54 9 November 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
Asingleframefroma 10fpsburst.The
90Ddidwellheretoacquirefocusonsucha
fastsubjectin sucha gloomyenvironment
Canon EF 200mm f/2L IS USM, 1/400sec at f/2, ISO 3200Wi-Ficonnectivityis builtintothe
90D,offeringphotographersthe
freedomtocontrolthecamera
wirelesslyfroma smartphone
ortabletthat’srunningCanon’s
excellentCameraConnectapp.
There’salsoconnectivityvia
Bluetoothtoforma permanent
connectiontoa smartphone–
a featurepreviouslyseenon
existingEOSmodelsliketheEOS
800DandEOS77D.It allows
yourphonetobeusedasa
remotecontrolat anytime,
withouthavingtomessaround
settingupa Wi-Ficonnection
betweendevices.TheBluetooth
connectioncanalsoinstructthe
camera to fi re up its Wi-Fi for
whenyouwanttocopyimages
acrosstoyourphone,orusefull
remotecontrolwithliveview.
TheAutotransferoption,which
automaticallydownloadsimages
takenwiththecameratoa
smartphoneconnectedviaWi-Fi
workswellandyou’regiventhe
optiontoselecta reducedimage
size(1620x 1080pixels)to
preventoriginalsizefilesfilling
yoursmartphonetooquickly.
Comparedtosomecameras,
the90D’sconnectivityis very
quicktosetup.There’sa useful
connectionguidefromthehome
pageof theCameraConnectapp
toothatwalksyouthrough the
various steps involved.Connectivity
groupsof 15AFpointson
eitherside.Outof thebox
you’rerequiredtopresstheAF
selectionbuttonfirstbeforeyou’re
abletoshifttheAFpointaround
theframe.If you’dprefertomove
theAFpointinstantlywiththe
joystickyou’llneedtoenterthe
C.FnIII Operation/Othersoption
in themenu,headtotheCustom
Controlsandchangethefunction
of theMulti-controllersfromoffto
directAFpointselection.I’mquite
surprisedit’snotsetupthiswayas
defaultasI canseemanyusers
preferring to operate it this way.
In situationswhereyou’dlike
tofocusclosetotheedgeof the
framewherethereisn’tanAF
pointyou’lleitherneedtofocus
andrecomposeorswitchoverto
liveview.In thelatteryouhave
muchwider100x88%vertical
andhorizontalframecoverage
withasmanyas5,481AF
positionstochoosefrom.Aswell
asspotAF,1-pointAFandZone
AF,there’salsotrackingAFin live
view,withtheoptiontoturnface
andeyedetectiononfroma touch
of theInfobutton.Real-world
testing revealed the 90D canidentifyandtrackfaceseffectively,
evenat longdistances.Eye
detectionbecomesactivewithin
approximately2mof a person,
withthesmallerof twowhite
squaresindicatingwhicheyethe
camerahaslockedonto.Youcan
tellthecamerawhicheyeyou’d
preferit tofocusonbyflickingthe
joystickleftandright,butyou’ll
noticethateyedetectionbecomes
lesseffectivewhentheperson
you’rephotographingturnsand
isn’tdirectlyfacingyou.
Focusingspeedin generalis
good.I wasparticularlyimpressed
bythesuccessrateof sharpshots
I managedtoachievein lowlight
whenshootingindoorgo-karts
approachinghead-on.Sportsand
wildlifeuserswillappreciatethe
advancedautofocussettingson
offertoosuchastheoptionto
refinetheresponsivenessof the
trackingsensitivity,althoughbeing
abletochoosefromvariousAF
casesensitivitiesfordifferent
subjectsis a featurethatremains
exclusivetohigh-endEOSmodels.
Reliablemeteringis anotherof
the90D’sstrengths.Youcantrust
it todeliverwell-exposedimages
in evaluativemeteringmodeandI
rarelyfoundmyselfhavingtodial
in morethan-1EVtoprevent
highlightsbeingclippedin the
brightestareas.Forsceneswhere
evaluativemeteringisn’tthebest
option,there’salsopartial,spot
andcentreweightedavailable.If
you happen to underexpose animagetoofarforthehighlights,
thewidedynamicrangegivesyou
thescopetopulldetailbackat the
editingstagewithoutintroducing
unbearablelevelsof noise.
Canonprovidesa goodamount
of controloverimage-processing
settings.ThedefaultAutopicture
styledetermineswhatit thinksis
thebestprocessingandrendering
settingsforanygivensceneand
therearesevenotherpicture
stylestochoosefromthatcanbe
tweakedtoyourliking.If you’dlike
yourshotstoreflectthescene
naturallyasyouseeit withyour
eyes,faithfulorneutralareas
gooda placeasanytostart.
Insertinga UHS-IIcardand
testingitsspeedperformance
resultedin 25rawfilesbeing
capturedat 10fpsbeforeitsbuffer
wasreached.Switchingthefile
formatovertoCanon’sC-Raw
formatsawthisnumberriseto 40
frames.Firingoffa burstof large
JPEGstoldusthe90D’sbuffer
canhandle 52 imagesbeforeit
requiresa breather.Forthesport,
actionandwildlifephotographers
Canonis aimingthecameraat,
thesebufferfiguresarea little
underwhelming;howeverwemust
rememberwe’relookingat an
enthusiast’scamera,nota
pro-specmodel.Usersof the
camerawillwanttojudgewhen
tostartshootinga burstcarefully
toensurethebufferlimitisn’t
reachedpartwaythrougha
high-speed action sequence.