Canon 40D Interactive Review

Canon 40D Interactive Review
Entry 1- September 19, 2007

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Hi DeeAnn,

I am looking forward to getting some more entries in the review where I hope to cover this a little more. Right now I am swamped with website admin duties.

Having shot with both I can say that if you earn a living with these cameras, then the $200 upgrade is well worth it.

Just to tick off a few differences that stand out to me.

1) The larger lcd screen
2) The better viewfinder
3) The better "feel" of the camera. (Body and shutter seem more solid, and so they are.) Weather sealing doesn't hurt for those times when you have to stand in the drizzle to get a shot.
4) Somewhat better high iso
5) Having ISO always visible (a small thing to most people, I guess. But I tend to adjust ISO as much as I do aperture.)

Different people will value different features. These are the ones that stand out for our primary type of photography; people.

The headline differences mean much less to me on a personal level. The increase of 1.5 fps is somewhat minor. I tried to cover football games with the 30D with minor success. I'm not sure the 40D is really going to be that much better. You really need the 1D series cameras for sports coverage if that is what you do for a living. You'd be better off with a used 1D MKII (original version) than you would with any of the cropped sensor (prosumer) bodies. The bump in resolution is also minor. What is not minor is the improvement in general overall image quality. It is there. Is it earth shattering? No. For the absolute best in portrait work, I would still have to recommend going full frame. But, that is probably just me. Another very long subject we won't get into here as neither of your choices afford this option. Live View? Haven't found much use for it. Sensor cleaning? Nice, but I never had that much real trouble with dust anyway.

If I were making a suggestion to a friend without knowing what their speccific needs were, I would say Yes. Get the 40D over the 30D. If nothing else, you'll get your $200 back on the back end when you go to sell it on ebay a few years down the road.

Canon 40D at an Air Show entries added. Includes some AI Servo samples.

Drew, was this the airshow in Peachtree City? I was going but they announced that absolutely no coolers, backpacks or such would be allowed. I carry my backpack in a small three wheeled cart and was sure they would not let me in with it. Did you require any special permission?

Personally I think the images you took were great. That camera/lens combo even stopped the props! I am about a month away from a 400mm F/2.8 IS lens and would love to try it on something like an air show.

Please continue with the review of the 40D. I think it is turning out to be the biggest surprise/ value of the year.

I read the full review over at DPReview and their tests show 9.1 stops of DR, 11 if you shoot RAW and work it over a bit. They say the Funi S5 is the only camera to beat it. Not bad, not bad at all.

Does this mean film has lost the DR battle to digital?

As to your softness drew, I don't know what to tell you other than have the body checked (I assume your lens is sharp with your 1D so it's not the lens). My 40D is sharp, dead on with every lens.

Hi Ronald,

Thanks. Yes, it was in Peachtree City a few weeks ago. My wife was taking the kids down there on a field trip and I decided to tag along.

She didn't think I would get in with that 300mm either. But they didn't give me any trouble. I also saw lots of other folks there with decent kits and lenses. We got there late in the day, so maybe that had something to do with it.

One kid there asked me if I was from the paper. I said, no, I was just doing it for fun. You know, it is nice to actually take photos for fun for a change. The 40D is a nice piece of equipment for the dollar for sure.

Hi Chris,

I didn't read his full article but I did skim the conclusion page. It looks like his conclusions fairly well match ours. Although, I didn't see any AI Servo specific information listed on this page. I also notice that he has punted on the MKIII for now. Probably wise on his part, although it looks like the hardware fault theory has borne fruit. I guess we'll see once people start getting the repairs done to their MKIII's.

Good day and thank you.

Would someone point me in the right direction to be able to understand both front and back focus and how to "Calibrate" for same.

Thanks again.
Tom