# 60D Owners - Overall, are you happy with your camera?



## wsmith96 (Jun 9, 2014)

Canon has the 60D refurb on sale again and the price is such that it's calling my name. For those who own this camera, what do you think about it for $460 USD?

My usage would be for children's sports and general vacation type usage. I'm not shooting super models here.

-w


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## Don Haines (Jun 9, 2014)

Mine has served me well. It's somewhere around 125,000 pictures and still works fine. There is a cat hair in the viewfinder prism and the rubber grip is getting a bit loose, but other than that it works great.

I do regret not getting the 7D with the superior autofocus, but overall I am happy with it.


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## ajfotofilmagem (Jun 9, 2014)

I worked with 60D several times in photo and video. You could say that's a big Rebel. Does its job well, and has image quality equal to T2i. The advantage of 60D on the current Rebel is ergonomics, controls, and battery life. For the use you describe, is a very capable camera. Just do not expect to do video with auto focus, since it only searches for focus as his finger pushes the button, and then stops. In this respect, T4i makes autofocus video more efficiently.


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## AudioGlenn (Jun 9, 2014)

well... i sold mine to help pay for my 5D mark III. Of course, there was a noticeable difference in IQ and low light capability but for $460, that's a pretty good deal. For your use, it should be fine.


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## notoriouslightning (Jun 9, 2014)

I use a 60d as a backup to my 5d mark III for weddings. It sees little use, but its still a great camera. I use it with my 70-200 when I want a little extra reach for moon shots and such. I paid $500 for mine new, body only about 6 months or so ago. For $500 or less I would say its a good camera and worth the price.


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## Act444 (Jun 10, 2014)

When I had it, I loved it. It was great. Ultimately I parted with it to help finance a FF camera (wanted better low-light performance at indoor events), but especially at that price it's definitely a great value.


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## Bennymiata (Jun 10, 2014)

The 60D is a great camera.
I bought mine when they first came out and it's given me excellent service for 3 years or so.

Image quality is very good and having the small LCD screen on the top deck is very worthwhile having.


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## anthonyd (Jun 10, 2014)

I've had it for a few years now and I love it. I rented a 6D to do a wedding, next to which it felt clearly inferior, but it feels much better than the T2i I had before.
Most pictures in my flickr page are done with it.
I'm not a pro, but I would argue that light, composition and lenses matter more than the body.


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## mpphoto (Jun 10, 2014)

I bought a refurb 60D for that same price in March during another Canon refurb sale. I was using a T3i and was satisfied with it, but I couldn't resist the 60D at that price. There were only 14 shutter actuations on the body I got. For the price, it was a nice upgrade from my T3i. Better autofocus, faster burst mode, and much better battery life. I routinely get about 1000 shots per charge.

There are newer bodies with more features, but for $460, I think the 60D is a good deal for someone upgrading from an older Rebel, or someone looking to have a very capable spare body.


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## Hjalmarg1 (Jun 10, 2014)

This is camera that produce very good results, I sold mine to buy a FF but while I had it it performed flawlessly.


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## jdramirez (Jun 10, 2014)

I had it for 2+ years... and I really liked the 60D. I do like shooting at shallow depths of field though... and the 60D doesn't have AFMA... But if you are shooting at reasonable depth of fields, you should be golden. 

Also... it is the same 18mp sensor that has been around forever... and it gets grainy pretty quickly depending upon your personal preference. I could tolerate iso 2500... but some people complain past 800.

I liked/loved the articulating screen, I loved the shoulder lcd as compared to not having a shoulder lcd. 

the 9 cross type AF points is adequate... I really liked my 60D and in good light, I'm not sure I could see a difference in image quality between my mkiii and the 60D... I say get it...


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## jdramirez (Jun 10, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> Mine has served me well. It's somewhere around 125,000 pictures and still works fine. There is a cat hair in the viewfinder prism and the rubber grip is getting a bit loose, but other than that it works great.
> 
> I do regret not getting the 7D with the superior autofocus, but overall I am happy with it.



My rubber grip started to come loose as well...


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## FTb-n (Jun 10, 2014)

I upgraded from a Rebel XT to the 60D and then added the 70-200 f2.8L IS II. My main need was figure skating, grade school sports, and indoor events. From the XT, this was a huge improvement. 

Shortly afterward, I added a 17-55 f2.8 IS. It wasn't long when I realized that the XT was a poor second camera, then I heard the calling of a refurbished 7D direct from Canon. The 7D proved to be a great improvement with more challenging sports action.

