When Canon first introduced their EOS300D three years ago they promised that it would be a turning point in the history of photography. To be honest it did just that and this is now Canons third incarnation in in their entry level D-SLR line-up. So, can it hold the flame for Canon still?
In one simple, honest answer I believe it's a big 'YES'. Having actually owned a 300D since they were first released I decided it was time to upgrade after three happy, productive years.
The price of the camera is staggering for the amount of performance from it. Canon certainly haven't cut corners in terms of the quality and functions, you can be sure of that, and it can produce stunning, high class images in a variety of situations. The 400D boasts a 10.1 mega-pixel CMOS sensor, which apparently produces detailed images of up to A3 size however I have prints up to A0 (poster size) from my old 300D (6.5 mega-pixels) with no apparent loss in quality so the 400D will be able to match that easily.
The lens that comes with the camera, an 18-55mm, is the same as (from what I can see) the one that came out with the 300D three years ago. Now don't think you'll be getting an old lens with it because I have found it to produce very clear images and found it lightweight for easier handling. The lens itself did win the TDP award for best lens in 2005 and was specifically designed for D-SLRs.
Nine auto-focus points provide a good wide AF area which was once the proviso of only professional SLR cameras. Shooting modes offered are One-shot AF (for fast and accurate single-shot focusing), AI Focus and AI Servo. AI Servo is a very handy tool if you are tracking a moving subject as it continually focuses for you and seems to work pretty well in my experience.
As with most SLRs a variety of shooting modes are available which give plenty of control over the camera. To start with there is a fully-automatic option which uses all
the AF points to focus and it normally picks the closest object to focus on. Once the camera has focused the relevant AF point will flash red in the view finder. It will also decide whether or not it requires the flash (as it does in all program modes with the exception of sports). Next up comes portrait, landscape, macro (close-up), sports, night-portrait and flash-off.
After that you have the manual options which are program (which looks after the speed and aperture settings), shutter priority, aperature priority, manual exposure and auto-depth of field. I have found that these give plenty of scope for shooting and to be honest don't think I have ever used A-Dep or manual in the three years of owning D-SLRs.
Shutter speeds give plenty of scope for shooting ranging from 1/4000sec up to 30secs. Again it gives a massive potential for shooting subjects and I have used it to shoot everything from power boat races to moonlit landscapes at 30 seconds exposure with not a lot of noise visable in the picture. ISO ranges from 100 up to 1600 although I wouldn't recommend using anything over 400 myself to stop any noise creeping in to the picture.
Recording format used is Compact Flash but this also enables Micro-drives to be used. CF cards have come down in price lately and my latest 1GB cards (Sandisk Extreme III's) only cost £23 each. Using the large JPEG setting in the camera this gives me about 210 shots per card with each image being up to 3.8MB. The camera also offers a RAW shooting mode which produces images at 9.8MB.
Continuous shooting is where the camera really has come along since the first 300D was introduced. Whereas that would only manage four shots continuous before it started to slow down the 400D manages a very impressive 27! Believe me if you take more than 27 shots consecutively you need to look more at how you compose and shoot your pictures.
The LCD screen is very impressive compared to its fore-runners. An impressive 2.8 inches and this displays plenty of information for you. All information that is displayed in the view finder is now shown on the LCD as well which makes shooting using a tripod much simpler. Simply compose the shot in the view finder then set all the other parametres using the LCD. Also, whether you view this as useful or a gimmick, it also has a sensor that shuts off the LCD when your face goes near the viewfinder! Handy to save power but I normally turn the LCD off for normal shooting anyway. Something I have found useful is how bright the display is on it. On my old 300D I had to shield the display to see photos displayed in bright sunlight. Not anymore. Its wonderfully bright and clear which helps to see if you've got a good shot or whether its worth taking a few more.
As with nearly all digital cameras you can print direct to a printer with it but if you're buying a D-SLR chances are you've got image editing software on a PC or Mac. The camera comes complete with all the necessary image viewing software and drivers and also includes the RAW processing software which the 300D lacked so much.
Price wise they're now down to between £450-£500 including lens. I paid £499 from Jessops as I believe we need to support these shops instead of just getting the cheapest available from online. Who do you go to when you need help and advice, the shops, so please remember that when buying.
