60D vs. 70D..... Worth upgrading?

The 60D, and good old 7D both are a little long on the tooth. I shoot mostly outdoors, in the bayous and fields in South Louisiana, so I'm waiting patiently for the new 7D II. From what I have read in Canon Rumors, the 7DII, or whatever they call it will be the new pro choice. It will have all the newest technology onboard. The 70D is new, and cutting edge, but I'm looking for a new birder with a higher burst rate, faster focus, and bigger buffer.

reefvilla wrote in post #16571329
I have a 60D now and I'm just kicking around the idea of jumping to the 70D. My main reason just from reading the description was the 70D's jump to the DIGIC 5+ processor and more pixels from the DIGIC 4 in the 60D.

Is there enough difference in picture detail to justify the upgrade?

.

seems the 70D owners say yes but I'm staying with the 60D for now

I made the upgrade from the 60D to the 70D, I looked at the 6D but could not justify the extra cost and replacing all my EF-S lenses.

I am happy with the upgrade (final cost difference being ~$450), I've only had the 70D for about a week now and have already used the following features I didn't have in the 60D:

1) Micro focus adjusted all my lenses.
2) Ability to set the minimum shutter speed in Av mode.
3) Additional AF points have been useful along with the dedicated AF control button.
4) Transmissive VF LCD with grid lines & on screen level.
5) Touch screen has been really helpful to quickly make adjustments.
6) Fast focusing in Live View mode. (Not done much video yet).
7) WiFi control with my cell phone.
8) Combined live view/video record button (so much better than having to turn the mode button).
9) Silent shutter mode.

Since I've been using all the new features of the 70D, I feel it has been a worthwhile upgrade for me. My only complaint is I need to re-learn the button layout on the back of the camera but I think it's better in the long run. Also, the top rotary knob is so much smoother, I know button feel is a subjective thing but it just makes the camera feel more expensive.

DaveKosiba wrote in post #16575405
Also, the top rotary knob is so much smoother, I know button feel is a subjective thing but it just makes the camera feel more expensive.

But... it is more expensive...

Congratulations! Tell us about MFAing the lenses. How much did it take? Did you feel you needed to calibrate the lenses when you had the previous camera?

MakisM1 wrote in post #16575494
But... it is more expensive...

Congratulations! Tell us about MFAing the lenses. How much did it take? Did you feel you needed to calibrate the lenses when you had the previous camera?

I guess it's still better than the clicky button I had on my 60D.

As for the MFA, used the Dot Tune method, completed the MFA on four lenses in about an hour. The concept is simple and sound, so far I don't seem to be missing focus on any of my lenses.

DaveKosiba wrote in post #16575587
I guess it's still better than the clicky button I had on my 60D.

As for the MFA, used the Dot Tune method, completed the MFA on four lenses in about an hour. The concept is simple and sound, so far I don't seem to be missing focus on any of my lenses.

So your lenses were pretty much spot on?

MakisM1 wrote in post #16575594
So your lenses were pretty much spot on?

That isn't how I read it. I read it as before and after.

DaveKosiba wrote in post #16575587
I guess it's still better than the clicky button I had on my 60D.

As for the MFA, used the Dot Tune method, [BEFORE] completed the MFA on four lenses in about an hour. The concept is simple and sound, [AFTER] so far I don't seem to be missing focus on any of my lenses.

DaveKosiba wrote in post #16575405
I made the upgrade from the 60D to the 70D, I looked at the 6D but could not justify the extra cost and replacing all my EF-S lenses.

I am happy with the upgrade (final cost difference being ~$450), I've only had the 70D for about a week now and have already used the following features I didn't have in the 60D:

1) Micro focus adjusted all my lenses.
2) Ability to set the minimum shutter speed in Av mode.
3) Additional AF points have been useful along with the dedicated AF control button.
4) Transmissive VF LCD with grid lines & on screen level.
5) Touch screen has been really helpful to quickly make adjustments.
6) Fast focusing in Live View mode. (Not done much video yet).
7) WiFi control with my cell phone.
8) Combined live view/video record button (so much better than having to turn the mode button).
9) Silent shutter mode.

Since I've been using all the new features of the 70D, I feel it has been a worthwhile upgrade for me. My only complaint is I need to re-learn the button layout on the back of the camera but I think it's better in the long run. Also, the top rotary knob is so much smoother, I know button feel is a subjective thing but it just makes the camera feel more expensive.

None of this would induce me to go to the 70D from my 60D. I only had one lens that really needed microadjust (85F1.8), and the replacement was ok. Of course, I could theoretically get more from my lenses if I had this feature, but I guess ignorance is bliss. I am waiting for the price of the 6D to come down a little more, as I could use the high ISO performance. If I get a 6D, I will be keeping the 60D.

MakisM1 wrote in post #16575594
So your lenses were pretty much spot on?