First, the difference for me wasn't really with the 8 fps. I rely more on timing of the first shot then may burst a second or third one. But, the biggest issue was with tracking erratic movement such as with figure skating. My guess is that the 60D had an in-focus success rate of about 80% where the 7D was at least 90%. 

But, perhaps the biggest problem was that I didn't fully understand the predictive nature of the AI Servo mode. It isn't completely live focus, but rather it records movement to predict where the subject will be when the shutter is actually tripped. So, it works great tracking a subject that moves in a straight line. But, it can be off when the subject changes direction. The 7D can usually keep up, but the 60D lags behind when tracking the change in direction. It's sometimes best to momentarily lift your finger off the focus lock when the subject changes direction to force the camera start its calculations all over.

Another issue that you can run into is with burst mode or "near" burst mode. The 60D can only burst a few RAW images before filling the buffer. Part of this is due to the slower SD cards. It does a better job with smaller JPGs. Still, for me, this wasn't a huge problem.

That's the negative and is most noticeable with challenging sports action.

I still find the 60D to be a great camera and the articulating screen was quite handy for both creative shots and candids. Today, I mostly shoot with two 5D3's, but I kept the 60D (and the 7D). My wife kids now use these. On occasion, I'll grab the 60D and 17-55 or the 35 f2 IS for a lightweight grab shot camera -- especially for times when I don't want to carry 5 grand worth of gear for more casual shots.

For crop bodies, if lots of sports was my main need, I'd be tempted to look for a refurb 7D. But, for a more general purpose camera that can handle sports, the 60D is a great choice. Keep in mind, it's only when compared to the 7D that 60D falls short in the sports department.


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## wsmith96 (Jun 10, 2014)

Thank you all for your guidance. I get a lot of confidence in my ordering based up on recommendations from the CR community. You all have never disappointed.

Order number #119802592 will be at my house on Thursday 

I believe that this camera will do everything that I want it to do. For the longest time I lusted after a 7d, but working with my T1i for a few years, I was able to start getting better and better pictures working on my technique. I've attached a few pictures I've taken from my son's baseball games. I think that 5 FPS will be enough for me regarding speed, but just having a physically larger camera will do wonders for my hand. I think I've got a pretty good kit for now:

17-55
10-22
60 macro
70-200 2.8 mk II
85 1.8
50 1.8

My rebel will go to my kiddo's who are taking an interest in photography. Now the wait.....

Thanks again!
-wes


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## jdramirez (Jun 10, 2014)

Nice timing with the first shot. I can never seem to get that ball on bat shot... though in my defense I spend most of my time coaching the girls...


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## Dylan777 (Jun 10, 2014)

What camera you have now?


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## wsmith96 (Jun 10, 2014)

T1i. Bought it new in 2009.


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## wsmith96 (Jun 10, 2014)

jdramirez said:


> Nice timing with the first shot. I can never seem to get that ball on bat shot... though in my defense I spend most of my time coaching the girls...


I'd like to think it is skill, but in reality it was pure luck.


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## FTb-n (Jun 10, 2014)

Congrats on the order and enjoy the 60D.

For what it's worth, my 5D3 has 6fps, not much faster than the 60D. Most of the sports that I shoot is grade school level and I can't say that I miss the 8fps of 7D. There are times when burst is handy, such as a layup in basketball when there are a couple seconds worth of shots. But, when trying to get the batted ball or the moment when the basketball leaves the hand, it's all about timing that first shot. Relying on burst won't help.

When you dig into the 60D, there's really a lot there. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my 60D could control my 430EX flash off camera, in full auto, using the popup flash. I could also use the popup as a fill flash.

Enjoy!


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## TrabimanUK (Jun 10, 2014)

I've owned a 60D since it came out as I couldn't afford the 7D. It has served me well, taken some great shots and survived two safaris. Not sure if it wil make the 3rd as I'm looking at a 5DIII due to being a bit better off now, but for the price, the 60D is a great camera.


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## cid (Jun 10, 2014)

when I was byuing my first dlsr body I was chosing between 600D and 60D. 60D won, it convinced me with ergonomics and build quality (something I could see on first look, because back then I had no idea about AFMA or cross type points)

I was pretty happy with it for two years, it helped me learn a lot and then calling of the FF came and I listened to it.


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## Marsu42 (Jun 10, 2014)

wsmith96 said:


> My usage would be for children's sports and general vacation type usage. I'm not shooting super models here.



