Canon EOS 70D review: Still a good choice, if you can find one

Canon EOS 70D review: Image quality

We’ve fewer complaints about the 70D’s photographic output. Automatic exposures were expertly judged, and JPEGs benefited from automatic correction of vignetting and chromatic aberrations. Details were precise, although as usual, the best results came from shooting RAW and processing in software such as Lightroom.

^ This dense foliage has come out well, and we can forgive the over-exposed swan considering how small it is in the frame

^ The JPEG is no match for Lightroom’s handling of the RAW file, though, both for fine detail and highlights. Note the chromatic aberrations around the swan in the unprocessed RAW image – both the JPEG and Lightroom have successfully removed these artefacts

^ The 7fps burst mode is great for capturing moving subjects, and the main 19-point autofocus sensor does a fine job of keeping up

The new sensor doesn’t deliver a great leap for noise levels compared to existing APS-C sensors. It shows a small improvement over the 700D but it’s slightly noisier than the Nikon D7100. It fell a long way short of the Fujifilm X-M1, which currently leads the field for APC-S sensors (along with various other Fujifilm cameras that use the same sensor). The 70D’s ISO 1600 output was roughly in line with the EOS 6D at ISO 6400 – there’s still no substitute for full frame if high-ISO shooting is a priority. Noise levels were lower than from the GH3 and 60D, though.

^ This is a decent result at ISO 5000 – there’s a bit of grain and some stripes of chroma noise, but they won’t show up too strongly at typical viewing sizes

^ This ISO 12800 shot is a borderline pass – fine when resized to a modest resolution

^ The top ISO 25600 setting is for emergencies only

^ The Nikon D7100 has a slight advantage for noise levels at ISO 6400 (here comparing their RAW output before and after noise reduction), but the 70D beats the Panasonic GH3

Canon EOS 70D review: Verdict

The Canon 70D is an extremely impressive camera, and although it’s now a few years old it’s still a strong candidate for your cash. Canon’s excellent continuous performance, articulated touchscreen, superior live view and video autofocus and integrated Wi-Fi to the Nikon D7100’s 51-point autofocus.

The full-frame EOS 6D and Nikon D600 aren’t much pricier, but while their low-light performance is in another league, their autofocus systems are somewhat under-specified, they’re slower in continuous mode and they lack articulated screens.

The Panasonic GH3 beats the 70D for serious video work but the 70D comes top for photo quality. Neither is far behind the other, though, so it’s a simple matter of priorities. If your main priority is taking photos, out of all of these cameras our top pick is the 70D.