Canon EOS 20D > Reviews > A worthy upgrade from 35mm film

Author's product rating:   

Picture Quality	Excellent
Range & Quality of Features	Excellent
Ease of Use	Easy
Overall Look & Design	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	quality robustness accuracy available _ lenses storage _ media
Disadvantages:	worrying about dropping/losing it  : )

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This camera is probably the best upgrade I have ever carried out.

Having used 35mm SLRs for most of my adult life, my forays into digital photography consisted of a Fuji MX700, and a Canon IXUS400.
I used to be an early adopter and am used to seeing the items I buy plummet in price :).

With the EOS 20D, I feel confident that Canon have priced it just right.

Mine was £1030 from Jessops (body only), but they can be found cheaper now, and some independant outlets will even throw in a 1 gig card for you - something Jessops were NOT willing to do but I wanted the camera there and then :)

Image quality from it's 8.2 megapixel sensor is exceptional and I can't really see myself needing to upgrade again. Only time will tell whether or not the camera will survive as long as the EOS 100 that it has replaced.

Among other awards, it received the Digital Imaging Websites Association Platinum Award for the best 'Digital System Camera' of 2004

If you have a collection of Canon lenses you would be daft going for a different make of camera.
If you don't have a collection of Canon lenses - start one :)

Canon lenses are expensive, but there are many (Sigma and others) manufacturers that do good lenses for a third of the price.
I currently have two Sigma lenses and two Canon and I feel they cover just about everything - Sigma 20-300mm and a 600mm mirror lens (for astrophotography), and the Canons are 50mm and their new 10-22mm wide angle (ideal for landscapes).

For the beginner, it has the auto modes of a compact, and for the rest of us :) there are the usual choices.

If you plan on carrying out some astrophotography, I'd recommend you invest in a cable release to allow long exposures to be used. Canon do one for £35, or you can get a clone from e-bay for £8 (£12 with p&p and insurance).

Canon themselves have produced a version of the 20D specifically for astrophotography - EOS 20Da - but it's not too hot on "normal" photography because of the altered infrared filter in front of the sensor.

I couldn't think of any negatives aside from some people might worry about dropping it, or "losing" it (£1000 worth of camera remember).

I have yet to have the battery die on me, but I guess I could be lucky in that I've remembered to charge it frequently.One thing I will be getting (and recommend) is another battery pack, or even the optional grip

There is one thing, some of the custom functions (mirror lock up for example) do not return to default value when you've finished using them - but you can't please all of the people all of the time, and it's not as though you've wasted money on developing and printing.

Storage on CF2 cards, now cheap as chips (C) D.Dickinson ;)

Can you tell this is my first review? ah well hope it helps.