Canon EOS 40D

...to a DSLR, after using canon cameras for most of the time in the past, I looked at what was on offer from them, at first I considered the EOS 400 but I decided to go for the newly released and better spec EOS 40D instead, I have used Canon 35mm Film SLR cameras in the past, so I thought I knew what I was in for, but the modern DSLR's are a different beast altogether, and I was pleasantly surprised at what this camera was capable of, it is light years ...
...of my first Canon SLR which was an advanced and well specified camera in its time.

The Canon EOS 40D was first announced in the autumn of 2007, this camera has improved on an already impressive line of EOS cameras, ranging from the EOS D30 introduced in 2000 to the EOS 30D in 2006, Canon have since introduced the EOS 50D late in 2008, Canon have stressed that the EOS 50D is an additional model to the EOS 40D and not a replacement ... more

Introduction

After several years of using bridge cameras and the like, I thought it was time to move up to a DSLR, after using canon cameras for most of the time in the past, I looked at what was on offer from them, at first I considered the EOS 400 but I decided to go for the newly released and better spec EOS 40D instead, I have used Canon 35mm Film SLR cameras in the past, so I thought I knew what I was in for, but the modern DSLR's are a different beast altogether, and I was pleasantly surprised at what this camera was capable of, it is light years away from my original Zenith camera, and even way ahead of my first Canon SLR which was an advanced and well specified camera in its time.

The Canon EOS 40D was first announced in the autumn of 2007, this camera has improved on an already impressive line of EOS cameras, ranging from the EOS D30 introduced in 2000 to the EOS 30D in 2006, Canon have since introduced the EOS 50D late in 2008, Canon have stressed that the EOS 50D is an additional model to the EOS 40D and not a replacement for it, and both models will continue to be produced. The EOS 50D is practically the same camera as the EOS 40D, differing only in pixel resolution, (15.1mp as opposed to 10.1mp) a couple of additional live view modes, higher LCD screen resolution, and a few cosmetic changes, and all accessories are interchangeable between the two.

Brief overview

The EOS 40D is a 10.1mp DSLR with an APS-C sized CMOS 22.2 x 14.8mm sensor, which means that all lenses that are used with this camera will have a crop factor of x1.6, and with its advanced features, it is aimed more at the advanced amateur or the semi-pro, (prosumer) rather than the entry level photographer, but it is intuitive enough to be used by all.

It has a magnesium alloy body, a built in flash, a hot shoe for external flashguns, interchangeable lenses, up to 6.5 fps continuous shooting, a 3" LCD screen, Both jpeg and RAW image recording with the option of jpeg + RAW simultaneous recording, it has twelve shooting modes plus an additional three user custom modes for extra flexibility, eighteen different languages are available for use in the camera menu system.

What's in the box?

Body only

Camera body, Canon EOS 40D DSLR
Wide strap EW-100DGR
Battery charger CB-5L
Battery pack BP-511A
Interface cable IFC-200U (USB camera to PC)
Video cable VC-100
Printed manual and guarantee
Software (CD-ROM)

With lens kit

As above, but with canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens

CF cards

This camera does not have any internal memory for storing pictures other than the buffer, which is only used as temporary storage as the camera writes data to the CF card.
This camera does not come supplied with a CF card (compact flash) as standard, though some retailers may add one as part of a bundle, so you will need to buy one separately before you can use this camera, it is compatible with the latest high capacity CF cards, I have a 16gb card in mine, which is big enough for most people, but I also carry a couple of spare 4gb cards just in case there is a problem with the main card or it gets full.

Lenses

If you have already got some Canon EF or EF-S mount lenses, this camera can be bought as a body only option, otherwise it can be bought with a kit lens, usually it comes with the Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens, This lens is quite good as far as kit lenses go, and is a good starting point for your system as it covers the most useful focal lengths from wide-angle to short telephoto, I will deal more with this lens in a separate in depth review of this lens in the near future.

This camera is compatible with all Canon EF and EF-S mount lenses, and many independent lens manufacturers make lenses with the canon lens mounts as well, which means there are a great number of lenses from extreme wide-angle to super-telephoto, that are available for this camera, which are suitable for any type of photography.

Many of Canon's own brand lenses have a very effective built in image stabilizer (denoted by the 'IS' in the lens specification), which is especially useful on telephoto lenses, which are more prone to camera shake, and a very efficient USM motor, which makes auto-focusing much quicker and virtually silent in use, auto-focus can be switched off via a slider switch on the lens.

Please note, this camera has the APS-C sized sensor which has a crop factor of x1.6, which means that any lens that you use with it will have an effective focal length of x1.6 of the actual focal length, so a 100mm lens when used with this camera will have an effective focal length of 160mm (35mm equivalent) just multiply the focal length of any lens you have by a factor of x1.6 to find its 35mm equivalent on this camera.

