Best Features on the Canon EOS 70D

WRITTEN BY: BRUCE LOVELACE

UPDATED: August 4, 2024

Canon EOS 70DMy Canon 70D

The new best feature on the Canon 70D now is its price. I've updated this article due to the age of the 70D. It came out in 2013

Do you know what my favorite features on the Canon EOS 70D are? They're probably not what you think!

Many photographers who are considering upgrading to a DSLR often look at the total megapixel count as a determining factor when comparing various digital cameras.  

Early on in the changeover from film to digital photography, megapixel counts were VERY important for all of us. Those days are over!

The megapixel war isn't the topic of the day anymore.  All of the modern DSLRs have plenty of pixels to keep 95% of digital photographers happy. The 70D has a 20 MP senosr. That's plenty to give you excellent image quality.


Three of My Favorite Features on the Canon EOS 70D

The first two strong features are subjective. Both the feel and the amount of noise at high ISO settings come down to personal preference. Depending on the size of your hand and your tolerance for digital noise, the 70D passes these requirements with flying colors.

The dual pixel focusing in the 70D has a direct measurable benefit of faster and more accurate focusing. Use the table of contents below to skip to any of the 3 sections on the 70D

70D Features - Table of Contents

1. How it feels in my hands. This is important to your overall experience when using your Canon.

2. How it performs at high ISO. It's vital for your camera to maintain low digital noise levels when shooting in dimly lit environments without using your flash.

3. The new Dual-pixel focusing system. Fast focusing performance is important to have when photographing sports and other action shots where your subject is moving.


Diagonal View of Canon EOS 70D CameraMy Canon 70D camera with 24-105mm f/4.0 lens.

Having the two cameras, one with a full-sized sensor camera (the 5D Mark III) and the 70D's  APS-C sensor, has its pluses and minuses.

My most used lens for everyday shooting is the 24-105mm f/4.0 lens.  On the 70D the 1.6x crop factor makes this behave like a 40-170mm lens which is fine for many shooting situations, but comes up too long for landscapes and interiors. 

I recommend using the Canon 18-55 kit lens which keeps the whole set-up small and gives you a slightly limited, workable range of  29-88.  For landscape photography with the 70D, I use a 17-35mm lens which is like using a 27-56mm lens. 

The 70D is a great camera for sports and wildlife photography.  It shoots at 7 frames-per-second and the 1.6x crop factors give you an extra boost to the telephoto settings on your zoom lens.


Favorite Feature #1 - How it Feels in My Hands

Of course we all want the ability to take great photos, right?  That's always a given charasteristic we want from any camera we are shooting with.  But, beyond that, isn't it important for a camera to just feel right.

Canon 70D hand gripThe 70D grips feels just right and makes it easy to grip the 70d securely with one hand.

It's like the story of Goldilocks where one chair is a bit small, one is a bit too large, but the middle chair feels just right.

It can be similar to comparing point and shoot cameras, small DSLRs like the 70D, and the larger DSLRs like the 5D Mark II or 1Dx. The Canon EOS 70D still feels and acts like a full feature DSLR camera, but is easy to handle and use.


Favorite Feature #2 - The High ISO Performance

70D sample ISO 2000Shot at ISO 2000

Is lighting important to you?  I personally am a lighting geek.  

Back in the film days(here I go dating myself again), and in a good part of the digital photography day, low light situations mandated using photo floods or flash to give you a decent quality photograph.

Those days are gone!  The high quality images that you get at high ISO settings with the 70D give you the opportunity to shoot a lot more "existing light" photos.

This is one of my favorite features on the Canon EOS 70D because you can shoot without the harsh shadows and flat lighting that often comes from flash photography.


Favorite Feature #3 - The Focusing System

The Dual-Pixel Auto-focus system is called game-changing by some photographers. I like it because you have more precise and smoother focus when shooting video, similar to that which you could only get with a camcorder.

Combine this technology with the 19 cross-type of focusing points and you get a great winning combination.  This is one of the favorite features of the EOS 70D for a lot of photographers who shoot video too.

One of the best features of the Canon EOS 70D is it's price. You can get a good deal on a 70D at any of my preferred on-line retailers. See my Resources page on the Canon Geek's sister website.

Stay inspired. Shoot a Canon!

Author Bruce Lovelace
Bruce Lovelace Signature

Bruce Lovelace is the publisher of Canon Camera Geek. Read more about him on the About Page. He also publishes how to articles and camera gear reviews at the Photography Tips website.

View some of Bruce's photos on Instagram  and Flickr.   Join the tribe of followers on YouTube. Bruce also runs photo workshops and provides 1 on 1 digital photography coaching.

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