Canon EOS 90D review: IN-DEPTH vs 80D vs 7D II vs M6 II

hi I'm Gordon from camera lapse and this is my full review of the canon eos 90d an upper mid-range DSLR with a 32 point 5 megapixel aps-c sensor 10 frames per second shooting uncropped 4k video and a fully articulated touchscreen the successor to the popular eos HD costs $1,200 or pounds for the body alone and with its faster speed makes you wonder if it's also a success of sorts to the 70 mark - certainly the days of new dslr's are numbered and with a typical three year lifespan four canons double-digit models I suspect the 90 d may well be the last in its series and if it isn't they'll need to think of a new name for it because there's already a 100 d in this video I'll show you everything that's new on the 90 d compare the features and performance where they're shooting through the optical viewfinder or in live view and of course see what canons new 32 point 5 megapixel sensor is capable of if you find any of this useful don't forget you can support me with a like and a follow or a coffee donation see links to everything below thanks let's start with a body which looks a great deal like its predecessor that's the 90 D on the left and the older a TD on the right you'll need to look pretty closely to spot the differences the controls on the top remain the same as the ATD before it with the exceptions of different textures around the main mode dial on the left and the finger dial on the right so as before there's the lockable mode dial surrounded by a satisfyingly chunky power switch on the left side while on the right are the finger dowel a backlit LCD information screen and four buttons along the top to adjust the autofocus drive ISO and metering modes notice how the ISO button has a small point in the middle it's more easily identified when you're composing through the viewfinder rounding it off is a soft touch shutter release it's all essentially unchanged since the eos 60d three generations and nine whole years ago so owners of that model along with the 70d or a TD will feel right at home here around the back the controls again are very similar to the SAT deep starting with a collar by the viewfinder to select an end to live you for composing with the screen or switch into the movie mode where the button in the middle now starts and stops recording I've always been very fond of this control and while its orientation has been rotated a little the function and feel remain the same the biggest difference over the eight is the reinstatement of an AF joystick a feature removed on the EOS 60d nine years ago to differentiate it from the new 7d series and which remained absent on the 70 and 80 D indeed has been gone so long Canon has slyly pitched it as a new feature rather than one that was there until the 50 D so for a bit of nostalgia here it is present and correct in my EOS 50d review filmed in glorious standard-definition a mere 11 years ago come on who else has been filming reviews few since 2006 below the joystick is the thumb wheel with an 8 way rocker inside which in a missed opportunity for customization shares the function of the joystick I also noticed the wheel felt a little less quickly in tactile than the one on the ATD although you're unlikely to notice that unless you got them side-by-side as a DSLR the 90 DS of course equipped with an optical viewfinder with its own autofocus system it's identical to the ATD in this regard offering the same 100% coverage noir point 95 times magnification and 45 point all cross-type autofocus system the viewfinder AF modes are also the same although the nicety can now exploit its more sophisticated metering sensor to offer basic face detection during composition and I'll demonstrate how that works later like the 60 70 and 80 DB for it the 90 D retains the side hinged fully articulated touchscreen beloved of anyone who shoots at high or low angles in either the landscape or portrait orientations as well as flipping forward to face you for vlogging without blocking accessories mounted on the hot shoe and of course it can also flip back on itself for protection sure it's not feature which first made its appearance on the 60d in this series but one that's found on disappointingly few cameras these days so I'm pleased Canon stuck with it here interestingly it also makes the 90 D more desirable for series of logging than the m6 Mark 2 whose vertically tilting screen becomes blocked by anything mounted on its hot shoe like a microphone canons touch features remain unchanged but a worth mentioning when rivals like Sony continue to severely underused the facility so along with tapping to reposition the AF air in live view and movies you can tap your way through the quick and main menu systems as well as swiping and playback all chemicals used the physical controls if you prefer on the left side you'll find all the ports behind several flaps unlike the m6 Mart two canons chosen to stick with microUSB here rather than USB see and as you probably suspected you sadly can't charge the nineties battery internally