The menu

This camera uses the same menu type as the Canon pro EOS 1D series cameras, which is a vast improvement on previous cameras with their single long scrolling page menu's, on this camera the menu items are grouped into pages and all pages are on screen at once making them more accessible, the pages are colour coded according to the functions that they contain, for example, red for shooting, blue for playback, yellow for tools and camera settings etc.

These menu's are logically laid out and very easy to navigate, so you will get used to them in no time at all, they are accessed by pressing the menu button on the back of the camera, and the main menu is displayed on the LCD screen on the back of the camera, you then navigate the menus by either the main dial on top of the camera, or the quick control dial on the back, from here you can set all the camera functions, once settings have been made you can save them by pressing the set button on the back, pressing the menu button again will exit the menu, there is also another screen on the top plate of the camera which displays the current settings of the camera.

There are too many menu items to list here, but the printed manual (about the size of a small paperback with 195 pages) is excellent and takes you through all the menu items one by one.

Shooting modes

There are more than enough modes on this camera to cover any photographic situations that you are likely to encounter; they range from point and shoot, to full manual exposure.

The different shooting modes on this camera can be set with the mode dial on top of the camera, there are twelve shooting modes plus three user setting modes, the dial is split into four zones.

First there is the 'basic zone', which contains the full auto mode, this is the cameras point and shoot mode where the camera sets everything for you and you have no control of the camera settings except for the shutter release button.

Next there is the 'image zone', which contains the scene modes where you set the camera for the type of picture you are taking, they are, portrait, landscape, close-up, sports, night portrait and flash off modes, these are all self-explanatory automatic modes in which the camera selects the best settings for the type of photo you are taking.

On the two zones above, the menu settings are limited as the camera controls the exposure.

Next comes the 'creative zone', which contains all the traditional SLR modes, these include: -

P. (Program) this is similar to full auto mode, but you can manually set certain parameters on the camera such as ISO, continuous shooting, white balance etc.

Tv. (Shutter priority) in this mode you set the desired shutter speed and the camera sets the appropriate lens aperture, this is useful for sports and moving subjects when you need a fast shutter speed to capture the action, you can also set a slow shutter speed to introduce motion blur and other effects into your pictures.

Av. (Aperture priority) in this mode you set the desired lens aperture and the camera sets the appropriate shutter speed, this is useful for close-up and portrait photography where you want to control the depth of field to determine what is, and what isn't in focus.

M. (Manual) this is the manual mode, where you take full control of all the camera functions, this is useful in awkward lighting conditions when the cameras meter may be fooled into setting the wrong exposure, it also allows for a lot of creativity when you want to override the camera to create different effects into your photos.

A-Dep. (Automatic depth of field) in this mode the camera detects your subject distance and the camera works out the exposure for you with the necessary depth of field to render all of your subject in focus, this is especially useful for portraits when you want to have a selective depth of field or close-ups where depth of field is very narrow, and can be difficult to get in focus, the camera will set the aperture to attain the best depth of field possible, although to be honest I normally use the aperture priority and do it myself.

And finally, there is the 'camera user settings zone', (shown as C1, C2 & C3 on the mode dial) this is where you can set the camera to your preferred shooting mode, menus, custom function settings etc. and save them for future use, this is a very handy function, saving you having to set the camera up for these settings every time you power the camera up, there are three separate custom user setting modes available to use at any one time.

Other functions

Live view

There is a live view function on this camera, this function is taken for granted by people with compact cameras, but it is not available on many DSLR's at present, this mode is especially useful when manually focusing and fine adjustments are necessary as in close-up photography, a tripod is recommended when in live view, it is not suitable for point and shoot photography and is not available in the basic zones.

Flash

The built in flash is adequate for most situations, but additional external flashguns are recommended for extreme wide-angle shots or for more distant subjects that need more power, the internal flash can also be used to fire slave flash units. The flash can be turned off when not required

This camera is compatible with all Canon EX speedlights.

LCD screen

The screen is a large 3" LCD screen, and has a 230,000-pixel resolution, not the highest screen resolution around, but it is bright and clear, easy to use, and works well, there is as second small monochrome LCD screen on the top of the camera, which displays all the current settings of the camera.

Sensor Cleaning

One problem with DSLR cameras is a build-up of dust on the Sensor as it is exposed to the elements when you change lenses and this can eventually cause a lowering of image quality, canon have got round this problem with their auto sensor cleaning unit which vibrates the sensor at high frequency to remove any dust, this operates at power up and power down of the camera.

Shutter

The focal-plane shutter speeds range from 30 - 1/8000 sec. plus B, flash X synchronisation is at 1/250 sec.

