We sat down with Matt Harris this week to discuss his views on the Canon 60D.
Here is an interview of Matt from Soul Studio 7 in Los Angeles, CA.
When people ask me what DSLR I recommend, i usually recommend the Canon 60D.
I do also love the flagship 5D and 7D as well as the entire line of Canon Rebel’s.
The 5D and the 7D (having been used on thousands of photoshoots and video productions
worldwide over the past 4 years) are certainly industry standard for professionals, and the Rebel line
is perfect for amateurs, hobbyists and even pros alike.
But the 60D is the best value in terms of camera functions and price, for my money, it’s a fantastic mid-range DSLR.
Here are some of the features that make the Canon 60D stand out:
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1. THE SWIVEL SCREEN
It bright and accurate and pops out, rotates, flips from front to back, it’s awesome.
If you flip it forward you can hold the camera and shoot video of yourself or photos
of you and your family while holding the camera and framing the photo accurately.
Now that I’ve been spoiled with this feature, it’s pretty tough to go back to using a
DSLR where the screen is fixed and static.
2. THE WHITE BALANCE
It’s ok to leave your camera on AWB or “Auto White Balance”, that will ensure that
the colors of your photos will be balanced no matter what lighting condition you are in.
AWB corrects for tungsten light, or fluorescent, or daylight etc…
But sometimes I want to experiment with different white balances for different lighting set ups
and play with different color temperatures just for fun, and the Canon 60D has all the tools i need.
Not only does it have the typical settings like shade, cloud, daylight, tungsten etc.,
the Canon 60D also gives us an actual color temperature display so we can dial
in the exact color calculations from an iPad or light meter.
3. THE ERGONOMICS
The Canon 60D just feels good in your hands, it’s that simple. The handle sports a tactile
black rubber grip and seems to relieve my hand from sweat and fatigue. The camera body weight is
just right, not too heavy and not too light, but enough to make you feel like you’re holding
something sturdy. Drop proof? I don’t know or care to find out, but my guess is that it would
hold up to a few drops. The Canon 60D is not advertised as “weather proof” but it does hold up well
on the beach, in the desert and in light rain, although that’s not a guarantee, just my experience with it.
4. THE PHOTOS & VIDEO
I shoot a lot of video, the Canon 60D shoots the exact same 1080p video as the higher priced 7D and
the lower priced Canon Rebel line. The video is professional and the camera can be manually focused and
manually color balanced and exposed. The photos from the camera are, as expected, top notch. I personally
don’t use the photo scene selections very much, but they are handy to have when you want to quickly dial in the best
settings for sports or for shooting flowers or whatever.
5. THE CREATIVE FILTERS
The Canon 60D offers creative filters in your menu to process your photos in camera. This does not effect the original
image of course, but makes a duplicate. While some might prejudge the mere thought of these presets as cheesy,
I can honestly say they are a blast. There’s a grainy B&W look with three variations, a “toy camera” cross processed sort of
look with three color tint options, a soft focus filter perfect for portraits or dreamy hazy looks, and lastly a “miniature” look
similar to the blur effect in Instagram. I often mix and match these filters and play with my photos in camera, they’re a lot of fun and
Canon really got these filters to produce a nice look on your images. Don’t skip past this feature on the 60D!
6. MANUAL AUDIO
Lastly, manual audio when shooting video. What a game-changing feature for a guy like me who runs-and-guns a lot of video
shooting. You can plug a nice shotgun mic, a boom or a lab right into the 60D and get pro audio, incredible!
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So there you go, that’s my Canon 60D push. All of the Canon DSLR’s are strong, and many have different features from one another,
you really can’y go wrong. But if these features I layed out seem worthwhile to you, then check out the Canon 60D!
-Matt Harris
Soul Studio 7, LLC
