My EOS 40D initial impressions (with pics).

[_Belial]

Yep 2 new camera's in 2 weeks, just don't tell the wife )

So got the 40D last Weekend, just didn't have time to test it until Tuesday night when I took it out and about in London with me.

The camera itself is a marked improvement in terms of ergonomics over the 400D/350D, the whole thing feels a lot better to handle, more buttons about for instant access to common settings (like changing ISO, no need to fiddle through menus for it any more), and it's great seeing the return of the little status LCD screen which they took off the 400D back, so you dont have to have the huge back LCD on (more on that later) to see what settings you have.

To be honest, the only reasons I wanted it was for a spot metering mode and the faster burst-mode. It has a number of other improvements i'm sure, some people will like the live-view feature, personally I'm not a fan and would much rather look through the viewfinder when framing a shot, but guess it's just a matter of preference. It does say in the manual though that you shouldn't use live-view all the time as it can cause the sensor to overheat, so just be warned if you're buying the 40D purely on the fact it has liveview.

However, not all is well.

For starters there's 2 really annoying features that I can't believe aren't addressed. The first is timer mode. Now on my G9 I can set the timer interval to 2 secs, 10 secs or custom, marvellous. But the 40D, stuck with 2 or 10 secs why?? Surely it's not hard work for them to just let users specify how long they want the timer to countdown by? Not a big deal nope, but surely if you're paying £700 for a camera, you want it to have the features of a £300 one on top of what it does!

But the biggest thing that's annoying me, is that unlike the 400D, when you put your eye to the viewfinder, it doesn't disable the LCD. So you practically get blinded when you look through the viewfinder if you left the LCD on, very very annoying, and a huge oversight imho.

Also, to make such a big deal that the camera has live-view (one of the few DSLR's that does), why is it so damn hard to enable it! honestly, you have to delve through so many menu's to enable the feature it just makes it pointless.

Well that's all the bad points out of the way, now on to the goodies. Now i've not had a chance to do a proper test vs the 400D yet, will do over next few days, but from what i've seen so far picture quality is really no different, which isn't a bad thing as i was more than happy with the 400D. But as i've already said it handles a lot better (i used to use the battery grip on the 400D to get this kind of feel).

Also

*) It's quieter, weird i know, but the shutter noise is quieter, handy for you naturist's i suppose

*) Spot metering, yes at last, and it works very well indeed.

*) Faster, burst mode is faster on it, not sure of the exact stats, but for you racing officiando's an essential feature.

*) Much easier to use commonly access functions.

*) Flash seems more powerful, but rarely use it tbh as have a speedlite.

*) The viewfinder area is larger, surprised me, but makes a massive difference.

An essential upgrade if you already have a 400D? Tbh, i'd say no, it's nice, and if you're annoyed with the feel of the 400D (and have money burning hole in your pocket) then definitley, i'd say it's a much clearer case to upgrade if you had a 350D as then you didnt have any of the sensor cleaning features so worh upgrading for.

Here's a couple of shots, taken on my 1st nite with the 40D

[muttleymacclad]

Thanks for that Belial. Very interesting review as was the G9 review. And very nice pictures from both cameras.

If you're ever thinking of selling the 400d I may be interested.

MML

[_Belial]

Cheers MML. I did think about selling the 400D but tbh i think i'll keep it as a backup should anything go wrong with the 40D. Thanks all the same.

[muttleymacclad]

cheers belial. Sensible idea.

MML

[[wingnut]]

Good review mate, one things that annoys me about mine is the on / off switch.. Stupidly fiddly..
I agree with the live view mode set-up, so hard to activate I haven't bothered to use it yet.

But the more I use the camera the more I am enjoying it. The highlight priority tone function is good..

[_Belial]

Another thing which i only noticed in past few days, is that there's loads of diff ISO settings, not like just 100,200,400,800 but 125, 200, 250 300, 320 etc. etc. very very cool indeed i find!

And yeah that on/off switch is a royal pain in the arse isnt it, and why are there 2 "on" states!

[BertRoot]

Cheers for the review. My old man is on the brink of buying one if I can sell his 300D so will push your review his way for a scan.

[[wingnut]]

And yeah that on/off switch is a royal pain in the arse isnt it, and why are there 2 "on" states!

Was wondering what that was all about until I RTFM'd.
The first position (to "ON") operates the camera without the wheel being active, then moving into the upper one (the funny looking line one) operates the camera and makes the wheel on the rear of the camera active. Guessing it's so you use the camera close to your face without jogging it and disrupting any settings.. Possibly.
But why put it all the way down there and make it fiddly and feel cheap, its position worked well on the 350D and 400D . How hard could it have been, moving it off the back of the camera, it would have given them more room the back, and if they lost the direct print button there could have been two more useful buttons in easy reach, but hey what do we know about camera ergonomics???