Canon EOS 70D is our first D-SLR with an integrated phase detection autofocus system. It doesn't need to pass off to contrast detection to verify focus. It can still record video with smooth, fast autofocus, although there is room to improve in dim lighting.
Canon Rebel shooters who want to upgrade from their Rebel bodies but not necessarily need full-frame can use the 20-megapixel camera. It is not as good at video, but it can't beat the Nikon D7100 ($299.99 Amazon).Although the Nikon is slower in Live View mode than the Canon, we found it to be slightly more responsive.
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Features and Design
The Canon 70D is slightly larger than the Rebel T5i ($899.00 Amazon). The 70D measures 4.1 by 5.5 by 3.1 inches and weighs 1.7 pounds, compared with the 3.9-by-5.2-by-3.1-inch, 1.1-pound T5i. The added weight and bulk can be attributed to the addition of physical controls as well as a heavier, more robust pentaprism viewer. Pentaprism viewfinders are a higher quality option than those found in cameras like the T5i.
This solid glass, which is combined with the reflex mirror and the lens' light, directs the light to your eyes. Although it doesn't provide complete-frame coverage, Canon says that the glass shows you about 98 percent. Some information is cut off at edges. Both the Pentax K-5 II ($377.00 Amazon)deliver 100% of the frame directly to your eyes.
The 70D has many controls, as you'd expect of a professional D-SLR. The front of the 70D features a preview button for depth of field at the edge the mount. The top plate has a mode dial located to the left side of the eyepiece. It's locked so press the middle button to lock it.
Below the dial is where you'll find the power switch. The monochrome information LCD is located to the right side of the finder. To the left of it, you will find buttons for adjusting the autofocus mode and drive mode. ISO and the metering patterns are also available. You can adjust the active focal points and shutter speed by pressing a button located in the control panel.
You will find the Menu and Information buttons on the rear. The toggle switch allows you to choose between video and still capture, and an integrated button that toggles Live View. The AF-ON button is located in the upper right hand corner. It activates the focus. (By default, it does this by pressing the shutter half way, but many shooters like to turn that off and use their own control), exposure lock and the button to select one of the 19 focus points.
This button will not work if the focus is set manually to select one point. The 70D doesn't offer as many focus points as the D7100—it has 51 to choose from—but all of the 70D's points are the more precise cross-type; the D7100 only has 15 cross-type points, and they're all bunched in the center of the frame.
A rear control dial is also included with a button to set the center of the dial. In most modes, this dial gives direct access for exposure compensation adjustment. A common feature of Canon SLRs is the Q button. This activates a touch sensitive menu on the rear LCD. This button allows quick controls over shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation. It also activates a touch-sensitive menu on the rear LCD. Although many of these controls are duplicated on the camera, it is nice to see all your options at once.
It has a vari-angle rear LCD. The hinge allows it to swing out towards the side of camera and tilts so that it can be seen with your head above your waist or in front. Touch sensitive, the 3-inch LCD display has a resolution of 1,040k dots. Although the Sony Alpha 77 has a hinged screen, it is not touch-sensitive and does not have a touch screen. The display can be viewed from any angle, however it rises above the viewfinder to allow you to turn the screen and face forward.
The 70D, like the 6D ($1,699.00 Amazon), integrates Wi-Fi. However, there is no GPS as you will find with the 6D or the Sony Alpha 77. It works in the same way as other Canon cameras. You can send photos from your phone or tablet to Canon Wi-Fi printers, scan them to a Canon Wi-Fi printer and view them on DLNA-equipped HDTVs. Or upload to the Web directly.
This requires that the camera be connected to your computer, and you configure any Web services you wish to use through the Canon Image Gateway. Remote control is also possible with the EOS Remote app. The Live View feed will appear on your tablet or phone. You can adjust the exposure compensation, set the focal point and fire the shutter. However, this is it. There's no manual control. Canon has made video recording unavailable when Wi-Fi connectivity is turned on. To use the video record function, you will need to turn off Wi-Fi in the menu.
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Performance, focus, and video
The 70D starts and shoots in about 0.5-second, records a shutter lag that's close to zero in good light, and can fire off shots at 7 frames per second. Continuous shooting is limited to 8 shots at that pace in Raw+JPG mode, with about 7 seconds required to fully write the images to a SanDisk 95MBps memory card. Switching to Raw only extends the capability to 17 shots, and JPG shooters will be able to fire away for 125 images before the rate starts to slow.
The Nikon D7100 takes 0.2 seconds to begin and stop, and the shutter lag is less than 0.01 seconds. The burst speed is slower for Raw and Raw+JPG photography. It can only take 5 frames per second, which is a limit of 5 images. Changing to JPG speeds up the speed to 6 frames per second, but it is only good for 22 shots. The D7100 has a 1.3x crop mode, which is not available in the 70D. This reduces the image resolution but provides edge-to-edge autofocus capabilities and increases the JPG capture speed to 7fps. There are 100 shots before the camera slows down. It captures action better than the 70D, which shoots faster at full resolution and lasts longer.
The optical finder is very fast in focusing. In good lighting conditions, the 70D locks and fires in less than 0.01 seconds. However, this time drops to 1.5 seconds for very dark environments. In good lighting, the D7100 can lock and fire in a matter of seconds. It also manages to focus in dim conditions in a mere 0.9 second.
