Full Text Review of the Canon 70D below video

My time and energy on this site and answering your questions is supported by folks like you buying the 70D through these links. It costs you nothing extra and provides me a small percentage of the sale.  Buy the Canon 70D from Amazon

Discussion separated into three areas- body, features and performance,

Body/Styling 70D vs T5i(700D)

• 700D smaller, lighter about ½ LB less - which works out to about 30% lighter

• 70D feels more solid in the hand - slightly more to grip and deeper

• 70D offers pentaprism viewfinder which is bigger and brighter than the pentamirror in the 700D

• Top LCD lets you see various camera settings at a glance plus top row of buttons provides for quick changes and two dials gives you access to shutter speed and aperture in Manual mode.  700D shares dial for shutter speed and aperture and extra button press to switch between function

• Custom mode on dial to save and return to commonly used settings

• Auto modes all accessed through SCN on the dial, cleaner more professional dial options

• Dedicated back auto focus button

• Bigger battery gives more than 2x battery life over the 700D

Features of the 70D vs T5i (700D)

• 19 cross type focus points and dedicate AF mode button with quick selection between modes and point selecting vs 9 cross type points on 700D

• 70D offers dual pixel focusing in live view - fast, accurate and rarely makes mistakes. Using with touchscreen for very impressive almost cinematographic results.  700D autofocus is capable but in live view it isn’t impressive, slower and more likely to hunt for focus. 700D needs STM lens for smooth focusing, 70D is smooth with virtually all modern lenses. STM still useful for that silent autofocus.

• 70D burst mode 7 fps with a big enough buffer for actually getting a serious burst.  Also offers a lower speed burst and quiet shutter mode at two speeds.  700D offers 5 frames per second with a smallish buffer, you really only get a 1-2 seconds of that burst rate, faster if shooting JPEG instead of RAW

• HDR ( both have backlight control but 70D also offers a more robust HDR with control over the exposure latitude and style.

• A pile of additional image features offered by the 70D- Multi exposure shot(additive or average), Bracketing at various exposure settings and select from 2-7 shots in sequence, raw image processing in camera - shoot only RAW but produce JPEG files in camera, ⅓ stop ISO, detailed control over AF tracking , Auto focus micro adjustments have returned to the 70D - REJOICE!, max shutter speed at 1/8000 second allows you to shoot at wider apertures under bright sun and multiple size raw files.

• Additional Video features offered by the 70D same frame rates as 700D but offers high and low compression, digital zoom and time code settings for better sync between cameras

• WIFI feature built into 70D - download images to mobile device or camera or activate live view and shoot remotely - no video and when connected to mobile device will only pass 1920 x 1080 images. T5i does not offer WIfi but you could use an Eye-Fi card to transfer files to mobile device or computer.

Performance/Results Canon 70D vs T5i (700D)

• Day to day shots/video files - very little difference between these until the light levels drop cleaner files from the 70D at 1600 and above. Difference is noticeable but not huge

• Slightly better on board flash exposure from the 70D.  700D still too bright though it can be adjusted.

• Feature or performance - video focus tracking the 70D is excellent makes for easy camcorder like focusing - if you are a parent that wants one device that will capture both video and stills without lots of work on your part - the 70D is the camera to get.

Final Thoughts -Both these cameras are capable of producing excellent images and video. What you need to decide as you watch my review/read the points below - are you willing to carry around the extra weight and spend the extra cash for the additional features of the 70D (and there are loads of them!)  I will have more to say about the 70D soon and share more testing samples and video - for now check out the links below for additional helpful information.Additional Helpful Videos

Canon 70D Wifi Demo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCKiJ1nOMFU

Canon 70D Digital Zoom Demo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmf877Ii1TA

Editing RAW files on G+ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJxb77Osqg0

Canon 70D SD Card and Buffer Test - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuEtZb3ZNLA