Other features

It has all the usual settings that you would expect from a camera of this level, such as auto-bracketing, exposure compensation, four metering modes including spot metering, AE lock, interchangeable focusing screens, wireless connectivity and much more.

Battery

It comes supplied with a Battery pack BP-511A and mains charger, battery life is very good, (up to 1100 shots according to the manual) I always carry a spare charged up battery but I have never needed to use it as yet, the charger tells you when the battery is fully charged, the light blinks whilst it is charging, and is steady once it is fully charged, charging usually takes less than two hours (approx 100mins.)

Build quality

This camera has a magnesium alloy body and is weather sealed but not waterproof, it would probably survive a light shower, it feels solid and well built in use, all controls operate smoothly and feel up to the job, lenses attach and detach smoothly and lock firmly into place, when gripped there is no give in the metal body, unlike some of the plastic bodied entry level cameras, and it is built to survive a few knocks. I have been using this camera since just after it was released and it has performed well without any problems whatsoever.

Handling

This camera handles very well, it is well balanced and has a bit of weight to it, I find that even with my big hands, it is easy to hold and all the controls are easy to use and are well positioned, with a long lens attached is still feels well balanced, that is because the weight of the body prevents it from becoming too front heavy with a big lens attached.
The viewfinder is bright and clear and with its dioptre adjustment makes it easy for spectacle wearers to see it clearly without their specs on, some camera settings are visible in the viewfinder but they do not intrude into the picture area when in normal shooting display.
Focusing is quick and silent, and very sharp even in low light (with Canon IS lenses)
As mentioned earlier the menus are easy to navigate, quick to set up, and make the handling and use of this camera much easier, all the shooting modes are ready to hand on their own dial so they can be set quickly without going into the menu.

Picture quality

Noise

The picture quality from this camera is impressive, noise is almost non-existent until you get to the highest ISO setting but even then you have to enlarge the picture quite a lot to spot it, ISO 100-1600 is available under normal shooting conditions, there is also a setting for ISO 3200 but you would not need to use that under normal conditions, and I have still to try that out, but from online test shots that I have seen noise is still well controlled, and there is an optional built in noise reduction mode available for high ISO usage, with the cameras excellent low noise performance the default setting for noise reduction is off, so there is none of the picture blurring and loss of fine detail associated with noise reduction.

Exposure

Exposure is excellent with all shots being perfectly exposed, unlike my EOS 50D, which has a slight tendency to over expose under certain conditions, even under difficult lighting conditions it is hard to fool the meter into giving a false reading,

Colour, sharpness and contrast

Colour is rendered accurately, has plenty of saturation, and is well balanced, with colours not running into each other or blurring, even in high contrast areas, the pictures are pin sharp with fine detail rendered accurately, contrast is excellent with both lowlight and highlight details well preserved.

Resolution

This camera has an effective 10.1mp resolution, which is by no means high these days, but very few people would ever get the benefit of a higher resolution than an 8-10mp DSLR camera, as you would have to make massive enlargements or use very small crops of the picture to notice any difference, many compacts these days have a 10mp resolution but because of the difference in picture quality, sharpness, noise performance and the blurring caused by most compacts rather aggressive noise reduction, there is no comparison between the two, you can make a much a much bigger enlargement from a picture taken with this camera, than you could from one taken on a compact camera, the higher the picture quality and the lower the noise, the less effect that resolution has on picture quality, I have made many high quality enlargements from this camera and resolution has never been an issue.

Software

This camera comes with bundled software, which includes: -

An EOS digital software manuals disk, (this is in addition to the printed manual)

An EOS digital solution disk, which contains the following software: -

EOS utility - used to download images from your camera, set up your camera remotely from your computer, and shoot photos remotely from your computer.

Digital photo professional - Image viewing and editing software, inc. RAW image editing and conversion.

Zoombrowser EX - View, edit and print your pictures. Ideal for newcomers to digital photography

Picture style editor - Picture style-editing software, create and save your own picture styles.

Likes

Superb picture quality.
Excellent low noise performance.
Accurate Exposure.
Excellent handling.
Huge range of Canon lenses
Live view function
Excellent specs.
Build quality
10.1mp resolution is more than enough unless you want to make huge enlargements.
Recent price drop

Dislikes

None that I can think of.

And finally

This an excellent well specified camera with superb picture quality, it is easy to use, well balanced, its low noise performance is outstanding, it is well built and reliable, and with its recent price drop it is also great value.

Recommended

Price

Since the introduction of the EOS 50D prices for this camera have gone down by an average of two to three hundred pounds, so now this camera represents excellent value for money.

Prices on Amazon at the time of writing are £655.29 body only, and £821.72 with the EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens

Thanks for reading - Mark.  

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