Nikon may have beat Canon to the punch but Canon has already scheduled a launch date for what is likely to be a new Canon 70D. And while many of the specifications of the 70D are still unknown, there are several factors that may allow this to be an interesting matchup.

Nikon may have beat Canon to the punch but Canon has already scheduled a launch date for what is likely to be a new Canon 70D. And while many of the specifications of the 70D are still unknown, there are several factors that may allow this to be an interesting matchup.

The Canon 50D was a more likely matchup the current D7100 for several reasons. It brought a robust body, some more advanced pro features, and a bit less consumer friendly feel than the rebel-ish Canon 60D. While the 60D was generally considered to be an upgrade of the 50D, there were actually some steps downward that disappointed many die hard fans of the 50D. This led to the popularity of the 7D which seemed like a more logical upgrade for 50D users, though at a considerable cost difference. In addition, the emphasis of video in the 60D created an interesting dimension and to date, no one is certain on whether this is a new video-centric camera segment or whether this is the new line of xxD cameras.
Nikon by comparison has been very consistent with their lineup in this segment. The D90 was a great camera and was well known for it’s great performance for a relatively low price. The D7000 was again a nice upgrade from the D90 without any drastic transformations, and the D7100 now a logical D7000 upgrade. While performance & features have improved from model to model, there have been relatively few large changes that alter the lineup. This, in sharp contrast to the Nikon D800 which in many ways is a vastly different camera to the previous D700. Nikon has also been very consistent on their pricing in this camera segment with almost no differences in price between the D90, D7000, and now the new D7100. This is impressive in its own right as Nikon has considerably improved performance with the D7100 without a major difference in price.

Now for the Canon 70D. The big question for canon is whether or not to change the 60D again to bring it more in line with previous xxD cameras such as the 50D and go toe to toe with Nikon’s D7100, or to keep the spirit of the 60D alive and move more towards a video centric consumer grade camera with a plastic body & flip out screen. A 70D more inline with the old Canon 50D would ultimately hurt sales of the 7D for sure as it would bring many of the pro grade features 60D users have been longing for that only the 7D had. It would also likely move up in price as a result. Canon has been increasing prices of late and has yet to produce a camera without vastly inflating the price. The $1,199 starting price of the Nikon D7100 could however put put a nail in the 70D if Canon does attempt to bring the price more inline with their current 7D.

Because the 7D is now so closely related to the Nikon D7100 (and the Nikon is $200 then the 3 year old 7D), I find it difficult to believe that Canon will directly compete with the D7100, and instead will likely withhold features such as a metal chassis, great AF performance, and dual card slots, and instead may keep the 70D restricted enough to not make 7D users jealous. I entirely hope that this is not true but based on what Canon did with the 6D (limit it to not compete with the 5D mark III & 7D), I find it difficult to believe otherwise. I expect the 70D to be a cropped sensor 6D although possibly with a flip screen and flash but containing many of the same features in a similar size. Unfortunately for most Canon users, this will be a tough pill to swallow and will likely lead to a slight loss of sales in this segment. However, Canon still has one big power punch it could bring out...video. Canon has not brought much to the table in the last 4 years for video, but a new 1080p@60fps could change that and give the 70D one more reason to exist.