The EOS 90D becomes Canon’s most powerful mid-range DSLR to date, inheriting the body, side-hinged screen, optical viewfinder and 45-point autofocus of the earlier 80D, while upgrading the sensor resolution to 32.5 Megapixels, offering uncropped 4k video at 25 or 30p, faster burst shooting of 10fps, and reinstating the AF joystick which went missing on the three previous models. As such there’s upgrades whether you shoot still photos, film video, or like most owners of this series, do both. The image quality has the potential to beat 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 AF on an EOS body, but while it resolves more detail than 1080, it’s not as good as 4k from the best of its rivals, most notably the Sony A6400 and Fujifilm X-T30 and like other recent Canon cameras, there’s no sign of 24p either. More than making up for the restrictions for most people though is the sheer confidence with which Dual Pixel AF can keep a subject in focus. The increased burst speed is a nice bonus, but the viewfinder autofocus system is no better than the 80D and proved unremarkable for fast action in my tess. It’s much better at focusing in live view, but the bursts become slower and trying to follow action with the screen alone can prove a challenge. Revealingly the mirrorless M6 II which shares the same sensor proved much more capable for action in my tests, but ironically the 90D’s better features made it preferable for video, so choose carefully. Had Canon equipped the 90D with the 7D II’s viewfinder AF system, it could have had a leader in all respects. But for now, the upgrades across the board still allow the 90D and DSLRs to remain relevant and compelling to those who prefer their form factor and viewfinder to smaller mirrorless cameras with all-electronic composition; it’s especially tempting for 60D or 70D owners who want a bunch of upgrades but without changing the look and feel of their bodies.
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