Canon EOS 70D- has anybody used one?

photopro234 · Aug 16, 2013

I have been a professional photographer for ten years trying to balance weddings alsong with family portraits, children, senior high school portraits. My wife and I were " burned out." This time instead of being a generalist we are going to specialize in wedding photography. I have always used Canon products and I have never had a problem. Canon has introduced the Canon EOS 70D and I was wondering if anybody had actually photographed with it? If you have would you recommend it for wedding photography?

Overread · Aug 16, 2013

I would think you'd be leaning more toward the 6D and 5D body lines than the 70D. Not that crop sensor bodies can't do weddings, but that the higher usable range of ISO values and wider angle of view tend to be beneficial aspects to shooting wedding photography and thus the fullframe sensors would be more suited to those conditions.

The 70D is very new - so new in fact that its not released yet (October is when Amazon says its out)

goodguy · Aug 16, 2013

Overread said:
I would think you'd be leaning more toward the 6D and 5D body lines than the 70D. Not that crop sensor bodies can't do weddings, but that the higher usable range of ISO values and wider angle of view tend to be beneficial aspects to shooting wedding photography and thus the fullframe sensors would be more suited to those conditions.

The 70D is very new - so new in fact that its not released yet (October is when Amazon says its out)

Agreed, for wedding best go with Full Frame and not crop sensor.
5D III will be the right choice for a serious pro.

Juga · Aug 16, 2013

Overread said:
I would think you'd be leaning more toward the 6D and 5D body lines than the 70D. Not that crop sensor bodies can't do weddings, but that the higher usable range of ISO values and wider angle of view tend to be beneficial aspects to shooting wedding photography and thus the fullframe sensors would be more suited to those conditions.

The 70D is very new - so new in fact that its not released yet (October is when Amazon says its out)

+1

Both the 5DIII and the 6D are great cameras and can't go wrong with either.

Derrel · Aug 16, 2013

Not even the photography press has released any early reports as yet, but I expect the magazines to release their first-look reports pretty soon. The 70D is currently vaporware. But, if it's really ready for an October release, samples must already be in the hands of the Canon promotional and press machine, so it ought not be long before more is known about how it really works.

Overread · Aug 16, 2013

It's the 25 of October if Amazon is right so I'd expect to see reviews appearing in September from the magazines and other media sources (or at the very least them getting their copies so that early October reviews are ready).

pixmedic · Aug 16, 2013

photopro234 said:
I have been a professional photographer for ten years trying to balance weddings alsong with family portraits, children, senior high school portraits. My wife and I were " burned out." This time instead of being a generalist we are going to specialize in wedding photography. I have always used Canon products and I have never had a problem. Canon has introduced the Canon EOS 70D and I was wondering if anybody had actually photographed with it? If you have would you recommend it for wedding photography?

I dont know much about the 70D, but I really gotta say....
it is tough reading your posts in that blue bold text.
maybe im just getting old.

JacaRanda · Aug 16, 2013

A few video AF reviews/samples here. Our first Canon 70D video tests show the DSLR?s Dual Pixel CMOS AF truly is a ?game changer?

JTPhotography · Aug 16, 2013

Haven't used one, but mine is on order. Adorama says it will ship in late August, but I doubt it. It will replace my 7d back up body, which I have grown to like less the longer I have owned it. This 70d being crop and with the improved autofocus should be a great wildlife camera.

Overread · Aug 16, 2013

Careful - the 70D is an update of the 60D not the 7D so some specifications on it will go backward compared to the 7D. For example the regular AF is pretty much the same as the 7D AF system with a few software refinements. The advance in AF that it does have is in live-view and video mode where its making claims of improvement in a new method of AF (like the new sensor this is likely to be something you'll see appear in most new crop sensor Cameras from Canon from now).

Canon EOS 70D Hands-on Preview: Digital Photography Review gives some info.

JTPhotography · Aug 16, 2013

Well, the ISO performance on the 7d stinks, so it will be an upgrade for me to get the extra 2 megapixels and better Iso perf. Weather sealing is the only disadvantage but I can live without that. I will have a 100-400 on it 99% of the time.

kathyt · Aug 16, 2013

I would go with full frame. 70D has not been released yet so it will be hard to get real world reviews. Mark III is where it's at in the wedding world for Canon shooters.

Gavjenks · Aug 16, 2013

If you're a full time photography professional, then get professional gear that maximally suits your needs. At the very least a 6D or 5D Mk III (I don't think either is better than the other personally, depends on which features you like or don't like, they're just different). Or if you really do work weddings every weekend etc. and this is your real job, then consider a 1DX.

1DX has better color sensing, non-color blind autofocus, 60+ AF points for when you might want/need those points, higher FPS than any other Canon camera (or other camera, period, outside of camcorders, AFAIK, with up to 14 FPS), smarter software, and better ergonomics.

If you make even just $100 extra per wedding due to those features and the higher quality images they can allow in the right hands (for instance, even with perfect positioning and lighting, during a bouquet toss, you can't control everyone's expressions at each moment, etc. Having 12-14 FPS makes you much more likely to get a good "lucky" overall combination of uncontrollable factors and blinking and whatnot than 3 FPS does), then you would pay for the difference in cost versus a 5D Mk III in only like 8 months.

And that's just with one wedding a weekend. If you also do other stuff during the week, you could potentially pay off the difference in 3-5 months. Everything else from there until the end of the life of the camera = profit.

Not to mention how it would probably make you happier and less stressed to not struggle with your equipment, which has some $ value as well, although intangible.

But at the VERY least a full frame. You're ridiculously shooting yourself in the foot as a pro by getting cut rate bodies if you do this all day long.

jaomul · Aug 16, 2013

As said the 70d is not out. Many recommend using full frame but I would doubt recommending a 5d3 or 1dx will benefit someone enquiring about a 70d due budget comparison. Lots of people can pull off a wedding with crop cameras but no doubt the iso benefit of full frame helps. With canon and a similar budget too what a 70d will cost the 5d2 or 6d are probably more affordable but if you are not invested in lenses and don't need video the Nikon d700 is a good option as is the nikon d600