A question for the 60D owners

JohnN

JohnN

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Hi all,

Given the good deal available on a 60D + 17-55 at the moment I'm considering selling off my 7D and going with the 60D - I know a downgrade apparently but I suspect the 7D for me is overkill.

I feel the 60D has been out long enough and enough people are actually using them to answer a couple of questions without bringing the theory hammer out and saying what they think it might be like without really knowing, hence why I'm asking you 60D owners rather than all the people who haven't used one.

The main question is:

1) Does the lack of MA really matter? You can see from my sig the lenses I use so hopefully some of you may use some or all so can comment.

Of course I have a couple more questions too:

2) Given the right lens is the 60D AF quick enough for birds in flight or lunatic children running about?
3) Do you have any regrets about the 60D that have sprung up as you've used it?

If any of you have both the 7D and the 60D I would love to hear what you have to say.

Cheers,

John
 
I probably fall into the camp of those you don't want to hear from as I don't 'own' a 60D or a 7D but I have used them both a number of times.

60D - Really looked forward to this camera but it doesn't feel as solid as the 40D or 50D that went before it. It was almost as if Canon couldn't improve the XXD range any further without denting the 7D sales. Apart from the twisty screen - I stuck with with my 40D / 50D.

7D - build quality much better than the 60D but didn't bother changing the 40D / 50D as I didn't find the AF as good as my 1D Mark 2.

I doubt that helps much but there lies my frustration.

Putting aside my reasons for not buying either - for build quality and AF - I would keep the 7D all day long rather than move to a 60D
 
I recently upgraded to a 7D from a 500D and looked at all in between and even a glance at a Nikon. I would have had the 600D or even a 550D over the 60D and been happy with the saving in £ and what they offered spec wise.

The 7D is a different beast and probably to be honest was a bit overkill for my needs but my needs have expanded with its ownership and I would find it really hard to downgrade now.

As for the 60D being quick enough with the right lens yes it is but the 7D makes it easier. I got plenty of shots of BIF, manic kids and 40 mph lurchers even with my 500D this was made easier when I got a 70-300L but it was not impossible with my Tamron 18-270
 
  1. MFA didn't matter at all until three years ago - when it suddenly became essential.
  2. The 7D is a lot better for BiF than the 60D. That would be the main thing to stop me downgrading.
  3. No problems so far.
Oh, and I own both a 7D and a 60D.
 
Cheers Frank

I have to say the AF (2) is the thing I'm most concerned about, however I've since found out that you can use Magic Lantern with the 60D and that brings forth a whole new set of options - the focusing part could be great for macro, a true focus trap for all sorts of things, such as landing birds, BIF (if predictable), and so on.

I think when it arrives (if Tesco honour their deal) I'll have to give it a whirl and compare.

Thanks very much everyone for your comments.
 
JohnN said:
Hi all,

Given the good deal available on a 60D + 17-55 at the moment I'm considering selling off my 7D and going with the 60D - I know a downgrade apparently but I suspect the 7D for me is overkill.

I feel the 60D has been out long enough and enough people are actually using them to answer a couple of questions without bringing the theory hammer out and saying what they think it might be like without really knowing, hence why I'm asking you 60D owners rather than all the people who haven't used one.

The main question is:

1) Does the lack of MA really matter? You can see from my sig the lenses I use so hopefully some of you may use some or all so can comment.

Of course I have a couple more questions too:

2) Given the right lens is the 60D AF quick enough for birds in flight or lunatic children running about?
3) Do you have any regrets about the 60D that have sprung up as you've used it?

If any of you have both the 7D and the 60D I would love to hear what you have to say.

Cheers,

John
Click to expand...
I suspect you're going to get a few 7D owners telling you that you have to be mad to buy a 60D - it's usually what happens on these threads! ;)

It is true that the 7D has a better AF system, however to answer your questions:
  1. I was worried about this, but it hasn't mattered at all to me and I primarily use fast primes. (Although Canon really were cheap to not add this feature IMO)
  2. I haven't tried BIF. Kids are no problem. Cars are no problem. I've found the AF system more than meets my needs.
  3. None at all. I'm very happy with it.
 
Cheers, it should be interesting to see how it works out.

Its funny there have been a couple of times when I thought I could switch to Nikon - just a couple of features, focus trapping (maybe it won't be as good as I think) and maxing auto ISO, with the 60D and magic lantern I can get these things without giving up the rest of my kit.

All I have to compromise is AF speed and MA, I know I won't miss the FPS, I forgot I'd switched it to slow until today when I bumped it to full, then turned it straight back down again...

I have seen a couple of stunning BIF taken with the 60D and to confirm kids not being an issue (at least to photo them anyway :)) is a relief as thats what its really for.
 
Oh, but those are rubbish... lol, kidding - excellent shots, I'm guessing he's using the 400mm 5.6 prime, so no issues on that front at all :D

After you posting that I found someone who has taken some great shots of swallows in flight - having tried (and failed) to get decent shots of those myself I can see that the AF is at least better than my skills at the moment.
 
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If you mean this Tesco deal - 60D + 17-55 2.8 for £999 - it is an unbelievable bargain http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.211-1426.aspx That's £1500 of kit anywhere else. The lens alone is £800 :eek:

I suspect it's a typo and they actually mean the old 17-85 lens kit which is also at the same price. But that's not what it says, nor what's in the picture, and if I had the cash I would buy ten NOW!
 
JohnN said:
Oh, but those are rubbish... lol, kidding - excellent shots, I'm guessing he's using the 400mm 5.6 prime, so no issues on that front at all :D

After you posting that I found someone who has taken some great shots of swallows in flight - having tried (and failed) to get decent shots of those myself I can see that the AF is at least better than my skills at the moment.
Click to expand...

