APS-C Digital SLR, 18.0 Megapixel, Full HD, 3.0" Vari-Angle Clear View LCD, SD/SDHC/SDXC Card Slot, DIGIC 4 Image Processor, include EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
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Friday, April 18, 2014
Harga Canon EOS 60D
Harga Canon EOS 60D Rp. 10.650.000,- dengan spesifikasi sbb:
APS-C Digital SLR, 18.0 Megapixel, Full HD, 3.0" Vari-Angle Clear View LCD, SD/SDHC/SDXC Card Slot, DIGIC 4 Image Processor, include EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Mau? Klik disini ---> http://bit.ly/1i1o7Uf
APS-C Digital SLR, 18.0 Megapixel, Full HD, 3.0" Vari-Angle Clear View LCD, SD/SDHC/SDXC Card Slot, DIGIC 4 Image Processor, include EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Mau? Klik disini ---> http://bit.ly/1i1o7Uf
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Canon EOS 6D 20.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and EF24-105mm IS Lens Kit
More review, click ---> http://amzn.to/1jeB980
This camera has top-tier image quality in a polished, compact package well-suited to travel. Those upgrading from a 5D II or 7D may prefer the sharp response and focusing performance of the 5D III. Buyers without an investment in the Canon system may find Nikon's D600 a better value.
I've finally had enough of a hands-on with this camera to draw some conclusions about it. My main body is a 5D II and I've owned or used almost all of Canon's crop bodies.
HANDLING AND NEW FEATURES:
Build quality on first impression is similar to the 60D and 5D II. Solid enough, with a slightly narrower grip than most previous Canon bodies, those two inclusive, but still comfortable to my large hands. This body is petite for full-frame, about 10% smaller by volume than the 5D II and 15% under the 5D III. Weight is similarly svelte, below every 5D and the 7D, and about even with the 60D. The larger cameras will balance a bit better with heavy lenses; this 6D will be the preferable travel body by a small margin.
New relative to the 5D II are improved weather sealing and a much-appreciated mode dial lock. It's not clear how comprehensive the sealing is; I still wouldn't take it in the rain, and very few non-L Canon lenses are weatherproof. The LCD screen has a fatter aspect ratio and somewhat better contrast. As seems to be the new Canon norm, the 6D has mushy buttons that activate at some indeterminate point.
Novel, however, is the button layout. The top panel retains the 60D's configuration of four buttons, each with one function. The 5D series, 7D, and prior XXD models have three buttons with two functions per. You lose direct adjustment of flash exposure compensation and white balance, but frankly, most people will find this simplified layout preferable. I still forget which dial controls which function on my 5D II. The rear panel looks superficially like the 60D with the same right-hand bias, though the functionality has been shifted around. A mitigating factor is that, as on the 7D, 60D, and subsequent bodies, you can bind custom functions to many buttons. I didn't find it a major trial to adapt from the 5D II, but you'll definitely want to spend a few days with it before you have to work under pressure. Rebel owners will find the adjustment more significant.
This 6D has a single SD card slot. The 5D II uses CF, which is rapidly becoming the purview of only high-end bodies. CF is faster, harder to lose, and costs more. SD is fast enough for a body in this speed class. This is nonfactor unless you have a sizeable collection of the opposing format. The 5D III has a dual slot that can speed some workflows and provide media redundancy.
Like all Canon full-frame DSLRs, this body doesn't have a popup flash. I'm not lamenting the absence, it was a bone to casual shooters more than a serious tool. Max sync speed for most Canon bodies is around 1/200, so integrated flash only works for outdoor fill with narrow apertures. Indoors as a main light source, the tiny size and close proximity to the lens lead to red eyes and a flat, unflattering high-contrast look. A much preferable setup for any Canon DSLR pairs a 430EX or 580EX, ideally diffused or aimed to bounce off a nearby surface.
Shutter lag now rivals the 5D III and 40D-7D, a few ticks quicker than the 5D II and any of the Rebels. This responsiveness bodes well for the first shot. Later shots come at 4.5 fps, a rate ideal for candids, but not for sports. The 5D II and III are respectively worse (3.9 fps) and better (6 fps). Of greater interest: like the 5D III, the 6D now has a 'silent' shooting mode that lowers the volume and pitch of the mirror clunk by half. Every wedding I've ever shot would have benefited from that.
The screen interface follows the mold of every Canon body since the 40D. It has a series of horizontal tabs with options. The major UI change is that instead of 9 tabs that also scroll vertically, you get 15 that don't. The advantage is that you can rapidly wheel through tabs and see everything there is to see without scrolling; the disadvantage is that it looks intimidating and there are multiple tab groups of the same icon. The 'Creative' modes show every tab. Some are hidden in Program and Auto modes. We've come full-circle since the original 5D, which had a handful of tabs and piles of scrolling.
A major new feature also common to the 5D III is a better implementation of Auto-ISO. It's often the case in changing light where you want to shoot a lens wide open for subject isolation, but with a fixed or minimum shutter speed so you won't risk motion or hand blur. On the 5D II, that was a no-go; Auto-ISO didn't work in Manual mode, and the minimum shutter chosen in the other modes was too low. This camera will do Auto-ISO in M between any lower and upper bound you choose. Or you can set a minimum shutter for Av or P mode. Wonderful and overdue, this.
Some other new features are worthy of note. They've added a single-axis level that's useful for landscapes and architecture. The GPS feature will tag images with a location and can also keep a constant breadcrumb position log (at significant cost to battery life) that you can layer on a map later. And they've added wireless networking, so you can control the camera by smartphone or laptop with a live video feed. I can do that with my 5D II, but it requires a cable or USB-wireless converter dongle. In theory, you can also upload to Facebook by way of a Canon bridge website, but I didn't test this.
AUTOFOCUS:
AF is a marginal improvement over the 5D II. Performance and customizability are somewhat better, but usability suffers.
First, context: unlike a phone, point-and-shoot, or mirrorless body, DSLRs don't use the image sensor ("contrast detect") to focus for still photography through the viewfinder. That means you don't get face detection or any sort of scene recognition at all. Instead, you've got a handful of 'AF points' in a diamond configuration. Each point covers a tiny area of the frame. If you let the camera choose the point, it'll pick whichever is sitting on a contrasting edge (i.e., a clear dark/light edge; anything that isn't a flat color). Maybe that'll be an eye. It could just as easily be a button. The first major habit to acquire with a DSLR is picking your own focus points. The easier that is, the faster you can accurately shoot.
On the 5D II, there's a joystick on the back to individually select any of the 9 AF points with a single click. The phase sensor has 6 invisible AF-assist points to help track motion. Minimum light to focus with the center cross-point is -0.5 EV; in my case, that translated to an exposure of 1/50, f/2, ISO 25600 with a 100/2. Very dim, but not impossible to see and not out of the ISO capacity of this body or certainly the 6D. Shooting by moonlight or dim exterior lighting could benefit from greater AF sensitivity.
The 6D excels in this area. The center point is rated to -3 EV, a full 2.5 stops below the 5D II and is, in theory, at least a stop under any other Canon DSLR. There's essentially no handheld exposure, even with an f/1.4 or f/1.2 lens, for which this camera won't catch focus. But it's missing the 5D II's joystick; you have to awkwardly shift your thumb further down to use a less precise 8-way rocker panel. If you choose not to bind AF to the shutter button, you'll wear out that digit in a hurry. Also, the system now has 11 AF points (with no additional coverage), so you can't directly select the two outer points anymore.
