Canon EOS 60D Digital Camera Review

Speed and Timing

The 60D offers two burst modes: a high speed mode that shoots around 5.3 fps, and a low speed mode that does about 3 fps.

Running in the high speed continuous mode, we found that the 60D could shoot about 5.2 frames per second (fps), a touch below the 5.3fps that Canon claims. That's a very decent speed, and is only a little slower than the 7.49 fps of its more expensive cousin, the 7D. We found that it slowed down significantly after about 40 shots with the Lexar Professional 4GB SDHC card we tested it with as the camera had to wait to write data out to the memory card. Still, that's a lot of photos: a burst of around 7 seconds should cover most eventualities. The camera also provides an indication of the maximum burst in the viewfinder: a number on the far right shows the probable maximum burst that the camera can handle with the current settings.

A 2 and 10 second self timer delay are available, and the 60D is compatible with a Canon wired remote: the RS-60E3. There is no face or smile detection shutter, though, which are features available on most point & shoot cameras.

Focus Speed

The 60D offers 9 focus points arranged in a diamond shape around the center of the frame, with one point in the center of the frame. All of these points are the cross type, but the center focus point is a dual cross type, which is more effective with both horizontal and vertical edges: Canon claims double the sensitivity for the center point over the others. 9 focus points is significantly less than many other cameras: the Sony SLT-A55 offers 15, and the Canon 7D offers 19, which provides more flexibility in choosing where in the frame to focus. Also missing is the zone system of the 7D, which allows the user to select a zone of AF points to use.

Switching between the focus points is done by pressing the set button. The user can then select an individual point with the control dial or the directional pad, or select all points so the camera will get as many into focus as possible.

There are three focusing modes on offer: One Shot, AI Focus, and AI Servo.

A full manual focus is also available by flicking the switch on the lens body. When in full manual mode, the camera helps a little by flashing the focus points that it detects as being in focus when the shutter is half pressed down.