Full (preliminary) review posted for Canon EOS-D60!
By
Dave Etchells
(Friday, February 22, 2002 - 10:09 EST)
It's new, it's hot, and we've got a full report...
Who'd have known? It looks like the real fireworks at next week's PMA show will be in the "semi-pro" digital SLR arena. Nikon announced their new 6 megapixel D100 yesterday morning, today it's Canon's turn, with their new 6 megapixel EOS-D60. Neither company has yet committed to a price (looks like one of those "no, after you..." standoffs), but the rumors I've heard on the street suggest that they're going to be *extremely* aggressively priced. You can bet that neither company will take a back seat to the other on pricing for this critical product.
That said, I haven't seen a D100 yet, but have had hands on a prototype D60 now, and am very impressed with the resolution and color it produces. I had only a single day with a "shootable" unit, and it turned out that that sample had an exposure-metering problem, making it difficult to get good exposures. I do have a pretty complete range of my standard test shots snapped with it though, and even a handful of random "non-standard" shots for folks who'd like to see what photos of more "natural" subjects look like. (The randoms will go up a bit later today.) More will likely need to wait for a production-level model, but what's here now makes the camera's potential clear. Color is clear and accurate, and the CMOS sensor has the low noise and generally beautiful tonality we first saw in the D30. (The prototype's default tone curve was a tad contrasty however.) And resolution - The D60 now holds the crown of the highest-resolution camera I've tested to date.
All in all, this looks like a really exceptional offering, and you can bet there's going to be some fireworks over pricing: Last year I made much of the D30's obviously highly modular design, and it looks to me like the D60 will reap the benefits of that. It's clearly based on the same body design, which means Canon has had a year or so to work off the engineering costs associated with it. Canon should have a fair bit of room to work the price issue, given that there's really relatively little tooling cost associated with this new unit. - And I fully expect them to take advantage of that fact. Neither Canon nor Nikon have yet shared price information with me, even under nondisclosure, so I'm free to speculate. Even at that, I won't repeat the prices I've heard rumored on the street for the new models. They're so low I don't want to carry *that* much egg on my face if the rumors prove wrong. I do think though, that the prices will startle many in the industry. (I expect Nikon to lead with a price announcement sometime early in the PMA show, and Canon to follow quickly behind. All speculation on my part though, we'll just have to see.)
Meanwhile, check out my review of the new D60!
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