Great camera, esp. at that price, I'm still using it next to my 6d for macro and good light. Once catch though: It doesn't have af micro adjustment (thanks, Canon!), so if esp. you're using fast lenses you need to buy a lens that matches your camera body.

Other than that, the usual "don't shoot >iso800 on crop" applies, so it doesn't matter that the af already stops working @0.5 lv. Last not least, remember the af tracking is mediocre in comparison to the high-fps 7d/70d as the 60d has too few af points and zero firmware customization (thanks, Canon!) - but as single point tracking it works more or less.


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## AG (Jun 11, 2014)

From my personal standpoint, the camera itself is good enough for most situations. 

They tend to struggle when pushed to over 1600ISO but thats more a complaint against the older sensor than the camera quality.
Video work it has held its own in most situations again the only real drama is when pushing it in low light situations.

Things that annoy me about my 60D:
The rubber on the camera has all but stretched out of shape and is hanging off in places, this was a known fault and you can get replacement rubber if need be. 
The eye piece tends to fling off if you have the camera attached to a sling style strap (Black Rapid) due to the rubbing as you walk sometimes. Again not areal issue but it pays to keep an eye on it or find a third party solution that locks on better.

All round its generally a good camera. 

Also if you are planning on manual focusing it pays to change out the focusing screen too, makes things a hell of a lot better than the stock screen.


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## Aglet (Jun 11, 2014)

60D is my second most favorite Canon DSLR body of the 10 or so models I've owned.
40D is still my favorite.
that's not a bad price for a refurb with some warranty


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## inri (Jun 11, 2014)

For me its a very good camera, i bought it in 2010, since 2013 have error 20 and theres no pattern when appears that error, and its very hard to live in a country who don't have any serious support to digital cameras.
I replace all external rubbers in 2013, and now my 18-135mm don't give sharp images, i'm thinking to replace with 6d, what do you think, it's worth fix the camera?, thanks, greetings from Honduras. God bless you.


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## wsmith96 (Jun 11, 2014)

inri said:


> For me its a very good camera, i bought it in 2010, since 2013 have error 20 and theres no pattern when appears that error, and its very hard to live in a country who don't have any serious support to digital cameras.
> I replace all external rubbers in 2013, and now my 18-135mm don't give sharp images, i'm thinking to replace with 6d, what do you think, it's worth fix the camera?, thanks, greetings from Honduras. God bless you.



I'm not sure what the repair cost will be compared to a replacement 60D cost right now. It may not make sense to repair.


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## inri (Jun 11, 2014)

wsmith96 said:


> inri said:
> 
> 
> > For me its a very good camera, i bought it in 2010, since 2013 have error 20 and theres no pattern when appears that error, and its very hard to live in a country who don't have any serious support to digital cameras.
> ...



Oka thanks for reply,,,


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## tntwit (Jun 11, 2014)

I traded in a T3i and bought a refurbished 60D a few months ago and have been happy so far.

I wanted the 70D or the 6D, but as much as the 70D is nice I couldn't see paying $500 to $600 more for it. I don't think it's that much better and I'd rather put that toward glass. 

As for the 6D, we'll I still want that, but I think I'm waiting to see what the next iteration brings.

For the $460 that I paid I couldn't go too far wrong for right now. They were $900 not too long ago. I figure when I'm ready to move on I won't loose much if anything because of how little I paid for it and it was a definite step up from the T3i. I like the ergonomics over the T3i. The battery life is much better and very noticeable. I like having the top LCD. It's easier to change parameters and easier to see where you have settings at a quick glance. The faster burst is a nice bump up and is fast enough to make it useful, but I agree, the timing of the first shot is the most important (and not always easy). I like that I can shoot RAW with a small JPEG, which I could not do with the T3i (you could only do RAW and full size JPEGs). I like the increase in buffer size. It has been sufficient for me so far where the T3i would occasionally fill up and cause a delay.

I'd like to say the autofocus is better, but I never had too much issue with the T3i for how I was using it. What I am finding now, however, is I have started using the back button focus and AI Servo when shooting action. I tend to use single point focus and sometimes the available focus points aren't exactly where you would want them with only 9 to choose from. So from that perspective, sometimes I wish it had a few more points, but in reality it probably has more to do with refining technique than a need for more camera capability.