So, that's enough of the features, what about using the thing?
In the month of ownership I can say that I am very impressed. It's light but not too light (if you know what I mean) and feels well built. All the buttons are well placed and feel like they'll last a long time which helps. Battery life doesn't seem to be a problem. I've been out all day shooting and used up two 1GB cards and the cameras still being going. It also has built in sensor cleaning when the camera is powered on and off. The power up time is an impressive 0.2 seconds which means when that creature that pops out of no where needs shooting (figuratively speaking!) you won't miss it. Body wise it's very comfy to hold but I do find it's slightly too small for my hands (I've got big hands though). Not much of a problem but I'll end up getting a battery grip to solve this problem.
The only other thing I don't like is the flash unit on it. When it pops up it twangs back and forwards before it settles and doesn't sound like it's the same quality as the rest of the camera, more like an after-thought.
As mentioned near the start, image quality is superb for something that costs under £500 and I would quite happily put them up against some of the pro-sumer cameras. All images are bright and vibrant (even at ISO 800) and that's what I like about the camera. Other brands I tried before changing didn't produce the same 'warm' image the Canon did.
The camera is compatable with all the older Canon EF lenses which is helpful. I only have the 18-55mm lens, a 70-300mm lens and a macro lens. This is all I have ever needed and find that I can cover nearly every eventuality no problem.
The menus are very easy to use and they don't overload you with information. I used a Fuji a while ago and gave up after about 10 minutes, there were so many different menus and sub-menus I got sick of going through them. The Canon system is very straight forward and you can find what you need easily from the four menus given to you.
Other things, well my 300D was silver and I found scratched easily. I have bought a black 400D which appears to withstand the knocks better. It also doesn't come with any memory card but I did manage to get a free 256MB card from Canon (free things are always good!!). The last thing to watch, if you get a silver one get some money off from the seller, Jessops said I could have the silver one £25 cheaper because it doesn't sell as well as the black one. If you're not bothered about the colour then you can get a 1GB card with the money saved or a bag for your new baby!
So, to answer my title question, 'The best entry level D-SLR?'. I believe it is. I'm sure others will argue and disagree and that's fine but for sheer user friendliness, image quality and ease of use I don't think anything surpasses it.
Believe me, you won't be dissapointed if you buy this camera!
Now for the facts and figures bit:
MegaPixel (Effective Resolution) 10.01 Max Image Resolution 3888 x 2592 CCD Size (WxH mm) 22.2 x 14.8 mm Lens Fitting Canon EF 18-55mm Link, Canon EF, Canon EF-S, Focal Length Conversion Factor 1.6x Compatible storage media (card not supplied) CompactFlash, CompactFlash Type II, Compatible with MicroDrive Yes Continuous Shooting Speed (fps) 3 fps Max Consecutive Shots 27 (JPEG) Exposure Modes Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Picture Modes, Manual, Battery Type Lithium-ion (NB-2LH) Metering Modes Evaluative, Partial Metering, Centre Weighted, ISO Speed Range 100 - 1600 Exposure Compensation Yes Built in Flash Yes Auto Exposure Bracketing Yes Flash Modes TTL LCD Monitor Yes White Balance Modes Auto, Preset, White Balance Bracketing, Custom , Connection Type USB 2.0 Focusing Modes One-shot AF, AI Servo AF, Manual, Operating System Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Mac OS X, Tripod Thread Yes Video Out PAL, NTSC, Dimensions (WxHxD) mm 126.5 x 94.2 x 65mm Weight (Kg) 510g (Body only)
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Low cost entry to Digital SLR photography. Compatible with all Canon Ef and Ef-s lenses Disadvantages: Manual exposure fiddly, Kit lens good for cost, but not high-quality
montmorillonite 16.07.2008 (16.07.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Canon EOS 400D
Advantages: Cost effective, easy to use, large support community, lots of lens upgrades Disadvantages: Requires additional lens upgrades if you are planning on varied subject photography
Lehen 15.06.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Canon EOS 400D
Advantages: build quality, picture quality, ease of use Disadvantages: very occasional difficulties with auto focus, no anti-dust protection for the sensor
cornzee 08.06.2007 (08.06.2007)
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