over USB there's also mini HDMI with 8-bit 42 to output a port for a cabled remote and 3.5 millimeter jacks for both microphones and headphones again cementing its position as a decent camera for video note the m6 mark 2 also has a microphone input but sadly no headphone jack although that model can at least be charged over its USB C port so long as the charger supports power delivery open the flap on the grip side and you'll find the single SD card slot sadly but again unsurprisingly canons continued to resist fitting twin card slots to maintain the differentiation with the single-digit pro bodies contrast it with Nikon that's been fitting twin card slots to mid-range DSLR for ages the 90 D is powered by the LPE 6 and battery pack which claims up to 1,300 shots when shooting through the optical viewfinder alone this is a key benefit that DSLRs still have over more battery hungry mirrorless cameras although switched the Nights D into live view and of course the battery life reduces considerably in terms of video shooting I managed to record over 4 hours worth of 1080 footage or three hours worth of uncropped 4k per charge which is pretty good and comfortably more than the m6 tool manage while also avoiding overheating unless you're filming in the cropped 4k mode as I'll explain in a moment when shooting through the viewfinder the 90d offers bursts up to 10 frames per second with continuous autofocus a respectable boost over the 7 frames per second of the ATD before it and matching the speed of the 7d mark - in theory allowing it to be considered for more serious sports action and wildlife photography you can see the 45 point AF system here in action when the viewfinder custom AF mode is set to - where it ignores face detection from the metering and relies on the basic auto focus algorithms which sometimes find me and sometimes don't now Here I am again but this time with the viewfinder custom menu set to 0 which enables canons new ITR based tracking this actually exploits the high resolution metering sensor that's used when you compose to the viewfinder to recognize faces and drive the 45 point AF system to follow them as long as the face falls within the lozenge-shaped viewfinder autofocus array of course I'd say it's doing a visibly better job at tracking me here than the previous mode did although a third option combines both face and normal subject tracking so it's always worth experimenting to see which one works best for your particular situation when shooting with the screen in Live View the 90 uses canon's latest dual pixel CMOS AF for quick and confident refocusing now supporting face and eye detection in continuous servo AF across virtually the entire frame there's the choice of two shutter types in Live View with BER shooting and this is the electronic front curtain option which fires at seven frames per second with continuous servo AF for 11 frames per second with fixed focus now for the fully mechanical shutter option which also shoots at 7 frames per second with servo continuous AF or 11 with fixed focus although more noisily and with greater potential vibration which could potentially introduce some shutterstock now apart from increased volume I didn't personally notice any downsides to shooting in Live View as a mechanical shutter but again is worth experimenting to find which mode works best for you in different situations when shooting action 9 TD is a tale of two autofocus systems with quite different capabilities they both share the same buffer though which in my tests gave me around 35 JPEGs or 12 war files at the top speeds before slowing down Canon actually quotes higher figures of 58 JPEGs or 25 rolls see your mileage may vary assuming a figure somewhere within this range though you'll only bow to shoot JPEGs for 3 to 5 seconds at the top speed before the camera slows or stalls compare that to the 90 or so JPEGs attitute with the 70 mark - at the same speed attempt frames per second starting with a viewfinder AF system here's a sequence showing been cycling towards me using the EFS 18 - 1 3 5 at 1 3 5 millimeter F 5.6 where several of the frames are not completely sharp I had the same experience where the using single zoned or the full AF ray now for the same test but in live view where the 90 may shoot more slowly at 7 frames per second with continuous autofocus but it delivered a far higher hit rate of focused images now for some bursts of bright and seagulls using the EF 70 to 200 millimeter F 2.8 l mostly at 200 millimeter F 2.8 where I found the nineties viewfinder autofocus system proved quite hit-and-miss sometimes it deliver nice crisp results but other times just seemed overwhelmed by the speed of the birds and just couldn't keep up I repeated the test with different auto focus areas and settings across several days and lighting conditions but just found the 90 DS viewfinder AF system wasn't that well-suited to birds in flight to be fair it's no worse than the else a TD but equally no improvement on it in this regard I wish Canon had equipped an ID with a 7d marked