Canon 60D is Officially Here

[cfusionpm]

Again, for a first time camera buyer this is a non-issue. But given the 60D's position in the market place and the fact a good number of 50D owners would have been looking to upgrade... I suspect most of those 50D owners waiting for the 60D will now make the jump to the 7D. That's just a guess of course, but I'm pretty certain I'm right.

It sure brings peace of mind to my decision of grabbing a 7D when they had rebates last May.

I like the path they are taking because it creates market separation between products. Yes, each could be tweaked to be better, but that would defeat the purpose of having separate classes. I remember reading about the same issues when Porsche introduced the Cayman to sandwich itself between a Boxster and 911 Carrera. Looking at price, engine size, power output, and features, it is literally exactly between the lower drop top and upper 911 (T2i and 7D, respectively).

 

[gsgary]

New Canon EOS 60D Digital SLR camera launches! | Warehouse Express

 

[Idahophoto]

New Canon EOS 60D Digital SLR camera launches! | Warehouse Express

Awesome, thanks for the link. The images do look real nice I have to admit and so does the video output at 1K it don't seem like to bad of a deal. I just wished it had the Magnesium body and used CF cards. The lack of a PC sync is odd but maybe Canon figured they were not used anymore since most use Pocket Wizard.

 

[Hardrock]

Looks more like change in direction than an upgrade from the 50D.

pros- 18mp,better metering, and if you like it a moveable lcd screen.
cons- slower fps , sd card , plastic body(how will it handle a 70-200f2.8 or larger lens), and looks a little smaller (But might not be)

when compared to the 50D

So looks to me the 7D is the upgrade not the 60D for 50D owners.

 

[shaunly]

I agree. I'm currently in the market for a camera. So a 60D would work for me as would a 50D. Not sure which one I would go for yet. I HAD a 40D until I had a "Life happens moment"

Sorry to hear! Between the two, I'd go 50D and a nice lens to boot. You'll get nice prices on it. Now that is if you don't want video. If you want video than 60D of course.

With an SLR though, I've always felt video to be a gimmick feature.

DSLR video is no gimmick. In case you didn't know, one of the final season episode of the TV show "House" was film entirely with a Canon 5dmk2. DSLR video is a deal.

 

[inTempus]

DSLR video is no gimmick. In case you didn't know, one of the final season episode of the TV show "House" was film entirely with a Canon 5dmk2. DSLR video is a deal.

To be fair, this was shot by a pro using more than just a 5D2 hand held.

The FOX Series “House” Shooting With Canon 5D Mark II’s cinema5D news

The video quality has always been top notch in the 5D2 and 1D4 (even the 7D). That's not at issue. What's at issue is that to make it practical for such professional applications it has to be configured like this.

Remote focus, various rigs, remote mics, etc. are required to get high quality video that doesn't drift in and out of focus, especially at wider apertures.

Now that we're finally starting to see real-time autofocus in video mode on DSLR's it's going to be much easier for the average Joe to get high quality HD video with their cameras.

 

[Big Mike]

So looks to me the 7D is the upgrade not the 60D for 50D owners.

I don't think it's either.

The point I've been trying to make, is that if someone has a 50D, why would they need to upgrade right now? The 50D is only what, one and half years old? and that's if they bought it when it first came out. There is no need to upgrade if they purposefully bought the 50D in the last year or so.

The 60D is aimed to be more of an upgrade from any of the Rebel cameras or from a 20D, 30D or maybe a 40D.

The lack of a PC sync is odd but maybe Canon figured they were not used anymore since most use Pocket Wizard.

Or maybe it's their way of telling people to use a 430/580 as their off-camera light, since the 7D (and now 60D) can control them with the built-in flash.

 

[Idahophoto]

I agree. I'm currently in the market for a camera. So a 60D would work for me as would a 50D. Not sure which one I would go for yet. I HAD a 40D until I had a "Life happens moment"

Sorry to hear! Between the two, I'd go 50D and a nice lens to boot. You'll get nice prices on it. Now that is if you don't want video. If you want video than 60D of course.

With an SLR though, I've always felt video to be a gimmick feature.

DSLR video is no gimmick. In case you didn't know, one of the final season episode of the TV show "House" was film entirely with a Canon 5dmk2. DSLR video is a deal.

To me I could not care less what shows was shot with what SLR's. I buy a SLR for photography not the video. So a show being shot does not disprove it from being a Gimmick. Thats said, I would like some video for my Blog but aside from that I would never use it. My D90 had it and I never once used it save when I first bought the camera said neat and never used it again. I think it will become a standard thing on all SLRs the way the trend is going so I guess its the way anymore anyways.

 

[inTempus]

The point I've been trying to make, is that if someone has a 50D, why would they need to upgrade right now? The 50D is only what, one and half years old? and that's if they bought it when it first came out. There is no need to upgrade if they purposefully bought the 50D in the last year or so.

Have you visited the Canon forums lately? It seems lots of people upgrade when the newest model is released. Some hold off because they're not sure it's worth it, many however jump on the new body as soon as they can. Others wait around for a while until all of the "check out my new X" threads finally take their toll and they too jump on the premature upgrade wagon.

Perhaps those that frequent internet forums aren't representative of camera enthusiasts in general and most people don't upgrade every model. This is probably more likely.

