Canon 70D (1.6x sensor (nearly APS-C)), 26.7 oz./756g with battery and card, about$1,199) and Canon 50mm f/1.8 II. enlarge. It comes as body-only ($1,199), kit with 18-55mm STM ($1,349) or kit with 18-135mm STM ($1,549).
I'd get it (with any of the lenses) at these links directly to them at Adorama or directly to them at Amazon. This free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you buy elsewhere. I'm not NPR; I get no government hand-outs and run no pledge drives to support my research, so please always use any of these links for the best prices and service whenever you get anything. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.
October 2013 Canon Reviews Canon Lenses All Reviews
DEAL:Canon 70D with 18-55mm IS STM and 55-250mm IS II IS: Reg. $1,649.00. Add the printer (use the "buy together and save" link on the ptroduct page) and then price after instant rebate is $1,198!
DEAL: Canon 70D, 18-55mm IS STM and Pro100 printer: $1,185. Reg. $1,349.00. Add the Canon Pro100 printer and the price drops to $1185 after instant rebate, and includes 4% Adorama Rewards and Free Shipping.
NEW: Sample live autofocus video clip (640x480, 52 MB MOV file). It looks harsh because I had the saturation cranked to +1, which is too much for people video. The aperture varied, looking to be about f/2.8-f/8 most of the time, shot with the Canon 50mm f/1.8. If I had shot this with the 18-135mm STM or another silent-focus STM lens, the audio wouldn't have the chattering from the lens focusing and might focus faster, too.
Top, Canon 70D and 18-135mm STM.
Back, Canon 70D.
Introduction
The Canon 70D is Canon's least-expensive full-performance DSLR. I can't think of anything significant missing on the 70D for a normal person not made of money. The 70D is a fantastic camera at any price. If you think you want one, just get it. The 70D shoots fast and it's always right on-target. Everything about the 70D just goes!
When I pick up the 70D, it feels and shoots just like my $3,500 5D Mark III, and the photos look the same for all practical purposes — and the 70D is much smaller and lighter, and only a fraction of the price.
The only benefits to me of my older 5D Mark III (it came out in 2012) are that my 5D Mark III has an automatic brightness control for the rear LCD, a second card slot and three "C" camera presets. The 5D Mark III has a larger image sensor than the 70D, which means you have to use much bigger, heavier and more expensive lenses to take the same pictures. Some people prefer to carry bigger lenses, but in 2013, the only real reason to use the "full-frame" 5D Mark III is if you want narrower depth of field and a larger viewfinder. Not only is the 70D smaller and lighter, it adds a built-in flash, sorely lacking on the 5D Mark III.
New
The newest thing about the Canon 70D is what Canon calls "Dual Pixel AF," which gives slightly better and much smoother autofocus for movies. Still photo autofocus is excellent as always.
The 70D has limited Wi-Fi ability to talk to a Canon app in your iPhone. This is fun because you now can get photos from your 70D into your iPhone to email them or whatever, but it's even easier just to shoot with your iPhone in the first place.
New [ T ] button near the shutter lets us toggle among one area, a few areas, or auto selection of the AF area modes.
New dedicated BG-14 grip.
No second card slot.
No automatic brightness control for rear LCD.
Top LCD doesn't show selected image size.
Only one, not two or three preset "C" modes. (I set C1 for landscape and C2 for family photos on other cameras, for instance.)
No GPS, thank goodness.
Extra Features
Flippy LCD touch screen.
In live view, touch the screen to define the autofocus point, and touch it again to pull focus smoothly from one subject to the next while shooting video.
Specifications
Sensor
20 MP CMOS.
1.6x crop factor (22.5 x 15.0 mm, nearly APS-C).
4.1µm square spacing.
Ultrasonic cleaner.
Canon really does have a sensor with some depth in the sensor wells so that it can detect focus directly from the optical 3D image for live "phase-detection" AF, as opposed to having to analyze the image from the sensor for "contrast" AF. This is what Canon clumsily calls "Dual Pixel."
Image sizes
5,472 x 3,648 native, JPG or raw.
Medium (9 MP): 3,648 x 2,432.
Small 1 (5 MP): 2,736 x 1,824.
Small 2 (2.5 MP): 1,920 x 1,280.
Small 3 (TV; 0.35 MP) 720 x 480.
mRAW: (11 MP) 4,104 x 2,736.
sRAW: (5 MP) 2,736 x 1,824.
Cropped Sizes
4:3, 16:9 and 1:1 crops from the above.
ISO
100 - 6,400 in Auto ISO and most cases.
Manually set as high as ISO 12,800 or 25,600 if you like.
Tends to default to ISO 400 with flash or in Bulb.
Lens Compatibility
All Canon EF and EF-s lenses.
Autofocus
19 cross-type AF points working at f/5.6 or faster.
Center point gives extra precision with lenses as fast as f/2.8.
Rated to work from LV 0 to 18. (center point as dark as LV -0.5.)
ONE SHOT, AI SERVO and AI FOCUS modes.
No AF illuminator (will fire the built-in flash for focus assist, which is unacceptable for use with any animate subject.)
5x or 10x Live View magnification for manual focus.
AF fine-tuning.
Finder
98% coverage.
53% magnification with standard for APS-C 28mm lens (95% with 50mm telephoto).
22mm eyepoint.
-3 ~ +1 Diopters.
Fixed focusing screen.
Grid and level overlays, if you choose to activate either.