who's more effective 63 point finder autofocus system which in my tests on that camera fared much better with birds in flight I mean it's not like the 70 mark 2 is a brand new camera they're trying to protect and indeed I wonder if they'll even ever update that series now switching to live view on the 90 D delivered a far more confident performance for autofocus with the birds but it's really hard to aim a DSLR with a long lens when using the screen alone in fact it's almost impossible to photograph birds in fly without a viewfinder and that's the ironic thing about the 90 d it does have a viewfinder but it's best autofocus system is during life you when you can only use the screen at this point I have to mention the m6 mark 2 which shares the same sensor but as a mirrorless camera is always in live view allowing you to use the screen or the viewfinder with the same dual pixel autofocus system the m62 also shoots much faster than the 90 at 14 frames per second while maintaining confident autofocus and it also offers a raw burst mode which captures 30 frames per second burst with a half second pre buffer a feature that's strangely absent on the 90 DS Live View menu so in a surprise move the m6 mark 2 is actually more compelling than the 90 d4 sports action and birds in flight as long as you fit its optional viewfinder accessory but then in an even stranger twist of fate the 90 D becomes preferable to the m62 for video and even vlogging but more about that in just a minute staying with shutter types for just a moment when set to its mechanical shutter the 90s top speed is eight thousandth of a second the same as the HD before it but notably double that of any Canon mirrorless camera set the camera to live view and you have the choice of three shutter types mechanical electronic from curtain and so long as you're not shooting bursts fully electronic the fully electronic shutter operates in genuine silence something the ATD and early models can do and unlocks faster speeds of up to 16,000 per second now it's the same as the m62 in the same mode although like the majority of cameras it does come with some caveats firstly in canons world you won't be shooting bursts with the fully electronic shutter secondly you have to be careful of moving subjects or moving the camera as it can result in skewing due to rolling shutter to illustrate this effect his a shot I took with the nineties mechanical shutter while planning the camera from left to right and they should expect the tower in the distance remains a vertical line but now here's the same shot taken with the electronic shutter while planning the camera at the same speed and you can clearly see the skewing effect now to be fair this affects virtually all electronic shutter modes but it's something to be aware of like most Canon cameras there's a handy bulb timer for easily deploying long exposures without accessories simply enter bulb mode then choose how long you'd like the show to stay open for from the menus I set a 120 second timer for this long exposure of Brian's West Pier after sunset and if you'd like to learn more about this fun technique check out my separate long exposure tutorial which explains everything you need to know my in-camera book also has loads of long exposure tips and examples and you can find a link to it in the description and ping comment below the EOS 980 is also quit with focus practicing which fires a burst electronically in live view focusing further away with each shot you can then stack these in software later to increase the effective depth of field here's an example of the capture process our shot using the m6 mark 2 which works in exactly the same way and now here's the final stacked image I made with hillock on focus which in this particular case was more successful for me than using canons supplied DPP software now for video set the video system to Powell and the 90 Deacon film 720 at 50 P 1080 at 25 or 50 P or 4k at 25 P all uncropped and using IPP compression with data rates of around 30 megabits per second for 10 80 or 120 megabits per second for 4k switch the video system to NTSC and you can film 720 as 60p 1080 at 30 or 60 P or 4k at 30 P so like most recent Canon cameras that there is no 24 P in any mode and no explanation as to where it's gone ATD owners will also notice the choice of IP B all the milder all I compression has gone and it's only IP B compression here the big news though is the 90 in M 60 to become canons first interchangeable lens cameras to support uncropped 4k video and I'm pleased to report with dual pixel autofocus to remember that a TD had no 4k at all here's a clip I filmed with the EOS 90 filming in 1080 at 25 P where it uses the full sensor width all of my clips are straight our camera in the standard profile and now the same subject when film in 4k again using the uncropped mode at 25 P so far so similar to the m62 but the 90 d also offers a 4k crop mode that's lacking on the m62 seen here using the same lens focal lens obviously this results in a reduction in the field of view which is bad