The 70D stands out from all other D-SLRs by its live view focus speed. The on-sensor phase detection pixels work faster than traditional contrast detector systems. When set to Live View, the 70D can focus under good lighting in 0.4 seconds. This compares to the D7100's 1.7 second focus time. It's difficult to focus in dim light. The 70D wouldn't lock or fire when I tried it with an f/4 lens attached. There wasn't enough light reaching the sensor. Switching to the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM($1,349.00 at Dell) alleviated the issue—focus was confirmed in 1.3 seconds. If you need to focus in dim lighting, fast glasses are the best.
The contrast AF system on the D7100 worked well, although it took 2.5 seconds for the lens to focus in dim light. Sony Alpha 77 is a Full-Time Live View SLR with a dedicated phase detection sensor. It was able to lock focus even in dim lighting, even when attached with a small 18-55mm lens. This took just 1.5 seconds. Although the Alpha 77 does not have an optical viewfinder, it has an excellent rear LCD and an EVF. However, some photographers don't want to be without an optical viewfinder.
You can also use Live View for video. The quick and smooth focus system works well in most circumstances. STM lenses offer silent, smooth focus. The automatic focus changes are slower than normal, mimicking the slow-moving focus effect you'd see in Hollywood films. The 50mm f/1.2L lens has a USM motor. This helps hide the jumpy, stuttering focus effects I have seen on previous Canon D-SLRs such as the T5i. The 70D doesn't have this problem. With the 50mf/1.2L, it is easy to move from one point in focus to the next.
It is truly impressive in terms of video quality. HD video is recorded by the 70D at 1080p30 or 1080p24 resolutions. QuickTime formats can also be used to save HD footage in QuickTime. For any file format, you can select from All-I compression or IPB compression. You can get a remarkable depth of field with the attached lens. The footage looks sharp and crisp. There is some evidence of the rolling shutter effect when panning—this causes the bottom part of the frame to advance more quickly than the top. The internal microphone is good enough for casual recording.
However, if serious video editing is required, an external mic will be needed. The standard 3.5mm connector can be used for this purpose. Levels can be adjusted through the menu. However, there is no headphone jack, so it won't allow you to listen in on the go. The 70D does not support uncompressed HDMI output. If you wish to use the camera with a field recording device, you will need to upgrade to a better-end model.
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Conclusions and Image Quality
While many are focusing on the 70D's video capabilities, it is really designed for still photography. Imatest was used to test its performance. Although the camera comes as a boxed body, I was able to test the sharpness and performance of the new EF S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 STM ($299.00 at Amazon). You can read the review. One thing to note about sharpness: While other D-SLR manufacturers release enthusiasts D-SLRs without an optical low pass filter (the Pentax K-5 IIs and Nikon D7100 at Amazon are two examples), Canon stuck with its guns.
It covered the 70D’s 20-megapixel sensor in an OLPF. This saps a bit of critical sharpness, but eliminates the possibility of color moiré—a rainbow effect of false color. Whether the trade-off is a worthwhile one is a matter of personal choice and your choice of photographic subjects; if you frequently shoot objects that are prone to show moiré (certain fabric patterns and feathers come to mind), you may prefer a camera with a filter. These effects can be easily fixed with software. This has led to photographers opting for cameras that place more emphasis on resolution than other aspects.
Imatest was used to measure image noise. This can affect detail and make photos look grainy. As the ISO increases, it also degrades that. When shooting JPGs with default settings, the noise is kept under 1.5 percent to ISO 800 by the 70D. The noise level doesn't rise too much at ISO 1600 (1.7%) and ISO 3200 (1.8%). A pixel-level examination on an NEC MultiSync PA271W ($999.00 Amazon) displays shows that there is a small drop in detail between 800 and 3200. However, it's not dramatic.
The ISO 6400 setting is where the most detail disappears, while 12800 gives you more details. Raw can be used to get more detail from the sensor. At ISO 6400, the details are crisp and the grain pattern isn't distracting. Although Raw images are more grainy than ISO 12800, there is still a lot of detail. Pentax K-5 II produces some of my favorite images from APS-C D-SLRs at higher ISOs. It keeps noise below 1.5 percent for ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 at 1.6 percent. Its images begin to suffer from ISO 6400, just like the 70D.
The 70D has a mini HDMI, microphone and remote control ports. You will need to upgrade to a more expensive body such as the 7D($829.95) to get PC Sync. There is no headphone jack. There is only one SD card slot, which supports SDHC cards and SDXC. In this regard, the 70D is behind Pentax K-3 and D7100. Both cameras have dual card slots. A vertical grip for the battery is also available ($270)
Video is the most striking feature of Canon EOS 70D. The Live View focus speed is faster than any traditional SLR. Video transitions are smooth and slow, much like if you were using a focus puller to slowly turn the focus ring on your lens. But that focus can fail to lock on in very low light, which isn't an issue with the Sony Alpha 77—an SLR with an EVF that focuses quickly whether you opt to use the rear LCD or eye-level finder.
The 70D is a good still camera with a fast autofocus, good JPG output, and a steady burst shot rate. Although it is a significant improvement over the T5i in quality, we prefer the Nikon D7100. Although the D7100 is slower in Live View mode than its counterpart, we like that it has a better image sensor and offers an overall slightly faster performance.