TOP NEW AND EXCITING FEATURES FOR BIRD PHOTOGRAPHERS

• New 32.5 Megapixel 1.6x Crop CMOS sensor. A big jump from the 7D Mark II (20.2 Megapixel)

• Excellent Battery Life (Almost double the number of frames than the 7D Mark II)

• Digic 8 Processor - Allowing 10 frames per second even with the huge jump in Megapixels

• 45 AF points and AF at f/8 (can use 2x converter on 600mm f/4).

• Touchscreen Swivel Display (if you are in to that sort of thing)

• Lightweight (About a half pound lighter than the 7D Mark II)

• Quite reasonably priced at $1199 USD ($1499 CAD)

TOP VIDEO FEATURES FOR NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS

1 - 4K Video (not available on 7D II)

2 - Slow Motion Video

3 - 4K Frame Grab for 8.8 mp USABLE still JPEG images from 60 fps capture

4 - Touch screen LCD for focusing in video mode

THE CANON 90D: A BIRD PHOTOGRAPHERS REVIEW

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

If you are coming from a 7D or 5D this camera will feel very small and light in the hand. Which is not necessarily a bad thing! The wheel on the back of the camera is a bit under-sized however and the lack of the small lever (which I have grown to love to change ISO) is absent.

Overall though this camera will feel familiar to any Canon user. The real question is how does it perform?

AUTOFOCUS

Despite having fewer cross type autofocus points I think most will be hard pressed to find a big difference between the autofocus in this camera and the 5 or 7D series.  Maintaining the 10 frame per second frame rate of the 7D is a nice touch and no small feat given the much larger file size (30 vs 20 Megapixels).

The one thing missing from the 90D is the ability to assign two buttons to have separate back button focus capabilities (i.e. one button for one shot and one button for servo). What a missed opportunity here from Canon to simply allow the software to do this. Huge mistake by them in my opinion.

ISO PERFORMANCE AND IMAGE QUALITY

I would love to say that the ISO performance of this camera is better than the 7D II. But it is not. In fact it seems to be about a stop worse than the 7D II. I wouldn’t want to have to rely on this body in the rainforest that is for sure. But in normal shooting conditions of ISO 800 and lower the files look good and can certainly be processed to remove most of the noise.

SAMPLE IMAGE SET 1 - CLICK ON IMAGES TO DOWNLOAD FULL REZ JPG

SAMPLE IMAGE SET 2 - CLICK ON IMAGES TO DOWNLOAD FULL REZ JPG

CONCLUSIONS:

PROS

• New 32.5 Megapixel 1.6x Crop CMOS sensor. A big jump from the 7D Mark II (20.2 Megapixel)

• More Megapixels are always welcome (as long as they dont come at the cost of image quality)

• Excellent Battery Life (Almost double the number of frames than the 7D Mark II)

• Digic 8 Processor - Allowing 10 frames per second even with the huge jump in Megapixels

• 45 AF points and AF at f/8 (can use 2x converter on 600mm f/4).

• Touchscreen Swivel Display (if you are in to that sort of thing)

• Lightweight (About a half pound lighter than the 7D Mark II)

• Quite reasonably priced at $1199 USD ($1499 CAD)

CONS

• Only one card slot - SD

• Fewer cross type AF points than 7D II (45 vs 65)

• Cannot assign 2 different back button focus methods (i.e. One button is One Shot and One is Servo)

• Does not have the up/down/left/right focus assist mode. Instead must use 9 point group for birds in flight.

• Perhaps not as well weather sealed as the 7D II - Not as robust?

SUMMARY

To summarize my thoughts on this new offering from Canon I would say that the Canon 90D is a good general-purpose camera for a lot of photographers out there.  We bird photographers are always looking for more reach and the 1.6 crop and 30 MP of this body certainly provide that. To get the most from this body though you must have a reasonable amount of light. The wheels come off the track above ISO 800 and unfortunately in the dark tropical rainforest there are certainly times when that is called for.

As we wait for whatever comes next from Canon (i.e. a good mirrorless body for bird photography) many people will be wondering if this camera is a good placeholder to tide us over. Having a 7D II I cant really see myself reaching for this camera very often. The few missing interface options and the lack of dual back button focus kind of kill it for me. What a shame.

I do think that this camera has some use though. If you are a photographer that tends to shoot in relatively open conditions and are able to generally keep the ISO under 800 it could be worth a look. Another user that could definitely find a use for this camera is the bird photographer that does not have a super-telephoto lens. For example, if your longest lens is 300 or 400mm then having all these pixels to crop in on could be a huge advantage over the 7D II. I would also add to the list of interested buyers anyone who has a super-telephoto lens but doesn’t always want to carry it around for hours on end. Slap a 100-400mm lens on this baby and you have a 30 MP 640mm combo that is VERY capable of capturing some great bird images in the right light.

Hopefully we will one day see a 7D III. But if not and we have to sit tight until a mirrorless offering gives us bird photographers what we are looking for this camera may be worth considering. Just keep in mind its strengths (reach and crop-ability) vs its weaknesses (ISO performance and crippled interface) as you make your decision.

VIDEO REVIEW

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