As to motion tracking, the 6D's AF diagram suggests it may also have 6 or 8 AF-assist points. The manual doesn't say, and if they exist, they're not selectable. Either way, the same rules from the 5D II apply: if you're tracking a high-contrast object centered in the viewfinder in decent light, it works well enough. All bets are off if you need to rely on the outer points. Likewise for using the outer points with wide-aperture lenses; they don't always hit. You'll want to take a lot of safety shots if focus is critical.
There are a few new custom functions to fine-tune AI Servo. As with the 5D II, the 6D supports AF microadjustment, though now with separate settings for the wide and long ends of zoom lenses. Also interesting is the ability to link the AF point with camera orientation; helpful if you're switching from portrait to landscape repeatedly.
To the extent it's possible to narrow a wide array of AF characteristics to a 10-point scale, here's how I'd subjectively rate Canon's various bodies:
Center point / Outer points / Motion tracking | Body
9 / 9 / 9 | 5D III
6 / 6 / 7 | 7D
6 / 5 / 5 | 40D/50D/60D/T4i/T5i
8 / 3 / 4 | 6D
6 / 3 / 4 | 5D II
6 / 3 / 3 | T2i/T3i/SL1
Some scenarios will show greater disparities than these numbers suggest. A 6D in very dim light may well catch focus where every other body on this list fails. Likewise, very fast or erratic objects may flummox every camera here but the 5D III. I've ranked the 5D III's center point higher because, while it can't match the 6D in moonlight, it has significantly higher accuracy and consistency with recent Canon lenses.
STILLS IMAGE QUALITY:
Excellent. Per-pixel sharpness is very high and superior to crop bodies-- par for the course for a full-frame sensor near this pixel density. Dynamic range is similar to the 5D II and 5D III. Noise performance in raw is a third-stop better than the 5D III, one stop ahead of the 5D II, and a little over 2 stops past the T2i/T3i/60D/7D. I'd run this body to ISO 12,800 without much thought. Colors at low ISO are indistinguishable from any other Canon DSLR.
Shadow noise has improved over earlier bodies. A common shooting technique is to meter for highlights and raise the shadows in post to make darker details visible, the manual equivalent of Canon's 'Auto Lighting Optimizer'. Boosting the shadows with a 5D II eventually reveals banding patterns and a blue cast. The 5D III fixes the banding, but retains the color cast. The 6D doesn't have either. While Nikon still holds a narrow lead on this point, 6D files are cleaner than every other Canon body save the 1D X.
To get the most out of this DSLR, you'll want to shoot raw. Raw lets you defer decisions (e.g., white balance, sharpening, noise reduction, color, distortion, tone curves, exposure, and so on) that distract from catching whatever moment you're after. Adjustments to raw files in post are vastly more flexible than the Picture Styles that control the 6D's JPEG engine. Those provide only rudimentary adjustments to tone, sharpening, and color.
With challenging lighting (mixed white balance, high or low dynamic range, or changing light), Picture Styles can give a suboptimal result, complicated in part by metering. In low-dynamic-range scenarios (e.g., a cloudy day), 'evaluative metering' tends to give a dull, low-contrast picture. With a high DR scene (e.g., a sunny day with deep shadows), blown highlights and clipped shadows will be exacerbated by a high-contrast Picture Style set for the earlier scene.
If you're careful configuring the body and the stars align, you can get decent JPEG output and forego work in post, but I consider a fast computer and a photo management system like Adobe Lightroom to be less complements than necessities.
LENSES:
I want to segue into this section because it's entwined with image quality. Comparing full-frame and crop isn't quite apples to apples. It's much easier to find crop lenses with good edge performance. Canon's current full-frame DSLRs make hash of almost all the mid-range variable-aperture zooms they've released over the years. I was pleased with my 28-135/3.5-5.6 IS on my 40D. Very consistent sharpness across the frame, even wide open. On full-frame, the same lens falls down. Poor edge performance, lots of aberrations.
Expect to pay 30-100% more on glass to feed this camera relative to EF-S lenses. Full-frame L glass costs a mint, but most of the third-party wide to mid-focal lenses don't emphasize edge performance. I've used a 14/2.8, 17-40/4, 16-35/2.8 II, 24-105/4, 100/2, and 200/2.8 among others. The latter two are stellar across the frame, as is the Samyang ultrawide. The 24-105/4L, 17-40/4L, and 16-35/2.8L II are merely good. None perform that well in the corners at wide apertures. Older wide-angles like the 17-35/2.8 fare even worse.
What should your kit be? Some considerations:
* Primes are lighter, smaller, cheaper, often available in wider apertures, often optically better, and have less manufacturing variation. They're less convenient, less versatile, updated with new technologies (e.g., stabilization, better lens coatings, weight reductions, faster or more accurate AF) less often, and can cause you to miss shots in fast-paced shooting environments.
* There are different requirements for movie lenses and still lenses. No Canon full-frame zooms are optimal for movies. Some are more optimal than others (e.g., less focus breathing, more parfocal, less distortion, smoother operation, distance scale). Primes often fare better.
* An f/2.8 lens on this body is just fast enough for most indoor use without flash. You'll want a flash for anything slower. A flash can provide more even, pleasing pictures, at the expense of a bulkier, attention-attracting rig.
* Kits with more than three primary lenses can become unwieldy in use. Two are preferable. My walkaround kit is a 16-35/2.8 and a 100/2, or a 24-105/4 alone if I expect to shoot movies. Professional event shooters tend to rely on the 16-35/2.8, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8, and faster primes like the 85/1.2 as necessary.
* Third-party lenses tend to have less upfront cost, better warranties, and more aggressive designs. AF and optical performance is often (but not always) inferior to OEM lenses, quality control is less consistent, and resale values are lower. Value varies by lens model. Some are better than the OEM equivalents (e.g., Tamron 70-300 VC, Sigma 35/1.4). Some fill holes in the OEM lineup (e.g., Sigma 120-300/2.8 OS). And some are lesser substitutes, but still competitive (e.g., Sigma 70-200/2.8 OS, Tamron 70-200/2.8 VC). Third-party lenses that duplicate the OEM with similar performance may not always be preferable to used copies of the OEM model.
VIDEO:
Out of the box, 6D video has five characteristics: lovely depth-of-field-control with the right lenses, clipped colors, high contrast, about 720p worth of actual detail at the 1080p setting, and issues with aliasing and moiré common to most Canon DSLRs. Moiré (false coloring and an interference pattern on subjects with repeating fine detail) in particular is more noticeable than with the 5D II and well behind the 5D III.
There are a few improvements over the 5D II. Canon has added time code support for better synchronization of events in post and superior on-camera editing controls. We now have 720p/50 and 720p/60 to complement the 1080p/25 and 1080p/30 modes. The compression algorithm is better, as is noise performance, and there's a slightly superior (though still quite slow) contrast-detect focusing algorithm.
Unbelievably, Canon still hasn't included focusing aids for manual focus. It's very difficult to judge focus from the LCD screen without overshooting and undershooting. Professionals that have to focus on the fly use a magnifier that sits on top of the LCD or rely on focusing aids in Magic Lantern, a third-party piggyback firmware available for the 5D II (but not yet for the 6D). For that reason alone, video here remains very much a professional feature.
