y ou’d expect since they all use the same basic sensor. There may be very slight sensor

differences between the cameras, but nothing that appears to affect image quality to any appreciable

extent. There’s no reason why the resolution should be any different from that of the T2i and 7 D,

given that the sensor size, pixel size and pixel spacing is the same for all three cameras

Noise performance is good and not significantly different from that of the EOS 7 D and Digital Rebel

T2i. The same applies to dy namic range and ISO sensitiv ity, with all three camera turning in roughly

the same performance.

I would not be surprised if the EOS 60D displaces the EOS 5D MkII as the camera of choice for

impoverished videographers since it offers pretty much the same video features, but with a tilt and

swivel LCD and all at significantly less than 1/2 the cost of the 5D MkII (around $1000 vs. around

$2500). However potential v ideo shooters should be aware of the limitations imposed by the lack of

any focus tracking in the 60D or any other EOS DSLR – and in fact all DSLR cameras other than the

newer Sony models with a fixed mirror. The lack of focus tracking means that if y ou hav e a subject

which is moving towards or away from the camera you have a few options, none of which is ideal.

Y ou can try to manually follow focus, but that’s not at all easy and it’s v irtually impossible to

accurately judge focus on a small LCD screen. Y ou can also try to exploit the large DOF of small

apertures, but of course that’s not always possible in dim light and may not be the look y ou want (with

the background in focus). Even if it is possible it may require the use of high ISO settings and the

resulting drop in image quality. You can also achieve large DOF by using a wideangle lens, but again

this may not be quite what y ou want especially for sports and s imilar distant action. Contrast

detection AF is available at any time while shooting video, but it’s slow (several seconds) and may

overshoot before locking in. Obviously this is far from ideal on a moving target! Y ou can also use

phase detection AF, but that requires the reflex mirror to drop, blanking out the v ideo while the AF

takes place. Even if y ou do get focus this way, the subject is still moving and so may quickly go out of

focus again.

Professional videographers can deal with these issues and EOS DSLRs have been used to shoot some

very impressive v ideos. However for the casual amateur videographer who wants shots of children

running, motor racing or sports, it’s not really a “point and shoot” operation. It’s more like “Point and

Shoot and hope the DOF is large or try to adjust focus somehow”.

Conclusion

Canon certainly seems to have produced another winner in the EOS 60D. It’s a very useful update of the 50D, adding more pixels, HD v ideo, a tilt and swivel LCD and lots of other small refinements. My only complaint is that I think I’d rather have had CF card storage than SD card, simply because I already have a large collection of CF cards that I use in my other Canon DSLR bodies. The main advantage of SD cards over CF cards is that there are no pins in the socket to bend. In that regard they

may be a more robust solution in the hands of consumers. The currently available SD cards aren’t as fast as the fastest CF cards at the moment, but the 60D doesn’t need an ultra fast card. SD class 6 is recommended (and probably required for shooting longer 1080p HD v ideo sequences). When I shot with the EOS 60D I used an 8GB Kingston class 6 card and I had no problem with 1080p HD v ideo. Transcend 8GB class 6 SDHC cards can be found for as little as around $20 each, so even if, like me, y ou have a collection of CF cards, buying a few new SDHC cards won’t break the bank.

My collection of BP-511/512 batteries is also getting less useful! No current DSLR now uses that

battery size. If y ou don’t mind using 3rd party batteries from China, y ou can get spare LP-E6 batteries for around $8 each, so as with the SD memory cards, buying a few spare batteries isn’t a big expense (unless y ou insist on genuine Canon batteries which currently sell for $65-$70 each).

It’s interesting to note that all of Canon’s APS-C DSLRs now have much the same sensor and display much the same image quality. They are differentiated by features, not by basic image quality. This is exactly the same situation that existed before digital cameras came along. They all used the same film

and so had the same image quality !

The tilt and swivel LCD also looks like a winner and I’d expect to see it as a feature on many future DSLRs from Canon. The only possible downside to it is that under heavy use it might make the camera less durable. Y ou could drop an EOS 1D series body with no serious consequences, but if the LCD was folded out and y ou dropped it the wrong way I’m not so sure it would survive intact. I’d certainly expect a tilt and swivel LCD on the EOS 7 D MkII and the EOS 5D MkIII, if and when they are released!

Are there any downsides to the 60D when compared with the 50D? Well, there are a few. The 60D has lost the AF microadjustment of the 50D and it no longer has a PC flash socket. However I suspect that not many owners of the 50D really use either of those features (though they are certainly nice to have and are used by some). The multi-axis controller in the QCD is arguably less easy to use than the separate “joystick” of the 50D. Inside the camera there is more plastic and less metal, though again that might be something the majority of users don’t really care about. I’m sure that for the typical customer the addition of HD v ideo and a tilt and swivel LCD more than make up for the losses from

the 50D. For 50D owners looking for a total upgrade, there’s always the EOS 7 D, which is coming down in price now.

The body of the EOS 60D is plastic, whereas that of the 50D was metal alloy (as is the body of the EOS 7 D). While this seems to worry some people, I’m not sure why. The Digital Rebel cameras have always had plastic bodies and they have proven to be very durable. For the average photographer there’s really not a significant downside to a body designed to be built from an engineering grade durable

plastic.