Canon EOS 40D's early review roundup

It takes a while to put a camera like Canon's EOS 40D fully through its paces, but a few brave souls have blazed through the feature set, menus, ISOs and megapixels afforded to them by the new camera in time to get reviews up mere weeks after launch. Of course, the flashiest feature here is Live View, but the 40D is no one trick pony: unlike the minimal 20D to 30D upgrade, the 40D is all-new and packed with enhancements. Who knows if this'll be enough for Canon to get Nikon of its turf, but we'll let you read the mountains of text, peep the comparison shots and draw your own conclusions.

Read - CNET Asia ("The Canon EOS 40D is a leap forward in improvement over its predecessors..." 8 / 10)
Read - Cameralabs ("If the 40D's price and feature-set suits your requirements, you'll have few if any complaints.")
Read - Bob Atkins ("It's a very good camera and I can recommend it.")
Read - The World According to Roland ("A nice feature upgrade over the 20D and 30D and at an attractive price.")
Read - DP Review (Preview)

[NHAnimator @ Sep 20th 2007 3:16PM]

"Who knows if this'll be enough for Canon to get Nikon of its turf"

(or 'off')

[Billy Fiul @ Sep 20th 2007 3:21PM]

Canon is 100x better than Nikon!!!!!!!! Canon FTW!!!!!!!!!1111

[Cajun_Mike @ Sep 20th 2007 3:30PM]

Get Nikon off it's turf?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Who wrote this crap? When it comes to semi-pro and pro DSLR's Nikon has been swimming in Canon's wake for many years.

[loci @ Sep 20th 2007 3:38PM]

i still don't feel its enough to get me to upgrade from the 20d.
i love that the 5d fangirls are having a hissy fit with the reviews comparing the iq of the 40d and 5d as being on par ~_~

[JeffDM @ Sep 20th 2007 4:47PM]

The 5D is almost a two year old camera now, so it shouldn't be any surprise that eventually a newer model from a line below it eventually catches up in many respects.

[Josh Warner @ Sep 20th 2007 6:12PM]

Not true. Nikon's D200 (and now, D300) satisfies a market that, at the moment, Canon cannot. None of the x0D series can compete with the D200 except for the new 40D, and at that point it's a wash. The D300 blows the 40D away. And these Nikon bodies are built like the D2 (now D3) series & environmentally sealed almost as well. Canon's x0D series remain plastic, as well as the 5D. Where is the ISO control? How about the white balance? Oh, they're buried in menus... too bad Canon didn't put a dedicated button for those on the body...

The 5D is full frame, true, but it's well out of this price range and really shouldn't be compared here. I would say these cameras (Canon x0D series and Nikon Dx00 series) represent the semi-pro market - and here, Canon is the one doing the catchup. Stop spreading unsubstantiated FUD.

[ekwmin @ Sep 20th 2007 7:17PM]

All I'm going say is "self fulfilling prophecy."

[AaronPaul @ Sep 20th 2007 7:25PM]

Josh - the 10d, 20d, 30d, 40d and 5d are all magnesium alloy - same as the d300. Oh, and the WB and ISO buttons are right on top of the cameras, not buried in menus... Maybe you should actually read the specs before you go around "spreading unsubstantiated FUD."

[kev @ Sep 20th 2007 7:28PM]

"Canon's x0D series remain plastic, as well as the 5D. Where is the ISO control? How about the white balance? Oh, they're buried in menus... too bad Canon didn't put a dedicated button for those on the body..."

Have you used them? I'm thinking not.

The frame is magnesium, with rubber where it needs to be (the battery door is plastic, tho). There's dedicated WB and ISO buttons, and has been all along, which allow very fast changes (unless you're talking about setting a specific K value for WB, which does require a menu adjustment).

They're solid.

[Cajun_Mike @ Sep 20th 2007 4:48PM]

Loci, I have the 20D and I'm wondering if it's time to upgrade. I shoot photos at night at college football games.

[Mark @ Sep 20th 2007 4:28PM]

COME ON Canon... get this camera into Canada! I've had a preorder on it for over a month now, and I'm getting very impatient. My 20D is already feeling the neglect as I wait for this thing to hit N. of the border!

[Bradley Coe @ Sep 20th 2007 6:16PM]

FYI I have seen 40Ds in stock at quite a few places in BC for a few days now... They have all been kits so far though, no luck finding a body only.

[Tereasa @ Sep 20th 2007 5:42PM]

I upgraded to the 40D from a 300D and it has been well worth the money. Tons of features, fast 6.5 fps, the noise reduction options, the highlight toning... I highly recommend the upgrade up from a 20D/350D or lower camera.

[Vagrant @ Sep 20th 2007 5:56PM]

I picked up this camera last week and it's fantastic. I was able to get it as a kit with the 17-85mm lens for $1599. (Current kit is 40D + 28-135mm.) I wonder if they decided that with the 1.6 teleconversion the camera adds, that the 17-85mm lens would be a better solution for a first lens. Many people coming from film, might not understand the teleconversion factor with DSLR and perhaps that influenced their new kit option.

If you have a supply of Canon lenses, you'll of course pick up the body only, but this is my first DSLR and will do as a mid-range lens. Of course, there's a few other lenses I need to grab as well.

- Live view is nice. Some don't like the resolution, could be higher, but it works for me.
- The burst is fantastic. I've got the 430 flash and with fresh batteries that thing will snap 30, before starting to miss.
- I tried out some 2gb compact flash cards and a 4gb microdrive in the camera. All work well, even with the burst. Of course, the faster/newer/bigger cards are written to faster. Currently 16GB are available. (Note: RAW+JPG photo = 16MB, which is the highest setting for the camera.) So, 16GB = almost 1000 photos. - No, I have not tried the 16GB card yet myself, but math is math.

[droopy1592 @ Sep 20th 2007 8:59PM]

D300 will be $500 more than 40D, so why directly compare them? Other than some D3 shots, there have been no reviewer shots of the D300. It's no guarantee that sensor will be substantially better than the canon.

[Silverfrog @ Sep 20th 2007 10:57PM]

Re: Josh Warner

"The Nikon D200 satisfies a market that the Canon series does not?"

What market would that be? I hope you don't say Wedding/Photojournalist market, because that's not true at all. The 20D and now 30D and 40D have done a fantastic job in terms of performance in this market. I've used them for almost 3 years and at almost 100,000 pictures taken with each, my 20D is extremely reliable. I hate to sound like a Canon enthusiast, but it really is a fantastic camera for the price. Moving up to the D200/D300, as someone else mentioned, means your spending $500 more. If I'm going to be approaching $2000 for a camera, I'd MUCH rather spend just a little more than that and get a 5D, which offers a full frame sensor--which the D300 does not.

[John Doe @ Sep 21st 2007 1:48AM]

Gah. Expensive. I'll probably go with the EOS 400D. For the same price as the 40D I can get a good lens with it.

[Mjuboy @ Sep 21st 2007 3:24AM]

Thats a nice summary of reviews, although I've already read all of them and more when I was scourging for information about it before spending a thousand pounds on it.

[lothar @ Sep 21st 2007 10:37AM]

I would love to get that camera, sadly I may have to settle for the next Rebel to come out xt?

[Mark Goldstein @ Sep 25th 2007 10:53AM]

Hi,

We've just published an in-depth review of the Canon EOS 40D:

http://www.photographyblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/canon_eos_40d_review/