Canon EOS 70D: Canon's most enthusiast-friendly APS-C SLR to date

Canon's most enthusiast-friendly APS-C SLR to date

The announcement of any Canon DSLR usually creates a lot of excitement, but when that camera launches a new sensor with a new pixel count (for the manufacturer) and is aimed at enthusiast photographers, it ups the ante considerably. So naturally there's been quite a buzz surrounding the new Canon EOS 70D, which has a 20.2 million-pixel CMOS sensor coupled with a Digic 5 processor.
As well as having a higher pixel count than Canon's other recent APS-C format sensors, the EOS 70D's sensor is a Dual Pixel CMOS device, which enables faster focusing during Live View and video mode. There are two photo diodes for every pixel site (strictly speaking pixels don't exist until an image is created) on the sensor, and each of them can read light independently to enable a form of phase detection autofocusing to be used to focus the lens.

While the diodes are read separately for autofocusing, they are read together to form the image, and this means the Canon 70D creates 20.2 million pixel images.
Although every 'pixel' is a dual diode device, only the central 80% are used for auto focusing, because using the outer edges makes the system more prone to errors.

The Canon 70D also has a dedicated phase detection sensor for use when images are composed in the viewfinder. This has 19 AF points, all of which are cross-type, just like the Canon 7D's AF system. However, the two cameras' AF systems aren't identical, since the Canon 70D only has three AF point selection modes: Single point AF, Zone AF and 19-point Area AF.

While the 60D has a maximum continuous shooting speed of 5.3fps, the 70D can shoot at up to 7fps at full resolution for up to 65 JPEGs or 16 raw files, which is useful when shooting sport and using the 60D's continuous focusing capability.
Sensitivity may be set in the native range of ISO 100-12,800 with an expansion setting allowing the equivalent of ISO 25,600. The top native setting, ISO 12,800 is an expansion setting on Canon's other enthusiast SLRs.

Canon was the first manufacturer to give a DSLR a touchscreen, and the 70D has a 3-inch 1,040,000 dot LCD that can be used to make settings adjustments and scroll through images. As with the Canon 700D, the manufacturer hasn't added the touchscreen functionality at the expense of buttons or dial controls, since the Canon 70D has all the physical controls that you'd hope for.
Further good news with the Canon 70D is that the LCD screen is on an articulating joint, and this makes it easy to view from a range of angles, whether shooting in landscape or portrait format.
Wi-Fi connectivity is fast becoming one of the must-have features for cameras, and the Canon 70D does not disappoint in this respect.

While the ability to download images wirelessly may not be all that enticing, the possibility of controlling the camera remotely using Canon's free EOS remote app for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets is a real bonus for wildlife photographers.
Canon has also included a few features to enable more creative images to be captured with a Canon 70D - there's a built-in Speedlite transmitter, for example, which gives wireless control over multiple Canon Speedlite EX flashguns, a multi-exposure mode and an HDR mode that combines three images to create one with a greater range of tones.
There's also a collection of Creative Filters (Grainy B/W, Soft Focus, Fish-Eye effect, Art Bold effect, Water Painting effect, Toy Camera effect or Miniature effect) that can be used to give JPEGs a particular distinctive look when shooting in Live View mode.

While it's disappointing that these can't be used when shooting raw files simultaneously, or when using the viewfinder, they can be applied post-capture in review mode, so it's possible to retain a 'clean' image as well as one with the filter effect.

The Canon EOS 70D has a full price of £1,089 / US$1,199 / AU$1,499 body only, putting it well above the Canon 700D but at the same price point as the Nikon D7100.

Battery Grip BG-E14

The EOS 70D gets a new battery grip, the BG-E14.


The grip replicates the main control set for portrait format shooting, including the dedicated AF area expansion button. The camera is designed so the rear dial is reasonably accessible when using the grip.	It will take either two LP-E6 batteries to double the camera's endurance, or six AA batteries (via a second tray included in the box). There's also a storage slot for the camera's battery compartment door.