news if you want wide coverage although good news if you want extra reach but there's also a quality benefit over the on crop mode as I'll now illustrate so here are pictured uncropped 4k in the top half of the screen and cropped 4k in the bottom half with the lens adjusted to match the field of view if you're watching this in 4k on a 4k display i'd say the difference is clear with the cropped version looking more detailed but I'll show it again with a resolution chart next so in this more formal comparison I filmed a standard resolution chart in all of the modes and with a variety of bodies for comparison first is the older a TD in uncropped 1080 in the top half with uncropped 1080 from the 90 d in the bottom half to show you how canon sensor and processing has changed in the last 3 years I'd say 1080 footage looks a little more detailed on the newer 90 D over its predecessor - that's good news now I've switched out the a TD and replaced it with uncropped 4k footage from the EOS 90d in the top half leaving uncropped 1080p from the 90 in the lower half you can clearly see here how 4k is delivering finer detail than the 1080 footage as you'd expect but perhaps not by as much as you hoped next I've kept uncropped 4k from the Nights D in the top half but you're now looking at the 4k crop mode in the bottom half with the lens adjusted to match the field of view and again if you're viewing on a 4k display you'll see the crop mode is visibly superior giving the 90 D a benefit in potential video quality of the m62 which sadly and strangely lacks a 4k crop option although again the crop mode will of course reduce the field of view and does come with some overheating issues I'll discuss in a moment but what about compared to the competition I've kept the 90 DS cropped 4k footage in the bottom half and switched in 4k from the Sony a 64 hundred in the top half which at 24 and 25 P uses the full sensor width without any cropping clearly the sony a 64 hundred is keeping up with the cropped 4k mode on the 90 D but without any cropping and it exceeds the detail of the 90s on crop mode while the uncropped 4k footage may not be as detailed as the best of its rivals there's no arguing with canons dual pixel autofocus seen here effortlessly pulling focus between the cam and the background using the touchscreen I used the EFS 18 25 millimeter here but the camera is equally happy to focus with much shallower depth of field lenses the combination of confident dual pixel autofocus and effective face detection now further enhanced by eye detection means the nice D is very good at keeping you in focus wherever you are on the frame I filmed this using the 1823 5 millimeter kit zoom the eye detection may not work as far away as Sony's does but you should still experience a few if any issues with focusing for an additional challenge I filmed this again using the EF 50mm meter F 1.8 STM at F 1.8 and this time the relatively lightly focusing speed of this particular lens means it doesn't always keep up with my movements but if you're filming a piece to camera with more modest motion you can be confident you'll stay sharp most of the time it all adds up to a camera that's also very well suited to vlogging as I'll now demonstrate hi I'm Gordon from camera labs and this is a quick vlogging test with a Canon EOS 90 D film in 4k at 25 P with the enhanced stabilization mode in addition to the optical stay in the lens the lens I'm using is the 10 to 18 millimeter at 10 millimeter F 4.5 I'm also recording the audio with the road wireless Co you can see the transmitter here so really this is a best-case scenario all of the technologies working together hopefully for a nice result but if you're wondering what the other stabilization modes and the 1080 quality looks like for vlogging then check out my separate detailed vlogging video I didn't think that I would bore you to death with all the settings in this main review so check out that separate one if you interested meanwhile stick along with this one I'll tell you more about the camera moving on the 90 allows high speed 1080 video at 100 or 120 frames per second which is slowed in camera by 4 times there's no sound recorded though nor any auto focusing during the clip both of which are allowed by Sony Fuji films latest cameras can also autofocus high speed video here's a couple of clips I filmed using a slow motion mode and if you careful about the action not moving too much towards or away from you the lack of autofocus may not be a big issue but if you do want to autofocus with the slow motion go for Sony or Fuji film and if you unsound as well well Sony's the only game in town in terms of maximum recording times the 90 can record clips lasting up to a second shy of half an hour in 1080 or 4k in my tests I managed to record almost four and a half hours worth of 1080 on a single charge crossed nine clips while in uncropped 4k a full battery got me just over three hours worth across seven clips in both cases there were no overheating issues although the cropped 4k mode was a different matter