Canon’s New 600D Vs. 60D–Which One Is Better?

March 03 00:11 2011 by Alexei Rivera Print This Article

Canon EOS 600D/T3i and the 60D

Now that Canon has included the Tilty Swivelly Screen (Articulating LCD) with its newly introduced Entry-Level 600D Camera, its gotten quite closer to their Prosumer offering – the EOS 60D. In fact, the 550D, 600D, 60D and 7D share more than just a few features already – like the 18MP sensor, 1080p Movie mode and microphone inputs. What primarily sets apart the 600D over its predecessor the 550D is the new tilty swivelly screen – which we know is always handy for composing difficult shots and excellent for video mode. But given the feature set growing even closer to the 60D, we’re faced with the dilemma: Which one is a better buy? Let’s find out.

Canon EOS 600D Design

Canon’s new offering is bound to be one of the newer favorites among the entry-level crowd. Which is no surprise because the 550D before it was held in high regard. Given that this is an entry-level DSLR, it sacrifices a little on build quality and some professional features. The body is built on decent, but cheaper plastic and is smaller relative to the 60D. The 600D sacrifices the popular jog wheel on the control pad for the regular 5-way control. Most of the controls are on the right side, including the mode dial.

Canon EOS 60D Design

The 60D is the larger of the two and less skimpier on features. It features a sturdier, classier polycarbonate body which gives it a slight heft over the 600D. It has a twiddly dial for faster manual adjustment and menu choices – plus the regular control pad in the middle. The mode dial and some buttons are located on the left side – but is there for a reason. The 60D has a display on the top and extra buttons for faster camera adjustments. These are features you’d miss when handling the 600D.

The buttons on the 60D however, have always been criticized for being hard to press and deliver little or no tactile feedback – which is a little unfortunate given how great most of the design is.

Specs Comparison

Here we see the meat and potatoes of what we’re getting from these two cameras. While specs never mean one is always better, its worth comparing the two to give us context on which camera has what. We’ll be comparing things that the two don’t have in common so we won’t be dusting out the whole spec sheet for you.

As far as the features come, the 60D is pretty well ahead – only losing to size and weight. Heft is also subjective – as the 60D is also made of better materials. But why are we really comparing the two? One is an Entry-Level camera and one is Mid-Ranged. Well, the answer is the price.

The Canon 600D with the 18-55 IS II Kit right now sells for about $900 US. And the 60D officially costs $1030 US with the 18-55 IS Kit Lens. However, given that the 60D has already been in the channels for a few months now, the prices have gone considerably lower. A Canon 60D can be had at the gray market for about PHP45,000 while the new 600D is available for about PHP44,000 both with their respective kit lenses.

With the prices nearing hair-splittingly close you can imagine our reasoning why we’d give these two cameras a thorough comparison. And after all is said and done, if you can forgive the less tactile buttons, we think the Canon 60D is a mighty better buy over the 600D.