Canon EOS 60D Preview

It was a pleasant invitation I got, just a few days before the Hari Raya holiday – a chance to have a preview of the EOS 60D! Note : this is not the Preview Session organized by Canon Malaysia as seen on Facebook. 😀 Only myself and Kurt (a.k.a. orionmystery, macro photography expert) were at the session.

First Impressions

Since the announcement was made, the lack of magnesium alloy body construct has garnered quite some negative feedback but from what I’ve encountered, it doesn’t make the camera any worse than a 50D. In fact, it’s better in the sense that it’s lighter.

Many also thought that the change of body material also affects weather seal. It doesn’t, refer to the 50D and 60D specs, they’re the same – sealed on “Memory card and battery door only”.

On a side note – a lot of people talk about weather seal but how many actually shoot under conditions that require that? Most people would probably scamper around at the sight of rain or dust clouds. Even my 350D could stand drizzle and orange juice being poured on it, what else do you expect?

Let’s move on with the EOS 60D.

The 18MP is as what you’ve seen on the 550D and 7D. The wireless flash control works like the ST-E2 from Canon.

Flip LCD is exactly like the one on the Powershot G11. It’s helpful when shooting at odd angles, plus it protects your screen in some ways too.

On screen levelling tool is like the one found on EOS 7D That’s great for levelling your camera to the horizon.

There’s no more joystick like the ones on 50D and 7D. It is now replaced with a directional pad placed inside the dial (you know, the dial found on Canon’s semi-pro range bodies and above). Now you can use the battery grip and reach the dials and joystick easily.

I’ve not the chance to test the image quality but it shouldn’t be any less than the 550D which I reviewed earlier. Video mode works pretty much the same way as the 550D.

The “Creative Style” is interesting, it allows you to apply various filters without having to deal with software. Great for those who are not familiar with graphic editing software or have no software to do the modifications. 🙂 The 60D also allows to choose 4 image sizes with the following ratio 3:2 (standard for DSLR), 4:3, 16:9 and 1:1.

On the less sunny side of the story, the dial now requires you to press the center before you can move it. It’s a safety measure I suppose, some people do experience the unwanted dial movements but my take is that the dials are pretty tough to switch to begin with. In fact now I find out more troublesome to change modes (I alternate between shooting mode and video mode).

How good it is, well it’s just like how Flip LCD, Video mode and whatever bells and whistles placed on the the camera – you’ll appreciate it if you face it. The difference being that Flip LCD and Video mode doesn’t make it inconvenient to use the camera, those are additional features. The “dial safety button” on the other hand adds hassle.

I think that’s the only thing I didn’t appreciate so far.

Another thing that the xxD body owners who are thinking of going 60D should take note of is that the 60D uses 4 buttons for the functions near the top LCD (AF, Drive, ISO and Metering) instead of the dual-function tri-buttons on the xxD bodies (AF, Drive, ISO, WB, Flash Exposure Compensation and Metering).

I have no problems with that 4 buttons but I think sticking to dual-function tri-buttons is better.

My Conclusion

The EOS 60D is a great camera.

Bear in mind that it’s not an EOS 50D replacement, even though it’s continuing the dual-digit product naming convention.

I’ll say the 60D is a mix of 550D, 7D and G11.

Price? We’ll just have to wait for Canon to announce.

Many of you who are on lowyat.net forum and Facebook would’ve seen these photos and feedbacks before. 😀 I’ve decided to make it into an article instead, was pretty busy for the past many days anyway.

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