with the camera shutting itself down only nine minutes into my second clip so that's less than 40 minutes worth in total now there was plenty of battery life remaining but the 90 day insisted on cooling down for several minutes despite it feeling barely warm to be fair the half hour clip length on a 90 d is way longer than the Fujifilm xt 30 which only allows a mere 15 minutes for 1080 or just 10 minutes of 4k at a time but contrast them both with the sony a6000 hundred which has unlimited recording clips that's way beyond half an hour and it seems just fine about getting hot under the collar I recorded a single 4k clip lasting just over an hour in my tests although the body felt pretty hot afterwards finally for this video section at test for rolling shutter which here in 4k is actually pretty well-behaved compared to many cameras sure the tower is skewing with the fastest motion but now compare it to the Sony a sixty-four hundred sadly one of the worst offenders for rolling shutter and you can see the 90 D and the m62 sensor is actually pretty good in this regard the headline feature of the 90 D along with the m62 mirrorless launched alongside it is the debut of the highest resolution aps-c sensor today sporting 32.5 megapixels this comfortably beats the 24 megapixel average for aps-c and the 26 of 30 films latest generation Canon unsurprisingly continues to neglect built-in stabilization on either of its two new bodies although to be fair it's mostly only Micro Four Thirds cameras that offered at this price point or lower so to iron out any wobbles with the 90 D you'll need lenses with optical stabilization and in canons world that means going for models with eye s in the title as a Canon DSLR the EOS 90 is of course equipped with an EF mount and as an aps-c model is also compatible with EFS lenses now it's easy to just brush past this feature but the EF mount gives canon DSLR access so not only one of the broadest lens catalogs available but also one of the biggest markets for third party and second hand models whatever the focal length you want whatever your budget there'll be multiple options available including new and used and this is a key benefit of Canon DSLRs the most common general-purpose zoom for the 90 is the same lens introduced with the ATD three years earlier the EFS 18 25 millimeter a 3.5 to 5.6 is usm which offers a broad 27 to 216 millimeter equivalent range image stabilization and fast in quiet nano USM focusing that's equally suited to shooting bursts or filming movies Canon fans may also recall it's the only lens to support the optional accessory that motorized is the zoom and they tell me is to works on the 90 D the new sensor captures images with 69 60 by 40 640 pixels compared to 6,000 by 4000 on the earlier 24 megapixel models this lets you make 23 by 15 inch prints at 300 dpi that's three inches wider than you can at 24 megapixels or of course gives you more light for cropping which is great if you photographing distant subjects like wildlife remember the finer pixel pitch will place greater demands on lenses though so for the best results couple the 90 d with the best lenses you can afford okay now for selection of JPEG photos straight out of the 90 d mostly fitted with the EFS 18 25 millimeter kit zoom while the m62 really needed a better option than its own 15 to 45 millimeter kitsune to exploit the potential resolution the FS 1825 does a much better job on the 90 D sure it's still not the sharpest tool in the box of course but it's not bad at all while also delivering a useful general-purpose range as well as quick and quiet focusing that again is you CLE suited to action and movies as for the images I've always been fond of canons processing which here is again delivering attractive natural-looking tones and colors if you want a closer look at any of these sample images head over to my 90 D review at camera labs calm but how does the new sensor compared to the older 24 megapixel model to find out I photographed these flowers with the older EOS a TD followed by the Eocene 90 D at all sensitivities and using the same EFS 18 to 135 lens I then cropped the area marked by the red rectangle here for direct comparison you're looking at the crops from the ATT on the left with it's 24 megapixel sensor and the 90 on the right with its 32 point 5 megapixel sensor these are JPEGs straight out a camera as Adobe haven't yet supported the 90 raw files at the time I made this review again check camera labs comm for any updates in this sequence you can see the 90 D crops on the right delivering a little extra detail but perhaps not as much as you expected in terms of noise at the pixel level both cameras are fairly similar here to more formally compare the resolution I photographed a standard test chart with both the EOS a TD and the austere 90 D each fitted with the EF 50mm 1.8 STM close to F 5.6 for the best results I've cropped the a TD result on the bottom and the 90 was all on the top where it's increasing resolving power is clearer but again maybe by not as much as you expected