In terms of post-processing flexibility, Canon EOS video is like shooting JPEG, but worse because the H.264 video codec throws away even more unseen data. You have none of the lossless adjustability of raw, so it's pivotal to lower contrast to preserve detail in the highlights and shadows, dial back the colors to prevent clipping, and lower sharpening so you can add it back in post without causing nasty artifacts. You do that by setting the correct white balance in advance and by creating or downloading a custom tone curve with low contrast, color, and sharpening. The latter won't affect your stills if you shoot in raw, so you can cater it solely to video.
Camera shake is another issue. If you're going to shoot without a tripod or Steadicam rig, get a stabilized lens. In fact, just buy the 24-105/4L IS. No other lens has the combination of size, weight, edge performance, range, stabilization, consistent aperture, speed, and partial parfocal (holding focus through the zoom range) ability.
The next best choice might be something like the Tamron 24-70/2.8 VC or Canon's upcoming 24-70/4L IS. Anything over 50mm that isn't stabilized will challenge your ability to record smooth footage. You can fix that later by transcoding to an editable format and using the anti-shake facilities of Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, or Virtual Dub with Deshaker, but that's a pain and they all crop the frame. Start with stabilization from the outset and save yourself the bother.
Stabilized lenses cause a new problem: the IS system is audible on the audio track. It's obvious with the 70-200/4L IS, noticeable with the 24-105/4L IS, and a background hum with the 70-200/2.8L IS I/II. That's in addition to dial clicks, finger movement, and wind noise, which obscure what would be fairly mediocre sound quality in the best case. The 6D records CD-quality 48 KHz 16-bit stereo tracks; the fault is with the internal monaural mic and amplifier. The simplest, most portable solution is to attach an external battery-powered mic to the flash hotshoe. The two most popular are around $250 from Rode. Zoom's H1 stereo recorder is a cheaper, more versatile alternative that can also be camera-mounted.
ACCESSORIES:
For video, buy SD cards 32 GB or larger. My pair of 16 GB cards have been inadequate for even a one-day event. Choose SanDisk. I've never had a SanDisk card of any size fail, they maintain higher resale value than other brands, and they tend to write somewhat faster than competitors with the same speed rating.
Interface responsiveness isn't much affected by card speed. Faster cards have three advantages: they can shoot longer bursts at 4.5 FPS, clear the picture buffer more quickly, and fulfill Canon's write speed requirement of 20 MB/s to record video at the highest quality. Buffer depth is 17 raw files with a UHS-1 ('Ultra High Speed') SD and 14 with a conventional card. Buffer cycling times are much lower with UHS-1. In one-shot mode, this difference is invisible; very fast cards would only make sense if you were time-limited on card-to-computer transfers with a USB 3.0, SATA, or Firewire card reader.
If you buy protection filters for your lenses, try Hoya's "DMC PRO1 Clear Protector Digital" line. They have very high light transmission and don't cause visible flare. Digital sensors filter UV natively, there's no reason to pay more for that feature. I've written reviews on the relevant Hoya product pages with more details and why you might (or might not) want a filter.
Third-party batteries are hit or miss. The 6D won't read the charge capacity of many LP-E6 copies that worked fine with earlier bodies. STK has a battery chipped specifically for this camera that's worth considering. Compatibility aside, Canon OEM batteries tend to retain more charge capacity for a longer period. Your call whether that's worth five times the price.
NIKON D600 VS 6D:
(+) Focus tracking
(+) Focuses with f/8 lenses vs. f/5.6 (e.g., f/5.6 lens + 1.4X TC)
(+) 24 vs 20 MP
(+) Shadow noise at low-ISO
(+) 5.5 vs 4.5 fps
(+) Dual-SD slots
(+) DX crop mode
(+) Headphone monitoring port
(+) Pop-up flash
(+) More physical controls
(+) Auto-ISO even better
(-) No GPS
(-) No Wifi
(-) Center-point focus in very low light
(-) Noise at high-ISO
(-) Live View mode more limited
(-) Larger, heavier
(-) Early copies were prone to accumulating sensor cruft
On balance, while the 6D is a fine evolution of two older bodies (the 5D II and the 60D), the D600 is a simply a tier above in specification. The two brands give and take on the system level; Canon has a better service department and an edge with telephoto zooms and tilt-shift. Nikon has the best wide-angle zoom available on any mount. Consider the cost of your likely kit before judging by body prices.
SHOULD YOU BUY A 6D?
* If you're new to DSLRs:
Yes, with caveats. DSLRs give you lens flexibility, subject isolation, better low-light performance, and potentially superior motion tracking. They're also bulky, expensive, a suboptimal design for video, and inconsistent in the point-and-shoot modes. Mirrorless designs are more compact, easier to use, and better for video, but not as capable for stills or movement. Prosumer single-lens cameras are smaller, much cheaper, and with jack-of-all-trades functionality that less demanding users may find preferable.
Relative to crop DSLRs, full-frame bodies like the 6D give you better low-light performance. They cost more, require larger and more expensive lenses, and tend to be somewhat less responsive to fast action outside of the top product tiers.
If you've settled on full-frame, the two chief competitors are Canon and Nikon. Canon is a bigger company with a wider, more modern, and more readily available lens line, but it also tends to have more rigid product segmentation that can leave lower camera bodies wanting for some features. If you can swing the cost, both companies produce products capable of almost any photographic endeavor.
Among Canon's full-frame line, the choice is between an old new-stock 5D II, 6D, and 5D III. The 5D III is a faster body with extras like dual card slots that professionals appreciate. It also has a dramatically superior AF system for motion tracking and automatic AF point selection. Given that f/2.8 full-frame zoom lenses start at over $1000, the 6D's $800 price advantage over the 5D III on sale isn't enormous in the larger scheme. Something to consider if your subjects move a lot. The 5D II is fine if discounted 20% relative to the 6D; at the same price, I'd take the 6D for the new sensor, silent shutter, and Auto-ISO.
* If you have a Canon Rebel DSLR before the T4i:
Yes, if you're willing to trade comparatively cheap and small EF-S lenses for stellar noise performance, a bright viewfinder, superior low-light focusing, and a rear control dial, among the 6D's other enhancements.
* If you have a Rebel T4i, 60D, or 7D:
Same as above, but you're also trading speed and motion tracking, and the 6D doesn't gain as much in usability. A 60D isn't far removed from this 6D in feel. The 7D is a league apart: a league of amphetamines. If you want speed, low noise, and even better AF tracking, the 5D III is your body.
* If you have a 5D II:
No, if you're shooting predominately raw. There's little functionality in the 6D that can't be added to the 5D II and the bodies are very similar in capability. The exception is very low-light shooting. Moonlight, street-shooting at night, or star trails that benefit from locking onto a faint point source to set infinity will all be easier on a 6D, and the extra noise performance doesn't hurt. You're likely to miss the 5D II's AF joystick.
IN SUM:
I like this camera body. Stills image quality is extraordinary, and for that purpose, there's little to fault. Taken in isolation, the 6D is an enormously capable and polished photographic instrument, and $600 less than the 5D II was in 2008.
The quibbles appear when you consider it in the context of the larger market. It's an expensive camera with many of the same faults and limitations that were laboriously documented in the 5D II four years ago. The competition hasn't been resting on laurels; quality control aside, Nikon's D600 is more capable in many ways and similarly priced. I'd still choose Canon on the strength of the Canon system, but others may find greater value elsewhere.