Canon EOS 70D key features

20.2MP APS-C 'Dual Pixel CMOS AF' sensor
DIGIC 5+ image processor
ISO 100-12800 standard, 25600 expanded
7fps continuous shooting, burst depth 65 JPEG / 16 Raw
'Silent' shutter mode
1080p30 video recording, stereo sound via external mic
19-point AF system, all points cross-type, sensitive to -0.5 EV
63-zone iFCL metering system
98% viewfinder coverage, 0.95x magnification, switchable gridlines and electronic level display
Fully-articulated touchscreen, 1040k dot 3" ClearView II LCD, 3:2 aspect ratio
Single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot
Built-in Wi-Fi
Single-axis electronic level
Built-in flash works as off-camera remote flash controller
AF microadjustment (can be set individually for up to 40 lenses, remembered by lens serial number)
In-camera High Dynamic Range and Multiple Exposure modes (JPEG-only)
'Creative Filter' image processing styles, previewed in live view

Performance
Although Canon's new Dual Pixel AF system is faster than its previous Live View AF systems, it isn't quite as fast as the contrast detection systems in Panasonic's recent G series compact system cameras such as the Panasonic G6 and Panasonic GX7, or Olympus's PEN range including the Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5 and Olympus PEN E-P5.
However, it's not that far off, and it's sufficiently fast for the camera to be used handheld when composing images on its screen - at least in normal daylight conditions. And it means that the articulating joint on the screen is much more useful.
When light levels fall, however, the focusing slows and a backwards and forwards adjustment becomes noticeable.

While the Canon 70D's Dual Pixel AF system may have grabbed many of the headlines, it's only used in Live View and Movie mode. When images are composed in the viewfinder, the 19-point AF system is on hand, along with manual focusing. This AF system uses all cross-type points for greater sensitivity, and it's excellent, very fast and accurate.
In comparison with the Nikon D7100's 51-AF point system, however, 19 points doesn't seem that impressive, but the centre of the frame is well covered. In comparison with the coverage that you get with the average compact system camera, it seems rather poor, because the points are clustered around the centre. This means that off-centre subjects require the focus and recompose technique, which is a common issue with DSLRs.
Canon has one of the best automatic white balance systems around, and on the whole it does a good job of capturing pleasant-looking colours that reflect the conditions without overly correcting for any particular light source.

The images sometimes err on the side of warmth, but the results were generally very pleasant and better than cold, 100% accurate shots. That said, the Daylight white balance setting often produces slightly more pleasing results in early evening light or on bright sunny days.
In the Standard picture style the Canon 70D produces images with pleasantly saturated, natural colours. However, there's a trend towards more vibrant tones and stronger contrast these days, so some may prefer to boost the saturation and contrast in-camera using the available settings adjustments.
This can be done pre-capture in-camera or post-capture using the supplied Digital Photo Professional software. In addition, Picture Style Editor is supplied to enable Canon 70D users to create bespoke picture styles to use in their camera.

There are no surprises with the Canon 70D's 63-zone iFCL metering system. It generally performs well, but because of the weighting that it gives to the brightness of the subject and that the active AF point, it is prone to over- or under-exposing in high contrast conditions.
This can be a real problem when shooting sunlit landscapes, because you need to be very careful about where you set the AF point. If it's positioned over a patch of pale grass in full sun, the chances are that the rest of the image will be underexposed, whereas positioning the active AF point over a shadow area will result in the majority of the image being over-exposed.
Many of the enthusiasts who make up the target market for the Canon 70D will be experienced enough to know how to deal with such an issue. But less experienced photographers may fall foul of the metering system. One way around the problem is to shoot in manual exposure mode, taking a spot meter reading (Partial, Spot and Centre weighted metering are available, in addition to Evaluative) from a mid-tone.

Our tests show that the Canon 70D is capable of capturing plenty of detail. However, even at the lowest sensitivity settings there's a clear benefit to shooting raw files, since out of focus areas in JPEGs sometimes have a slightly watercolour appearance at 100% on-screen. In comparison, raw files look more natural.
Even images taken at ISO 100 have a slight texture visible at 100%, but chroma noise (coloured speckling) isn't a major issue throughout the native sensitivity range (ISO 100-12,800). As usual, however, in-camera noise reduction takes its toll on detail as sensitivity rises.
Raw files converted to TIFFs using the default settings in Digital Photo Professional look a little better than the JPEG files captured simultaneously, but we think it's best to turn down the noise reduction a little as the raw files are processed, to reveal a bit more detail.
That said, there's an impressive amount of detail visible in images captured at ISO 12,800, and although there's a fine-grained texture visible when images are sized to make A4 prints, it isn't objectionable. If light levels permit, however, we'd recommend keeping below ISO 6400 where possible.