Those Swallow shots are from Bobby Kintanar, the same photographer I linked to (y)
 
I didn't realise, cracking shots and some interesting theories on why the 60D doesn't need Ma
 
Well I just ordered a 60D from Kerso, so soon enough I will know for sure
 
Well, I got a quick play, so no BIF shots yet, but MA seems redundant at first glance, I may miss the control over AF/Servo but I will know better later, also the AF speed seems very quick too, but again its too early to tell.

One thing my wife noticed though was that I keep saying things like "I'll have to get a screen protector", which looks like at some level at the moment I think I'll be keeping it.

Oh the feel is fine though, ignore the people who say its plasticy, it may be make of plastic but it feels like the 7D
 
Interested to read this thread as I'm upgrading and slithering between the two (struck me that the £400 difference might be better put towards quality glass).

Sorry to be really thick, but what are the posts referring to by "MA"?

Thanks,

Alistair
 
Micro adjustment - its a feature that can offset lens that back or front focus, however I have a 100-400 that needs a +3 to get it sharp and the below is on the 60D - looks pretty sharp to me.


Or this one on the 100mm macro which needs a -3



At first glace I would say keep the £400 difference and get the 60D - although if its rubbish for BIF then I may eat humble pie later - oh and this is from a guy who is probably going to sell his 7D now!
 
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Still really hard to judge - bearing in mind I'm still learning the 60D (like I wasn't with the 7d ;)), but on almost every front the 60D is on par with the 7D, but I'm finding my keeper rate has dropped with BiF, mostly because the 7D has a method to make it stick with the subject in focus longer.

MFA doesn't seem to be an issue either, two of my main lenses needed a little adjustment - the 100-400 a +3, the 100mm a -3, both seem better with the 60D than the 7D.

Also worth noting the magic lantern focus trapping seems rubbish, its idea of what is in focus and mine seem distant cousins (like 25 generations removed!!)

At the moment I'm still very much torn, but all that said I've not felt the need to bring the 7D back out of its bag.

One funny thing though is that I've taken some of my favorite pictures in the short time I've had the 60D, such as these:



Also although I think I have an issue with my technique I did bet a couple of BiF shots:


5873153779_0fba4079c5_b.jpg


Now the pigeon shot took a little too long in my eyes to get focus locked (but I was at 1.8m min range so not possibly its fault), the other two seemed like they were a mile away so heavily cropped and the bottom one is a swift and lets say they live up to their name!

I am finding the focus locking harder as on full servo it will lock on then get bored and hunt if I don't manage to keep it perfectly in the middle, but again I think that may be technique or lack thereof.
 
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Interesting thread as I have been in two minds lately about getting a cropped sensor body.
At the moment I own a 1D3 & 5D2 with 100-400 & 300f4 + 1.4 extender. As I cant afford a longer lens, I tried the above lenses on an old 400D and was quite pleased with the subject size on the cropped sensor. What I mean is I can shoot with my existing lenses and wouldn't have to crop as much as with my 5&1 images and still get acceptable results IYKWIM :thinking:
I had a play with a 60D which I quite liked but after using the 5D2 gripped and 1D3 I feel that I would have to buy a grip if I was to go for this. I can't find anywhere locally with a 7D to compare the two bodies.
I'm thinking that the 7D may be the best bet but may be a bit of an overkill.
My main use would be for wildlife & birds as can be seen on my Flickr pages (mike.stephen99)
So So undecided

Mike

BTW, I think the bottom image is a swallow and not a swift. Swifts have a shorter forked tail and don't have the white belly of the swallow.
 
mstphoto said:
My main use would be for wildlife & birds as can be seen on my Flickr pages
Click to expand...

In that case I'd definitley go for the 7D, not for the extra size and weight (which isn't a lot different to the 60D) but for the better AF and more frames per second. Yes, the 60D can take good bird shots, but it's a lot easier with the 7D.
 
mstphoto said:
Interesting thread as I have been in two minds lately about getting a cropped sensor body.
At the moment I own a 1D3 & 5D2 with 100-400 & 300f4 + 1.4 extender. As I cant afford a longer lens, I tried the above lenses on an old 400D and was quite pleased with the subject size on the cropped sensor. What I mean is I can shoot with my existing lenses and wouldn't have to crop as much as with my 5&1 images and still get acceptable results IYKWIM :thinking:
I had a play with a 60D which I quite liked but after using the 5D2 gripped and 1D3 I feel that I would have to buy a grip if I was to go for this. I can't find anywhere locally with a 7D to compare the two bodies.
I'm thinking that the 7D may be the best bet but may be a bit of an overkill.
My main use would be for wildlife & birds as can be seen on my Flickr pages (mike.stephen99)
So So undecided

Mike

BTW, I think the bottom image is a swallow and not a swift. Swifts have a shorter forked tail and don't have the white belly of the swallow.
Click to expand...

Just checking, but the extra 'reach' you get with crop format sensors is not because of their size, but due to their higher pixel density. So you can put more pixels over the subject for a given focal length.

Eg, 5D2 has 21mp, but if you crop that down to a 1.6x format, it still has 8.2mp. So in terms of ultimate reach, it is pretty similar to say a 40D with 10mp.

7D wins here because it has 18mp on a 1.6x format sensor, plus very good AF and a fast frame rate.
 
The subject size is the same whether its shot on Full Frame or 1.3 crop sensor.
By shooting on a 1.6 crop sensor the subject fills more of the sensor so requires less cropping.
This is the point I was trying to put across - I think :thinking:

Mike
 
mstphoto said:
The subject size is the same whether its shot on Full Frame or 1.3 crop sensor.
By shooting on a 1.6 crop sensor the subject fills more of the sensor so requires less cropping.
This is the point I was trying to put across - I think :thinking:

Mike
Click to expand...

(y)
 
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