This camera has top-tier image quality in a polished, compact package well-suited to travel. Those upgrading from a 5D II or 7D may prefer the sharp response and focusing performance of the 5D III. Buyers without an investment in the Canon system may find Nikon's D600 a better value.
I've finally had enough of a hands-on with this camera to draw some conclusions about it. My main body is a 5D II and I've owned or used almost all of Canon's crop bodies.
HANDLING AND NEW FEATURES:
Build quality on first impression is similar to the 60D and 5D II. Solid enough, with a slightly narrower grip than most previous Canon bodies, those two inclusive, but still comfortable to my large hands. This body is petite for full-frame, about 10% smaller by volume than the 5D II and 15% under the 5D III. Weight is similarly svelte, below every 5D and the 7D, and about even with the 60D. The larger cameras will balance a bit better with heavy lenses; this 6D will be the preferable travel body by a small margin.
New relative to the 5D II are improved weather sealing and a much-appreciated mode dial lock. It's not clear how comprehensive the sealing is; I still wouldn't take it in the rain, and very few non-L Canon lenses are weatherproof. The LCD screen has a fatter aspect ratio and somewhat better contrast. As seems to be the new Canon norm, the 6D has mushy buttons that activate at some indeterminate point.
Novel, however, is the button layout. The top panel retains the 60D's configuration of four buttons, each with one function. The 5D series, 7D, and prior XXD models have three buttons with two functions per. You lose direct adjustment of flash exposure compensation and white balance, but frankly, most people will find this simplified layout preferable. I still forget which dial controls which function on my 5D II. The rear panel looks superficially like the 60D with the same right-hand bias, though the functionality has been shifted around. A mitigating factor is that, as on the 7D, 60D, and subsequent bodies, you can bind custom functions to many buttons. I didn't find it a major trial to adapt from the 5D II, but you'll definitely want to spend a few days with it before you have to work under pressure. Rebel owners will find the adjustment more significant.
This 6D has a single SD card slot. The 5D II uses CF, which is rapidly becoming the purview of only high-end bodies. CF is faster, harder to lose, and costs more. SD is fast enough for a body in this speed class. This is nonfactor unless you have a sizeable collection of the opposing format. The 5D III has a dual slot that can speed some workflows and provide media redundancy.
Like all Canon full-frame DSLRs, this body doesn't have a popup flash. I'm not lamenting the absence, it was a bone to casual shooters more than a serious tool. Max sync speed for most Canon bodies is around 1/200, so integrated flash only works for outdoor fill with narrow apertures. Indoors as a main light source, the tiny size and close proximity to the lens lead to red eyes and a flat, unflattering high-contrast look. A much preferable setup for any Canon DSLR pairs a 430EX or 580EX, ideally diffused or aimed to bounce off a nearby surface.
Shutter lag now rivals the 5D III and 40D-7D, a few ticks quicker than the 5D II and any of the Rebels. This responsiveness bodes well for the first shot. Later shots come at 4.5 fps, a rate ideal for candids, but not for sports. The 5D II and III are respectively worse (3.9 fps) and better (6 fps). Of greater interest: like the 5D III, the 6D now has a 'silent' shooting mode that lowers the volume and pitch of the mirror clunk by half. Every wedding I've ever shot would have benefited from that.
The screen interface follows the mold of every Canon body since the 40D. It has a series of horizontal tabs with options. The major UI change is that instead of 9 tabs that also scroll vertically, you get 15 that don't. The advantage is that you can rapidly wheel through tabs and see everything there is to see without scrolling; the disadvantage is that it looks intimidating and there are multiple tab groups of the same icon. The 'Creative' modes show every tab. Some are hidden in Program and Auto modes. We've come full-circle since the original 5D, which had a handful of tabs and piles of scrolling.
A major new feature also common to the 5D III is a better implementation of Auto-ISO. It's often the case in changing light where you want to shoot a lens wide open for subject isolation, but with a fixed or minimum shutter speed so you won't risk motion or hand blur. On the 5D II, that was a no-go; Auto-ISO didn't work in Manual mode, and the minimum shutter chosen in the other modes was too low. This camera will do Auto-ISO in M between any lower and upper bound you choose. Or you can set a minimum shutter for Av or P mode. Wonderful and overdue, this.
Some other new features are worthy of note. They've added a single-axis level that's useful for landscapes and architecture. The GPS feature will tag images with a location and can also keep a constant breadcrumb position log (at significant cost to battery life) that you can layer on a map later. And they've added wireless networking, so you can control the camera by smartphone or laptop with a live video feed. I can do that with my 5D II, but it requires a cable or USB-wireless converter dongle. In theory, you can also upload to Facebook by way of a Canon bridge website, but I didn't test this.
AUTOFOCUS:
AF is a marginal improvement over the 5D II. Performance and customizability are somewhat better, but usability suffers.
First, context: unlike a phone, point-and-shoot, or mirrorless body, DSLRs don't use the image sensor ("contrast detect") to focus for still photography through the viewfinder. That means you don't get face detection or any sort of scene recognition at all. Instead, you've got a handful of 'AF points' in a diamond configuration. Each point covers a tiny area of the frame. If you let the camera choose the point, it'll pick whichever is sitting on a contrasting edge (i.e., a clear dark/light edge; anything that isn't a flat color). Maybe that'll be an eye. It could just as easily be a button. The first major habit to acquire with a DSLR is picking your own focus points. The easier that is, the faster you can accurately shoot.
On the 5D II, there's a joystick on the back to individually select any of the 9 AF points with a single click. The phase sensor has 6 invisible AF-assist points to help track motion. Minimum light to focus with the center cross-point is -0.5 EV; in my case, that translated to an exposure of 1/50, f/2, ISO 25600 with a 100/2. Very dim, but not impossible to see and not out of the ISO capacity of this body or certainly the 6D. Shooting by moonlight or dim exterior lighting could benefit from greater AF sensitivity.
The 6D excels in this area. The center point is rated to -3 EV, a full 2.5 stops below the 5D II and is, in theory, at least a stop under any other Canon DSLR. There's essentially no handheld exposure, even with an f/1.4 or f/1.2 lens, for which this camera won't catch focus. But it's missing the 5D II's joystick; you have to awkwardly shift your thumb further down to use a less precise 8-way rocker panel. If you choose not to bind AF to the shutter button, you'll wear out that digit in a hurry. Also, the system now has 11 AF points (with no additional coverage), so you can't directly select the two outer points anymore.
As to motion tracking, the 6D's AF diagram suggests it may also have 6 or 8 AF-assist points. The manual doesn't say, and if they exist, they're not selectable. Either way, the same rules from the 5D II apply: if you're tracking a high-contrast object centered in the viewfinder in decent light, it works well enough. All bets are off if you need to rely on the outer points. Likewise for using the outer points with wide-aperture lenses; they don't always hit. You'll want to take a lot of safety shots if focus is critical.
There are a few new custom functions to fine-tune AI Servo. As with the 5D II, the 6D supports AF microadjustment, though now with separate settings for the wide and long ends of zoom lenses. Also interesting is the ability to link the AF point with camera orientation; helpful if you're switching from portrait to landscape repeatedly.