Operation and controls

Top of camera controls (right)

The EOS 70D's right hand top-plate has almost exactly the same control layout as the 60D, the sole addition being the AF area expansion button between the front dial and shutter release. The front dial changes the primary exposure parameter for the selected mode: program shift in P, aperture in Av, and shutter speed in Tv and M. Behind it is a strip of buttons giving direct access to autofocus and drive modes, metering pattern and ISO (the latter being markedly better-placed for operation with the camera to your eye than the Nikon D7100's), along with one that illuminates the top-plate LCD.
Three buttons are placed on the camera's shoulder for operation by your thumb. The AF-ON button activates the camera's autofocus, and the 'Star' button next to it is a customisable autoexposure lock. Beside it is the AF point selector - press this and you can move the focus point around using either the front and rear dials, or the directional pad inside the rear dial. The latter two buttons are also used for playback magnification.

Top of camera controls (left)

On the other side of the pentaprism you'll find the power switch and mode dial. This has the familiar four exposure modes - Program, Aperture priority, Shutter Priority and Manual - plus Bulb shutter mode and a single user-definable Custom position. There's also 'Auto+', 'Flash off' and 'Creative Auto' modes, the latter offering results-orientated creative control, along with a SCN position that consolidates Canon's long-running scene modes (sport, landscape etc.) in one place. The mode dial rotates freely though 360 degrees, with no end-stops.
Below these, there are two buttons to access the camera's menus and change the amount of information displayed on the rear screen.

Rear Controls

The rest of the 70D's major shooting controls are on the back, mainly arranged for operation by your right thumb. The combined live view / movie mode controller is beside the viewfinder; with the switch in the stills position, pressing the central button engages and disengages live view. Flick the switch into the movie position and the camera enters movie live view with a 16:9 preview display. The Start/Stop button then starts and stops recording.

The Q button brings up an interactive control screen while shooting, allowing you to change camera parameters that can't necessarily be accessed directly through external buttons. It also brings overlaid option menus in Live View and Playback modes, offering rapid access to features such as in-camera Raw conversion. The playback button is immediately below, with the delete key towards the bottom of the camera.
The rear dial is used to change exposure compensation in P, Av and Tv modes, and change the aperture in M. Set within it is an 8-way controller that's used for such things as changing the focus point, navigating menus and scrolling around images in playback. The rear dial can be locked against accidental settings changes using the switch that's beneath it.

Front of camera controls

	The flash activation button is conventionally placed on the side of the lens throat, and activates a motorised (as opposed to mechanical) release.
	The depth of field preview button is on the handgrip side of the lens throat, and designed to be operated by your left hand. It can be customized to access a number of different functions. We're not huge fans of this position to be honest - it can be awkward to reach when shooting in portrait format, or with the camera on a tripod.

Wi-Fi connectivity

The Canon EOS 70D becomes the latest of the company's cameras to include Wi-Fi capability. It's still an unusual feature to find built into a DSLR, but one we think will be increasingly widely used. 802.11b/g/n standards and, according to Canon, has a transmission range of up to 30m/98.4 ft. Be aware that movie mode is disabled when Wi-Fi is active and any physical connection to a computer or printer will be broken.

The full list of features offers is as follows:

Transfer images between Wi-Fi enabled Canon cameras
Connect to smartphone or tablet (via EOS Remote)
Remote control from PC (via EOS Utility)
Print from Wi-Fi enabled printer
Upload to web service (e.g. Canon iMage Gateway)
View images on DNLA-enabled devices (e.g. TVs)

	With Wi-Fi enabled on the EOS 70D, you can transfer images to a compatible Canon camera, send them to a Wi-Fi enabled printer or media player or upload them to the Canon iMage Gateway web service (free registration required) which provides 10GB of online media storage and sharing options for social media. You can also send 1920 x 1280px images to a smartphone or tablet.

Although we'll mainly concentrate on connecting the EOS 70D to a smart device, it's also possible to use Wi-Fi to connect the camera to a PC and control it using Canon's EOS Utility. This means it's also possible to use a 'tethered' connection to other software that can connect via these means, such as Adobe's Lightroom.

