Excited about 70D?

[Seth Bloombaum]

My bad. Non-STM lenses seem to work with this new AF tech.

Check out this video from Canon Australia:

Handmade - Canon EOS 70D (First Look) - YouTube

Do go to the end to watch the "making of". It specs the lensing for each shot, and the AF settings.

I might have to open my crusty old thinking a little bit, too... AF with a touch screen where you can spec what the subject is seems to address many of my concerns about AF. The rack from the ECU face to ECU tomato and back again at :27 demonstrates touch-screen AF, and in this example looks pretty good.

OK, I've changed my mind. I totally want one. Blame those clever Aussies for creating a couple great clips.

Canon EOS 70D - First Look - YouTube

[Terry Lee]

After reading official spec over views I can now see there is a significant upgrade to the 70D. Pretty much every feature is enhanced from the 60D but I am anxious to see the side by side shots vs 7D and 60D. How much do the statistical increases enhance our ability to make quality images?

How well does the autofocus feature work and is it consistent?

[Jason Garrett]

There’s a compatible lens chart on the Canon website:

Canon U.S.A. : Dual Pixel CMOS AF

[Noa Put]

The focusing aids seem a great upgrade IF you have the right lenses but beside that, what's special about this camera for video? Has it been confirmed that the moire and aliasing issues are gone? What's it's low light performance? Equal to the 6D? or inbetween the 6d and the 7d? Does it have 1080p 50p?

I"m currently looking to replace my 550d but I still see a lot of unanswered questions why I should be exited?

[Bill Engeler]

At the bottom of this page is a link to a list of lenses that will work with the AF. There are quite a few.

Canon Professional Network - Canon launches EOS 70D with groundbreaking AF technology

I don't know what properties separate those that work and those that don't.

[Noa Put]

I just saw below video from the 70d, now it might be the vimeo compression but at 01:10 on the right side of the lady waving these flags there are some stairs carved out of stone, it's only visible for a split second but I see some nasty aliasing going on at those stairs. I would be surprised if Canon would make the 70d moire free as long as the more expensive 6d is also plagued with it. I"m still trying to find something that looks exiting. I already have that kind of touch focus ability the 70d offers on a large sensor and a small sensor camera I own but I was really hoping to see something visually that would impress me but the demo's so far are very careful in showing fine detail.

Canon EOS 70D mintavide on Vimeo

[Robert Benda]

Seeing the autofocus in action, and realizing that it will track, means that, yes, I'm excited and plan on renting one when they come out. If it's what it could be, we'll be replacing our T3is with a pair. Maybe even our Mark 2....

Regarding lenses, here is from the DP Review:

"Canon has made no fewer than 156 EF lens models in the 26 years since the EOS system first appeared, and it says that 103 of them fully support Dual Pixel CMOS AF, including all current lenses. This means that these lenses only ever use phase detection for live view and movie focusing - there's no need for a slower contrast detection step. The other 53 lenses count as partially supported, which means that for One-Shot AF (either stills or movie) they use a hybrid system with phase detection to determine the initial focus movement, and contrast detection to fine-tune correct focus. The full list of lens compatibility is on Canon's website."

[Noa Put]

Looks like I do have a sharp eye as what I saw is confirmed by Johnnie Behiri when he tested a pre-production model


His words: "extremely soft, a bit noisy and moire and aliasing are everywhere", He also says 3200 is extremely noisy and unusable. Canon has still a bit of time to make some final adjustments but I can't believe they will solve any of the above issues, especially when they allow a guy like Johnny to test the camera knowing he is honest about his findings. But at least it has got autofocus, now that is something to get exited about, no? :)

"I'm doing alright"- Canon 70D beta quality camera video review on Vimeo

[Bob Ohlemann]

These are starting to ship. I was just on another forum and saw a couple people have received their pre-order cameras and are starting to post photos. I'm definitely interested in seeing what people can do with these in the video realm.

Bob

[Jeremiah Rickert]

I'm interested to see if the production version fixed any of the complaints Behiri had.

[Bob Ohlemann]

As a still photographer, this camera does nothing for me but, it is looking really nice for crop sensor video. Did a google search this morning to see what has been put up since these started shipping about a week ago. There are some nice examples of what this camera can do. I am really thinking I may get one for the shallow DOF AF capability. This could be awesome for equine sports.

Bob

[Rickey Brillantes]

Just got hold of the 70D today and what I noticed is that by using a USM lens the ef 24-105 the auto focusing is good, very fast and it doesn't hunt, the only issue here is the focus motor is noisy in auto focus, I think this is where STM lens comes in.

In comparison between the two here is the link:
Video: Comparing Canon's USM and STM Lenses Using the 70D's Dual Pixel AF

[Jeremiah Rickert]

Sigh, I'm still undecided whether I should buy a 70D with kit lens + really nice lens or a 5DM3 with just the kit lens. Primary use is going to be video

[Noa Put]

Eventhough I don't own both camera's I would go for the 5d3 unless you really need those improved focus aids on the 70d, from what I have seen Canon still is crippling it's lower range stills camera when it comes to videoquality since the 5dII came out, there is still lots of moire, lots of noise and soft images. With the 5dIII you at least solve the moire and noise issue and get raw capability with that ml hack so with that hack you solve the soft images as well, best of both worlds. I just got myself a gh3 and it trashes my 550d in every aspect image wise, you would expect the 550d successors to be any better but you need to spend a multitude of what I paid for the gh3 to get similar videoperformance. Imagewise the 70d doesn't seem to look any better then my "old" 550d.If you want video quality in canon dslr's you have to be prepared to dig deep into your bank account.

[Bob Ohlemann]

Just ordered a 70D kit with the 18-135mm STM. Haven't owned an EFs lens in years but this seems like it will compliment this camera nicely. Looking forward to putting it through its paces at some of the upcoming horse shows.

Bob