To the extent it's possible to narrow a wide array of AF characteristics to a 10-point scale, here's how I'd subjectively rate Canon's various bodies:
Center point / Outer points / Motion tracking | Body
9 / 9 / 9 | 5D III
6 / 6 / 7 | 7D
6 / 5 / 5 | 40D/50D/60D/T4i/T5i
8 / 3 / 4 | 6D
6 / 3 / 4 | 5D II
6 / 3 / 3 | T2i/T3i/SL1
Some scenarios will show greater disparities than these numbers suggest. A 6D in very dim light may well catch focus where every other body on this list fails. Likewise, very fast or erratic objects may flummox every camera here but the 5D III. I've ranked the 5D III's center point higher because, while it can't match the 6D in moonlight, it has significantly higher accuracy and consistency with recent Canon lenses.
STILLS IMAGE QUALITY:
Excellent. Per-pixel sharpness is very high and superior to crop bodies-- par for the course for a full-frame sensor near this pixel density. Dynamic range is similar to the 5D II and 5D III. Noise performance in raw is a third-stop better than the 5D III, one stop ahead of the 5D II, and a little over 2 stops past the T2i/T3i/60D/7D. I'd run this body to ISO 12,800 without much thought. Colors at low ISO are indistinguishable from any other Canon DSLR.
Shadow noise has improved over earlier bodies. A common shooting technique is to meter for highlights and raise the shadows in post to make darker details visible, the manual equivalent of Canon's 'Auto Lighting Optimizer'. Boosting the shadows with a 5D II eventually reveals banding patterns and a blue cast. The 5D III fixes the banding, but retains the color cast. The 6D doesn't have either. While Nikon still holds a narrow lead on this point, 6D files are cleaner than every other Canon body save the 1D X.
To get the most out of this DSLR, you'll want to shoot raw. Raw lets you defer decisions (e.g., white balance, sharpening, noise reduction, color, distortion, tone curves, exposure, and so on) that distract from catching whatever moment you're after. Adjustments to raw files in post are vastly more flexible than the Picture Styles that control the 6D's JPEG engine. Those provide only rudimentary adjustments to tone, sharpening, and color.
With challenging lighting (mixed white balance, high or low dynamic range, or changing light), Picture Styles can give a suboptimal result, complicated in part by metering. In low-dynamic-range scenarios (e.g., a cloudy day), 'evaluative metering' tends to give a dull, low-contrast picture. With a high DR scene (e.g., a sunny day with deep shadows), blown highlights and clipped shadows will be exacerbated by a high-contrast Picture Style set for the earlier scene.
If you're careful configuring the body and the stars align, you can get decent JPEG output and forego work in post, but I consider a fast computer and a photo management system like Adobe Lightroom to be less complements than necessities.
LENSES:
I want to segue into this section because it's entwined with image quality. Comparing full-frame and crop isn't quite apples to apples. It's much easier to find crop lenses with good edge performance. Canon's current full-frame DSLRs make hash of almost all the mid-range variable-aperture zooms they've released over the years. I was pleased with my 28-135/3.5-5.6 IS on my 40D. Very consistent sharpness across the frame, even wide open. On full-frame, the same lens falls down. Poor edge performance, lots of aberrations.
Expect to pay 30-100% more on glass to feed this camera relative to EF-S lenses. Full-frame L glass costs a mint, but most of the third-party wide to mid-focal lenses don't emphasize edge performance. I've used a 14/2.8, 17-40/4, 16-35/2.8 II, 24-105/4, 100/2, and 200/2.8 among others. The latter two are stellar across the frame, as is the Samyang ultrawide. The 24-105/4L, 17-40/4L, and 16-35/2.8L II are merely good. None perform that well in the corners at wide apertures. Older wide-angles like the 17-35/2.8 fare even worse.
What should your kit be? Some considerations:
* Primes are lighter, smaller, cheaper, often available in wider apertures, often optically better, and have less manufacturing variation. They're less convenient, less versatile, updated with new technologies (e.g., stabilization, better lens coatings, weight reductions, faster or more accurate AF) less often, and can cause you to miss shots in fast-paced shooting environments.
* There are different requirements for movie lenses and still lenses. No Canon full-frame zooms are optimal for movies. Some are more optimal than others (e.g., less focus breathing, more parfocal, less distortion, smoother operation, distance scale). Primes often fare better.
* An f/2.8 lens on this body is just fast enough for most indoor use without flash. You'll want a flash for anything slower. A flash can provide more even, pleasing pictures, at the expense of a bulkier, attention-attracting rig.
* Kits with more than three primary lenses can become unwieldy in use. Two are preferable. My walkaround kit is a 16-35/2.8 and a 100/2, or a 24-105/4 alone if I expect to shoot movies. Professional event shooters tend to rely on the 16-35/2.8, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8, and faster primes like the 85/1.2 as necessary.
* Third-party lenses tend to have less upfront cost, better warranties, and more aggressive designs. AF and optical performance is often (but not always) inferior to OEM lenses, quality control is less consistent, and resale values are lower. Value varies by lens model. Some are better than the OEM equivalents (e.g., Tamron 70-300 VC, Sigma 35/1.4). Some fill holes in the OEM lineup (e.g., Sigma 120-300/2.8 OS). And some are lesser substitutes, but still competitive (e.g., Sigma 70-200/2.8 OS, Tamron 70-200/2.8 VC). Third-party lenses that duplicate the OEM with similar performance may not always be preferable to used copies of the OEM model.
VIDEO:
Out of the box, 6D video has five characteristics: lovely depth-of-field-control with the right lenses, clipped colors, high contrast, about 720p worth of actual detail at the 1080p setting, and issues with aliasing and moiré common to most Canon DSLRs. Moiré (false coloring and an interference pattern on subjects with repeating fine detail) in particular is more noticeable than with the 5D II and well behind the 5D III.
There are a few improvements over the 5D II. Canon has added time code support for better synchronization of events in post and superior on-camera editing controls. We now have 720p/50 and 720p/60 to complement the 1080p/25 and 1080p/30 modes. The compression algorithm is better, as is noise performance, and there's a slightly superior (though still quite slow) contrast-detect focusing algorithm.
Unbelievably, Canon still hasn't included focusing aids for manual focus. It's very difficult to judge focus from the LCD screen without overshooting and undershooting. Professionals that have to focus on the fly use a magnifier that sits on top of the LCD or rely on focusing aids in Magic Lantern, a third-party piggyback firmware available for the 5D II (but not yet for the 6D). For that reason alone, video here remains very much a professional feature.
In terms of post-processing flexibility, Canon EOS video is like shooting JPEG, but worse because the H.264 video codec throws away even more unseen data. You have none of the lossless adjustability of raw, so it's pivotal to lower contrast to preserve detail in the highlights and shadows, dial back the colors to prevent clipping, and lower sharpening so you can add it back in post without causing nasty artifacts. You do that by setting the correct white balance in advance and by creating or downloading a custom tone curve with low contrast, color, and sharpening. The latter won't affect your stills if you shoot in raw, so you can cater it solely to video.
Camera shake is another issue. If you're going to shoot without a tripod or Steadicam rig, get a stabilized lens. In fact, just buy the 24-105/4L IS. No other lens has the combination of size, weight, edge performance, range, stabilization, consistent aperture, speed, and partial parfocal (holding focus through the zoom range) ability.
The next best choice might be something like the Tamron 24-70/2.8 VC or Canon's upcoming 24-70/4L IS. Anything over 50mm that isn't stabilized will challenge your ability to record smooth footage. You can fix that later by transcoding to an editable format and using the anti-shake facilities of Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, or Virtual Dub with Deshaker, but that's a pain and they all crop the frame. Start with stabilization from the outset and save yourself the bother.
