Equipment Damp Squib? Canon announces the 60D and a handful of new lenses.

They've brought out the 60D, which I feel is a bit of a step backward compared to the 50D (sure, it gains video and an articulated screen, but loses the mag-alloy body, gets smaller, loses the joystick and suffers a downsize of the rear wheel).

I reckon they should've called it the 600D and brought out the big guns for a new X0D body.

Here's a link to the 60D specs and preview.

The lenses are... iffy. I'm not an expert but I don't find any of them particularly exciting.

The new contenders are as follows:

1. EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM (link)

2. EF 8-15mm f/4L USM (link) this is the one that confuses me - does a fisheye really need L-quality and price?

3. 300mm and 400mm f/2.8L IS USM lenses (link)

4. New 1.4x and 2x Extenders (Mk III) (link)

I'm looking forward to hearing different folks' takes on these. I for one, am a little disappointed on the whole.

 

Nothing there that I'd be even remotely interested in except, perhaps, the 1.4xIII. Cost wise the super teles are way out of my price range. I'll be waiting patiently for photokina to roll around to see what is announced with the 1DsIV--I'm banking on a 14-24/2.8 or 12-24/4 variant, 24-70/2.8 IS, a new 50mm (f/1.4 or f/1.2) with full ring USM and no focus shift, a 150/2.8 or 180/3.5 HIS macro. If anyone of those lenses were to be announced I'd likely buy them.

 

I was hoping for a ~24mm f/1.4 prime. Heck, even a 30mm f/1.4 would have been acceptable.

And I agree, a new 50 f/1.4 would have been really nice, if a little pedestrian.

The extenders do little for me, except to make me hope that the MkIIs drop sharply in price before going out of stock. The current 1.4 MkII isn't bad at all (on a crop body at least) but way too expensive for me.

 

There already is a 24mm f/1.4L II prime... It was revised only recently, so I doubt it's due for revision again soon.

I'm not sure about the 60D - it's a bit limp in some respects, but in others it seems to fill a gap. I think what the manufacturers are doing now is releasing a product at every possible price point, trying to get people to spend more instead of just settling for the model that falls well below their budget.

Probably the most curious announcement for me was the 70-300 F/4-5.6L IS... I'm wondering what they've done to the optical formula there because the 70-300 F/4-5.6 IS was pretty soft at above 200mm.

I was thinking about picking up an EF Extender at some point, but can't decide whether to get the 2.0 II or wait for the 2.0 III to come out. Might wait for the 2.0 II to come down in price a bit...

 

ye the 60D is a bit of a downgrade

5,3FPS instead of 6,3 or 6,5

The loss of the joystick

I dont really like the idea of the flippable screen.

and the new LCD display on the top doesnt look right....



Well I am also waiting for the announcement of the 1Ds Mark IV.... waiting a long time for that!

 

As an Oly E-3 user, I can say that the flippy LCD screen isn't a bad thing (if it's done right here of course).

I haven't used it that much, but when I have, it's been really good.

Darkened

 

Those are all pretty trivial qualms you've got there, IMO. If anything the lack of MA and the slightly smaller body size are the largest downers. Other than that the camera actually looks decent given its place in the market. The loss of the joystick is made up via the 8-way multi controller in the center of the QCD. FPS have been cut back, but the difference for most of those who would buy this camera isn't significant. The articulated screen looks pretty useful, and if you don't want to use it in any other position aside from the standard one you don't have to--but its there is you need it. I wont even touch the top LCD comment

 

I think the 60D will serve a purpose when it hits its intended price point. Canon's RRP for the 7D was £1800 if I'm not mistaken and it's available for under £1200. Expect the 60D to be available for under £900 before long.

 

I have got to agree with Tim, the 60D will be much better value when it hits £900, the 7D is currently retailing at £1195.00 so at the moment and so is far better value.

Here are the prices of the new lenses, price of previous model in brackets. (All Prices from Warehouse Express)

1. EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM £1599.99

2. EF 8-15mm f/4L USM £1499.99 (Canon EF 15mm f2.8 Fisheye Lens £579.00)

3. 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM - £7499.99 (£3599.00)

4. 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM - £11499.99 (£6479.00) <- Thats more than the Canon EF 800mm f5.6 L IS USM Lens! Although it has dropped 1.5Kg in weight.

5. 1.4x Extender (Mk III) £549.99 (£269.00)

6. 2x Extender (Mk III) £549.99 (£269.00)

7. EF 500mm F/4L IS II USM (5468.00) - This will be shown at Photokina 2010

8. EF 600mm F/4L IS II USM (7347.00) - This will be shown at Photokina 2010

The 300, 400, 500 & 600 Lenses are quiet interesting to me but there is no way I can afford them or the previous model either.

 

I meant *not* an L

The 28mm f/1.8 is basically the only option at the moment and it's reported to have just as many issues as the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 HSM. Makes life very confusing for those who don't want to constantly spend $1K+ on each lens

 

I doubt they'd make a 24mm f/1.4 non-L lens... it'd more likely be an f/1.8 or f/2.0 that would eventually replace the 24mm f/2.8.

 

I've got a pretty good hunch that you can say goodbye to the future of the non-L EF line of lenses--judging by Canon's more recent releases I'd say the line is running low on fumes. Last year the 100L replaced the 100/2.8, this year the 70-300L replaced the 70-300 and the 8-15 replaced the 15FE. I'm guessing they will slowly start replacing more EF lenses with L and EF-S counterparts. That said, IF we see an affordable 20/21/24mm lens I'm willing to bet it will be in an EF-S mount.

 

Yeah, that's certainly what it looks like

 

nowt wrong wi' EF-S. with the 7D canon showed that they're committed to the APS-C sensor size for a good while yet.

 

EF-S kills the upgrade option unless you're planning to keep the APS-C body as a backup, which few people can afford.

Or maybe it's just me and I'm cranky

 

There are some very good EF-S lenses, but I just couldn't force myself to buy any even when I was APS-C only. I think the only lens I'd buy that's EF-S is the 10-22 - the rest of the focal range is well-covered by EF lenses, but even then it'd be used fairly infrequently.

 

The only things Im interested in this press release is The 2 new extenders and the 600mm f4L IS and the new fisheye ^^