Canon announces EOS 60D and new L lenses

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Canon has announced a new dslr and four lenses. The EOS 60D has, among other things, a rotating LCD. Canon has also presented new versions of some professional telephoto lenses and its first fisheye zoom lens.

Where Canon’s previous DSLR generation still served the mid-range with the EOS 50D, the Japanese camera manufacturer has officially split its mainstream range in two with the announcement of the EOS 60D. The EOS 7D remains available for the high end of this market segment, and for the low end Canon has now released the EOS 60D.

The EOS 60D has like the EOS 550D and EOS 7D, an 18-megapixel CMOS image sensor and also features the same iFCL metering system. The ISO range runs from ISO 100 to ISO 6400 and is expandable to ISO 12,800. The EOS 60D body is made of aluminum with a polycarbonate shell. Its predecessor had a magnesium housing.

The flip-out and rotatable LCD has a 3″ screen diagonal, an aspect ratio of 3:2 and 1,040,000 sub pixels. A virtual horizon can be displayed on the screen. The EOS 60D also offers other aspect ratios such as 1:1, 4:3 and 16:9, but this concerns crops from the 3:2 image sensor.

The camera is equipped with a Digic IV image processor and the maximum speed is 5.3 frames per second, one less than the EOS 50D, while the 7D can shoot at 8fps. When shooting at the highest quality settings, the 60D’s buffer is full after 58 jpeg images. Furthermore, the device can shoot 1080p video with a choice of 24, 25 or 30fps. The device can only handle SD, SDHC and SDXC cards.

Canon has provided the 60D with various editing options. For example, it is possible to perform simple raw operations in the camera. With the new Basic+ functionality, photos can be retrofitted with other exposure presets. The EOS 60D body will be available from October for a suggested retail price of EUR 1,229, and the camera will also be offered in various kits.

Canon has also announced four new L-lenses. The EF 300mm f2.8L IS II USM and the EF 400mm f2.8L IS II USM are the new bright teleprimes. A coating of tiny cones on the lenses is supposed to prevent internal reflections and a fluorine coating on the front and rear elements repels dust, water and dirt. Furthermore, the lenses are equipped with Canon’s latest image stabilization system, which should give up to four stops of gain, and the pair are equipped with the new Power Focus functionality, which should ensure a constant focusing speed when shooting video. The two lenses are significantly lighter than their predecessors with weight reductions of 8 percent and 15 percent respectively. The 300mm lens has a suggested retail price of 7499 euros, while the 400mm lens should fetch 11,999 euros.

Canon also announced work on the EF 500mm f4L IS II USM and the EF 600mm f4L IS II USM. Both lenses will be shown to the public for the first time at the Photokina fair, to be held in Cologne at the end of September.

Furthermore, the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM and the EF 8-15mm f4L Fisheye USM were announced. While the first lens has the build and image quality of an L lens, it also has the range and aperture normally found in the company’s consumer products. The circular EF 8-15mm f4L lens is Canon’s first fisheye zoom, succeeding the 15mm fisheye lens. The 70-300mm lens will be available from October for a suggested retail price of EUR 1699, while the fisheye lens will be available from January and must then fetch EUR 1599.

Finally, Canon introduced new versions of its two teleconverters. The Extender EF 1.4x III and Extender EF 2.0x III increase the focal length of lenses by 1.4x and 2x respectively. The teleconverters are weather resistant and both cost 549 euros. The teleconverters will be in stores from December.

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