Stabilized lenses cause a new problem: the IS system is audible on the audio track. It's obvious with the 70-200/4L IS, noticeable with the 24-105/4L IS, and a background hum with the 70-200/2.8L IS I/II. That's in addition to dial clicks, finger movement, and wind noise, which obscure what would be fairly mediocre sound quality in the best case. The 6D records CD-quality 48 KHz 16-bit stereo tracks; the fault is with the internal monaural mic and amplifier. The simplest, most portable solution is to attach an external battery-powered mic to the flash hotshoe. The two most popular are around $250 from Rode. Zoom's H1 stereo recorder is a cheaper, more versatile alternative that can also be camera-mounted.
ACCESSORIES:
For video, buy SD cards 32 GB or larger. My pair of 16 GB cards have been inadequate for even a one-day event. Choose SanDisk. I've never had a SanDisk card of any size fail, they maintain higher resale value than other brands, and they tend to write somewhat faster than competitors with the same speed rating.
Interface responsiveness isn't much affected by card speed. Faster cards have three advantages: they can shoot longer bursts at 4.5 FPS, clear the picture buffer more quickly, and fulfill Canon's write speed requirement of 20 MB/s to record video at the highest quality. Buffer depth is 17 raw files with a UHS-1 ('Ultra High Speed') SD and 14 with a conventional card. Buffer cycling times are much lower with UHS-1. In one-shot mode, this difference is invisible; very fast cards would only make sense if you were time-limited on card-to-computer transfers with a USB 3.0, SATA, or Firewire card reader.
If you buy protection filters for your lenses, try Hoya's "DMC PRO1 Clear Protector Digital" line. They have very high light transmission and don't cause visible flare. Digital sensors filter UV natively, there's no reason to pay more for that feature. I've written reviews on the relevant Hoya product pages with more details and why you might (or might not) want a filter.
Third-party batteries are hit or miss. The 6D won't read the charge capacity of many LP-E6 copies that worked fine with earlier bodies. STK has a battery chipped specifically for this camera that's worth considering. Compatibility aside, Canon OEM batteries tend to retain more charge capacity for a longer period. Your call whether that's worth five times the price.
NIKON D600 VS 6D:
(+) Focus tracking
(+) Focuses with f/8 lenses vs. f/5.6 (e.g., f/5.6 lens + 1.4X TC)
(+) 24 vs 20 MP
(+) Shadow noise at low-ISO
(+) 5.5 vs 4.5 fps
(+) Dual-SD slots
(+) DX crop mode
(+) Headphone monitoring port
(+) Pop-up flash
(+) More physical controls
(+) Auto-ISO even better
(-) No GPS
(-) No Wifi
(-) Center-point focus in very low light
(-) Noise at high-ISO
(-) Live View mode more limited
(-) Larger, heavier
(-) Early copies were prone to accumulating sensor cruft
On balance, while the 6D is a fine evolution of two older bodies (the 5D II and the 60D), the D600 is a simply a tier above in specification. The two brands give and take on the system level; Canon has a better service department and an edge with telephoto zooms and tilt-shift. Nikon has the best wide-angle zoom available on any mount. Consider the cost of your likely kit before judging by body prices.
SHOULD YOU BUY A 6D?
* If you're new to DSLRs:
Yes, with caveats. DSLRs give you lens flexibility, subject isolation, better low-light performance, and potentially superior motion tracking. They're also bulky, expensive, a suboptimal design for video, and inconsistent in the point-and-shoot modes. Mirrorless designs are more compact, easier to use, and better for video, but not as capable for stills or movement. Prosumer single-lens cameras are smaller, much cheaper, and with jack-of-all-trades functionality that less demanding users may find preferable.
Relative to crop DSLRs, full-frame bodies like the 6D give you better low-light performance. They cost more, require larger and more expensive lenses, and tend to be somewhat less responsive to fast action outside of the top product tiers.
If you've settled on full-frame, the two chief competitors are Canon and Nikon. Canon is a bigger company with a wider, more modern, and more readily available lens line, but it also tends to have more rigid product segmentation that can leave lower camera bodies wanting for some features. If you can swing the cost, both companies produce products capable of almost any photographic endeavor.
Among Canon's full-frame line, the choice is between an old new-stock 5D II, 6D, and 5D III. The 5D III is a faster body with extras like dual card slots that professionals appreciate. It also has a dramatically superior AF system for motion tracking and automatic AF point selection. Given that f/2.8 full-frame zoom lenses start at over $1000, the 6D's $800 price advantage over the 5D III on sale isn't enormous in the larger scheme. Something to consider if your subjects move a lot. The 5D II is fine if discounted 20% relative to the 6D; at the same price, I'd take the 6D for the new sensor, silent shutter, and Auto-ISO.
* If you have a Canon Rebel DSLR before the T4i:
Yes, if you're willing to trade comparatively cheap and small EF-S lenses for stellar noise performance, a bright viewfinder, superior low-light focusing, and a rear control dial, among the 6D's other enhancements.
* If you have a Rebel T4i, 60D, or 7D:
Same as above, but you're also trading speed and motion tracking, and the 6D doesn't gain as much in usability. A 60D isn't far removed from this 6D in feel. The 7D is a league apart: a league of amphetamines. If you want speed, low noise, and even better AF tracking, the 5D III is your body.
* If you have a 5D II:
No, if you're shooting predominately raw. There's little functionality in the 6D that can't be added to the 5D II and the bodies are very similar in capability. The exception is very low-light shooting. Moonlight, street-shooting at night, or star trails that benefit from locking onto a faint point source to set infinity will all be easier on a 6D, and the extra noise performance doesn't hurt. You're likely to miss the 5D II's AF joystick.
IN SUM:
I like this camera body. Stills image quality is extraordinary, and for that purpose, there's little to fault. Taken in isolation, the 6D is an enormously capable and polished photographic instrument, and $600 less than the 5D II was in 2008.
The quibbles appear when you consider it in the context of the larger market. It's an expensive camera with many of the same faults and limitations that were laboriously documented in the 5D II four years ago. The competition hasn't been resting on laurels; quality control aside, Nikon's D600 is more capable in many ways and similarly priced. I'd still choose Canon on the strength of the Canon system, but others may find greater value elsewhere.
Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens
For the cost of this camera, I don't think you can get anything better. The low light performance is off the charts. As a wedding photographer I regularly shoot with Nikon's high end professional equipment and I was amazed how close this camera is to a pro camera. Now let me get specific. In order to compare I took a look at 100% files out of each camera I own.
Which camera excels Nikon D3100($Cheap) VS. D300($1600) VS. D700 ($2,700):
* Lens = The D3100 is the only camera that comes with a lens at it's normal price
* ISO Performance = Tie between D3100 and D700! (It could be Nikon's new processing but the JPEG looks fantastic I was shooting D3100 on 6400iso with very little noise at all)
* Low Light Focusing = D700
* Focus Speed = D700
* External Buttons & Controls for Pros = D700
* Menu Navigation = D3100
* Ease of Use = D3100
* Megapixel = D3100 (14.2)
* Sensor size = D700 (Much more important than megapixels but I won't get into this)
* Can use older lenses with functionality = D700 & D300
* Video = D3100 of course! 1080P video looks amazing.
