(First impressions of Canon 60D)
As is our custom, my wife and I got token gifts for each other during actual Christmas, and bought ourselves very nice things in February when we file for our income tax refund. My gift came today — a Canon EOS 60D.
(3 images after the jump)
I mentioned a few days ago that I’d ordered it, talked more about our taxes here, and described my camera-buying decision at length back in December. (In case you need to catch up.)
The camera arrived at about 2:30 p.m., not long after Rebecca’s nap.
(Copyright © 2012 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)
(Copyright © 2012 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)
The battery had just enough power to set the time/date and flip through the menu for a minute, then I put it on the charger. By 5 p.m., it had a full charge and was ready to go.
In my post a few days ago, I said I didn’t feel the same excitement about this camera as I had about the others. That changed once I actually had it in my hands. It’s a beautiful instrument; I just hope I can play it well.
I told my wife that the difference between this camera and my last one reminded me of the difference between my current car and my previous car (2000 Mercury Sable LS compared to 1993 Chevy Corsica). The Corsica lacked features and was starting to break down in various places. It was old and had never been powerful or comfortable. The Sable LS has leather seats, a Mach stereo system, a powerful engine, digital thermostat controls, and … Yeah, it’s like that.
First shot out of the box, I recorded an image at ISO12800, which was unheard of in film days, and was a scoffing matter in the digital world until a couple of years ago. That first image is below, with no editing — straight out of the camera. (I was shooting .jpg; it wasn’t until several images later that I realized it was set to .jpg and I switched to shooting raw image files.)
1/80, f/5.0, ISO12800
(Copyright © 2012 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)
Normally, in that same light, I’d be shooting at ISO1600, so I’d have to crank my aperture to f/1.8 or so, and still get a slower exposure.
I had time to test a few other features of the camera: live view zoom focusing, HD video, color temperature adjustment, creative filters, and burst mode.
Overall, my first impression is a very good one. I plan to do a full review later (on my other blog), but this is my personal blog…
* I like the articulating (fold-out) LCD screen. It feels well-built and I like that it can be closed so the screen’s not exposed.
* I like the separate LCD panel on top that shows exposure settings and camera information
* I’m impressed with the high ISO performance
* Live View zoom focusing is very cool. Would be especially helpful for macro images, when precise manual focusing is hard.
* The optical viewfinder is larger and brighter than the ones in my Rebels. Very nice.
* Burst mode is more than twice as fast as I’m used to.
I’ll get some more test shots posted to Flickr in the morning.
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Very nice! Have fun with your new toy. I don’t know why, but I find it funny that you take pictures of your camera. :) It does look really sharp!
Have fun with it and continue to take great pictures of Rebecca! And Marline. And remember once in a while to let someone take a picture of you. Rebecca will want some of you when she is older. :)
@Cassie:
With cameras / lenses, etc., the images are mainly to illustrate my (in this case, forthcoming) reviews.
My wife thinks I’m crazy for photographing other products we buy, like blenders, silverware, and whatnot. Maybe it’s because family’s so far away — I can’t show them in person, so I show it to them via online photos…
@Mom:
That (pictures of me) is certainly one thing we keep forgetting… Even with a tripod, and a remote control, and et cetera, …
However, this camera’s fold-out LCD screen might help with a few self-portraits. (Previously, I had to pre-focus on a spot, then get in front with the remote; now I can view myself in the LCD so I know if I’m in the right spot. ;-)