Frankencam: EOS D60 Rises From Canon?s Parts-Bin

It?s clearly the season for new camera gear, and today it?s Canon?s turn in the spotlight. Along with a few new lenses comes the EOS 60D, a ?replacement? for the two-year-old 50D. Those looking to upgrade from their 50D should look elsewhere, though, perhaps to the 7D, as this new camera is more for consumers than enthusiastic amateurs.
The magnesium body of the 50D is now plastic, and the 60D uses SD-cards instead of Compact Flash. It also gets a slew of gimmicky image processing features (Toy Camera, anyone?) and the obligatory video capabilities.
In fact, video seems to be what this camera was made for. The rear screen is the pop-out, tilt-and-swivel type, Canon?s first on an SLR, and has the over a million dots of resolution (or around 330,000-pixels). Video is shot at varying sizes and speeds. 1080p is available at 24p, 25p or 30p frame rates. Drop to 720p resolution and you can shoot at up to 60fps. Whatever picture you choose, you get full manual control, including sound with 64 audio-levels.
The 18MP sensor (like the LCD panel) is the same as that found in the 550D (or Rebel T2i), the AF system comes from the old 50D and the 63-zone exposure meter comes from the 7D. It?s almost like the Canon engineers just picked through a shelf of existing parts and snapped them together like Lego, producing what seems like a pretty sweet-looking camera.
The 60D will go on sale in September for $1,100 body-only, or as part of a $1,400 kit with a 18-135mm lens.
EOS 60D product page [Canon]
See Also:
Canon Makes EOS 50D Official
Canon's New 18 Megapixel Monster, The EOS 7D
Canon's 7D SV With Parental Controls, Barcode-Scanning
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