Nope, not spot on. MFA adjustments below:

70-200 f/4L: (W 0, T +10)
17-55 f/2.8: (W -4, T +5)
10-22 f/3.5-4.5: (W +1, T +5)
Sigma 30 f1.4: (+1)

artyH wrote in post #16575903
None of this would induce me to go to the 70D from my 60D. I only had one lens that really needed microadjust (85F1.8), and the replacement was ok. Of course, I could theoretically get more from my lenses if I had this feature, but I guess ignorance is bliss. I am waiting for the price of the 6D to come down a little more, as I could use the high ISO performance. If I get a 6D, I will be keeping the 60D.

I agree that the upgrade is not huge, not everyone will use the extra features but the MFA and better AF system should increase my keep rate.

DaveKosiba wrote in post #16575979
Nope, not spot on. MFA adjustments below:

70-200 f/4L: (W 0, T +10)
17-55 f/2.8: (W -4, T +5)
10-22 f/3.5-4.5: (W +1, T +5)
Sigma 30 f1.4: (+1)

Wow! That's quite a bit!

palad1n wrote in post #16571391
70D differences :

-- slightly better ISO performance and much better noise characteristics

Have to disagree with you on that one. I have a 60D and have spent a lot of time with a friend's 70D lately. With the 70D I was able to get images with surprisingly low noise at ISO 6400. With the 60D ISO 6400 images are, for the most part, way too noisy to use. Further the 70D ISO 6400 images had much less noise than my 60D at 3200 and were not much noisier than the 60D as 1600! That's the better part of two stops improvement in sensitivity which is not slight IMHO. The better sensor with greatly improved ISO sensitivity, the MFA feature, the much improved Live View and the 19 point focusing system are just some of the many enhancement to the 70D. For some it would be a pricey but worthwhile upgrade and the prices will lightly fall a bit in the next 6-12 months. I'm not upgrading any time soon since I waiting for a 7D II which I hope will be released this Spring.

mwsilver wrote in post #16577464
Have to disagree with you on that one. I have a 60D and have spent a lot of time with a friend's 70D lately. With the 70D I was able to get images with surprisingly low noise at ISO 6400. With the 60D ISO 6400 images are, for the most part, way too noisy to use. Further the 70D ISO 6400 images had much less noise than my 60D at 3200 and were not much noisier than the 60D as 1600! That's the better part of two stops improvement in sensitivity which is not slight IMHO. The better sensor with greatly improved ISO sensitivity, the MFA feature, the much improved Live View and the 19 point focusing system are just some of the many enhancement to the 70D. For some it would be a pricey but worthwhile upgrade and the prices will lightly fall a bit in the next 6-12 months. I'm not upgrading any time soon since I waiting for a 7D II which I hope will be released this Spring.

Mark, I'm sure Palad1n meant the difference is small in RAW, and he's right in that sense. A bit less noise and better noise characteristics. This also mirrors my experience and I've shared my results in a few topics here on the forum.

But in jpeg, yes the difference is big (due to 4 years of advances in processing speed and NR algorithms). But I'd say the majority of people shoot RAW (or at least RAW +jpeg) here for the best quality and flexible files. But yes, I also welcome the nice jpeg files from the 70D, they look really good at higher ISOs, much better than 7D or 60D.

(For the record I've owned the 60D, as well as T2i, T3i, T4i, and 7D, all of them featuring the 18mp Canon sensor, currently own the 7D and 70D. I've performed a ton of extremely controlled comparison tests between my 7D and 70D also and the results fit Palad1n's description.)

MakisM1 wrote in post #16575494
But... it is more expensive...

Congratulations! Tell us about MFAing the lenses. How much did it take? Did you feel you needed to calibrate the lenses when you had the previous camera?

The question is not addressed to me, but... With the 60D I wished I could improve one lens, and I was totally happy with another. After getting a 70D and having the MFA done, I had no more complains, they both became very good. I ran the MFA on the remaining lenses as well, and even though I adjusted some of them a little, they could have stayed where they were.

Thanks Lbsimon, good to know. I only had one lens with problems (my first EF 24-70 MkII) but Ithink that it had problems beyond what the MFA could fix, as it would go from front to back focus withing the focusing range (say from 2 ft to 10 ft) and it would go one way in 35 mm and another in 50 mm. Returned it for my current lens which is spot on!

MakisM1 wrote in post #16577732
Thanks Lbsimon, good to know. I only had one lens with problems (my first EF 24-70 MkII) but Ithink that it had problems beyond what the MFA could fix, as it would go from front to back focus withing the focusing range (say from 2 ft to 10 ft) and it would go one way in 35 mm and another in 50 mm. Returned it for my current lens which is spot on!

I just realized that I made a crucial mistake in my previous posting. I was completely unhappy with two lenses, not one. The Tamron went to the factory twice, and both time came back unsatisfactory. On the third time they said that there was absolutely no problem with the lens, and I was still unhappy. Only after buying the 70D and MFA'ing it to -11 it became practically perfect.