* Frame Rate = D300 at 6 photos a second
* Weight = D3100 (light as a feather)
* Ergonomics = D700 (big enough for all my finger)
Lens:
The lens is a kit lens, it will work outside but not so great in low light. The Vibration Reduction will help indoors but Vibration Reduction can't stop a child or pet in motion indoors. Consider buying a 35mm 1.8dx AFS for around $200 and you will be super happy with this camera.
Video:
I purchased the 3100 specifically to shoot video, so I put on Nikon's brand new 85mm 1.4g Nano lens and shot video with it. The lens costs more than double the camera but I wanted to see how the 1080P video looked. It has the look of a cinematic movie. After the 85mm, I put on Nikon's 50 1.2 manual focus lens and was able to take very cinematic video in manual mode. In order to make it brighter or darker you either need to use a really old lens like the 50mm 1.2 and hit the AE-L (auto exposure lock) and twist the aperture to change exposure. Or you can hit the AE-L button when you get the exposure you like. Its not a perfect system but it works well for me. Inside the menu options you can change the AE-L button to hold the setting until you reset which is helpful.
Jello Cam (What's not so great):
This camera still suffers from the "Jello Cam" look in video if it is not on a tripod and you are shaky. The video can look like jello if moved too quickly. Use a monopod or tripod when shooting to avoid this. I'm not sure if a faster video frame rate 60fps would help - but at 24 and 30 it can suffer badly.
Conclusion:
This is an amazing deal! Unless you make most of your income from photography or have a stockpile of old lenses (this camera can only autofocus with AFS lenses) then this camera is the must have camera of the year. If you have good composition skills and an eye for light you can take photos worthy of a magazine with this. Seriously, you won't regret buying this camera. When you do, do yourself a favor and buy an additional Nikon AFS lens that has a maximum aperture of 2.8, 1.8 or 1.4. These lenses will take better portraits and deal better in low light than the kit lens.
More info, click ---> http://amzn.to/1lbKOMM
Which camera excels Nikon D3100($Cheap) VS. D300($1600) VS. D700 ($2,700):
* Lens = The D3100 is the only camera that comes with a lens at it's normal price
* ISO Performance = Tie between D3100 and D700! (It could be Nikon's new processing but the JPEG looks fantastic I was shooting D3100 on 6400iso with very little noise at all)
* Low Light Focusing = D700
* Focus Speed = D700
* External Buttons & Controls for Pros = D700
* Menu Navigation = D3100
* Ease of Use = D3100
* Megapixel = D3100 (14.2)
* Sensor size = D700 (Much more important than megapixels but I won't get into this)
* Can use older lenses with functionality = D700 & D300
* Video = D3100 of course! 1080P video looks amazing.
* Frame Rate = D300 at 6 photos a second
* Weight = D3100 (light as a feather)
* Ergonomics = D700 (big enough for all my finger)
Lens:
The lens is a kit lens, it will work outside but not so great in low light. The Vibration Reduction will help indoors but Vibration Reduction can't stop a child or pet in motion indoors. Consider buying a 35mm 1.8dx AFS for around $200 and you will be super happy with this camera.
Video:
I purchased the 3100 specifically to shoot video, so I put on Nikon's brand new 85mm 1.4g Nano lens and shot video with it. The lens costs more than double the camera but I wanted to see how the 1080P video looked. It has the look of a cinematic movie. After the 85mm, I put on Nikon's 50 1.2 manual focus lens and was able to take very cinematic video in manual mode. In order to make it brighter or darker you either need to use a really old lens like the 50mm 1.2 and hit the AE-L (auto exposure lock) and twist the aperture to change exposure. Or you can hit the AE-L button when you get the exposure you like. Its not a perfect system but it works well for me. Inside the menu options you can change the AE-L button to hold the setting until you reset which is helpful.
Jello Cam (What's not so great):
This camera still suffers from the "Jello Cam" look in video if it is not on a tripod and you are shaky. The video can look like jello if moved too quickly. Use a monopod or tripod when shooting to avoid this. I'm not sure if a faster video frame rate 60fps would help - but at 24 and 30 it can suffer badly.
Conclusion:
This is an amazing deal! Unless you make most of your income from photography or have a stockpile of old lenses (this camera can only autofocus with AFS lenses) then this camera is the must have camera of the year. If you have good composition skills and an eye for light you can take photos worthy of a magazine with this. Seriously, you won't regret buying this camera. When you do, do yourself a favor and buy an additional Nikon AFS lens that has a maximum aperture of 2.8, 1.8 or 1.4. These lenses will take better portraits and deal better in low light than the kit lens.
More info, click ---> http://amzn.to/1lbKOMM
Canon EOS 70D 20.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with Dual Pixel CMOS AF (Body Only)
This is going to be short, since I've not had the chance to do a whole lot of shooting as yet. Consider it a "just out of the box" impression. I already have a Canon 5D Mk III, and a number of L series lenses. I wanted a "backup camera" for video shooting, and I was intrigued by the new auto-focus system offered on the 70D.
So far, I'm extremely pleased with this camera. The 18-35 mm kit lens gives a lot of range, and I tested the camera out with my other lenses. The L series lenses work very well, and auto-focusing is fast, smooth, and doesn't search around much even in very low light. The camera is not as heavy as the 5D Mk III, but feels solid enough, and not all that different in the hands. Even with the 70-300mm f4-5.6L IS USM zoom - my heaviest lens at the moment - the camera feels surprisingly balanced.
The crop sensor obviously changes the effect of the lenses, but having a full sensor and a crop sensor both, it's like having 2 sets of lenses. My 70-300mm zoom now has an effective reach up to 480 mm (on the Canon 70D) due to the crop factor of 1.6. To me, this is kind of a bonus, though not in itself a reason to buy the camera. Smaller sized sensors result in an apparent increase in focal length, and a greater depth of field, but this is a generalization and each lens has its own properties that affect the image as well. Read the reviews of individual lenses when considering how each one reacts to different types of camera bodies.
The main thing to take note of is that while the Canon 70D will accept all the EF and EF-L lenses, it is designed to use the EF-S series lenses as well. In fact, the EF-S series lenses are custom tailored specifically for the Canon 70D and (as far as I know) other APS-C crop sensor cameras made by Canon. These lenses - and the kit lens is one of them - will not work on a full frame camera like the Canon 5D mkIII; the rear element extends back into the camera body in a way that makes it impossible to attach lenses of this series to full frame sensor cameras. Even if they could be attached, I suspect the captured image might suffer from serious vignetting and other problems.
For a thorough understanding of how the APS-C, full frame and other types of sensors interact with various lenses, I highly recommend doing some research on the web. There's a lot of good information out there, and this is a fairly involved subject that I don't even want to attempt to dive into here :)
One thing I couldn't figure out before having the camera in my possession deserves a mention. This is my first experience with a fold-out LCD screen on a DSLR, and I had no idea how the display would deal with flipping around 180 degrees. Would it be upside down? This was the first thing I tried, and the screen auto-flips when it is rotated. Maybe everyone else already knows this - but I didn't! Anyway, the fold-out display is a great feature, and it also folds face-in to protect the display when not in use.
The ability to touch various points on the LCD display while in Live View or shooting video, and shift focus while shooting is - to me at least - worth the price of admission. If Canon eventually updates the 7D and/or the 5D Mk III, this functionality would be most welcome!