 

[inTempus]

To me I could not care less what shows was shot with what SLR's. I buy a SLR for photography not the video. So a show being shot does not disprove it from being a Gimmick. Thats said, I would like some video for my Blog but aside from that I would never use it. My D90 had it and I never once used it save when I first bought the camera said neat and never used it again. I think it will become a standard thing on all SLRs the way the trend is going so I guess its the way anymore anyways.

I tried shooting video with my 5D2 and found the whole expereince to be frustrating. It wasn't something well suited for casual video of the family and such as I constantly had to struggle with the focus. It often times looked good on the small LCD display only to look bad on the big screen in the living room. Once on the HD big screen you could see the missed focus.

I ultimately bought a HD camcorder for video and to this day I never use the video on my 5D2 or 1D4.

 

[Derrel]

The 60D is not an "upgrade" from the 50D...it's a move down-market, with entirely new battery grip, new battery, and a switch from CF-card storage to SD card storage, a plastic chassis not a metal one, a flip-out LCD screen, and higher-spec'd video to attract people who want to shoot video. The fact that the battery grip, battery,and memory cards are all different, and the camera has been made smaller,lighter, and has a zillion pre-defined, canned exposure modes on a top-mounted dial mean that the 60D is now aimed more at beginner/intermediate shooters who want better body controls than a Rebel series body can offer.

The write-up that was referred to above gave a very good overview of the 60D, and some good insight into how it fits into the current (and past) Canon lineup.
http://blog.warehouseexpress.com/ne...8&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New-Canon-60D

Honestly, with the memory,grip,and battery disparities bewteen the 50D and the 60D, I cannot see the 60D being considered an "upgrade" by either 40D or 50D users...I think they will view the 60D as a down-market move designed to force their hand to either the 7D, or an as yet unannounced new body that *will* be a clear upgrade path coming from the 40D or 50D. The lack of a PC socket for example, says "consumer camera" quite strongly.

Canon has been lagging in this exact segment, where Nikon,Pentax,and Sony have been hammering away. Canon now has a body to slot right into a very lucrative market,and its body number is high enough to make the casual buyer feel pretty good about their purchase, which is something a company needs to be concerned about when customers are asked to shell out that amount of money! Model numbers and model lineage is the kind of thing that casual consumers refer to for help in guiding their buying decisions; the 60D must be "better than the 50D, right?" I think the 60D will be a pretty good seller, I really do.

 

[Big Mike]

Perhaps those that frequent internet forums aren't representative of camera enthusiasts in general and most people don't upgrade every model. This is probably more likely.

I think you're right.

 

[emh]

the 60D is now aimed more at beginner/intermediate shooters who want better body controls than a Rebel series body can offer.

And the North American beginner/intermediate shooters who are offended by the screaming red, obnoxious REBEL logo adorning the front of Canon's other consumer DLSRs.

 

[Derrel]

the 60D is now aimed more at beginner/intermediate shooters who want better body controls than a Rebel series body can offer.

And the North American beginner/intermediate shooters who are offended by the screaming red, obnoxious REBEL logo adorning the front of Canon's other consumer DLSRs.

Exactly...the body labeling on cars is an example...names like Charger, Mustang, Challenger...those labels say "macho" in not so many words...

Chevrolet learned a bitter lesson when it tried to sell the Chevy Nova in Mexico and South America....No va in Spanish translates roughly to "No go",and the car simply would not sell as the Nova...

The Rebel lineup has been a great marketing strategy for Canon; it's been a long-lived line of entry-level SLR cameras spanning the film and digital eras...."family" names on cameras are kind of unusual, and Canon has done a great job by naming its entry-level models "Rebels". We need to remember, Canon was the FIRST camera company to use mass-market television blitz advertising to sell zillions of cameras to people who otherwise would not have bought a Canon AE-1 or AE-1 Program camera...until Canon started buying TV ads, the Japanese camera companies did not advertise to the mass market,on TV.

Canon has a lot of experience in marketing lower-priced, simple to operate cameras that people can actually operate and use; their AE-1 and AE-1 Program models introduced an entire continent to the joy of automation. Naming a more-basic camera a number higher than its predecessor is a good marketing strategy, I think.

 

[Idahophoto]

I agree. I never said it would'nt sell. In fact I think it will sell very well, and I still may be one of the people to grab one. It does have a lot going for it as I have said in the other posts the video and photos do look good, and the tilt screen would be very nice for Macro photography. I don't do much of that but it is fun to play with. Things like the slower FPS I can live with as I never need the 6FPS the 50D can do. I do use low when shooting models so the 5 of the 60 should be more than adequate. Then you have the PC sync, this is a drawback but my D90 didnt have it either and I lived. I did end up getting the AS-15 that gives you a pc sync connection. Just attatch it to yur hot shoe. I have been told this will work on Canon Cameras but have no idea if its true or not as I never tried it. hmm, maybe I should. All in all the 60D seems like alot of camera for only 1K and should attract a lot of attention from buyers. Yes I am disappointing as I said as I wanted a upgrade not a potential back up that it would be if I do buy it. If it was called the 3D or something that would of been different. So be it. I will need to test it out myself before I can say for sure till then just have to wait and see.