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## vstrike (Jun 11, 2014)

I loved it. I can't say anything really bad about it. I knew it would struggle at high iso's when I got it. When I got my 5d mark III I sold my 60d and picked up a 7d. In all honesty, I still like the 60d more than I like the 7d. I was hoping to get a better autofocus and more consistent feel when switching back and forth between cameras. I think the 7d's autofocus is really sketchy. I have more blurry shots with the 7d than I did with the 60d, which kind of surprises me.


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## noncho (Jun 11, 2014)

I have 60D from 2011 (after T1i/500D) and it's a good capable camera for the money. I'm wondering - 70D now or wait for 7D II


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## Marsu42 (Jun 11, 2014)

noncho said:


> I'm wondering - 70D now or wait for 7D II



My estimation is that when (and if ) the 7d2 is released, it will be double the price of the then-70d tag. Something to think about. Good for me I'm using flash all the time so 8, 14 or 100 fps don't appeal to me anyway 

On topic: The 60d vs 7d vs 7d1 vs 7d2 really shows again how fast investments in camera bodies fade away, better get good lenses and not the latest camera - imho absolutely nobody will notice the sensor difference 70d vs 60d unless really looking for it.


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## noncho (Jun 11, 2014)

The sensor is not improved much, but the AF is nice, I was on a wildlife test with Canon 1DX, 5D III and 70D - last 2 were with almost the same focus accuracy for vultures in flight


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## wsmith96 (Jun 11, 2014)

noncho said:


> I have 60D from 2011 (after T1i/500D) and it's a good capable camera for the money. I'm wondering - 70D now or wait for 7D II



I'm curious about the 7d ii as well. I haven't spent all of my money yet


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## anthonyd (Jun 11, 2014)

jdramirez said:


> I had it for 2+ years... and I really liked the 60D. I do like shooting at shallow depths of field though... and the 60D doesn't have AFMA... But if you are shooting at reasonable depth of fields, you should be golden.



Like this you mean?


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## NancyP (Jun 11, 2014)

The 60D is a very nice camera. It doesn't have the frames per second and buffer of the 7D, but it also doesn't have banding in its sensor. With a speedy card, I can get about 16 to 18 RAW images at top burst. The center point AI servo focus is quite good for birds in flight, but it still can drop focus when panning across a busy background. That's where the more sophisticated focus algorithms of the 7D shine. I haven't checked the 60D shutter count recently - probably only 30,000 to 50,000, I can't remember how many times the numbers have turned over. I bought it in late 2010 and it has been functioning perfectly. I got the 6D about a year ago and the 60D has been partly retired to family occasions (EF-S 15-85mm is a great walk-around lens) and "mostly birding" (400mm f/5.6L) trips. The 6D is for landscape and night/astro work. The 60D was fine, but the 6D is amazing for astro, and there is even an Astronomix clip-in filter system now for the recent Canon FF cameras. I love the tilting main LCD of the 60D, especially nice for use on tripod in awkward positions, eg, macro on ground level. A given object, say, small insect, fills up the screen at 1:1, whereas on FF the insect would be rather small at 1:1. That's the joy of using APS-C format for situations where you need as much magnification as possible, which is macro and long telephoto work. 

If I like and buy the as-yet-not-announced "7D2", I may do a full-spectrum conversion on the 60D. The main reasons I am considering the "7D2" are burst rate, larger buffer, better AF than the 60D, which may make a difference for birding but not for other things I shoot.

Helluvah camera for 460 bucks! Have a LOT of fun, and with the money saved consider buying one of the better zooms rather than the kit lens, although even the kit lenses have come a long way since 2010.


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## Marsu42 (Jun 11, 2014)

NancyP said:


> The center point AI servo focus is quite good for birds in flight, but it still can drop focus when panning across a busy background.



The problem with 60d tracking is the lack of firmware options (thanks, Canon!). The default setting thus is rather "responsive" which does make sense, but it becomes a problem if you track something that moves smoothly like a bird in flight. The instant you cannot hold the single point on the subject, the camera is confused an focuses in the background... so you have to be very careful or lucky with the 60d and such scenes.


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## hanifshootsphotos (Jun 11, 2014)

wsmith96 said:


> Canon has the 60D refurb on sale again and the price is such that it's calling my name. For those who own this camera, what do you think about it for $460 USD?
> 
> My usage would be for children's sports and general vacation type usage. I'm not shooting super models here.
> 
> -w



I've owned the 60D since 2012 without any major concerns, although I only have 2 qualms: lack of AFMA and high noise above ISO 800...otherwise a great body I currently own the 6D now but still use the 60D with good results!


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