so canons new 32.5 megapixel sensor is delivering the highest potential resolution from aps-c although you'll need a quality lens to enjoy the benefits oh and in terms of dynamic range I'm waiting for full all support from Adobe to be consistent with my other tests I'll update my reviewer camera lapse calm when I have more results to share and now for my final verdict the eos 90 becomes canons most powerful mid-range DSLR to date inheriting the body sight inch screen optical viewfinder and 45 point autofocus of the earlier ATD while upgrading the sensor resolution to 32 and a half megapixels offering uncropped 4k video at 25 or 30 P faster bursts shooting at 10 frames % too much the 7d Mart to and reinstating the AF joystick which went missing on the three previous models in the series as such this upgrades whether you shoot still photos film video or like most owners of this series do both the image quality as you've seen certainly has the potential to be 24 megapixel models but not by a huge margin and crucially only when fitted with a quality lens in terms of video it's great to finally enjoy uncropped 4k with dual pixel autofocus on an EOS body but while it definitely resolves more detail than 1080 footage the uncropped mode is not as detailed as 4k from the best of its rivals most notably the sony a 64 hundred and 30 film XT 30 the optional cropped 4k mode delivers a much sharper image though due to the way Canon wrangles its pixels but of course this reduces the field of view and more susceptible to overheating to more than making up for these restrictions for most people though is the sheer success with which dual pixel autofocus can keep a subject's in focus on paper the increase in speed and presence of an air of joystick means the 90 could be seen as a 7d mark to success of sorts but buyer beware the body is not as tough it lacks the dual card slots the buffers not as big and crucially the 90 DS 45 point viewfinder autofocus system is not a patch on the 63 point system on the 70 mark - in my test delivering fairly lackluster performance when photographing birds in flight with the viewfinder switch to live view and the 90 TS autofocus becomes much better but the speed Falls to 7 frames % and it's almost impossible to aim a long lens for fast action using the screen alone this is something the m62 does much better allowing you to enjoy is even faster 14 frames per second bursts and best autofocus system with the screen or optional electronic viewfinder so cannon bird photographers should go for the m62 over the 90 d and also keep an eye open for deals on the older 7d Mart too but the tables are turned for video sure there's no sign of the 24 P or of--like impression from the ATD but with the choice of cropped or uncooked 4k with dual pixel autofocus microphone and headphone jacks long battery life front-facing built-in microphones and the flip screen that isn't obstructed by hotshoe accessories the 90 D actually becomes canons best mid-range camera for video and vlogging whether you're looking at a DSLR or mirrorless model overall I enjoyed shooting with 90 D although again was struck by how much better it focused in live view than it did with the viewfinder had Canon equipped the 90 D with the 70 mark 2's viewfinder autofocus system it could have been a very different story but as it stands you should carefully consider your usage when choosing between it and the m62 which is actually cheaper even in the kit with its electronic viewfinder indeed despite my love for side hinge screens I personally go for the m62 over the 90 D for my own use anyway with the launch of each new DSLR I also wonder if it will be the last in the series there's typically three years between canons double-digit Leo's DSLRs so will there even be a market for an upgrade in 2022 and with a 100 d already in the catalog what would they even call it but for now the upgrades across the board allow the 90 d and dslr's to remain relevant and compelling to those who prefer their larger form factor an optical viewfinder to smaller mirrorless cameras with all electronic composition it's especially tempting for 60 or 70 d owners who want a bunch of upgrades but without changing the look and feel of their bodies I think it will be a successful camera for Canon but possibly the last of its series what do you think right that's it for this video I hope you found it useful as always if he did you can spoil my channel with a like and a follow and if you really like what I do you can treat me to a coffee or treat yourself to main camera book or a camera labs t-shirt and I've got links for all of this as well as checking prices on the 90 D in the description and pin comment below as always thanks for watching let me know what you think of the 90 d in the comments and I'll see you next time bye

Channel: Gordon Laing

Views: 287,902

Rating: 4.9034925 out of 5

Keywords: Canon, EOS, 90D, review, camera, DSLR, vs, 80D, 7D II, M6 II

Id: TzKqbjMX1X4

Length: 28min 56sec (1736 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 07 2019