Purely as a "gut reaction" - I really like the 70D immensely. And it seems a very good value for the price. This may actually become my preferred "walk-around camera, though time will tell.
EDIT - 10/22/2013: I've spent a lot more time with the camera now, so I can add to my earlier comments.
While I purchased the 70D mainly for shooting video, I recently used it to shoot bracketed exposures for HDR (high dynamic range) panoramas. A friend of mine had a nodal camera head (The "Ninja" head) which allowed for precise rotation of the camera to cover a full 360 degree field-of-view. The Canon 70D allows for up to 7 bracketed exposures via the AEB controls. The plates were shot in the RAW (CR2) format, using the kit lens, and stitched together using PTGui software.
After some initial trial runs, where we ironed out the kinks in the whole process, the results were exceptional. For those who may be wondering "why do you want a 32 bit HDR 360 panorama at 10k-16k resolution?" it is used to create realistic lighting and reflections in a 3D/CG software (i.e. Modo or Maya, for example). The 3D scene can be lit entirely by the 360 panoramic image, producing a very convincing result.
At any rate, the Canon 70D delivered terrific results doing something I didn't even foresee when I bought the camera. I will try and upload some of the tests (where the photographic panorama serves as both background and light-source) if I can figure out how to do so on the Amazon site.
EDIT - 11/9/2013: A note to anyone who intends to shoot green screen (for color keyed composites) or do precise color grading in post production: The video output from the 70D is not YCbCr 4:2:2 compression. This is not apparent to the naked eye when viewing the video footage, but it becomes an issue when attempting to work with the footage in a post environment. The firmware update for the Canon 5D addressed this problem by enabling 4:2:2 color output via the HDMI port to an external recording device (I use the Atomos Ninja 2 for this) but currently uncompressed "clean" HDMI is not enabled on the Canon 70D. I have my fingers crossed this will be dealt with in an update to the firmware.
This is not a huge issue unless you intend to do extensive manipulation of your video footage in post production, but it is something to consider with this camera and DSLRs in general. There are workarounds, of course, but that can entail a fair amount of time & effort, particularly when extracting color key mattes (masks) involving fine edge detail or areas of transparency.
That being said, the footage is nevertheless beautiful. And I suspect this technical point should not be an issue for most people considering buying the Canon 70D. The CR2 (camera raw) files are not at all affected by this, it's a factor limited to the HD video.
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Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Camera)
The Canon Rebel T3i takes the consumer level dSLR a couple steps closer to the mid-level Canon 60D with the addition of the rotating rear LCD screen, remote flash firing, and in-camera processing features. The already highly competent, older Rebel T2i already shared many important features with the 60D (and even features of the semi-pro 7D) including the 18 MP sensor, 63-zone exposure metering system, high ISO performance, HD movie capabilities, and Digic 4 image processor. With these new upgrades, it might make it even more difficult to choose between them. But there are some important differences.
If you are considering the Rebel T3i vs T2i, the Rebel T3i is replacing the T2i. Since both cameras share the same 18 megapixel sensor and Digic 4 processor, both the T2i and T3i will create images with exactly the same image quality, produce the same low light/ high ISO performance, shoot at 3.7 frames per second, and have nearly the same size and build quality. They are both offered with the same 18-55mm kit lens (with some minor cosmetic differences on the new T3i kit lens). The T3i is very slightly larger and heavier due to the addition of the rotating rear LCD monitor. And that is one of the biggest differences between the two cameras. Do you want and need a vari-angle rear screen or not? The other major difference is the ability of the T3i to remotely control multiple off-camera flashes. Like the 60D and 7D, you can use the built-in flash of the T3i to trigger other Canon Speedlites. Some other minor additions to the T3i include the Scene Intelligent Auto Mode, which is a feature borrowed from point and shoot cameras. When in Auto mode, the T3i will make a determination of what type of scene you are shooting - close-up, portrait, landscape, etc. - and automatically configure the camera settings accordingly. However, if you want to use a powerful and costly digital SLR as a point and shoot, you should probably save the money and just buy a nice, high quality point and shoot like the Canon S95. Other additional but not essential upgrades include the in-camera processing Creative Filters, and the ability to choose different image size ratios and to rate your images. (Helpful hint: press the Q Button while in image playback and you can access features like rating, rotating, and Creative Filters.) There is also a marginally helpful Feature Guide which gives brief descriptions of various settings and some additional video features like Video Snapshot, which you can use to shoot short video clips that are automatically joined together into a video, with music.
More info, http://amzn.to/1jkpoIM
If you are considering the Rebel T3i vs T2i, the Rebel T3i is replacing the T2i. Since both cameras share the same 18 megapixel sensor and Digic 4 processor, both the T2i and T3i will create images with exactly the same image quality, produce the same low light/ high ISO performance, shoot at 3.7 frames per second, and have nearly the same size and build quality. They are both offered with the same 18-55mm kit lens (with some minor cosmetic differences on the new T3i kit lens). The T3i is very slightly larger and heavier due to the addition of the rotating rear LCD monitor. And that is one of the biggest differences between the two cameras. Do you want and need a vari-angle rear screen or not? The other major difference is the ability of the T3i to remotely control multiple off-camera flashes. Like the 60D and 7D, you can use the built-in flash of the T3i to trigger other Canon Speedlites. Some other minor additions to the T3i include the Scene Intelligent Auto Mode, which is a feature borrowed from point and shoot cameras. When in Auto mode, the T3i will make a determination of what type of scene you are shooting - close-up, portrait, landscape, etc. - and automatically configure the camera settings accordingly. However, if you want to use a powerful and costly digital SLR as a point and shoot, you should probably save the money and just buy a nice, high quality point and shoot like the Canon S95. Other additional but not essential upgrades include the in-camera processing Creative Filters, and the ability to choose different image size ratios and to rate your images. (Helpful hint: press the Q Button while in image playback and you can access features like rating, rotating, and Creative Filters.) There is also a marginally helpful Feature Guide which gives brief descriptions of various settings and some additional video features like Video Snapshot, which you can use to shoot short video clips that are automatically joined together into a video, with music.
More info, http://amzn.to/1jkpoIM
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Canon EOS 650D (with lens 18-55mm IS)
Product Features
Style: with 18-55mm EF-S IS II Lens- 18.0 Megapixel CMOS (APS-C) sensor, 14-bit A/D conversion, ISO 100-12800; expandable to 25600 (H) for shooting from bright to dim light and high performance DIGIC 5 Image Processor for exceptional image quality and speed
- High speed continuous shooting up to 5.0 fps allows you to capture all the action
- Improved autofocus performance with a 9-point all cross-type AF system (including a high-precision dual-cross f/2.8 center point), and new Hybrid CMOS AF increases autofocus speed when shooting photos and movies in Live View
- Enhanced EOS Full HD Movie mode with Movie Servo AF for continuous focus tracking of moving subjects, manual exposure control and multiple frame rates (1080: 30p (29.97) / 24p (23.976) / 25p, 720: 60p (59.94) / 50p, 480: 30p (29.97) / 25p)
- New 3.0-inch Vari-angle Touch Screen Clear View LCD monitor II (approximately 1,040,000 dots) with smudge-resistant coating features multi-touch operation and Touch AF for an easy and intuitive experience, flexible positioning, and clear viewing even when outdoors
Buy Canon EOS 650D, click ---> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008O2OS90/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008O2OS90&linkCode=as2&tag=tauhidblo-20
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