The camera can save up to three presets for the connections you regularly make - with the aim of making re-connection faster.

EOS Remote (Android/iOS)

One of the main uses we find for in-camera Wi-Fi is the ability to get images off the camera, either for showing to other people or sharing on the internet, while away from a computer. Whether it's demonstrating an image to its subject or providing them with a JPEG, or simply documenting a weekend away on a social network, it can be a convenient feature.

The Canon implementation is comprehensive but also overly complicated. For instance, rather than just allowing a smartphone to connect to the camera, it's also possible to connect the 70D to a smartphone by connecting both devices via a common Wi-Fi network (The snappily named 'infrastructure' mode). And it's here that the connection presets both help and hinder - while they make it easier to re-establish connections if you're regularly using multiple connection methods, the need to constantly define a preset every time you make a new connection is slow and frustrating.

You can speed things up a little by adding the Wi-Fi option to the custom 'My Menu' tab, but that's not a huge improvement. Ultimately you can tell a lot about how capable and how complex the EOS 70D's Wi-Fi is by the fact the company produces a 174-page pdf detailing all its features (there's also a 36-page 'Basic Instruction Manual' that explains the key points).

Once connected, the EOS Remote app gives you the choice of either browsing the images on the camera or remotely controlling its shooting.

Remote shooting

The remote shooting section of the app gives a reasonable degree of control over the camera. You can set the camera's focus point and get it to focus. By default the app is set to focus and trigger the shutter at the same time, but there's a menu option to add an AF acquire button to the interface (the smaller circular 'button' in these screen shots).

You're able to control ISO, exposure compensation and whichever primary shooting parameters are available from the exposure mode the camera is set to.

	The basic screen shows the focus point and some basic shooting settings. Pressing the 'Info' button at the top of the screen cycles through the levels of shooting details shown. The smaller of the two circular buttons on the right is optional and performs a focus acquisition.
	Pressing the square 'sliders' button on the right of the window brings up icons for the major shooting parameters that can be controlled from the app.
	For instance, here we've selected the ISO option, allowing the sensitivity to be controlled (or set to Auto). Once a value has been selected, you have to press the 'return' arrow on the right, taking you back to the main preview screen. To change another setting, you have to re-press the 'sliders' button.

Once you've shot an image, a thumbnail of it appears in the lower right of the screen. Tapping on this shows a strip of images along the bottom of the screen. From here it's possible to perform a simple review of images, including the ability to zoom-in. There's no way of transfering from this image review mode to the full image review mode covered below.

	Tapping on the thumbnail that appears at the bottom right after you shoot an image opens a filmstrip along the bottom of the screen. Tapping on one of these thumbnails then allows you to review the images you've shot.
	It's possible to zoom into these images by the usual two-fingertip pinch and spread touchscreen method.

Image review and transfer

All images and video on the SD card can be reviewed using the EOS Remote app. It supports familiar smartphone gestures such as pinching, swiping and double-tapping to browse through images.

When reviewing images you can display an overlay with filename, capture date and exposure settings.	You can also rate images with 1-5 stars (as you can through the camera's menu) that can be read by Canon's Digital Photo Professional software.

From the image review section of the app you can rate images stored on the SD card and email or save 1920 x 1280 S2 JPEG versions to your device's image gallery. These are handy, but not useful for critical image analysis since you can't get an accurate idea of focus accuracy from such small files.

Transferring full resolution JPEG images to the web is possible, but only from the camera itself. To do that you must first use Canon's EOS Utility software (supplied with the 70D) to configure a compatible web service like Canon's iMage Gateway, Facebook or Twitter with the 70D connected to a computer via USB. Once configured, you can then upload single or multiple images via Wi-Fi at either full size, S2 or S3 resolution settings.

Image quality
The image quality didn't change noticeably between my preproduction tests and my final tests, but my opinion has. It's...fine. Not outstanding for the money, but not bad, either. However, it's simply not as good as the Nikon D7100. Yes, it's still an advance over the 60D, but not enormously -- I don't think you even gain a full stop of usability, and any advantages seem to stem from the slight increase in resolution. It's a bit better than the Rebel T5i across the entire sensitivity range, though you really have to scrutinize them. (The T5i looks better starting at ISO 1600, but that seems to be because the T5i meters a third of a stop brighter).